Some people make you feel comfortable when they are around. You spend an hour with them and feel as if you have known them half your life. These people have something in common. And once we know what it is, we can try to do it ourselves.

How is it done? Here are several skills that good talkers have. If you follow the skills, they’ll help you put people at their ease, and make friends with them quickly.

First of all, good talkers ask questions. Almost anyone, no matter how shy he is, will answer a question. One well-known businesswoman says, “At business lunches, I always ask people what they did that morning. It’s a common question, but it will get things going.” From there you can move on to other matters—sometimes to really personal questions. And how he answers will let you know how far you can go.

Second, once good talkers have asked questions, they listen to the answers. This point seems clear, but it isn’t. Your questions should have a point and help to tell what sort of pers on you are talking to. And to find out, you really have to listen carefully and attentively.

Real listening at least means some things. First it means not to change the subject of conversation. If someone sticks to one topic, you can take it as a fact that he’s really interested in it. Real listening also means not just listening to words, but to tones of voice. If the voice sounds dull, then, it’s time for you to change the subject.

Finally, good talkers know well how to deal with the occasion of parting. If you’re saying good-bye, you may give him a firm handshake and say, “I’ve really enjoyed meeting you.” If you want to see that person again, don’t keep it a secret. Let people know what you feel, and they may walk away feeling as if they’ve known you half their life.

63. Asking questions might be a quite good and suitable way _______.

A. for you to make more and more new friends

B. to get the conversation going smoothly

C. to begin your business talks

D. for you to make a deep and lasting impression on others

64. After having asked somebody a question, it’ll be polite of you to _______.

A. make clear what kind of person he is

B. wait quietly and patiently for his answer

C. listen to his reply attentively

D. go on asking him more questions

65. Generally speaking, good talkers are persons who _______.

A. are good at making any topic interesting

B. never talk too much or too little

C. always speak in a gentle way

D. know how and when they should change the topic of the talk

66. If you really take delight in meeting someone again, _______.

A. it seems necessary for you to let him know it

B. you may take him as your lifelong trustworthy friend

C. it’s proper for you to give him a second handshake

D. it’ll be helpful for you to have further understanding of him

“How __ he ___ that?” all of them shouted

1. A.
   dare, said
2. B.
   dared, says
3. C.
   did, dared to say
4. D.
   did, dare to say

I entered high school having read hundreds of books. But I was not a good reader. Merely bookish, I lacked a point of view when I read. Rather, I read in order to get a point of view. I searched books for good expressions and sayings, pieces of information, ideas, themes—anything to enrich my thought and make me feel educated. When one of my teachers suggested to his sleepy tenth-grade English class that a person could not have a "complicated (复杂的) idea" until he had read at least two thousand books, I heard the words without recognizing either its irony (嘲讽) or its very complicated truth. I merely determined to make a list of all the books I had ever read. Strict with myself, I included only once a title I might have read several times. ( How, after all, could one read a book more than once?) And I included only those books over a hundred pages in length. ( Could anything shorter be a book?)

There was yet another high school list I made. One day I came across a newspaper article about an English professor at a nearby state college. The article had a list of the "hundred most important books of Western Civilization. " "More than anything else in my life," the professor told the reporter with finality , " these books have made me all that I am . " That was the kind of words I couldn’t ignore (忽视). I kept the list for the several months it took me to read all of the titles. Most books, of course, I hardly understood. While reading Plato's The Republic, for example, I needed to keep looking at the introduction of the book to remind myself what the text was about. However, with the special patience and superstition (迷信) of a schoolboy, I looked at every word of the text. And by me time I reached the last word, pleased, I persuaded myself that I had read The Republic, and seriously crossed Plato off my list.

On hearing the teacher's suggestion of reading, the writer thought________.

A. one must read as many books as possible

   B. a student should not have a complicated idea

   C. it was impossible for one to read two thousand books

   D. students ought to make a list of the books they had read

While at high school, the writer________.

   A. had plans for reading                    B. learned to educate himself

   C. only read books over 100 pages     D. read only one book several times

The underlined phrase "with finality" probably means

   A. firmly     B. clearly                     C. proudly         D. pleasantly

The writer's purpose in mentioning The Republic is to________.

   A. explain why it was included in the list

   B. describe why he seriously crossed it off the list

   C. show that he read the books blindly though they were hard to understand

   D. prove that he understood most of it because he had looked at every word

The writer provides two book lists to ________.

   A. show how he developed his point of view

   B. tell his reading experience at high school

C. introduce the two persons' reading methods

   D. explain that he read many books at high school

Is this the reason ______ at the meeting for his carelessness in his work?

A. What he explained                    B. how he explained

C. he explained                         D. why he explained

A man wanted to study medicine but couldn’t make up his mind. He went to ask his friend, “Is it ___ for me to study it now? I’ll be 44 after 4 years of college.” His friend said to him, “Why not?Four years later you will be 44 whether or not you go to college.” He ____ about it for a night and got the idea. The next day he went to sign at the college.

One of my friends, Jim, did ____with somebody else a few years ago. Their ship got   ____in the storm at sea and their hope, together with their goods ____ suddenly. Jim was so ____by the blow that he became low-spirited and couldn’t ____ focus his attention on his work. While his ____who suffered the same catastrophe (灾难) never ____. His day went on as colorfully as before. My friend asked him how he could ____it. He said, “When you complain, and feel sad, life goes on as usual; when you are happy and ____yourself, the world runs as usual. Which do you ____?”

That’s how a person leads his life. When you are ____and in a good mood, your future seems sunny and bright. ____, when you are worried and have something sad in your ____, your future will turn dark. The latter situation will cost you a great deal ____ you allow it to last. You will ____ the joyful things.

There is a poem that ____ “Whether you are aware or not, whether you like or dislike, show attention or ignore , flowers bloom luxuriously（怒放）all the same.” Just as flowers keep blooming, fine days are ____one after another. ____ to spend your days—joyfully or sorrowfully—will entirely depend on yourself.

1.A. difficult                         B. convenient             C. suitable                      D. comfortable

2.A. thought                         B. cared                C. worried               D. complained

3.A. action                            B. research                 C. business                      D. agreement    

4.A. absorbed            B. buried                     C. involved                         D. caught 

5.A. escaped                        B. survived                  C. decreased                       D. disappeared

6.A. embarrassed               B. upset            C. nervous                D. amazed

7.A. still                           B. even                         C. ever                                  D. yet

8.A. partner                         B. director                  C. employer                         D. interviewer

9.A. lost weight          B. lost his way             C. lost face           D. lost heart     

10.A. agree                     B. manage           C. attempt                            D. understand

11.A. enjoy                          B. prove                      C. teach                                D. behave

12.A. decide                        B. suggest          C. imagine                            D. choose

13.A. independent             B. realistic                   C. optimistic                         D. negative

14.A. In fact                         B. On the contrary   C. In other words                D. In the end

15.A. mind                           B. thought                   C. idea                                   D. opinion

16.A. so that                        B. unless                C. if                                 D. even if

17.A. remind                       B. lose                    C. keep                                   D. remember

18.A. says              B. talks                          C. writes                               D. speaks

19.A. spending           B. passing     C. wasting                     D. leaving

20.A. Whether       B. How                C. Where                           D. Why