“You speak very good English”
The other day I heard an American say to a Chinese student of English. “You
1 very good English.” But the student answered, “ No, my English is very poor.” The foreigner was quite
2 at the answer. Thinking he had not made himself
3 or the student had not heard him clearly, he said, “Yes, indeed, you speak it very well.” But the Chinese student still
4 saying “No”.
5 the foreigner gave up and didn’t know what to say.
What’s wrong with the student’s answer? It is because he didn’t accept a compliment as the American people
6 . He should have said “Thank you” instead of “No”. He actually understood what the American had said. But he thought he should be modest. If someone says to a woman, “ You look
7 beautiful with the new clothes
8 .” she should be very happy and answer, “Thank you.” In our country we think
9 modest is a virtue and showing off is a bad behavior. But in the West, if you are modest and say, “ No,
10 I can’t do it well,” then the others will take it for granted (理所当然)that you
11 can not do it. If you often say,“No”, you will certainly be looked down upon by
12 . When
13 for a job, if one says something like “Yes, I can certainly do it” instead of “ Let me have a try on the job”, he or she can expect to get it. So in the West, one should always be confident.
14 self-confidence, he can’t go anywhere. Confidence is of great
15 to one in a country where competition is quite keen.(激烈)
| 小题2: | | A．surprising | B．surprised | C．laughed | D．laughing |
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| 小题3: | | A．understood | B．understand | C．to understand | D．understanding |
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| 小题4: | | A．keep | B．keeping | C．keeps | D．kept |
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| 小题5: | | A．At first | B．By the way | C．In the end | D．First of all |
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| 小题9: | | A．being | B．be | C．having | D．have |
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| 小题10: | | A．I’m afraid | B．I’m not sure | C．I don’t mind | D．I don’t know |
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| 小题11: | | A．hardly | B．really | C．badly | D．luckily |
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| 小题12: | | A．another | B．other | C．the other | D．others |
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| 小题13: | | A．asking | B．ask | C．provide | D．providing |
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| 小题14: | | A．With | B．Without | C．by | D．under |
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| 小题15: | | A．importantly | B．unimportant | C．important | D．importance |
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