【素材】Module-1-文本-Small-Talk(外研).doc

Small talk is gossip, chitchat, unimportant chatter, small being the significant adjective pointing to its, well, insignificance. In terms of the media, all the gossip columns are small talk. They shouldnt be in newspapers but they are, and on television also, as well as over the radio and the Internet. Take gossips about celebrities, for example. Does it really matter if that famous model Loulou (never mind who she is Im making it up) frolics with her boyfriend in the sea half-clad in a bikini? I mean, even if half-clad in a bikini is a grammatically sound description, why should the public be told about it? Why shouldnt we be told instead more of the important issues such as what all the politicians are saying? Or business scandals, for that matter, or traffic accidents, coal mine explosions or any other natural calamity or bad news. Well, you got me there. I admit pictures of a half-naked can I say naked? Loulou on the beach would beat, say, ranting politicians all day, such being the current state of affairs were in. I too realize that sometimes small talk is the best talk anywhere in the newspaper, on television and over the radio. So therefore, lets gossip a bit about small talk with examples culled from the Internet. 1. from :Small Talk: Who, What, Where, When, Why?WHY do people make small talk?There are a few different reasons why people use small talk. The first, and most obvious, is to break an uncomfortable silence. Another reason, however, is simply to fill time. That is why it is so common to make small talk when you are waiting for something. Some people make small talk in order to be polite. You may not feel like chatting with anyone at a party, but it is rude to just sit in a corner by yourself. After someone introduces you to another person, you do not know anything about them, so in order to show a polite interest in getting to know them better, you have to start with some small talk. 2. from USA Today (September 9, 2001):Small talk, big payoffThey say talk is cheap, but chatting up strangers you meet on business trips is sometimes profitable.It was for medical equipment salesman Douglas Ruby.Last November, Ruby struck up a conversation with Rod Ferrand, a seatmate on his flight who turned out to be in a similar line of work. At the flights end, Ruby and Ferrand exchanged business cards and parted.It wasnt until June, when Ruby was laid off and looking for work, that he dug up Ferrands card and mailed him his resume. Coincidentally, Ferrands company, Merit Medical Systems, had an opening. Ruby got the job, beating out 150 other applicants.Dont be scared of talking to strangers, says Ruby of New Orleans. That guy I met on the plane is now my boss. 3. from Guardian Unlimited (December 7, 2007):Small Talk with Kelly Dalglish- Its a dilemma, all right. Finally Kelly, can you tell us a joke?- OK, so this vampire bat goes back into the cave, and his face is covered in blood, and all the other vampire bats are really, really jealous. So theyre asking: Where did you get that from, where have you been? And he says, Come, Ill show you all my secrets, and they fly out and they go over the dark forest, and he says: You see that big oak tree over there? The vampire bats say: Yes, and he says: Well I didnt.