Mostofusaretaughttopayattentiontowhatissaid—thewords.Wordsdoprovideuswithsomeinformation,butmeaningsarederivedfromsomanyothersourcesthatitwouldhinderoureffectivenessasapartnertoarelationshiptorelytooheavilyonwordsalone.Wordsareusedtodescribeonlyasmallpartofthemanyideasweassociatewithanygivenmessage.Sometimeswecangaininsightintosomeofthoseassociationsifwelistenformorethanwords.Wedon’talwayssaywhatwemeanormeanwhatwesay.Sometimesourwordsdon’tmeananythingexcept“I’mlettingoffsomesteam.Idon’treallywantyoutopaycloseattentiontowhatI’msaying.JustpayattentiontowhatI’mfeeling.”Mostlywemeanseveralthingsatonce.Apersonwantingtopurchaseahousesaystothecurrentowner,“ThisstephastobefixedbeforeI’llbuy.”Theownersays,“It’sbeenlikethatforyears.”Actually,thestephasn’tbeenlikethatforyears,buttheunspokenmessageis:“Idon’twanttofixit.Weputupwithit.Whycan’tyou?”Thesearchforamoreexpansiveviewofmeaningcanbedevelopedofexaminingamessageintermsofwhosaidit,whenitoccurred,therelatedconditionsorsituation,andhowitwassaid.

Whenamessageoccurscanalsorevealassociatedmeaning.Letusassumetwocouplesdoexactlythesameamountofkissingandarguing.Butonecouplealwayskissesafteranargumentandtheothercouplealwaysarguesafterakiss.Theorderingofthebehaviorsmaymeanagreatdealmorethanthefrequencyofthebehavior.Afriend’sunusuallydocilebehaviormayonlybeunderstoodbynotingthatitwasprecededbysituationsthatrequiredanabnormalamountofassertiveness.Someresponsesmaybedirectlylinkedtoadevelopingpatternofresponsesanddefylogic.Forexample,apersonwhosays“No!”toaserialsofchargeslike“You’redumb,”“You’relazy,”and“You’redishonest,”mayalsosay“No!”andtrytojustifyhisorherresponseifthenextstatementis“Andyou’regoodlooking.”

Wewoulddowelltolistenforhowmessagesarepresented.Thewords,“Ifsurehasbeennicetohaveyouover,”canbesaidwithemphasisandexcitementorritualistically.Thephrasecanbesaidonceorrepeatedseveraltimes.Andthemeaningsweassociatewiththephrasewillchangeaccordingly.Sometimesifwesaysomethinginfrequentlyitassumesmoreimportance;sometimesthemorewesaysomethingthelessimportanceitassumes.

1.Effectivecommunicationisrenderedpossiblebetweentwoconversingpartners,if___.

A.theyuseproperwordstocarrytheirideas.

B.theybothspeaktrulyoftheirownfeelings.

C.theytrytounderstandeachother’sideasbeyondwords.

D.theyarecapableofassociatingmeaningwiththeirwords.

2.“I’mlettingoffsomesteam”inparagraph1means___.

A.I’mjustcallingyourattention.

B.I’mjustkidding.

C.I’mjustsayingtheopposite.

D.I’mjustgivingoffsomesound.

3.Thehouse-owner’sexampleshowsthatheactuallymeans___.

A.thestephasbeenlikethatforyears.

B.hedoesn’tthinkitnecessarytofixthestep.

C.theconditionofthestepisonlyaminorfault.

D.thecostinvolvedinthefixingshouldbeshared.

4.Someresponsesandbehaviorsmayappearveryillogical,butarejustifiableif___.

A.linkedtoanabnormalamountofassertiveness.

B.seenasone’shabitualpatternofbehavior.

C.takenaspartofanorderingsequence.

D.expressedtoaseriesofcharges.

5.Theword“ritualistically”inthelastparagraphequalssomethingdone___.

A.withouttrueintention.

B.light-heartedly.

C.inawayofceremony.

D.withlessemphasis.

Imeant____youaboutit,butIforgottodoso.

翻译：

如今，中国正步入老龄化社会，因此独生子女一代面临着巨大的工作和生活压力。中国政府开始适当调整计划生育政策，允许一些家庭在特殊情况下生育二胎。但调查显示，很多夫妻迫于不断加重的经济压力，放弃生育二胎。因此，要从根本上解决老龄化的问题不能依靠出生率的上升，最有效的办法是建立有效的社会保障制度。

Idon’tlike_____billsbutwhenIdogetthemIlike_____thempromptly.

翻译训练：

酒和饮酒文化在中国的历史中占据着重要地位。从宋代开始，白酒(whiteliquor)成为中国人饮用的主要酒类。中国白酒制作工艺复杂，原料丰富多样，是世界著名的六大蒸馏酒(distilledliquor)之一。中国有很多优秀的白酒品牌，受到不同人群的喜爱。在当代社会，饮酒文化得到了前所未有的丰富和发展。不同地区和场合的饮酒习俗和礼仪已成为中国人日常生活中重要的部分。在几千年的文明史中，酒几乎渗透到社会生活中的各个领域，如文学创作、饮食保健等。