A
I did an experiment by talking to strangers recently. Here are some things I experienced during the experiment.
On October 9th, while visiting my family hometown for a wedding, I met a man sitting on the side of the hotel pool.We started talking.It turned out that he had just moved to the area with his family from Chicago.I told him what I knew about the community, the schools, and particular neighborhoods where he was looking to buy a house.He was grateful to me for my information.The interaction made me feel useful and valuable.
On May 20th, we had three men from a tree trimming (修剪) company visiting our house to cut back our trees.Normally, I would let them work outside without engaging them in conversation.This time, after they finished their work, I asked one of the tree trimmers, only halfjoking, if they fell off trees frequently.One of the tree trimmers said that he had been climbing trees for 27 years and reported he had fallen out of a tree once and hurt his knee.I loved that conversation.I didn’t always talk to someone whose job was to climb up trees, but it was interesting for learning about how they did it.I also realized I learned something new.
On May 30th, I went to an outdoor block party on Friday night, along with my wife and our 3monthold baby.Our baby was wearing oversized noisecancelling headphones that truly looked pretty ridiculous on a baby.When I tried to talk with others, they immediately started talking with me after seeing the baby.I found it was almost very easy to start talking with people when you had a baby with you.
All in all, I felt great about most of my interactions with strangers.Almost every interaction left me feeling a little happier.I also felt I learned new things by talking to people from different walks of life who I wouldn’t normally meet.
语篇解读：本文是一篇记叙文。文章的作者做了一个与闲聊有关的试验，试验结束后发现自己颇有收获。
1．The man was grateful to the author because ________.
A．he made his first friend there
B．he gained some useful information
C．the author helped him kill the time
D．the author helped him make a decision
解析：选B 细节理解题。根据第二段中的“I told him what I knew ... grateful to me for my information.”可知，那人感激作者是因为得到了一些有用的信息。
2．The tree trimmer who talked with the author ________.
A．didn’t like talking to strangers
B．was a respectable worker
C．wasn’t a very careful man
D．got injured once at work
解析：选D 细节理解题。根据第三段中的“One of the tree trimmers said ...hurt his knee.”可知那人曾经在工作的时候受过伤。
3．What did the author probably learn from the experience on May 30th?
A．Babies are great conversation starters.
B．It’s inconvenient to go out with a baby.
C．People love looking at ridiculous babies.
D．It’s not challenging to talk with strangers.
解析：选A 推理判断题。根据第四段最后一句可知，这次经历让作者意识到小孩是开展闲聊的利器。
4．At this experiment, the author most probably found it ________.
A．useless B．exciting
C．rewarding D．embarrassing
解析：选C 推理判断题。根据最后一段的叙述可推断，作者觉得这次经历很值得。
