5．Pacing and Pausing
Sara tried to befriend her old friend Steve's new wife，but Betty never seemed to have anything to say．While Sara felt Betty didn't hold up her end of the conversation，Betty complained to Steve that Sara never gave her a chance to talk．The problem had to do with expectations about pacing and pausing．
Conversation is a turn-taking game．When our habits are similar，there's no problem．But if our habits are different，you may start to talk before I'm finished or fail to take your turn when I'm finished．That's what was happening with Betty and Sara．
It may not be coincidental that Betty，who expected relatively longer pauses between turns，is British，and Sara，who expected relatively shorter pauses，is American．Betty often felt interrupted by Sara．But Betty herself became an interrupter and found herself doing most of the talking when she met a visitor from Finland．And Sara had a hard time cutting in on some speakers from Latin America or Israel．
The general phenomenon，then，is that the small conversation techniques，like pacing and pausing，lead people to draw conclusions not about conversational style but about personality and abilities．These habitual differences are often the basis for dangerous stereotyping （思维定式）．And these social phenomena can have very personal consequences．For example，a woman from the southwestern part of the US went to live in an eastern city to take up a job in personnel．When the Personnel Department got together for meetings，she kept searching for the right time to break in-and never found it．Although back home she was considered outgoing and confident，in Washington she was viewed as shy and retiring．When she was evaluated at the end of the year，she was told to take a training course because of her inability to speak up．
That's why slight differences in conversational style-tiny little things like microseconds of pause-can have a great effect on one's life．The result in this case was a judgment of psychological problems-even in the mind of the woman herself，who really wondered what was wrong with her and registered for assertiveness training．
8．What did Sara think of Betty when talking with her？C
A．Betty was talkative．
B．Betty was an interrupter．
C．Betty did not take her turn．
D．Betty paid no attention to Sara．
9．According to the passage，who are likely to expect the shortest pauses between turns？B
A．Americans．
B．Israelis．
C．The British．
D．The Finns．
10．We can learn from the passage thatC．
A．communication breakdown results from short pauses and fast pacing
B．women are unfavorably stereotyped in eastern cities of the US
C．one's inability to speak up is culturally determined sometimes
D．one should receive training to build up one's confidence
11．The underlined word"assertiveness"in the last paragraph probably meansD．
A．being willing to speak one's mind
B．being able to increase one's power
C．being ready to make one's own judgment
D．being quick to express one's ideas confidently．
分析 文章大意：本文说明的是不同文化的人说话的节奏和方式都是不一样的．
解答 8．C 推理判断题．根据文章第3段2，3行Betty often felt interrupted by Sara．But Betty herself became an interrupter and found herself doing most of the talking when she met a visitor from Finland．And Sara had a hard time cutting in on some speakers from Latin America or Israel．可知Sara发现自己很难插话，是因为Betty没有按照说话的轮次来．导致两个人说话总是被打断．因此答案选C．
9．B 推理判断题．根据文章第三段最后一句Sara had a hard time cutting in on some speakers from Latin America or Israel．可知美国人或者以色列人说话的停顿很短，Sara很难插话．以色列人说话的节奏和美国人说话的节奏是类似的，所以把这两者放在一起进行比较．因此答案选B．
10．C 推理判断题．根据文章第4段前3行The general phenomenon，then，is that the small conversation techniques，like pacing and pausing，lead people to draw conclusions not about conversational style but about personality and abilities．These habitual differences are often the basis for dangerous stereotyping （思维定式）．And these social phenomena can have very personal consequences．可知一个人讲话的能力是受到他所在的文化和思维方式影响的．因此答案选C．
11．D 词义猜测题，根据文章倒数第二段最后一句话When she was evaluated at the end of the year，she was told to take a training course because of her inability to speak up以及最后一段话可知别人认为这位女士没能力，不是说她不愿意．所以答案选D，此处用反义对比方法．
点评 本题考查人物故事类阅读理解．此类题材的阅读理解是高考常考的内容，它注重考查考生整体把握文章大意的能力，要求考生注重整体理解，做题时还要结合语境以及题目要求做出正确的判断．
