It is widely known that any English conversation begins with The Weather.Such a fixation with the weather finds expression in Dr.Johnson’s famous comment that“When two English meet，their first talk is of weather.”Though Johnson’s observation is as accurate now as it was over two hundred years ago，most commentators fail to come up with a convincing explanation for this English weather­speak.
Bill Bryson，for example，concludes that，as the English weather is not at all exciting，the obsession with it can hardly be understood.He argues that“To an outsider，the most striking thing about the English weather is that there is not very much of it.” Simply，the reason is that the unusual and unpredictable weather is almost unknown in the British Isles.
Jeremy Paxman，however，disagrees with Bryson，arguing that the English weather is by nature attractive.Bryson is wrong，he says，because the English preference for the weather has nothing to do with the natural phenomena.“The interest is less in the phenomena themselves，but in uncertainty.”According to him，the weather in England is very changeable and uncertain and it attracts the English as well as the outsider.
Bryson and Paxman stand for common misconceptions about the weather­speak among the English.Both commentators，somehow，are missing the point.The English weather conversation is not really about the weather at all.English weather­speak is a system of signs，which is developed to help the speakers overcome the natural reserve and actually talk to each other.Everyone knows conversations starting with weather­speak are not requests for weather data.Rather，they are routine greetings，conversation starters or the blank “fillers”．In other words，English weather­speak is a means of social bonding.
小題1:The author mentions Dr.Johnson’s comment to show that________.
A．most commentators agree with Dr.Johnson
B．Dr.Johnson is famous for his weather observation
C．the comment was accurate two hundred years ago
D．English conversations usually start with the weather
小題2:What does the underlined word “obsession” most probably refer to?
A．A social trend.
B．An emotional state.
C．A historical concept.
D．An unknown phenomenon.
小題3:According to the passage，Jeremy Paxman believes that________.
A．Bill Bryson has little knowledge of the weather
B．there is nothing special about the English weather
C．the English weather attracts people to the British Isles
D．English people talk about the weather for its uncertainty
小題4:What is the author’s main purpose of writing the passage?
A．To explain what English weather­speak is about.
B．To analyse misconceptions about the English weather.
C．To find fault with both Bill Bryson and Jeremy Paxman.
D．To convince people that the English weather is changeable.

小題1:D
小題2:B
小題3:D
小題4:A
本文為一篇議論文。由于英格蘭的天氣是多變的，所以英國人談?wù)撎鞖獗徽J(rèn)為是見面或者搭訕的合理開場白是再熟悉不過的了，本文就此從不同的角度進(jìn)行了解釋。
小題1:解析：選D。推理判斷題。本文第一句話就給出了答案，作者提到Dr.Johnson的評論旨在說明英國人見面總是以談?wù)撎鞖忾_始，故答案為D項。
小題2:解析：選B。詞義猜測題。根據(jù)第二段最后一句話“……那些不常見、難以預(yù)料的天氣在不列顛群島幾乎是不被人知道的”可知，英國的天氣根本不令人興奮，隨之而來的一種情緒也是幾乎不能被理解的。obsession可以理解成是一種談?wù)撎鞖獾摹皬?qiáng)迫癥”，故它是一種情緒的狀態(tài)，所以答案為B項。
小題3:解析：選D。細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)倒數(shù)第二段Jeremy所說的話可知，他反駁Bryson的觀點，他認(rèn)為英格蘭的天氣是多變而又不確定的，這吸引著英國人和外來者，所以答案為D項。
小題4:解析：選A。作者意圖判斷題。根據(jù)第一段的介紹和最后一段的總結(jié)可知，本文主要是解析英國人的weather?speak到底是關(guān)于什么的。所以答案為A項。B、C兩項陳述有誤，D項“使人們信服英國的天氣是多變的”不是文章的主要談?wù)搩?nèi)容。
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