W: Not very long at all.

M: Do you ever download any TV programs or movies?

W: Sure, I download at least one program a day.

M: Do you think you could download some for me?

W: Sure, just tell me what you want.

M: Let me see…. Oh, a show called Friends.

W: No problem. Did you know that there are many Friends’ forums online?

M: What’s a forum?

W: It’s a place where you can chat to other people who have similar interests as you.

M: Do the Friends’ stars ever show up there?

W: Sometimes, people say they are the Friends’ stars, but you never know who you’re talking to. For all I know, Jennifer Aniston is really an old fat man.

Text 10

M: What may be perfectly acceptable to talk about in one culture may offend or even shock others when in a different culture. Would you give us some ideas about it?

W: Well, it is important to know what topics are “safe” to discuss with strangers or acquaintances from a different background. Topics which can be discussed freely within a culture are referred to as “small talk”.

Small talk is extremely useful when first meeting others. Actually, one purpose of small talk is not to find out the answer to questions like “How are you?” or “Nice day, isn’t it?” but rather to judge whether the person is the sort whom one would like to know better. While talking about essentially unimportant matters such as the weather, life in the office, or how many children one has — if any, each speaker has the opportunity to determine whether the other is cooperative, interesting, potentially useful or friendly. If a person answers the inquiry about the weather with a low sound in the throat, or “I hate sunny days,” no further energy need be wasted!

Another purpose of small talk, once a speaker is satisfied that the other person is worth talking with, is to explore possible areas of interest or cooperation. By tactfully going through “safe topics,” some information may be revealed which leads the speakers into a deeper discussion, especially when a topic is a shared hobby or interest. So, small talk may serve as discovering of the other person’s personality and lifestyle.

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