“You speak very good English”
The other day I heard an American say to a Chinese student of English. “You  1  very good English.” But the student answered, “ No, my English is very poor.” The foreigner was quite
  2  at the answer. Thinking he had not made himself  3  or the student had not heard him clearly, he said, “Yes, indeed, you speak it very well.” But the Chinese student still  4  saying  “No”.  5  the foreigner gave up and didn’t know what to say.
What’s wrong with the student’s answer? It is because he didn’t accept a compliment as the American people  6  . He should have said “Thank you” instead of “No”. He actually understood what the American had said. But he thought he should be modest. If someone says to a woman, “ You look  7  beautiful with the new clothes  8  .” she should be very happy and answer, “Thank you.” In our country we think  9  modest is a virtue and showing off is a bad behavior. But in the West, if you are modest and say, “ No,   10  I can’t do it well,” then the others will take it for granted (理所当然)that you  11  can not do it. If you often say,“No”, you will certainly be looked down upon by  12  . When  13  for a job, if one says something like “Yes, I can certainly do it” instead of “ Let me have a try on the job”, he or she can expect to get it. So in the West, one should always be confident.  14  self-confidence, he can’t go anywhere. Confidence is of great  15  to one in a country where competition is quite keen.(激烈)

A．say B．talk C．speak D．tell

A．surprising B．surprised C．laughed D．laughing

A．understood B．understand C．to understand D．understanding

A．keep B．keeping C．keeps D．kept

A．At first B．By the way C．In the end D．First of all

A．did B．done C．to do D．do

A．such B．such a C．so D．so a

A．for B．on C．in D．into

A．being B．be C．having D．have

A．I’m afraid B．I’m not sure C．I don’t mind D．I don’t know

A．hardly B．really C．badly D．luckily

A．another B．other C．the other D．others

A．asking B．ask C．provide D．providing

A．With B．Without C．by D．under

A．importantly B．unimportant C．important D．importance