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本帖最后由 图书馆 于 2015-11-2 20:53 编辑 + F4 [' ~5 R7 a3 h; T
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How to respond to "How are you?", "What's up?", and other conversation starters( o0 q. i: a, V v
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There are a few questions that English speakers ask at the beginning of a conversation. These questions are simple tools to find out if there are any interesting topics to discuss.
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You've certainly heard these questions, but you might be confused about how to answer. Here's a list of common answers to the questions "How are you?", "How's it going?", "What's up?", and "What's happening?"5 b' d5 W4 N- x, L5 U: w% u
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How are you?2 y1 j) x5 B3 f0 O4 f1 [& E3 u8 \. d' N
Fine.) x0 B' M( p0 s
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This is a simple, straight answer. If you don't say anything else, though, it might be a signal that you don't want to continue the conversation.( z' i* y, p' j' e
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Not bad., E) S6 v( f6 z; J) |; g7 E3 p. {7 @
' i. h: b# p9 n1 Q1 Y; @" OThis is a more friendly-sounding answer than "fine".
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Fine, thanks.
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This answer is formal. You might answer this way if someone you don't know, like a waiter at a restaurant, asks how you are.6 g% B" k" ] |# R/ O9 x
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Very well, thanks., T1 p% M3 P6 K! S2 w, _ A3 c- Z
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A person who likes to be grammatically proper might answer this way. Technically, the question "How...?" should be answered with an adverb. However, a lot of English speakers don't know or care about this. The people who do are "by the books" types who insist on using grammatically correct language.
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Pretty good.- l! a2 n' m) E% m3 O
1 T; g2 a% R4 d/ j! dIf you don't care as much about grammar, you can answer "Good" or "Pretty good". It's more common and much, much more casual.
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9 w/ }) ^( [3 ?6 {0 @; vGreat! How are you doing?
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This is an enthusiastic, excited response. It's always good to ask a question back to the other person if you want to continue the conversation.: C2 Z% E+ G5 H1 C( z( h/ L
( b; I9 p' }5 N' A* G0 I/ c# l5 xI'm hanging in there.3 m! S* M1 W, w2 G
- ^0 a% L7 a; A |) ]This answer makes it sound like you're having a tough day./ C1 @9 u% ^! C* ~
- j" T- n/ f4 H3 D7 P K" h, FI've been better.
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5 j4 \5 W) O. D2 \" E# n9 _People usually give positive answers to the question "How are you?" If you give a negative answer like this one, it usually means that you want to tell the listener your sad story. So they'll usually ask what's wrong:
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" C, A0 T7 `( k1 uA: How are you?
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B: I've been better.8 @, F3 n5 X# A# a, Q d( N) s
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A: What's wrong?4 N' c5 z, Z1 C4 s
h9 s6 i9 ^) u, x5 g+ _. I6 gB: I just found out that I'm being laid off.; l/ k% D& V: F- v3 A/ d- Y
& q8 ]5 W: X3 vHow's it going?
* G/ Z/ {/ } c, G& s# IThis question is similar to "How are you". The answers discussed above all work for "How's it going?" as well.: E; ?' P) O- o6 K& m+ {# m8 c
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Here's another answer that will also work for "How's it going", but not for "How are you?"
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2 w. o1 |2 ~" ]% i' O' s* Y1 s, x% CIt's going well. . d+ A, _$ y. w
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This is a friendly, polite answer that's suitable for coworkers, clients, and acquaintances that you haven't seen in a while.
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- g# G S+ W; N7 F2 g6 NWhat's up?
( J/ J& x* @. y# _. x5 DThis question means "What's happening in your life?" But you don't have to answer honestly. If you don't want to start a long conversation, you can use one of these standard replies:
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- p6 I- R- z) t( zNothing much.
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This is the most common answer. You can follow it by sharing something interesting that's happening: "Nothing much. Just getting ready for Vanessa's graduation.", ~4 v0 U* y& s7 W( E
4 M6 E2 |8 r$ J" r2 b6 k& gNot a lot.
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9 T* ?6 a( y% f4 j+ b* p3 NThis is another really common answer. It's just a bit fresher than "Nothing much" because it's a little less common.- }% U* Z2 e4 V6 q1 D: r
3 r" S" S0 Q' P1 ^3 C3 {9 YNothing.
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. n5 H! ^- ?6 o. Z) E! l0 cThis is more to-the-point. It might make you seem a little angry or rude.
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$ R; f: X7 B x! zOh, just the usual.
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Answer this way if you do mostly the same things each day.
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Just the same old same old.% f2 Q' K% Y1 X# b8 ^, o& T
( D4 D+ n% b: ^) D& u4 tThis phrase means that you're doing the same things every day, and you're a little bored of it.. }, i I; p+ R* y3 l
9 B% D! L) ?" g2 ~9 E; _+ z: VOh gosh, all kinds of stuff!
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You can answer this way if your life has been really busy and exciting lately.7 K* ~1 M6 Y4 N, A2 U
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What's happening?8 q8 ~: l. D- j. |9 O
This question means the same thing as "What's up" and can be answered in the same way.& D/ y, o& u- H% W: e, X
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