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本帖最后由 图书馆 于 2015-11-2 20:53 编辑
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How to respond to "How are you?", "What's up?", and other conversation starters7 J! j2 @/ y I; F7 P0 Z8 R! C
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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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; R/ k3 o; o/ ]# u4 F0 s5 i, eYou'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?"
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How are you?8 A$ B$ f j7 J2 H( F! O i
Fine.
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: D9 A; E: z/ F; Y9 ~' qThis 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.; c0 S( Z1 x/ r" P
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Not bad.
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# e$ V" o5 e, k7 JThis is a more friendly-sounding answer than "fine".+ G k# \4 B8 ^6 N& }
9 ?$ O- D& y" a* o2 ]' L9 aFine, thanks.9 A- O0 o1 ?" ~2 b
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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.
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/ {, n; U, a2 WVery well, thanks.
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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.
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7 }# r3 Z4 M0 _1 ?3 g( m# v2 w* WIf 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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Great! 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.8 n3 c" a) r s x1 M t; U" I! D
* B. \5 V! K _6 x0 G! HI'm hanging in there.1 Z0 r H a6 U2 G
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This answer makes it sound like you're having a tough day.7 f$ o& `0 }. R) `$ B
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I've been better.
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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:3 j( \7 X+ I( u* n
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A: How are you?
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B: I've been better.6 l# c9 J7 A8 a5 |8 e( v3 {) T
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A: What's wrong?
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B: I just found out that I'm being laid off.
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) b5 P. Z( W& p. d `How's it going?
A3 p$ l* x1 ^, p& \- b8 [This question is similar to "How are you". The answers discussed above all work for "How's it going?" as well.
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% J r8 i ^$ n2 k% sHere's another answer that will also work for "How's it going", but not for "How are you?"
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It's going well.
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D0 F& F- @: K1 O1 xThis is a friendly, polite answer that's suitable for coworkers, clients, and acquaintances that you haven't seen in a while. 5 p/ V+ i( \9 M9 P; M
" [0 J' A% ~ bWhat's up?' D( Q1 ~0 d F9 }" {& [! r
This 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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Nothing much.; t( j9 } j8 k; B$ ^) a
0 K3 I& \0 I u1 JThis 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.", J" |0 T: ~) N! @1 y" p4 h
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Not a lot.
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, @2 j* Q4 u7 y- q, SThis is another really common answer. It's just a bit fresher than "Nothing much" because it's a little less common.: R2 Y1 O7 H4 [' O1 o! J
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Nothing.
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8 v8 q, b% z# z6 J9 F0 TThis is more to-the-point. It might make you seem a little angry or rude.
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Oh, just the usual.' L ~3 D. }0 w' \3 S" R- O
* U) N1 P* m% d6 j( S. jAnswer this way if you do mostly the same things each day.
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Just the same old same old.! }, e" ?: @' |8 `3 Y% h) x
( ~* q7 A! h# Q$ p3 z$ ZThis phrase means that you're doing the same things every day, and you're a little bored of it.
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Oh gosh, all kinds of stuff!+ @# v3 z Z# T q/ b6 d
% g' J1 w$ Y' h9 s' S6 T! }You can answer this way if your life has been really busy and exciting lately.
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+ i' h9 k- V" n- I, NWhat's happening?5 z# x' R7 b$ ]% h+ p; a
This question means the same thing as "What's up" and can be answered in the same way.$ e' S5 G# t6 g$ m6 n0 R& \8 a; Y
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