On Talking
Guidance for Reciting
Though the proverb goes like“Talking mends no holes”，talking actually is a good way to soothe the savage beast in one's mind.
Silence is unnatural to man. He begins life with a cry and ends it in stillness. In the interval he does all he can to make a noise in the world. Even his conversation is in great measure a desperate attempt to prevent a dreadful silence. He knows that ninety-nine percent of human conversation means no more than the buzzing of a fly，but he longs to join in the buzz and to prove that he is a man and not a wax-work figure. The object of conversation is not，for the most part，to communicate ideas：it is to keep up the buzzing sound. Most buzzing，fortunately，is agreeable to the ear，and some of it is agreeable even to the mind. Those who despise the weather as a conversational opening seem to me to be ignorant of the reason why human beings wish to talk. Very few human beings join in a conversation in the hope of learning anything new.
Notes
1.interval [5intEvEl] n.间隔
2.buzz [bQz] n.嗡嗡声
闲话聊天
诵读导言
虽然谚语说“空谈无补”，但是聊天不失为一种舒缓心情的途径。
沉默有悖于人的天性。他的生命以一声啼哭开始，而在静默中结束。从生到死，他竭力要在世上弄出点声气来。甚至他与人交谈也多半是拼命想要避免那可怕的沉寂。他明知人类交谈百分之九十九的内容不过像一阵苍蝇的嗡嗡声而已，偏又渴望着加入其中以证实自己并非一尊苍白的蜡像。绝大多数谈话的目的不在于交流思想：而是为了让那嗡嗡声得以延续下去罢了。所幸者，多数嗡嗡声闻之可以悦耳，更何况有一些思之还足以赏心呢。在我看来，那些对以天气作为开场的谈话嗤之以鼻者，连人类为何要交谈都一无所知。没有几人参加交谈是为了汲取新知。
口语点津
“Buzz words”是流行语的意思；
严格说来，“open the door for you”指的是你亲自去把门打开，但现在许多公寓通常都是用对讲机的按钮来打开外面的门，所以如今表达“开门让访客进来”就用“buzz someone in”。反过来，如果你去拜访别人则可以说“Could you buzz me in？”。
