Asking for information or help is a very common and necessary activity, especially when we visit a foreign country. So knowing how to ask for information politely is important. In English, "Where are the restrooms?" and "Could you please tell me where the restrooms are?" are similar requests—both are correct English, but the first could sound rude. It’s important to use correct language, but sometimes this alone is not enough—we need to learn how to be polite when we make requests.
In English, just like in Chinese, we change the way we speak when talking with different people. The expressions you use might depend on whom you are speaking to or how well you know them. If you say to your teacher, "Where is my book?" this will sound rude. But if you say, "Excuse me, Mr West. Do you know where my book is?" your question will sound much more polite. On the other hand, it might be alright to say "Where is my book?" in some situations, perhaps with people you know well.
And you would not usually say, "Peter, lend me your pen. " A very direct order like this can sound rude in English. Usually in English polite questions are longer and include extra language, such as "Could you please...?" or "Can I ask...?" It sounds more polite to say, "Peter, could you please lend me your pen?" Sometimes we might even need to spend some time leading in to a question or request. For example, if you stop a stranger in the street, we might first say, "Excuse me. I wonder if you can help me. " or "I’m sorry to trouble you but," before asking them for help.
It might seem that speaking politely is more difficult than being direct, and in a way this may be true. However, in order not to offend people, learning about the language etiquette is just as important as learning grammar or vocabulary. And doing this will also help you become better at English, or any other language you wish to speak.
【小題1】 It’s important to know how to_     _in English when we visit a foreign country.
【小題2】 When you talk with different people, you need to__       _.
【小題3】 Extra words are used to help__      ___.
【小題4】._      _is as important as learning language structure.
【小題5】 How do you say " Don’t smoke here. " politely? "_         __*

When you are in trouble，whom will you tell the problems to and ask for help? Someone has made a survey in a middle school．500 students were asked to choose one answer among friends or classmates，parents，head teacher and teachers．Here is the result．Please read the chart and try to get some information．

1.Most of the students would like to talk about their problems with _________．

A．friends or classmates

B．parents

C．head teacher

D．teachers

2.Less than a quarter of the students chose parents, the most possible reason is __________．

A．parents don't love their children

B．children don't trust（信任） their parents

C．parents aren't able to give good advice

D．sometimes parents and children can't understand each other

3.According to the fact that only 9％of the students wanted to communicate with their head teacher or teachers，what is the best suggestion?

A．The students should work harder．

B．The students should listen to the teachers more carefully．

C．The teachers should be more strict with the students．

D．The teachers should pay more attention to the students' feelings．

4.According to the article which of the following is NOT true?

A. Only a little part(部分) of students ask their teachers for help.

B. Students trust parents more than classmates.

C. About 400 students will ask their friends or classmates for help.

D. All the students come from the same middle school.

5.According to the article we can infer(推斷)：

A．we must be friends to them if we want the children to trust us.

B．Teachers can’t give students enough help.

C．Students have few troubles in school.

D．Students always tell their friends or classmates anything.

Asking for information or help is a very common and necessary activity, especially when we visit a foreign country. So knowing how to ask for information politely is important. In English, "Where are the restrooms?" and "Could you please tell me where the restrooms are?" are similar requests—both are correct English, but the first could sound rude. It's important to use correct language, but sometimes this alone is not enough—we need to learn how to be polite when we make requests.

In English, just like in Chinese, we change the way we speak when talking with different people. The expressions you use might depend on whom you are speaking to or how well you know them. If you say to your teacher, "Where is my book?" this will sound rude. But if you say, "Excuse me, Mr West. Do you know where my book is?" your question will sound much more polite. On the other hand, it might be alright to say "Where is my book?" in some situations, perhaps with people you know well.

And you would not usually say, "Peter, lend me your pen. " A very direct order like this can sound rude in English. Usually in English polite questions are longer and include extra language, such as "Could you please...?" or "Can I ask...?" It sounds more polite to say, "Peter, could you please lend me your pen?" Sometimes we might even need to spend some time leading in to a question or request. For example, if you stop a stranger in the street, we might first say, "Excuse me. I wonder if you can help me. " or "I'm sorry to trouble you but," before asking them for help.

It might seem that speaking politely is more difficult than being direct, and in a way this may be true. However, in order not to offend people, learning about the language etiquette is just as important as learning grammar or vocabulary. And doing this will also help you become better at English, or any other language you wish to speak.

1. It's important to know how to_     _in English when we visit a foreign country.

2. When you talk with different people, you need to__       _.

3. Extra words are used to help__      ___.

4.._      _is as important as learning language structure.

5. How do you say " Don't smoke here. " politely? "_         __*