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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 starters- ]3 s, X5 L/ N' f$ Q5 a6 `! |2 y
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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.5 ?# d5 n6 P9 @
* [5 j$ C; {2 f& l! D# nYou'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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6 Z4 J; F/ ]2 {+ m, A" I: M9 lHow are you?
6 a5 G7 i% F0 vFine.
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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./ N1 s* x" g% o/ K8 n$ ]# Z% H& @
% s, F$ x2 H8 |( LNot bad.; O3 k$ P5 I) D- N- {
. ?: C2 x; ~% x$ \: P/ h5 u0 }This is a more friendly-sounding answer than "fine".( i; n+ Q8 z8 P/ O# w, M" q9 {
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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.( i) o4 r7 M+ k0 {' J/ w ^% s
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Very well, thanks.- E3 b1 Q' U/ B& x5 [3 `9 j
5 a/ u6 ^+ z% }. MA 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.% m4 y: W' x/ P% T: ^2 m
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Pretty good.
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If you don't care as much about grammar, you can answer "Good" or "Pretty good". It's more common and much, much more casual.8 A5 D9 y! \0 \0 A, V6 b$ C
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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.4 V) W5 Z; S8 q7 G e2 ?
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I'm hanging in there.( H6 l U: P2 }) f- c+ s
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This answer makes it sound like you're having a tough day.
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I've been better.
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6 y7 h- u9 ]2 qPeople 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:1 F5 z# b" W+ Q4 a5 I# i% W& R! C
% ?* j( r9 ]: I8 `A: How are you?
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B: I've been better.
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# c2 H* C% e* i: F2 d: |; JA: What's wrong?0 T; g2 z: p2 p, B- a8 l! ?4 v
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B: I just found out that I'm being laid off.- t8 f1 K& J G0 N+ B2 R6 Q9 U
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How's it going?2 C/ b; L# u7 A$ B
This question is similar to "How are you". The answers discussed above all work for "How's it going?" as well.5 X, [2 B- v4 Y9 ^# T" X: f+ Y
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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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) B* i7 J: `! S) Y( W9 ~' J! ^It's going well. 0 X0 N0 m3 _1 J% k3 x) {; m
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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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* ]2 i- _1 e5 q: x: y. y0 c3 mWhat's up?
7 X8 s. ~( ?$ X0 pThis 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.$ E7 g* d, v2 S# \# U$ D1 m2 T* @
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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."+ [( o5 T0 Q. k+ i
8 M; m2 b; y$ \. s2 v8 s: ANot a lot.
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This is another really common answer. It's just a bit fresher than "Nothing much" because it's a little less common.
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3 V G& q. Q- uNothing.7 b. i' ?, z8 Z+ L
( ^2 K* p& c: j7 ~9 a! \This is more to-the-point. It might make you seem a little angry or rude.
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& ?3 s6 R! O$ z" F6 q1 E. L" rOh, 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.1 |3 M' b2 W# n3 U
! _, y4 ?& c ZThis phrase means that you're doing the same things every day, and you're a little bored of it.# L' q t) n, h7 J9 h$ v; Y
Z9 V( X- T8 U4 uOh gosh, all kinds of stuff!
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: @: \. V; ~7 T" x( `You can answer this way if your life has been really busy and exciting lately.
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What's happening?' I0 G N" X" n& r
This question means the same thing as "What's up" and can be answered in the same way.8 j7 b. j* @& r- {9 V6 C$ Y7 s
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