Learning to communicate well is a skill you will use all your life． You need this skill in your personal life to express your feelings to friends and family members． You need to be able to communicate well in school， too． Your future job success may also depend on your ability to communicate．

Kinds of Communication

There are two main kinds of communication． The first kind is verbal communication（ 语 言 交 流 ）． It includes the use of words to send information． Speaking and writing are both forms of verbal communication．

Nonverbal communication（ 非语言交流） includes any means of sending a message that does not use words． Your appearance， body language and the way you react are all forms of nonverbal communication．

Global（全球的） Connections

Communication Differences

Western cultures value direct eye contact（交流 ） and train kids to "look people in the eye"． But Japanese， African， and many Latin American cultures avoid eye contact to show respect．

Go Green

Green Technology

Have you ever considered computers to be green technology？ Think about all the trees needed to make paper for books and your written activities． The ability to transfer（ 转 移 ） the written tasks to a computer makes it quite an environmentally friendly invention．

Community Connections

Good Manners

It is easy to have good manners if you try to think of others first． If someone new joins your group of friends or moves into your neighborhood， make a self﹣introduction first． Make him or her feel welcome． Help someone who needs a hand． Hold the door open for the person behind you．

Being an Active Listener

Communication is a two﹣way process． Sometimes you are the sender and sometimes you are the receiver． To receive the messages clearly， it helps to be an active listener． Active listening is a communication skill in which the listener shows a clear understanding of what a person is saying． You can do thisin several ways．

◆Repeat what you think the speaker is saying．

◆Let the speaker know you are listening by nodding or shaking your head．

◆If the message you receive is not clear， ask questions．

◆Listen before answering．

◆Do not interrupt（打断）． Allow the speaker to finish what he or she has to say．

（1）Please translate the underlined（划线的） sentence into Chinese．（不超过 25 个汉字）

　                                                   　．

（2）Why are computers mentioned when talking about verbal communication？

　                                                   　．

（3）Which good nonverbal communication behaviors are given in the passage？ （One or two examples are OK） 　                                                　．

（4）In the passage， the underlined word "this" refers to（指） 　            ．

（5）After reading the passage， what do you think of your communication skills？ Why do you think so？ 　 　                                                   　．