General English Level 5 GELEV5 Unit 01 Topic 03.doc Examples 4 Listen to the examples. 1. Are you a friend of John’s? Yes, we went to school together. 2. Do you know Sophie? No, but I'm a friend of Matt's. 3. How do you know Mathew? e used to live together when we were students. Asking general questions We can ask people general questions about their lives - for example, where they live, where they come from, what they do, what they like and dislike. These questions invite people to talk about themselves, and keep a conversation going. When we talk about these topics it is called small talk. George and Keith say: George: Where are you from Keith? Keith: Canada. I came here for work three years ago. George: Canada, hey? Do you like it here? Keith: Yes. My life is wonderful here. George asks Keith general questions about his life. These questions keep the conversation going. In situations where we are meeting people for the first time or at parties or social events we usually don't talk about topics that people have strong opinions about, like politics, religion or money. 25 QUESTLANGUAGE