Break the ice 指让彼此不认识的人感到更轻松。一个笑话、问题或游戏让陌生人不再拘谨、开始交谈时，就可以用这个表达。注意动词是 break，不能在这个习语中换成 melt。它属于口语，适合 IELTS Speaking；作文里可写 help people feel at ease。
什么情境适合说 break the ice？
写一句英语，检查习语是否适合当前情境，以及哪里需要修改。
本次检查比平时稍久，完成后反馈会自动显示在这里。
break the ice + with + joke/question; break the ice + by + -ing; something + breaks the ice
- Our teacher broke the ice on the first day by asking everyone about their favourite food.
- At the conference dinner, my neighbour broke the ice with a joke about the long speeches.
- To break the ice, the host asked each guest to share one surprising fact about themselves.
修改原因
修改前His funny story about the airport melted the ice at the start of the meeting.
修改后His funny story about the airport broke the ice at the start of the meeting.
气氛热起来，冰就融化，melt the ice 听起来似乎有道理。但这个习语的固定动词是 break。修改把 melted 换成 broke，其他部分不变。
名词 icebreaker 来自这个习语，指会议开始时帮助大家相互认识的小游戏、问题或笑话：We started the workshop with a quick icebreaker. Icebreaker 也指能破开冰层行驶的破冰船。
动手练习
At the start of the workshop, the trainer asked everyone to name their favourite film to ___.
查看答案
break the ice — 培训师想让参与者放松并开始交谈，所以选 break the ice。Break the news 指告诉别人重要消息，常常是坏消息：She broke the news to her parents。这里没有人在宣布这类消息。
回想一次身边都是陌生人的经历，例如第一天上班、参加课程或朋友的婚礼。写出谁让大家放松下来，以及对方具体说了什么或做了什么。
On my first day at the new office, my manager broke the ice by showing everyone photos of her very lazy cat.
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