单选题 .  In China it is relatively usual to ask people their age, but in the West this question is generally regarded as impolite. This is particularly true     1    women, and even more so if the inquirer is a man.
    However, it is very     2    to ask children their age, and some adults may not mind     3    either. In fact, some elderly people are quite happy to     4    their age, especially if they feel they look young     5    their age. Nevertheless, it is not very wise to ask a (n)     6    question like "How old are you?". If elderly people want to talk about their age, and perhaps receive a compliment on how young they look, they may easily bring up the topic themselves, and ask the other person to     7    how old they are.     8    such a situation, it is quite acceptable to discuss age     9    . They normally expect to be complimented on their youthfulness, though rather than     10    that they look very old!
    Even though Westerners do not usually ask people directly how old they are, this does not     10    that they are not interested to know how old other people are. They may ask someone else     12    the information, or they may try to     13    the topic indirectly. Sometimes discussions about educational     14    and the number of years of working experience may provide some clues, but this is not always the     15    .1.