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Welcome to English in a Minute!

Ice is frozen water.

But what does it mean if you break it? To Break the Ice

Should you fix broken ice?

To Break the Ice 打破僵局

Anna: Hey, I saw you at my party last night. But you didn't stay very long.

Jonathan: I knew no one. And I didn't have the energy to break the ice with a bunch of new people.

Anna: Asking questions is a good icebreaker.

Jonathan: True. But even if I broke the ice, I didn't have the energy to listen.

"To break the ice" means to start a conversation with someone you don't really know.

In the winter, ships can get stuck in ice.

Smaller ships break the ice to open up passageways.

People can open conversations in the same way.

And that's English in a Minute!