Knowing Eight Questions You Should Not Ask When you are having a small talk with most Western business people, you should try not to ask them the following eight questions. How old are you? Age is a (1)______ to most Westerns, especially those above 25. Obviously, this is a taboo (2)______ for small talk. How much do you make? Salary is another taboo topic in Western (3)______. Even close friends don't know each other's salary and seldom talk about it.