Rome had the forum. London has Speaker’s Corner. Now always-on-the-go New Yorker has Liz and Bill. Liz and Bill, two college graduates in their early 20s, have spent a whole year trying to have thousands of people talk to them in the subway station and on busy street corners. Just talk. Using a 2-feet-high sign that says, “Talk to Me,” they attract conversationalists, who one evening included a mental patient, and men in business suits. They don’t collect money. They don’t push the religion. So what is the point? “To see what happens,” said Liz. “We simply enjoy life with open conversation（交流）.” Shortly after the September 11, 2001 attacks, they decided to walk from New York city to Washington, a 270-mile trip. They found they loved talking to people along the way and wanted to talk with the strangers after their return. “It started as a crazy idea,” Liz said. “We were so curious about all the strangers walking by with their stories. People  will talk to us about anything: their jobs, their clothes, their childhood, anything.”Denise wanted to talk about an exam she was going to take. She had stopped for the second time in two days, to let two listeners know how it went. Marcia had lost her husband to a serious disease. “That was very heavy on my mind,” Marcia said. “To be able to talk about it to totally strangers was very good,” she  explained.To celebrate a year of talking, the two held a get-together in a city park for all the people they had met in the past year. A few hundred people showed up, as well as some television cam  eramen and reporters.They may plan more parties or tried to attract more people to join their informal talks. Some publishers have expressed their interest in the book, something they say they’ll consider. 小题1:What did Liz and Bill start  doing after September 200 1?
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