Culture is one of the most challenging elements of the international marketplace. This system of learned behavior patterns characteristic of the members of a given society is constantly shaped by a set of dynamic variables: language, religion, values and attitudes, manners and customs, aesthetics, technology, education, and social institutions.』① To cope with this system, an international manager needs both factual and interpretive knowledge of culture. To some extent, the factual knowledge can be learned; its interpretation comes only through experience.
The most complicated problems in dealing with the cultural environment stem from the fact that one cannot learn culture—one has to live it. Two schools of thought exist in the business world on how to deal with cultural diversity. One is that business is business the world around, following the model of Pepsi and McDonald’s. In some cases, globalization is a fact of life; however, cultural differences are still far from converging.
The other school proposes that companies must tailor business approaches to individual cultures. Setting up policies and procedures in each country has been compared to an organ transplant; the critical question centers around acceptance or rejection. The major challenge to the international manager is to make sure that rejection is not a result of cultural myopia or even blindness.
Fortune examined the international performance of a dozen large companies that earn 20 percent or more of their revenue overseas. The internationally successful companies all share an important quality: patience. They have not rushed into situations but rather built their operations carefully by following the most basic business principles. These principles are to know your adversary, know your audience, and know your customer.
8. According to the passage, which of the following is true?
A. All international managers can learn culture.
B. Business diversity is not necessary.
C. Views differ on how to treat culture in business world.
Ｄ. Most people do not know foreign culture well.
9. According to the author, the model of Pepsi .
Ａ. is in line with the theories of the school advocating the business is business the world around
Ｂ. is different from the model of McDonald’s
Ｃ. shows the reverse of globalization
Ｄ. has converged cultural differences
10. The two schools of thought .
Ａ. both propose that companies should tailor business approaches to individual cultures
Ｂ. both advocate that different policies be set up in different countries
Ｃ. admit the existence of cultural diversity in business world
Ｄ. Both Ａ and Ｂ
11. This article is supposed to be most useful for those .
A. who are interested in researching the topic of cultural diversity
B. who have connections to more than one type of culture
C. who want to travel abroad
D. who want to run business on International Scale
12. According to Fortune, successful international companies .
Ａ. earn 20 percent or more of their revenue overseas
Ｂ. all have the quality of patience
Ｃ. will follow the overseas local cultures
Ｄ. adopt the policy of internationalization
Do you want to live with a strong sense of peacefulness, happiness, goodness, and self-respect? The collection of happiness actions broadly categorized as “honor” help you create this life of good feelings.
Here is an example to show how honorable actions create happiness.
Say a store clerk fails to charge us for an item. If we keep silent, and profit from the clerk’s mistake, we would drive home with a sense of mean excitement. Later we might tell our family of friends about our good fortune. On the other hand, if we tell the clerk about the uncharged item, the clerk would be grateful and thank us for our honesty. We would leave the store with a quiet sense of honor that we might never share with another soul.
Then, what is it to do with our sense of happiness?
In the first case, where we don’t tell the clerk, a couple of things would happen. Deep down inside we would know ourselves as a type of thief. In the process, we would lose some peace of mind and self-respect. We would also demonstrate that we cannot be trusted, since we advertise our dishonor by telling our family and friends. We damage our own reputations by telling others. In contrast, bringing the error to the clerk’s attention causes different things to happen. Immediately the clerk knows us to be honorable. Upon leaving the store, we feel honorable and our self-respect is increased. Whenever we take honorable action we gain the deep internal rewards of goodness and a sense of nobility.
There is a beautiful positive cycle that is created by living a life of honorable actions. Honorable thoughts lead to honorable actions. Honorable actions lead us to a happier existence. And it’s easy to think and act honorably again when we’re happy. While the positive cycle can be difficult to start, once it’s started ,it’s easy to continue. Keeping on doing good deeds brings us peace of mind, which is important for our happiness.According to the passage, the positive action in the example contributes to our ______.
| A．self-respect | B．financial rewards |
| C．advertising ability | D．friendly relationship |
The author thinks that keeping silent about the uncharged item is equal to ______.
| A．lying | B．stealing | C．cheating | D．advertising |
The underlined phrase “bringing the error to the clerk’s attention” means ______.
| A．telling the truth to the clerk |
| B．offering advice to the clerk |
| C．asking the clerk to be more attentive |
| D．reminding the clerk of the charged item |
How will we feel if we let the clerk know her mistake?
| A．We’ll be very excited. |
| B．We’ll feel unfortunate. |
| C．We’ll have a sense of honor. |
| D．We’ll feel sorry for the clerk. |
Which of the following can be the best title of this passage?
| A．How to Live Truthfully |
| B．Importance of Peacefulness |
| C．Ways of Gaining Self-respect |
| D．Happiness through Honorable Actions |
Many times when people hear the words social networking, their brains automatically go to sites such as Twitter or Facebook. However, there are sites for those into social networking and into reading. Sound crazy?, It's really not. If you've ever wanted a site where you can receive book recommendations，follow your favorite authors，and keep up with what your friends are reading, then look no further than Goodreads. com.
Goodreads provides useful services for those in the reading world. It is a site where you can win books by going to giveaways（赠书）and simply entering your information. Some giveaways are even signed by the author. And the books aren't boring，old or torn copies —— many of them are ARC's (Advanced Readers Copies)，for which you can write a short review on the site. Anyone can post reviews of their favorite books or series so that others may feel inclined to read them as well.
Another function of the site is offering book clubs and interest groups. You can have interactive discussions with groups of people reading the same things，sort of like a blog. You can also make friends with people and post statuses similar to Facebook. Your friends can send you book recommendations and you can add them to your shelf if you choose.
Shelves are by far one of the best features on the site. You can categorize（归类） your entire library and put books you want to read on your“to-read” shelf. These virtual（虚拟的）shelves allow you to see what you've read and also let you keep track of the number of books you've read in a year.
You can even read original writing for free because many people post their own writing on the site to gain feedback and advice on how to improve. Anyone can join this site for free and fall in love with not just a book, but a book site as well.People who go to the site Twitter or Facebook mostly want to_______．
| A． get more books to read |
| B． meet more people and make friends |
| C． buy goods for their daily life |
| D． post their book recommendations |
The underlined part“feel inclined" in. Paragraph 3 is the closest in meaning to______.
A. have a desire C. have no difficulty
C. have a possibility D. have no doubtYou can do all of the following things on Goodreads. com EXCEPT_______．
| A． receiving books signed by the authors |
| B． publishing your comments on books |
| C． exchanging your ideas with other people |
| D． buying all kinds of books that you like |
What do we know about the shelves on Goodreads. com?
| A． They are filled with all kinds of books from some libraries. |
| B． The books there are categorized for readers by the site. |
| C． That is where people put books they have read or want to read |
| D． New books will continuously be added to readers by the site. |
It seems like every day there's some new research about whether our favorite drinks are good for us. One day, science says a glass of red wine a day will help us live longer. The next day, maybe not. It seems journalists are pretty interested in wine research and the same might be said for coffee. Now there's been a lot of research into whether coffee's good for our health "the results have really been mixed"，admits Neal Freedman who led the coffee study and published his findings in a medical journal recently. "There's been some evidence that coffee might increase the risk of certain diseases and there's also been maybe more recent evidence that coffee may protect against other diseases as well".
Freedman and his colleagues undertook the biggest study yet to look at the relationship between coffee and health. They analyzed data collected from more than 400，000 Americans ages 50 to 70 participating in the study. "We found that the coffee drinkers had a modestly lower risk of death than the non-drinkers， he said. Here's what he means by "modestly": those who drank at least two or three cups a day were about 10 percent or 15 percent less likely to die for any reason during the 13 years of the study when the researchers looked at specific causes of death, coffee drinking appeared to cut the risk of dying from heart disease, lung disease injuries, accidents and infections.
Now, Freedman stressed that the study doesn't prove coffee can make people live longer .A study like this can never prove a cause-and-effect relationship. All it can really do is to point researchers in the right direction for further investigation. And even if it turns out that coffee is really good for you, scientists have no idea why.According to the first paragraph，reporters would like to know the research findings of_______.
| A． tea | B． beer | C． coffee | D． wine |
According to the passage, which of the following is TRUE?
| A． Freedman and his colleagues hired 400，000 Americans to collect date. |
| B． People who took part in Freedman's research are about 50 to 70 years old. |
| C． About 400, 000 Americans worked for Freedman's team for 13 years. |
| D． People who are 50 to 70 years old seldom drink wffee. |
According to the author, scientists________.
| A． have already proved that coffee is good for human health |
| B． have a long way to go before they find a way to study coffee |
| C． have avoided the cause-and-effect approach to study coffee |
| D． are still unable to figure out why coffee is good for us |
Which of the following can be the best title?
| A． The Magical Effects of Coffee |
| B． Neal Freedman and His Research |
| C． Can Coffee Help You Live Longer? |
| D． A Cup of Coffee A Day Makes Diseases Away |
Writer and teacher Yin Jianli's stories and thoughts about bringing up her daughter
Yuanyuan have been a constant source of inspiration for parents over the past 16 years.
Her book, A Good Mother Exceeds Good Teachers, published by Writers Publishing House, has been a bestseller on Dangdang and Amazon's online platforms
for the past three years. The book helped Yin make the Chinese Writers' Rich List, with 4. 48 million yuan（＄710，000).
Experts say Yin's book provides practical guidance, which makes it popular among parents.
"When the majority of books are either full of bragging about（自吹自擂）the authors' children or outlining big theories that have no foundation in practice, I write books that are practical and easy to follow," Yin writes.
"For example, there was an occasion when Yuanyuan forgot to do her elementary school homework. In such a situation many Chinese parents show their anger and scold their kids,”says Yin, who made an agreement with her husband they would not overly criticize or push their daughter. Instead, Yin encouraged the daughter to make up the homework, which meant staying up until midnight. As a result, she learned to arrange her time better and did not have a harmful reaction to doing homework. Yin's principle of "no parental interference（干涉），and "giving children the opportunity to learn from their mistakes" is described in a number of real-life examples.
Readers say Yin's books improve their children's performance at school, and encourage them to develop good personalities and habits. They believe her books are not only about being good parents but also about growing as parents and individuals.
"When I'm reading books，I keep thinking about what a better personality I would have if my parents had adopted the methods Yin suggests when I was a kid，＂one reader comments in a review on Yin's online blog.The book“A Good Mother Exceeds Good Teachers" has been so popular because______.
| A． it covers many inspiring thoughts about bringing up children |
| B． it outlines big theories from home and abroad |
| C． it provides practical guidance for parents |
| D． it sells at a great discount |
We can learn from the text that Yin Jianli_______．
| A． advocates learning from mistakes |
| B． makes a good living only by writing books |
| C． holds the view that saving your stick spoils your kid |
| D． believes successful education calls for joint efforts from school and family |
It can be implied from the text that________.
| A． Yin's readers are mostly parents |
| B． The book is only available online |
| C． Yin has a great sense of business |
| D． Yuanyuan achieved success thanks to her mother |
Ray Travers sat back at the large desk, and looked around his plush（豪华的）office. He was tired
Ray's eyes stopped at a painting on the wall. It was a gift given by an old friend，Bull，as a farewell gift when he left his hometown He recalled the life spent in that small town; pleasant times. The many hours he spent talking to his good friend, and the tales he was told about hunting in the Africa of old.
Memories flowed back more than ten years; he remembered how he enjoyed hearing about the wonderful hunting，and how he wished he could have shared those times.
Ray opened his desk drawer and brought out a wooden box. He opened the lid and exposed a work of art，a hand-made hunting knife. This was a gift from Bull，given to Ray more than 20 years ago. It was one of the first knives Bull had made, and Ray had called it "Zambezi"，the river where Bull had been so many times.
He closed the box and sat upright at his desk；he was driving himself hard, and deserved a break. Things were going well with the business，everything running smoothly. He could afford a week off！
He went back home. A week in the hometown would be like going back in history. "Man, it's going to be good,”Ray said aloud，as he turned onto the highway and watched the city lights fast disappearing，as he looked in the rearview mirror. The powerful car going its way through the night, headlights piercing（穿透）the darkness. Memories danced through the man's mind. Memories of good times，when he knew what it was to relax, to talk，and to really visit.
Slowly entering town he looked around. Ray sat in his car, looking at the old building，smiling. Inside it was almost as though it was the same people as 15 years ago.We learn from the text that __________.
| A． Ray's old friend, Bull, is a painting artist |
| B． Ray visited Africa together with Bull many times |
| C． Ray and Bull often went hunting together |
| D． Ray left his hometown more than ten years ago |
Which of the following words can best describe Ray's feeling about going back home?
| A． Worried | B． Excited | C． Calm | D． Nervous |
It can be inferred from the text that________.
| A． Ray was a successful businessman |
| B． Ray had a hard time in the hometown |
| C． Ray's hometown was a small remote mountain village |
| D． Ray was the first promising young man in the hometown |
What may the author talk about in the paragraph that follows the text?
| A． Ray's childhood spent in his hometown. |
| B． Why Ray left his hometown alone. |
| C． The situation in Ray's hometown. |
| D． How Ray went into business. |