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(变量): language, religion, values and attitudes, manners and customs, aesthetics, technology, education, and social institutions. To deal 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 lie in 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 differences. 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 disappearing.   

    The other school suggests that companies must adjust 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(近视) 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 rivals, know your audience, and know your customer.   

1.According to the passage, which of the following is true?   

A. Business diversity is not necessary.

B. All international managers can learn culture.  

C. Most people do not know foreign culture well.  

D. Views differ on how to treat culture in business world.   

2.According to the author, the model of Pepsi                .   

    A. is different from the model of McDonald’s .

    B. reflect the idea that business is business.  

    C. has converged cultural differences .

    D. shows the reverse of globalization .

3.The two schools of thought               .   

    A. both think dealing with cultural environment is the most complicated problem in business   

    B. both admit the existence of cultural diversity in business world.  

    C. both advocate that different policies be set up in different countries.   

D.both propose that companies should tailor business approaches to individual cultures.

4.This article is supposed to be most useful for those                 .   

    A. who have connections to more than one type of culture

    B. who are interested in researching the topic of cultural diversity  

    C. who want to run business in other countries   

    D. who want to travel abroad 

 

Scientist Says ‘No’ to Human Cloning

“I’ve never met a human worth cloning,” says cloning expert Mark Westhusin from his lab at Texas A&M University. “It’s a stupid endeavor.”

That’s an interesting choice of adjective, coming from a man who has spent millions of dollars trying to clone a 13-year-old dog named Missy. So far, he and his team have not succeeded, though they have cloned two cows and a cat.

They just might succeed in cloning Missy soon — or perhaps not for another five years.

Westhusin's experience with cloning animals leaves him upset by all this talk of human cloning. In three years of work on the Missy project, using hundreds upon hundreds of dog's eggs, the A&M team has produced only a dozen or so embryos carrying Missy's DNA. None have survived the transfer to a surrogate（代孕的）mother. The wastage of eggs and the many spontaneously aborted(流产，发育不全) fetuses（胎）may be acceptable when you're dealing with cats or bulls, he argues, but not with humans. “Cloning is incredibly inefficient, and also dangerous,” he says.

Even so, dog cloning is a commercial opportunity, with a nice research payoff. Ever since Dolly the sheep was cloned in 1997, Westhusin's phone has been ringing with people calling in hopes of duplicating their cats and dogs, cattle and horses. “A lot of people want to clone pets, especially if the price is right,” says Westhusin. Cost is no obstacle for Missy's mysterious billionaire owner; he's put up $3.7 million so far to fund A&M's research.

Contrary to some media reports, Missy is not dead. The owner wants a twin to carry on Missy's fine qualities after she does die. The prototype（原型；雏形）is, by all accounts, athletic, good-natured and supersmart. Missy's master does not expect an exact copy of her. He knows her clone may not have her temperament（气质、性情）. In a statement of purpose, Missy's owner and the A&M team say they are “both looking forward to studying the ways that her clones differ from Missy.”

Besides cloning a great dog, the project may contribute insight into the old question of nature vs. nurture. It could also lead to the cloning of special rescue dogs and many endangered animals.

However, Westhusin is cautious about his work. He knows that even if he gets a dog pregnant, the offspring, should they survive, will face the problems shown at birth by other cloned animals: abnormalities like immature lungs and heart and weight problems~ “Why would you ever want to clone humans,” Westhusin asks, “when we're not even close to getting it worked out in animals yet?”

1.By “stupid endeavor”, Westhusin means to say that ________.

A．human cloning is a foolish undertaking

B．animal cloning is absolutely impractical

C．human cloning should be done selectively

D．animal cloning is not worth the effort at all

2.What does the first paragraph tell us about Westhusin's dog cloning project?

A．Its success is already in sight.

B．It is progressing smoothly.

C．It is doomed to utter failure.

D．Its outcome remains uncertain.

3.By cloning Missy, Mark Westhusin hopes to ________.

A．study the possibility of cloning humans

B．search for ways to modify its temperament

C．find out the differences between Missy and its clones

D．examine the reproductive system of the dog species

4.We learn from the passage that animal clones are likely to have ________.

A．a bad temper

B．defective（有缺陷的、有毛病的）organs

C．immune deficiency

D．an abnormal shape

 

It seems that the Englishmen just cannot live without sports of some kind. A famous French humourist once said that this is because the English insist on behaving like children all their lives. Wherever you go in this country, you will see both children and grown-ups knocking a ball about with a stick or something, as if in Britain men shall always remain boys and women girls! Still, it can never be bad to get exercise, can it?

　　Taking all amateur (业余) and professional sports in Britain into consideration, there can be no doubt that football is at the top of the list. It is called soccer in the United States. The game originated (起源于) in Britain and was played in the Middle Ages or even earlier, though as an organized game, or "association football", it dates only from the beginning of the 19th century.

　　The next is rugby, which is called "football" in the United States. It is a kind of football played by two teams of fifteen players than eleven. In rugby, an oval-shaped ball is used which can be handled as well as kicked. It is a pretty rough game.

　　In summer, cricket is the most popular sport. In fact, it has sometimes been called the English national game. Most foreigners find the game rather slow or even boring, but it enjoys great popularity among the British.

　　Tennis rates high on the list, too. It was introduced into England from France in the 15th century, but it was from England that it spread to practically every country in the world　　Table tennis, or "ping-pong", surely is not played on a great scale as it is in China or Japan. Basketball and volleyball were introduced into Britain during the late 19th century from America and are gaining popularity. Horse-back riding, swimming, rowing and golf all attract a lot of people.

41．The main purpose of Paragraph 1 is to tell us that the English ___________.

　　A．are all sports lovers           B．behave like children

C．like to kick a ball around       D．can remain young all their lives

42．According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true about football and rugby?

　　A．They differ in the shape of the ball.

　　B．They are played by different numbers of players.

　　C．They both can be handled.

　　D．They both can be kicked.

43．The game that was never played in Britain until the late 19th century is _________.

　　A．basketball    B．tennis    C．rugby    D．football

 

  Everyone knows that you can study the English language for years and still not understand a native speaker of English.

  Well, here’s a secret for you: a lot of British people can’t understand each other either! Apart from the different regional accents across the country, language can also differ (不同) among age groups. The words and pronunciations used by young Britons can be very different to those used by adults. This is called “yoof” culture.

  The word “yoof” is a slang (俚语) spelling of “youth”. Some people consider “yoof” to be a negative (消极的) term, since its pronunciation is easier than “youth”. Other people see the term as positive, because it describes how young people are creating their own language, concepts (观念) and identity.

  When parents find it difficult to understand their children, the children can say more things without the censorship (审查) of their parents. In this way, young people are starting to find freedom, independence and self-expression.

   They are creating a “yoof culture”. It is impossible to come up with a complete list of words used by yoof. By the time the list was completed, it would be out of date. New words come and go like fashions.

                                                By A.J. Dalton

1.The point of the article is _____.

  A. to list words used by yoof

  B. to introduce UK yoof culture

  C. to give advice on how to communicate with native English speakers

  D. to explain why it is hard for British people to understand each other

2. According to the article, children are creating a “yoof culture” _______.

  A. to stay cool among their peers

  B. to draw more attention from their parents

  C. to avoid interference of their parents in their lives

  D. to keep up with the fast pace of modern society

3. According to the article, which of the following is TRUE?

  A. The variety of regional accents in the UK is an obstacle to communication.

  B. Some people consider the term “yoof” positive because it is easier to pronounce than “youth”.

  C.A few vocabularies used by yoof are going to be collected in dictionaries.

  D. Yoof culture is getting popular all around the English speaking countries.

4. By saying “Sorted!”, yoof probably means ______.

  A. “I’m very tired.”           B. “I understand.”

  C. “You got it wrong!”      D. “I don’t care!”

 

 

People should be warned against using mobile phones outdoors in stormy weather because they may “be struck by lightning”, according to doctors.

Three experts have described how a teenage girl was struck by lightning while using her phone in a large London park. The girl, aged 15, recovered, but a year later, was still wheelchair-bound and found to be suffering complex physical and emotional problems.
The girl also had a perforate eardrum（打孔耳膜）on the side where she had been holding the mobile phone. She was having general recovery in Northwick Park Hospital, Middlesex.Swinda Esprit, a senior house offi­cer, said that while the brain and muscle damage was similar to that of many lightning victims—who can experience heart attacks on being struck— the ear problems were not.
She said that the damages were particularly relevant for people who might be involved in less seri­ous lightning incidents, who might other­wise recover, but would never get their full hearing back if struck while on the phone.
“We were shocked by the damage, which is why we wanted to draw attention to it,” Dr Esprit said. “A year on and she still was suffering these difficult hearing.”
They added that three other cases had been reported in newspapers in China, South Korea, and Malaysia. In the Malaysian case, a sales executive was killed by lightning while talking on his phone during a thun­derstorm near Kuala Lumpur
“All these events resulted in death,” the doctors wrote. “This rare phe­nomenon is a public health issue, and edu­cation is necessary to stress the risk.”
The Australian Lightning Protection Standard recommends that metallic objects, including cordless or mobile phones, should not be carried out­doors during thunderstorms. However, “the United States National Weather Service says on its website that both are safe to use “because there is no direct path between you and the lightening”.
Paul Taylor, of “the Met Office”, said the ear injuries were a consequence of mobile phones being metal, and not related to radio waves.
Mr. Taylor said that mobile phones should be treated as another piece of metal, similar to carrying coins or wearing rings, and people need to be warned against the possi­ble danger.
【小题1】What do we know about the teenage girl?

A．She was struck by lightning at school.

B．She completely recovered from being struck.

C．She still suffered from mental problems.

D．She had to press her ear all day

【小题2】It can be inferred that damage done by lightening while using mobile phones ______.

A．is mainly in the brain and muscle of the victims

B．can be healed quickly except for heart attacks

C．is less serious because the victims can usually recover

D．is more serious than that when one is not using a mobile phone

【小题3】 Why did doctors stress the risk about using phones outside in lightening?

A．Because more people are faced with it.

B．Because some deaths have been caused.

C．Because lightning is harmful for the brain.

D．Because a teenage girl got killed.

【小题4】We can infer from the last three paragraphs that ______.

A．both cordless and mobile phones are safe to use outside in lightning

B．there is no direct connection between lightning and ear injuries at all

C．opinions differ as to whether it is safe to use mobiles phones in lightning

D．ear injuries are the result of carrying coins or wearing rings in lightning

【小题5】 The purpose in writing this passage is ______.

A．to draw attention to the risk of using mobile phones in lightening

B．to focus on various damages done to lightning victims

C．to tell us the news that a teenage girl was struck by lightning

D．to stress the danger of making phone calls in lightning