Question

Successful people in international business understand the cultures of other countries and learn to change their practices in different cultures. They understand the importance of avoiding business decisions based on misconceptions—mistaken ideas.
One cause of misconceptions is ethnocentrism, the belief that one’s own culture’s way of doing things is better than the way of other cultures. It’s ethnocentrism that leads to failure in international business. To avoid ethnocentrism, it’s necessary to study the different elements（組成部分）of culture: language, values and attitudes, and customs and manners.
Language
A. knowledge of the local language can help international business people in four ways. First, people can communicate directly. Second, people are usually more open in their communication with someone who speaks their language. Third, an understanding of the language allows people to infer meanings that are not said directly. Finally, knowing the language helps people to understand the culture better.
Values are people’s basic beliefs about the difference between right and wrong, good and bad . An attitude is a way of thinking or acting. Values and attitudes influence international business. For example, many people in the United States believe that chocolate from Switzerland is better than chocolate from other countries, and they buy a lot of it.
Customs and manners
Customs are common social practices. Manners are ways of acting that the society believes are polite. For example, in the United States,  it is the custom to have salad before the main course at dinner, not after. It’s not acceptable to talk with food in mouth at table. Failure to understand the customs and manners of other countries will bring difficulty selling their products. Orange juice as a breakfast drink of an American company in France doesn’t sell well because the French don’t usually drink juice with breakfast.
【小題1】A. knowledge of the local language allows international business people _________.
A. to be more open with their customers
B. to have a better idea of their own culture
C. to express their thoughts indirectly
D. to communicate without outside help
【小題2】The act of many people buying chocolate of Switzerland shows the role of ________.

A．a(chǎn)ttitudes

B．values

C．manners

D．customs

【小題3】What would be the best title for the text?

A．Misconceptions in Business

B．Basic Beliefs in Business

C．International Business Culture

D．Successful International Business

【小題4】The author’s purpose of writing this article is to tell people ___________

A．how to take a right attitude in business

B．how to avoid misunderstandings in business

C．how to use a local language in business

D．how to act politely and properly in business

Answer 1

【小題1】D
【小題2】A
【小題3】C
【小題4】B

解析試題分析：本文敘述了成功的生意人之所以能取得成功，一個(gè)重要的原因在于他們理解不同民族的文化，并學(xué)會(huì)了根據(jù)不同的文化而改變自己的行為，即沒有“民族優(yōu)越感”。那么，怎樣才能避免每個(gè)人心中由來已久的“民族優(yōu)越感”呢？本文就語言，態(tài)度和價(jià)值觀及風(fēng)俗習(xí)慣等幾個(gè)方面提出了一些建議。
【小題1】細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)由第二自然段中的First, people can communicate easily一句可知選D。
【小題2】推理判斷題。根據(jù)根據(jù)An attitude is a way of thinking or acting.可知本題故選A。
【小題3】主旨大意題題。根據(jù)由文章的主題段——第二自然段大意可知本題選C。
【小題4】推理判斷題。根據(jù)To avoid ethnocentrism, it’s necessary to study the different elements（組成部分）of culture: language, values and attitudes, and customs and manners.
可知本題選B。
考點(diǎn)：人生百味類短文閱讀。
點(diǎn)評(píng)：做推理判斷類試題時(shí)我們不僅要弄懂文章字面的意思，更重要的是要知道文章潛在的含義，以及作者所給的提示。同時(shí)要對(duì)文章的含義和作者的暗示作合理的猜測和推論。關(guān)鍵是：意思要靠推斷得出，而不是原文照搬。這就要把握住文章的主題思想和每段的內(nèi)容；明確作者的觀點(diǎn)及其寫作該文的目的；分析文章里所給的有關(guān)信息；注意詞匯在詞典里的定義和詞典以外的含義；最后運(yùn)用自己的知識(shí)進(jìn)行由表及里的邏輯推理，挖出文章的伏筆，得出正確的推論。