When companies do business overseas, they come in contact with people from different cultures. These individuals often speak a different language and have their own particular custom and manners.  These differences can create problems.

For example, in France, business meetings begin immediately at the scheduled time and everyone is expected to be there. Foreign business people who are slow in acting are often left outside to cool their heels as a means of letting them know the importance of promptness（準時）. Unless one is aware of such expected behaviors he may end up insulting the people with whom he hopes to establish trade relations.

A second traditional problem is that of monetary conversions（貨幣兌換）. For example, if a trade is conducted with Russia, payment may be made in rubles.  Of course, this particular type of money used in Russia is of little value to the American firm. It is, therefore, necessary to exchange the foreign money to American dollars.  How much are these Russian rubles worth in terms of dollars?   This exchange rate is determined by every market, where the money of countries are bought and sold. Thus there is an established rate, although it is often different from day to day.  For example, the ruble may be worth 0.75 on Monday and 0.72 on Tuesday because of an announced wheat shortage in Russia.  In addition, there is the problem associated with exchange at 0.72.  Some financial institutions may be unwilling to pay this price, feeling that the ruble will sink much lower over the next week. As a result, exchange may finally come at 0.69. These "losses" must be accepted by the company as one of the costs of doing business overseas.

A third unique problem is trade barriers.  For one reason or another, all countries impose trade barriers on certain goods crossing their borders. Some trade barriers are directly related to exports. For example, the United States permits strategic military material to be shipped abroad only after government permission has been obtained.  Most trade barriers, however, are designed to restrict import. Two of the most common import barriers are quotas and tariffs.

 

76. The best title for the passage would be ___.

A. How to Succeed in International Trade

B. Monetary Conversion

C. Trade Barriers

D. Unique Problems in International Trade

77. In France, slow business people ___.

A. are often insulted

B. often suffer from coldness

C. are often left outdoors waiting

D. are often asked to polish their shoes

78. According to the passage, exchange rates ___.

A. seldom change

B. are determined by financial institutions

C. are agreed upon by two trading countries

D. vary from day to day

79. Which of the following is not true according to the passage?

A. Misunderstanding may occur because of the culture differences.

B. Exchange rate can bring losses when doing international trade.

C. Most trade barriers are designed to restrict import.

D. All the exports must get the permission of the government.  .

 

76.D    77.C   78.D       79.D

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科目：高中英語 來源：浙江省模擬題 題型：閱讀理解

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      My newly-rented small apartment was far away from the centre of London and it was becoming
essential for me to find a job, so finally I spent a whole morning getting to town and putting my name
down to be considered by London Transport for a job on the underground. They were looking for
guards, not drivers. This suited me. I couldn't drive a car but thought that I could probably guard a train,
and perhaps continue to write my poems between stations. The writers Keats and Chekhov had been
doctors. T.S. Eliot had worked in a bank and Wallace Stevens for an insurance company. I'd be a
subway guard. I could see myself being cheerful, useful, a good man in a crisis. Obviously I'd be
overqualified but I was willing to forget about that in return for a steady income and travel privileges-those being particularly welcome to someone living a long way from the city centre.
     The next day I sat down, with almost a hundred other candidates, for the intelligence test. I must have
done all right because after about half an hour's wait I was sent into another room for a psychological test. This time there were only about fifty candidates. The interviewer sat at a desk. Candidates were signaled
forward to occupy the seat opposite him when the previous occupant had been dismissed, after a greater
or shorter time. Obviously the long interviews were the more successful ones. Some of the interviews
were as short as five minutes. Mine was the only one that lasted a minute and a half.
     I can remember the questions now: "Why did you leave your last job?" "Why did you leave your job
before that?" "And the one before that?" I can't recall my answers, except that they were short at first
and grew progressively shorter. His closing statement, I thought, revealed a lack of sensitivity which
helped to explain why as a psychologist, he had risen no higher than the underground railway. "You've
failed the psychological test and we are unable to offer you a position."
     Failing to get that job was my low point. Or so I thought, believing that the work was easy. Actually,
such jobs - being a postman is another one I still desire - demand exactly the sort of elementary yet
responsible awareness that the habitual dreamer is least qualified to give. But I was still far short of full
self-understanding. I was also short of cash.
1.The writer applied for the job chiefly because ________.
A. he wanted to work in the centre of London    
B. he could no longer afford to live without one
C. he was not interested in any other available job  
D. he had received some suitable training
2. The writer thought he was overqualified for the job because ________.
A. he often traveled underground
B. he had written many poems
C. he could deal with difficult situations
D. he had worked in a compa
3. The length of his interview meant that _________.
A. he was not going to be offered the job      
B. he had not done well in the intelligence test
C. he did not like the interviewer at all        
D. he had little work experience to talk about
4. What does the writer realize now that he did not realize then?
A. How unpleasant ordinary jobs can be.
B. How difficult it is to be a poet.
C. How unsuitable he was for the job.
D. How badly he did in the interview.
5. What's the writer's opinion of the psychologist?
A. He was very aggressive(有進取心的).
B. He was unhappy with his job.
C. He was quite inefficient.
D. He was rather unsympathetic.

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