Theriseofmultinationalcorporations(跨国公司),globalmarketing,newcommunicationstechnologies,andshrinkingculturaldifferenceshaveledtoanunparalleledincreaseinglobalpublicrelationsorPR.
Surprisingly,sincemodernPRwaslargelyanAmericaninvention,America’srelationsisbeingthreatenedbyPReffortsinothercountries.Tenyearsago,forexample,theworld’stopfivepublicrelationsagencieswereAmerican-owned.In1991,onlyonewas.TheBritishinparticulararebecomingmoresophisticatedandcreative.ArecentsurveyfoundthatmorethanhalfofallBritishcompaniesincludePRaspartoftheircorporate(公司的)planningactivities,comparedtoaboutone-thirdofU.S.companies.ItmaynotbelongbeforeLondonreplacesNewYorkasthecapitalofPR.
WhyisAmericalaggingbehindintheglobalPRrace?First,Americansasawholetendtobefairlyprovincialandtakemoreofaninterestinlocalaffairs.Knowledgeofworldgeography,forexample,hasneverbeenstronginthiscountry.Secondly,AmericanslagbehindtheirEuropeanandAsiancounterparts(相对应的人)inknowingasecondlanguage.Lessthan5percentofBurson—Marshall’sU.S.employeesknowtwolanguages.OgilvyandMatherhasaboutthesamepercentage.Conversely,someEuropeanfirmshavehalformoreoftheiremployeesfluentinasecondlanguage.Finally,peopleinvolvedinPRabroadtendtokeepaclosereyeoninternationalaffairs.InthefinancialPRarea,forinstance,mostAmericansreadtheWallStreetJournal.Overseas,theircounterpartsreadtheJournalaswellastheFinancialTimesofLondonandTheEconomist,publicationsnotoftenreadinthiscountry.
PerhapsthePRindustrymighttakealessonfromTedTurnerofCNN(CableNewsNetwork).Turnerrecentlyannouncedthattheword“foreign”wouldnolongerbeusedonCNNnewsbroadcasts.AccordingtoTurner,globalcommunicationshavemadethenationsoftheworldsointerdependentthatthereisnolongeranysuchthingsasforeign.
练习题：
Choosecorrectanswerstothequestion:
1.Accordingtothepassage,America’srelationsisbeingthreatenedbecauseof________.
A.anunparalleledincreaseinthenumberofpublicrelationscompanies
B.shrinkingculturaldifferencesandnewcommunicationstechnologies
C.thedecreasingnumberofmultinationalcorporationsintheU.S.
D.increasedeffortsofothercountriesinpublicrelations
2.LondoncouldsoonreplaceNewYorkasthecenterofPRbecause________.
A.BritishcompaniesaremoreambitiousthanU.S.companies
B.BritishcompaniesplacemoreimportanceonPRthanU.S.companies
C.Britishcompaniesareheavilyinvolvedinplanningactivities
D.fouroftheworld’stoppublicrelationsagenciesareBritish-owned
3.Theword“provincial”(Line2,Para.3)means“________”.
B.likepeoplefromtheprovinces
D.interestedinworldfinancialaffairs
4.WelearnfromthethirdparagraphthatemployeesintheAmericanPRindustry________.
A.speakatleastoneforeignlanguagefluently
B.areignorantaboutworldgeography
C.arenotassophisticatedastheirEuropeancounterparts
D.enjoyreadingagreatvarietyofEnglishbusinesspublications
5.WhatPRindustrytakefromTedTurnerofCNN?
A.AmericanPRcompaniesshouldbemoreinternationally-minded.
B.TheAmericanPRindustryshoulddevelopglobalcommunicationstechnologies.
C.PeopleworkinginPRshouldbemorefluentinforeignlanguages.
D.PeopleinvolvedinPRshouldavoidusingtheword“foreign”.
