Newtechnologylinkstheworldasneverbefore.Ourplanethasshrunk.It’snowa“globalvillage”wherecountriesareonlysecondsawaybyfaxorphoneorsatellitelink.And,ofcourse,ourabilitytobenefitfromthishigh-techcommunicationsequipmentisgreatlyenhancedbyforeignlanguageskills.
Deeplyinvolvedwiththisnewtechnologyisabreedofmodernbusinesspeoplewhohaveagrowingrespectfortheeconomicvalueofdoingbusinessabroad.Inmodernmarkets,successoverseasoftenhelpssupportdomesticbusinessefforts.
Overseasassignmentsarebecomingincreasinglyimportanttoadvancementwithinexecutiveranks.Theexecutivestationedinanothercountrynolongerneedfearbeing“outofsightandoutofmind.”Heorshecanbesurethattheoverseaseffortiscentraltothecompany’splanforsuccess,andthatpromotionsoftenfolloworaccompanyanassignmentabroad.Ifanemployeecansucceedinadifficultassignmentoverseas,superiorswillhavegreaterconfidenceinhisorherabilitytocopebackintheUnitedStateswherecross-culturalconsiderationsandforeignlanguageissuesarebecomingmoreandmoreprevalent(普遍的).
Thankstoavarietyofrelativelyinexpensivecommunicationsdeviceswithbusinessapplications,evensmallbusinessesintheUnitedStatesareabletogetintointernationalmarkets.
Englishisstilltheinternationallanguageofbusiness.Butthereisanever-growingneedforpeoplewhocanspeakanotherlanguage.Asecondlanguageisn’tgenerallyrequiredtogetajobinbusiness,buthavinglanguageskillsgivesacandidatetheedgewhenotherqualificationsappeartobeequal.
Theemployeepostedabroadwhospeaksthecountry’sprincipallanguagehasanopportunitytofast-forwardcertainnegotiations,andcamhavetheculturalinsighttoknowwhenitisbettertomovemoreslowly.Theemployeeatthehomeofficewhocancommunicatewellwithforeignclientsoverthetelephoneorbyfaxmachineisanobviousassettothefirm.
Choosecorrectanswerstothequestion:
1.Whatistheauthor’sattitudetowardhigh-techcommunicationsequipment?
2.Withtheincreaseduseofhigh-techcommunicationsequipment,businesspeople________.
A.havetogetfamiliarwithmoderntechnology
B.aregainingmoreeconomicbenefitsfromdomesticoperations
C.areattachingmoreimportancetotheiroverseasbusiness
3.Inthispassage,“outofsightandoutofmind”(Lines2-3,Para.3)probablymeans________.
A.beingunabletothinkproperlyforlackofinsight
B.beingtotallyoutoftouchwithbusinessathome
C.missingopportunitiesforpromotionwhenabroad
D.leavingallcareandworrybehind
4.Accordingtothepassage,whatisanimportantconsiderationofinternationalcorporationsinemployingpeopletoday?
A.Connectionswithbusinessesoverseas.
B.Abilitytospeaktheclient’slanguage.
5.Theadvantageofemployeeshavingforeignlanguageskillsisthattheycan________.
A.bettercontrolthewholenegotiationprocess
B.easilyfindnewapproachestomeetmarketneeds
C.fast-forwardtheirproposalstoheadquarters
D.easilymakefriendswithbusinesspeopleabroad
