New technology links the world as never before. Our planet has shrunk. It’s now

New technology links the world as never before. Ourplanet has shrunk. It’s now a “global village” where countries are only secondsaway by fax or phone or satellite link. And, of course, our ability to benefitfrom this high-tech communications equipment is greatly increased by foreignlanguage skills.

Deeply involved with this new technology is a kind ofmodern businesspeople who have a growing respect for the economic value ofdoing business abroad. In modern markets, success overseas often helps supportdomestic business efforts.

Overseas assignments are becoming increasinglyimportant to advancement within executive ranks. The executive stationed inanother country no longer need fear being “out of sight and out of mind.” He orshe can be sure that the overseas effort is central to the company’s plan forsuccess, and that promotions often follow or accompany an assignment abroad. Ifan employee can succeed in a difficult assignment overseas, superiors will havegreater confidence in his or her ability to manage back in the United Stateswhere cross-cultural considerations and foreign language issues are becomingmore and more common.

Thanks to a variety of relatively inexpensivecommunications devices with business applications, even small businesses in theUnited States are able to get into international markets.

English is still the international language ofbusiness. But there is an ever-growing need for people who can speak anotherlanguage. A second language isn’t generally required to get a job in business,but having language skills gives a candidate the edge when other qualificationsappear to be equal.

The employee posted abroad who speaks the country’slanguage has an opportunity to fast-forward certain negotiations, and can havethe cultural insight to know when it is better to move more slowly. Theemployee at the home office who can communicate well with foreign customersover the telephone or by fax machine is an obvious asset to the firm.

1.With the increased use of high-tech communicationsequipment, businesspeople ________.

A. are eager to work overseas

B. have to get familiar with modern technology

C. are gaining more economic benefits from domesticoperations

D. are attaching more importance to their overseasbusiness

2.In this passage, “out of sight and out of mind”(Line 3, Para. 3) probably means ________.

A. leaving all care and worry behind

B. being unable to think properly for lack of insight

C. being totally out of touch with business at home

D. missing opportunities for promotion when abroad

3.According to the passage, what is an importantconsideration of international corporations in employing people today?

A. Ability to speak the customer’s language.

B. Connections with businesses overseas.

C. Technical know-how.

D. Business experience.

4.The advantage of employees having foreign languageskills is that they can ________.

A. fast-forward their proposals to headquarters

B. better control the whole negotiation process

C. easily make friends with businesspeople abroad

D. easily find new approaches to meet market needs

试题答案

【答案】

1.D

2.D

3.A

4.B

【解析】

试题