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1、 商务英语阅读 2011-2012 Unit 1 厦门大学嘉庚学院1Text A Is Your English Too English? English may be the language of international business but as Alison Thomas reports, its not only non-native speakers who need to learn how to use it effectively. Ask a Swedish Ericsson executive “Talar du Svenska?” and he may well
2、 reply“ Yes. But only at home. At work I speak English.” Ericsson is one of a growing number of European companies that use English as their official corporate language. These companies recognize and at the same time increase the dominance of English as the language of international communication. S
3、oon the number of speakers of English as a second language will exceed that of native English speakers. Although a company might use English as its official language, its employees are unlikely to be bilingual. Language trainer, Jacquie Reid, thinks we consistently overestimate the fluency of non-na
4、tive speakers. “We always assume that their language skills are as good as ours, so they understand everything we say.” So how should we adapt our use of language and what are common problems. “Simplify it” is Reids advice. “Dont over-complicate the message. Reduce what youre saying to manageable ch
5、unks.” Reid always tells people to limit themselves to one idea per sentence. “Its also important to slow down and not to raise your voice.” Dr. Jasmine Patel, a language consultant at Europhone, says different languages also have their own approaches to dialogue. “The British start with idiomatic e
6、xpressions such as So, should we get down to it? And they understate important issues with phrases such as there could be a slight problem. They also say Thats a good idea, but. when they mean No and they repeatedly use the word get with different meanings. And worst of all they insist on using humo
7、ur which is so culture-specific that no one understands it.” The majority of English native speakers are insensitive to the stress of trying to understand a foreign language in a work environment because they rely on the business world speaking their language. At Ericsson, however, this is not the c
8、ase. At the UK subsidiary, Ericsson Telecommunications, management training courses include seminars on both language and cross-cultural issues. A frequent comment made in follow-up evaluations is that increased awareness has improved communication and more importantly given participants a better un
9、derstanding of their own language and how others might interpret it.商务英语阅读 2011-2012 Unit 1 厦门大学嘉庚学院2Task 1 At the very beginning of this unit, youve learned the techniques of guessing the meaning of unfamiliar words from context clues. Read Text A and choose the most probable meaning for the follow
10、ing words, and explain the clues. 1. exceed (Para. 2, Line 7):A. to be fewer thanB. to be greater thanC. to be better qualified than2. over-complicate (Para. 4, Line 3):A. to make something easyB. to make something short and clearC. to make something too difficult to deal with3. understate (Para. 5,
11、 Line 4) : A. to emphasize a statement, fact, or ideaB. to describe something in a way that makes it seem less important than it really isC. to say something in a strong way4. seminar (Para. 6, Line 5) :A. ClassB. event C. promotion5. improve (Para. 6, Line 7) : A. to make something difficultB. to m
12、ake something less importantC. to make something betterTask 2 Choose the best answer for each of the following questions according to Text A.1.What may “Talar du Svenska” mean？A. Do you speak Swedish?B. Do you speak English?C. Can you speak English?D. Do you use a computer?2. Why do many companies u
13、se English as their official corporate language? A. The employees can only speak English. B. They want to do business with native English speakers. C. The number of speakers of English is large.商务英语阅读 2011-2012 Unit 1 厦门大学嘉庚学院3D. English is the dominant language in international business. 3. Jacquie
14、 Reid suggests native speakers adapt their use of language and give the following advices except that .A. they should raise their voice and speak loudlyB. they should speak slowlyC. they should use simple languageD. they should express one idea in one sentence4.Which of the following statements is N
15、OT true？ A. A foreigner may not understand the humour used by the British. B. The British tend not to say No when they mean No. C. Most British understand foreigners difficulty in using English. D. Its advisable to speak simple sentences to non-native English speakers.5. What do the British really m
16、ean when they say “Thats a good idea, but.”?A. They do think its a good idea.B. They reluctantly agree with you.C. They dont think its a good idea.D. They want to discuss the idea with you.6. At the Ericsson Telecommunications, A. seminars on language is included in management training courses in that managers cant speak EnglishB. seminars on language and cultural issues prove to be useful.C. participants of the seminar
