Question

Close contacts between Japan and the rest of the world were created in the twentieth century. In the last forty years, business contacts between Japan and the West have become very important. Many foreign companies now have offices in Japan and Japanese businessmen do business around the world. Differences between Japanese and Western ways of doing business, however, often bewilder foreign businessmen and make doing business in Japan difficult for foreigners.

The American businessman, for example, wants to start talking business immediately. He does not want to wait. The Japanese businessman, on the other hand, likes to arrive at decisions after giving them serious thought. Another thing foreign businessmen have difficulty in understanding is when a Japanese means “Yes” or “No”. This is because of cultural differences between Japanese and Western society(社会), Which make it difficult for a Japanese to say “No” directly.

In the USA, it is easy to say “No” to something one does not want to do. But in Japan, it is very difficult to say “No”. To refuse an invitation or a request(请求) with “No” is felt to be impolite. It is thought to be selfish and unfriendly. So instead of saying “No” directly, the Japanese have developed many ways to avoid(避免) saying “No”. These can help them avoid hurting other people’s feelings. However, this often makes their ways of doing business rather difficult for foreigners to understand and follow.

1.What often makes foreigners feel difficult to do business in Japan?

A. Their different ways of doing business.

B. Their different lifestyles.

C. The fact that the Japanese never say “No”.

D. The fact that the Japanese are slow to take action.

2.Which of the following is the closest in meaning to the underlined expression “bewilder foreign________businessmen” in Paragraph One?

A. cause foreign businessmen to change their minds.

B. give a feeling of surprise to foreign businessmen.

C. attract foreign businessmen’s attention.

D. make foreign businessmen think wrongly.

3.What fact does the passage lead you to believe?

A. American businessmen do things more slowly than Japanese ones.

B. American businessmen like to say “Yes” and “No”.

C. Americans usually say what they are thinking.

D. Americans do not say what they think or feel clearly.

4. From the passage we can infer(推断) that __________.

A. Japanese businessmen are good at business

B. foreign businessmen should try to know Japanese ways of doing business

C. foreign businessmen must be more polite

D. you must learn from Japanese businessmen if you want to succeed

Answer

1.A

2.D

3.C

4.B

【解析】

试题分析：短文大意：日本和世界其他国家之间的密切接触者在第二十世纪创建。在过去的四十年中，日本和西方之间的业务往来，已成为非常重要的。许多外国公司和日本商人在世界上做生意，现在在日本设立办事处。然而，日本和西方做生意的方式是有差异的。这往往使外国商在日本做生意是困难的。

1.A细节理解题。根据Differences between Japanese and Western ways of doing business, however, often bewilder foreign businessmen and make doing business in Japan difficult for foreigners.可知外国商人感到在日本做生意难是因为日本和西方国家做生意的方式不同，所以选A。

2.D细节理解题。bewilder foreign businessmen的意思是使外国商人迷惑，也就是说常常使外国商人产生错误的想法，所以选 D。

3.C细节理解题。根据第三段首句In the USA， it is easy to say “No” to something one does not want to do. But in Japan， it is very difficult to say “No”可知该文是引导人们认识一个事实：美国人直截了当说出他们的想法，所以选C。

4.B推理判断题。从本文我们可以推知外国商人应该努力了解日本人做生意的方式，所以选B。

考点：政治文化经济类阅读。