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】

1.根据第一段最后一句中的Differences between Japanese and Western ways of doing business, however, often bewilder foreign businessmen and make doing business in Japan difficult for foreigners.可知是存在于日本和西方之间的不同的做生意的方式使得做生意有些困难，故答案选A。

2.联系上下文可知由于日本商人的委婉使得人们容易迷惑，故答案选D。

3.根据第三段第一句In the USA, it is easy to say “No” to something one does not want to do“在美国，很容易对不想做的事情说‘不’”可推知美国人怎么想就怎么说，故答案选C。

4.通读全文可知作者旨在让我们了解日本不同于别国的做事风格，以免遇到了尴尬和迷糊，答案B正和此意，故答案选B。