Text A Is Your English Too English?English may be the language of international business but as Alison Thomas reports, it’s 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 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. Soon 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-native 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 Reid’s advice. “Don’t over-complicate the message. Reduce what you’re saying to manageable chunks.” Reid always tells people to limit themselves to one idea per sentence. “It’s also important to s low 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 expressions 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 That’s 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 humour 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 case. 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 understanding of their own language and how others might interpret it.Task 1At the very beginning of this unit, you’ve learned the techniques ofguessing the meaning of unfamiliar words from context clues. Read Text A and choose the most probable meaning for the following 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, 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. eventC. promotion5. improve (Para. 6, Line 7) :A. to make something difficultB. to make something less importantC. to make something betterTask 2Choose 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 use 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.D. English is the dominant language in international business.3. Jacquie Reid suggests native speakers adapt their use of language and givethe 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 NOT 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 foreigner’s difficulty in using English.D. It’s advisable to speak simple sentences to non-native Englishspeakers.5. What do the British really mean when they say “That’s a good idea, but...”?A. They do think it’s a good idea.B. They reluctantly agree with you.C. They don’t think it’s 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 can’t speak EnglishB. seminars on language and cultural issues prove to be useful.C. participants of the seminars have learnt how to interpret other languageD..participants of the seminars are evaluated to see if they have improved their communication skills7. What is the main idea of the passage？A. More and more people throughout the world will learn to speak English.B. People will learn to speak English better to communicate with nativespeakers.C. Effective business communication depends on good understanding ofboth language and culture.D. It’s necessary to learn English grammar we ll.Task 3: Complete the following sentences with the correct form of the words in brackets.1. A successful company must be to the changing business environment.(adapt)2. Nowadays businesses have to be able to compete . (international)3. She didn’t want to work for a large where everything was soimpersonal. (corporate)4. He has won wide in the field of telecommunication technology.(recognize)5. The manager is , and you can just talk to him if you want to take part in the project. (approach)6. A lot of people make the that poverty does not exist in the developed countries. (assume)7. In my a lot of other banks are going to have the same problem. (estimate)8. We need to set up a committee to deal with Public Relations Crisis. (consult)Task 4Fill in the blanks with the words given below. Change the form where necessary.Interpret bilingual subsidiary idiomatic issueunderstate exceed evaluation consistently employee1. The results of the competition our expectations.2. The author tried to a difficult problem in a simple way to the readers.3. The company was sold according to the of its assets.4. They exaggerated the enemy’s losses and their own.5. Her work is sometimes good, but the problem is she’s not .6.The company is operated by a young manager appointed by the board of directors.7. Canada is a(n) country where two languages are used officially.8. He had the ability to write fluent and English.9. The number of in the company has trebled over the past decade.10.They have published a lot of new books on international .Text B Who Needs English?After years of slogging through her English lessons stumbling over pronunciations and baffling rules of grammar, Kim Chang Eun came up with a better idea.The 33-year-old science teacher switched to Chinese.It wasn’t that the language was easier. But studying Chinese felt like a warm homecoming, a return to a familiar culture and way of thinking. China has exerted great influence on most of Korea’s recorded history and many aspects of the Korean language and culture—from chopsticks to the Confucian family structure—are derived from China.Although South Koreans have their own alphabet they often use Chinese characters for names and in newspapers. Besides, with China on its way to surpassing the United States as South Korea’s largest trading partner, she figured its language would be more advantageous in landing a job in the business world.“When America was the leader of the world we all studied English”, Kim said“Now that China is rising to the top, the interest is swaying toward the Chinese language.” In the last two years, half a dozen private Chinese schools have opened in downtown Seoul and posters for new ones are plastered throughout the subway system.In December, prestigious Seoul National University announced that Chinese had replaced English as the most popular major among liberal arts students. The country’s largest electronics companies recently started offering free Chinese lessons for their employees in anticipation of expanded operations in China. Since 2000, the number of South Koreans studying in China has more than doubled. There were 35,000 as of the end of 2005, making South Koreans the largest nationality of foreign students in China. Meanwhile the number taking the entry exam for Chinese universities has increased threefold according to the Chinese Embassy in Seoul.“People are sending their teenagers to China to learn Chinese. They are really crazy about China,” said Nam Yong Sook , an economist with the South Korea Institute for International Economic Policy. “After all the hype about En glish now everybody wants to learn Chinese.”For South Koreans, the simple fact of the matter is that China is much closer and much bigger than the U.S. Both countries have maintained close economic connection since the diplomatic relation was established.In 2005, China surpassed the United States as South Korea’s largest export market. Bilateral trade between China and South Korea was worth $63.2 billion last year and is expected to reach $100 billion within the next year or two, according to the Chinese Embassy in Seoul.Yang Houlon, Deputy Chief of Mission at the embassy, said “China’s economy is growing, so demand for Chinese speakers is increasing. China and Korea share a lot of common ground. It is easy for us to communicate.”Test 5 Read Text B again and decide whether the following statements are True or False.1.Kim Chang Eun quit learning English and switched to Chinese because Chinese is easier to learn.2. Historically speaking, Korea had been greatly influenced by Chinese culture.3. China has become Korea’s largest trading partner.4. Studying Chinese is becoming popular throughout Asia.5. Chinese has become the most popular major in Seoul National University.6. By the end of 2005, there were 35,000 Korean students studying in China.7. China is becoming more important to South Korean economy and is playing an important role in influencing North Korean behavior, which lead to South Korean favorable sentiment toward China.8. The United States was South Korea’s largest export market in 2005. Practical Reading : English Training IntroductionNantong Dynamic English Training Center was set up by the famous Australian scholar Dongmo Zhang, aiming at meeting the thirst for learning English of some white-collars, successful people and those who have a strong interest in learning English.Our teaching method combines guided multi-media teaching with private classes which have explicit aims towards individuals. Lessons that have specific aims are combined with other lessons in order to help students gain a working knowledge of the English language quickly. Our students’ results prove that our method is both efficient and can be taught to a diverse group of people. Studying is hard but interesting. We believe that with our efforts and your cooperation, you will soon feel the joy of success.Features of Dynamic Training1. Flexible Study Time: Students can decide their own study time according to their own schedule.2. Individual Paced Structure: Students can follow the ir own learning “rhythm” and maintain a steady pace in their language development.3. Teaching Pattern Centered on Students: Students are the center of the class, while teachers act as assistants.4. High Technology Combined with Foreign Teachers With the most advanced multi-media teaching equipment and native foreign teachers, we provide students with English learning environment.5. Personalized Progress Reports: We will carefully m onitor each student’s progress followed by a tutor. Then a periodic report will be generated to show students progress.6. A Real Life Environment: Our private classes, expansion classes, salons and extra curricular activities provide students an ideal environment for learning and using the English language .Students learn how to think in English rather than mechanically translating words, sentences and expressions from Chinese.Q:1. What is the objective of Dynamic English Training?2. What is the feature of its teaching method?3. What is the aim of the combination of different types of lessons?4. What are the characteristics of Dynamic training?5. How does the center provide the students with a real life environment?。
