I'm taking a test and have to guess the right answer to the question after the article. Article: At 21,Ricardo Semler became boss of his father's business in Brazil,Semco,which sold parts for ships. Semler Junior worked like a mad man,from 7:30 am,until midnight every day. One afternoon,while touring a factory in New York,he broke down. The doctor who treated him said,"There's nothing wrong with you. But if you continue like this, you'll find a new home in our hospital. "Semler got the message. He changed the way he worked. In fact,he changed the ways his employees worked too. He let his workers take more responsibility so that they would be the ones worrying when things went wrong. He allowed them to set their own salaries,and he cut all the jobs he thought were unnecessary,like receptionists and secretaries. This saved money and brought more equality to the company. "Everyone at Semco,even top managers,meets guests in reception,does the photocopying,sends faxes,types letters and dials the phone." He completely reorganized the office:instead of walls,they have plants at Semco,so bosses can't shut themselves away from everyone else. And the workers are free to decorate their workspace as they want. As for uniforms,some people wear suits and others wear T-shirts. Semco has flexible working hours:the employees decide when they need to arrive at work. Also,Semco lets its workers use the company's machines for their own projects,and makes them take holidays for at least thirty days a year. It sounds perfect,but does it work? The answer is in the numbers:in the last six years,Semco's revenues have gone from $35 million to $212 million. The company has grown from eight hundred employees to 3,000. Why? Semler says it's because of "peer pressure". Peer pressure makes employees work hard for everyone else. If someone isn't doing his job well,the other workers will not allow the situation to continue. In other words,Ricardo Semler treats his workers like adults rather than children, and expects them to act like responsible adults. And they do. Question: Semler made a variety of changes in his company Except that _ . Options: A: the number of the employees is reduced to save money B: the employees can take only 30 days off for holiday every year. C: flexible working hours were introduced D: the employees enjoyed a lot of freedom
B
I'm taking a test and have to guess the right answer to the question after the article. Article: Successful people in international business understand the cultures of other countries and learn to change their practices in different cultures. They understand the importance of avoiding business decisions based on misconceptions--mistaken ideas. One cause of misconceptions is ethnocentrism, the belief that one's own culture's way of doing things is better than the way of other cultures. It's ethnocentrism that leads to failure in international business. To avoid ethnocentrism, it's necessary to study the different elements of culture: language, values and attitudes, and customs and manners. Language A. knowledge of the local language can help international business people in four ways. First, people can communicate directly. Second, people are usually more open in their communication with someone who speaks their language. Third, an understanding of the language allows people to infer meanings that are not said directly. Finally, knowing the language helps people to understand the culture better. Values are people's basic beliefs about the difference between right and wrong, good and bad . An attitude is a way of thinking or acting. Values and attitudes influence international business. For example, many people in the United States believe that chocolate from Switzerland is better than chocolate from other countries, and they buy a lot of it. Customs and manners Customs are common social practices. Manners are ways of acting that the society believes are polite. For example, in the United States, it is the custom to have salad before the main course at dinner, not after. It's not acceptable to talk with food in mouth at table. Failure to understand the customs and manners of other countries will bring difficulty selling their products. Orange juice as a breakfast drink of an American company in France doesn't sell well because the French don't usually drink juice with breakfast. Question: What would be the best title for the text? Options: A: Misconceptions in Business B: Basic Beliefs in Business C: International Business Culture D: Successful International Business
C
I'm taking a test and have to guess the right answer to the question after the article. Article: The evidence for harmony may not be clear in some families. But it seems that four in five young people now get on with their parents, which is the opposite of the popularly- held image of unhappy teenagers locked in their room after endless family quarrels. An important new study into teenage attitudes surprisingly shows that their family life is more harmonious than it has ever been in the past. "We were surprised by just how positive today's young people seem to be about their families, "said one member of the research team. "They're expected to be rebellious and selfish but actually they have other things on their minds; they want a car and material goods, and they worry about whether school is serving them well. There's more negotiation and discussion between parents and children, and children expect to take part in the family decision-making process. They don't want to rock the boat. " So it seems that this generation of parents is much more likely than parents of 30 years ago to treat the children as friends. "My parents are happy to discuss things with me and willing to listen to me, "says 17-years-old Daniel Lazall. "I always tell them when I'm going out clubbing. As long as they know what I'm doing, they're fine with it. "Susan Crome, who is now 21, agrees. "Looking back on the last 10 years, there was a lot of what you could call negotiation. For example, as long as I'd done all my homework, I could go out on a Saturday night. But I think my grandparents were a lot stricter with my parents than that. " Maybe this positive view of family life should not be unexpected. It is possible that the idea of teenagers' rebellion is not rooted in real facts. A researcher comments, "Our surprise that teenagers say they get along well with their parents comes because of a brief period in out social history when teenagers were regarded as different beings. But that idea of rebelling and breaking away from their parents really only happened during that one time in the 1960s when everyone rebelled. The normal... Question: What is the passage mainly about? Options: A: Negotiation in family B: Education in family C: Harmony in family D: Teenage trouble in family
C