*Question*
I'm taking a test and have to guess the right answer to the question after the article. Article: When companies do business overseas, they come in contact with people from different cultures.These individuals often speak a different language and have their own particular custom and manners.These differences can create problems. For example, in France, business meetings begin promptly at the designated time and everyone is expected to be there.Foreign business people who are late are often left outside to cool their heels as a means of letting them know the importance of promptness.Unless one is aware of such expected behaviors, he may end up insulting the people with whom he hopes to establish trade relations. A second traditional problem is that of monetary conversions .For example, if a business deal is conducted with Russia, payment may be made in rubles.Of course, this currency is of little value to the American firm.It is, therefore, necessary to convert the foreign currency to American dollars.How much are these Russian rubles worth in terms of dollars? This conversion rate is determined by every market, where the currencies of countries are bought and sold.Thus there is an established rate.although it will often change from day to day.For example, the ruble may be worth 0.75 on Monday and 0.72 on Tuesday because of an announced wheat shortage in Russia.In addition, there is the dilemma associated with converting at 0.72.Some financial institutions may be unwilling to pay this price, feeling that the ruble will sink much lower over the next week.As a result, conversion may finally come at 0.69.These "losses" must be accepted by the company as one of the costs of doing business overseas. A third unique problem is trade barriers.For one reason or another, all countries impose trade barriers on certain goods crossing their borders.Some trade barriers are directly related to exports.For example, the United States permits strategic military material to be shipped abroad only after government permission has been obtained.Most trade barriers, however, are designed to restrict... Question: In France, if business people arrive late, they _ . Options: A: are often insulted B: often suffer from coldness C: are often left outdoors waiting D: are often asked to polish their shoes
**Answer**
C

*Question*
I'm taking a test and have to guess the right answer to the question after the article. Article: Which is sillier: denying we ever went to the moon or trying to convince the true nonbelievers? Once upon a time - July 20, 1969, to be specific - two men got out of their little spaceship and wandered around on the moon for a while.Ten more men walked on the moon over the next three and a half years. Unfortunately, not quite.A fair number of Americans think that this whole business of moon landings really isa fairy tale.They believe that the landings were a big hoax staged in the Mojave Desert, to convince everyone that U.S.technology was the "best" in the whole wide world. Which is the harder thing to do: Send men to the moon or make believe we did? The fact is the physics behind sending people to the moon is simple.You can do it with computers whose entire memory capacities can now fit on chips the size of postage stamps and that cost about as much as, well, a postage stamp.I know you can because we did. However, last fall NASA considered spending $15,000 on a public-relations campaign to convince the unimpressed that Americans had in fact gone to the moon.That idea was mostly a reaction to a Fox television program, first aired in February 2001, that claimed to expose the hoax.The show's creator is a publicity hound who has lived up to the name in more ways than one by hounding Buzz Aldrin, the second man on the moon.Mr.X (as I will call him, thereby denying him the joyous sight of his name in print) recently followed Buzz Aldrin around and called him "a thief, liar and coward" until the 72-year-old astronaut finally lost it and hit the 37-year-old Mr.X in the face. Anyway, NASA's publicity campaign began to slow down.The nonbelievers took the campaign as NASA's effort to hide something while the believers said that $15,000 to convince people that the world was round -- I mean, that we had gone to the moon -- was simply a waste of money.(Actually, the $15,000 was supposed to pay for an article by James E.Oberg, an astronomy writer who, with Aldrin, has contributed to Scientific American.) If NASA... Question: The tone of the article is _ . Options: A: angry B: conversational C: humorous D: matter-of-fact
**Answer**
C

*Question*
I'm taking a test and have to guess the right answer to the question after the article. Article: An emperor was almost eighty years old and knew it was time to choose his successor . Instead of choosing one of his children, he decided on something different. He called all of the young people in the kingdom together one day. He said, "It is time for me to choose the next emperor. I have decided to choose one of you." The kids were shocked! But the emperor continued, "I am going to give each one of you a seed today. One special seed. I want you to plant it and come back one year later with what you have grown from this seed. I will then judge the plants, and the one I choose will be the next emperor!" One boy named Ling received a seed like the others. He went home and planted the seed in a pot, watering it carefully. Every day he would water it and watch to see if it had grown. After about three weeks, some of the other youths began to talk about their plants that were beginning to grow. Ling kept checking his seed, but nothing ever grew. A year finally went by and all the youths brought their plants to the emperor. Ling thought he should be honest about what had happened. So he took his empty pot to the palace. When Ling arrived, he was amazed at the plants grown by other youths. They were beautiful, in all shapes and sizes. When the emperor arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted the young people. Ling just tried to hide in the back. Suddenly, the emperor spotted Ling at the back of the room with his empty pot. He ordered his guards to bring him to the front. Ling was terrified. When Ling got to the front, the Emperor asked his name. "My name is Ling," he replied. All the kids were laughing and making fun of him. The emperor asked everyone to quiet down. He looked at Ling, and then announced to the crowd, "Behold your new emperor! His name is Ling!" Then the emperor said, "One year ago today, I gave you all boiled seeds which would not grow." Question: From the text we know that Ling was _ . Options: A: clever B: honest C: famous D: energetic
**Answer**
B