Question: Question: Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: From bankers to factory staff, employees in the West face a cold  _ of losing their jobs as a global recession  starts to bite. For colleagues in the East, the pain is more likely to come through a pay cut. Human resource experts say cultural differences explain why Asian companies try harder to preserve jobs in difficult times, which will prevent unemployment and may help Asian economies survive at a time of slowing exports. The East Asian attitude may also make it easier for companies to recover quickly from the economic downturn since they will not need to rehire or train new staff, but build up a more loyal and devoted group. "In the Confucian mindset, the right thing to do is to share the burden, which is the sense of collective  responsibility. While in the West, it's more about individual survival," said Michael Benoliel, associate professor of organizational behavior at Singapore Management University (SMU). In contrast, local Western companies from General Motors to Goldman Sachs plan to lay off workers by the thousand, but at the Asian units of Western multinationals or western units of Asian groups, job cuts will probably be less severe. Japan's jobless rate was 4 percent in September, up from 3.8 percent in January, while Hong Kong's was flat at 3.4 percent. But US unemployment is expected to have jumped to 6.3 percent last month from below 5 percent in January. Experts say that while there are noticeable differences in labor practices in East and West, the gap will narrow as more firms become more multinational and competition forces firms to adopt the best practices of rivals from abroad. Question: In which company can we infer the job cuts will be probably the most severe? - A local American group. - A small Japanese company. - A German branch of a Korean multinational. - A Hong Kong's unit of a French company.
Answer: A local American group.

Question: Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: For as long as they can remember Jynne Martin and April Surgent had both dreamed of going to Antarctica.This winter,they each made it to the icy continent as guests of the National Science Foundation(NSF).Bm they didn't go as scientists.Martin is a poet and Surgent is an artist.They went to Antarctica as participants.in the NSF's Artists and Writers program.The NSF is thegovernment agency that funds scientific research in Antarctica.But it also makes it possible for artists,including filmmakers and musicians,to experience Antarctica and contribute their own points of view to our understanding of the continent. The mixing of science and art in Antarctica isn't new.Some of the earliest explorersbrought along painters and photographers.Edward Wilson was a British painter,doctor,and bird expert who journeyed with RobertFalcon Soott on two separate Antamtic expeditionsmore than 100 years ago.Herbert Ponting was a photographer who also accompanied Scott on one of those expeditions.In hundreds of photos,Pontingcaptured the beauty of the continentand recorded the daily lives and heroic struggles of the explorers. Today's scientists write articles forscientificjournals.Unlike theearly explorers'journals,scientific papers can now be very difficult for non-scientists to understand.Writers in Antarctica workto explain the research to the public.Peter Rejcek is editor,writer,and photographer for the Antarctic Sun,an onlinemagazine devoted to news about the U.S.Antarctic Program.Rejeck began his career in the Antarctic in 2003 by spending a year at the South Pole.He has returned everyyear since,interviewing,scientists about research at Palmer,McMurdo,and South Pole stations. There are also scientists in Antarctica who work hardto explain their research to the public.Scientist Diane McKnight wrote The Lost Seal,a children's book that explains the research she and others are doing in an unusual ice-free area in Antarctica called the Dry Valleys. Antarctica is full of stories and wonders that are scientific,historic.and... Question: By mentioning Diane McKnight,the author may try to suggest that  _  . - scientists should explain their research to children - writers are not necessary since scientists can tell stories as well - telling stories to children is more important than knowing the truth - no matter what role we play,we can work together to appreciate Antarctica
Answer: no matter what role we play,we can work together to appreciate Antarctica

Question: Read the following article and select the best answer. Article: "Does my smile look big in this?" Future fitting-room mirrors in clothing stores could subtly adjust your reflection to make you look - and hence feel - happier, encouraging you to like what you see. That's the idea behind the Emotion Evoking System developed by Shigeo Yoshida and colleagues at the University of Tokyo in Japan. The system can manipulate, or in other word, control your emotions and personal preferences by presenting you with an image of your own smiling or frowning face. The principle that physiological changes can drive emotional ones - that laughter comes before happiness, rather than the other way around - is a well-established idea. The researchers wanted to see if this idea could be used to build a computer system that manipulates how you feel. The system works by presenting the user with a web-camera image of his or her face - as if they were looking in a mirror. The image is then subtly altered with software, turning the corners of the mouth up or down and changing the area around the eyes, so that the person appears to smile or frown  . Without telling them the aim of the study, the team recruited   21 volunteers and asked them to sit in front of the screen while performing an unrelated task. When the task was complete the participants rated how they felt. When the faces on screen appeared to smile, people reported that they felt happier. On the other hand, when the image was given a sad expression, they reported feeling less happy. Yoshida and his colleagues tested whether manipulating the volunteers' emotional state would influence their preferences. Each person was given a scarf to wear and again presented with the altered webcam image. The volunteers that saw themselves smiling while wearing the scarf were more likely to report that they liked it, and those that saw themselves not smiling were less likely. The system could be used to manipulate consumers' impressions of products, say the researchers. For example, mirrors in clothing-store fitting rooms could be replaced with... Question: What's the main purpose of the Emotion Evoking System? - To see whether one's feeling can be unconsciously affected. - To see whether one's facial expressions can be altered. - To see whether laughter comes before happiness. - To replace the mirrors in future clothing-store fitting rooms.
Answer:
Answer: To see whether one's feeling can be unconsciously affected.