問題詳情

IV. Reading Comprehension（5%）      People doing international business often run into problems with cross-cultural communication. One of them results from the different ideas about time, which might affect the success of the business a lot.    Some cultures place a great deal of importance on time. Daily schedules are strictly followed, appointments are made far in advance, and people are expected to arrive on time or even earlier. For instance, in Germany, it is rude to cancel or be late for an appointment—even a casual social gathering with friends or family. Americans are less strict about time, but punctuality is still important for them. Although being a few minutes late to a social engagement is acceptable, Americans are expected to be on time or a few minutes early to all of their appointments.    In some other cultures, people put more emphasis on relationships rather than punctuality. Such examples include many Latin American and Arab countries. In Mexico, people have very flexible daily schedules. They usually take an afternoon break of several hours, known as a “siesta,” to eat a leisurely late lunch or spend time with their families. It makes punctuality a goal rather than a necessity. Likewise, in Saudi Arabia, hospitality is more important than punctuality. That’s why people there usually begin their meetings with a social conversation, which can be very long at times. The exception in Saudi Arabia and other countries is adherence (嚴守，堅持) to daily prayers, where timeliness is very important.     Because of the different concepts of time, it is suggested that you look into the differences in advance if you are doing business with people from other countries. Otherwise, misunderstandings might arise, and you are likely to lose an important contract.
56. In cultures that consider punctuality as important, people ________.
(A) are not so time-conscious
(B) tend to show up late
(C) arrive earlier for appointments
(D) arrange a loose schedule

參考答案

答案：C
難度：簡單0.75
統計：A(1),B(0),C(3),D(0),E(0)

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