高级听力 Unit 12 Part 1

本文是 Unit 12 第一篇，涵盖 Multiple 和 Fill-in-Blank 两个大题。

文章比较长，涵盖 Multiple 题目讲解。

Working in the UK and Germany

A.

F: From your experience of working in the UK and in Germany, could you give us some comparisons based on the differences you noticed?

M: Well, firstly, the level of language skills is different. I was very impressed at the way which most executives in the German company could not just speak English but read it and write and communicate effectively, compared with the very poor language abilities displayed by my English colleagues.

F: Did you notice any significant differences in the approach to doing business?

M: Yes, I did and it’s probably the little things that are the most telling. Germany is much more formal in the way that people conduct business. For example, there is very little use of first names. It’s far more common to use Herr or Frau — Mr or Mrs., — than it is these days in Britain. And handshakes. It’s a custom that’s almost withered away in Britain but in Germany it’s quite correct to greet people in the morning with a handshake. Or if you go into a meeting you shake hand with everybody sitting round the table.

F: Did you find that people from the company socialized outside working hours?

M: There's quite a large difference in attitudes to mixing work and social life. I found my German colleagues came to work, did a good day’s work and then went home at the end of the day and chose not to get involved in activities with people from the company. A very good example of this is that once a month we used have a meeting to let people know what was going on in the company. It started at four o'clock in the afternoon in the company’s time, but by about half past five, six o'clock, most of my German colleagues had started looking at their watches and saying “Well, I've stayed an hour and a half now so I’m off,” whereas I often thought: well, if this were taking place in Britain people would say “Let’s go to the pub for a drink” or “Let's go for a meal.” There was a definite cut-off point.

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