首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
(1) More and more of the world is working in English. Multinational companies (even those based in places such as Switzerland or
(1) More and more of the world is working in English. Multinational companies (even those based in places such as Switzerland or
admin
2018-05-14
31
问题
(1) More and more of the world is working in English. Multinational companies (even those based in places such as Switzerland or Japan) are making it their corporate language. And international bodies like the European Union and the United Nations are doing an ever-greater share of business in the world’s new default language. At the office, it’s English’s world, and every other language is just living in it.
(2) Is this to the English-speaker’s advantage? Working in a foreign language is certainly hard. It is easier to argue fluently or to make a point subtly when not trying to call up rarely used vocabulary or construct sentences correctly. English-speakers can try to bulldoze opposing arguments through sheer verbiage (冗词) , hold the floor to prevent anyone else from getting a word in or lighten the mood with a joke. All of these things are far harder in a foreign language. Non-natives have not one hand, but perhaps a bit of their brains, tied behind their backs. A recent column by Michael Skapinker in the Financial Times says that it’s important for native English-speakers to learn the skills of talking with non-natives successfully.
(3) But, as Mr Skapinker notes, there are advantages to being a non-native, too. These are subtler—but far from trivial. Non-native speakers may not be able to show off their brilliance easily. It can be an advantage to have your cleverness highly rated, and this is the luck of verbally fluent people around the world. But it is quite often the other way round: it can be a boon to be thought a little dimmer than you really are, giving the element of surprise in a negotiation. And, as an American professor in France tells Johnson, coming from another culture—not just another language—allows people to notice stumbling blocks and habits of thinking shared by the rest of the natives, and guide a meeting past them. Such heterodox (非正统的) thinking can be wrapped in a bit of disingenuous cluelessness: "I’m not sure how things work here, but I was thinking..."
(4) People working in a language not their own report other perks. Asking for a clarification can buy valuable time or be a useful distraction, says a Russian working at The Economist. Speaking slowly allows a non-native to choose just the right word—something most people don’t do when they are excited and emotional. There is a lot to be said for thinking faster than you can speak, rather than the other way round.
(5) Most intriguingly, there may be a feedback loop (反馈回路) from speech back into thought. Ingenious researchers have found that sometimes decision-making in a foreign language is actually better. Researchers at the University of Chicago gave subjects a test with certain traps—easy-looking "right" answers that turned out to be wrong. Those taking it in a second language were more likely to avoid the trap and choose the right answer. Fluid thinking, in other words, has its downside, and deliberateness (审慎) an advantage. And one of the same researchers found that even in moral decision-making—such as whether it would be acceptable to kill someone with your own hands to save a larger number of lives—people thought in a more utilitarian (功利的), less emotional way when tested in a foreign language. An American working in Denmark says he insisted on having salary negotiations in Danish—asking for more in English was excruciating to him.
(6) All this applies regardless of the first language. But in the modern world it is English monoglots (只懂 一种语言的人) in particular who work in their own language, joined by non-native polyglots (通晓数种语言的人) working in English too. Those non-native speakers can always go away and speak their languages privately before rejoining the English conversation. Hopping from language to language is a constant reminder of how others might see things differently, notes a Dutch official at the European Commission. (One study found that bilingual children were better at guessing what was in other people’s heads, perhaps because they were constantly monitoring who in their world spoke what language.) It was said that Ginger Rogers had to do every step Fred Astaire did, but "backwards, and in high heels". This, unsurprisingly, made her an outstanding dancer.
(7) Indeed, those working in foreign languages are keen to talk about these advantages and disadvantages. Alas, monoglots will never have that chance. Pity those struggling in a second language—but also spare a thought for those many monoglots who have no way of knowing what they are missing.
In Para. 4, the word "perks" is closest in meaning to______.
选项
A、anchorages
B、advantages
C、allocations
D、acquisitions
答案
B
解析
语义题。设问单词出现在原文第四段第一句。文章上一段介绍了非母语者的优势,而该段第一句指出,用非母语工作的人显示出其他的perks,然后在第二句和第三句分别讲述了非母语者的两个优势,由此可知,第四段在继续介绍非母语者的其他优势,所以该词与[B]advantages“优势,优点”的意思最接近,故[B]为答案。[A]“锚地,泊处”,[C]“分配,配给”和[D]“获得物,获得”都明显与原文不符,故排除。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/lNxK777K
0
专业英语四级
相关试题推荐
AHealthyMixofReading,WritingandTechnologyI.Aboutstudents’readingA.Childrencannot【T1】theInternetinformationwell
A、Sheiscrazyaboutsports.B、Sheusedtoplayvolleyball.C、Shelikesbasketballmorethanfootball.D、SheknowsAmericanfoot
TheBenefitsofGoingtoCollegeOneoftheprimarybenefitsofgoingtocollege/isbeingabletoobtainacollegedegree./
A、Itcanhelppreventemergencies.B、Itteacheschildrentobemorecommunicative.C、Itmakesparentsfeelsafeabouttheirchil
Accordingtothenewsitem,whichofthefollowingisCORRECT?
Accordingtotheconversation,thewoman
Mygrandfatherhadsustainedabrokenbackwhileworkinginthemines._____,hespenttherestofhislifeinawheelchair.
(1)Twoyearsagothismonth,Doubledaypublishedahistoricalthrillerwithanannouncedfirstprintingof85,000andhighhopes
Latelastyear,Airbnbannouncedthatit’sgoingafterthemajorhotelchains—whichatfirstsoundedkindofcute,likeaprecoc
Thegovernmentwillrequireallhospitalsandclinicsinsomesmallstatesto_______tominimumclinicalstandards.
随机试题
费孝通说:“我认为社会学最根本的任务是要解决一个生活在社会里的人,怎样学会做人的问题。”这是指社会学的()
男,70岁,已有糖尿病史10年。近期反复活动后心前区疼痛。检查:BP180/105mmHg,超声心动图显示左室肥厚。高血压危险度分层属于
弥漫性泛细支气管炎闭塞性细支气管炎伴机化性肺炎
多层砌体房屋在地震中出现交叉型裂缝,其产生的原因主要是()
会计核算的基本假设有()。
集装箱只可以装船利用水路货物运输,不可以通过铁路、公路运输。()
20×8年5月,某市环保局财务处根据财政部门要求和现行《政府收支分类科目》的规定,编制了环保局及其下属事业单位环境科学研究所20×9年度支出预算草案,报请环保局总会计师审定。20×9年度支出预算草案简表如下:要习之:假定你是该环保局总会计师,
继北京奥运会______世界之后,“神州七号”今晚的启航,也被外媒形象地称为“太空夺金”。这个比喻并不恰切,“神州七号”的升空,以及中国人首次在太空留下足印的太空漫步,______只是参与太空技术竞争那么简单。填入横线处最恰当的一项是()。
有一个虚拟局域网的建立是动态的,它代表了一组IP地址,并由叫作代理的设备对虚拟局域网中的成员进行管理。在这个虚拟局域网中,代理和多个IP结点组成IP【 】虚拟局域网,
Overtheyears,relaxationtraininghasbeenrecommendedtopatientswithvariousstress-relateddisorderssuchaschronicpain
最新回复
(
0
)