As we have said, however, the class system is much less rigid than it was, and for a long time it has been government policy to reduce class distinctions. 『Working-class students very commonly receive a university education and enter the professions, and working-class incomes have grown so much recently that the distinctions between the two classes are becoming less and less clear. 』②However, regardless of one’s social status, certain standards of politeness are expected of everybody, and a well-bred person is polite to everyone he meets, and treats a labourer with the same respect he gives an important businessman. Servility inspires both embarrassment and dislike. Even the word “sir”, except in school and in certain occupations (e.g. commerce, the army etc.) sounds too servile to be commonly used.

　　The middle class mainly refers to people .

　　A. who were born as aristocrat

　　B. who have the right to sit in the House of Lords

　　C. who speak in many different local accents

　　D. who are prosperous businessmen or who work in some professions

　　2. The most obvious difference between the working class and the middle class in English is their .

　　A. dress B. work 　C. accent D. meal

　　3. Why isn’t the word “sir” commonly used in Britain?

　　A. Because it sounds too servile and is likely to cause embarrassment. B. Because it can only be used in some certain occupations.

　　C. Because it is an impolite word.

　　D. Because it shows that the speaker is not a well-bred person.

　　4. The “upper class” in England today .

　　A. are extremely small in number so that media pays no attention to them

　　B. still uses old words like “Sir” in their everyday life

　　C. includes the hereditary aristocracy

　　D. refers only to the royal family

　　5. Which of the following is not true about the English class system?

　　A. It is an embarrassing subject for English people.

　　B. Working-class students cannot receive a university education.

　　C. The class system is much less rigid than it was.

　　D. The class system still exists below the surface.

　　Vocabulary

　　1. convention n. 習俗 　　2. embarrass v. 使困窘

　　rigid adj. 嚴格 　　 4. hereditary adj. 世襲的

　　manual adj. 體力的 　　 6. accent n. 口音

　　received pronunciation adj. (英語的)標準發音

　　well-bred adj. 有教養的 9. servility n. 卑屈

　　10. occupation n. 職業

　　長難句解析

　　①【解析】這是一個復合句，主句由“and”引導的兩個并列句組成，“though”引導的讓步狀語從句，也是由兩個并列的句子組成。

　　【譯文】盡管本世紀等級意識越來越淡，等級制度也越來越不嚴格，但對于英國人來說它仍是一個尷尬的話題，仍舊引以為恥。

　?、凇窘馕觥窟@是一個復合句，由“and”引導的兩個并列句組成，“so…that”作“grown”的狀語。

　　【譯文】勞工家庭中的孩子上大學成為非常平常的事情，此后他們也加入各種專業行當。勞工階層的工資近來也快速增長，使得兩個階層間的界線越來越模糊。

　　答案與詳解

　　【短文大意】本文主要講述英國等級意識雖然越來越淡，但在表層下，等級仍然存在。而“階層”的最大區別是他們的口音。

　　1. D細節題。意為“那些比較富裕的生意人或有一定的職業的人”。見第一段的倒數第二句：中產階級主要包括富裕的生意人和有一定的職業的人。所以正確答案應該是 D。

　　2. C細節題。意為“口音”。見第二段的第一句：他們之間最明顯的區別是他們的口音。所以正確答案應該是 C。

　　3. A推斷題。意為“因為它聽起來太過謙卑，很可能會引起尷尬”。見文章的最后兩句：謙卑會引起尷尬和不悅。甚至像“先生”這樣的詞，除了在特定的職業中(如商業、軍隊)外，也不太常用，因為它聽起來太過謙卑。所以正確答案應該是 A。

　　4. C細節題。A選項前半是對的。上流社會人數很少，后半是錯的，媒體還在關注他們，注意一定要看清楚再選。B選項相關內容在文末。D沒有提到。B在第一段中間出現，是正確答案。

　　5. B細節題。意為“來自工人階級家庭的學生不能接受大學教育”。見第三段第二句的前半句：來自工人階級家庭的學生接受大學教育并且某種職業的情況已十分普遍。所以選項 B的答案與文章不相符，是正確答案。

　　四級閱讀理解練習：文化背景對商業運作的影響

　　Culture is one of the most challenging elements of the international marketplace. 『This system of learned behavior patterns characteristic of the members of a given society is constantly shaped by a set of dynamic variables: language, religion, values and attitudes, manners and customs, aesthetics, technology, education, and social institutions.』① To cope with this system, an international manager needs both factual and interpretive knowledge of culture. To some extent, the factual knowledge can be learned; its interpretation comes only through experience.

　　The most complicated problems in dealing with the cultural environment stem from the fact that one cannot learn culture—one has to live it. Two schools of thought exist in the business world on how to deal with cultural diversity. One is that business is business the world around, following the model of Pepsi and McDonald’s. In some cases, globalization is a fact of life; however, cultural differences are still far from converging.

　　The other school proposes that companies must tailor business approaches to individual cultures. Setting up policies and procedures in each country has been compared to an organ transplant; the critical question centers around acceptance or rejection. The major challenge to the international manager is to make sure that rejection is not a result of cultural myopia or even blindness.

　　Fortune examined the international performance of a dozen large companies that earn 20 percent or more of their revenue overseas. The internationally successful companies all share an important quality: patience. They have not rushed into situations but rather built their operations carefully by following the most basic business principles. These principles are to know your adversary, know your audience, and know your customer.

　　1. According to the passage, which of the following is true?

　　A. All international managers can learn culture.

　　B. Business diversity is not necessary.

　　C. Views differ on how to treat culture in business world.

　　D. Most people do not know foreign culture well.

　　2. According to the author, the model of Pepsi .

　　A. is in line with the theories of the school advocating the business is business the world around

　　B. is different from the model of McDonald’s

　　C. shows the reverse of globalization

　　D. has converged cultural differences

　　3. The two schools of thought .

　　A. both propose that companies should tailor business approaches to individual cultures

　　B. both advocate that different policies be set up in different countries C. admit the existence of cultural diversity in business world

　　D. Both A and B

　　4. This article is supposed to be most useful for those .

　　A. who are interested in researching the topic of cultural diversity

　　B. who have connections to more than one type of culture

　　C. who want to travel abroad

　　D. who want to run business on International Scale

　　5. According to Fortune, successful international companies .

　　A. earn 20 percent or more of their revenue overseas

　　B. all have the quality of patience

　　C. will follow the overseas local cultures

　　D. adopt the policy of internationalization

　　Vocabulary

　　1. dynamic adj. 動態的 2. variable n. 變量

　　aesthetics n. 美學 　4. factual adj. 事實的

　　5. interpretative adj. 解釋的 6. converge v. 聚合

　　7. transplant v. 移植 　8. myopia n. 近視 9. adversary n. 對手

　　長難句解析

　?、佟窘馕觥看司潆m然很長，但考生只要認清它的主干，就很容易了解本句的意思。這個句子為一個簡單句，主語為：“this system”，謂語為“is shaped”。

　　【譯文】特定社會成員特點構成的行為方式體系不斷地被一系列動態變量所左右：如語言、信仰、價值與態度、禮儀與風俗、審美、技術、教育及社會體制。

　　答案與詳解

　　【短文大意】本文主要講述文化背景對商業運作的影響，文中列舉了商界中存在的對于文化多樣性的兩種觀點。

　　C推斷題。意為“對在商業中怎樣對待文化有著不同意見”。 文化在商業中是一個很具挑戰性的因素。不同的國家與地區可能會有不同的文化體系。在商業中，應該怎樣對待不同的文化，商業界存在著不同的看法。

　　2. A細節題。意為“……與同意世界商業一體化的派別的主張是一致的”。 Pepsi采納的是國際化的商業風格，這與那些主張國際化的派別的意見是相一致的。

　　3. C推斷題。意為“承認商業世界中文化的多元性”。兩個派別都承認商業世界中文化的多元性。他們的不同在于，應該對待不同的文化，應該搞國際化還是對不同的文化采取不同的策略。

　　4. D主旨題。由文中的例子可以知道，作者主要關心的并不是研究多種文化形態，而是文化背景對商業運作的影響。所以D是正確答案。

　　5. B細節題。意為“都具有耐心這一素質”。并非所有成功的國際公司的海外收入都占總收入的20%或以上。它們也不一定全都接納海外的當地文化，或是采納國際化策略。