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  3. Well-traveled American business people are increasingly realizing that they must take into consideration the variations in cultu

Well-traveled American business people are increasingly realizing that they must take into consideration the variations in cultu

admin2010-06-18  89
问题    Well-traveled American business people are increasingly realizing that they must take into consideration the variations in cultural practices evident throughout the world — especially in nonwestern countries. For example, when a prosperous international advertising agency opened an office in Bangkok, Thailand, the manager was warned that it would never succeed. When he asked why this was the case, he was informed that "you should never put yourself above Buddha." In fact, a prominent statue of the divine teacher Buddha was just across the street from—and one flight below — the advertising agency’s new office. After a year, business remained at a standstill as local Thais refused to frequent an office that was located at higher altitude than their divine teacher. Finally, the manager decided to move the office to a spot where there was no Buddha; business has thrived ever since.
   The Parker Pen Company has compiled a list of customs, etiquette, rules, gift-giving practices, language idioms, hand gestures, and nonverbal communication patterns from around the world in its book, Dos and Taboos around the World. This guide to international behaviors intended to assist business people in dealing with unfamiliar cultural and religious practices. The gestures of diverse cultures are so varied that the guidebook even provides an international dictionary of gestures involving the face, hands, and arms.  In Peru, raising an eyebrow symbolizes "money" or "pay me"; in Tonga, it means "yes" or "I agree." in most European and Latin American countries, a circular motion of a finger around an ear means "crazy." In the Netherlands, it means that someone has a telephone call. The American "OK" sign is widely accepted, yet in Brazil it has an obscene meaning and in southern France it represents "zero" or "worthless." Different forms of hospitality and gift giving throughout the world are also noted in the guidebook. While the giving of flowers is welcomed in Europe, .one must pay special attention not to offer chrysanthemums in Belgium or Luxembourg — they are viewed as reminders of death! In Hungary, the flowers should be wrapped; in Yugoslavia, they should be an odd number, but never 13.
   These differences in customs and behavior occur because people live in many unique cultures. Culture is the totality of learned, socially transmitted behavior. It includes the ideas, values, and customs (as well as sailboats, comic books, and birth control devices) of groups of people. Therefore, patriotic attachment to the American flag is an aspect of culture, as is the Thais’ feeling that "you should never put yourself above Buddha." Sometimes people refer to a particular person as "very cultured" or to a city as having "lots of culture." That use of the term culture is different from our use in sociology. In sociological terms, culture does not refer solely to the fine arts and refined intellectual taste. It consists of all objects and ideas within a society, including ice-cream cones, rock music, and slang words. Sociologists consider both a portrait by Rembrandt and a portrait by a billboard painter to be aspects of a culture. A tribe that cultivates soil by hand has just as much of a culture as a people that relies on diesel-operated machinery. Thus, each people has a distinctive culture with its own characteristic ways of gathering and preparing food, constructing homes, structuring the family, and promoting standards of right and wrong.
The advertising agency failed to do business in Bangkok at first. This is because ______.
选项 A、the American business people are not welcome in some parts of Asia
B、the Thai people have no liking for commercial culture
C、it was located in an inappropriate place
D、the local Thais are rude and ill-mannered
答案C
解析
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