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There is a large percentage of Asian people in the US. They’re hard working, respectful but strange sometimes. If you don’t understand the culture, you will get some problems with them. Asian people are different from any other cultures if you think you know them, you might want to think again.

How are they different? When it comes to most Asian culture, respect is everything. You can do anything you want but don't disrespect an Asian man. You will get some real consequences afterward and especially if he is your boss. It’s something called face saving in the Asian culture. It’s ridiculous sometimes but it’s their culture. Sometimes their culture can come in between their relationship at work. Asian people might expect a lot of respect from their co-workers when their co-workers just see them as an equal.

Americans are very different from Asian people. If you’re Asian, you might want to understand the American culture and even adapt to their culture if you work with them. It will be easier for you since you’re in their countries. Imagine an American working in China, expecting Chinese co-workers to get along with him when he criticizes them straight out on every single matter in front of everyone. I think they will take him outside and take care of him. It just doesn’t work that way with Asian people.

If you’re an American boss giving your Asian employee a review, you will see that they will have a problem with your negative remarks. They will think that you don’t like them, disrespectful, and want to get rid of them; when in fact, you’re just doing your job. You just encourage them to do their work better. Of course, it’s not fair for you as an American boss but just expect that it can be something that is on your Asian employee’s mind.

1.The Americans can’t get along well with the Asians probably because______.

A. their cultures are different.

B. they don’t like each other.

C. both of them are too proud.

D. they have different political views.

2.The underlined phrase “face saving” in Paragraph 2 probably means_____.

A. saving some money for later use.

B. making faces to please your boss.

C. showing some respect to somebody.

D. helping somebody out of trouble.

3.From the third paragraph we can know that it is difficult_________.

A. for the Asians to accept the culture in America.

B. for the Americans to adapt to the culture in China.

C. for people to learn the culture in a foreign country.

D. for people to follow the culture in their own country.

4.The negative remarks an American boss gives on your work probably mean he/she _____

A. doesn’t like you any longer.

B. thinks you are not worth respecting.

C. doesn’t think you are suitable for the job.

D. wants you to improve your work.

Computer power is moving into the “cloud”—networks of data centres that use the Internet to supply all kinds of services, from e-mail and social networks to data storage and analysis.

The rise of cloud computing is rapid and causing huge changes in the tech industry. The old guard is suffering: this week’s $67 billion merger (合并) between Dell and EMC, makers of computers and storage devices respectively (分别), was a marriage forced by the rise of the cloud. Disruptive (捣乱的) newcomers are blooming: if Amazon’s cloud-computing unit were a stand-alone public company, it would probably be worth almost as much as Dell and EMC combined.

The gains for customers have been equally dramatic. Compared with older IT systems, cloud computing is often much cheaper. It adds tremendous flexibility: firms that need more computing capacity no longer have to spend weeks adding new servers and installing software. In the cloud they can get hold of it in minutes. Their applications can be updated continually, rather than just every few months. Individual users can reach their e-mails, files and photos from any device. And cloud services also tend to be more secure, since providers know better than their customers how to protect their computing systems against hackers.

But cloud computing makes one problem worse. In the old IT world, once a firm or a consumer had decided on an operating system or database, it was difficult and costly to switch to another. In the cloud this “lock-in” is even worse. Cloud providers go to great lengths to make it easy to upload data. They accumulate huge amounts of complex information, which cannot easily be moved to an alternative provider.

Cloud firms also create a world of interconnected services, software and devices, which is convenient but only for as long as you don’t venture (冒险) outside their universe. Being locked in to a provider is risky. Firms can start to tighten the screws by increasing prices. If a cloud provider goes bust (崩溃), its customers may have trouble getting back their data.

These risks have already caused a debate about whether the cloud needs stricter regulation. Some European politicians want to force cloud providers to ensure that data can be moved between them. That is too heavy-handed, because strict rules will inhibit (阻碍) innovation in what is still a young industry. The history of computing suggests that common standards may well appear naturally in response to customers’ demands—just as in personal computers, where it is now much easier to use the same files on different systems.

In the meantime, a few commonsense measures can reduce the risk of lock-in. Firms that use more than one cloud provider to host their data are less affected. So are those that keep their most important information in their own data centres. Consumers can take precautions, too. Some services are better than others at enabling users to move data between providers (Google does well on this score). Cloud computing promises its users many benefits, but don’t mistake it for some sort of digital heaven.

1.The author takes “the merger between Dell and EMC” for example to show ________.

A. the influence of cloud computing on computer and storage device makers

B. the miserable sufferings of old computer companies

C. the rapid development of new computer companies

D. the interaction between old companies and newcomers

2.With wide applications of cloud computing customers can ________.

A. pay less for the older IT systems

B. gain more computing capacity quickly

C. know better about defeating the hackers

D. install software within weeks

3.The problem of “lock-in” can be dangerous because ________.

A. it should ensure data can easily be moved to another provider

B. it can create a network of services connected with devices

C. it may make it difficult for customers to recover their data

D. it will discourage an argument about stricter rules

4.It can be inferred from the last two paragraphs that ________.

A. the European politicians’ advice is perfect

B. customers’ demands play a role in setting standards

C. lock-in is caused by firms’ storing information in their own centres

D. Google enables users to provide services and move data

5.Which of the following sayings can best express the main idea of the passage?

A. Everything has its time and that time must be watched.

B. The grass looks greener on the other side of the fence.

C. A candle lights others and consumes itself.

D. Every white has its black, and every sweet has its sour.

You may know the English letters A, B and C. But do you know there are people called ABC? You may like eating bananas. But did you know there is such thing as a “banana person”? How strange! Are these people from “another earth”? No. They are just Chinese people like you and me.

ABC means American-born Chinese. An ABC is a Chinese, but was born in the United States. Sometimes, people call an ABC a “banana person”. A banana is yellow outside and white inside. So, when a person is a banana, he or she is white inside-thinking like a Westerner and yellow outside-looking like a Chinese.

Do you know why? Usually, ABCs know little about China or the Chinese language. Some of them don’t speak Chinese. Also, they are not interested in Chinese politics.

But if ABCs cannot speak Chinese, can we still call them Chinese people? Yes, of course. They are Chinese. They are overseas (海外的) Chinese. These people may be citizens(公民) of another country like the US, Canada or Singapore. But they have Chinese blood. Their parents, grandparents or even great-grandparents were from China. They all have black eyes and black hair. But they are not Chinese citizens. They are not people of the People’s Republic of China. For example, we all know the famous scientist C. N. Yang (杨振宁). He got the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1957. Chinese people love him. But he is an American citizen.

1.“ABC” in this text stands for “_______”.

A. three English letters

B. a kind of banana

C. Chinese born in America

D. Americans born in China

2.Chinese in Western countries are called “banana persons” because __________.

A. their bodies are white inside but yellow outside

B. they think like Westerners but look like Chinese

C. they were born in China but go to study in America

D. they are Chinese who look like bananas

3.C. N. Yang is mentioned here to show that ________.

A. American Chinese are great

B. we love American Chinese

C. Chinese people can win Nobel Prizes

D. American Chinese are not Chinese citizens

4.This text is mainly about _________.

A. different kinds of bananas

B. overseas Chinese

C. the Nobel Prize

D. the life story of C. N. Yang

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