Like a growing number of young women in Vietnam’s northern part city of Haiphong, Pham Thi Hue was infected with HIV by her husband, one of the town’s many drug users. But instead of being shamed into silence, as Vietnamese with HIV and AIDS are, the 25-year-old tailor and mother of one went public, appearing on television and at conferences. Her business suffered and her neighbors insulted (辱骂)her, but Hue has now become the public face of Mothers and Wives, an HIV/ AIDS support group established in Haiphong by a Norwegian nongovernmental organization and her neighborhood’s People’s Committee. Last year, she founded a smaller group named after a local flower. People who need advice on treatment or help preparing bodies for burial can dial a hot line and get assistance from able and sympathetic(同情的)HIV victims. “We gather to support each other,” Hue says. “When we are sick, what we need most is encouragement and comfort from people who understand our situation and are willing to share our happiness, as well as our sadness.”

On a hot and damp night last month, Hue welcomed into her small home a very thin woman, also a tailor, who was HIV positive. The woman tearfully told Hue that she had not told anyone about her condition, fearing that she would lose customers and that her daughter would be insulted at school. Hue became the wise elder, offering medical and personal advice.

What did Pham Thi Hue do after she was infected with HIV?

A. She kept silent                      B. She worked as usual

C. She stayed at home and cried every day.  D. She went public and gave help to others.

It can be inferred from the passage that the group Pham Thi Hue founded is made up of____.

     A. drug users   B. HIV victims    C. all kinds of patients   D. poor people

From the passage we can learn that Pham Thi Hue is a woman who is_______.

A. weak and kind    B. foolish and idle   C. brave and helpful       D. cautious and energetic

From bankers to factory staff, employees in the west face the bleak prospect (暗淡的前景) of losing their jobs as a global recession (衰退) starts to bite. For colleagues in the East the pain is more likely to come through a pay cut.

Human resource experts say cultural differences explain why Asian firms try harder to keep jobs in difficult times, which will stop unemployment and may help keep Asian economies afloat at a time of slowing exports.

The East Asian attitude may also make it easier for firms to recover quickly from the economic downturn since they will not need to rehire or train new staff, leaving some experts predicting Western shift to Eastern flexibility.

“In the Confucian (儒家的) attitude, the right thing to do is to share the burden. There is the sense of collective responsibility whereas (然而) in the West, it’s more about the individual survival,” said Michael Benotlel, associated professor of organizational behavior at Singapore Management University.

Steven Pang, Asian Regional Director for Aquent, a headhunting firm, said in many East Asian companies there was a responsibility “ to take care of the members of the family and go through the pain together” even if that meant causing losses.

US firms from General Motors to Goldman Sachs plan to lay off workers by the thousand. But at the Asian units of Western multinationals, job cuts will probably be less severe.

Japan’s jobless rate was 4 percent in September, up from 3.8 percent in January, while Hong Kong’s was flat at 3.4 percent. But US unemployment is expected to have jumped to 6.3 percent last month from below 5 percent in January.

Experts say that while there are noticeable differences in labor practices in East and West, the gap will narrow as more firms become more multinational and competition forces firms to adopt the best practices of rivals (对手) from abroad.

(Note: Answer the questions or complete the statements in NO MORE THAN TEN WORDS.)

1.What caused the different practices of Asian and Western firms facing the global recession?

2.Why is it easier for the East Asian firms to recover quickly from the economic downturn?

3.Firms in the west would lay off workers when facing a bleak prospect because of ______.

4.______ will make the differences in East and West less noticeable.

 

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