阅读理解

　　Most of us use the telephone several times a day to talk with friends or make social arrangements．These calls are usually quite easy and require little planning．

　　Using the telephone for business purpose is different．In any organization the person on the telephone represents the company and gives an impression of the firm to the outside world．

　　If you want to ensure good public relations, you need to master effective telephone techniques．

　　You should try to give an impression of an efficient, friendly, progressive company eager to give good service．

　　Choose the right time．Consider the cost, urgency and convenience．When calling overseas you need to consider the time difference．

　　Check the number．A great deal of money is wasted each year on dialing wrong numbers．

　　Plan your call．Make a list of points and questions to be raised．

　　Be prepared．Gather any files, papers or information that may be needed during the call．It is unprofessional to have to say “Hold on while I look for that．”

　　If you have to ask a caller to hold on, keep going back and assuring him or her that you will be as quick as possible．

　　Avoid interruptions．Call at a time when you are unlikely to be distracted．

　　Be courteous, polite．Make time for suitable greetings like “How are you today, Jim?” and “Did you enjoy your holiday?”

　　Put a smile in your voice．Remember, your caller can’t see you, so use intonation to try to sound confident, decisive, helpful and interested．

　　Check your notes．Look back at your notes to ensure that you have covered everything and quote figures and other data correctly．

　　Obtain feedback．Make sure that caller understands the message correctly, especially deadlines and actions that are involved．

　　Be courteous．Finish by thanking the caller for his or her time and trouble．

　　Make notes．Let it become a habit to make notes of the call and place them in an appropriate file．

　　Take actions．If you need to send a letter of confirmation or inform someone in your organization about any details of the call, do some immediately so that you do not forget important points．

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阅读理解

　　If your boss asks you to work in Moscow this year, he’d better offer you more money to do so－or even double that depending on where you live now．That’s because Moscow has just been found to be the world’s most expensive city for the second year in a row by Mercer Human Resources Consulting．

　　Using the cost of living in New York as a base, Mercer determined Moscow is 34.4 percent more expensive including the cost of housing, transportation, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment．

　　A two-bedroom flat in Moscow now costs ＄4,000 a month; a CD ＄24.83, and an international newspaper ＄6.30, according to Mercer．By comparison, a fast food meal with a hamburger is a steal at ＄4.80．

　　London takes the No．2 place, up from No．5 a year ago, thanks to higher cost of housing and a stronger British pound relative to the dollar．Mercer estimates London is 26 percent more expensive than New York these days．Following London closely are Seoul and Tokyo, both of which are 22 percent more expensive than New York, while No．5 Hong Kong is 19 percent more costly．

　　Among North American cities, New York and Los Angeles are the most expensive and are the only two listed in the top 50 of the world’s most expensive cities．But both have fallen since last year’s study－New York came in 15th, down from 10th place, while Los Angeles fell to 42nd from 29th place a year ago．San Francisco came in a distant third at No．54, down 20 places from a year earlier．

　　Toronto, is Canada’s most expensive city but fell 35 places to take 82nd place worldwide．In Australia, Sydney is the priciest place to live in and No．21 worldwide．

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