阅读理解

　　“English may be the global language of business but it is not enough by itself for companies to gain a lasting presence in many markets,” the European Commission(委员会)says in a study published last month．

　　The study collected by the British National Centre for Languages for the EU leader, says over 10 per cent of 2,000 small and medium-sized(中等规模的)firms in 29 European countries sampled(抽样)in the study have lost export contract(出口合同)because of lack of language skills．The study says French is used to trade with partners in Africa, Spanish in Latin America, and Russian in Eastern Europe．

　　“The picture is far more complex than the much-quoted view that English is the world language,” the study says．

　　Multilingual(多种语言的)Commissioner Leonard Orban admitted that English plays an important role worldwide, but he wants to improve more linguistic variety within the EU．

　　The EU's linguistic headaches have exploded with the group's expansion．Languages have become a sensitive topic in Brussels where English is increasingly eclipsing(侵蚀)French as the main working language of the organization．Translation of EU papers into EU's 23 official languages costs 1 billion euros(US ＄1.31 billion)a year．

　　“We want to be open not only to official languages of the Union, but also to others like regional(区域的)languages, languages of minorities, immigrants'(移民)languages and third countries' languages,” Orband said．

　　Many EU students have improved their language skills during non-formal learning activities．Young people from more than 20 different nationalities travel across Europe to participate together in many cultural programmes, language courses, thematic workshops(主题研习会)and other activities that are organized in about 100 cities．

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　　The eyes are one of the most expressive instruments of body language．Keith, seventeen, from Montclair New Jersey, leamed the hard way about one 　　1　　 the eyes can make．“I had a 　　2　　 who graded heavily on classroom discussion, ”Keith says．“He seemed to have a strong 　　3　　 to know just when I didn't have the 　　4　　．I couldn't figure out how he could be so 　　5　　．Then it dawned on me．Whenever I didn't know the answer, I would 　　6　　 looking at him．When I did know what to say, I always 　　7　　 straight back at him．From that moment on, I 　　8　　 myself to look him in the eye, 　　9　　 I knew the work or not．That trick has 　　10　　 me a lot of trouble．”

　　Many people, including some policemen, believe eye contact is a good 　　11　　 of honesty．If someone can't look you directly in the eye, then he or she is not playing 　　12　　, they insist．After many experiments, however, however, a number of experts have found out that good liars can make 　　13　　 eye contact．Eye contact, though not a 　　14　　 sign of dishonesty, is a clear way to show interest in another person．When a person looks at you and 　　15　　 to do so, you know his 　　16　　 is placed on yon．When he turns his head away, his mind is probably 　　17　　．But there are exceptions．A 　　18　　 person may have trouble making and keeping eye contact, no matter how interested he is in the other person．And certain 　　19　　 , such as the British and Germans, are much 　　20　　 oriented (适应) to eyeball-to-eyeball contact than, say, the French and the Arabs．

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