Culture refers to the social heritage of a people—the learned patterns for thinking
"Culture shock" refers to a feeling of ______.
A.high expectation and depression
B.stress and anxiety
C.strangeness and newness
D.excitement and enthusiasm
Teenagers tend to have strange clothes and hairstyles because they______.
A.want to show their existence by creating a culture of their own
B.have a strong desire to be leaders in style. and taste
C.have no other way to enjoy themselves better
D.want to irritate their parents
The words by Janice Yawee mean that ______.
A.dialects need more protection by people in the world
B.informal English words are as popular as the McDonald's in the world
C.Janice Yawee's local culture has vanished in the world
D.the impacts of globalization are great on cultures of the world
In the last sentence of the second paragraph, "this matter" refers to ______.
A.the fact that a scientist's religious views derive from his whole out look on life
B.the fact that some people believe in God while others do not
C.the disparity of thinking between scientists and people from other walks of life
D.the disparity in the religious conclusions drawn from the observation of natural phenomena
"Culture consists of all shared products of human society" (Robertson, 1981 ). This means not only such material things as cities, organizations and schools, but also non-material things such as ideas, customs, family patterns, languages. Putting it simply, culture refers to the entire way of life of a society, "the ways of a people".
Language is a part of culture and plays a very important role in it. Some social scientists consider it the keystone of culture. Without language, the maintaining of culture would not be possible. On the other hand, language is influenced and shaped by culture, it reflects culture. In the broadest sense, language is the symbolic representation of a people, and it comprises their historical and cultural backgrounds, as well as their approach to life and their ways of living and thinking.
We should not go further into the relationship between language and culture. What needs to be stressed here is that the two interact, and that understanding of one requires understanding of the other.
Social scientists tell us that cultures differ from one another, that each culture is unique. As cultures are diverse, so languages are diverse. It is only natural then that with differences in cultures and differences in languages, difficulties often arise in communicating between cultures and across cultures. Understanding is not always easy.
Learning a foreign language well means more than merely mastering the pronunciation, gram mar, words and idioms. It means learning also to see the world . as native speakers of that language see it, learning the ways in which their language reflects the ideas, customs, and behaviors of their society, learning to understand their "language of the mind". Learning a language, in fact, is inseparable from learning its culture.
According to the first paragraph, the term "culture" refers to ______.
A.things like cities, organizations and schools
B.ideas, customs, family patterns, and languages
C.all things produced by human race
D.the total that constitute a society
【M1】
Sheet music or printed music, too, is material culture. Scholars once defined folk music cultures as those in which people learn and sing music by ear rather than from print, but research shows mutual influence among oral and written sources during the past few centuries in Europe, Britain, and America. Printed versions limit variety because they tend to standardize any song, yet they stimulate people to create new and different songs. Besides, the ability to read music notation has a far-reaching effect on music and, when it becomes widespread, on the music culture as a whole.
One more important part of music's material culture should be singled out. the influence of the electronic media--radio, record player, tape recorder, television, and videocassette, with the future promising talking and singing computers and other developments. This is all part of the "information revolution", a twentieth-century phenomenon as important as the industrial revolution was in the nineteenth. These electronic media are not just limited to modem nations; they have affected music cultures all over the globe.
Research into the material culture of a nation is of great importance because ______.
A.it helps produce new cultural tools and technology
B.it can reflect the development of the nation
C.it helps understand the nation's past and present
D.it earl demonstrate the nation's civilization
Sheet music or printed music, too, is material culture. Scholars once defined folk music-cultures as those in which people learn and sing music by ear rather than from print, but research shows mutusl influence
among oral and written sources during the past few centuries in Europe, Britain, and America. Printed versions limit variety because they tend to standardize any song, yet they stimulate people to create new and different songs. Besides, the ability to read music notation has a far-reaching effect on musicians and, when it becomes widespread, on the music cul Lure as a whole.
One more important part of music's material culture should be singled out: the influence of the electronic media—radio, record player, tape recorder, television, and videocassette, with the future promising talking and singing computers and other developments. This is all part of the "information revolution", a twentieth-century phenomenon as important as the industrial revolution was in the nineteenth. These electronic media are not just limited to modern nations; the)' have affected music cultures all over the globe.
Research into the material culture of a nation is of great importance bucause ______.
A.it helps produce new cultural tools and technology
B.it can reflect the development of the nation
C.it helps understand the nation's past and present
D.it can demonstrate the nations civilization
?Read the article below about corporate culture on the opposite page.
?For each question 13-18, mark one letter (A, B, C or D) on your Answer Sheet for the answer you choose.
The term corporate culture refers to an organization's value system. Managerial philosophies, workplace practices, and organizational network are included in the concept of corporate culture. Tyson Food's corporate culture is reflected in the fact that everyone—even CEO Don Tyson wears clothes of a yellowish brown color on the job.
The leaders who developed the company and the corporate culture typically shape the corporate culture.One generation of employees passes on a corporate culture to newer employees. Sometimes this is part of formal training. New managers who attend McDonald's Hamburger University may learn skills in management,but they also pick up the basics of the organization's corporate culture. Employees can absorb corporate culture through informal contacts as well, by talking with other workers and through their experiences on the job.
Corporate culture has a major impact on the success of an organization. In organizations with strong cultures,everyone knows and supports the organizations' objectives. In those with weak cultures, no clear sense of purpose exists. In fact, the authors of the classic book In Search of Excellence concluded the presence of a strong corporate culture was the single common thread among many diverse but highly successful companies such as General Electric and McDonald's.
As you can imagine, changing a company's corporate culture can be very difficult. But some managers try to do just that when they feel the current culture is weak, or when the organization's objectives change and the old culture no longer fits. Sometimes the competitive situation of a company changes.For instance, electric utilities, which once had their profits guaranteed by public regulation, now face more competition than ever. Firms that were comfortable competing against other American companies now find themselves fighting competitors from overseas, too.
Management expert Peter Duckers feels that, rather than trying to change culture, managers should focus on changing employees and corporate practices, as follows.
?Define what results are needed. Specify in measurable terms what the organization or department,or office) needs to achieve.
?Determine where these results are already being achieved within the current organization. Analyze the departments that are already effective and find out what they are doing differently from the rest.
?Determine what top management can do to encourage these good results. Duckers suggests that executives openly ask what they can do to help, and then do it.
?Change the reward system—or develop a new one—to recognize these effective practices. When employees realize that the organization really does reward the new approach, they will adopt it much more quickly. Whether one wants to change an organization culture or not, it is important to choose managers and employees whose personal styles fit the organization's goals.
According to the passage, corporate culture
A.means the cultural atmosphere in a company.
B.is established by top leaders and can't be changed.
C.involves the core values of a company.
D.has little influence on the performance of a company.