新视野大学英语2课文原文.pdf

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urroundings over extended small talk; much less do they take them
out for dinner, or for around on the golf course while they develop a sense of
trust. Since we generally assess and probe professionally rather than socially,
we start talking business very quickly. Time is, therefore, always ticking in our
inner ear.
Consequently, we work hard at the task of saving time. We produce a
steady flow of labor-saving devices; we communicate rapidly through faxes,
phone calls or emails rather than through personal contacts, which though
pleasant, take longer -- especially given our traffic-filled streets. We,
therefore, save most personal visiting for after-work hours or for social
weekend gatherings.
To us the impersonality of electronic communication has little or no relation
to the significance of the matter at hand. In some countries no major business
is conducted without eye contact, requiring face-to-face conversation. InAmerica, too, a final agreement will normally be signed in person. However,
people are meeting increasingly on television screens, conducting
H teleconferences ” to settle problems not only in this country but also --
by satellite -- internationally.
The U . S. is definitely a telephone country. Almost everyone uses the
telephone to conduct business, to chat with friends, to make or break social
appointments, to say “Thank you," to shop and to obtain all kinds of
information. Telephones save the feet and endless amounts of time. This
is due partly tothe fact that the telephone service is superb here, whereas the
postal service is less efficient.
Some new arrivals will come from cultures where it is considered impolite to
work too quickly. U nless a certain amount of time is allowed to elapse, it seems
in their eyes as if