阅读训练:
The rise of multinational corporations (跨国公司), global marketing, new communications technologies, and shrinking cultural differences have led to an unparalleled increase in global public relations or PR.
跨国公司（跨国公司）的兴起、全球营销、新的通讯技术以及文化差异的缩小导致了前所未有的全球公共关系或公关的增长。
Surprisingly, since modern PR was largely an American invention, America's relations is being threatened by PR efforts in other countries. Ten years ago, for example, the world’s top five public relations agencies were American-owned. In 1991, only one was. The British in particular are becoming more sophisticated and creative. A recent survey found that more than half of all British companies include PR as part of their corporate (公司的) planning activities, compared to about one-third of U.S. companies. It may not be long before London replaces New York as the capital of PR.
令人惊讶的是，尽管现代公共关系很大程度上是美国的发明，但美国在公共关系方面的地位正受到其他国家的努力威胁。例如，十年前，世界上排名前五的公共关系公司都是美国所有的。但在 1991 年，只有一个是美国的。特别是英国人在公共关系方面变得更加精明和有创意。最近的一项调查显示，超过一半的英国公司已将公共关系纳入其公司规划活动中，而美国公司中这一比例约为三分之一。不久之后，伦敦取代纽约成为公共关系之都的可能性或许并不遥远。
Why is America lagging behind in the global PR race? First, Americans as a whole tend to be fairly provincial and take more of an interest in local affairs. Knowledge of world geography, for example, has never been strong in this country. Secondly, Americans lag behind their European and Asian counterparts (相对应的人) in knowing a second language. Less than 5 percent of Burson—Marshall’s U.S. employees know two languages. Ogilvy and Mather has about the same percentage. Conversely, some European firms have half or more of their employees fluent in a second language. Finally, people involved in PR abroad tend to keep a closereye on international affairs. In the financial PR area, for instance, most Americans read the Wall Street Journal. Overseas, their counterparts read the Journal as well as the Financial Times of London and The Economist, publications not often read in this country.
为什么美国在国际公关竞赛中落后？首先，美国人整体上比较本土化，更关注本地事务。例如，这个国家的世界地理知识一直都不强。其次，美国人在掌握第二语言方面落后于欧洲和亚洲同行。伯恩斯—马歇尔公司美国员工中会说第二语言的比例不到 5%，奥格威和马瑟公司的比例也差不多。相反，一些欧洲公司中有一半甚至更多的员工能够流利地说第二语言。最后，国外从事公关的人士通常更关注国际事务。例如，在金融公关领域，大多数美国人阅读《华尔街日报》。而在国外，他们的同行还会阅读《伦敦金融时报》和《经济学人》等刊物，而这些刊物在美国并不常见。
Perhaps the PR industry might take a lesson from Ted Turner of CNN (Cable News Network). Turner recently announced that the word “foreign”would no longer be used on CNN news broadcasts. According to Turner, global communications have made the nations of the world so interdependent that there is no longer any such things as foreign.
或许公关行业可以从 CNN 的特德·特纳身上学到一些东西。特纳最近宣布，CNN 的新闻播报中将不再使用“外国”这个词。据特纳所说，全球通讯使得世界各国之间的相互依赖性增强，因此已经不存在所谓的“外国”了。
练习题：
Choose correct answers to the question:
选择问题的正确答案：
1. According to the passage, America's relations is being threatened because of ________.
根据文章，美国的声誉正受到威胁是因为________。
A. an unparalleled increase in the number of public relations companies
A. 公关公司的数量空前增加
B. shrinking cultural differences and new communications technologies
B. 文化差异的缩小和新的通讯技术
C. the decreasing number of multinational corporations in the U.S.
C. 美国跨国公司的数量减少
D. increased efforts of other countries in public relations
D. 其他国家在公共关系方面加大了努力
2. London could soon replace New York as the center of PR because ________.
2. 伦敦可能很快会取代纽约成为公关的中心，因为________。
A. British companies are more ambitious than U.S. companies
A. 英国公司比美国公司更有雄心
B. British companies place more importance on PR than U.S. companies
B. 英国公司比美国公司更重视公共关系
C. British companies are heavily involved in planning activities
C. 英国公司积极参与策划活动
D. four of the world’s top public relations agencies are British-owned
D. 世界四大公共关系公司中有四家是英国拥有的
3. The word “provincial” (Line 2, Para. 3) means “________”.
3. “provincial”（第三段第二行）的意思是“________”。
A. limited in outlook  A. 视野狭窄
B. like people from the provinces
B. 像乡下人一样
C. rigid in thinking  C. 思维僵化
D. interested in world financial affairs
D. 对世界金融事务感兴趣
4. We learn from the third paragraph that employees in the American PR industry ________.
4. 我们从第三段了解到，美国公关行业的员工________。
A. speak at least one foreign language fluently
A. 擅长流利地说至少一种外语
B. are ignorant about world geography
B. 对世界地理一无所知
C. are not as sophisticated as their European counterparts
C. 不如他们的欧洲同行精明
D. enjoy reading a great variety of English business publications
D. 阅读各种各样的英语商业出版物
5. What PR industry take from Ted Turner of CNN?
5. TED TURNER 所在的 CNN 行业从他那里学到了什么？
A. American PR companies should be more internationally-minded.
A. 美国公关公司应该更具国际视野。
B. The American PR industry should develop global communications technologies.
B. 美国公关行业应该发展全球通讯技术。
C. People working in PR should be more fluent in foreign languages.
C. 公关从业人员应该更加流利地使用外语。
D. People involved in PR should avoid using the word “foreign”.
D. 公关从业人员应避免使用“外国”一词。
参考答案:
1.[D] 事实细节题。由第2段第1句美国在公关方面威胁是来自其他国家在这方面的努力，故得知D为正确答案。
2.[B] 事实细节题。第2段最后两句提到，最近的研究调查发现，英国有超过一半的公司将PR作为其公司的计划活动的一部分,而美国只有三分之一的公司这样做，不久伦敦将取代纽约成为PR的中心。因此B为正确答案。
3.[A] 词义理解题。provincial是province“省；区域；范围”的派生词，可见它与“区域性的、一定范围的”的意思有关。文中提到美国人相当provincial，更关心的是本地的事情，因此provincial的意思与A最为接近。
4.[C] 推理判断题。第3段提到了美国在全球公共竞赛中与其欧洲对手相比落后的三个主要原因：美国人视野较窄，只关心本地的事物，关于世界地理的知识了解不多(但并不是一无所知，因此B不正确)；外语流利的人很少(可见A是不正确的)；阅读面很窄，只读《华尔街日报》(可见D也不正确)。由此可推断出美国人与其欧洲对手相比，没有那么老练，因此C为正确答案。
5.[A] 事实细节题。文章最后两句提到，特纳宣称在CNN的新闻广播中“foreign”一词将不再被使用，全球化的通讯已经使得世界各国相互依靠，从而不再需要“foreign”这类东西，也就是说所有人都应当具有国际观念，因此A为正确答案。