Unit 1 AudioLesson 1Why aren’t women happier these days? That’s the question raised by a thought-provoking study-- ‘The Paradox of Declining Female Happiness’released last month. The research showed that over the past 35 years women’s happiness has declined, both compared to the past and relative to men even though, by most objective measures, the lives of women in the U.S. have improved in recent decades. The research, by University of Pennsylvania economists Betsey Stevenson and Justin Wolfers, released by the National Bureau of Economic Research, found the decline in happiness to be pervasive among women across a variety of demographic groups. The researchers measured similar declines in happiness among women who were single parents and married parents. They cast doubt on the hypothesis that trends in marriage and divorce, single parenthood or work/family balance are at the root of the happiness declines among women. One theory for the decline in happiness is that expectations for workplace and general advancement were raised too high by the women’s movement and women might feel inadequate for not having it all. The researchers acknowledge that is a possibility. They think that if the Women’s Movement raised women’s expectations faster than society was able to meet them, the women would be more likely disappointed by their actual life experiences. But the researchers also add that things could change for the better, as women’s expectations move into alignment with their experiences, this decline in happiness may reverse..Lesson 2Men May Be from Venus TooMen and women might be on the same planetary wavelength after all. According to Psychologist Professor Janet Hyde at the University of Wisconsin, men and women are more alike than different in personality, communication, cognitive ability and leadership than is generally believed.The studies looked at cognitive abilities, such as theability to do mathematics, verbaland nonverbal communication,aggression, leadership,self-esteem, moral reasoning andmotor behaviour, such asthrowing distance and found largegender differences in throwingdistance, and attitudes aboutcasual sex, and a moderatedifference in aggression. But formost psychological characteristics,she found no differences betweenmen and women.Hyde found evidence thatdifferences between men andwomen are linked to society’sexpectation of how they shouldbehave. For instance, womensmiled more than men whenobserved but this was not the casewhen they thought they were notbeing observed. Hyde said thefindings provide strong evidenceagainst the idea that psychologicaldifferences between men andwomen are “large and stable”.Besides these socialexpectations, over-inflatingclaims of differences betweenmen and women can be damaging.After examining the genderdifferences in math performancein high school, Hyde revealed thatit could be due to parents’havinglower expectations of theirdaughters’ success in math andthus affecting her self-confidenceand performance.She also found women’ssuccess as workplace leaders canalso be hindered if they go againstthe caring and nurturingstereotype.So it’s really amazing howpeople’s perceptions ofthemselves and their ownbehaviours are in fact a reflectionof assumptions and constructs insociety.Unit 4 AudioLesson 1China has changedenormously over the last 20 years.Its economy has been growing at10% a year. Today, 80% of theworld’s electronic goods aremade in China. As a result, moreand more western companieswant to do business in China. Buthow easy is it for a westerner todo business there? Here are sometips from the British Embassy inBeijing.Build relationships. In thewest, it’s usual to do businessfirst, and then see if a relationshipis possible. In China, it’s theopposite. You need to build arelationship before you can dobusiness. This leads to the idea of‘guanxi’. Guanxi means usingpersonal contacts andrelationships to do business, andwesterners need to understandhow real and strong this is inChina.It can also be useful to finda reliable Chinese ally to workwith you. He or she will be able tohelp with language or culturalproblems and will also be able tounderstand Chinese bodylanguage.You must remember torespect ‘face’. ‘Face’meanshaving high status with your peers.‘Face’can be lost, given orearned. Never criticize or insultsomeone in front of others, aslosing face will make itimpossible to make a deal. On theother hand, if you praise someoneby saying good things about himor her, then he or she will gainface, but be careful not to do it toomuch.All these tricks of the tradecan help you to play the game anddo business successfully in China.Be prepared, and be patient if youwant to be a winner in China.Lesson 2The Quarterly (Magazine):How has Carrefour had to adaptto Chinese tastes?Jean-Luc Chereau (Presidentof Carrefour China): Take theexample of fish. When I am inSan Francisco and I visit a store,the fish is filleted and packed; it’sdead. When I am in France, thefish is dead but it’s whole; it’s onice. I can see its eyes and see ifit’s fresh or not. Each place has itsown way of selling fish.If you are in China, you havetwo ways of selling fish. The firstis to display live fish. When weentered Taiwan, we went to thefresh markets in Taipei andKaohsiung to see what kind ofproducts they had, how they weredisplayed, and how customersbought those products. Carrefourdecided to adopt this fresh-marketstyle and to display the sameproducts at lower prices in a better,cleaner environment. And wewere very, very successful. Now,on the mainland, the first imagecustomers get when they enter aCarrefour store is fresh products.When customers are in the fresharea, they recognize the freshmarket they’re accustomed to.And now most of our competitors are following Carrefour in this way.But there is another method we neglected when we moved away from the coast: frozen fish. Why would frozen fish be important in China? Because the distance between the area where they have fresh fish and the stores in middle and western China is so vast that customers are more confident of frozen fish than of unfrozen dead fish, even if fresh. So we changed our product offering and we saw a 30 to 40 percent increase in fish sales throughout China.Unit 6 AudioLesson 1It is said that happiness is contagious. The supporting evidence is everywhere: from the streets of Rio during Carnival to more obscure celebrations elsewhere in the world. But long-term happiness may also be healthy. New York researcher Dr.Karina Davidson certainly thinks so.Dr. Davidson is a lead researcher in a 10-year study of more than 1,700 healthy men and women. The study revealed that people who are happy and content with their lives are 22% less likely than unhappy people to have a heart attack or suffer from symptoms of heart disease.Maintaining happy is surely protective of your mental health and this observational study is one of the first studies to show it may also protect your physical health. It is the first to show an independent relationship between positive emotions and coronary heart disease. But Dr. Davidson stresses that more work and clinical trials are needed before any treatment recommendations can be made. She says, though, that the study is the first step in providing doctors better insight about how to interact with their patients. The study may eventually shift healthcare providers to thinking about how they can help patients make sure that the things that make them happy stay in their routine.Heart disease is the leading killer of men and women in most industrialized countries. Dr. Davidson says she hopes her report will shine a light on a new approach for prevention. Lesson 2Everyone knows someonewho is difficult to be around. It isvery difficult to put up with them.The bad news is often times youare forced to interact with thesepeople on a daily basis and theycould have a personality disorderbut the good news is there aresimple ways you can learn to dealwith their behaviors.A person with a paranoidpersonality is someone who isvery much preoccupied with theloyalty of other people. It is aperson who constantly scans theenvironment and other peoplelooking for possible indications orsigns of some sort of deception.The solution: stick toconversation topics that are safeand not too personal, avoid anysigns of criticisms or attack andrefrain from using language that ispatronizing.A narcissistic person reallybelieves that she is better than youessentially a nd that “because I’manother person I’m better thanyou, I’m entitled to expect you todo things for me; I’m entitled tobe focused exclusively on myown needs and kind of disregardyours.”So how do you deal withthose people? Don’t be defensivewith this person. It could trigger afight and try to make you animportant part of his or her worldin order to keep up therelationship.People with obsessivecompulsive disorder can makeothers jumpy. Try acknowledgingtheir hard work with compliments.Compromise with them whenpossible and also avoid conflict.We all have a little bit ofthese personalities in ourselves sotreat others as you would like tobe treated.Unit 8 AudioLesson 1Competitive pressures haveforced most companies (andcountries) to increase their focuson innovation. This pressure toinnovate has increased the needfor talented engineers andscientists--not only in the rapidlyevolving computer andcommunications industries, but invirtually every other industry aswell.The automobile industry, forexample, has significantlyexpanded the electronics andcomputer content on the vehicle,with applications today rangingfrom power controls for improvedfuel economy and reducedemissions, to enhanced safetysystems and chassis controls.During the last decade, tomeet the ever-growing need foradvanced technology, GeneralMotors has recruited a rich blendof international talent, withengineers and scientists fromNorth and South America, Europe,the Middle East, China, Taiwan,India, and Korea. This melting potof technologists has created abubbling cauldron of excitingideas that General Motors isapplying to the development of avast array of product, technologyand business innovations. In fact,one of the biggest benefits ofglobalization for GM has beenaccess to technology beingdeveloped around the world.Today, GM’s most advancedresearch programs, such as thefuel cell technology development,are being conducted acrossseveral continents.By pulling together thetalents and resources from itsglobal network, General Motorshas been able to reduceredundancy, accelerate ongoingdevelopment, and start newdevelopment. Its 42-volt electricalarchitecture program is anexcellent example of this kind ofglobal collaboration. It includesall of the GM alliance partnersand key suppliers. Instead of morethan 10 separate projects, GMnow has one single program withclearly defined technologyroadmaps for each partner.Lesson 2With the globalization ofworld economy, China hasbecome an appealing market forforeign investors. Why did someforeign-funded enterprisesbecome successful when enteringthe China market while others fail,and why do some grow relativelyfaster than the rest? The followingfactors can determine how well orbad foreign-funded enterprisesperform in China:1. Establishment andimplementation of enterprise’sdevelopment strategies. In China,successful foreign-fundedenterprises will definitelyimplement long-termdevelopment strategy, unlikeother unsuccessful companieswhich do not look far and onlyconcentrate on short-term gains.Besides, the strategy will need tobe a flexible one as market conditions are constantlychanging due to the presence ofglobalization. The enterprise needs to be flexible as to reactimmediately to any changeswithout affecting its business operations.2. Leadership of the top management plays a decisive role in deciding the success of thecompany. In face of greatercompetition brought about by globalization, management todaywill need to possess strongerjudgment, decision making abilities, adaptability and greaterforesight. The ability to look far iscrucial as one need to be able to get ready at all times to react toany changes.3. It is essential for the foreign-funded enterprises to understand China’s culture,especially regarding the culture of Guanxi (relationship), so as to be able to gain the popularity and trust of China’s population. With a good relationship, businesses can become smoother and the probability of failure will be greatly reduced. Stronger bonds can also be built with the customers, suppliers and partners.。