【正文】 profitable, thriving and growing venture. Gee’s first twoyear contract came to an end. By then, he could speak good Japanese, and had picked up Japanese habits. He drank green tea at all hours, ate rice at every meal and had even learned to sit properly on Japanese tatami mats. So when Gee was offered a second twoyear Japanese contract, he accepted at once. Another contract followed, and Gee’s love affair with Japanese culture continued. Intensive Study 5 But as Gee’s sixth year in the country was ing to an end, an unexpected difficulty became apparent: The Japanese engineers had surpassed Gee in their knowledge of the rapidlychanging technology. He had nothing left to teach them. 6 Was this the end for poor Gee? Was there nothing more he could offer to the nowmatured joint venture he had served so loyally? Would he have to leave the country he had e to love? No! Faced with the threat of an unwilling departure from Japan, Gee reinvented himself as a ―cultural translator‖. Intensive Study 7 The idea came to Gee one day when the Japanese jointventure president was — again — offended by a message from the American management. As usual in such situations, he stormed into Gee’s office and threw the message in front of him in a fury. And Gee, as usual, read the message and explained in his calm manner what the Americans had really meant by it, not what it sounded like in the context of Japanese culture. Intensive Study 8 Fortunately for everyone, both the Japanese and American sides of the joint venture had heard enough horror stories about cultural conflicts to recognize the value of Gee’s skills, so when he proposed this new position for himself, the idea was quickly approved. The wisdom of this decision was proved again and again over the years. Intensive Study 9 At times something far more important than good English was needed. One such case was when the Japanese accountant had to explain the $46,534 spent on 874 Decemberholiday presents. Or there was the time when the Japanese personnel manager had to justify keeping a chemist on the payroll even though the pany no longer needed his expertise. In cases like these, everyone turned to Gee. Intensive Study 10 Somehow or other, he made their messages sound at least halfway sensible to Americans. And when there was something that even Gee couldn’t ―translated‖ into Americanstyle sense, he would write, ―This will sound crazy, but you should go along with it anyway. Intensive Study 11 It worked the other way around, too. When the American managers visited Japan, Gee acpanied us everywhere to ensure that we don’t do or say anything too stupid from the Japanese viewpoint. Whenever we did that anyway, he came to the rescue at once: ―What they really mean is …‖ Whole multitudes of difficulties never arose thanks to Gee’s skill at smoothing over small conflicts before they became big, emotional and costly. Intensive Study 12 Since leaving that pany in Gee’s capable hands, I’ve advised many firms on international operations. And my first remendation is always the same: Don’t worry about language problems — the first thing you need is a cultural translator. (776 words) Intensive Study run into — meet by chance。 encounter unexpectedly . ? I ran into Joe yesterday on Main street. ? After a promising start, the pany ran into debt. Translate 如果你不當(dāng)心 ， 會(huì)碰到麻煩的 。 treat (sb.) as wele . ? The children gradually began to accept her. ? He was never really accepted by his fellow workers. but Gee was so naturally nonassertive that no one could see him as a threat to their careers. Paraphrase the sentence: ? Gee was by nature so easy and modest that his presence in the joint venture didn’t pose any threat to the positions of Japanese managers and employees get into the habit of doing sth. — start to do sth. so often that it bees a habit . ? He’s got into the habit of switching on the TV as soon as he gets home. ? I got into the habit of studying in the library when I was in college. Fill in the blank Once __________ (他養(yǎng)成了用筷子吃飯的習(xí)慣 ), he preferred them to a knife and fork. ? he’d got into the habit of eating with chopsticks e to an end — stop。 go beyond . ? His time for the 100 meters surpassed the previous world record by one hundredth of a second. Translate 你的優(yōu)異表現(xiàn)已經(jīng)超出了所有人的期望 。 in one way or another . ? Somehow or other, we will get the