I. Skim the text to grasp the general idea. Think of the most suitable heading. Scan the text paying attention to the words in bold.

Living and working abroad would be really easy if everyone spoke the same way and behaved in the same way. But, as soon as you leave your own culture it quickly becomes clear that things are not the same. There are small and large differences between cultures. And how well you are able to deal with these differences will affect how good your experience will be.

When people go into another cultural environment some of the things that can be different for them are such things as the verbal communication style that can be radically different. And we're not just talking about a different language but literally the way that we use verbal communication.

Secondly, the non-verbal communication, body language, the gestures and the things that we do as part of our communication.

Things like time. Do we see time as a linear process with a fixed series of events following each other, or is time something much looser, much more flexible?

Whatever the differences working abroad might cause, there are millions of people working abroad right now, experiencing and enjoying life in a different culture. But what's it like the first time you arrive in a new country?

People are curious, or they might feel I don't know very much what to do and I want to have the equivalent of a gap year. I want to experience other cultures and then once you know, you've had some familiarity working in a foreign culture you can think about whether you want to go back to own.

Another reason for going is where people really want to go and improve themselves. Where the situation that they are in their countries may not give them the scope for their ambitions and of course many people to go and work abroad for those reasons - to find a place where they can fulfill themselves

BBC Learning English

II. Match the words with their definitions.

access	module, section
ambitions	the customs, social institutions etc. of a particular nation
based upon	often a year that young people taken after school and before university
culture	show or prove what something or someone is
differences	find
first impressions	the ways in which two things are not the same
foreign culture	developed from
gap year	strong desires to achieve things
identify	the things that happen to you over a period of time
personal experiences	to develop their skills and abilities
scope	the original feeling or thoughts that you have about something
to go and improve themselves	the opportunity to achieve or do something
unit	a culture that is different to your own

III. Explain the following words in English. Use English-English dictionary if necessary.

Case study

I. Skim the following text for general understanding. Made in Japan, Sold on Britain

54,400 Japanese live in Britain: 12,000 are business people, 5,800 are students, most of the rest are their families. The Japanese like Britain. They find it strange, but they like it.

Masami Sato, one of only 70 office-ladies-junior women managers–in Britain, is happy. She says “most things are better here than in Tokyo–there are so many parks and green fields”.

As an office lady, she cannot be promoted above her present junior managerial position, but she thinks the UK is less male dominated than Japan. She is in London as part of a scheme to give office ladies overseas experience, and she does not want to go back to Tokyo when the time comes next year.

“When I go back to Japan, I have to live with my family, she says. “There are few amusements and we can not be relaxed because all Japanese are very busy”.

The Japanese appreciate the space, the more relaxed atmosphere and the longer holidays, but they also experience some difficulties: the most obvious is the language. Mr. Kojima has lived in Wales for two years, and still has problems. “The language is very difficult, but the staff is very experienced at explaining to the Japanese”, he says. “I can understand the explanations, but I can’t understand they talk with each other”.

Besides the language, there are also cultural differences which can make life difficult. Banker Kaoru Itoh says “the British like arguments, the Japanese don’t. They dislike raising the opposite opinion. In Japan everyone respects the opinion of the majority”.

Sue Robbins, First Insights into Business, Longman

Reading comprehension