The rise of multinational corporations （跨国公司）, global marketing, new munications technologies, and shrinking cultural differences have led to an unparalleled increase in global public relations or PR．
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 being more sophisticated and creative． A recent survey found that more than half of all British panies include PR as part of their corporate （公司的） planning activities, pared to about one-third of U．S． panies． It may not be long before London replaces New York as the capital of PR．
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 have 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 closer eye 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．
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 munications have made the nations of the world so interdependent that there is no longer any such thing as foreign．
【小题1】Compared with the American PR personnel, what is/are an advantage（s） of the non-Americans involved in PR?
A． They tend to be more internationally minded
B． They speak more and better foreign languages．
C． They usually pay more attention to global financial situation．
D． Both A and B．
【小题2】What is the immediate cause of the downfall of America’s public relations?A．The number of US public relations agencies had greatly decreased by 1991．B．Other countries have increased their efforts in public relations．C．On the global scale, cultural differences have significantly shrunk．D．The British panies are being especially sophisticated and creative in public relations．【小题3】It could be inferred that the author of the passage is ．A．an AmericanB．a BritonC．Ted TurnerD．an Asian【小题4】The underlined word “provincial” in paragraph 3 could possibly mean “ ”．A．strict in thinkingB．like people from rural areasC．limited in outlook D．interested in geographical knowledgeD
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(答案→)D
解析：
【小题1】从文章第三段的内容看出是A．B．都对，选D， They tend to be more internationally minded“他们往往有国际化的思维”They speak more and better foreign languages．“他们说更多更好的语言”。
【小题2】从第二段的： since modern PR was largely an American invention, America’s relations is being threatened by PR efforts in other countries．看出美国公共关系的下降导致其它国家增加了努力。选B。
【小题3】从文章出现的abroad ，Overseas,这样的词看出作者是美国人。选A
【小题4】从后面的句子：take more of an interest in local affairs，对当地事业更感兴趣，说明选C。“地方的”。