“When in Rome, do as the Romans do”, so when you want to do business in France, you have to get to know French culture, to make marketing plans, and to run your business by local laws.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#} The French take great pride in their language, so anyone who does not speak it may run the risk of being disrespected by his French colleagues or business partners. Also, another reason why learning French is important is that it is a great way to show every possible French business partner that you care and respect their country's culture and language.

    There are obvious ways of greeting people in French. When you meet someone new, it's usual to shake his hand firmly and always look at the person in the eye. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

        Dress well. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}Your business clothing is a reflection of your success and social status. Always try to be stylish. Women are advised to dress simply but elegantly. Wearing make-up is practiced widely by business women.

    The French are passionate about food, so lunches are common in doing business in France, which usually consist of an appetizer, main meal with wine, cheese, dessert and coffee, and normally take up to two hours. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    Do not begin eating until the host says, “Bon appetite”. Pass dishes to the left, keep wrists above the table and try to eat everything on the plate. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}This may suggest that you find the food tasteless. If eating in a restaurant, the person who invites always pays.

A. The French draw information about people based on their appearance.

B. This is a time for relationship building.

C. Maybe you have heard the expression.

D. Language should be the focus of anyone planning to do business in France.

E. Be careful with adding salt, pepper or sauces to your food.

F. When you meet a friend, kissing is common.

G. English and French are both spoken in formal occasions.

    There are three things that will get you ahead in life: good looks, smarts, and being considered as being smart.{#blank#}1{#/blank#} And unluckily most of us are not good-looking. Let's explore some different ways to become smarter.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#}College doesn't necessarily mean you'll be smarter, just educated. It means you'll be exposed to many different ideas and hopefully you'll learn how to think. Being able to think outside the box and for yourself are features smart people possess.

    Read books and educational magazines.{#blank#}3{#/blank#} Educational magazines are a wealth of knowledge you can share with others, thus making you sound very smart. If you do watch television, try watching something that you can learn.

    Expand your vocabulary. Try to learn one new word a week. It doesn't seem like much, but adding 52 new words to your vocabulary will really make you appear much smarter. Subscribing (订阅) to vocabulary.com is a good start.{#blank#}4{#/blank#} This way you're actually getting 365 words a year, but that is usually more than most people can absorb.

    Don't repeat everything people tell you until you know that it's true.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}They hear a strange claim and they repeat it to the nearest ear. You can do much harm to your seek for being smart if you are known for giving bad information.

A. Go to college and get an education.

B. The first is God-given.

C. Get educated inside or outside college.

D. You will have a new word sent to your email address daily.

E. The programs actually provide you with information you can use.

F. Uneducated people and people not considered as being smart tend to do this.

G. Reading books works the brain out more than viewing television.

    Reading books is one of the best hobbies. It not only helps you pass your time but also helps you increase your knowledge in a meaningful manner. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Here we will give you a few tips that can help you.

    Fall into the habit of borrowing books to read.

    This is a very old school practice but still it can be highly effective. When you borrow a book, there is obviously a deadline set. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    Read everywhere.

    Keep a book in your bag and read it anywhere you go. This will help you to pass your time in a very productive manner. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Anyway, you can read your book 24 hours a day.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    This can easily be described as a new school technique. You can read out to your brother or sister and this will enable you to finish your book as well as increase the knowledge and understanding of your brother or sister.

    Choose your books very carefully.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Thus choose your books very carefully in order to enjoy your time and also finish your book effectively. If you choose a good book that can keep you interested for a longer period of time, there is no way that you are going to leave it incomplete.

A. Therefore, it is necessary to develop the reading habit.

B. Realize the importance of reading books.

C. Read out to someone else.

D. Find an excuse to read every day just by visiting book clubs.

E. This can encourage you to read it often to finish the book on time.

F. It doesn't matter whether you are traveling or are about to sleep.

G. Yes, life is too short to read a book that doesn't impress you.

    Does Using Technology in the Classroom Help College Students?

    Almost anywhere in the world, you are likely to find people doing the same thing in public places, on trains and buses or wherever else you look. They spend their day looking at laptop computers, smartphones or other personal electronic devices. They are thinking mainly about their electronic devices, and not much else.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#} More and more college students have no problem walking into a classroom and immediately opening their laptops. Others may spend an entire study period with a smartphone in hand. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} But recent research suggests that using technology during class time may harm college students' ability to remember and process the subject material they are learning.

    Arnold Glass, a professor in Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and a student researcher investigated the issue of divided student attention. During half of their daily class periods, the students in their study were permitted to use any electronic device as much as they wanted. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    The students' academic performance was measured in several ways throughout the semester. They took a short test every day, longer tests every few weeks and a final exam covering all the class material. The researchers found that the average daily quiz results showed no evidence of harmful effects from the use of technology. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} They showed that all the students performed poorly on questions covering material taught on days when they were permitted to use technology in the classroom.

    Glass says that it shows the use of electronic devices in the classroom prevents students from processing information. The students hear what the professor is saying. But they might be buying things online or reading unrelated emails at the same time, for example. So they are not thinking deeply about the subject matter as they are hearing it. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. The same can be said about the world of college education.

B. However, the average results of the larger tests and final exam told a different story.

C. And that, Glass says, makes it harder for the information to enter their long-term memory.

D. Technology, in general, is not the only way that students find to distract themselves in class.

E. But even if technology is helpful to some students, there are times when it needs to be turned off.

F. Some students argue that the increasing use of technology can have many helpful effects on society.

G. During the other half, researchers closely watched them to make sure no one was using any technology.

    With self-service facilities – supermarkets, to name one – beginning to appear all the time, we're now relying on integrity more than ever.

    Integrity – the quality of doing the right thing no matter if anyone is watching or not – has been highly valued in China since ancient times. And the phrase“立木取信”probably best explains how integrity works in the relationship between people and the ruling of a nation.

    This phrase comes from the Warring States period (475-221 BC), during which China wasn't yet a unified country and was constantly at war. States carried out reforms to make themselves stronger, with the most thorough and influential one being the reform of the State of Qin, introduced by statesman Shang Yang (395-338 BC).

    Shang's reform focused on farming and giving rewards to soldiers who fought hard during wars. But at first, people had little trust and confidence in Shang.

    So he decided to prove himself by putting a wooden pole at the south gate of the capital of Qin, offering those who took the pole to the north gate a reward of 10 gold pieces, before long raising it to 50. When a man did as he said, Shang paid him 50 gold pieces as promised. Word soon spread, and people began to realize that Shang was a man of his word. The reforms were finally pushed forward.

    Today, integrity still plays an important role in Chinese society, which is why it's included as one of the 12 core socialist values in China.

    China is also planning to build a social credit system by the year 2020, which will keep citizens' misbehaviors –- even minor traffic violations – on record, so that trust can be established among people.

    “Without a system, a conman can commit a crime in one place and then do the same thing again in another place. But a credit system puts people's past history on the record. It'll build a better and fairer society,” explained Wen Quan, a blogger who writes about technology and finance, to BBC News.

    "Post-truth" was chosen by Oxford Dictionaries as the Word of the Year 2016. Indeed, digital misinformation is on the rise and it is hard for people to distinguish. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    Before the dawn of the Internet, Canadians regularly turned to trusting their preferred newspapers or radio stations for the latest news. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} It's now coming at you from so many different sources that you need to take responsibility for what you're seeing.

    Experts recommend relying on a range of sources instead of just one, but looking into them first. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} For example, the people connected where they're based, and their intention. A lack of information is certainly a warning.

    Next, learning to recognize misinformation is important. False news spreads mostly through social media. So if you're looking at news on Facebook, you have to handle it in a wiser way.{#blank#}4{#/blank#} Is it from a well-informed relative or a friend who regularly expresses extreme views? And whatever you do, only by clicking through can you see whether the information is accurate.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} It has no limits in achieving that goal, so it plays on feelings and uses improper language. Therefore, if you feel excited to share something immediately, that's the time you should stop and ask, "Is it accurate?" If we all take that extra little pause, we'll be able to stop this false thing from spreading.

A. Sources that are reliable tell you about themselves.

B. Fortunately, there are some simple ways to tell facts from fiction.

C. Consider who's sharing it if it's not posted directly from the source.

D. Today 42% of them use social media at least once a day to get their news.

E. Someone sets up "Hot Global News", hoping the ad dollars would pour in.

F. False news is designed to seek attention in order to sell ads or make an idea public.

G. Evaluating sources and getting reliable news is important in the age of misinformation.