4. A company had problems when it tried to introduce instant coffee to the French market.
5. Several European and American firms couldn?t sell their products in Dubai when they ran their advertising campaign in Arabic
6. An airline company called itself Emu, after the Australian bird. But Australians didn?t want to use the airline.
7. A TV commercial for a cleaning product showed a little girl cleaning up the mess her brother made. The commercial caused problems in Canada.
8. A toothpaste manufacturer couldn?t sell its product in parts of South East Asia.
9. An American golf ball manufacturer launched its products in Japan packed in boxes of four. It had to change the pack size.
10. A ladies? electric shaver sold well throughout Europe, but not in Italy.
If you don?t have any idea about the reason behind the problems, try to match the problems with the following reasons.
? In Japan the word for ?four? sounds like the word for ?death?. Things don?t sell well packed in fours.
? People thought the commercial was too sexist and reinforced old male/female stereotype.
? Unveiled women don?t mix with men in Saudi Arabia and alcohol is illegal.
? 90% of the population came from Pakistan, India, Iran and elsewhere, so Arabic was the wrong language.
? It seems Italian men prefer ladies? legs unshaven.
? The advertisers forgot that in that part of the world, people usually read from right to left.
? The people in this area didn?t want white teeth. They thought darkly-stained teeth were beautiful and they tried to blacken them.
? Japanese homes were small and sometimes walls were made of paper. It was important for the refrigerators to be quiet.
? Making ?real? coffee was an important part of the French way of life. Instant coffee was too casual.
? The emu can?t fly.
emu noun[countable] plural emus or emu
a large Australian bird that can run very fast but cannot fly 鸸鹋
2. Reading.
The text on the opposite page comes from DTI (Department of Trade and Industry) in the UK. It is aimed at British companies considering business with China. DTI （英国）贸易工业部
Doing Business in China amount verb
amount to something phrasal verb
if figures, sums etc amount to a particular total, they equal that total when they are added together 达到
Time lost through illness amounted to 1,357 working days. 由于疾病而耽误的工作日达到1357天。
pledge verb [transitive]
?PROMISE? 保证给与，发誓
to make a formal, usually public, promise that you will do something正式、向公众作出的许诺，保证
pledge something to something/somebody
Moore pledged $100,000 to the orchestra at the fund-raising dinner. 摩尔许诺在筹资晚宴上拨款10万美元给交响乐团。 pledge to do something
The new governor pledged to reduce crime. 新州长许诺减少犯罪。 pledge that
Herrera pledged that his company will give aid to schools. …许诺说他的公司将会资助学校。 pledge (your) support/loyalty/solidarity etc
He pledged his cooperation. 他做出承诺，保证合作。 pledge yourself to (do) something
Trade unions pledged themselves to resist the government plans. 工会保证他们会抵制政府的计划。
?MAKE SOMEBODY PROMISE?
to make someone formally promise something 使发誓
Employees were pledged to secrecy. 公司让员工承诺保守秘密。
pledge noun [countable] ?PROMISE?
formal a serious promise or agreement, especially one made publicly or officially（政府、政党领袖）诺言，保证，誓言
pledge of
a pledge of support for the plan 保证对这个计划表示支持 pledge to do something
the government's pledge to make no deals with terrorists 政府保证绝不与恐怖分子作交易 make/take/give a pledge
Parents make a pledge to take their children to rehearsals. keep/fulfil/honour a pledge
Eisenhower fulfilled his election pledge to end the war in Korea. ?MONEY?
a promise to give money to an organization 给与资助的许诺
Donors have made pledges totaling nearly $4 million. 捐献者许诺给出总数达4000万元的资助款。 pledge of
a pledge of $200 to the public TV station 承诺资助公共电视台的200元钱 ?SOMETHING VALUABLE?
something valuable that you leave with someone else as proof that you will do what you have agreed to do 抵押，典当
acknowledge verb [transitive] ?ADMIT?
to admit or accept that something is true or that a situation exists 承认
He acknowledges that when he's tired he gets bad-tempered.他承认说，只要他一疲劳，他的脾气就会不好。
Claire acknowledged that she was guilty. 克莱尔承认她犯了罪。
This is a fact that most smokers readily acknowledge. 这是许多吸烟者都马上会承认的事实。 ?RECOGNIZE SOMETHING'S IMPORTANCE?
[usually passive] if people acknowledge something, they recognize how good or important it is 意识到
acknowledge something as something
The film festival is acknowledged as an event of international importance. 该电影节被认为是国际性的重要活动。
be widely/generally acknowledged to be something 被广泛认为/被普遍认为 ?ACCEPT SOMEBODY'S AUTHORITY?
to accept that someone or something has authority over people 承认某人的权威
Many of the poor acknowledged him as their spiritual leader. 许多穷人都认定他是他们的精神领袖。 ?THANK?
to publicly announce that you are grateful for the help that someone has given you 公开宣布感激之情
We wish to acknowledge the support of the university. 我们希望表达贵校对我们的支持的感激心情。
?SHOW YOU NOTICE SOMEBODY?
to show someone that you have noticed them or heard what they have said 示意听到或注意到 Tom acknowledged her presence by a brief glance. 汤姆扫了一眼，示意她，他已经看到她了。
?SAY YOU HAVE RECEIVED SOMETHING?
to let someone know that you have received something from them 确认收到某物
I would be grateful if you would acknowledge receipt of this letter. 如果你在收到这封信后能确认收到的话，我将万分感激。
strength noun
?USEFUL QUALITY OR ABILITY?
[countable] a particular quality or ability that gives someone or something an advantage 优势，强项
?反义词 weakness
Her main strength is her critical thinking ability. 她的优点在于她敏锐的思考能力。 strength of
The great strength of our plan lies in its simplicity. 我们计划的优势就在于简单。 Be aware of your own strengths and weaknesses. 注意你的优势和劣势。
chance noun ?POSSIBILITY?
[uncountable and countable] how possible or likely it is that something will happen, especially something that you want 可能性
There's always the chance that something will go wrong. chance of
What are the team's chances of success?
She has a good chance of a successful recovery. There is little chance of her being found alive.
The day will be cloudy with a slight chance of rain later tonight. He gave the show a fifty-fifty chance of survival.
It was a million to one chance, but it had happened. 这只有万分之一的可能性，但还是发生了。 ?OPPORTUNITY? [countable]
a time or situation which you can use to do something that you want to do 机会 ?同义词 opportunity
grab the chance/jump at the chance (=eagerly and quickly use an opportunity) 抓住机会
If someone invited me over to Florida, I'd jump at the chance.如果有人邀请我去弗洛里达万，我会马上答应。
a chance of a lifetime/a chance in a million (=a chance that you are very unlikely to have again) 极少能碰到的机会，千载难逢的机会
I couldn't pass up going to Japan; it was a chance in a million. 我决不能错误去日本的机会，这是千载难逢的好机会。 ?RISK?
take a chance
to do something that involves risks 冒险
The rope might break, but that's a chance we'll have to take.
After losing $20,000 on my last business venture, I'm not taking any chances this time. 在我上次生意损失了2万元后，这次我不再冒险了。 take a chance on
He was taking a chance on a relatively new young actor. 他冒险启用一名年轻演员。
profile noun [countable] ?HEAD?
a side view of someone's head 侧面像 Dani has a lovely profile. in profile
I only saw her face in profile. ?DESCRIPTION?
a short description that gives important details about a person, a group of people, or a place 人物简介
a job profile 工作职责描述 profile of
a short profile of the actor 3 high profile
something that is high profile is noticed by many people or gets a lot of attention 引人注目
Jack runs a department with a high public profile. 杰克经营一家在公众中知名度很高的商店。 The star has a high profile in Britain. 这位明星在英国知名度很高。 4 keep a low profile
to behave quietly and avoid doing things that will make people notice you 保持低调 5 raise somebody's profile
if a person or an organization raises its profile, it gets more attention from the public 提升知名度 an advertising campaign designed to raise the bank's profile 一次旨在提升这家银行知名度的广告
rarity noun plural rarities 1 be a rarity
to not happen or exist very often稀有，罕见
Visitors were a rarity in the village.几乎没有游客到这个村庄。
2 [countable] something that is valuable or interesting because it is rare稀罕的东西 Some of these plants are national rarities.
3 [uncountable] the quality of being rare 稀有
Such stamps are expensive because of their rarity. 由于这些邮票稀有，所以价格昂贵。
end user noun [countable] the person who uses a particular product, rather than the people who make or develop it 终端用户
commitment noun
1 [countable] a promise to do something or to behave in a particular way 承诺，保证 Are you ready to make a long-term commitment? 你做好长期奉献的准备了吗？ commitment to
Our company has a commitment to quality and customer service. 我们的公司对产品的质量和客户服务做出保证。