单选题 Look at the people around you. Some are passive, others more aggressive. Some work best alone, others crave companionship. We easily recognize that there is great variation among the individuals who live near us. Yet, when we speak of people from elsewhere, we seem to inevitably characterize them based on their country of origin. Statistics specialists, when they speak of national averages, often make the same mistake. Newly published research shows how erroneous such overviews are. Three researchers analyzed decades of values-based surveys and found that only between 16% and 21% of the variation in cultural values could be explained by differences between countries. In other words, the vast majority of what makes us culturally distinct from one another has nothing to do with our homeland. To determine what factors really are associated with culture, the authors combined data from 558 prior surveys that each measured one or more of Hofstede’s cultural dimensions. These are traits, such as individualism and masculinity, that describe work-related cultural values. (They are not a measure of visible cultural traits, such as food or dress.) Though the validity of Hofstede’s dimensions has been questioned, they have the singular benefit of having been in use for decades, which allows for historical and international comparisons. The researchers found that both demographic factors, such as age, and environmental factors, such as long-term unemployment rates, were more correlated with cultural values than nationality. Occupation and social economic status were the most strongly correlated, suggesting that our values are more economically driven than we usually give them credit for. The evidence implies that people with similar jobs and incomes are more culturally alike, regardless of where they live. Vas Taras, the lead author of the study, puts it this way: "Tell me how much you make and I will make a pretty accurate prediction about your cultural values. Tell me what your nationality is and I probably will make a wrong prediction." Taras says our erroneous belief that countries are cultures has caused businesses to teach their employees useless or even harmful ways of interacting with their international peers. Chinese and American lawyers might be trained to interact based on the assumption that the Chinese person is less individualistic, even though their similar social economic situations make it probable they are actually quite alike in that regard. The country, as the unit of authority, is often a convenient way of generalizing about a population. However, our focus on countries can mask broad variations within them. In the majority of cases we would be better off identifying people by the factors that constrain their lives, like income, rather than by the lines surrounding them on a map.

单选题 What error do experts often make when describing people from other places?

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】根据题干中的信息词experts和describing people from other places，答案线索可以定位在第一段和第二段。第一段最后一句指出，然而，当我们说起来自其他地方的人时，我们似乎不可避免地根据他们的原籍国来描述他们的特征。第二段指出，统计专家在谈到全国平均值时，也常常犯类似的错误。也就是说，统计专家也经常以原籍国为衡量因素，来谈论全国平均值。选项A是对这两句话的同义转述，故为正确答案，其中原文中的country of origin，选项中的nationality属于同义替换。选项B、C在原文中没有提到，故均排除，选项D是根据第二段中的national averages设置的干扰项，原文是举例说明统计专家在谈论全国平均值时，常常也以原籍国为衡量因素，而不是说专家描述其他地方的人时总是想着全国平均值，故排除选项D。

单选题 What do we learn about Hofstede’s cultural dimensions?

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】根据题干中的信息词Hofstede’s cultural dimensions，答案线索可以定位在第四段。第四段最后一句指出，尽管霍夫斯泰德(文化)维度的有效性一直受到质疑，但其独特的优点是已经被应用了几十年，这允许(研究者)进行历史性比较和国家之间的比较。选项A中的comparing…across time and space正好对应该句话中historical and international comparisons，“跨时间”也就是“历史性的”。“跨空间”也就是“国家之间的”，故选项A为正确答案。其他三个选项在文中都没有提及，故均排除。

单选题 What did researchers find about previous studies on factors determining people’s values?

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】根据题干中的信息词previous studies和factors determining people’s values，答案线索可以定位在第四至六段，这三段都提到了研究人员对之前的调查进行研究。第四段主要介绍了研究人员对之前的调查进行了比较研究，第五段和第六段详述了研究结果。第五段第二句话指出，职业和社会经济地位(与文化价值观)的相关性最强，这表明我们的价值观比我们通常认为的更受经济因素的影响。也就是说，我们低估了职业和经济地位(也就是财务状况)对我们的价值观的影响程度。所以选项B为正确答案。第五段第一句话提到，环境因素与文化价值观的相关性大于国籍与文化价值观的相关性，而不是说环境因素优于其他所有因素，选项A属于夸大事实，排除。选项C与原文相反，原文说我们低估了职业对我们价值观的影响，而不是过分强调，也排除。选项D在原文中没有提到，也排除。

单选题 What is the impact on employees when cultures are identified with countries?

单选题 What does the author suggest at the end of the passage?

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】根据题干中的信息词at the end of the passage，答案线索可以定位在最后一段。最后一段提到，根据国家来概括人口特征，会掩盖国家内部存在的广泛差异。作者在文章结尾提出建议，在大多数情况下，我们识别人的时候，最好利用那些可以限制人们生活的因素(如收入)而不是通过地图上围绕人们的边界(即地图上的国家)。“限制人们生活的因素”其实就包括前文提到的“职业和社会经济地位”。也就是说，在评价一个人的价值观时，一个很有用的评价标准就是社会经济地位，而非国籍，选项D是对该段的概括总结，故为正确答案。其他三个选项都是利用最后一段中的个别词汇设置的干扰项，均排除。