单选题 The rise of multinational corporations, global marketing, new communications 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, the U.S. leadership in public 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 becoming more sophisticated and creative. A recent survey found that more than half of all British companies include PR as part of their corporate planning activities, compared to about one-third of U.S. companies. 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? Firstly, 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, American lags behind their European and Asian counterparts in knowing a second language. Less than 5 percent of Burson-Marshall"s U. S. employees know two languages. Ogilvy and Mather has 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 communications have made the nations of the world so interdependent that there is no longer any such thing as foreign.

单选题 According to the passage, U. S. leadership in public relations is being threatened because of ______.

单选题 The underlined word "provincial" (Line 2, Para. 3) most probably means "______".

单选题 London could soon replace New York as the centre of PR because ______.

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】[解析] 细节推断题。题干问伦敦会代替纽约成为公共关系业的中心的原因，其依据在第二段第五句中的more than half of all British companies include PR as part of their corporate planning activities，compared to about one-third of U. S. companies，由此可见英国的公司比美国的公司更强调公共关系的重要性，因此A为正确答案。

单选题 We learn from the third paragraph that employees in the American PR industry ______.

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】[解析] 细节推断题。采用排除法。根据第三段In the financial PR area, for instance, most Americans read the Wall Street Journal可以判断A项是不正确的。根据American lags behind their European and Asian counterparts in knowing a second language可以判断B项是错误的。Knowledge of world geography，for example, has never been strong in this country只是说明美国人对地理知识不感兴趣而不是“无知”，所以C项是错误的。然后联系第二段The British in particular are becoming more sophisticated and creative和本段主要内容可以得出D为正确答案。