VOA标准英语2011--US Companies Help Families Adjust to Lif

US Companies Help Families Adjust to Life Overseas

Richard and Kim Choi knew life in China would require some adjustment. Richard works for an American automaker which transferred the couple and their three children from Miami to Shanghai almost three years ago.
Culture shock
A trip to the grocery store can still bring surprises. Kim shows son Hansen, 8, a tank of live turtles.
"Why do they get them but put them in water?" he asks.
"So they stay nice and fresh because people like to eat them," his mother answers, while also pointing out bagged turtles which are used for turtle soup.
Hanson and his sisters are both grossed¹ out and fascinated² by the turtles, hairy crabs³, snakes, eels⁴ and jellyfish writhing⁵ nearby. A visit to the meat counter is also quite a change for them.
"That was quite alarming to the kids, to see live produce, things not pre-packaged in a plastic wrap, like you would at the grocery store in the U.S," Kim says.
Making adjustments
At least the Chois knew what to expect. Richard's company hired a consulting firm to prepare them for the cultural shift. The couple has already lived in Dubai, Israel and Germany.
"This time was the first time that we actually had someone come to the house and talk to us about what it would be like to live in a new country," says Kim. "We learned about Chinese history and business practices."
They also received a manual covering everything from Chinese proverbs and how to address people properly to office life.
"There was a very large section on the corporate⁶ culture and how to behave in the workplace," says Richard, who had to take a survey to see how well his work style would mesh⁷ with the Chinese one. He did pretty well.
Compatibility⁸ issues
Kim, a stay-at-home mom, had her own cultural compatibility test. "I learned actually that my personal space is quite important to me which was the only area of concern to the consultants⁹ because in China there is no such thing as personal space."
By now, as a white woman, she's used to strangers coming right up to her and staring. Or demanding to know why one of her kids isn't dressed warmly enough.
Jo Danehl is with Cartus, an international relocation company which provides cultural training services. She says there's a good reason companies spend anywhere from a thousand to several thousand dollars on this type of training for employees and their loved ones.
"Family adjustment is far and away the biggest reason that assignments fail," Danehl says. "And if you think that international assignments can be in excess of a million dollars for companies, they are going to need to mitigate¹⁰ that opportunity for failure."
It's often the employee's spouse¹¹ - usually a wife - who has to deal with day-to-day problems. Some consulting firms devote themselves entirely¹² to supporting the spouse.
"If the spouse is happy, the employee is gonna be more productive¹³ in their work," says Therese Gavin, who works for a company called REA, which helps the employee's spouse find a job or volunteer work.
Gaining a world view
Gavin speaks from experience. She's accompanied her husband on two assignments; one in Germany, the other in China. The couple returned to Michigan last year. And that's when another adjustment began: being back home.
"Sometimes it's just difficult in conversations," she says. "You can't constantly be talking about your experience overseas. But you also, sometimes like, ‘I don't really want to hear about everything right here anymore, either.' You know, you really kind of like have a global eye."
The Chois will be in China for a few more years before returning to the U.S. Richard says they've pretty much adjusted to life there, especially now that he's stopped worrying about paying $8 for a bag of tortilla chips - something that costs about $3 in the United States.
Now, he says, Shanghai feels like home.

1 grossed   

获得（…的）总收入( gross的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Her last film grossed a million pounds. 她拍最后一部影片总共赚了100万英镑。
• Her last film grossed (ie earned) a million pounds. 她拍最后一部影片总共赚了一百万英镑。

2 fascinated   

a.被强烈地吸引住，感到着迷的

参考例句：

• China has always fascinated me. 中国一直令我心驰神往。
• The children watched, fascinated, as the picture began to appear. 电影开始以后孩子们入迷地观看着。

3 crabs   

n.蟹( crab的名词复数 )；阴虱寄生病；蟹肉v.捕蟹( crab的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• As we walked along the seashore we saw lots of tiny crabs. 我们在海岸上散步时看到很多小蟹。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The fish and crabs scavenge for decaying tissue. 鱼和蟹搜寻腐烂的组织为食。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 eels   

abbr. 电子发射器定位系统（=electronic emitter location system）

参考例句：

• Eels have been on the feed in the Lower Thames. 鳗鱼在泰晤士河下游寻食。
• She bought some eels for dinner. 她买回一些鳗鱼做晚餐。

5 writhing   

（因极度痛苦而）扭动或翻滚( writhe的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• She was writhing around on the floor in agony. 她痛得在地板上直打滚。
• He was writhing on the ground in agony. 他痛苦地在地上打滚。

6 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

7 mesh   

n.网孔，网丝，陷阱；vt.以网捕捉，啮合，匹配；vi.适合； [计算机]网络

参考例句：

• Their characters just don't mesh.他们的性格就是合不来。
• This is the net having half inch mesh.这是有半英寸网眼的网。

8 compatibility   

n.和谐共处，不矛盾

参考例句：

• Compatibility will require that the girder deflection at B be zero. 根据协调性的要求，梁在B点的挠度应为零。
• This phenomenon has been termed "heterogenic compatibility" by Esser. 这种现象被艾瑟称做“异质亲和性”。

9 consultants   

顾问( consultant的名词复数 )； 高级顾问医生，会诊医生

参考例句：

• a firm of management consultants 管理咨询公司
• There're many consultants in hospital. 医院里有很多会诊医生。

10 mitigate   

vt.（使）减轻，（使）缓和

参考例句：

• The government is trying to mitigate the effects of inflation.政府正试图缓和通货膨胀的影响。
• Governments should endeavour to mitigate distress.政府应努力缓解贫困问题。

11 spouse   

n.配偶(指夫或妻)

参考例句：

• Her spouse will come to see her on Sunday.她的丈夫星期天要来看她。
• What is the best way to keep your spouse happy in the marriage?在婚姻中保持配偶幸福的最好方法是什么？

12 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

13 productive   

adj.能生产的，有生产价值的，多产的

参考例句：

• We had a productive meeting that solved some problems.我们开了一个富有成效的会议，解决了一些问题。
• Science and technology are part of the productive forces.科学技术是生产力。