Extended Tasks and Activities
(3) Never let yourself be pressured into signing. Take your time.
(4) Find out if there are any provisions for canceling the contract, and what the provisions are.
(5) If you have not already done so, be sure to check with the Better Business Bureau for a reliability report.
Words in Task III
bilateral adj. 双边的
delivery n. 投递；交付；货物；邮件
agreement n. 协议
obligation n. 义务；责任
concession n. 承认；让出；让步
toast v. 为（某人/某事物）幸福、 成功等祝酒
binding adj. 有法律约束力的
initial v. 用姓名的首字母签名或做标记
provision n. 规定；条款
reputable adj. 值得尊敬的；声誉好的
underquote v. 开价低于市场（或别人）价格
punch v. 用拳猛击
1.Reception Etiquette
Read the following passage and try to get some detailed information in the process of signing a contract.
Tips for Signing a Contract
Before you sign a contract, do the following things:
Understand what’s in the contract.
Don’t sign if there are blank spaces.
Write all promises that are made to you on the contract.
Make any changes before signing.
Get a copy when you sign it.
Understand the contract.
You have the right to understand the contract before you are asked to sign it. If there is something you don’t understand, ask for an explanation. If you have doubts about a purchase, go home and think it over. Don’t be pressured into signing before you are ready.Statements that you must purchase today to get a good deal are rarely true.
Never sign a contract with blank spaces.
Cross out any blank spaces and any statements that do not apply to your purchase.
Get all promises in writing.
Promises a salesperson makes should be written on the contract.
If the seller has promised you something, make sure that it is written on the contract. If the seller won’t put it in writing, don’t sign.
Make changes on the contract before signing.
If you want to add or delete something in the contract, do it before you sign.
Get an exact copy.
Get an exact copy of the contract when you sign it. Don’t let them tell you that a copy will be mailed to you later.
Canceling a contract.
It can be very difficult to cancel a contract once you sign it, unless both parties agree.
You have a right to cancel a contract in the following situations:
The seller lied about the product or service.
You never got the product.
The contract, or the law, allows you to cancel it within a certain time period.
2.Extended Reading
Negotiation Skills
Negotiation skills come in all forms. This is because most people who possess such skills integrate a different set of strategies and techniques on the negotiations these people handle.With this, you must know the most appropriate negotiation skills for the nature of your business negotiations.
The most appropriate negotiation skills that integrate the most effective set of strategies and techniques on necessary business negotiations of your company are usually possessed by your most skillful employees. The most skillful employees you have for such negotiations are often your own set of business analysts and financial advisers.
But you should have a system that could regularly provide you with updated, accurate,and detailed information on the negotiation skills that your business analysts and financial advisers have. This is because each business analyst and financial adviser that is employed in your company has a different set of negotiation skills that is appropriate and effective for a certain business negotiation.
You can obtain such necessary information on the skills that each of your business analysts and financial advisers possesses by regularly conducting interviews and business meetings. This is because such interviews and business meetings provide you with a means to efficiently gauge the skills of each of your employees. Such interviews and business meetings inform you of the most appropriate people to conduct negotiations with each of your partner institutions and individuals.
Negotiations can be done in an efficient and effective manner by first knowing the nature of your partnership with each corporate institution and individual. This is because your ties with each company and individual vary with the nature of its business operations and its set of purposes.
In doing so, you are assured of the most appropriate people with the most effective negotiation skills to carry out necessary negotiations with your partner corporate institutions and individuals. In addition, these people could also provide you with an advantage over the negotiations being made with your business partners.
You should also consider getting training programs to improve the effectiveness of the negotiation skills each of your financial advisers and business analysts possesses. This is because negotiation training programs provide such people a platform to efficiently practice the skills each of these people possesses. In addition, you should search for the training program provider that has substantial experience in the field of negotiation skills training.
You should also obtain the services of training providers that have the most customizable and effective set of training programs. This means that you should have the power to dictate the form of negotiation skills that should be integrated on the training programs you are planning to acquire from such providers. This is because each form of negotiation skills is appropriate for a certain business negotiation, and designating a specific employee that possesses the most appropriate skills for the nature of equally specific business negotiations provide you with the most effective negotiation services.
By carefully selecting the training program for each employee you have, you increase the actual probabilities of improving the negotiation skills of your business analysts and financial advisers in efficiently carrying out negotiation services for your company. This would evidently bolster the ties you have with your business partners since you send the most appropriate employee for the task of efficiently transacting negotiations with each business partner you have.
Answer the following questions according to the passage.
(1) What kinds of employees often have the most experience of business negotiation?
(2) How do you establish a system that could regularly provide you with updated,accurate, and detailed information on the negotiation skills that your business analysts and financial advisers have?
(3) How do you improve the effectiveness of the negotiation skills each of your financial advisers and business analysts possesses?
(4) How do you obtain the services of training providers that have the most customizable and effective set of training programs?
(5) According to the passage, how do you make negotiations in an efficient and effective manner?
The Art of Persuasion
“Yes” is what we all strive to make another person say. The objective of negotiating is to inspire or coerce the other person to agree to your terms. Persuading others is the art of the process.
People can be motivated by many things such as simple fear, a desire to be liked, respect for the other person, or simple avarice and greed. They are all motivators in a negotiation.
In most negotiations we assume that the prime motivators are avarice and greed. It is the use of other, less obvious motivators that makes the difference between those who barter and those who negotiate. Bartering is an exchange, typically a fair exchange of like value.Negotiating has the potential of creating value from the process. It is much like making 1+1=11 rather than 2.
There are many persuasion techniques. They all play off the core psychological drivers that effect most people. They represent the basic negotiating tools most of us use consciously or unconsciously.
One such technique is the use of classical conditioning when you are trying to persuade others. The Pavlovian Model can be effective. Ivan Pavlov studied the cause, effect and reaction relationship and how consistent repetition of a reward or punishment can reinforce a specific performance. The important lesson is that the subject need not understand the cause but learns to relate or anticipate the response to the action.
A consistent emotional response, positive or negative, on your part can be used to condition the other person to react in a specific way. This persuasion tactic involves reinforcing positive performance such as reaching an agreement with you with a positive emotional reaction.(https://www.daowen.com)
People want to please others. It is human nature.
If you proactively reinforce their performance when you reach an agreement with something with a sincere smile or handshake or appreciative gesture, you will be establishing a reinforced relationship subliminally. You can do the same with negative incentive such as frowning, feigned anger or frustration. The key is consistent reinforcement on small matter to build the performance pattern.
Like it or not, everyone uses persuasion throughout their lives. There is no way around it.Whether dealing with a spouse, child, boss, employee, peer, ally, school mate, date, teacher,banker or car salesman, we are trying to hear that special word, “Yes!”
If you are unable to convince others to your way of thinking, you will constantly be doing their bidding or lose the relationship. Rather than resenting others who are telling you what to do, realize that it is your fault, not theirs that you are not more persuasive.
Decide whether the following statements are true or false.
(1) Avarice and greed are the all motivators in negotiations. ( )
(2) One persuasion technique is the use of classical conditioning when you are trying to persuade others. ( )
(3) It is human nature to want to please others. ( )
(4) If you proactively reinforce their performance when you reach an agreement with something with a sincere smile or handshake or appreciative gesture, you will be establishing a reinforced relationship unconsciously. ( )
(5) Everyone uses persuasion throughout their lives. ( )
Before Signing a Contract
Contracts are part of everyday life. Almost anything you buy, sell, borrow, loan, rent,repair or trade involves a contract.
You make a contract when you use a credit card, rent something, buy insurance, or hire someone to paint your house.
A contract is a legal agreement between two or more people. It spells out the terms of the agreement. A contract can be oral or written. But it’s a good idea to put a contract in writing.You do not need to use special forms or legal language to write a contract.
Basic rules:
● Shop around before you make a decision. Make sure you are getting a good buy or deal.
● Read the contract carefully. Make sure you understand it well before you sign it. Ask for help if needed.
● You can make changes in the contract before you sign it. But the other person must agree. Both of you should initial the changes when you sign the contract.
● Do not rely on spoken promises. Make sure everything is written into the contract.
● Do not sign any contract until all the blanks are filled in.
● Make sure to keep a copy of the contract.
● Don’t rush into signing anything.
Complete the following sentences with the key words in the passage.
(1) A contract can be oral or written. But it’s a good idea to put a contract ______.
(2) You can ______ in the contract before you sign it. But the other person must agree.
Both of you should ______ the changes when you sign the contract.
(3) Do not sign any contract until all the blanks are ______.
Global Cross-Border B2C E-Commerce 2021
Amid the pandemic, online consumers prioritized more affordable prices and the variety of goods in cross-border shopping, says the new publication.
A new publication from Germany-based research company, titled “Global Cross-Border B2C E-Commerce 2021” summarizes the key trends and projections of Cross-Border B2C E-Commerce market during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.The publication discloses that in 2020 the majority of online consumers preferred international online shopping over the local due to a greater variety of products and reasonable prices.
Cross-border B2C E-Commerce market value was projected to grow steadily by 2026.
Despite the projected decrease in global cross-border payments from 2019 to 2020 by 8%,after the COVID-19 onset, the overall cross-border B2C E-Commerce market value was forecasted to surge by 30% from 2019 to 2026.Furthermore, in Europe, along with the increase of the value of cross-border B2C E-Commerce, the growth rate was predicted to surge as well by 2022.
Amid the pandemic in 2020, the most popular segment to shop was “fashion”.
In 2020, the most common product category in cross-border online shopping was“fashion”. Particularly, in South Korea this was the most popular type to purchase from abroad,along with “beverage 
food” based on the value in 2020.Although in Australia, the same product category was ranked as the mostly purchased, “games 
toys” segment was the top shopped in as well. Other than these categories, “cars 
motorcycles” “music”, vehicles and video related goods were also among the most common in other countries in 2020.
Domestic online sales dominated over cross-border in several countries of Europe, except for Italy in 2020.
Cross-border B2C E-Commerce adoption spread differently in the countries all over the world. In some nations, domestic online sales/purchases prevailed the international ones in 2020.In Germany, the majority of online sales were done nationwide, while only about 30%were performed outside the country in the first quarter of 2020.The same pattern was seen in Russia, Poland, Turkey and Latin America, with the nationwide B2C E-Commerce market outweighing the international market the same year. Yet, in Italy, the majority of online sales were performed across the borders, outweighing the domestic digital in 2020.
Amazon.com, eBay and AliExpress were the popular online retail platforms in 2020.
Due to the acceleration of cross-border B2C E-Commerce, more consumers turned to international digital retail platforms for shopping. The three most commonly used worldwide were Amazon.com, Alibaba/AliExpress and eBay in 2020 based on the preferences of surveyed consumers. Moreover, Amazon and eBay were chosen by most experts within E-Commerce industry to sell on in 2020.Other than that, based on the number of monthly visits over the last 6 months in 2020, the most popular digital commerce platform was Amazon.
Complete the following sentences with the key words in the passage.
(1) Despite the projected decrease in global cross-border payments from 2019 to 2020 by 8%, after the COVID-19 onset, the overall cross-border B2C E-Commerce market value was forecasted to surge by ______ from 2019 to 2026.
(2) Amid the pandemic in 2020, the most popular segment to shop was ______.
(3) ______, eBay and ______ were the popular online retail platforms in 2020.
(4) Due to the ______ of cross-border B2C E-Commerce, more consumers turned to international digital retail platforms for shopping.
3.Translation
A. Translate the following sentences from English into Chinese.
(1) As a rule, we deliver our goods within two months after receipt of the covering L/
C.Sometimes we can get the goods early from our manufacturers, and we can also make a prompt delivery.
(2) If there is no accident during the transportation, I think the goods will reach you by the end of June, in no case would it be later than July 2nd.
(3) What if the results from the two inspections do not coincide with each other?
(4) As for inspection, our practice has proved to be quite reasonable and has been accepted by our customers from foreign countries.
(5) The goods we have ordered are seasonal goods, so it will be better to ship them all at one time.
B. Translate the following sentences from Chinese into English.
（1）如您所知，信用证在国际贸易中是普遍采用的正常付款方式。
（2）通常我们只接受保兑的、不可撤销的信用证，凭即期汇票支付。
（3）为了友谊起见，我们乐意做出让步，对这批货物采取分期付款。
（4）这笔交易，我们能否采取分期付款的方式？
（5）保险费用是根据投保险别的保险费率进行计算的。
4.Practical Training Project
You will be asked to engage in a conversation about preparing a business negotiation with your partner according to the given information. Please follow the steps.
Step 1 Work in pairs.
Step 2 Each chooses one of the following roles. One plays the role of Sophia and the other plays the role of Han Mei.
Step 3 Prepare the conversation for 5 minutes.
Step 4 Make a conversation according to the given information.
