在托福听力的备考中，选择一个适合自己的听力素材是非常重要的。而巴郎听力则是很多学生冲刺高分听力的必备选择。由于他的内容基本可以跟国外讲座水平接轨，所以是非常适合作为托福听力考前练习素材。

　　Professor's Office

　　Student: Thanks for seeing me, Professor Williams.

　　Professor: Glad to, Alice. What do you have on your mind?

　　Student: Well, I got a little mixed up when I started to go over my notes from the last class, so I had a few questions.

　　Professor: Shoot.

　　Student: Okay. I understand the three basic sources of personnel for multinational companies.

　　That’s fairly self-explanatory.

　　Professor: Host country, home country, and third country.

　　Student: Right. But then you started talking about staffing patterns that . . . let me see . . . okay . . . you said, “staffing patterns may vary depending on the length of time that the multinational company has been operating,” and you gave some examples, but I got confused and now I can’t read my notes.

　　Professor: Okay. Well, one pattern is to rely on home country managers to staff the key positions when the company opens, but gradually moving more host country nationals into upper management as the company grows.

　　Student: So, for example, if a French company opened a factory in Canada, then French management would gradually replace themselves with Canadian managers. Is that what you mean?

　　Professor: Right. I think I used that very example in class. So do you want to try to explain the second pattern to me?

　　Student: Sure. I think it’s the one where home country nationals are put in charge of the company if it’s located in a developed country, but in a developing country, then home country nationals manage the company sort of indefinitely.

　　Professor: Right again. And an example of that would be . . .

　　Student: . . . maybe using German management for a Swiss company in Germany, but, uh, they might send Swiss management to provide leadership for a Swiss company in . . . in . . .

　　Professor: How about Zimbabwe?

　　Student: This is one of the confusing parts.

　　Zimbabwe has a very old and highly developed culture, so…

　　Professor: . . . but it’s still defined as a developing country because of the economic base—which is being developed now.

　　Student: Oh, okay. I guess that makes sense. Then the example of the American company with British management . . . when the company is in India . . . that would be a third-country pattern.

　　Professor: Yes. In fact, this pattern is fairly prevalent among multinational companies in the United States. Many Scottish or English managers have been hired for top management positions at United States subsidiaries in the former British colonies-India, Jamaica, the West Indies, some parts of Africa . . .

　　Student: Okay. So I’ve got all the examples right now.

　　Professor: Anything else?

　　Student: Just one thing. There were some typical patterns for certain countries.

　　Professor: Like the last example.

　　Student: No. This came later in the lecture. Something about Japan and Europe.

　　Professor: Oh. Right. I probably said that both Japanese multinational companies and European companies tend to assign senior-level home country managers to overseas locations for their entire careers, whereas multinational companies in the United States view overseas assignments as temporary, so they may actually find themselves reporting to a senior-level manager from the host country who has more experience.

　　Student: So, for example, a Japanese company in the United States would most probably have senior-level Japanese managers with mid-level managers maybe from the United States. But in Japan, the senior-level Japanese managers at an American company would probably have mid-level American managers reporting to them?

　　Professor: Well, generalities are always a little tricky, but for the most part, that would be a typical scenario. Because living as a permanent expatriate is a career move in Japan, but a temporary strategy in the United States.

　　Student: Okay. That’s interesting.

　　Professor: And important for you to know as a business major with an interest in international business.

　　You’re still on that track, aren’t you?

　　Student: I sure am. But, you know, I wasn’t thinking in terms of living abroad for my entire career.

　　That really is a huge commitment, and something to ask about going in. Anyway, like you say, most American companies view overseas assignments as temporary. That’s more what I have in mind, for myself, I mean.