1、
Questions 8-12
·Read the text below about work uniforms.
·Choose the best sentence from the opposite page to fill each of the gaps.
·For each gap 8-12, mark one letter A-I on your Answer Sheet.
Altered Images
We have teamed up with The Career and Workwear Show to find the best-dressed organization. Two hotel groups and a management center have made it to the shortlist.
Uniforms project an instant image about a business, as well as creating a team spirit among staff. Choose the wrong workwear and you risk upsetting your customers and employees.
Three entrants have been shortlisted in the competition to find the best-dressed business: Country Hotel Group, Goring Residential Management College and Major Hotels. (example) ----------.
A detailed entry form set out to discover the thought processes the entrants had used before they selected their new uniforms. (8) ____. In addition to price and style the judges wanted to know how the organisation introduced the new look and what lessons it had learnt.
The Country Hotel Group was looking for a uniform that was comfortable to wear and presented a relaxed country image to guests. The firm admits to placing a great emphasis on the clothing and appearance of its staff. (9) ____. A brief was issued to a number of companies who then had to present their ideas in a fashion show format to 50 employees. After the design was chosen, one hotel tried out the uniform for three months. (10) ____
The aim of the new uniform at Goring Residential Management College was to make staff instantly recognisable to course participants. The chosen design from Classy Rags established a clear corporate image at the college. There were many different outfits but only three fabrics had been used throughout the range and therefore the uniform was easily recognisable. One of the judges in the competition, fashion journalist Sally Bain, was also impressed with the value for money aspect of the uniforms. (11) ____
At Major Hotels a new uniform was needed to replace the old one which was considered to be ‘old-fashioned and unattractive.’ The new design was well received by the reception staff of the hotel chain. (12) ____. The new bottle-green uniforms were selected from Rayner Corporate Clothing. It was felt that it was a functional choice of colour and made a pleasant change from the more traditional black.
Do not use any letter more than once.
A. Feedback was then collected from staff at the hotel and minor changes were made before the uniform was introduced across all hotels.
B. The award will be presented to the competition winners at The Career and Workwear Show which will be held at Business Design Centre in London.
C. They all believe that its introduction has led to a modern, more professional corporate image and greater confidence among them.
D. One entry predicted that uniform fabrics would incorporate security aids which are read by sensors on doors and only allow access to authorised personnel.
E. In her opinion this had been achieved at half the cost of the other entries, with the average cost per person being £201,and each uniform being expected to last two years.
F. It asked why the uniform was introduced, who it was designed to be worn by, and how the firm went about selecting a supplier.
G. She felt that the head receptionist at the hotel should be asked to put forward the views and preferences of the team.
H. In its entry it said:‘Substantial investment has been made in this uniform because uniforms are seen as a very important area.’
I. One reason for this is that all three proved to the judges that they had thoroughly researched their choice of new uniforms.
2、
Questions 8-12
·Read this text on Dave’s dream.
·Choose the best sentence from the Opposite page 68 to fill each of the gaps.
·For each gap 8-12, mark one letter A - I on your Answer Sheet.
·Do not mark any letter twice.
Icon Acoustics: Bypassing Tradition
Like most entrepreneurs, Dave Fokos dreams a lot. He imagines customers eagerly phoning Icon Acoustics in Billerica, Massachusetts, to order his latest, custom-made stereo peakers ____example____
Like most entrepreneurs, Dave has taken a long time to develop his dream. ____(8)____ Dave discovered that he had a strong interest in studio engineering, He took independent-study courses in this area and by graduation had designed and built a pair of marketable stereo speakers. Following graduation, Dave pursued his interest in audio engineering. He landed a job as a loudspeaker designer with Conrad-Johnson, a high-end audio-equipment manufacturer headquarters in Fairfax, Virginia ____(9)____
Dave identified a market niche that he felt other speaker firms had overlooked ____(10)____These affluent, well-educated customers are genuinely obsessed with their stereo equipment. ‘They’d rather buy a new set of speakers than eat,’ Dave observes.
Dave faced one major problem---how to distribute Icon’s products. He had learned from experience at Conrad-Johnson that most manufacturers distribute their equipment primarily through stereo dealers. Dave did not hold a high opinion of most such dealers; he felt that they too often played hardball with manufacturers, forcing them to accept thin margins. ____(11)____This kept those firms that offered more customized products from gaining access to the market. Perhaps most disturbing, Dave felt that the established dealers often sold not what was best for customers, but whatever they had in inventory that month.
Dave dreamed of offering high-end stereo loudspeakers directly to the audio-obsessed, bypassing the established dealer network. ____(12)____ “My vision for the future is one where all manufacturers sell their products directly to end user. In this way, even the audiophiles in Dead Horse, Alaska, can have access to all that the audio-manufacturing community has to offer.”
Example: I.
A. At the age of 28, Dave set out to turn his dreams into reality.
B. Furthermore, the dealers concentrated on only a handful of well-known producers
C. Who provided mass-produced models.
D. The firms tend to plow their money in to developing their products and have little left over to market them.
E. Within four years, Dave had designed 13 speaker models and decided to start his own company.
F. To serve the audio-addicts segment, Dave offers only the highest-quality speakers.
G. It all began while majoring in electrical engineering at Cornell.
By going directly to the customers, Dave could avoid the dealer markups and offer top-quality products and service at reasonable price.
H. This niche consisted of “audio-addicts”----people who love to listen to music and appreciate first-rate stereo equipment.
I. He sees sales climbing , cash flowing, and hundreds of happy workers
Striving to produce top-quality products that delight Icon’s customers.
3、
Questions 8 - 12
Read this advertisement about business book reviews.
Choose the best sentence from the opposite page to fill each of the gaps.
For each gap 8 - 12, mark one letter A - I on your Answer Sheet.
Do not mark any letter twice.
A) These introductory texts are the most important books and using them can pay big dividends.
B) Discover practical tips and techniques you can apply without delay.
C) In order to avoid this problem, we select for you only the truly worthwhile titles and reject the rest.
D) According to studies published in psychology journals, you retain the content of a summary better than a book.
E) He or she would take the most important ideas from each one, and compile them into a neat executive summary.
F) With the breadth and depth of knowledge gained from books, it is less likely that you'll be caught off guard.
G) Each contains all the key points in the original book, but instead of 200 to 500 pages there are only eight pages.
H) There's a sample of the superb business titles that we summarise for you.
I) With all the reading you have to do in the normal course of your work, you find it impossible to keep up with all the new business books.
4、
Banks and Banking : Other Bank Services
A modern bank provides many services other than checking accounts. ____1____
If you went to a bank to open a savings account, you would go through almost the same procedures followed in applying for a checking account. ____2____ Then you would be given a passbook in which your initial deposit would be recorded. All deposits and withdrawals from your account are entered into your passbook. ____3____ With a regular passbook savings account, you would be able to withdraw money wherever you needed it. All you would have to do is fill out a withdrawal order and present it, along with your passbook to the teller.
All banks pay interest on savings accounts. ____4____ Banks also pay interest at different times. ____5____ Suppose, for example, that on January 1, you deposited $ 1,000 in a bank that paid 4 1/2 percent interest semiannually. By July 1,you would have earned $ 22.50 interest. This interest would automatically be credited to your account; and of you left it in the bank, along with your original deposit, you would receive interest on $ 1,022.50 for the next six-month period. That is, your interest would be compounded.
A. But the majority of them pay semiannually, that is, every six months.
B. The interest rate varies from bank to bank, but the general range is from 4 1/2 to 6 percent.
C. This means that passbook contains an actual record of all transactions made and that you know the exact amount of savings you have at any one time.
D. One of these is checking accounts.
E. First you would be asked to fill out a signature card.
F. But most banks pay interest at the end of a year.
G. One of the most important of these is regular passbook savings.
H. One can withdraw money whenever necessary.
5、Questions 8-12
·Read this letter to the editor of The Economist.
·Choose the best sentence from the list A-I to fill each of the blanks.
·For each bland (8-12) mark one letter (A-I) on your Answer Sheet.
·Do not mar4 any letter twice.
·One answer has been given as an example.
Sir,
You state on February 13 th that New Mexico has “few natural resources”, ____ example____ In 1991 New Mexico ranked fourth in the United States in production of natural gas, seventh in oil and tenth in non-fuel minerals ____8____ Non-fuel minerals contributed about $ 1 billion and coal $ 509 million.
Taxes from production of fuels and minerals, and lease payments on state lands have been set aside by legislative acts to endow two permanent funds worth about $ 5.65 billion, ____9____ In addition, during fiscal year 1991 , payments to New Mexico from taxes on federal lands were S 108 million, all earmarked for public education.
____10____ About $566 million came from taxes and permanent-fund earnings attributable to oil and gas production. ____11____ Tourism is an important industry in Mew Mexico, yet its economic impact on the public sector is dwarfed by that of mineral production.
New Mexico came through the recent recession in much better shape than most other states. It does not have a deficit. ____12____ States that rely primarily on a sales tax or on an income tax have big problems during economic downturns. Income growth per head in New Mexico averaged 6.1/00 in the year to October 1992-one if the fastest growth rates in the United States.
Charles Chapin
Example: C
A. That it has a broadly based tax structure is an important point.
B. In 1992 it produced more oil than Colorado and Kansas combined.
C. However, the extractive mineral industry in New Mexico is one of the state’s strongest economic forces.
D. During fiscal year 1992 New Mexico raised permanent funds worth about $6.1 billion.
E. The combined value of oil and gas production was $ 2.8 billion.
F. Some 16,000 employees work in the extractive industries and their wages are among the highest of any major industry.
G. The $39 million earned by these funds in 1991 was used to finance education and other public services.
H. Only S 25 million came from agricultural taxes.
I. New Mexico’s extractive mineral industries contribute about a third of the state’s $ 1.9 billion general-fund income in fiscal year 1991.
6、
PART TWO
Questions 8-12
•Read the extract below from an article about the coffee industry.
•Choose the best sentence from the list on the opposite page to fill each of the gaps.
•For each gap 8-12, mark one letter (A-I)on your Answer Sheet.
•Do not use any letter more than once.
Coffee is worth approximately $50-60bn per annum in terms of world sales. It is a truly international commodity, and today more than 50 countries in the world grow coffee beans. (example) ______I_____. ICO organization helps coffee producers and promotes coffee conumption worldwide.ICO estimates that world production next year will reach 97.5 million bags.11.3 million bags higher than the current year. (8) ____________. As the largest producing country, Brazil is particularly important in the coffee world. In 1994 Brazil was responsible for 25% of world production, Colombia was next with 13.4%, Indonesia had 7.5%, Mexico 4.7%, Guatemala 3.8% and Ethiopia and Vietnam were equal with 3.4%.Coffee is a tough crop, and can be grown in areas where it is difficult or impossible to grow other crops. (9) However, disease is always problem for coffee production, as we can see in some parts of South America at the moment.ICO is active in educating farmers about avoiding disease and dealing with problems when they occur.The distribution chain varies from country to country, explains Pablo Dubois. In most countries the smaller farmers sell their crop to a local trader, who then sells it on to exporters. There are, however, other distribution systems. (10) ____________. Some countries, like Vietnam, have special government marketing organizations for coffee.Coffee prices often vary greatly from one year to the next. In 1997, for example, there was a large rise in the world price, which was immediately felt by the consumer. Rising prices always result in a drop in sales, which will have a bad effect on those developing countries, which are highly dependent on foreign exchange from coffee exports. (11)____________.In the opinion of Pablo Dubois, the biggest problem for his organisation is to create greater consumer awareness of the different varieties of coffee and different ways of preparing it. (12)____________. ICO is therefore concentrating its promotional activities on Russia and China. It is also encouraging environmentally friendly coffee production, and last year's seminar on coffee and the environment created a lot of interest.The future looks bright for the coffee industry. It is estimated that consumption over the next few years will continue to rise steadily. New markets like Eastern Europe and China are expected to develop fast.
A. As a result, the membership now represents 94% of all exporters and 60% of all importers.
B. In some of these countries, this can amount to as much as 50% of all export earning.
C. In North America, most consumers already have above average knowledge of the range available.
D. For example, frost and wind are particularly damaging to coffee crops.
E. Larger coffee growers, for example, frequently export directly.
F. The main reason for this is higher Brazilian output as production recovers from weather damage to crops.
G. It is cultivated in mountain regions which can only be reached by animal transport, and in other difficult areas where modern agricultural equipment cannot be used.
H. This is because there is a demand for coffee in Germany, and it is also sold in the UK and in the US.
I. This make the coffee industry fairly universal, according to Pablo Dubois, Head of the International Coffee Organisation (ICO), based in London.
7、
PART THREE
Questions 13-20
Read the article below about stress management, and answer questions 13-20 on the opposite page.
A Lesson In Stress Management
Demands placed on us at work can often lead to considerable worry and discomfort. There are, however, ways of protecting ourselves from the stress we face at work. We interviewed Jane Collard, a consultant in stress management.
1. In Jane Collard's opinion, stress is becoming an increasingly common feature of the workplace. Stress is a highly individual reaction, which varies considerably from person to person, and it is difficult for some employees to avoid it. Indeed, stress is regarded by many as part of the organizational culture of our institutions: it comes with the job. Recent figures indicate that time taken off work because of stress has increased by 500 per cent since the 1950s. Undoubtedly, changes in working conditions have led to greater pressure at work at all levels. With reductions in staffing, workloads for individual employees have increased. In addition, many employees are left worrying about the security of their jobs.
2. On the stress management courses that she runs, Jane Collard tries to make the trainees realise that stress in itself is not harmful. Everyone needs a certain level of stress to enable them to feel motivated and to perform effectively. A complete absence of stress can be as damaging as overstress, since it can make people lose interest in their work, and even lead to depression. The difficulties occur when the amount of stress rises above a level which is healthy for a particular individual. If this happens, the effects are very obvious and the trainees are taught to recognize the signs. Stress may be expressed physically, for example through headaches and tiredness, or through emotional problems such as depression. A person suffering from stress may also start to behave differently, and can be difficult to deal with.
3. While it may not always be possible to prevent stress, there are a number of ways in which it can be controlled. The first thing that the trainees learn is how to manage their time effectively. This involves, first of all, setting realistic goals for both the short and long term. Once this framework has been established, tasks are then prioritised on a daily basis. The trainees are also reminded that when they are under pressure the less important items should be left, and they should never hesitate to delegate. Everyone is encouraged to look at ways of reducing 'wasted time ', for example by grouping similar tasks together or dealing with items immedkiately.
4. Jane feels that one of the most useful features of the course is that it enables trainees to deal with those demands or deadlines that they regard as unreasonable. They are encouraged to avoid being defensive, but at the same time they are advised not to be afraid of saying 'no'. They are asked to give reasons only if necessary. The training helps them to foresee difficult situations or unwanted demands, and they learn how to prepare themselves mentally. Everyone is encouraged not to get stuck in negative thought patterns, where stress can feed a circular sense of helplessness. One solution they discuss is to think of a more encouraging alternative for each negative message. They learn, for example, to remind themselves that nothing terrible happens when a demand is refused or a deadline missed. Life goes on.
Questions 13-16
For questions 13-16, choose the best title for each numbered paragraph from the list below.
For each numbered paragraph 1-4, mark one letter (A-G) on your Answer Sheet.
Do not use any letter more than once.
13 Paragraph 1 ______ 14 Paragraph 2 ______
15 Paragraph 3 ______ 16 Paragraph 4 ______
A Higher stress levels among top managers
B Coping with stress through a positive attitude
C Time lost at work through sickness
D Causes of increased stress in the work environment
E Explanations for missed deadlines
F stress reduction through better organisation
G Typical problems associated with stress
簡答題
8、Part One
You are the training manager of a company which has won a large export order. You have been asked to organize foreign language training for some of your staff.
Write a memo of 30-40 words to staff:
Explaining why the courses are necessary;
Saying which members of staff should attend;
Announcing when the courses will start;
Write on your answer sheet.
Part Two
Your company exports to a number of countries around the world. The company is looking for new agents for international freight.
Read the two advertisements below, on which you have made some notes.
Then using the notes, write a short report for the Export Sales Manager, covering all your points and saying which agent you recommend.
Write 100-120 words.
Write on your answer sheet.
9、Part One
Your company has just opened a new office in the United States. You have agreed to go and work there for six months.
Write a memo of 30-40 words to all your colleagues:
Explaining why you will be absent;
Saying when you are leaving the office;
Expressing your wish to keep in touch;
Write on your answer sheet.
Part Two
You work for RCT, a company which sells business stationery. RCT is interested in becoming an agent for Novestat, a company which manufactures paper products.
Read Novestat’s advertisement below, on which you have made some notes.
Then, using all your notes, write a letter to James Dowling at Novestat.
Do not include postal addresses.
Write 100-120 words.
Write on your answer sheet.
10、Part One
You are the Manager of a small printing company. A new employee, Mark McCabe, is joining your company on 10th May.
Write a short memo to your office administrator:
Saying who is starting work and when;
Telling him what Mark McCabe’s job will be;
Suggesting where Mark McCabe’s desk should be put;
Write 30-40 words on your answer sheet.
Part Two
You were sent on a residential training course for five days. Unfortunately the course was very badly run and there were a lot of problems with it. The advert below shows the details of the course, together with your comments.
Write a report for your manager on the course (100-120 words). Describe the problems with the course and suggest what your company should do.
Write on your answer sheet.