剑桥BEC中级真题第四辑TEST1

剑桥BEC 真题集中级第四辑T est 1 READING 1 hour

PART ONE

Questions 1-7

? Look at the statements below and the article about the development of future business leaders on the opposite page.

? Which section of the article (A, B, C or D) does each statement (1-7) refer to?

? For each statement (1-7), mark one letter (A, B, C or D) on your Answer Sheet. ? You will need to use some of these letters more than once.

1 Managers need to take action to convince high-flyers of their value to the firm.

2 Organisations need to look beyond the high-flyers they are currently developing.

3 T here is a concern that firms investing in training for high-flyers may not gain the

benefits themselves.

4 Managers need expert assistance from within their own firms in developing high-flyers.

5 Firms currently identify high-flyers without the support of a guidance strategy.

6 Managers are frequently too busy to deal with the development of high-flyers.

7 Firms who work hard on their reputation as an employer will interest high-flyers.

The Stars of the Future

A Existing management research does not tell us much about how to find and

develop high—flyers, those people who have the potential to reach the top of an organisation. As a result, organisations are left to formulate their own systems. A more effective overall policy for developing future leaders is needed, which is why the London Business School has launched the Tomorrow’s Leaders Research Group (TLRG). The group contains representatives from 20 firms, and meets regularly to discuss the leadership development of the organizations high-flyers.

TLRG recognises just how significant line managers are in the process of B leadership development. Unfortunately, with today's flat organisations, where

managers have functional as well as managerial responsibilities, people development all too often falls victim to heavy workloads. One manager in the research group was unconvinced by the logic of sending his best people away on development courses, ’only to see them poached by another department or, worse still, another firm'. This fear of losing high-flyers runs deep in the organisations that make up the research group.

TLRG argues that the task of management is not necessarily about employee C retention, but about creating 'attraction centre s’,’We must help line managers to

realise that if their companies are known as ones that develop their people, they will have a greater appeal to high-flye rs,’ said one advisor. Furthermore, selecting people for, say, a leadership development programme is a sign of commitment from management to an individual. Loyalty can then be more easily demanded in return.

D TLRG has concluded that a company's HR specialists need to take action and

engage with line managers individually about their role in the development of high-flyers. Indeed, in order to benefit fully from training high-flyers as the senior managers of the future, firms must actually address the development of all managers who will be supporting the high-flyers. Without this, managers will not be in a position to give appropriate advice. And when eventually the high-flyers do move on, new ones will be needed to replace them. The next challenge will be to find a new generation of high-flyers.

PART TWO

Questions 8-12

? R ead the article below about possible reasons for acquiring a company.

? Choose the best sentence from the opposite page to fill each of the gaps. ? For each gap (8-12), mark one letter (A-G) on your Answer Sheet.

? Do not use any letter more than once.

? There is an example at the beginning (0).

ACQUISITION

When should a company consider acquisition as a way forward?

There are many circumstances in which a company may wish to take over another organisation through an acquisition.

The need to keep up with a changing environment often dominates thinking about acquisitions. One compelling reason to develop by acquisition is the speed with which it allows the company to enter new product or market areas.

(0) G This is particularly true of e-commerce.

The strength of competitors may influence a company to choose acquisition as a way forward. In markets that are static and where market shares of companies are reasonably steady, it can be difficult for a company to break into the market, since its presence may create excess capacity. (8)

The same arguments also apply` when an established supplier in an industry acquires a competitor. This may either be to gain the competitor’s market share or, in some cases, to shut down its capacity in order to restore a situation where supply and demand are more balanced. There may be financial motives for acquisition. lf the share value of a company is high, the motive may be to spot and acquire a firm with a low share value. (9) An extreme example is asset stripping, where the main motive for the acquisition is short-term gain by buying up undervalued assets and selling them on bit by bit. There may also be resource considerations. There may be a lack of resources or skills to compete successfully, so they must be acquired.

(10) It may also be that it has knowledge of a particular type of production system，business process or market need. In an international context, acquisition is often a means of gaining market knowledge.

Sometimes there are reasons of cost efficiency which make acquisition look attractive. A cost efficiency could arise from the fact that an established company may already be very experienced and have achieved efficiencies which another company would find difficult to achieve quickly by internal means. (11)

In consumer goods industries, cost efficiency is usually the reason for an acquisition. Acquisition can also be driven by the expectations of key shareholders. Share-holders usually expect to see continuing growth, and acquisition may be a quick way to deliver this growth. But there are considerable dangers mat an acquisition can lower share price rather than increase it.

(12) This is more likely when the decision to acquire is speculative as opposed to strategic. There are some shareholders who favour acquisition simply to bring a short-term boost to share value.

Example: 0 A B C D E F G

A The necessary development and organisational learning would be too slow.

B In the same way, an organisation can increase manufacturing opportunities.

C Indeed, this is one of the major reasons for the more speculative acquisitions that take place.

D It may be that the parent company may not have sufficient understanding of the

acquired business, and this could remove value.

F For example, a company may be taken over for its research and development expertise.

G If, however, the company enters by acquisition, the risk of reaction from industry

rivals is reduced.

F In some cases, a market is changing so fast that acquisition becomes the only

way of successfully breaking into it.

PART THREE

Questions 13-18

?Read the article below about changing attitudes to creativity in the workplace, and the questions on the opposite page.

?For each question (13-18), mark one letter (A, B, C or D) on your Answer Sheet.

CREATIVITY IN THE WORKPLACE

Nowadays, many UK companies are striving to be more creative. But according to a recent survey of senior managers, the lack of a can-do mentality amongst employees and an aversion to risk is hindering British business. Many think there is too much focus on delivering results quickly, which leaves insufficient time to think creatively. Some complain that a lack of coherent vision on creativity prevents their organisation from being more innovative.

Yet while senior managers may regret the lack of creativity, they must take much of the blame for creating the situation. Until recently successive management science, ‘promoting creativity means reevaluating most of what we know about management. It means organisations must be prepared to invest in ideas without being sure of the return on that Investment.’ K atrina Murray agrees with this view. ‘Businesses are expert at the measured approach, which involves analysis and risk avoidance. But there is another approach, which involves intuition and not always looking at the bottom line. What is hard is establishing a working environment in which both these approaches can function simultaneously.’Nevertheless, there are some

generations of management ignored innovative ideas from employees. Indeed, new ways of thinking were often regarded as an unwanted distraction, and original thinkers received little support. Despite the fact that many organisations are now taking steps to re-orient the business culture to promote creativity, it is not surprising, given this background, that a creative environment is hard to establish.

Another related issue is raised by Katrina Murray, a partner in a management consultancy:‘While many senior managers still complain about the lack of support for creativity in their organizations, they also fail to appreciate the contribution that they themselves can make. In some companies, there is a perception that only managers at board level can influence the company cultur e.’ Murray feels that such organisations are unlikely to change. For her, ‘creative organisations are made up of individuals who believe they can dictate their own future. Companies need to be able to spot these individuals and gently encourage them to lead the way.’

It is also necessary for senior managers to re-examine their role. According to Alex Sadowski, an American professor of area. Many the pleasing indicators of progress in this of senior managers interviewed in the survey say their organisations have adopted a number of strategies to encourage individuals to channel their creativity. Among these are giving open and honest feedback, allowing employees the freedom to measure their performance against more flexible goals, and higher toleration levels of failure. Senior managers also recognise that the way an organisation is led and managed is critical to building a creative environment and that they themselves have an important role to play.

But there are some experts who believe an even more fundamental change is needed. Tom Robertson, a professor of creative education, believes that the lack of creativity in companies is a problem that originated in schools and universities. The solution, he says, lies in more enlightened educational policies. ‘There are already signs of this, but

creativity is still concentrated in certain sectors, such as pharmaceuticals,

advertising and the media. These sectors have always valued creativityg but the real challenge will be to shift some of these sec tors’ p ractices into more traditional manufacturing and service companie s.’

13 Many senior managers feel that organisations have difficulties innovating because

of

A a poor level of skills among employees.

B an emphasis on rapid achievement.

C an increased risk associated with change.

D an insistence on a standard company philosophy.

14 According to the writer, many organisations today are

A finding it easier to introduce a creative approach.

B having problems understanding innovation as a concept.

C actively developing the conditions for a creative approach.

D resisting innovative staff suggestions.

15 In the third paragraph, Katrina Murray expresses the view that

A top management must dictate the pace of change.

B some employees lack a commitment to change.

C most organisations are incapable of bringing about effective change.

D some senior managers underestimate the role they can play in achieving

change.

16 Alex Sadowski and Katrina Murray agree that to be truly innovative, o

rganisations must

A invest in the right managers.

B place less emphasis on financial considerations.

C have a double focus to their policies.

D adopt an approach with clearly defined stages.

17 According to the survey, which of the following strategies has been introduced to

encourage creativity?

A greater acceptance of error

B financial rewards for higher levels of creativity

C the introduction of specific performance targets

D the promotion of creative individuals to senior posts

18 Tom Robertson believes that, in the future, it will be difficult to achieve

A an educational system that encourages creativity.

B a combination of practices that promote creativity.

C the spread of creativity to a range of businesses.

D a greater respect for creativity in pharmaceutical companies.

PART FOUR

Questions 19-33

?Read the article below about doing business online.

?Choose the best word or phrase to fill each gap from A, B, C or D on the opposite page.

?For each question (19-33), mark one letter (A, B, C or D) on your Answer Sheet.?There is an example at the beginning (0).

The Secret of Success for Online Businesses

The secret of success in electronic commerce (0) B in placing a new emphasis on a well—established area. That area is customer service, which is now the only point of (19) between a business and the buying public.

There are a number of factors in a real—world shop that (20) people’s perceptions of a business: these (21) ............ the location and the appearance of the premises, the quality and the pricing of the merchandise or services, and the behaviour of the staff.

However, if a company is trying to make a good impression with online customers, most of these factors do not (22) a part. In the (23) of these factors, the way customers are (24) when they have a reason to call has a fundamental effect on a company’s ability to retain them as customers. Even more than regular telephone or in—person customers, web customers are impatient, easily frustrated and always conscious that they have other places where they can (25) their business.

Preventing them from doing that means meeting them on their own (26) and providing them with what they want.

l This necessity, in (27) , means that companies that sell over the net must get back—end functions right. Imposing (28) requirements on customers will not work; a business that (29) on customers emailing for assistance instead of using the phone, for example, will lose repeat custom.

If the phone is used, it must be answered (30) , and the staff should look for ways of helping even the most awkward customers (31) , as is more usual, trying to {ind some (32) to blame the customer for any problem.

An important, final point is that it is vital that all addresses, web links and phone numbers work properly and efficiently. This ought to (33) without saying. Experience, however, shows that it does not.

19A relationship B association C meeting D contact

20A force B determine C decide D fix

21A enclose B consist C include D contain

22A get B run C play D have

23A absence B lack C need D scarcity

24A cared B treated C dealt D considered

25A deliver B bring C move D take

26A policies B standards C terms D conditions

27A turn B sequence C line D order

28A dense B rigid C deep D solid

29A demands B insists C expects D instructs

30A punctually B precisely C promptly D presently

31A apart from B other than C except for D rather than

32A case B excuse C fault D purpose

33A do B make C go D come

PART FIVE

?Read the advice below about meetings with clients.

?ln most of the lines (34-45), there is one extra word. lt either is grammatically incorrect

or does not fit in with the meaning ofthe text. Some lines, however, are correct.

?lf a line is corre C O R R c C T t, write CORRECT on your Answer Sheet.

?If there is an extra word in the line, write the extra word in CAPITAL LETTERS on

your Answer Sheet.

?The exercise begins with two examples (0 and 0).

Client Meetings

0 Regular meetings with clients are important to a healthy collaboration. They

0 may be set up by the client, for example to review with the progress of current

34 projects, to give new instructions that may have lead to a contract variation

35 or to discuss any concerns, The client meeting which can also be arranged

36 by you or another member of your company to attract from new business, to

37 address a problem unless that needs to be solved or to give an update or status

38 report on current business ventures. Your part is in these meetings will dictate

39 the kind of information you need and how you should prepare for them. lf you

40 will be responding to questions put by your client, the material you present

41 should deal in specifically with the request that was made. The meeting should not

42 only move off the agenda without the permission of the person you are meeting.

43 lf you have prepared properly, you should be able to anticipate both questions and

44 to respond properly. If you are put on the spot and asked for details you do not

45 have, respond honestly — do not speak about matters as you are not familiar with. WRITING 45 minutes

PART ONE

?You are organising a meeting to discuss possible cuts to your department’s budget.?Write an email to all staff in your department:

?giving them the date of the meeting

?explaining why some cuts have t0 be made

?saying why it is important for all staff t0 attend.

?The retail company you work for is considering installing a TV system in its store to give customers information on products and services while they shop. You have seen an advertisement for a company which provides this type of system. ?Look at the information below, on which you have already made some handwritten notes.

?Then, using all your handwritten notes, write a letter to Chris Taylor at TVInfoSystems.

?Write 120-140 words.

LISTENING 40 minutes (including

10 minute s’ transfer time)

PART ONE

Questions 1-12

?You will hear three telephone conversations or messages.

?Write one or two words or a number in the numbered spaces on the notes or forms below.

?After you have listened once, replay each recording.

Conversation One

(Questions 1-4)

?Look at the note below.

?You will hear a man phoning a customer about an order.

MESSAGE

To: Bob Cole

From: Alex Parker at Pilton Engineering

●The delivery date for our new (1) machines ha been delayed.

●He asked if we needed to apply the (2) in the contract on this

occasion.

●He is now offering free (3) .

●One thing not clear in the contract –who is responsible for (4)

during transit?

Conversation Two

(Questions 1-4)

?Look at the notes below.

?You will hear a man leaving a message for a colleague about another c0mpany’s press conference.

NOTES ON WEBSTER’S PRESS CONFERENCE

Webster intends to:

●increase number of (5)in

next few years.

●create position of(6)und er

●Marketing Director.

centralise the system for (7).

●introduce (8) . Conversation Three

(Questions 9-12)

?Look at the notes below.

?You will hear a man telephoning a colleague about a building he has seen.

ENTERPRISE BUSINESS COLLEGE

Notes about 15 lemmington Road

Good points

●Not necessary to (9)

it.

●Lower (10)

than many other buildings for rent.

●It’s in the suburbs, so the (11) tax

is lower.

But …

●Further from HQ.

●In the (12) ,

it may not be spacious enough.

Questions 13-22

Section One

(Questions 13-17)

?You will hear five short recordings. Five speakers are talking about the use

of' technology in recruitment.

?For each recording, decide what recommendation the speaker makes concerning technology in recruitment.

?Write one letter (A—H) next to the number of the recording.

?Do not use any letter more than once.

?After you have listened once, replay the recordings.

13 A Advertise posts within the companyaswellas

outside.

14 B Include detailed information about vacancies.

C Make sure your website is kept up to date.

15 D Allocate suitable staff to maintain the website.

E Re-design your non-web-based recruitment

16 advertising.

F Use a range of technologies for contact with

17 applicants.

G Ask potential applicants the most important

questions first.

H Maximise the opportunities offered by the

internet.

Section Two

(Questions 18-22)

?You will hear another five recordings. Five speakers are talking about how to deal with complaints about goods.

?For each recording, decide what action the speaker is recommending.

?Write one letter (A-H) next to the number of the recording.

?Do not use any letter more than once.

?After you have listened once, replay the recordings.

18

A initiating an investigation

19 B giving money back

C providing an identical replacement

20 D offering an upgrade

E arranging free servicing

21 F organising free training

G extending the warranty

17 H offering a credit note

Questions 23-30

?You will hear John Sergeant, a retail analyst, being interviewed about a chain of clothing stores called Sangra.

?For each question (23—30), mark one letter (A, B or C) for the correct answer.?After you have listened once, replay the recording.

23 According to John Sergeant, why is Sangre doing so badly?

A It has fallen behind changes in the market.

B It is employing unsuitable designers.

C its stores are unattractive buildings.

24 In John Sergeant’s opinion, Sangra has failed to realise that

A some competitors are selling identical items more cheaply.

B middle-market customers have more money to spend.

C its current advertising campaign is unsuccessful.

25 John Sergeant blames Sangra’s last Chief Executive for not

A following the advice of the Board.

B planning who should follow him.

C choosing a good time for expansion,

.26 What difficulty is Sangra having in introducing the 'Iifestyle' idea?

A Few of its stores are large enough.

B The staff oppose the change.

C The costs are too high.

27 John Sergeant expects Sangra to solve its problems by

A improving productivity.

B closing a number of stores.

C reducing its profit margins.

28 Sawgras management are starting to

A work more closely with the suppliers.

B do market research on the customers.

C encourage suggestions from the staff.

29 John Sergeant advises Sangre to

A concentrate on its new strategy.

B return to its previous strategy.

C develop an alternative strategy.

30 Sangra is about to change by

A opening large, new 0ut?of-town stores.

B taking over a foreign company.

C starting to sell non-clothing products.

You now have 10 minutes to transfer your answers to your Answer Sheet.

SPEAKING 14minutes

SAMPLE SPEAKING TASKS

PART ONE

In this part, the interlocutor asks questions to each of the candidates in turn.

You have to give information about yourself and express personal opinions.

PART TWO

In this part of the test, you are asked to give a short talk on e business topic. You have to choose one of the topics from the three below and then talk for about one minute. You have one minute to prepare your ideas.

A: What is important when . . . ?

Planning a presentation

?Audience

?Equipment needed

?

?

B: What is important when…?

Selecting an interpreter for a meeting

with foreign clients

?Experience

?Reliability

?

?

C: What is important when . . . ?

Introducing a new product range

onto the market

?Timing

?Advance publicity

?

?

PART THREE

In this part ofthe test, you are given a discussion topic. You have 30 seconds to look at the task prompt, an example of which is below, and then about three minutes to discuss the topic with your partner. After that, the examiner will ask you more questions related to the topic.

For two candidates

Selling old stock

The manufacturing company you work for needs to make space

in its warehouse to stock its new products. The company would

like to sell off end—of—range products at discounted prices.

You have been asked to make recommendations.

Discuss the situation together and decide:

?whether to offer the same discount on all products

?how customers could be informed of the discounts.

For three candidates

Selling old stock

The manufacturing company you work for needs to make space

in its warehouse to stock its new products. The company would

like to sell off end—of-range products at discounted prices.

You have been asked to make recommendations.

Discuss the situation together and decide:

?how much discount should be

offered

?whether to offer the same discount on all

products

?how customers could be informed of the discounts.

Follow-on questions

●Do you think discounts are a good way of selling old stock? (Why?/Why not?)

●In what other ways do you think companies can get rid of unwanted stock?

(Why?)

●What do you think is the main disadvantage for a company of having too much

stock

in its warehouse?

●How do you think companies could plan their stock requirements more

accurately?

●Why do you think it can be difficult to sell stock sometimes?

●How do you think discounting could affect a company's image? (Why?)

KEY

Test 1 Reading

Part1

剑桥BEC 真题集中级第四辑T est 1

1 C

2 D

3 B

4 D

5 A

6 B

7 C

Part2

8 F 9 C 10 E 11 A 12 D

Part3

13 B

Part4

14 C 15 D 16 B 17 A 18 C

19 D 24 B 29 B 20 B

25 D

30 C

21 C

26 C

31 D

22 C

27 A

32 B

23 A

28 B

33 C

Part5

34 HA VE

37 UNLESS 40 CORRECT 43 BOTH 35 WHICH

38 IS

41 IN

44 CORRECT

36 FROM

39 CORRECT

42 ONL Y

45 AS

Test 1 Writing

Part 1

Sample A

All staff

Budget Cuts - meeting

I notice that we are having the meeting next Tuesday. Unfortunately, our business has been slow so that why we have made it.

However please attend all staff, I would like to discuss all staff and tell you about important things.

Manager

Band 2

Apart from the fact that one of the content points has not been addressed, the answer contains frequent errors which are distracting, and which have a negative impact on the reader.

Sample B

Dear colleagues

We are going to have a meeting about the possible cuts in our departments budget on 20th December, This cut is needed because of the loss we made in 2006.

Please attend the meeting because we decide who can take external courses.

Kind regards

Band 4

The answer contains all the necessary information yet is concise, and the language used is generally accurate. Overall, the impression on the reader is positive.

Part 2

Sample C

Dear Mr. Taylor,

Pm writing to talk about my scheme of installing TV system project. As we know our company is a retail company, so how to attract more customs and how to satisfy the customs is something we should pay attension to. TV system can provide customs not only the products information in our store but also the services. There’s no doubt that TV system can provide convenience and fun to all the people when they shop.

At the same time, the TV system is also available for multi—screens. Normally, it can get about 20 TV screens needed. So you can get anything you want from the TV.

I know that the system provider also provide training service. They will train our employees to keep them in good scene of using the TV system in a timely manner. The important thing we might not forget is that the installing of the TV system should be ready in one month. As we cannot impact our operating, and we cannot close our store for long time. They may work overtime to install our TV system and keep it work properly.

That’s all my thinking. I’m looking forward to your replying.

Best wishes!

yours sincerely

Holly White

Dec. 2, 2008

Band 1

Due to misinterpretation of the task, the answer contains irrelevant information and the reader is not adequately informed. Whilst generally being organised satisfactorily; with an adequate range of grammar and vocabulary, there are several errors.

Sample D

Dear Mr. Taylor

I am writing to enquire about your in-store television system we saw advertised in the latest edition of The Daily Mirror. We are a country-wide operating chain of sport shoe shops and are considering to provide our sales rooms with flat screens to entertain our customers and to inform them about our latest inventions.

Due to the fact that we are going to launch a special football shoe next month, we would be pleased if it might be possible for you to install about 20 screens within one month. In addition, we would like to ask further information about your training lessons and we would be grateful if you could send us your detailed brochure as well as your price list.

I look forward to hearing from you and I would appreciate it to receive your information in due course.

Yours sincerely

Christian Van de Watering

Band 5

The candidate’s answer is effectively organized covers all the important information

clearly and contains a wide range of vocabulary and structures. There are few errors, and language is well controlled and natural sounding. The overall effect on the reader is very positive.

Test 1 Listening

Part 1

1 PACKAGING

2 PENAL TY CLAUSE

3 INSTALLATION

4 INSURANCE

5 (NEW) OUTLETS

6 BRAND EXECUTIVE

7 PURCHASING

8 LOYALTY CARD/SCHEME

9 UPGRADE

10 OVERHEADS

11 PROPERTY

12 PEAK MONTHS

Part2

13 G 14 H 15 F 16 D 17 B

18 C 19 F 20 D 21 G 22 B

Part3

23 A 24 C 25 B 26 A 27 C

28 A 29 B 30 C

Tapescript

Listening Test 1

This is the Business English Certificate Vantage 4.

Listening Test 1.

Part One. Questions 1 to 12.

You will hear three telephone conversations or messages.

Write one or two words or a number in the numbered spaces on the notes or forms below.

After you have listened once, replay each recording.

[pause]

Conversation One. Questions 1 to 4.

Look at the note below.

You will hear a man phoning a customer about an order.

You have 15 seconds to read through the note.

[pause]

Now listen, and fill in the spaces.

[pause]