1、考博英语-597 及答案解析(总分：100.00，做题时间：90 分钟)一、Part Reading Compr(总题数：0，分数：0.00)二、Text 1(总题数：1，分数：20.00)In the world of big business, James Linton is precocious in the extreme. Just two years into the job of reviving one of the most illustrious names in retail finance, RoCom, he has found himself a key playe
2、r in one of the richest and certainly most audacious deals in the industry PTLs takeover of RoCom.PTL is paying 25 a share for RoComapproximately 40 per cent more than the market value of the sharesand its offer document boasted that “PTL attaches great importance to key employees having appropriate
3、 performance related remuneration“. Initially wary about the takeover, Linton has now negotiated a hands-off agreement with PTL, which confirms its intention to leave him very much to his own devices to continue building the business. All this and he will not turn 38 for another fortnight!Although L
4、inton is credited with turning RoCom around, this is more a matter of work in progress than actual achievement. Yet he does seem to have instituted the biggest top-level shake-up in its near 70-year history, promoted some big-hitters amongst key staff and transformed RoComs way of doing business.Lin
5、ton has, however, warned that the takeover is by no means a guarantee of future success; indeed, deteriorating market conditions suggest that the way forward will be anything but smooth. Linton recently ventured the hypothesis that being shareholder owned had, in recent years, helped the business fo
6、cus and argued that the sectors experience of rival takeovers was not encouraging. Indeed, the recently reported performance of rival organizations such as Marten Limited has not promoted the notion that big corporations are happy homes for experienced staff and managers such as Linton.It may have b
7、een his ideas about independence that made Linton address RoComs 900 staff on the day the takeover was announced, rather than doing high-profile media interviews on what was immediately seen as a fantastic deal for share-holders. He is acutely aware of the need to nurture his staff if the business i
8、s to succeed, something which is not lost on them. This is not a management-school dictum. It is a genuine belief that every member of staff has contributed to the firm and enabled it to net 1.9 billion from PTL. Other CEOs say he is arrogant, but this probably reflects the fact that Linton may find
9、 talking to them difficult. He is also ferociously intelligent, and, while in others this could appear intimidating, in Linton it awakes further admiration amongst loyal employees. They clearly do not feel they have to grovel in front of this mastermind, and claim that although hes incredibly dedica
10、ted to his work, he has an affable manner.Linton boasts that staff turnover rates at RoCom have remained low for the industry, at about 12 percent since he took over as CEO two years ago. “People have a real affection for RoCom, and that runs right through the office here. They all want us to be num
11、ber one“ he says. He is aware of the possibility that the collegiate ethos he has worked so hard to create, the meritocracy on which he thinks much of RoComs success depends, could be destroyed if PTL is too heavy-handed. He will need all his skills to keep RoCom on course, particularly when attenti
12、on has immediately focused on the possibility that Susan Marshall, its respected investment chief, might be the first casualty of the takeover. Whatever the future holds for RoCom, we are certain to go on hearing a lot more of James Linton.（分数：20.00）(1).What is PTL doing, according to the second par
13、agraph?A. Allowing Linton to run RoCom in the way he wishes to.B. Purchasing almost half of the RoCom shares on offer.C. Giving all RoCom staff regular bonuses to promote motivation.D. Drawing up new employment contracts for RoCom employees.（分数：4.00）A.B.C.D.(2).What do we learn about Lintons work at
14、 RoCom in the third paragraph?A. He has achieved more than anyone in RoComs history.B. He has widened the range of RoComs business activities.C. He has taken on a number of new employees.D. He has made changes to senior management.（分数：4.00）A.B.C.D.(3).What does Linton say about RoCom in the fourth p
15、aragraph?A. The company is likely to face difficult times.B. The company has lost a number of experienced staff.C. The company is expecting to report encouraging results shortly.D. The company needs to change its focus to remain competitive.（分数：4.00）A.B.C.D.(4).Which of the following is said about L
16、intons management style?A. He involves others in the decision-making process.B. His staff find him approachable.C. He expects his staff to work as hard as he does.D. His style differs from that of other CEOs.（分数：4.00）A.B.C.D.(5).How does Linton feel about the takeover, according to the sixth paragra
17、ph?A. Pleased that staff turnover finally started to fail two years ago.B. Afraid that he will lose his job to Susan Marshall.C. Worried that the company culture might change.D. Happy that employees have been so supportive of his work.（分数：4.00）A.B.C.D.三、Text 2(总题数：1，分数：20.00)A manufacturer of sports
18、 shoes starts selling consumer electronics. A soft drink lends its name to a range of urban clothing. Whats going on? In simpler times, you knew where you were with brands. One brand name meant good-quality sports shoes, another a soft drink. No confusion. Today, however, big companies try to redefi
19、ne brands as not so much a product, more a way of life, and stretch them into new areas. In the early years of the consumer society, a brand name on a box simply identified what was inside. People were looking for products that would improve their quality of life, and chose brands most likely to ach
20、ieve that purpose. But as people in industrialized nations became more affluent and fulfilled their basic needs, brands acquired other attributes. The functionality of the product was still important, but people also started using brands to say something about themselves, for example, choosing a bra
21、nd of cosmetics which would suggest that they were sophisticated jet-setters.Now, we have entered a third age of branding, in which so many companies are making roughly the same product at roughly the same price that functionality rarely succeeds as a point of differentiation. Instead, companies are
22、 trying to make their brands stand out by emphasizing their emotional aspects, hoping consumers will identify with the set of values the brand represents.One disadvantage of a product-based brand is that if the product goes out of fashion, the brand goes with it. This is a serious concern for manufa
23、cturers of breakfast cereals, who are struggling to counter weak demand for the products that bear their names. So far, their marketing efforts seem to be having little effect. The advantage of emotional brands is that companies can transfer their brand strength into other areas, increasing revenues
24、 and reducing their exposure to the lifespan of a single product.The elasticity of brands seems to be related to their position on a spectrum ranging from those rooted in solid, tangible assets to those with highly intangible, emotional qualities. At the one end, you have trained companies that tend
25、 to associate themselves with infrastructure and their ability to get you from A to B, and at the other end would be a leisure brand that positions itself on dreams and making people have fun. It is the latter which has the maximum potential for stretch.But even emotional brands have a limit to thei
26、r elasticity. The merchandise has to be consistent with the brand promise. Just to sell merchandise with your logo on it is a short-term, mistaken idea. From this viewpoint, the decision to move from sports shoes into consumer electronics makes sense. Most items in the range, such as the two-way rad
27、io for hikers, are sports-focused, even though the products may be adopted as fashion accessories, and the sports shoe customers will probably snap them up.When the move was made from soft drinks into clothing, however, it left the branding consultants cold. It was a difficult mental leap into cloth
28、ing from the drink so closely associated with that particular brand name. On the other hand, the emotional attributes that youngsters seem to find appealing in the drink, like its heritage and global appeal, are fashionable at the moment, and in fact response to the clothes with the same name has be
29、en overwhelming. Maybe this just shows that an inspired moveand by all accounts a snap decisionsometimes pays off against the odds, leaving the manufacturer laughing all the way to the bank.（分数：20.00）(1).What led to a change in attitudes to brands?A. The influence of consumers on each other.B. The p
30、ersonal circumstances of consumers.C. More sophisticated marketing.D. Greater choice of products.（分数：4.00）A.B.C.D.(2).According to the writer, an attribute of the third age of branding is that _.A. competing products may serve their purpose equally wellB. the range of products available is too large
31、 for all to surviveC. consumers are becoming confused about the products availableD. price has become a key factor in consumers choice of products（分数：4.00）A.B.C.D.(3).The writer refers to railways to show that brands like this _.A. does not recognize the value of stretchingB. suffers from having an
32、unattractive imageC. is unlikely to lead them to stretchingD. is notoriously difficult to advertise（分数：4.00）A.B.C.D.(4).The writer argues that the stretch from sports shoes into consumer electronics is likely to be successful because _.A. existing customers have demanded the new productsB. they will
33、 be sold in the same outletsC. the new fines will expand the manufacturers marketD. there is a connection in the way that the goods can be used（分数：4.00）A.B.C.D.(5).The writer argues that the stretch from soft drinks into clothing _.A. was a gamble which succeededB. built on the popularity of certain
34、 types of clothingC. showed the value of careful planningD. created production problems for the manufacturer（分数：4.00）A.B.C.D.四、Text 3(总题数：1，分数：20.00)If income is transferred from rich persons to poor persons, the proportion in which different sorts of goods and services are provided will be changed.
35、 Expensive luxuries will give place to more necessary articles, rare wines to meat and bread, new machines and factories to clothes and improved small dwellings; and there will be other changes of a like sort. In view of this fact, it is inexact to speak of a change in the distribution of the divide
36、nd in favor of, or adverse to, the poor. There is not a single definitely constituted heap of things coming into being each year and distributed now in one way, now in another. In fact, there is no such thing as the dividend from the point of view of both of two years, and therefore, there can be no
37、 such thing as a change in its distribution.This, however, is a point of words rather than of substance. What I mean when I say that the distribution of the dividend has changed in favor of the poor is that, the general productive power of the community being given, poor people are getting more of t
38、he things they want at the expense of rich people getting less of the things they want. It might be thought at first sight that the only way in which this could happen would be through a transference of purchasing power from the rich to the poor. That, however, is not so. It is possible for the poor
39、 to be advantaged and the rich damaged, even though the quantity of purchasing power, i.e. of command over productive resources, held by both groups remains unaltered. This might happen if the technical methods of producing something predominatingly consumed by the poor were improved and at the same
40、 time those of producing something predominatingly consumed by the rich were worsened, and if the net result was to leave the size of the national dividend as defined in Chapter V. unchanged. It might also happen if, by a system of rationing or some other device, the rich were forced to transfer the
41、ir demand away from things which are important to the poor and which are produced under such conditions that diminished demand leads to lowered prices. Per contraand this point will be seen in Part . To be very important practicallyhe share, both proportionate and absolute of command over the countr
42、ys productive resources held by the poor may be increased, and yet, if the process by which they acquire this greater share involves an increase in the cost of things that play a large part in their own consumption, they may not really gain. Thus a change in distribution favorable to the poor may be
43、 brought about otherwise than by a transference of purchasing power, or command over productive resources, to them, and it does not mean a transference of these things to them. Nonetheless, this sort of transference is the most important, and may be regarded as the typical means by which changes in
44、distribution favorable to the poor come about.（分数：20.00）(1).The method in which the writer believes is most effective for the poor benefiting from the rich is _.A. amassing all products from the last two years and reallocating themB. ensuring the majority of products available are more useful to the
45、 poorC. offering low priced stock that the poor could affordD. by limiting the buying of the rich（分数：4.00）A.B.C.D.(2).Why does the author use the term “the dividend“ even though he has acknowledged that in fact it does not exist?A. He is attempting to describe a transmittal circumstance.B. He is art
46、iculating a metaphysical theory.C. He is clarifying a situation.D. He is devising an econometric formula.（分数：4.00）A.B.C.D.(3).Does the author believe that transference of purchasing power is effective in benefiting the poor?A. No, he believes evenly distributing all resources is best.B. No, he belie
47、ves rationing of the rich is eminent.C. Yes, he believes it is possible to limit the rich and make products for the poor more accessible.D. Yes, distribution is influenced by transference and as a result the poor prosper.（分数：4.00）A.B.C.D.(4).To be very important practicallythe share, both proportion
48、ate and absolute of command over the countrys productive resources held by the poor may be increased, and yet, if the process by which they acquire this greater share involves an increase in the cost of things that play a large part in their own consumption, they may not really gain. Choose one of t
49、he following which has the closest meaning to the above sentence.A. If the relative price is proportionate to the control over the supply which is in favor of the poor.B. Products which are unaffordable are of no use, and therefore, more control over the supply needs to be exercised.C. Products which are unaffordable are of no use, and therefore, more control over the supply needs to be exercised so that the poor are profited.D. If the price of the items the poor use is too high, they cannot afford them and so there needs to be more control o
