1、高级阅读-阅读 1及答案解析(总分：52.00，做题时间：90 分钟)一、PART ONE(总题数：1，分数：8.00)A. COLEMANS As was widely reported, we closely examined the possibility of merging with a food-distribution business during the year. However, whilst the strategic rationale for combination was sound, it became clear that it would not be in
2、 our shareholders best interests to proceed with the deal, with its risk of increasing debt. Instead, we intend to concentrate on our core activity. Nevertheless, the market within which we operate is fiercely competitive, and the advent of new entrants is creating market conditions in which continu
3、ed earnings growth will become increasingly challenging.B. SHERIFF This is a momentous period for the pharmaceutical industry. Against the background of scientific and economic change, we are seeing inevitable further consolidation of what remains one of the most fragmented of the great global indus
4、tries. Sheriff will not shrink from participating in this process if circumstances necessitate such action in the interests of future success. However, today, the overwhelming preoccupation of your Board, executive management and staff is with the job at hand, which is to grow the business and deliv
5、er the promises we have made in terms of turning around our losses of recent years.C. BVL Profit before taxation was 20m, in comparison with the 32m achieved in the previous year. This disappointing result includes a provision of 26m on one project, due to costs exceeding the guaranteed maximum pric
6、e quoted to the client. One result is that the Construction Division has been set targets to increase the level of partnering and fee work. Turnover, already stagnant, may decline, but profits are expected to recover. In addition, improvements will be made to the control processes relating to tender
7、ing, and to the quality of project management.D. MARTINS Martins has developed a distinctive retail format based on convenient locations for the shopper. Last years merger of Martins and Hoyle has provided us with the opportunity to build on our leadership in this neighborhood retail market. Buildin
8、g awareness of the Martins brand continues, and its visibility and familiarity will grow as we convert Hoyle stores into Martins operations. In line with our vision, we aim to set the pace in developing new shopping services and channels such as home and office shopping.E. TAYLORS Despite a downturn
9、 in consumer confidence during the period, we continued to experience positive like-for-like sales growth for the financial year, unlike many others in our peer group. Encroachment by our new openings on 38 of our established restaurants had a 3c7o negative effect on like-for-like sales, but this pe
10、rcentage is certain to be reduced. Since the year-end, our like-for-like sales trend continues to be positive. We have changed a net debt position of 11.2m this time last year to net cash of 1.7m this year.（分数：8.00）(1).Some of this companys outlets were affected by competition from its own new outle
11、ts.（分数：1.00）A.B.C.D.E.(2).This company expects the number of companies in its sector to be reduced.（分数：1.00）A.B.C.D.E.(3).Not all of this companys competitors are increasing their turnover.（分数：1.00）A.B.C.D.E.(4).This company has had to allow for covering a loss made on a particular contract.（分数：1.00
12、）A.B.C.D.E.(5).This company has paid off the money it owed.（分数：1.00）A.B.C.D.E.(6).It is likely that this company will make more money on reduced sales revenue.（分数：1.00）A.B.C.D.E.(7).Some of this companys outlets will be required to change their name.（分数：1.00）A.B.C.D.E.(8).This company has decided ag
13、ainst going ahead with a plan.（分数：1.00）A.B.C.D.E.二、PART TWO(总题数：1，分数：6.00)BUSINESS SCHOOLS HAVE THE EDGEBusiness schools are facing increasing competition from other providers of management training such as consultancies. The key to their future success as manager-trainers lies in the quality both o
14、f their research and of their partnership with the business world.In the most general sense, being a good manager is a matter of being marginally better than and different from your competitors. (0) H These are the elements which make the difference between a successful and a less successful manager
15、. This marginal edge may be based on talent, flair or natural leadership. (9) And this is where business schools come into their own.The education of managers should include on-the-job training, workshops, conferences and training courses. (10) Traditionally, business schools have three major differ
16、entiating characteristics. First, they offer a complete package ranging from basic to very sophisticated training. Next, they enable managers to benefit from the research they carry out. (11)In contrast to other providers of management education, business schools often offer a complete portfolio of
17、educational programmes. MBA programmes exist alongside general management programmes, as well as specialized programmes for experienced managers. For the business school, this has the advantage that teachers can use the information they get from one programme to cross-fertilize with their teaching o
18、n another. (12) This in turn offers substantial advantages to the companies concerned. It means that managers and executives at different levels of the organization can be confronted with the same concepts, expressed in the same language. In this way, a close partnership with a business school enabl
19、es a company to create some coherence between the education and the development of its different management levels. People in the company will communicate more effctively because they use the same terminology. (13) In short, thanks to contact with the business school, more people within the same com
20、pany will be embracing similar ideas.Obviously, the value of these concepts to the company increases if they are state-of-the-art concepts. (14) Only then can the company genuinely improve its management practice and competitive performance. Working with a business school is for many companies a pri
21、vileged method of accessing the latest management thinking, before it is published in trade journals or popular books.A Different departments will be able to discuss internal issues with a considerable amount of mutual understanding.B Yet good management is also essential to the competitive performa
22、nce of companies.C And no less important, they are able to preserve an independent outlook towards the world of business.D However, acquired knowledge of management can also provide this decisive advantage.E For them in fact to be so, a business schools teaching must be supported by first-class rese
23、arch.F Thus insights gained from top executives might impact positively on what they cover in a graduate programme.G Business schools have a special role to fulfill in the delivery of this portfolio.H He or she needs to be a little faster, able to spot opportunities earlier and react more quickly.（分
24、数：6.00）填空项 1:_填空项 1:_填空项 1:_填空项 1:_填空项 1:_填空项 1:_三、PART THREE(总题数：1，分数：6.00)A manufacturer of sports 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-q
25、uality sports shoes, another a soft drink. No confusion. Today, however, big companies try to redefine 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 wer
26、e looking for products that would improve their quality of life, and chose brands most likely to achieve 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,
27、 but people also started using brands to say something about themselves, for example, choosing a brand 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
28、 same price that functionality rarely succeeds as a point of differentiation. Instead, companies are 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 t
29、hat if the product goes out of fashion, the brand goes with it. This is a serious concern for manufacturers 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 for emoti
30、onal brands is that companies can transfer their brand strength into other areas, increasing revenues 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 th
31、ose with highly intangible, emotional qualities. At the one end, you have train companies that tend 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 t
32、he latter which has the maximum potential for stretch.But even emotional brands have a limit to their 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
33、sports shoes into consumer electronics makes sense. Most items in the range, such as the two-way radio 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
34、 clothing, however, it left the branding consultants cold. It was a difficult mental leap into clothing 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
35、appeal, are fashionable at the moment, and in fact response to the clothes with the same name has been overwhelming. Maybe this just shows that an inspired move - and by all accounts a snap decision -sometimes pays off against the odds, leaving the manufacturer laughing all the way to the bank.（分数：6
36、.00）(1).What led to a change in attitudes to brands?A the influence of consumers on each otherB the personal circumstances of consumersC more sophisticated marketingD greater choice of products（分数：1.00）A.B.C.D.(2).According to the writer, an attribute of the third age of branding is thatA competing
37、products may serve their purpose equally well.B the range of products available is too large for all to survive.C consumers are becoming confused about the products available.D price has become a key factor in consumers choice of products.（分数：1.00）A.B.C.D.(3).The writer mentions manufacturers of bre
38、akfast cereals to illustrate howA competition can have an impact on a product.B a brand can lose its popularity despite a strong market for the product.C advertising can affect sales of a product.D changes in the popularity of products can cause difficulties.（分数：1.00）A.B.C.D.(4).The writer refers to
39、 railways to show that brands like thisA do not recognize the value of stretching.B suffer from having an unattractive image.C are unlikely to lend themselves to stretching.D are notoriously difficult to advertise.（分数：1.00）A.B.C.D.(5).The writer argues that the stretch from sports shoes into consume
40、r electronics, likely to be successful becauseA existing customers have demanded the new products.B they will be sold in the same outlets.C the new lines will expand the manufacturers market.D there is a connection in the way that the goods can be used.（分数：1.00）A.B.C.D.(6).The writer argues that the
41、 stretch from soft drinks into clothingA was a gamble which succeeded.B built on the popularity of certain types of clothing.C showed the value of careful planning.D created production problems for the manufacturer.（分数：1.00）A.B.C.D.四、PART FOUR(总题数：1，分数：10.00)TEAMWORK AND STRESSStressful working cond
42、itions lead to a breakdown in group co-operation which can damage effectiveness and productivity, a study has found. Psychologists have discovered that when employees work in crisis (21) they are less willing to work together. The study showed that when workers are under stress, they have a strong (
43、22) to concentrate on their own personal (23) to the detriment of their colleagues.In the study, 100 naval personnel worked in groups of three, and each group was given a computer (24) of a naval decision-making task. Under a high (25) of stress, they had to monitor a radar screen with their own shi
44、p at the centre and numerous unidentified contacts around the ship.As (26) participants operating in this highly stressful situation performed worse than those operating under normal circumstances. But the results also showed that under stress, the workers (27) of attention shifted from group involv
45、ement to a more narrow individual perspective, which led to a severe breakdown in team performance.The author of the study concludes that it is possible that, for many team tasks, the importance of teamwork behavior such as co-ordination and communication may be (28) as secondary to basic individual
46、 demands. In his opinion, the (29) to achieve efficiency under stress is by delegation. Simplifying tasks by delegating parts of them, making them less demanding, is one of the best ways of (30) the effectiveness of the group.（分数：10.00）(1).A moments B states C conditions D positions（分数：1.00）A.B.C.D.
47、(2).A likelihood B probability C liking D tendency（分数：1.00）A.B.C.D.(3).A intentions B goals C purposes D objects（分数：1.00）A.B.C.D.(4).A impression B conception C imitation D simulation（分数：1.00）A.B.C.D.(5).A measure B degree C standard D rate（分数：1.00）A.B.C.D.(6).A supposed B wondered C expected D ques
48、tioned（分数：1.00）A.B.C.D.(7).A focus B area C direction D point（分数：1.00）A.B.C.D.(8).A perceived B estimated C determined D calculated（分数：1.00）A.B.C.D.(9).A manner B way C procedure D route（分数：1.00）A.B.C.D.(10).A persisting B holding C maintaining D confirming（分数：1.00）A.B.C.D.五、PART FIVE(总题数：1，分数：10.00
49、)Younger Does Not Always Mean BetterRecruitment policies in Britains businesses favor the young. Mature men and women are being marginalized and their considerable skills lost to the economy. Cost-cutting policies such as delayering and downsizing, now widely criticized (31) causing loss of valuable knowledge and experience, are hardest on more mature staff.All around us can (32) seen the effects of ageism. Highly qualified, middle-aged people with excellent CVs apply for j
