1、BEC商务英语（中级）阅读模拟试卷 151及答案与解析 一、 PART ONE 0 Look at the statements below and the article about the workplace stress management 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. Y
2、ou will need to use some of these letters more than once.Example0 Company leaders will be inspired if they find out the power to push the company forward. Workplace Stress ManagementA One of the important ways of minimizing stress in the workplace is by learning how to provide inspiration for the st
3、aff. An inspired staff of employees are more productive, efficient as well as happier than one thats not. An inspired employee usually finds work more of a joy than just a means to pay the bills. Inspired employees feel more fulfilled and empowered for what they do for the company. An inspired perso
4、nnel usually also translates into fewer employee problems, less knowledge worker shortage as well as less overall workplace stress.B In order for inspiration to find its way to the company front lines, it should start from the company leaders themselves. It would be hard to convince or to inspire pe
5、ople below if the people at the top do not feel inspired. A business owner for example should find inspiration for himself in order to try and convince others. This might require a thorough review of the reasons of what drives the company to be successful and strive in the first place. A business ow
6、ner finding inspiration and be motivated enough to stay successful may have an easier time in trying to convince and inspire others.C It takes different things to inspire employees. In order for you to know what they are, you may need to ask questions. Try to inquire what motivates and inspires your
7、 employees. Try to know what is important to them. If the business owner is sincere enough in this task, employees would feel privileged enough that an employer would like to know what makes them happy. By doing such a gesture, employees may feet that an employer tries to look after their best welfa
8、re, enough to inquire what interests them and makes them happy. And happy employees are more inspired to work and may feel less stress while doing it.D Making work enjoyable can be enough to inspire employees. It also does well for effective workplace stress management. One of the ways to do it is b
9、y trying to recognise their achievements, no matter how small. Commending employees for doing tasks as simple as clearing the pantry of trash or by helping show a visitor around at the office without being told so can be enough to keep employee spirits up. Rewarding employees for small but beneficia
10、l tasks also works very well on the same aspect. A lunch treat for an employee who has prepared an excellent report would mean a lot to inspire and motivate one to do even better. 1 Entrepreneurs must show great sincerity in their inquiries to get a positive feedback from the employees. 2 An unmotiv
11、ated employee tends to regard working as a way to make a living. 3 The progress employees have made should be noticed and praised no matter how much progress they have made. 4 Bosses are less persuasive in motivating their people if they themselves are not driven to lead the companies to move forwar
12、d. 5 An inspired staff normally are more disciplined, fond of learning,and know better how to deal with their pressure. 6 Employees would be more committed to their jobs and less stressful if their bosses are concerned with their work and life. 7 Employees would be much inspired even if they get sma
13、ll prizes for their work performance. 二、 PART TWO 7 Read the text taken from an article about the expert of dental care Colgate. Choose the best answer 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. T
14、here is an example at the beginning(0). ColgateConsumers have sworn off many things in this recession. Brushing their teeth is not one of them.(0)C . The results: world-beating market shares for Colgates toothpastes(45%)and manual toothbrushes(30%)and a Top 10 position in Business Weeks list of best
15、-performing companies.Thus far at least, the economic slowdown has not crimped that performance. Sales, excluding the impact of foreign currency exchanged acquisitions, rose 9% in the fourth quarter and JCEO Ian Cook expects similar growth in 2009. 【 P1】 _. Latin America delivers 27% of revenues, an
16、d the companys toothpastes dominate in Brazil, with a 70% share.But not everything is bright for the New York consumer-goods giant. 【 P2】 _. And the global economic crisis isnt sparing Latin America or Eastern Europe these days. Another concern: Colgate has suffered from innovation inertia. Not sinc
17、e 1992, when it launched Colgate Total toothpaste, has it scored a break through. 【 P3】 _.In the past year, Colgate launched 17 new o-ral-care products in the US, half P&G s output, according to consultant Mintel International, which tracks new-product launches. “What Colgate has been lacking is a h
18、ome run,“ says Mark Baum, who heads the consumer packaged-goods practice at Diamond Management &Technology Consultants in Chicago.Colgate thinks it could score with the Wisp, set to debut on Apr. 6. Several years in development, its a disposable mini-toothbrush with a “breath-freshening bead“ in the
19、 bristles. 【 P4】_. The Wisp is part of a new push by Colgate to ramp up innovation and improve its product pipeline. The goal: a series of novel personal-care and household items that would expand Colgates customer base and business in mature markets such as the US and Europe. “There are many things
20、 over the last 18 months that are different.and one is a greater focus on innovation,“ Cook told analysts in February. 【 P5】_Example: A Analysts worry that overseas returns will gradually diminish as developing markets become mature.B The bead dissolves during brushing, eliminating the need for toot
21、hpaste.C Thats good news for Colgate-Palmolive, which for the past five years has slashed costs, raised prices, and flooded developing markets.D To achieve this, the company has opened three innovation centres in the U. S.E In 2008, Colgate was granted a total of 181 U. S. patents, down by 68% from
22、2002.F Similar products, such as the Fuzzy Brush, made by a British company of the same name, have been around for years but remain niche items.G Colgate is still performing overseas, too. 8 【 P1】 9 【 P2】 10 【 P3】 11 【 P4】 12 【 P5】 三、 PART THREE 12 Read the article below about being first to market,
23、 and the questions on the opposite page. For each question(13-18), mark one letter(A, B, C or D)on your Answer Sheet. Think Twice About Being First to Market New research offers fresh insight on when to launch a product or service, and shows that being first to market isnt always a competitive advan
24、tage. In 2004, David Cohen had an idea for a social network for mobile phones that would connect users in the real world. His Boulder(Colo.)-based company, called iContact, raised $600,000 from investors and the founders contributions, launched a beta version, and seemed poised to tap the much hyped
25、 mobile software market. Cohen, then 36, had already founded a successful software company. But after 18 months, he was unable to get phone carriers to distribute his software, and he shuttered the company, returning 80% of his investors money. “Everybody was saying mobile was coming, it was going t
26、o be open: GPS was coming, it was going to be great,“ says Cohen. “That didnt really happen for another four years. “ Bets on mobile applications didnt begin to pay off until Apples(AAPL)iPhone app store opened the market in 2008. Conventional wisdom says being first to market creates a competitive
27、advantage. Reality is more complicated. Market opportunities are constantly opening and closing, and a hit idea at one point could be a dud a year earlier or a yawning “me too“ business a year later. Its tough likely impossible to pinpoint the best moment to enter a market, but common sense dictates
28、 new entrepreneurs can improve their odds if they weigh how much they stand to gain or lose by waiting. New academic research suggests one way entrepreneurs can evaluate whether they should enter a market first or wait on the sidelines. The decision depends on how hostile the learning environment is
29、: that is, how much entrepreneurs can learn by observing other players before they launch compared to what they learn from participating after they enter, according to Moren Levesque, an entrepreneur-ship researcher at the University of Waterloo. The core findings on timing is this: in a hostile lea
30、rning environment, entrepreneurs gain relatively little benefit by watching others. For example, if the relevant knowledge is protected intellectual property, studying the market before entering wouldnt yield much advantage. In these situations, the trade-off favours entering early. But in less host
31、ile learning environments, where entrepreneurs gain valuable information likely to increase their success just by watching other companies, companies benefit from waiting and learning lessons from earlier players. IContacts successors, for example, may have learned from watching the companys trouble
32、 getting mobile networks to distribute their software, a barrier that was removed by the iPhones app store. However, deciding when to enter a market solely on the advantages of learning is not enough. Entrepreneurs also need to launch before an opportunity closes. In the summer of 2007, Sunny Gupta,
33、 a serial entrepreneur in Seattle, began exploring an idea for on-demand software to help large companies track their IT spending and reduce costs, after a contact at Wall Street firm casually mentioned the issue. He spent that summer and early fall talking to chief information officers at Fortune 5
34、00 companies about the type of software they needed. Gupta originally planned to spend about a year building the product. But on a trip to New York in October 2007 to meet with ClOs at financial companies, he saw they were under intense pressure to cut costs and justify their IT spending precisely w
35、hat his product would do. Gupta realized he needed to speed up his launch to take advantage of the market opportunity before other companies got there. He and his co-founders started working around the clock and by November, Apptio(as they dubbed the firm)raised $7 million in venture capital. By Mar
36、ch 2008, Apptio had four paying customers using a beta version of the product. A full launch followed in June, and Gupta had already demonstrated Apptios ability to reduce costs by the time the financial crisis erupted in September. Apptio now has nearly three dozen clients and 30 employees. “ I bel
37、ieve the window of opportunity was within those six months: from March to September 2008,“ Gupta says now. There is, of course, some element of luck. Cohen believed he was positioning iContact at a similar sweet spot in the market. But entrepreneurs who ignore timing, or assume that being first is a
38、lways better, do so at their peril. Deciding when to enter a market is an irreversible and important decision. 13 Why did Cohen shutter the company after just 18 months? （ A） His investors asked him to return the money. （ B） The software market did not get enough attention. （ C） He couldnt get mobil
39、e networks to use their software. （ D） His company had competitive rivals. 14 What does the author suggest by saying “a hit idea at one point could be a dud a year earlier or a yawning me too business a year later“? （ A） Being first to market creates a competitive advantage. （ B） Reality is more com
40、plicated. （ C） New entrepreneurs should wait for the best moment to enter a market. （ D） Market opportunities open and close constantly. 15 What does “improve their odds“ in the second paragraph mean? （ A） Increase the possibility of success （ B） Get a deeper insight on the market （ C） Have a more f
41、avorable business environment （ D） Develop more mature products 16 Which of the following statements is not true according to Moren Levesque? （ A） Entrepreneurs benefit little by observing others in a hostile learning environment. （ B） Entrepreneurs are likely to succeed by waiting and learning less
42、ons from earlier players. （ C） Being first to market or waiting depends on how hostile the learning environment is. （ D） In a less hostile learning environment, entering early has a competitive advantage. 17 How did Sunny Gupta succeed in the market as a pioneer? （ A） He predicted the financial cris
43、is successfully. （ B） His software was favored by chief officers at Fortune 500 companies. （ C） His software product was a breakthrough in the market. （ D） He grasped the right moment to enter the market. 18 Which of the following factors does the article suggest that David Cohen is lack of compared
44、 with Sunny Gupta? （ A） Innovative ideas （ B） Venture capital （ C） Luck （ D） Market opportunity 四、 PART FOUR 18 Read the article below about managing across cultures. 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,
45、B, C or D)on your Answer Sheet. There is an example at the beginning(0). The International Manager In recent years, many companies have(0)A globally. They have done this【 C1】 _mergers, joint ventures and co-operation with foreign companies. Because of this globalization trend, many more employees ar
46、e working abroad in managerial positions or as part of a multicultural team. Although it is common nowadays for staff to work abroad to gain experience, many people have difficulty【 C2】 _the new culture. The failure rate in US multinationals is estimated to be as high as 30% and it【 C3】 _US business
47、 $3 billion a year. Two typical failures have been【 C4】 _in the journal Management Today. The first example【 C5】 _a German manager with IBM who took【 C6】 _a position as production manager in England. He found that at most lunchtimes and especially on Fridays, many members of staff went to the pub. “
48、I stopped that right away,“ he says. “ Now they are not allowed off the premises. It didn t make me very popular at the time but it is not good for【 C7】 _. There is no way we would do that in Germany. No way.“ The second example is about an American manager who came to France on a management assignm
49、ent. He was unable to win the【 C8】 _of his staff although he tried all kinds of ways to do so. He set clear goals, worked longer hours than everybody, participated in all the projects, visited peoples offices and even took employees out to lunch one by one. But nothing seemed to work. This was because the staff believed strongly that the management were trying to【 C9】 _them. The German managers mistake was that he hadnt【 C10】 _the cultural differences. IBM had a firm rule about drinkin
