1、BEC商务英语（中级）阅读模拟试卷 47及答案与解析 一、 PART ONE 0 Look at these sentences and the four paragraphs. Which clip (A, B, C and D)does each sentence 1-7 refer to? For each sentence 1-7, mark one letter (A, B, C or D) on your Answer Sheet. You will need to use some of the letters more than once. A Management Train
2、ees For this exciting position in the leisure industry we are seeking management trainees to develop excel-lent buying skills. Possibly a new graduate, the successful applicant may have experience with a big national retailer, but must certainly possess excellent negotiation and communication skills
3、. B Marketing Executive This important position has recently been created by one of the countrys leading clothes manufactruers. It is an outstanding opportunity for a graduate with two years experience in design or magazine publishing. The successful candidate will be given responsibility for a majo
4、r, recently launched brand. It would be an advantage to have experience of promotional activities. Excellent fringe benefits on offer. C Product Manager This company has at present about 30% of the market and a turnover of more than 500 million. The person appointed will have responsibility for a lo
5、ng-established product which is a household name. Experience in the insurance market is necessary and a background in accountancy would be helpful. D Group product Manager This is a rare opportunity to work at a senior level for a market leader in the food industry, located in the north of the count
6、ry. The person appointed will report directly to the Marketing Director and take full responsibility for a turnover in excess of 80 million and a team of three managers. Applicants need to have a minimum of five years experience in product management. A market research qualification would be an adva
7、ntage. 1 To get this job it is not necessary to have work experience. 2 Such a high-ranking position does not come up very often. 3 Experience in advertising would be helpful in this job. 4 This job would probably suit somebody who has worked in the purchasing department of a large chain of stories.
8、 5 Three years experience would not be enough for this job. 6 For this job it would be useful if you have studied how to carry out surveys into consumer attitudes. 7 In this job you would take charge of a product which has been on the market for many years. 二、 PART TWO 7 Read the article below about
9、 the securities exchange. Choose the best sentence to fill in 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. The Securities Exchange When people buy stock, most do so through one of the securities exchanges or marketplaces for sto
10、cks and bonds. These marketplaces are commonly called “stock exchanges“ and they provide a meeting place for both the buyer and seller. To understand why such securities or stock exchanges are important in the purchase and sale of stocks and bonds, consider what would happen if you, and everyone who
11、 wanted do buy (or sell) securities, had to find your own buyer (or seller). If the market is going down the only way to recover your investment is to hang on to the stock and wait for it to come back. More importantly, how would you find out who is interested in selling that stock to you (or buying
12、 it from you)? In order to handle this marketing problem, securities exchanges sprung up. These exchanges are nothing more than locations where stocks are bought and sold. And since there is a common meeting place for there (or send their representatives). The result is a very systematic market proc
13、ess, where transations are handled in an orderly manner and the operations are both supervised and regulated by law. (8) Buying and Selling Securities The general approach in buying and selling securities, regardless of the exchange where they are purchased, is basically the same, We provide a gener
14、al picture of how security transactions take place; and for a fuller understanding, we will discuss some of the important terminology and functions of security trading. (9) How would you go about buying stock in a major corporation? Its really quite simple. First, you would decide what you want to b
15、uy such as 100 shares of IBM. (10) Assuming your broker works for a major stock brokerage, the order would be telephoned directly to a company clerk on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. The clerk would hand the order to a member of the Exchange who is a partner in the brokerage. This individ
16、ual would then go to the appropriate locale on the trading floor and ask for the latest quote on IBM. Let us say it is “70 to a quarter.“ (11) If your broker wants, a sale can be struck at 70.25 since the order calls for a purchase at the current market price. More likely, however, your broker will
17、bid 70.125 and hope to save you one eighth of a point or 12.50. And it is likely that another broker with an order to sell will show up and accept the bid of 70 1/8. The two brokers will then initial each others sales orders and see that the transaction is relayed to the exchange employee known as t
18、he reporter. The reporter sees that the sale is reported and a few minutes later it will come out on the ticker tape. Bulls and Bears What does “a bull“ mean? It is a term that is used to refer to an invester who expects prices to rise. (12) Of course, the market will not always rise. Sometimes stoc
19、ks drop and remain low for extended periods of time. Those investors who expect stock prices to decline are known as “bears.“ During the Great Depression, the bears made a great deal of money. While the bulls were “buying long“ the bears were “selling short.“ A How would you know what a fair price f
20、or the security is? B This means that someone is currently bidding “ 70 for the stock and another party is willing to sell at 70.25.“ C How stocks are actually purchased D “Bulls“ buy in anticipation of the market going up. E In this way, the buyer (or seller) is ensured that the best price is secur
21、ed and they are not shortchanged or cheated in any way. F Then you would place a call to your stockbroker, who would enter an order to buy the 100 shares at the current market price. G If the market is going down the only way to recover your investment is to hang on to the stock and wait for it to c
22、ome back. 三、 PART THREE 12 Read the article below about common stock and preferred stock. For each question 13-18, mark one letter (A, B, C or D) on your Answer Sheet, for the answer you choose. Common Stock and Preferred Stock A public corporation issues certificates of ownership, called common sto
23、ck, that may be traded on stock exchanges. Anyone can buy and sell shares of common stock. Owners of stock are referred to as shareholders and stockholders. Common stockholders are accorded certain rights by the corporate charter. In the United States, these rights vary from state to state, but in g
24、eneral the articles of incorporation spell out voting rights and rights to receive profits. Common stockholders are the voting owners of a corporation. They are usually entitled to one vote per share. They may vote on numerous decisions affecting the corporation (including a derision to sell or merg
25、e with another corporation) and elect a board of directors, who, in turn, hire managers to run the business. A majority shareholder is one who owns over 50 percent of the outstanding (issued) shares in a corporation and, thus, can call the shots. All other shareholders are minority shareholders. In
26、large corporations no single person or organization owns anywhere near a majority interest. In large, publicly owned corporations a shareholder with as little as 10 percent of the shares may control the corporation effectively. If things go badly, a coalition of so called dissident shareholders may
27、gather enough votes to replace the existing board of directors; the new hoard may fire the existing management and bring in their own management team. Although common stock represents ownership in a company, it does not guarantee the owners a specific rate of return. As owners, the stockholders rece
28、ive profits after all expenses, including debts and taxes, have been paid. They receive profits from the business in the form of dividend payments, which represent a percent-age of profits. Not all after-tax profits are paid to the stockholders in dividends. Directors usually deride quarterly how mu
29、ch, if any, of the profits they wish to distribute to the owners. The profits are either distributed to the owners in dividends or they are reinvested back into the company in the form of retained earnings. If the company decides to keep the profits, the company may become more valuable and the pric
30、e of the stock usually goes up. Some investors prefer profits in the way of dividends while others speculate for an increase in the price of stock. If a company goes broken, common stockholders get last claim on whatever is left over. Corporations may also issue preferred stock to investors. Preferr
31、ed stock usually has no vote in the election of the bard of directors, but does get preference in the distribution of the companys earnings. It offers investors a different type of security and may be issued only after common stock has been issued. The term “preferred“ applies to two conditions. Fir
32、st, preferred stockholders gain preferential treatment in the matter of dividends; that is, they receive a fixed rate of dividends prior to the payment of dividends on common shares. Second, if the company goes out of business or liquidates, pregerred stockholders are closer to the front of the line
33、 than common stockholders! when distributing the companys assets. Dividends to preferred stock may be cumulative or noncumulative. Cumulative preferred stock maintains its claim to dividends even if the company decides not to pay them. For instance, if the company had a bad year in 1994, they might
34、decide not to pay dividends. But if they had a good year in 1995. noncumulative preferred stock dividends do not accumulate. If dividends are not declared, noncumulative owners lose their claim to the profit of that period. In short, common stock usually has more control through voting privileges, g
35、reater chance for high returns, and more risk, whereas preferred stock usually has less control, fixed returns, less risk, and less chance for big gains. 13 Common stock traded on stock exchanges represents _ . （ A） the voting rights the stockholders have （ B） the stock shared by common people （ C）
36、the profits the shareholders receive （ D） the ownership of a public corporation 14 The second paragraph describes _ . （ A） the returns to common stockholders （ B） the majority and minority stockholders （ C） the voting rights of common stockholders （ D） the formation of common stock 15 The main purpo
37、se of the third paragraph is to tell us _ . （ A） the rate of returns to the stockholders （ B） the risk of common stockholders （ C） the distribution of profits to the stockholders （ D） the benefits of common stock 16 One of the differences between common stock and preferred stock lies in that _ . （ A
38、） the former is safer in getting dividends （ B） common stockholders get more stable profits （ C） the latter gets more fixed returns （ D） preferred stockholders have more rights in voting 17 With cumulative preferred stock, stockholders can _ . （ A） claim to the former profits when the company has a
39、good year （ B） have more control over the company （ C） claim to the former profits when the company has a bad year （ D） receive high returns 18 For those who want to get high returns, it is better for them to buy _ . （ A） preferred stock （ B） common stock （ C） noncumulative stock （ D） cumulative sto
40、ck 四、 PART FOUR 18 Read the article below about a critical concern in merger and acquisition strategies. 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. A Critical Concern in Merge
41、r and Acquisition Strategies Mergers and acquisitions as growth strategies are once again in vogue. This business drama seems to be (19) by recent highly visible mergers between rich and famous players. Even speculation around a low ball offered by Comcast to acquire Disney seems to excite global (2
42、0) in corporate marriages. However, like all such (21) , long-term success is rarely accomplished by a mere combination of cool stuff and know-how. In the midst of all the hype, a well documented fact is that most merger and acquisition activity rarely (22) the highly anticipated cooperation between
43、 companies. Throughout a merger or acquisition, people in an acquired company often (23) that they dont know what is happening, express fear about (24) their jobs, and feel demoralized as to the future of their contributions. Failed mergers that otherwise have a (25) strategic and financial fit are
44、typically the (26) of the irretrievable loss of intangible, messy-to-measure, and difficult-to-implement human (27) on which the companys tangible assets ultimately (28) . Traditional integration practices have been (29) around consolidating key resources, financial and physical assets, (30) names,
45、and tradable endowments. The most forward-thinking integration strategies also capture key pieces of elusive core competencies, such as a/an (31) s best practices, skills, knowledge bases, and routines. (32) excluded are critical root strategic assets, which can make or break a union that is otherwi
46、se “made in heaven“. These root strategic assets (33) collaborative leadership, cultural cohesion and talent retention. （ A） fueled （ B） replaced （ C） produced （ D） directed （ A） cost （ B） interest （ C） concern （ D） worry （ A） assets （ B） credits （ C） deals （ D） sources （ A） arranges （ B） produces （
47、 C） manages （ D） takes （ A） complain （ B） declare （ C） support （ D） provide （ A） sending （ B） holding （ C） keeping （ D） losing （ A） sound （ B） bad （ C） depressed （ D） broken （ A） purpose （ B） incentive （ C） reason （ D） result （ A） factors （ B） sections （ C） pieces （ D） parts （ A） make （ B） rest （ C）
48、 give （ D） get （ A） sent （ B） signed （ C） conducted （ D） used （ A） mark （ B） brand （ C） symbol （ D） product （ A） organization （ B） government （ C） branch （ D） office （ A） Only （ B） Typically （ C） Roughly （ D） Nearly （ A） hold （ B） produce （ C） include （ D） bring 五、 PART FIVE 33 Read the text below a
49、bout marketing information. In most of the lines 34 45 there is one extra word. It is either grammatically incorrect or does not fit in with the meaning of the text. Some lines, however, are correct. If a line is correct, 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. Marketing Information Correct Sales and marketing messages are illegal if they falsely advertise prices, the performance capability, quality, o
