1、BEC商务英语（中级）阅读模拟试卷 80及答案与解析 一、 PART ONE 0 Look at the statements below and the advice on handling acquisitions on the opposite page Which section (A， B， C or D)does each statement(1-7)refer to? You will need to use some of these letters more than once Mergers and Acquisitions As Finance Director of p
2、lastics manufacturer VKT, Yvonne Maynart has overseen many successful takeovers A It is essential to build up a team to handle the acquisition so that your existing business can continue uninterrupted during the deal. It also helps to operate with spare capacity so that you can transfer people durin
3、g the initial stages. A key person should be driving the acquisition process forward, although one person alone cannot assume responsibility for a large deal. It is clearly vital to do thorough research when identifying potential targets-but do not be afraid to walk away from a deal if you become aw
4、are of serious difficulties with a company you are targeting. B To decide on the value of any target business, you must first determine what contribution your acquisition can make to it. For example, you may be able to increase revenue through a more focused management team, or improve margins throu
5、gh greater purchasing power and lower costs. At VKT, we base our valuations on conservative assumptions-we also add in the risk element. This approach may be best, and its worth remembering that with listed companies, shareholders tend to have higher risk/reward expectations. C Developing relationsh
6、ips with finance providers is a key part of the finance directors role. It is important to draw up a good business plan to ensure backing from lenders in the early stages of the acquisition. Your loan application needs to be supported by detailed profit and cashflow projections. Make sure you factor
7、 in sufficient finance to let the business develop over time, and allow for reinvestment. Here at VKT, we usually finance acquisitions with bank debt in the form of a 364-day loan, which can then be refinanced at a lower interest rate later. D If an acquisition is large, it can take years for compan
8、ies to integrate. At VKT, we monitor all acquisitions closely for at least two years, and the most important lesson Ive learned is that a deal is only good if it is beneficial for both vendor and acquirer. Change causes confusion, so it needs to be handled carefully. In order to protect profits and
9、grow the business, you need to minimise the impact of change and help the people affected feel comfortable about it. When this is done properly, it can really boost morale. 1 A cautious approach can be used when calculating what a company is worth 2 Consider personnel issues so that you have suffici
10、ent resources to fulfill your objectives 3 In order to know if you can make a return on your investment， assess how you can add to the company you are buying 4 Providing sufficient support for staff during the acquisition process can have a favourable outcome 5 Take into account your long-term requi
11、rements to ensure you have the resources you need 6 Even after investing some effort in the acquisition， it may still be necessary to withdraw 7 Terms initially negotiated can be changed after the acquisition 二、 PART TWO 7 Read the article below about the changing role of human resources departments
12、. Choose the best sentence from the opposite page to fill each of the gaps. Do not use any letter more than once. The best person for the job Employees can make a business succeed or fail, so the people who choose them have a vital role to play Employees are a companys new ideas, its public face and
13、 its main asset. Hiring the right people is therefore a significant factor in a companys success. If the human resources department makes mistakes with hiring, keeping and dismissing staff, a business can disappear overnight. Many companies now realise that recruiting the best recruiters is the key
14、to success. Sarah Choi, Head of HR at Enco plc, believes that thinking commercially is a key quality in HR. Every decision an HR manager makes needs to be relevant to advancing the business. (8) Thats no longer the case. HR managers have to think more strategically these days. They continually need
15、to think about the impact of their decisions on the bottom line. (9) For example, a chief executive will expect the HR department to advise on everything from the headcount to whether to proceed with an acquisition. Why do people go into HR in the first place? Choi has a ready answer. I think most p
16、eople in the profession are attracted by a long-term goal. (10) Nothing happens in the company which isnt affected by or doesnt impact on its employees, so the HR department is a crucial part of any business. Not all operational managers agree. An informal survey of attitudes to HR departments that
17、was carried out last year by a leading business journal received comments such as What do they actually contribute? (11) As Choi points out, salaries have never been higher and, in addition, HR managers often receive substantial annual bonuses. Despite the financial rewards, HR managers often feel u
18、ndervalued, and this is a major reason for many leaving their jobs. (12) However, a lack of training and development is a more significant factor. These days, good professional development opportunities are considered an essential part of an attractive package, Choi explains. A. But rising levels of
19、 remuneration demonstrate that the professions growing importance is widely recognised. B. At one time, a professional qualification was required in order to progress to the top of HR. C. Other departments and senior executives used to see HR managers as having a purely administrative role. D. Since
20、 its one of the few areas where you can see the whole operation, it can lead to an influential role on the board. E. Being seen as someone who just ticks off other peoples leave and sick days does not help build a sense of loyalty. F. They therefore need to be competent in many aspects of a companys
21、 operations. G. On the other hand, recruiting the wrong staff can lead to disaster. 三、 PART THREE 12 There Are No Products Only Services Take a step beyond “total quality“ and “customer satisfaction“. Theres a new view of the relationship between suppliers and customers. The idea, as put by Rosabeth
22、 Moss Katner of the Harvard Business School: Think of every product you buy or sell as a service. In other words, look at what it does not what it is. That way, selling a product becomes only one of your opportunities to do something for your customers. Many companies are now offering additional ser
23、vices, particularly after-sales services, to increase the value of their products. This practice, often referred to as “bundling, “is an effective way to keep in contact with customers. Look at Toyotas Lexus. Thanks to a partnership with IBM, Lexus tracks every car on a national computer your sedans
24、 complete maintenance history is available to every dealer from Miami to Seattle. Why? Because Lexus doesnt want its relationship with you to end at the showroom door. At packaging Corp. of America, employees say they offer packaging solutions, not just packaging. Monte Hayman, a CEO, says: “It used
25、 to be that we made a product and looked for people to buy it. Then we started doing research to learn what the market wanted, and developed product for that. Today were working with individual customers.“ Then theres unbundling, When you want to offer more products and services, but it isnt within
26、your means to produce them yourself, you might decide to contract out stuff that you would never have let out of your sight before. IBM no longer handles its own warehousing. Two years ago it junked 21 parts warehouses in favour of half-a-dozen outside vendors. Commodore Business Machines goes furth
27、er: In November it unbundled virtually all of its after-sales services for consumer products. Its partner is a new division of Federal Express called Business Logistics Services, Fed Ex mans a 24-hour help line for Commodore. If your computer needs to go to the shop, Fed Ex will pick it up the morni
28、ng after you call, drop off a replacement, and often do the repairs at its Memphis hub. Customers never know theyre dealing with Fed Ex employees, except for the delivery man. After a six-month trial, says Jim Reeder, Commodores vice president for customer satisfaction, his company is offering bette
29、r service at half the previous cost. This kind of collaboration is replacing competition in relationships with suppliers. Experts at the Cresap consulting firm call it “supplier integration“. It elevates outsourcing from a mere cost-cutting measure to the level of strategy. The new goal is a win-win
30、 alliance, where suppliers get the security of a long-term relationship and customers get more say over their upstream processes. Companies that think of the products,they buy and sell as services can also discover new ways to market existing products. as Xerox did when it redefined its copier machi
31、ne business as document processing. They study such questions as whether to share a single system to track purchase orders. There is a new slogan: “Suppliers and customers one system, not two systems.“ 13 What is the new view of the relationship between suppliers and customers? （ A） Suppliers should
32、 provide high-quality products to customers. （ B） Suppliers should think of every product as a service. （ C） Suppliers should try their best to satisfy their customers. （ D） Suppliers should try their best to promote every product to customers. 14 What should a company do to increase the value of it
33、s products? （ A） Company should cut the cost of its products. （ B） Company needs to increase the price of its products. （ C） Company needs to offer additional services, especially after-sales services. （ D） Company should track its products on a national computer. 15 What does the sentence “Today we
34、re working with individual customers.“ in the third paragraph mean? （ A） It means the company employs customers as its employees. （ B） It means the company makes a product and looks for one customer to test it. （ C） It means the company develops a product after doing research. （ D） It means the comp
35、any knows more about what customers want by providing additional services. 16 What does “man“ in the third sentence of the fifth paragraph mean? （ A） It means “to supply with men, as for defence or service“. （ B） It means “to take stations, as to defend or operate“. （ C） It means “to cheer up“. （ D）
36、 It means “to track“. 17 According to the sixth paragraph, why is the new goal a win-win alliance? （ A） It elevates outsourcing from a mere cost-cutting measure to the level of strategy. （ B） Suppliers can build a long-term relationship with their customers and customers have the right to influence
37、the producing process by giving their opinions. （ C） It replaces competition between suppliers. （ D） It helps a company offer better service at half the previous cost. 18 Which of the following is NOT the method adopted by a company when it couldnt produce the products and services needed by the mar
38、ket? （ A） Hiring other companies to supply the separate services offered in its service package （ B） Working with other suppliers together to offer consumers more services （ C） Discovering new ways to market its existing products （ D） Cutting the cost in producing process 四、 PART FOUR 18 Planning th
39、e Start-up? Seize the Day Executives who say theyd love to leave the battleship to skipper a nimble start-up fall back on a variety of perfectly legitimate rationales for why its not yet time: I need to acquire more (19) ,to figure out how financing really (20) , and so on. While they are waiting fo
40、r everything to fall into (21) ,managers are acquiring big-company habits that can hurt them when they finally make the (22) . Long tenures in corporate jobs keep executives from becoming the “jack-of-all-trades“ that new ventures generally (23) .They get used to having HR specialists take care of H
41、R issues, finance aces prepare reports, and IT whizzes (24) the company infrastructure. (25) people in big companies are successful “because they can manage a (26) ,“says Barry Nalls, the founder of Masergy, a Texas-based Telecom. But “in an early-stage company, there is no such thing as a manager.
42、Everyone is a (27) ,including the CEO, “ he says. Entrepreneurs are more effective at building ventures from (28) once they have attained a certain level of maturity and self-knowledge, but they can achieve that without spending most of their working lives in corporate jobs. In my research on thousa
43、nds of founders of high-potential ventures that had succeeded in (29) capital from professional investors, 76% had worked for 20 years or less before founding their first ventures they had (30) the leap by the time they were in their early forties. And there is another point in favour (31) leaping s
44、ooner rather than later: executives who stay around the corporation until they achieve senior positions may be aging themselves out of what could be a satisfying life in start-ups. Waiting for the perfect time to jump is usually futile, for there is no moment thats (32) perfect。 So even if you are e
45、arly in your corporate career, when a winning new-business idea comes along and sparks an entrepreneurial (33) in you, carpe diem. （ A） credits （ B） credentials （ C） credibility （ D） credulity （ A） operates （ B） works （ C） runs （ D） goes （ A） place （ B） position （ C） location （ D） part （ A） action （
46、 B） movement （ C） move （ D） step （ A） acquire （ B） ask （ C） inquire （ D） require （ A） keep （ B） maintain （ C） sustain （ D） manage （ A） Senior （ B） Older （ C） Elder （ D） Junior （ A） group （ B） team （ C） company （ D） business （ A） leader （ B） performer （ C） contributor （ D） partner （ A） beginning （ B）
47、 start （ C） zero （ D） scratch （ A） drawing （ B） attracting （ C） winning （ D） raising （ A） made （ B） achieved （ C） taken （ D） done （ A） to （ B） for （ C） on （ D） of （ A） truly （ B） actually （ C） certainly （ D） factually （ A） feeling （ B） emotion （ C） affection （ D） passion 五、 PART FIVE 33 Read the art
48、icle below about whether executive pay will rise or fall. In most of the lines (34-45), there is one extra word. It either is 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
49、is an extra word in the line, write the extra word in CAPITAL LETTERS on your Answer Sheet. Executive Pay Up or Down? 34 chief executives of big firms, did so this month. “Repots that large numbers of chief 35 executives make hundreds of millions of dollars every year are simply untrue,“ said John 36 Castellani, the roundtables president. “Executive compensation has closely followed to 37 the growth that companies have experienced in the last ten years.“ The compensation of 38 the median chief executive of the 350 b
