1、BEC商务英语（高级）阅读模拟试卷 22及答案与解析 一、 PART ONE 0 Look at the statements below and the news about business travel on the opposite page. Which news (A, B, C, D or E ) does each statement 1-8 refer to? For each statement 1-8, mark one letter (A, B, C, D or E ) on your Answer Sheet. You will need to use some of
2、 these letters more than once. A Travel Security Business travel is showing strong signs of a recovery after a time of uncertainty and those who are getting back on the road are finding themselves in a reassuringly security-conscious environment. Airlines, airports, hotels and governments have now p
3、laced travel safety high on their agendas and this can only have positive repercussions for those who travel most frequently - business travelers. Biometrics - a group of technologies that can identify individuals by their physical characteristics - are being used to increase travel security and wil
4、l change the way we travel forever. B Recovery in Airline Industry The airline industry is beginning to stabilize after a period of turmoil, say the latest figures by OAG, the worlds leading source of flight schedule information. The annual OAG report, which compares the number of flight schedules w
5、orldwide in one week in December 2003 with the same week in 2002, reported a 1% increase, equaling to more than 3,000 additional flights to airline schedules. The rise indicates a long-awaited recovery in business travel and a renewed confidence in the airline industry. The strongest growth was seen
6、 in the traffic to and from the Asia Pacific region, which jumped by 8%, while the number of flights within the region was also up by 6%. C Asian Compaigns Some Asian countries have launched campaigns aimed specifically at business visitors. Singapore, for example, is hoping to increase its number o
7、f business visitors from 1.25 million in 2003 to 1.8 million in 2005 through its US 15 million “Make It Singapore“ campaign, launched in November 2003. “We want to draw more business visitors to Singapore through an attractive basket of incentives for event organizers,“ said a spokesperson. “The inc
8、entives include complimentary rooms from participating hotels, special discounts on food and beverage for functions, special rates from Singapore Airlines, among others.“ D SMS service Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) is now offering frequent travelers the chance to get up-to-date information on fright a
9、rrivals, departures, delays, seat availability and schedules by using SMS texting. The free service is available to members of its frequent flyer program EuroBonus and to travelers who have booked a Travel Pass or Travel Pass Corporate. Passengers who register for the service will automatically rece
10、ive information on any irregularity affecting the departure and arrival time of the flights on which they are booked. E Relax In Style Passengers flying in JALs Executive Class “Seasons“ from Tokyo to Chicago and Paris can now sleep more soundly in the airlines Shell Flat Seat. The airline will roll
11、 out the seat on routes from Tokyo to Frankfurt, Los Angeles and San Francisco later in 2004. The shell shaped seat is designed for maximum privacy and relaxation and reclines 170 degrees. Later this year, JAL will also introduce the Connexion by Boeing high-speed broadband Internet and email servic
12、e on beard flights, starting with its Tokyo-London route. 1 New advanced technologies make business travel safer. 2 A program was carried out in order to attract more visitors. 3 Airlines experienced a time of uncertainty in the past few years. 4 This airline has offered more comfortable seats to tr
13、avelers. 5 This service is only limited to registered members. 6 Some travelers may be informed about the details of their flights in this program. 7 Statistics show that there is going to be a steady growth in this industry. 8 The airline is in the process of upgrading some of its facilities. 二、 PA
14、RT TWO 8 Read this text taken from an article about Personnel Management. Choose the best sentence to fill each of the gaps. For each gap 9 14, mark one letter (A H) on your Answer Sheet. Do not use any letter more than once. Personnel Management Personnel management is regarded as a profession. Man
15、y observers believe that the most important and pressing problems of future industrial societies will not be solely concerned with production or technical questions, but will be people-oriented and will involve a knowledge of social and behavioral sciences and of the personnel function“ H The role o
16、f personnel management has, of course changed over time. Originally it was used by management to obtain and maintain an effective work force only and the emphasis was on production and economic rewards. (9) . This is now only one part of the function. Later it was realized that if worker needs could
17、 be understood and met, for example, security, achievement, and job satisfaction, then the organization itself could better achieve its maximization of goals such as profits. Recently added to this has been the social (community) responsibility of the organization. (10) . Personnel management is abo
18、ut people. The management of people is an integral part of the organization and of the process of management itself. (11) . Personnel management is not something that is only carried out by the personnel department; it is an organization-wide activity. All levels of management are engaged in managin
19、g personnel. (12) . They are involved in working in co-operation with the personnel department and its staff in such areas as recruitment, training, appraisal, counseling safety and health and job-design. Personnel management in its broadest sense involves all matters in an organization regarding pe
20、ople decisions. (13) . The first is that of human relations, in which such matters as individual motivation, leadership, and group relationships and behavior are covered. The second is the field of organization theory, which considers job design, managerial spans of control, the flow of work through
21、 the organization, and so forth. The third consists of the specific kinds of decision areas for which the personnel manager or personnel department is directly responsible for acquisition, development, rewarding, and maintenance of human resources. The bread definition of personnel management illust
22、rates that the scope of personnel management pervades the organization. Every person in an organization is involved with personnel decision. (14) . Similarly, non-managerial employees will be exposed to performance appraisals, selection interviews when hired, and so on. A It is through people that o
23、rganizations accomplish their goals thus the management of people is a vital aspect of an organizations functioning. B Later there was a move towards a welfare oriented personnel function such as benefits and health. C This broad view focuses attention on three distinct but interrelated topics. Thus
24、 personnel management may now be involved in certain community activities, in equal opportunity employment in developing policies, for example, in employing racial minorities of physically handicapped people and in seeking to provide and maintain a climate in which individual and organization goals
25、are achieved. E Line managers of other departments e.g. marketing and production of various departments of sections in the public service and public agencies e.g. Telecom all have personnel/human resource management duties. F Personnel managers didnt see a need to make sure that their employees were
26、 comfortable in the work environment and ensure all their needs were being met. G For example, all managers in any organization will need to know how to train their employees, appraise their performance, and so forth. H Personnel management is now often called human resources management (HRM). 三、 PA
27、RT THREE 14 Read the following article about merge and the questions on the opposite page. For each question 15-20, mark one letter (A, B, C or D ) on your Answer Sheet for the answer you choose. A school of behavioral economists has long argued that when it comes to money, people are incapable of a
28、cting in their own best interest - that decisions result from impulse and overconfidence as much as from reason. Smart folks, in other words, are just as likely to soon part with their money as all those fools. The truly bad news is that smart companies are just as prone to make terrible decisions f
29、or the same reason. Take one of the biggest business decisions of all merger. Research consistently shows that most mergers fail in every sense of the word, from falling stock prices to lower profitability after the merger. Yet, even with suffering capital markets, a recent Hewitt Associates study f
30、ound that more than half of the 70 senior executives and board members surveyed planned to step up merger activity during the next three years. Why? Call it executive hubris. CEOs are not different from the rest of us in that they fall prey to the self-enhancement bias: we all like to think we are i
31、ntelligent and efficacious. So we overestimate our abilities. Thats why studies show that significantly more than half of all people believe they are above average - in negotiating ability, even in income, This overly optimistic view is, of course, worse for CEOs- afar all, they generally are way ab
32、ove average. Btu the result is the same: bad decisions. One study, by business school professors Matthew Hayward and Donald Hambrick, showed that the greater the hubris of the chief executive, the more a company tends to overpay for acquisitions. The aphorism “Pride goeth before a fall“ seems to hol
33、d true in business too. When executives are confronted with the appalling statistics, their first response goes something like this: “That may happen to other companies, but not ours. This acquisition will be more successful. We have learned.“ The next CEO challenge is persuading a possibly recalcit
34、rant board of directors to let you pursue your urge to merge. Hubris, again, returns to center stage. You paint a picture of doom and gloom that will result if you dont merge. Take a look at one of the rationales given for the merger of Hewlett-Packard and Compaq, two companies with poor operating t
35、rack records. The argument was that PCs were becoming a commodity industry, consolidation was inevitable, and if HP didnt do the consolidating, it would soon be one of the consolidated. Heres another variant of the same rationale: If you dont buy the target company, your competitor will - and youll
36、lose out. This gambit uses the influence strategy of scarcity - we want what we cant have, and we find particularly desirable anything that we may lose to someone else. Heres how to avoid hubris-fueled merger mania. First, follow the adage from medicine: Forgive and remember. Go back and evaluate pa
37、st merger decisions, admit when you were wrong, figure out why, and learn from it. Second, beware of too much agreement in the board room. When Alfred Sloan ran General Motors, if he couldnt find opposition to a decision, hed postpone it. He interpreted a lack of dissent as a lack of analysis. Find,
38、 even encourage, people to disagree with you, so that all sides of the decision are examined. Mostly, we like those who agree with us. But as one of my colleagues likes to point out, if two people agree all the time, one of them is redundant. The urge to merge is still like an addiction in many comp
39、anies: Doing deals is much more fun and interesting than fixing fundamental problems. So, as in dealing with any other addiction or temptation, maybe it is best to just say no. 15 What is the argument in the first paragraph about earning money? （ A） People are likely to make decisions reasonably. （
40、B） Behavioral economists are likely to act with overconfidence. （ C） Clever people are capable to earn a great fortune. （ D） Intelligent people tend to behave the same with the foolish one. 16 The writer says that as far as merger is concerned, （ A） most ended in failure resulting from overconfidenc
41、e. （ B） most CEOs preferred to give up mergers. （ C） companies are likely to earn their profit in acquisition. （ D） capital markets became vulnerable because of merger. 17 What is said about CEOs in the third paragraph? （ A） They are above the average people in intelligence. （ B） They look down upon
42、 the ordinary people. （ C） They are overly confident about their abilities as the others are. （ D） They can do more mergers with their greater hubris. 18 The mason for Hewlett-Packard to merge Compaq is （ A） competition is fierce in PCs industry. （ B） CEOs of HP wanted to extend its product range. （
43、 C） Compaq needed to be consolidated. （ D） people are eager to own something that may be obtained by others. 19 What are we told is the best way to avoid hubris-fueled merger madness? （ A） Draw lessons from past merger decisions. （ B） Trust those who share opinions with you. （ C） Stay far away from
44、merger activities. （ D） Try to accept opposing views. 20 The writers idea about merger is that （ A） its not easy to stop the urge to merger. （ B） merger leads to increased margins. （ C） CEOs have a cold response toward merger. （ D） the cost of merger will outweigh any profits. 四、 PART FOUR 20 Read t
45、he article below about the solid growth of Mexicos economy. Choose the best word to fill each gap from A, B, C or D on the opposite page. For each question 21-30, mark one letter (A, B, C or D ) on your Answer Sheet. After three years of sluggish or no growth, Mexicos economy is set to expand by 3%
46、to 3.5% in 2004. The US turnaround will be (21) to Mexicos outlook, since the US buys almost 88% of Mexican export. Progress can be seen in Mexicos industrial (22) Production began growing again in October and is now showing its best performance in nearly four years. A 20% depreciation of the peso a
47、gainst the US dollar over the past two years has helped exporters competitiveness. The economy has also (23) from lower interest rates, a byproduct of the drop in inflation, which (24) just 3.98% in 2003. Falling rates have bolstered consumer borrowing. While hank lending to companies has (25) , con
48、sumer credit has grown some 30% in the past two to three years, and nonbank mortgage lending has also expanded significantly. Easy credit has (26) retail, auto, and home sales, though unemployment is at its highest rate since 1997. The 2004 (27) will come none too soon for President Vicente Fox, who
49、 took office in 2000 promising that Mexico would enjoy 7% annual growth by the end of his six-year term. But he still faces obstacles to reach that long-term goal. First, the Mexican congress has failed to (28) badly needed fiscal, labor, and energy reforms. That has left the federal government with a tight budget and few resources to generate more (29) growth. Second, while a limited package of energy reforms may win approval this year, more
