1、BEC商务英语（高级）阅读模拟试卷 44及答案与解析 一、 PART ONE 0 Look at the statements below and at the five extracts from an article about Innovation. Which article (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
2、 of these letters more than once. A Innovation is the key to continued prosperity. Although the United states is experiencing a lengthy economic boom, its capacity for innovation per capita is losing ground. Ranking first in 1995 in innovation among 17 countries, the United States is projected to dr
3、op to fifth place by 2002 if present trends continue, according to the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development(OECD). To compete effectively in international markets, nations as well as organizations must make innovation a priority. B The goal is for your organization to change the rule
4、s, structure, and speed of its industry so that your competitors are thrown into chaos. Because your organization initiated the change, it more than likely understands the new rules and structure introduced into the marketplace as it copes with changes in speed. Temporarily at least, your organizati
5、on will be ahead of the competition. This technique has been used by the military since ancient times. The idea is to confuse the enemy. While the opponent is digging out of the confusion, the organization in the offensive position seizes the dominant position. C One contemporary technique that chan
6、ges the marketplace rules, structure, and speed is innovation all organizations trump card. When the microchip was invented, Intel was able to gain power over the competition because it capitalized on an innovation. Microsoft innovated the concept of a dominant operating system in personal computers
7、. By capitalizing on innovations, these companies were able to become leaders in their industries while their competitors were temporarily in chaos trying to find their way out. If an organization is offering the same products and services in the same way that it did three years ago, its on its way
8、to obsolescence or may already be obsolete. Lets answer three questions about innovation. D What is innovation? Innovation is the tangible result of creativity the process that produces one or more innovations. Creativity is difficult to measure, but innovation is a product or service that is easily
9、 defined and measured. Why is innovation necessary? It is needed for survival and sustainability. Competition is stiff in the global market place that organizations not nurturing innovation will soon find themselves unable to respond to changing customer demands. Conversely, those organizations that
10、 make innovation a priority can dominate their industries and experience positive growth. Organizations in the 21st century must foster innovation. E How can an organization achieve a high degree of innovation? Innovation does not happen by itself. It must be intentionally cultivated. Great leaders
11、realize this and work to develop all organizations friendly to innovative endeavors. This effort involves allocating a budget adequate for innovative activities, establishing a physical environment that promotes creativity, eliminating creativity inhibitors, recruiting creative people, grasping the
12、big picture, involving the whole person, promoting new thinking, training experientially, and nurturing autonomy. 1 By capitalizing on innovations, many companies were able to become leaders in their industries. 2 Innovation ability in the United States used to be the top in the world. 3 Innovation
13、is different from creativity in that the former can be easily defined and measured. 4 The organization which initiated the innovation is more likely to cope with it freely. 5 Creativity inhibitors must be removed if necessary. 6 There is similarity between competition in international markets and th
14、e military situation in wars. 7 Innovation can not happen of its own volition. 8 Innovation is a kind of contemporary technique that can change the rules, structure, and speed in marketplace. 二、 PART TWO 8 Read this text taken from an article about advertising. Choose the best sentence to fill each
15、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. Advertising in the United States is successful under the following circumstances: first, when it creates a favorable company image; second, when it relies on scientific research for an a
16、ccurate evaluation of trends, fashions, needs, attitudes, and motivation; third, systematically applies the findings of research in solving its problems; G . (9) . In the competitive world of American business, a positive company image is essential to a companys survival and growth. Any adverse publ
17、icity could destroy the image, thereby causing a “recession“ in the companys ability to sell its product, keep the value of its stocks high, and maintain a healthy state of company morale. Furthermore, the self-images projected to the consumer are one of the essential techniques for pulling people i
18、nto the commercial, of getting them involved with the situation and consequently with the product. (10) . The composite American, as projected in TV and radio commercials, might be pieced together somewhat as follows: always eating, troubled with insomnia, constantly worried, extremely clean, fond o
19、f fun and luxury, wholesome, highly individualistic, looking for the easiest and quickest way of doing everything, and searching for reality even if its only a real cigarette. Successful advertising appeals more to emotion than to reason. Research shows that data from surveys may be inaccurate becau
20、se people frequently do not give reasoned answers to questions, but answers that convey a good impression to the researcher. (11) . Reasoning power is called into play only when people have to give themselves a solid excuse for buying something that appeals to them emotionally. Since a major part of
21、 advertising is aimed at the emotions, there is some concern that through exploitation of the emotions by advertisers, Americans will become less rational and less independent in their ability to make decisions. However, recent research indicates that peoples ability to reason is not adversely affec
22、ted by advertising because too few advertising messages really get through to them. (12) . If a companys drive for successful advertising disregards ethical practices, the public must rely on various agencies to discipline the offender with the threat of damaging its image. On the other hand, advert
23、isers have found it advantageous to enrich our leisure hours by providing great entertainment, often unavailable otherwise. (13) . What does it mean? It means that we associate the brand name, the trademark, or the slogan with the entertainment. It means that the company has won our favor and that,
24、in all probability, we will buy that companys products and/or invest in its stocks. (14) . Therefore, every step in the advertising process is aimed at stimulating Americans to work harder, to train longer, and to earn more in order to acquire a generous share of the material conveniences and luxuri
25、es that the giants of industry have been able to produce. A Effective advertising is a powerful image-builder. B As a result of all this image-making activity, the advertiser arrives at a composite of all the images projected, a national image with which the majority of consumers can identify. C Peo
26、ple watch the commercial and listen to the sales message, but often pay little attention to what is going. D People always pay little attention to commercials, because they are so money-oriented. E We hum the tunes, recount the tales, and laugh at the comic situations brought to us by the advertiser
27、. F It was the motivation analysts who found that companies must sell emotional security first and foremost. G Fourth, avoids exposing the sponsor to charges of unethical practices. H Ultimately, the American dream of everlasting affluence depends for its fulfillment on the advertisers continued suc
28、cess in keeping people amused, dissatisfied with what they already have, and eager for more and more and still more of the good things. 三、 PART THREE 14 Read the following extract from an article about monopolistic competition, and the questions followed. For each question 15 20, mark one letter (A,
29、 B, C, or D) on your Answer Sheet for the answer you choose. Is the outcome in a monopolistically competitive market desirable from the standpoint of society as a whole? Can policymakers improve on the market outcome? There are no simple answers to these questions. One source of inefficiency is the
30、markup of price over marginal cost. Because of the markup, some consumers who value the good at more than the marginal cost of production (but less than the price) will be deterred from buying it. Thus, a monopolistically competitive market has the normal deadweight loss of monopoly pricing. Althoug
31、h this outcome is clearly undesirable compared to the first-best outcome of price equal to marginal cost, there is no easy way for policymakers to fix the problem. To enforce marginal-cost pricing, policymakers would need to regulate all firms that produce differentiated products. Because such produ
32、cts are so common in the economy, the administrative burden of such regulation would be overwhelming. Moreover, the regulating monopolistic competitors would entail all the problems of regulating natural monopolies. In particular, because monopolistic competitors are making zero profits already, req
33、uiring them % lower their prices to equal marginal cost would cause them to make losses. To keep these firms in business, the government would need to help them cover these losses. Rather than raising taxes to pay for these subsidies, policymakers may decide it is better to live with the inefficienc
34、y of monopolistic pricing. Another way in which monopolistic competition may be socially inefficient is that the number of firms in the market may not be the “ideal“ one. That is, there may be too much or too little entry. One way to think about this problem is in terms of the externalities associat
35、ed with entry. Whenever a new firm considers entering the market with a new product, it considers only the profit it would make. Yet its entry would also have two external effects: a) The product-variety externality: Because consumers get some consumer surplus from the introduction of a new product,
36、 there is a positive externality associated with entry; b) The business-stealing externality: Because other firms lose customers and profits from the entry of a new competitor, there is a negative externality associated with entry. Thus in a monopolistically competitive market, there are both positi
37、ve and negative externalities associated with the entry of new firms. Depending on which externality is larger, a monopolistically competitive market could have either too few or too many products. Both of these externalities are closely related to the conditions for monopolistic competition. The fo
38、rmer arises because a new firm would offer a product different from those of the existing firms. The latter arises because firms post a price above marginal cost and, therefore, are always eager to sell additional units. Conversely, because perfectly competitive firms produce identical goods and cha
39、rge a price equal to marginal cost, neither of these externalities exists under perfect competition. In the end, we can conclude only that monopolistically competitive markets do not have all the desirable welfare properties of perfectly competitive markets. That is, the invisible hand does not ensu
40、re that total surplus is maximized under monopolistic competition. Yet because the inefficiencies are subtle, hard to measure, and hard to fix, there is no easy way for public policy to improve the market outcome. 15 Who will be prevented from buying the good? （ A） Some consumers who also estimate t
41、he value of the good at more than the marginal cost of production. （ B） Some consumers who estimate the price of the good at more than the marginal cost of the production. （ C） Some consumers who have a high opinion of the good at more than the marginal cost of the production. （ D） Some consumers wh
42、o estimate the worth of the good at more than the marginal cost of the production. 16 Why would policy makers need to regulate all firms that produce differentiated products? （ A） Because such products are so common in the economy. （ B） Because there is no easy way for policymakers to fix the proble
43、m. （ C） Because they want to enforce marginal-cost pricing. （ D） Because monopolistic competitors are making zero profits. 17 _， policymakers may decide it is better to live with the inefficiency of monopolistic pricing. （ A） Without raising taxes to pay for these subsidies （ B） In order to raise ta
44、xes to pay for these subsidies （ C） To keep these firms in business （ D） Requiring them to lower their prices 18 What does a new firm think about when it considers entering the market with a new product? （ A） Two external effects. （ B） The externalities associated with entry. （ C） The number of firm
45、s in the market. （ D） The profit it would make. 19 Why is it difficult for public policy to improve the market outcome? （ A） Because it is difficult to measure the inefficiencies. （ B） Because perfectly competitive firms produce identical goods. （ C） Because a new firm would offer a product differen
46、t from those of the existing firms. （ D） Because surplus is maximized under monopolistic competition. 20 What will happen if a new company offers a product different frgm those of the existing firm? （ A） Monopolistically competitive market. （ B） Entry of more new firms. （ C） The product-variety exte
47、rnality. （ D） The business-stealing externality. 四、 PART FOUR 20 Read the article below about cars in America. Choose the correct word or phrase to fill each gap from A, B, C, or D. For each question 21-30, mark one letter (A, B, C, or D) on your Answer Sheet. Cars in America Before the 20th century
48、 the horse provided day to day transportation in the United States. Trains were used only for long-distance transportation. Today the car is the most popular means of transportation in all of the United States. It has completely (21) the horse as a means of everyday transportation. Americans use the
49、ir car for (22) 90 percent of all personal (23) Most Americans are able to (24) cars. The average price of a (25) made car was, 650 in 1950, 740 in 1960 and up to, 750 (26) 1975. During this period American car manufacturers set about (27) their products and work efficiency. As a result, the yearly income of the (28) family increased from 1950 to 1975 (29) than the price of cars. For this reason, (30) a new car takes a smaller part of a familys total earnings today. （ A） denied （ B） reproduced （ C） replaced （ D） ridiculed （ A） hardly （ B） nea
