1、BEC商务英语（高级）阅读模拟试卷 64及答案与解析 一、 PART ONE 0 A Executives are coming to understand that they cant meet their corporate responsibility simply by maximizing shareholder value. Last year Pricewaterhouse Coopers surveyed 1,161 chief executive officers of companies from 33 countries. Some 68 percent of those
2、 polled said that global corporate responsibility was vital to profitability. Meanwhile citizens around the world have become more vocal in demanding that global business beheld accountable for conduct that could undermine social, environmental or economic progress. B Although markets have encourage
3、d more firms to act in a responsible manner in the global economy, market forces have not been sufficient to ensure responsible behavior all of the time. Moreover, the responsible firms that work harder to ensure that workers or the environment are treated well as they make goods and services could
4、have higher costs, which may allow other competitors to gain market share. The right mix of public policies can ensure that responsible firms are not penalized. C Washington, D. C is drowning in paper. Congress has voted on proposals to promote corporate responsibility. Meanwhile, the President, exe
5、cutives and activists are all scurrying about in search of additional proposals to make executives more accountable for their companies financial reports. Given that capitalism today is global as well as local, the US must work with its allies to write international corporate governance norms. But w
6、e need to use this opportunity to think more broadly about how to reassure global economic confidence long term. All of the reform efforts to date focus on a narrow definition of corporate responsibility. President Bush acknowledged in his July 9th speech, “There is no capitalism without conscience.
7、“ That is why the ultimate reform would encourage corporations to also act responsibility towards their workers and the environment. D The codes, including ones promoted by the Department of State the Voluntary Principles for Security and Human Rights and the OECD Guidelines, are designed to help bu
8、siness protect human rights in nations with poor human rights records. Corporate social responsibility policies can also include EPA regulations that require corporations to report on their global environmental liabilities. After all, the costs of cleaning up can be a major drain on corporate profit
9、s. But these policies are not well coordinated or known as CSR policies. Were someone to compile an overview, we might gain a greater understanding of how such policies can be made more effective. But there are some policies including tax policies that encourage firms to shift production or their he
10、adquarters to nations with weaker fiscal or regulatory systems. Other policies that may undermine global corporate responsibility include corporate welfare and agricultural protectionism. E The French government recently overhauled French corporate law and mandated the disclosure of companies social
11、 and environmental as well as profit performance. This is a good idea. The British require pension funds to report on the social, environmental, as well as profit performance of their investments. The Canadian government is also examining a wide range of public policies to promote CSR. Perhaps the m
12、ost interesting development was that in 2001, with funding from the Atkinson Foundation, five private citizens organized a commission on democracy and accountability. Their final report issued 25 specific policy recommendations on promoting global and domestic CSR. 1 Many nations are developing a co
13、nsensus that public policies can and should promote domestic and global CSR. 2 Stakeholders cant simply rely on market forces to ensure global corporate social responsibility. 3 Maximizing shareholder value alone is not a good enough long-term strategy. 4 The United States has a wide range of polici
14、es that are explicitly designed to promote global corporate responsibility. 5 President, executives and activists hope that new reporting requirements and auditing rules will reassure global investors. 6 The fundamental reform should promote corporations to answer for their workers and the environme
15、nt. 7 Their final report issued specific policy recommendations on promoting global and domestic CSR. 8 The efforts of making proposals to promote corporate responsibility are laudable, but they will prove insufficient. 二、 PART TWO 8 Read the article about management buyouts of companies.Choose the
16、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.There is an example at the beginning, (0). Management Buy-outs of Companies Involving staff in management buy-out (MBO) negotiations can help smooth the path fo
17、r the future. Employees are becoming increasingly familiar with the fluctuations and instability that their working environments can present. Its not just mergers and acquisitions that can upset the situation. (0) H . In some cases, the MBO takes place to save an ailing company. In others, it is the
18、 result of senior management and board disagreements, or is to prevent a hostile takeover bid. (9) . This insecurity can be very damaging. One of the most important factors, often not considered during the process of an MBO, is the reaction of the workforce, yet it is those employees who more often
19、than not can make or break the future success of any new management team. (10) . By maintaining channels of communication across the floor, new management teams could find the rank and file a useful ally in the bid to take over. Showing those employees that a buy-out could be to their advantage, cre
20、ating new opportunities for promotion or career development, will in the long-term be advantageous to the entire company. The challenge for new management should be to reinspire employees. (11) . If the new team doesnt engage old employees in future plans or consider the contribution they can make,
21、the idea that the MBO was meant to save everyone is lost. In this situation, long-term employees begin to see the new management team and shareholders as the only beneficiaries in the buy-out and feel in the end that the only people saved are those at the top of the corporate ladder. (12) . This wil
22、l mean that the rescue will fail before it has really started. It is depressingly common for new MBO teams not to learn from the past. (13) . If the new team can find innovative ways to involve staff actively in various aspects of the buy-out process, the benefits are manifold. (14) . A package with
23、 such components can gain their support and be invaluable in building success for the venture, and is one that enlightened MBO teams tend to adopt.A Including them in any buy-out, discussions can improve the new companys future prospects.B In such circumstances it is easy for the new board to make t
24、he same mistakes as the old.C Possibilities for realising these include decision-making, setting goals, and offering the chance of a future stake in the new company.D Whatever its origins, those lower down the corporate ranks can often be left out of the equation, wondering what is to become of them
25、.E Nobody benefits if the company fails to meet its objectives.F Yet the new start represents a golden opportunity.G This requirement is particularly relevant when a company has failed or when staff have lost faith in the previous management.H Internal MBOs can also be particularly unsettling for em
26、ployees. 三、 PART THREE 14 Read the following article about Japanese style of management and the questions. For each question (15-20), mark one letter (A, B, C or D) on your Answer Sheet. Time clocks are banned from the premises. Managers and workers converse on a first-name basis and eat lunch toget
27、her in the company cafeteria. Employees are briefed once a month by a top executive on sales and production goals and are encouraged to air their complaints. Four times a year, workers attend company-paid parties. Says Tom Zolick, 49, an assembly-line worker: “Working for Sony is like working for yo
28、ur family. “ His expression, echoed by dozens of other American Sony workers in San Diego, is a measure of success achieved at the sprawling two-story plant, where both the Stars and Stripes and the Rising Sun fly in front of the factorys glistening white exterior. In 1981 the San Diego plant turned
29、 over 700,000 color television sets, one-third of Sonys total world production. More significantly, company officials now proudly say that the plants productivity approaches that of its Japanese branches. Plant manager Tery Osaka, 47, insists that there are few differences between workers in the Uni
30、ted States and Japan. Says he; “Americans are as quality conscious as the Japanese. But the question is how to motivate them. “ Osakas way is to bathe his U. S. employees in personal attention. Workers with perfect attendance records are treated to dinner once a year at a luxurious restaurant downto
31、wn. When one employee complained that a refrigerator for storing lunches was too small, it was replaced a few days later with a larger one. Vice-President Masayoshi Yamada, known as Mike around the plant, has mastered Spanish so he can talk with his many Hispanic workers. The company has installed t
32、elephone hot lines on which workers can anonymously register suggestions or complaints. The firm strives to build strong ties with its employees in the belief that the workers will then show loyalty to the company in return. It carefully promotes from within, and most of the assembly-line supervisor
33、s are high school graduates who rose through the ranks because of their hard work and dedication to the company. During the 1973-1975 recession, when TV sales dropped and production slowed drastically, no one was fired. Instead, workers were kept busy with plant maintenance and other chores. In fact
34、, Sony has not laid off a single employee since 1972, when plant was opened. The Japanese managers were stunned when the first employee actually quit within one year. Says John Ford, the plants human relations expert: “They came to me and wanted to know what they had done wrong. I had to explain tha
35、t quitting is just the way it is sometimes in Southern California. “ This personnel policy has clearly been a success. Several attempts to unionize the work force have been defeated by margins as high as 3 to 1. Says Jan Timmerman, 22, a parts dispatcher and former member of the Retail Clerks Union:
36、 “Union pay was better, and the benefits were probably larger. But basically Im more satisfied here. “ Sony has not forced American workers to accept Japanese customs. Though the company provides lemon-colored smocks for assembly-line workers, most of them prefer to wear jeans and running shoes. The
37、 firm doesnt demand that anyone put on uniforms. A brief attempt to establish a general exercise period for San Diego workers, similar to the kind Sonys Japanese employees perform, was dropped when managers saw it was not wanted. Inevitably, there have been minor misunderstandings because of the dif
38、ferences in language and customs. One worker sandblasted the numbers 1 264 on a series of parts she was testing before she realized that her Japanese supervisor meant that she was to label them “1 to 64“. Mark Crossy, 22, the plants youngest supervisor, admits that there is a vast cultural gap betwe
39、en the Japanese and Americans. Says he: “They dont realize that some of us live for the weekend, while lots of them live for the week just so they can begin to work again. “ Some workers grumble about the delays caused by the Japanese system of managing by consensus, seeing it instead as an inabilit
40、y to make decisions. Complains one American worker: “There is a lot of indecision. No manager will ever say do this or do that. “ Most American workers, though, like the Japanese management style, and some do not find it all that foreign. Says Supervisor Robert Williams: “A long time ago, Americans
41、used to be more people-oriented, the way the Japanese are. It just got lost somewhere along the way. “ 15 What is the main idea of the passage? （ A） The difference between Americans and Japanese. （ B） American employees working for Sony. （ C） How Sony established business in the United States. （ D）
42、How Japanese manage their business. 16 We can learn from the passage that the relationship between the Japanese employer and their American employees at Sony is （ A） detached. （ B） harmonious. （ C） unfriendly. （ D） very formal. 17 According to the passage, we know that （ A） although Sony did not fir
43、e employees, many U. S. workers quit within one year. （ B） Sony employers are good at motivating their U. S. employees. （ C） Sony has strict rules against workers joining the union. （ D） compared with Japanese workers, American workers are more difficult to manage. 18 By building strong ties with it
44、s employees, Sony expects （ A） to attract more employees. （ B） to compete more successfully with other companies. （ C） its workers to be loyal to the company. （ D） its workers to work faster and longer. 19 What can we infer from the passage about the American employers? （ A） They are better educated
45、 than Japanese employers. （ B） They were stricter with their employees before. （ C） They are more concerned with their employees than they used to be. （ D） They do not show as much concern for their employees now as they used to. 20 What do most American workers think of the Japanese management styl
46、e? （ A） They think it is inefficient. （ B） They think it is family style. （ C） They think it is far from being satisfactory. （ D） They prefer it any way. 四、 PART FOUR 20 Read the article below about packaging and labeling.Choose the correct word to fill each gap from A, B, C or D.For each question (
47、21-30), mark one letter (A, B, C or D) on your Answer Sheet.There is an example at the beginning, (0). Packaging and labeling are both very important to a product, as most physical products have, to be packaged and labeled. Both are thought to be an element of product strategy and many marketers eve
48、n have called (0) B a fifth P. The main concern in designing packages for products, especially for new (21) , is true (22) industrial goods and appliances whose sales are made from display models. From the (23) of marketing, packaging is of vital importance in sales promotion. Sales are (24) by pack
49、ages that are visible, informative, emotionally appealing, and workable. Good packaging helps sell because (25) with high visibility are easier to find when they are displayed on store shelves. Design with good and useful information may help (26) customers and make them more (27) to decide to buy the goods. The (28) factor in packaging refers to the image that consumers form after viewing a product. (29) in packaging means that the container not only protects the product but is also easy to open and re-close, is readily stored, and has utility for secondary uses once the
