Test 12
I.
Match the words with their corresponding definitions. (10%)
1. fascinating
a. go down suddenly
2. strata
b. the stock a company has at a particular time
3. outweigh
c. the act of taking control of a company by buying
most of its shares
4. mission
d. levels or classes in society
5. inventory
e. urgent demand
6. soar
f. having great attraction or charm
7. slump
g. the aim of an organization
8. takeover
h. go up quickly
9. compromise
i. be more important than
10. imperative
j. agreeing while accepting some things you don’t like
II. Fill in the blanks according to the first given letters. (16%)
Companies need to know how they are 1p_____ in order to analyze problems, find
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s_____ and make 3p_____ for the future. 4M_____ accounts provide 5d_____
about operational efficiency and 6f_____ accounts give information about
financial 7p_____. These tell the company not only how much it is selling, or how
much 8r_____ it is receiving, but also what its 9c_____ are – how much it has to
pay for the different things that it needs in order to 10o_____. With this
information a company can then calculate how much money it has made
(11p_____) or how much it has lost (12l_____) during a specific period. 13L_____
companies, whose 14s_____ are sold on the stock exchange, have to present their
accounts to the 15p_____ in an annual 16r_____.
III. Reading (38%)
Questions 1-7
Look at the following sentences 1-7 and the company news reports A, B, C and D.
Which news report does each sentence refer to?
1. A strong currency has had a negative effect on the company.
2. The workforce has made it difficult for this company to become more efficient.
3. The use of specialists led to very high costs.
4. Increased competition has contributed to this company’s difficulties.
5. This company has reached an agreement on a new project.
6. Part of this company was up for sale.
7. This company has expanded its manufacturing base.
1
A
Walger, the bus maker, has entered into a joint venture with IMCO Bus Corporation to
participate in coachbuilding operations in Mexico. The two companies have just
announced the $70 million acquisition of Mexican Coachworks, the largest bus and coach
builder in Mexico, with 2,400 employees and three factories. Walger retains a 60%
interest in the coachbuilding venture. Analysts have expressed surprise, given the current
exchange rate.
B
Jetline Airports has said that it spent $2.1 million on its failed attempt to dispose of its
duty-free retail division. The chief executive said the company’s six-month search for a
buyer ran up heavy consultancy expenses which left half-year pre-tax profits at $4.5
million. It also emerged that the Director of Finance received a $500,000 settlement when
he left the company.
C
GRD, the manufacturing giant, plans to cut 1,500 jobs at its Portland factory over the
next five years after union refusal to increase productivity. A company representative said
that although they have invested more than $42 million in the new plant and improved
technology, the trade unions are still unwilling to increase output. As a result, GRD have
been forced to downsize the Portland plant.
D
Maybrooke, the Scottish department store, reported a fall in trading profits in the first half
of the year from $545,000 to $462,000, on sales which were down two per cent. They
blame the disappointing first half on the strength of the pound, which hit the company’s
tourist business, as well as an increase in traffic and parking problems in the city center,
and the growth of out-of-town shopping centers.
Questions 8-19
There are 2 passages below. Each passage is followed by some unfinished statements.
For each of them there are four choices marked A, B C and D. Decide on the best
choice.
Passage 1
What exactly does a manager do? This question cannot be answered precisely or easily.
Managers in different businesses do different things, and the entire field of management
is changing rapidly as so many nations move from a manufacturing-based economy to a
service-based economy.
Peter Drucker, probably America’s greatest management theorist, says managers have
had two broad goals.
The first is “creation of a true whole that is larger than the sum of its parts”. Drucker
compares a manager to a conductor of an orchestra who is able to pull together the
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individual musical parts played by each musician into a beautiful symphony. But unlike
conductors, who have a composer’s score in front of them and only have to interpret it,
managers must do more. They must write their own score, and in that sense managers are
composers as well as conductors.
The second broad goal of a manager is to “harmonize in every direction and action the
requirements of the immediate and long-range future.” In other words, a manager must
consider not only the needs of today but also the needs of next year and beyond. “He or
she has to build them long before they get there.”
According to Peter Drucker, a manager has five basic tasks:
1. Setting objectives. A manager sets objectives. Unlike a worker or supervisor, a
manager must decide what goals and objectives his or her department or organization
must strive to achieve. The manager then must decide what work needs to be done to
reach those objectives and direct and communicate with his or her employees to get the
work done.
2. Organizing. A manager organizes. A manager must analyze the work that his or her
department is responsible for, divide that work into various jobs, and assign the jobs to
employees. All of the classic texts on management emphasize that managers must know
how to delegate.
3. Motivating and communicating. A manager motivates and communicates. The manager
must turn a group of individuals into a team that works together. To do this, managers
need to have excellent “people skills”. They must be good at listening to employees with
problems and helping them work out solutions. They must make wise and fair decisions
regarding compensation and promotions. They must instinctively understand how to
encourage and reward superior performance. Above all, managers need to know how to
communicate – both orally and in writing – with their superiors and peers as well as with
the people who report to them. The need for communication skills is often not recognized
by those who desire to become managers. Because of the very nature of their jobs,
managers have to “sell” their ideas and solutions to problems to others. This requires
abilities ranging from writing a convincing memo or reports to standing in front of a
group and making a well-organized presentation.
4. Measuring performance. A manager must measure performance. Managers decide what
factors are important to the success of the organization and then establish standards
against which to measure individual or group performance. To measure performance,
managers must collect statistical, financial, and qualitative data on how an organization is
doing. And then analyze and interpret the data for subordinates, superiors, and colleagues.
5. Developing people. A manager develops people, including him or herself. This calls
for continual learning so that people can move ahead. Ongoing employee training is one
of the main tools used to accomplish this, along with outside seminars and educational
programs. Good managers recognize that their most important resource is the people who
work for them. They also know that setting an example is the surest and best way to
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develop people. It is by following a good leader that people learn how to become leaders
themselves.
“What a manager does can be analyzed systematically,” said Peter Drucker. “what a
manager has to be able to do has to be learned (though perhaps not always taught). But
there is one quality that cannot be learned, one qualification that the manager cannot
acquire but must bring with him. It is not genius; it is character.”
8. According to the passage, it is hard to describe what exactly a manager does because
______.
A a manufacturing-based economy is different from a service-based economy
B managers work in different companies
C the field of management is too broad
D managers do different things in different situations
9. One of the broad goals of a manager is to ______.
A learn from conductors and composers
B take care of a company’s present and future benefits
C write his own score
D prepare for crossing distant bridges
10. Managers should not only set objectives but also ______.
A show how to reach these objectives
B tell their staff what to do first
C provide their staff with related information
D direct their staff to reach these objectives
11. To offer promotion to a right person plays an important role in ______.
A communicating with employees
B motivating employees
C decision-making
D a manager’s “people skills”
12. To develop people means to ______.
A help people do their work well
B share other people’s duties
C help people realize their potential
D encourage people
13. According to Peter Drucker, character is the one qualification that ______.
A managers can acquire through learning
B is less important than genius
C managers can well ignore
D
is inborn with managers
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Passage 2
Today, Coca-Cola’s trademark is world-famous and its products average a staggering 300
million servings per day in more than 155 countries. According to legend, it began in a
three-legged kettle in the back yard of Atlanta pharmacist Dr. John Styth Pemberton who
carried a jug of his concoction down the street to Jacob’s Pharmacy where it was sold at
the soda fountain for 5 cents a glass. Frank Robinson, Pemberton’s partner and
bookkeeper thought two “C”s would look good in advertising and wrote “Coca-Cola” in
the flowering script so famous today.
It is significant that Pemberton spent almost twice as much money on advertising during
the first years of operation as he made in profits, for the growth of Coke’s popularity is as
much due to the advertising and marketing strategy as it is to the quality of its product.
By continually monitoring changes in consumer attitudes and behaviour, the Coca-Cola
Co. has become a widely recognized leader in advertising. Pemberton could not foresee
the greatest future awaiting his soft drink and sold out. Asa Griggs Candler bought the
business and organized the Coca-Cola Co. into a Georgia corporation. In 1893, he
registered Coca-Cola as a trademark.
Under Candler’s leadership, the company began to grow quickly. In order to instigate a
demand for the product, he spent heavily on advertising. Signs were put up from coast
and appeared on calendars, serving trays and other merchandising items, urging people to
drink Coke. Candler’s campaign paid off.
Candler was a creative talent at advertising, but showed little imagination in
understanding Coke’s marketing potential. In 1899, he sold the right to bottle Coke
throughout most of the United States for $1, which he never bothered to collect. Candler
saw Coke primarily as a soda-fountain drink. But two far-sighted businessmen from
Chattanooga, Tennessee, Benjamin Franklin Thomas and Joseph Brown Whitehead,
understood the potential, and for the unpaid dollar, bought a franchise that became worth
millions.
Their agreement with Candler began the franchising bottling system that still remains the
foundation of the Coca-Cola Co.’s soft drink operations. Thomas and Whitehead sold the
rights to bottle Coke to franchisers in every part of the country in return for the bottler’s
agreement to invest in the necessary resources and effort to make the franchise a success.
During the following decade, 179 bottling plants went into operation.
In the early 20th century, Coke blazed the advertising trail, developing innovative
concepts that became accepted practices in the field. One of the most effective was the
distribution and redemption of complimentary tickets, entitling the holder to a glass of
Coke free at the soda fountain of a dispenser.
14. The main purpose of this article is ______.
A to introduce the soft drink Coca-Cola to readers
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B to trace the history of the company’s first hundred years
C to sum up the causes of Coca-Cola’s success
D both B and C
15. The trademark Coca-Cola was originally coined by ______.
A Pemberton
B a bookkeeper working for Pemberton
C Frank Robinson
D Asa Griggs Candler
16. Coke’s popularity grows steadily because of ______.
A its high quality of the product
B its advertising
C its effective advertising and marketing strategy
D Both A and C
17. Pemberton sold out his drink because ______.
A he was in bad need of money
B he failed to see the great potential of the product
C he quarreled with his partner
D none of the above
18. John Styth Pemberton and Asa Griggs Candler were alike in the respect that both of
them ______.
A had a doctor’s degree
B were too short-sighted to see Coke’s marketing potential
C sold their business in order to raise money
D used money in a wasteful way
19. All of the following were the company’s successful examples of advertising except
that ______.
A the company distributed complimentary tickets for people to drink a glass of Coke
free of charge
B the company flew an airship over Washington D.C. with a huge Coke sign on its side
C the company sold the rights to bottle Coke to franchisers in every part of the United
States
D the company set up along Pennsylvania Railroad line huge animated signs that
showed a young man drawing a glass of Coke from a crockery urn
IV. Cloze (30%)
There are 15 blanks in the following passage. For each blank there are four choices
marked A, B, C and D. Decide on the best choice.
Gold is a measure of wealth which is recognized all the world. For centuries it was the
foundation of the international monetary system and,
1
today, it remains one of the
most important components of a country’s foreign currency reserves.
6
What
2 gold attractive is that it has a value of its own for both industrial and
ornamental purposes,
3
paper bank notes, which are worthless
4
themselves.
As a result, gold is bought as an
5
in times of financial uncertainty.
Until the 1930s, several European currencies were based on the Gold Standard, which
meant that the value of a
6
of currency was fixed in
7
of a stated quantity of
gold. People could freely
8
any bank notes they had for gold. In 1931, world-wide
financial problems
9
the Gold Standard to be dropped. Then, in 1935, the USA,
France and the UK
10
the price of gold at $35 an ounce, which remained the price
until 1971. Because the demand for gold
11
so fast, however, the price of gold for
ornamental and industrial purposes was
12
to rise. Today one ounce of gold costs
$390 in London.
Gold for jewellery is mixed
13
a metal alloy and the purity of the gold is measured
in carats. Most gold sold to the public has 40% gold and is
14
nine-carat gold. Gold
investors can buy pure gold from dealers in the
15
of gold bars or gold coins.
1. A. yet
2. A. makes
3. A. against
4. A. on
5. A. expense
6. A. unit
7. A. conditions
8. A. convert
9. A. created
10. A. fixed
11. A. grew
12. A. granted
13. A. down
14. A. called
15. A. sort
B. just
B. turns
B. unlike
B. for
B. allowance
B. piece
B. reference
B. exchange
B. resulted
B. attached
B. raised
B. allowed
B. by
B. thought
B. fashion
C. now
C. gives
C. contrary
C. to
C. investment
C. bit
C. terms
C. alter
C. made
C. laid
C. heightened
C. accepted
C. up
C. known
C. form
D. even
D. forms
D. opposite
D. in
D. interest
D. part
D. ways
D. refund
D. caused
D. stood
D. gained
D. passed
D. with
D. believed
D. type
V. Finding out the extra word. (6%)
Questions 1– 6
 Read the text below about team-based pay schemes.
 In most of the lines 1- 10 there is one extra word. It is either grammatically incorrect
or does not fit in with the sense 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.
 The exercise begins with two examples, (0) and (00)
Team-Based Pay
0
Team-based pay schemes that have been catching the eye of modern employers.
7
00 Supporters say that they encourage group endeavour and improve
1 organizational performance. But salespeople, typically the most self-motivated
2 of workers, they have traditionally been rewarded according to individual
3 performance. So are team-based schemes suitable? The key issue is
4 whether team-based pay is more being in line with the organization’s objectives
5 than pay which based on individual achievement. Introducing a team pay
6 scheme can be complex. The biggest problem is for defining the team in the first
place. Another is that team pay schemes won’t work if the actions of one individual
make no impact on those of another.
Example:
0 That
00 CORRECT
Key
I. Match the words with their corresponding definitions. (10%)
1 f 2 d 3 i 4 g 5 b 6 h 7 a 8 c 9 j 10 e
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II. Fill in the blanks according to the first given letters. (16%)
1 performing 2 solutions 3 plans 4 Management 5 data 6financial 7
performance 8 revenue 9 costs 10 operate 11 profits 12 losses 13 Listed 14
shares 15 public 16 report
III. Reading (38%)
1-7
D C B D
8-13 D B D B
14-19 D C D B
A B A
C D
B C
IV. Cloze (30%)
1-5
D A B A C
6-10 A C B D A
11-15 A B D A C
V. Finding out the extra word. (6%)
1. CORRECT 2. they 3. CORRECT 4. being 5. which 6. for
References
1. (英) Graham Tullis Tonya Trappe，《新视野商务英语（下）（New Insights into
Business）》，外语教学与研究出版社，2003 年
2. 剑桥大学考试委员会，
《剑桥商务英语证书（中级）模拟试题册》，人民邮电出版
社，2004 年
3. http://www.51test.net
4. http://dict.cn/kuaile/69/n-6569-5.html
5. http://www.pxto.com.cn/news/km/7J78IAGI79D0KH3.html
6. http://www.hxen.com/BEC/gaoji/moni/2010-07-31/117105_5.html
7. http://club.topsage.com/thread-2229192-1-1.html
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