tightness剑桥商务英语中级阅读全真试题

剑桥商务英语中级阅读全真试题

PART ONE

Questions 1-7

Look at the sentences below and the job advertisements on the opposite page.

Which job does each sentence 1-7 refer to?

For each sentence, mark one letter (A, B, C or D) on your Answer Sheet.

You will need to use some of these letters more than once.

1 You will be responsible for the operation of a computer system.

2 You must be able to forecast what people will want to wear.

3

You

will

be

able

to

work

with

people

from

many

different

countries

and

backgrounds.

4 You will have a qualification which covers two subject areas.

5 It is necessary to have worked in this sector before.

6 You will need to keep in contact with the headquarters of the organization.

7 The advertisement emphasises the need to have a suitable approach to important

people.

A

BUSINESS MANAGER

You will be responsible for our global business within specific countries and will

have

a

good

understanding

of

international

distribution,

possibly

based

on

previous

experience, plus the ability to work in markets that are highly varied in their culture.

You

will

be

fluent

in

a

second

language,

be

willing

to

travel

extensively,

and

preferably have a degree.

B

DEPARTMENT STORE BUYER

Based

at

our

head

office

in

London,

you

will

select

and

order

stock

from

our

suppliers

in

Italy.

You

will

need

to

predict

fashion

trends

and

build

a

strong

relationship with our

Italian office.

You will have gained your

buying experience in

women

’

s fashion and will hold a degree in design with a business studies component.

C

LEGAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATOR

As head of the legal office, your work will include managing the office IT network,

typing reports, diary maintenance and supervision of another staff member. You will

need good organizational skills in order to keep ahead of a varied workload. You will

be dealing with senior executives and government officials, so a mature and efficient

manner is essential

D

REGIONAL LEISURE SITES MANAGER

You

will

be

responsible

for

budgetary

planning,

contract

negotiations,

local

marketing

and

effective

administration.

You

will

communicate

frequently

with

our

main office using the latest technology. Your experience could be from any business

sector but you should enjoy outdoor life and will ideally possess an estate management

qualification.

PART TWO

Questions 8-12

·

Read the extract below from an article about the coffee industry.

·

Choose

the

best

sentence

from

the

list

on

the

opposite

page

to

fill

each

of

the

gaps.

·

For each gap 8-12, mark one letter (A-I)on your Answer Sheet.

·

Do not use any letter more than once.

Coffee is worth approximately $$50-60bn per annum in terms of world sales. It is a

truly

international

commodity,

and

today

more

than

50

countries

in

the

world

grow

coffee beans. (example) ______I_____. ICO organization helps coffee producers and

promotes coffee conumption worldwide.

ICO

estimates

that

world

production

next

year

will

reach

97.5

million

bags.11.3

million bags higher than the current year. (8) ____________. As the largest producing

country,

Brazil

is

particularly

important

in

the

coffee

world.

In

1994

Brazil

was

responsible for 25% of world production, Colombia was next with

13.4%, Indonesia

had 7.5%, Mexico 4.7%, Guatemala 3.8% and Ethiopia and Vietnam were equal with

3.4%.

Coffee is a tough crop, and can be grown in areas where it is difficult or impossible

to grow other crops. (9) However, disease is always problem for coffee production, as

we can see in some parts of South America at the is active in educating

farmers about avoiding disease and dealing with problems when they occur.

The distribution chain varies from country to country, explains Pablo Dubois. In

most countries the smaller farmers sell their crop to a local trader, who then sells it on

to

exporters.

There

are,

however,

other

distribution

systems.

(10)

____________.

Some

countries,

like

Vietnam,

have

special

government

marketing

organizations

for

coffee.

Coffee prices often vary greatly from one year to the next. In 1997, for example,

there was a large rise in the world price, which was immediately felt by the consumer.

Rising prices always result in a drop in sales, which will have a

bad effect on those

developing

countries,

which

are

highly

dependent

on

foreign

exchange

from

coffee

exports. (11)____________.

In

the

opinion

of

Pablo

Dubois,

the

biggest

problem

for

his

organisation

is

to

create

greater

consumer

awareness

of

the

different

varieties

of

coffee

and

different

ways

of

preparing

it.

(12)____________.

ICO

is

therefore

concentrating

its

promotional

activities

on

Russia

and

China.

It

is

also

encouraging

environmentally

friendly

coffee

production,

and

last

year

’

s

seminar

on

coffee

and

the

environment

created a lot of interest.

The

future

looks

bright

for

the

coffee

industry.

It

is

estimated

that

consumption

over the next few years will continue to rise steadily. New markets like Eastern Europe

and China are expected to develop fast.

A. As a result, the membership now represents 94% of all exporters and 60% of all

importers.

B.

In

some

of

these

countries,

this

can

amount

to

as

much

as

50%

of

all

export

earning.

C. In North America, most consumers already have

above average knowledge of

the range available.

D. For example, frost and wind are particularly damaging to coffee crops.

E. Larger coffee growers, for example, frequently export directly.

F. The main reason for this is higher Brazilian output as production recovers from

weather damage to crops.

G

.

It

is

cultivated

in

mountain

regions

which

can

only

be

reached

by

animal

transport, and in other difficult areas where modern agricultural equipment cannot be

used.

H. This is because there is a demand for coffee in Germany, and it is also sold in

the UK and in the US.

I. This make the coffee industry fairly universal, according to Pablo Dubois, Head

of the International Coffee Organisation (ICO), based in London.

PART THREE

Questions 13-20

Read the article below about stress management, and answer questions 13-20 on

the opposite page.

A Lesson In Stress Management

Demands

placed

on

us

at

work

can

often

lead

to

considerable

worry

and

discomfort. There are, however, ways of protecting ourselves from the stress we face

at work. We interviewed Jane Collard, a consultant in stress management.

1. In Jane Collard

’

s opinion, stress is becoming an increasingly common feature of

the workplace. Stress is a highly individual reaction, which varies considerably from

person to person, and it is difficult for some employees to avoid it. Indeed, stress is

regarded

by

many

as

part

of

the

organizational

culture

of

our

institutions:

it

comes

with

the

job.

Recent

figures

indicate

that

time

taken

off

work

because

of

stress

has

increased

by

500

per

cent

since

the

1950s.

Undoubtedly,

changes

in

working

conditions have led to greater pressure at work at all levels. With reductions in staffing,

workloads for individual employees have increased. In addition, many employees are

left worrying about the security of their jobs.

2. On the stress management courses that she runs, Jane Collard tries to make the

trainees

realise

that

stress in

itself

is

not

harmful.

Everyone

needs

a

certain

level

of

stress to enable them to feel motivated and to perform effectively. A complete absence

of stress can be as

damaging as overstress, since it can make people lose interest in

their

work,

and

even

lead

to

depression.

The

difficulties

occur

when

the

amount

of

stress rises above a level which is healthy for a particular individual. If this happens,

the effects are very obvious and the trainees are taught to recognize the signs. Stress

may be expressed physically, for example through headaches and tiredness, or through

emotional problems such as depression. A person suffering from stress may also start

to behave differently, and can be difficult to deal with.

3.

While

it

may

not

always

be

possible

to

prevent

stress,

there

are

a

number

of

ways

in

which

it

can

be

controlled.

The

first

thing

that

the

trainees

learn

is

how

to

manage their time effectively. This involves, first of all, setting realistic goals for both

the

short

and

long

term.

Once

this

framework

has

been

established,

tasks

are

then

prioritised on a daily basis. The trainees are also reminded that when they are under

pressure

the

less

important

items

should

be

left,

and

they

should

never

hesitate

to

delegate. Everyone is encouraged to look at ways of reducing

‘

wasted time

’

, for

example by grouping similar tasks together or dealing with items immedkiately.

4.

Jane

feels

that

one

of

the

most useful features

of

the

course

is

that

it enables

trainees

to

deal

with

those

demands

or

deadlines

that

they

regard

as

unreasonable.

They are encouraged to avoid being defensive, but at the same time they are advised

not to be afraid of saying

‘

no

’

. They are asked to give reasons only if necessary. The

training helps them to foresee difficult situations or unwanted demands, and they learn

how

to

prepare

themselves

mentally.

Everyone

is

encouraged

not

to

get

stuck

in

negative thought patterns, where stress can feed a circular sense of helplessness. One

solution they discuss is to think of a more encouraging alternative for each negative

message. They learn, for example, to remind themselves that nothing terrible happens