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剑桥商务英语高级分类模拟
4
READING
PART ONE
·
Look at the sentences below and following
texts.
·
Which text does each
sentence refer to?
·
For each
sentence 1
—
8, mark one
letter A, B, C, D or E.
·
You will
need to use some of the letters more than
once.
A. C. Hunter
Boll
C. Hunter 13011 has
been employed by Thomas H. Lee Partners, L.P. and
its
predecessor,
Thomas
H.
Lee
Company,
since
1986.
From
1984
through
1986,
Mr.
Boll
was
with
The
Boston
Consulting
Group. From
1977
through
1982,
he
served
as
an
Assistant
Vice
President,
Energy
and
Minerals
Division
of
Chemical
Bank.
Mr. Boll is a director of Cott Corp. ,
TransWestern Publishing, L. P. , and
United Industries, Inc.
B. John A. Cleary
John
A.
Cleary
was
the
Chief
Executive
Officer
of
Donnelley
Marketing,
Inc.
from 1979 until
1993.
Donnelley Marketing,
Inc.
was a
subsidiary of Dun and
Bradstreet
Corporation
until
1991
when
it
was
acquired
by
a
group
of
investors
and
senior manager's. Mr. Cleary continued as CEO
until 1993 when he was
elected Vice
Chairman of the Board of Directors, a position he
held until
1996
when
First
Data
Corporation
acquired
the
company.
Mr.
Cleary
continued
as a senior advisor and consultant to
the company. Mr. Cleary is also a
director of SoundWater, Inc. , a non-
profit environmental education
organization dedicated to the
preservation and protection of Long Island
Sound. Mr. Cleary was also a director
of the Direct Marketing Association
from 1985 to 1996, and served as
Chairman of its Board from 1990 to 1991.
C. Richard G.
Evans
Richard G. Evans has
been Executive Vice President, General Counsel and
Secretary
of
Thomas
H.
Lee
Partners,
L.P.
since June 2001. Prior to joining
it,
Mr.
Evans
was
Executive
Vice
President,
General
Counsel
and
Director
of
Green
Tree
Financial
Corporation
from
1985
to
1999.
Prior
to
Green
Tree,
Mr.
Evans
served
as
Special
Assistant
Attorney
General
for
the
State
of
Minnesota
from1974 to 1984.
D. Scott R. Fjellman
Scott R. Fjellman
has
been
Senior Vice
President and Treasurer of Thomas H.
Lee Partners, L.P. since January 2003.
Mr. Fjellman previously was Vice
President, Assistant Treasurer of the
Company from April 2000 to December
2002. Prior to
joining
it,
Mr.
Fjellman
was with Arcadia Financial Ltd. for
eight
years,
most
recently
as
Vice
President
of
Securitization
and
Investor
Relations.
Before
joining
Arcadia
Financial,
Mr.
Fjellman
spent
three
years
as an auditor with KPMG LLP.
E. Thomas M.
Hagerty
Thomas
1Vi
Hagerty
has
been
employed
by
Thomas
H.
Lee
Partners,
L
P.
and
its
predecessor, Thomas H. Lee Company,
since 1988. Prior to joining Thomas H.
Lee
Partners,
L
P.
,
Mr.
Hagerty
was
in
the
mergers
and
acquisitions
department
of
Morgan
Stanley
&
Co.
Incorporated.
Mr.
Hagerty
is
a
director
of
Affordable
Residential
Communities Inc. , ARC Holdings, Cott Corp. ,
Houghton Mifflin
Company, MGIC
Investment Corporation and Syratech Corp. Mr. Vice
President
of T. H. Lee Mezzanine II,
the Administrative General Partner of Thomas H.
Lee Advisors II, L.P. , which is the
sole limited partner of the Managing
General
Partner
of
ML-Lee
Acquisition
Fund
II,
L.
P.
and
ML-Lee
Acquisition
Fund (Retirement
Accounts) II, L. P. Mr. Hagerty was the Interim
Chief
Financial Officer of Conseco,
Inc. from July 2000 through April 2001. On
December
17,
2002,
Conseco,
Inc.
voluntarily
commenced
a
case
under
Chapter
11
of
the
United
States
Code
in
the
United
States
Bankruptcy
Court,
Northern
District of
Illinois, Eastern Division.
1
、
He had been an
auditor for three years.
2
、
He had been a
temporary CEO for ten months.
3
、
He is devoted
to environmental protection.
4
、
He had been
engaged in laws.
5
、
He had been an
consultant for two years.
6
、
He works in
the field of publishing.
7
、
He had been
CEO for the same company for 17 years.
8
、
He is a
director of the most companies at the same time.
PART TWO
·
Read the following text.
·
Choose the
best sentence from A
—
H to
fill in each of the gaps.
·
For each gap
9
—
14, mark one letter
A
—
H.
·
Do not use
any letter more than once.
How many really suffer as a result of
labor market problems? This is one of
the most critical yet contentious
social policy questions.
9
.
Unemployment
does
not
have
the
same
consequences
today
as
it
did
in
the
1930s
when
most
of
the
unemployed
were
primary
breadwinners,
10
,
and
when
there
were
no
compensating
social
programs
for
those
failing
in
the
labor
market.
Increasing
wealth,
the
rise
of
families
with more than one
wage earner, and
improved social
welfare protection have unquestionably lightened
the
consequences
of
joblessness.
11
.
Among
the
millions
with
hourly
earnings
at or below the minimum wage level, the
overwhelming majority are from
multiple-earner, relatively rich
families. Most of those counted by the
poverty
statistics
are
elderly
or
handicapped
or
have
family
responsibilities
which keep
them out of the labor force, so the poverty
statistics are by no
means an accurate
indicator of labor market problems.
12
. The unemployment counts exclude the
millions of fully employed
workers
whose wages are so low that their families remain
in poverty. Low
wages
and
repeated
or
prolonged
unemployment
frequently
interact
to
undermine
the
capacity
for
self-support.
13
,
those
who
suffer
as
a
result
of
forced
idleness can equal Or
exceed average annual unemployment, even though
only
a
minority
of
the
jobless
in
any
month
really
suffer.
For
every
person
counted
in the monthly
unemployment records, there is another working
part time
because of the inability to
find full time, or else outside the labor force
but wanting a job. Finally, income
transfers in our country have always
focused
on
the
elderly,
disabled,
and
dependent,
neglecting
the
needs
of
the
working poor, so that the dramatic
expansion of cash and in-kind transfers
does not necessarily mean that those
failing in the labor market are
adequately protected.
14
,
it
is
uncertain
whether
those
suffering
seriously
as
a
result
of
labor
market
problems
number
in
the
hundreds
of
thousands
or
the
tens
of
millions,
and, hence, whether high levels of
joblessness can be tolerated or must be
countered by job creation and economic
stimulus. There is only one area of
agreement
in
this
debate
—
that
the
existing
poverty,
employment,
and
earnings
statistics are inadequate for one of
their primary applications, measuring
the consequences of labor market
problems.
A. since the number
experiencing joblessness at some time during the
year
is several times the number
unemployed in any month
B. as a result
of such contradictory evidence
C. when
most people couldn't find a job and suffered from
hunger
D. people who do part-time job
are more than those full-time worker
E.
earnings and income data also overstate the
dimensions of hardship
F.
when
income
and
earnings
were
usually
much
closer
to
the
margin
of
living
G. in many ways, our social statistics
exaggerate the degree of hardship
H.
yet
there
are
also
many
ways
our
social
statistics
underestimate
the
degree
of
labor-market-related hardship
PART THREE
·
Read the
following text.
·
Each question has four
suggested answers or ways of finishing the
sentence, A, B, C and D.
·
Mark one letter A, B, C or D for the answer you
choose.
Small
and
medium-sized
businesses
have
had
a
hard
time
over
the
last
few
years.
In
the
UK,
thousands
of
businesses
have
gone
bankrupt
as
result
of
declining
markets, increased
competition from abroad and rising overheads.
However
another factor
which
is
common
to many
bankruptcies is the lack of
cashflow
caused by late
payment of invoices.
In
1996
a
survey
by
Thornton
Hughes
International
discovered
that
more
than
a
quarter of businesses in Europe have to wait more
than 90 days to be paid
and
8%
of
businesses
are
forced
to
wait
more
than
120
days.
Late
payers
often
say
they
settle
their
accounts
late
because
of
recession
but
there
is
evidence
that many firms are using late payment
as a method of improving their own
cashflow. A survey shows that 36% of
delays in payment are intentional. By
delaying
the
settlement
of
their
accounts
businesses
transfer
their
financial
problems to other businesses. It is
usually the smallest firms that suffer
most from this kind of behavior.
There are now plans to do
something about this problem. The European
Commission
(the
governing
body
of
the
European
Union)
suggests
there
should
be
legal
penalties
for
late
payment.
Late
payers
should
be
legally
required
to
pay
interest
on
the
debt.
To
be
effective,
the
interest
rate
would
be
high.
Finally, a system of fins (to be paid
in addition to the interest payments)
should be introduced. A recent survey
in the UK revealed that 35% of
transactions are carried out without
any contract at all. It was therefore
unclear
when
payments
were
due.
In
Denmark
even
though
the
problem
is
smaller,
the
authorities
have
decided
to
deal
with
it
by
automatically
applying
a
legal
payment
period
when
there
is
no
written
contract.
This
ensures
that payment
is fixed at 30 days after the creditor
has requested payment.
Many
of the cash problems
of
small
and
medium-
sized
companies are, in fact,
caused
by
national
and
local
government
agencies
settling
their
accounts
late.
The
European
Commission
has
proposed
that
this
area
should
be
looked
at.
They
point out that in some
countries, for example the USA, interest on
arrears
is
already
paid
automatically
by
public
authorities.
In
France
cities
publish
dates
of
their
payments
to
contractors
to
show
how
quickly
they
settle
their
debts.
The
European Commission suggests several other ways of
dealing with the
problem of late
payment. Firstly, they suggest offering courses
for small
businesses. These courses
would include legal advice on drafting contracts
and on methods of obtaining payment for
outstanding debts. Secondly, they
would
offer
workshops
to
the
public
officials
who
are
responsible
for
dealing
with contracts.
Thirdly, they suggest national campaign to
persuade large
organizations
not
to
take
advantage
of
their
greater
financial
strength
and
size when they are
dealing with smaller businesses. Part of the
publicity
would
be
the
message
that
if
we
work
together
to
make
payment
periods
shorter
we
can
help
not
only
the
financial
health
of
small
and
medium-sized
businesses,
but also that of
the economy as a whole.
15
、
Which
reason
is
not
mentioned
directly
for
the
bankruptcies
of
businesses,
according to
this passage?
A. Late payment of
invoices.
B. The declining markets.
C. The rising overheads of
companies.
D. The lack of cashflow.
16
、
Why are there
many firms using late payments?
A.
Because they are bankrupt.
B.
Because they are suffering economic recession.
C. Because they are waiting for
others to pay back.
D. Because they
want to improve their own cashflow first.
17
、
Which
statement is not true, in Para 2?
A. It's found that some firms use late payments on
purpose.
B. Late payments can
transfer one's problems to other business.
C. The larger the company is, the
less it might suffer.
D. The
survey founds that more than 25% of companies will
be paid in
about 90 days.
18
、
How
to
solve
the
problem
of
late
payment
when
there
is
no
written
contract
in Denmark?
A.
Companies should apply for a legal protection.
B. The government will deal with
the problem.
C. The debtor is
ordered to pay off in 30 days.
D.
Company will get legal protection automatically.
19
、
What's the
meaning of
A. Payment.
B. Debt.
C. Creditor.
D. Loan.
20
、
What's the meaning of
national campaign
to persuade large organizations not to take
advantage of
their
greater
financial
strength
and
size
when
they
are
dealing
with
smaller
businesses
—
7,
Para 5?
A. Large companies should
not show off in front of those smaller
businesses.
B. Greater
financial strength is one of large companies'
advantages.
C. Large companies
should not look down upon smaller businesses.
D. Large companies should not make
use of their greater financial
strength
and size unfairly while dealing.
PART FOUR
·
Read the
following text.
·
Choose the best word to
fill each gap.
·
For each question
21
—
30, mark one letter A, B,
C or D.
To
understand
the
marketing
concept,
it
is
only
necessary
to
understand
the
difference between marketing and
selling. Not too many years ago, most
industries concentrated
primarily
21
the efficient production of goods,
and then relied on
22
salesmanship
possible.
Such
23
and
selling
focus
on
the needs of
the seller to produce
goods
and then
24
them into money.
Marketing, on the other hand, focuses
on the wants of consumers. It begins
with first analyzing the
25
and demands
of consumers and then producing
goods
that
will
satisfy
them.
This
eye-
on-the-consumer
approach
is
known
as
the
marketing concept, which
26
means that instead of
trying to sell
whatever
is
easiest
to
produce
or
buy
for
resale,
the
makers
and
dealers
first
endeavor
to
find
out
what
the
consumer
wants
to
buy
and
then
go
about
making
it available for purchase.
This concept does not imply that
business is benevolent or that consumer
satisfaction is given priority over
profit in a company. There are always
two sides to every business
transaction
—
the firm and the
customer
—
and
each
27
satisfied
before
trade
occurs.
Successful
merchants
and
producers,
however,
recognize
that
the
surest
route
to
profit
is
through
understanding
and catering
to customers. A
28
example of the importance
of catering to
the
consumer
presented
itself
in
mid-1985,
when
Coca
Cola
changed
the
29
of
its drink.
The
non-acceptance
of
the
new
flavor by
a significant portion of
the
public
30
a prompt restoration of the Classic
Coke, which was then
marketed alongside
the new. King Customer ruled!
21
、
A. on
B. with C. to D.
towards
22
、
A. persuasion
B. persuading C. persuasive D.
persuaded
23
、
A. product
B. producing C. production D.
productive
24
、
A. change
B. transform C. transact D.