剑桥商务英语 BEC中级口语讲义

First,

…

Second

…

.

Third,

…

3.

Closing Sentence

Anyway, that

?

s why I think so.

Thank you very much.

Thank you for taking your time.

Thank you for listening.

第三课时

第二讲

Ⅰ

Conversation

PART 1: Exchange personal information

This part aims to prepare the candidate for phase 1 of the speaking test, which takes the form of an

interview,

with

each

candidate

talking

in

turn

to

the

examiner.

This

involves

the

candidate

answering

questions, responding to a comment or participating in an exchange or greeting.

Activity 1:

Asking each other

’

s name (including spelling), hometown, occupation, hobbies

Further probing: describe your hometown (location, city, town, village) climate, population, etc.

Further

probing:

describe

your

occupation/

or

major

(if

student),

likes

and

dislikes

about

your

occupation.

Further probing: asking each other about marital status/ with or without boy friend/girlfriend.

Asking for opinion on married/single life, which is better?

Further probing: asking each other about hobbies.

Possible Questions

1)

What

?

s your registration number?

2)

What

?

s your name?

?

How do you spell your name?

?

How

do

you

spell

your

family

name

/

surname / last name?

?

?

3)

Where are you from?

Would you say it

?

s a good place to live in?

(Why?)

Do you like living in

…

?

Where would you like rather live

…

or

?

(Why?)

Do you think it would be better to live in

…

or

…

? (Why?)

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

Suggested Answers and Note

?

My registration number is

…

My last name is

…

My

given

name

is

…

,

but

my

friends

always call me

…

, my English name.

You can call me

…

, if you like / wish.

nickname

Weather

Transportation

Environment

Housing

Houses are pricey in this area.

Night life (exciting, dynamic)

Local people

Local government

Job opportunities

Resorts (skiing)

Atmosphere

?

selling points

Possible Questions

4)

Do

you

come

from

a

large

family

or

a

small family?

Can

you

tell

me

a

bit

about

…

in

your

family?

5)

Do you work or are you a student in

…

?

What do you do?

What do you study?

What

?

s your major?

What do you like most about your job?

(Why?)

What do you like most about your studies?

(Why?)

Suggested Answers and Note

?

Extended family

?

Nuclear family

?

Major v.

I majored in

…

, and minored in

…

?

Ever

since

I

was

a

child,

I

was

interested

in

…

?

Job Satisfaction

?

Interesting & challenging

Traveling opportunity

Training (career development)

Financial benefits

?

Particular reason

?

Cultivate a hobby

?

It

?

s never too late to take a hobby.

---Churchill

?

Outdoor activities:

Sports: tennis / golf / baseball / attend the

gym / fitness center

?

Work out=exercise

?

Recharge the battery:

Attend a training course

Read various books, for example

…

?

Chat online

Watch TV

(passive viewer) TV=one-eyed monster

ads (advertisement advert)

Free Time

Do you have much free time?

How do you spend your free time?

What do you do in your free time?

What

?

s your hobby?

Why do you like

…

?

Is there any particular reason why you enjoy

…

?

When did you first take up / start

…

(Why did you start then?)

?

?

?

?

?

Music: classical / light/ pop / jazz / blues

folk

?

Fine arts

Abstract painting / oil painting

?

I am fond of traveling. Traveling is a good

way

of

learning

and

a

good

way

of

communicating with other people.

?

No,

I

don

?

t

have

much

free

time,

because

so many wonderful courses are fixed.

?

I prefer doing exercises, (most of time) I

?

d

like to attend the gym or go to the fitness

centers. If time is enough, I

?

ll read various

books.

Commercial

Teleplay

Educational programs

Amusement programs

第四课时

第三讲

Ⅰ

Tongue Twister

1.

Good cookies could be cooked by good cook if a good cook could cook good cookies.

2.

If you understand, say understand.

If you don

?

t understand, say don

?

t understand.

If you understand say you don

?

t understand.

How can I understand you understand.

Understand?

3.

Peter Pipe picked a peck of pickled peppers prepared by his parents and put them on a large paper

plate.

Ⅱ

Conversation

Possible Topics & Questions

Transport

How did you come here today?

Suggested Answers and Note

?

Bus / taxi / cab / private car / subway /

How did you travel to the test?

Did you come here by bus?

If you could travel by any form of transport you

want, what would you choose? (Why?)

Which

form

of

transport

would

you

like

to

travel by?

How do you think you will travel to work in 15

years? time?

How

do

you

think

you

will

travel

to

work

15

years from now?

Hotels

What

kind

of

accommodation

do

you

usually

stay in when you go on holiday?

Do you stay in a hotel or an apartment you are

on holiday?

What

kinds

of

facilities

do

you

think

hotels

ought to provide for business people? (Why?)

Do

you

think

companies

should

pay

for

their

staff

to

stay

in

expensive

hotels

on

business

trips? (Why? / Why not?)

Should

people

stay

in

expensive

hotels

on

business trips? (Why? / Why not?)

Possible Topics & Questions

Job

What kind of job would you like to do most?

(Why?)

Tube underground / tram

time / safety / money

?

light way / subway / airport

?

It

would

be

fast

developing

in

15

years

time and will cover everywhere in Beijing.

It will be really convenient.

?

hotel/motel/vil la/apartment/flat(BrE)/dorm

?

city breaks, beach holidays

sun-tanned / fast-tanned center

?

camping

camp or tent

?

Hitchhiking, hitchhiker (take a gap year)

?

Domestic travel

?

Sight seeing

?

Hi-tech, Local Area Net, internet, database

system, fax

?

Well equipped conference room,

sound-proof

multi-function hall

video-conferencing, tele-conferencing

?

It depends (on the different circumstances).

If you fix a deal which is worth $$1000000,

in

that

case,

your

company

will

pay

for

you to live

…

If you go there for only $$2, it?s impossible.

Suggested Answers and Note

Job title

What would your ideal job be?

What kind of job do you like?

Should companies offer training to staff?

(Why? / Why not?)

Do

you

think

companies

should

provide

training for staff?

Would you like to work abroad?

(Why? / Why not?)

Is

the

opportunity

to

work

in

another

country

important to you?

Training Course

What

kind

of

training

course

have

you

ever

taken?

Have you ever taken any training course?

What do you think is most important when you

choose a training course? (Why?)

What

do

you

usually

expect

from

a

training

course?

Possible Topics & Questions

Job responsibility

Job satisfaction

?

training

?

productivity

?

profit

?

motivation

But: training

?

cost money, time, staff

opportunity cost

internal conflict

?

broaden one

?

s horizon, experience

?

…

is quite an experience to me.

?

…

is a real eye-opener

?

culture messenger

NewOriental School BEC online training course

Computer skill training course

Location

Transportation

Duration of course

Cost

Flexibility of trainer

Topics covered

Materials

Follow up advice

High expectancy

Life expectancy

Suggested Answers and Note

Future Plan

What would you like to do after you finish your

studies? (Why?)

?

go

abroad,

look

for

a

job,

hunt

for

a

job,

study further, post graduate

What are you doing now for the preparation of

your future plan?

What if you failed to find a job as a

…

?

What would you do if you couldn

?

t find a job as

a

…

?

?

knowledge

preparation:

attend

training

course

?

psychological preparation: be mature

improve interpersonal skills

?

It is not quite possible.

?

If

you

don

?

t

want

me,

there

are

several

other

companies

waiting

for

me,

actually

I

?

ve got several offers.

?

Can you do it?

AmE: Yes, definitely is a piece of cake.

BrE: I

?

m sure I can do it.

?

Honest and have good interpersonal skills

?

Cooperation and friendly atmosphere

?

Mutual trust

Teamwork

What kind of people do you most like working

/studying with? (Why?)

What do you think makes a good team?

What is a good team?

Do you think you work in a good team?

(Why? / Why not?)

Ⅲ

Conversation Topics

Asking about personal views.

1.

Why do you study English?

2.

Why do you want to study business?

3.

What do you think of some modern methods of payment (credit cards, cheques, bank transfers)?

4.

What role does the computer play in modern business?

5.

What are some necessary steps for preparing a business trip overseas?

6.

Which kind of office would you prefer to work in, cellular or an open-plan office?

7.

What do you think of international trade?

8.

How to deal with customer enquires on the phone?

9.

Transportation:

(What

is

your

usual

means

of

transportation?

Compare

the

various

means

of

transportation)

10.

Health and safety in the workplace (How to ensure a healthy working environment for employees?

What are some health hazards in the office/factory shop? What safety measures should be adopted in

the workplace?)

11.

How to keep a balance between growth and environment protection?

12.

Radio and TV (What are your favorite/TV programs? Why?)

13.

What

kind

of

role

does

advertising

play

in

promoting

your

products/services?

Which

form

of

advertising is most effective in your opinion?

14.

What are the required qualities of a modern manager?

15.

What do you know about flexible time?

第五课时

第四讲

Ⅰ

Life English

Talking about money

1

．

If you have money, you can easily make money.

Money makes money.

Money begets money.

If you are in debt, you lose your self-respect.

You lose your motivation.

Your debt continues to grow.

You start to worry.

You need to borrow more money.

You get even deeper in debt.

2.

Money comes.

Money goes.

But the memory is always there.

Money talks.

Money rules.

Money is power.

3.

Money burns a hole in your pocket.

It goes out as fast as it comes in.

You

?

re a spendthrift.

Don

?

t squander your hard-earned money.

Put your savings in the bank.

Never live beyond your means.

Be a good consumer.

Be a smart shopper.

Be a clever buyer.

Ⅱ

Presentation Topics

Team Work

WHAT IS IMPORTANT WHEN

…

?

MANAGING A PROJECT

?

ENCOURAGING TEAMWORK

?

KEEPING TO SCHEDULE

WHAT IS IMPORTANT WHEN…

?

CHOOSING PEOPLE TO WORK IN TEAMS

?

V

ARIETY OF EXPERIENCE

?

PERSONAL QUALITIES

Key point:

improve working efficiency. This plays a crucial role in the commercial practice in Western

world.

Explain the importance of team work:

a.

Teamwork reflects the combined experiences, knowledge, intelligence and views of a group of

people, so it will definitely improve the quality and efficiency of the work.

b.

If the participants worked together, it would be easy for them to come up with creative ideas.

This is particularly valuable for a relatively complex work, for the people working in a team, if

one of them gets stuck on a matter, others/the rest could chip in their ideas and get the problem

sorted. But if you work on your own, for instance, you are the sole manager in the department.

c.

If people did not work as a team, everyone would have to wait for the decisions made by the

manager and it was not easy to get people to take on responsibility for anything.

d.

A huge and complicated project is not possible to be completed/done by merely one person. For

instance,

3

Gorges

project-a

huge

amount

of

money,

30

million

people

have

to

emigrate

to

elsewhere, a lot of commercial contracts

e.

You will get bored quickly if you work on you own. But if you work in a team…

f.

Working

in

a

team

can

increase

personal

awareness

of

abilities

and

complementary

skills

in

colleague.

How to improve teamwork:

General

ideas;

friendly

atmosphere;

not

bossy;

patient;

good

manners;

modest;

leadership;

good

interpersonal skills; variety of experience

a.

Variety of experience and a broad horizon would help to tackle urgent matters and establish his

or her personal prestige. Well-experienced staff are capable of overcoming storms and crises.

b.

On coming across problematic issues, new or inexperienced staff usually will feel depressed and

even

start

to

panic.

One

or

a

number

of

experienced

staff

will,

in

this

kind

of

situation,

automatically become the spiritual leaders of the team and can get the issues in question solved

quickly.

c.

A wide range of experiences are important

to a team

member, because

you never know what

kind of problems might suddenly come up to you. Experiences in different fields will enhance

the chance of successfully sorting out the problem with your knowledge which is based on your

past experience.

Personal qualities:

a.

The basis of the team work is mutual trust and friendly atmosphere

b.

Good manners, not too bossy, patient, modest, leadership, good interpersonal skills.

Project Management

WHAT IS IMPORTANT WHEN

…

?

MANAGING A PROJECT

?

ENCOURAGING TEAMWORK

?

KEEPING TO SCHEDULE

Key points:

Team work, time pressure (keeping to the schedule)

Team work: as explained in the teamwork section

Time pressure:

a.

A well-designed schedule can clarify yourself to the project. You should ensure that you would

be running before the schedule rather than after it.

b.

Time is always of essence for a project.

c.

Failure to keep to the schedule will result in/cause late completion.

d.

Late

completion

will

lead

to:

civil

litigation,

injured

party

will

become

entitled

to

claim

compensation/entitled to sue the breaching company.

e.

When the project is being processed/in the course of carrying out the project, there will be a lot

of commercial activities involved. Such as investment banks advance cash; raw material supply,

planning permission, sub-contract/outsource. Failure to stick to the schedule will affect above

matters.

Competition

WHAT IS IMPORTANT WHEN

…

?

DEALING WITH COMPETITION

?

PRICING POLICIES

?

ADVERTISING STRA

TEGIES

WHAT IS IMORTANT WHEN

…

?

SETTING PRICES FOR NEW PRODUCTS

?

PRODUCTION COSTS

?

COMPETIORS

?

PRICES

Key

points:

Pricing;

Advertising;

Production

costs;

Competitor?s

price;

Marketing

;

a

wide

range

of

services and products

Pricing:

a.

(For a consumer): all consumers would like to go for higher quality and less expensive products.

It is a common sense.

b.

(For

a

manager):

correct

pricing

policies

can capture

a large

number

of

consumers

in

a

short

period of time.

c.

For a newly established company: correct pricing policies are particularly important for newly

established businesses. The major task for them at the early stage is to draw the public attention

and make their company and their brand known to the public. When a new product is put into

market, there may be very few people knowing/who know about it…( curry source)

Competitors? price:

a.

Once a new product is put into market, it will immediately face the competition from rivals. The

price war sometimes can be incredibly fierce and crude.

b.

Competitors? price will mirror the consumers? attitude about certain products and the satisfaction

about their prices.

c.

If you fixed the price higher than your rivals without higher quality of service, you might soon

find yourself in an unfavorable situation.

d.

Correct

pricing

policies

could

also

defeat

some

competitors

in

a

short

period

of

time.

For

example: Safeway, Tesco price war against all small bread manufactures. In this case, Safeway

and Tesco fix

ed their price for 7p per loaf, which is 23p cheaper than their competitors? offer. As

a result of this, in 35 days time, most of their competitors went into liquidation.

Advertising strategies:

a.

The

fundamental

task

for

a

company

is

to

make

its

products

and

itself

known

to

the

public.

There are many ways to achieve this, advertising is the most important one.

b.

Advertising

through

different

media

can

cover

nearly

every

corner

in

the

world.

The

main

channels are:

-TV

-Radio

-Internet

-Newspaper

-Bill Board

-Poster

-Magazine

c.

The

advantage/point

of

advertising

is

not

only

about

propagandizing

your

company

but

also

competing against/with your rivals. A company, through proper advertisements, can manage to

introduce the advantages of their products

comparing to their rivals?, and therefore convince the

consumers that their products would be the right choice. For instance, Car manufactures can put

in their new designs to the ads, e.g. ABS, double airbags to convince the prospective customers

that their cars are safer than others.

第六课时

第五讲

Ⅰ

Life English

Talking about time

1.

How are we doing for time?

Do we have time for that?

How much time do we have left?

Are we on schedule?

Do we have time?

Are we making good time?

2.

Times flies by too quickly.

Time passes by too swiftly.

Time waits for no man.

Enjoy life while you

?

re still young.

Don

?

t miss any opportunity.

Don

?

t pass up any good chances.

3.

Time is important.

Time is valuable.

Time is precious.

Do as much as you can every day.

Take every opportunity and chance given to you.

Don

?

t waste any time.

Ⅱ

Presentation Topics

Motivating staff

WHAT IS IMPORTANT WHEN

…

?

MOTIV

ATING STAFF

?

FINANCIAL BENEFITS

?

CAREER DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES

WHAT IS IMPORTANT WHEN

…

?

INTRODUCING A REW

ARD SYSTEM FOR STAFF

?

PURPOSE OF THE REW

ARD SYSTEM

?

TYPES OF REW

ARD OFFERED

WHAT IS IMPORTANT WHEN

…

?

AIMING TO REDUCE STAFF TURNOVER

?

FINANCIAL INCENTIVES

?

CAREER STRUCTURE

Key points:

Financial benefits; Career development/structure; reduce staff turnover

Financial Benefits:

a.

Managers,

company

owners

and

supervisors

have

always

been

frustrated

and

bewildered

by

employees with little or no motivation.

b.

Staff always want reward for their contribution to the company and what they are worth. Such

factors are just like market forces. The fundamental reason of looking for a job is to get pay.

Staff do the job what they are paid for. However, quite often, the staff work overtime under their

managers?

demand.

If

the

company

fails

to

give

proper

financial

benefits

staff

might

subsequently feel not being fairly treated, and therefore frustrate their enthusiasm for their work.

c.

Staff want some sort of recognition for the job that they do. Correct financial benefits plan will

arouse their enthusiasm; otherwise they would feel being ignored.

d.

The job that the staff are doing is not always interesting, or the working environment may not be

pleasant,

or

their

colleagues

might

not

be

very

helpful

and

cooperative.

In

this

kind

of

situation/under the kind of circumstance, the staff would become stressful and uninterested in

their job. Correct finan

cial benefits can normally distract staff from their dissatisfaction with….

Career development/structure:

a.

Job-hunting is always a two-way process. On one hand, the employees look for their ideal jobs,

on the other hand the employer, at the same time, look for competitive people. An employer has

a

number

of

methods

to

attract

the

best

people

into

its

business.

Such

as

high

pay,

traveling

opportunities, company cars and training/career development opportunities.

b.

Good educational background is not the only element that the future employers will take into

account

when

they

look

for

someone

in

the

job

market.

Postgraduate

qualifications

and

professional

trainings

are

equally

or

even

more

important

than

the

higher

education

degrees.

When the HR managers only have

30 seconds to go through each applicant?s CV

, the sector that

will

catch

their

eyes

are

normally

your

qualification

and

professional

training

experiences,

which show whether you suit their vacant positions.

c.

Nowadays, very few people would like to go for that kind of job-for-life posts. They all wish to

have their jobs better and better. If an employee is able to get the opportunities to obtain some

sort

of

professional

training

during

the

course

of

employment,

this

experience

will

definitely

enhance his value in the employment market and therefore benefits his future job-hunting.

d.

So in the two-way job-seeking process, while the employer is choosing its favorite people, the

wise

future

employee

will

consider

the

training

and

career

development

opportunities

with

his/her

future

employer

and

try

to

make

himself/herself

more

competitive

in

the

employment

market.

Ⅲ

Business Dialogu

e

1) Negotiating a Job Offer

Employer:

would you consider an offer of $$56,000 per year?

Ms. Wilson:

What kind of benefits are talking about?

Employer:

Our standard package includes

health insurance, two weeks vacation

and

a company

car.

Ms. Wilson:

Are these things negotiable?

Employer:

Uh

…

not normally. What do you have in mind ?

Ms. Wilson:

Vacation

time

is

important

to

me.

I

would

be

willing

to

give

up

these

other

items

in

order to receive more vacation days.

Employer:

What

an

interesting

idea,

Ms.

Wilson.

Would

you

also

be

willing

to

accept

a

cut

in

initial salary?

Ms. Wilson:

possibly. What do you have in mind ?

2)

Employee Pay Raise

Boss:

You have done an excellent job this year and we are pleased with the results.

Employee:

I am glad that you have been happy with my

performance

.

Boss:

As a result of your performance, we happy to offer you the position of manager.

Employee:

Does this

title

come with an increase in salary?

Boss:

Yes, it does.

Employee:

Can you give me the

specifics

?

Boss:

Your monthly

gross

salary will increase by $$500.

Employee:

That sounds fair.

3

）

Asking for a Raise

Mr. White:

So, tell me: what makes you think we should give you a raise?

Miss Small:

I?

ve got several good reasons.

I?

ve been here several years, my work has proven to be

good, and

I?

ve noticed that people in

comparable job

s get paid more than I do.

Mr. White:

Salaries

are

confidential

;

how

do

you

know

how

much

money

these

“

other

people

”

make?

Miss Small:

Well,

I?

ve noticed all the new cars around here, for one thing.

Mr. White:

Those are company cars provided to the sales staff for their business trips. Also, some

employees receive

sales commissions

. So good salesmen will naturally earn more.

Miss Small:

That

?

s

understandable.

Well,

rather

than

comparing

my

salary

with

someone

else

?

s,

perhaps

we

could

talk

about

my

job

performance.

Surely

you

?

ve

noticed

the

extra

hours

I?

ve put in recently? If I were being paid an

hourly wage

, with the standard

time

–

and

–

a

–

half

for

overtime,

I?

d be earning much more.

Mr. White:

I see you point. However, it might be hard to get a raise approved. Profits were down

last quarter, and the whole company is

tightening its belt

, so anything that affects the

annual budget is hard to get approved. But

I?

ll tell you what

I?

ll do.

I?

ll give you a

one

–

time

bonus

for

your

recent

hard

work.

And

I?

ll

try

to

arrange

some

sort

of

compensation

for any future overtime.

Miss Small:

That would be very good of you, Mr. White.

4

）

Asking for a Raise

Martin:

Mr. Smith, I have been doing some industry research and was shocked to learn that the

average salary for a position that is similar to mine pays, on average $$2,000 more per

year than I am currently making.

Mr. Smith:

What are you basing this information on?

Martin:

First and secondary research. I hope that you can address this concern immediately as I

find it very

disturbing

.

Mr. Smith:

Yes,

I

will.

We

are

very

happy

with

performance

and

want

to

continue

our

good

working relationship.

Martin:

I wish the same. As such, I hope you will seriously consider a pay increase.

Mr. Smith:

Let me take this up with the Director and get back to you immediately.

Ⅳ

Conversation Notes

注意：

1

．

考试中不要说

“Pardon?”

2

．

Never say “sorry” in examination!

3

．

没听清可用以下说法

I don?t quite understand you. Would you explain it a little bit for me?

I am not sure what you are getting at. Would you express it in another way?

第七课时

第六讲

Ⅰ

Life English

eating

1

．

I am hungry.

I

?

m hungry as hell.

I

?

m hungry as a wolf.

I

?

m starving.

I

?

m starved.

I feel like I

?

m starving to death.

My stomach is empty.

My stomach is growling.

I could eat like a horse.

2.

I

?

m really hungry.

I

?

m feeling weaker by the moment.

I need to eat something nutritious.

3.

Let

?

s eat.

Let

?

s dig in.

Let

?

s pig out.

Let

?

s mounch out.

Let

?

s chow down.

Let

?

s indulge ourselves.

4.

It

?

s delicious.

It tastes great.