BEC剑桥高级英语听力原文(手录)

1.1

The future of human resources

1)

I

think

the

problem

is

that

in

the

last

fifteen

years,employers

haven't

shown

their

employees

much

've

hired

and

fired

pretty

much

at

will,according

to

whether

the

market

dictated

that

they

need

to

increase

or

reduce

the

flipside

of

this

is

that

employees

now,particularly

those

in

the

25

to

35

age

group,don't

feel

much

loyalty

to

their

employer

ping

strategies

to

hold

on

to

highly

skilled

and

highly

qualified

people

has

become

the

number

one

priority

in

human

resources

-

in

all

big

companies,in fact.

2)

There's no doubt that in the next ten years there will be a move away from the

nine

to

five

office-based

model

of

work.

In

fact

,it's

already

happening

with

women

,who

often

find

it

challenging

to

balance

work

and

domestic

schedules.

This could mean more 'teleworking', in other words working at

home and being

linked to the office by computer;or it could mean shorter working weeks or just

more

flexible

hours,

Unless

companies

offer

these

possibilities,a

lot

of

people

will look for alternative types of work.

3)

Companies

are

finding

that

graduates

and

school

leavers

aren't

well

enough

prepared

for

working

life.

This

is

going

to

drive

two

changes,I

think.

One

is

a

greater

co-operating

between

companies

and

universities

or

colleges

to

ensure

that at entry level to the company,

people

have the right skills. We'll also see

more investment in corporate training - corporate universities and so on -so that

employees' skills can be moulded to the needs of the company.

4)

As

the

birth

rate

decreased

and

life

expectancy

increases,

there

will

be

shortages

in

the

job

market.

Consequently,

a

lot

of

ex- employees

who

thought

they

had

finished their careers at 60 or whatever,will be called back to work.

This

will

suit

the

companies,

but

it

will

suit

the

employees

too,

because

their

pensions will probably be inadequate to fund their longer retirement.

5)

At the moment people in their 50s and 60s are , on the whole , very poorly valued

in companies. Firms want to recruit younger employees who are cheaper to employ

and

more

adaptable

to

a

changing

business

environment.

But

as

the

supply

of

these younger workers dries up, we'll have to consider older staff differently. I

hope that in

future the wisdom

and experience of this

group will become more

valued.

1.2 An environment accident

J=Journalist

S=Spokesperson

J : So, can you tell me how this happened?

S

:

Well,

it

was

a

very

unfortunate

combination

of

events.

As

you

know

,

weather

conditions

have been severe in the eastern Atlantic for the last couple of days. The

ship's

captain

reported

that

the

ship

was

in

trouble

at

11pm

last

night

and

was

ordered to make for port as quickly as possible. At 2:30 pm he reported that she was

grounded on some rocks just off the Cornish coast.

J: But this isn't the first time this particular ship has been in an it?

S: She has been involved in two incidents in the past, but these had nothing to do with

her sea-worthiness,She is a well-maintained ship in excellent working order with an

experience crew on board.

J: And what are you intending to do to limit the damage to the environment now?

S: Unfortunately, while conditions remain so hostile, there is very little we can do, but

the moment the storms subside we will be mounting an operation to transfer the oil

off the ship using tugs.

J: Do you think that this kind of accident is acceptable?

S: I think it needs to be put into perspective. Accidents at sea are far less common

than rail or road accidents. The problem is that they attract much more publicity ...

J: Well, yes, Whichever way you look at it, it's a PR disaster for your company, isn't

it ?

S: As I've said, this type of incident does attract a lot of media attention. I just hope

that the public can see ...

2.1 The PeopleSoft takeover

COMMENTATOR

I

think

you

could

sum

up

PeopleSoft's

approach

to

their

employees like this:

happy, we want you to do the things you've

good

at

and

that

you

enjoy

doing.

'

Very

few

big

IT

consulting

companies

are

like

usually throw people straight in at the deep end: put them on jobs where

they don't necessarily have much skill or experience, arguing that it's good for them

to learn. But I think that although they have talked a lot about caring for their people

and

having

fun,

PeopleSoft

put

a

lot

of

responsibility

on

them

too.

Like

they

were

saying, ' Here's a job you can do and will enjoy doing,but you'll be accountable for the

results.' To enforce that they generally started people on low salaries

- and I mean

low

-

and

explained

that

greater

rewards

would

come

in

time.

In

fairness,

it

was

direct

and

honest.

In

December

2004,when

Oracle

took

over,a

lot

of

employees

decided to leave. For a start, the feeling was that their applications just weren't as

good as PeopleSoft's - in fact they were probably just more difficult to use

- and

secondly people thought that Oracle didn't respect employees as much. The CEO of

PeopleSoft,

Dave

Duffield,

had

a

very

paternalistic

approach

-

he

used

to

sign

his

emails ' DAD '(which were his initials). It wasn't well-paid work but people felt valued,

which

is

often

more

important.

Also

there

was

a

relaxed

atmosphere

around

the

moment the merger was announced, that kind of evaporated. It seemed

to

become

tense,

people

wondering

if

the

new

CEO

was

going

to

live

up

to

his

reputation for wielding the axe. And, in retrospect, you would have to say they were

right to be worried!

INDUSTRY ANALYST

Oracle gets a lot of flak because

of its aggressive growth

strategy,but

i'm

afraid

in

this

sector

only

the

big

guys

are

going

to

survive.

The

merger with PeopleSoft was a business necessity. It didn't happen because the two

companies

were

so

alike

-

their

cultures

were

very

Oracle

there's

a

greater sense of urgency ... It's a stressful environment, but the rewards are huge. I

know some reps there who are making millions of dollars. Sure, if you

don't cut it,

you've

toast

pretty

fast,but

that's

business.

It's

survival

of

the

fittest.

The

differences

really

come

from

the

nature

of

the

two

businesses.

Oracle's

core

product is databases and with databases the customer often make a decision whether

to buy or not in a matter of weeks. With ERP applications, which is more PeopleSoft

territory, you can be in discussions with customers for months, analysing their needs

and then proposing the right solution before a sale is agreed. So that naturally makes

for a different culture. The other thing is that the merger happened really quickly

-

like

marrying

before

you've

really

got

to

know

the

bride.

So,

of

course

people

are

uncertain. I think in the end, though, as both sets of employees adapt to each other's

way of working, things will settle down.

2.2

Falling shares

CEO

ok,hi everyone. I'll make this brief, because I have another meeting to get

to ,but what I have to say is no less important for being short.

As you know, in

our three- year plan we

had a target of 20% growth by the

end of this year. As things stand, we've going to be quite a bit short of that

- trading

circumstances

haven't

been easy.

And

unless we do something about it in the next

few

months,

the

consequences

on

our

share

price

could

be

pretty

significant.

The

markets are already getting a bit twitchy as you will have read in the financial press.

It's unrealistic to think that we are going to trade our way

out of this.

All

the

indications

are

that

the

market

is

going

to

remain

flat

for

at

least

the

next

twelve months. So, what I need you to do is to come up with some possible targets for

acquisition. We're looking for a medium-sized business, reasonably well established in

the market. It doesn't have to be a toy business, but it must be related ... in other

words

in

the

leisure

retail

sector,

because

that

is

where

our

expertise

is.

I

don't

need to tell you your jobs, I know you'll be discreet, but do get on with it - time's not

on our side. I'll schedule a meeting for a month's time to hear what you've come up

with.

3.1 Dealing with problems

CCO=Call centre operator

C=Customer

CCO: Hello, Penco Telecommunications.

C: At last. I was just about to hang up. I've been on the phone for ten minutes going

through various options ... None of which I wanted.

CCO: I do apologize for the . How can I help you ?

C: I've been waiting in all day for an engineer to come and repair my line. He was due

to come at ten o'clock this morning ... It's now three in the afternoon. I telephoned

at twelve o'clock and one of your operators promised to call me back, but she hasn't.

I've wasted my day waiting around and worse than that I still can't receive any calls.

CCO: I'm very sorry. Can i have your number and I'll look into it straightaway ?

C: Yes , it's 01889 245624.

CCO: Ok. One moment - I'm going to see who the engineer is that has been assigned

to the job ... Ok, I have his number. I'm going to put you on hold and try to find out

what's happened.

C: Please don't disappear. As i said, it took me ten minutes to get through in the first

place.

CCO: Don't worry, I'll come straight back to you. One moment ... Right, I'm afraid he

has been delayed on another job. He apologises for not calling you sooner. He normally

works until 5pm but he's offered to work later this evening to fit in your job. He can

be there by 6pm. Would that be convenient?

C: No, it would not. I'm going out to the cinema this evening.

CCO:

I

quite

understand.

In

that

case,

I'm

going

to

have

to

reschedule

him

for

another day. Can you tell me when would be convenient ?

C: Well, first thing tomorrow morning, but...

CCO : I'll see what I can do. Please just bear with me for a moment while I speak to

him again ... Right that's arranged for tomorrow morning at nine.

C: That's all very well, But what am I supposed to do in the meantime ?

CCO: Do you have a mobile phone,sir ?

C: Yes.

CCO:

What I can do is to divert any calls coming into your office number on to your

mobile phone until your line is repaired. Would that be acceptable to you ?

C: I suppose so. When can you do that ?

CCO

:

If

you'd

like

to

tell

me

your

mobile

number,

I

can

get

that

activated

immediately

C: Ok, the number is ...

3.2

Exam practice

I imagine most of you are here today because you want to find out more about

the job of a coach. Some of you will be sceptical about its benefits, others will have

already started making a career out of coaching.

I myself have been a coach since the late 90s, but our academy was set up more

recently in 2004 in response to a demand for more formal training in the field. We

are a private institution and don't rely on any government funding. Our aim was to try

to professionalise an industry which until then had been, in this country at any rate, a

rather disorganised

and unregulated industry.

We now

have over 450 members and

run twelve courses a year in various types of coaching. These range from day seminars

for

people

who

are

already

practising

as

coaches

to

four- week

courses

or

the

beginner.

So

what

is

a

coach

exactly

?

Well,

there

are

many

different

types

of

coach

offering help in many different aspects of business and personal life: from financial

or management coaching through to

parent coaching and work-life balance coaching.

But the basic principles remain the same whatever the field: using simple psychology

and simple direction to help people to believe in themselves and to achieve their goals.

The great thing about coaches is that not only do they help you to identify your

goals and the obstacles to achieving them, but they stay there cheering you on from

the sidelines. In other words, they always

help the clients to look forward. This is

very

unlike

traditional

counselling,

which

tends

to

focus

more

on

past

events

and

mistakes and helping the person to get over these before they can move on.

I'm going to show you a short film of a coaching session in a moment, but before

I

do,

I

will

just

mention

something

about

the

rewards

of

the

job,

and

the

qualifications and resources that you need for it because these are questions that will

be concerning many of you.

The rewards: Well, job satisfaction is , of course, very high. I mean, how often do

you come home from work and are able to say, ' wow, I really made a difference to

someone's life today '?As to financial rewards, sessions with coaches usually start at

about

￡

70

per

hour

but

experienced

coaches

can

earn

anything

up

to

￡

400

per

hour. As to qualifications, you will need to follow an accredited coaching course, such

as

the

ones

we

run

here

at

the

academy,

and

also

you

will

need

considerable

experience in the field that you are coaching in. If you don't have this background it

will be difficult for the client to have confidence in you.

What else do you need to set up as a coach ? Most coaching is done at the client's

office or home, but some coaches also see people at their own homes. In fact there's

no need always to meet face-to-face. I know of several coaches who conduct session

by phone or online, even sometimes by text message ...

4.1

Sales techniques

Sarah

We

make

financial

software

for

medium-sized

companies.

Competition

is

strong - not necessarily price competition, because in our sector, quality , reliability

and service are far more important factors. We use a sales technique that's called '

relationship

selling

'.

In

other

words,

we spend

a

lot

of

time

getting

to

know

each

prospect's individual needs :their business processes, their strategic aims, and um ...

Also the issues and constraints they face. The idea is that the customer sees us as a

partner, someone who's going to work with them and help them find the best solution

for their business. Working this way, there are times when I have to freely admit to

people that our products may not be best suited to their particular needs, but to be

honest I'd much prefer to be doing that than using some hard-sell technique to push

something I don't really believe in myself, you know ...

Presenter

Thank you, Sarah. Now, Dale Freidman, I know you have a very different

approach ...

Dale

I would say so, yes. In my line of business, it's all about perceived benefits

-

there

are

some

tangible

ones

like,

for

example,

use

of

natural

ingredients

in

our

deodorants, but everyone in the industry copies ideas, so it's difficult to sustain any

kind of technical competitive advantage for long. So, I use a lot of anecdotes when I

sell; I tell stories, get people laughing, My approach is direct - I guess some might say

pushy, but I get results. I deal only with the decision maker, who's generally a buyer

for a

chain of stores. You'd

be amazed

how much time people waste talking to the

wrong

guy.

I

always

start

by

presenting

them

with

the

most

expensive

options,

because this increases our average sales, and

as soon as I

get a buying signal from

them - it could be anything, you know, just a question like ' What's your most popular

product

?

'-

I

move

in

and

close

the

sale

by

discussing

quantities

required,

special

delivery arrangements, favorable payment terms, thing that make them feel they're

getting added value ...

4.2 A sales forecast

Anke

Reigl

Is everyone ready ? Good, then I'll begin. Ok ... Well, based on average

growth in sales over the last two years and given the relatively stable state of the

market at the moment as far as competition is concerned, we're forecasting a fairly

modest

increase

in

the

first

quarter,

about

2to

3%.

We

expect

this

to

rise

to

between 7and 10% in the second and third quarters, after the launch of the new slow

- release version of the drug. Marketing tells me - thanks, Werner for your help with

this ...

Werner

You're welcome.

Anke Reigl

...

That

demand

for

this

version

is

strong

and

should

be

reflected

in

sales more or less immediately. So that's the basic picture. There are just a couple of

monthly variations to this trend which I'll explain now

If

you look at the graph, you'll see that in March last year sales wet up quite

sharply and that the figure predicted for this year is much lower. The reason for this

is

that

Bayer

had

distribution

problems

and

weren't

able

to

supply

the

required

quantities

to

their

customers.

We

were

fortunate,

because

we were

carting

extra

stock

and

were

fortunate,

because

we

were

carrying

extra

stock

and

were

able

to

take

advantage

of

the

situation.

I

think

it's

worth

nothing

that

disruptions

in

the

supply

chain

can

affect

anyone

and

it

really

does

pay

for

us

to

hold

a

reasonable

amount of stock in reserve for events like these.

As you know, sales generally decline in April and Mat - it's just a seasonal factor -

bur as I already mentioned, the launch

of the new version this year is expected to

boost them considerably, especially in April directly after the campaign. They'll drop

back a little after that, but in

July we'll

have the usual early summer phenomenon

when distributors ...

5.1

A culture of debt

Economist

Perhaps

the

greater

legacy

of

Federal

Reserve

Chairman

Alan

Greenspan is the way he transformed people

’

s attitude to credit and debt. During his

term

of

office

not

only

the

national

debt

of

America,

but

also

personal

debt,

increased substantially.

Since the Great Depression of the 1930s, people in America have been naturally

reluctant

to

borrow

money.

But

for

this

generation,

in

the

US

and

increasingly

globally, debt has become respectable. From an early age, young people take out loans

to pay their way through college and borrowing against equity in real estate is now at

record

levels.

Re-mortgaging

your

home

was

unheard

of

generations

ago:

a

second

mortgage was an indication of a household in trouble. But today it is routine.

All this is possible because credit is easy and interest rates are low. Banks are

encouraged to lend, and often do so irresponsibly. In some states it

’

s possible to get a

100% mortgage

–

in other words with no down

–

payment

–

equivalent to four times a

couple

’

s combined annual salary. The market is constantly coming up with new financial

products and new ways of extending credit to ordinary people. General Motors, whose

automotive business is in decline, now sells home equity loans though a subsidiary: it

’

s

the only part of company that has been consistently profitable in recent years.

The reason for this boom in money lending is clear

–

to fund consumer spending.

As

long

as

people

are

spending,

economic

growth

continues.

In

other

more

conservative borrowing cultures, like Germany, economic growth

has slowed because

in times of uncertainty people tend to save their money, rather than

borrowing and

spending to make themselves feel better.

So does the accumulating

debt matter ? Some say that as long as asset values

rise

faster

than

debt,

there

’

s

no

problem.

In

2005

Americans

were

twelve

trillion

dollars in debt, but their personal assets stood at

64 trillion dollars . Others argue

that we are sitting on a time-bomb.

Asset value will not continue to rise indefinitely and when they crash, millions of

people will be plunged into negative equity. Liabilities remain the same but assets can

go up and down in value. This was the case with stock market values, which saw sharp

falls around 2000. Crisis was averted only because investors moved their money into

real estate.

For

millions

of

Americans

this

only

confirmed

the

culture

Alan

Greenspan

had

been promoting

–

debt is good. And if he turns out to be wrong

–

well, we all had fun in

the meantime.

5.2 discussing costs

CA=Cost accountant

GM=General manager

CA

Look, we’ve

got to do something. Doing nothing is not an option. Our margins will

just get squeezed more and more.

GM

Ok. What do you suggest?

CA

Personally,I

’

d recommend cutting the wage

bill

–

either

by laying some people

off or by freezing salaries.

GM

Neither of which are going to be very popular options.

CA

No,

but

the

alternatives

are

probably

worse

:

reducing

material

costs

will

definitely

have

an

impact

on

product

quality

and

cutting

back

on

advertising

expenditure is only a short-term solution

–

it will hurt us in the long run.

GM

No, I see about administrative costs or other overheads ? Instead

of cutting staff, we could try and do something about getting our energy bills down

for example.

CA

I

’

ve already done as much as I can in those areas. I have thought about this a lot

and for me, the only real solution is to tackle labour costs. It may be painful, but the

advantage

of

it

would

be

that,

once

done,

we

could

get

back

to

concentrating

on

selling.

GM

Ok, I hear what you

’

re saying, but I think it might create more problems than

you think. I

’

m going to go away and think about it

…

see if there is an acceptable way

of doing it.

5.3 Matching

we are accused frequently

of doing nothing about the ageing

population

and the

consequent hole in pension funds. But you have to understand that, at the moment at

any

rate,

there

are

no

popular

solutions

to

this

problem.

Either

we

raise

the

retirement age or we increase taxes on working people.

Neither of these is a vote

winner. I think a lot of us in government are hoping that if we just hold on a bit, then

sooner or later another solution will present itself.

5.4

Exam practice

1)

I don

’

t believe in the capital markets. For a start they are unpredictable and for

another

thing,

not

everyone

has

the

possibility

to

take

such

risks

with

their

money. I have always been of the view that you pay taxes through your working

life

in

order

to

enjoy

certain

benefits

from

the

state

and

certain

protection

against difficult times. For example, in case of unemployment or sickness or for

your

retirement,

for

that

matter.

So

when

I

retire,

I

will

live

on

what

the

government is due to

give me. If I can

’

t afford cruises in the Caribbean, then

that

’

s too bad.

2)

I

’

m

very

lucky

to

have

worked

in

the

civil

service,

which

has

its

own

pension

scheme. My salary

has never been as good as it might

have been in the private

sector, but you accept that when you work for a public service. What you do get

is job security, longer holidays, good medical insurance and an excellent pension.

My pension is calculated as a

percentage of my final salary. That

’

s very rare in

the

private

sector.

Usually

private

companies

take

your

average

salary

over

a

period of, say, twenty years. So all in all I expect to be very comfortable when I

retire, even if I haven

’

t had that much disposable income during my working life.

3)

People think that as a company director, I

’

m bound to have all sorts of privileged

pension benefits and company schemes going on

–

some special executive plan. But

it

’

s not the case. We

have a company scheme for all

our employees but I don

’

t

actually

participate

in

it.

Instead,

I

’

ve

put

most

of

my

money

in

a

long-term

savings account, that gives a good rate of return if you keep it in for long enough.

It seems bizarre I know, but I make far more than I need to spend and I guess

I

’

m naturally cautious with my money.

4)

There

’

s a saying

–

I don

’

t know who by

–

that you should

‘

inivest in land, because

they

don

’

t

make

it

any

more!

‘

I

think

that

’

s

good

advice.

Around

2004

there

started to be a lot of stories in the media about company pensions and private

pensions not delivering the benefits t

hey had promised, mainly because they were

linked

to

stock

market

investments.

At

that

point

I

decided

to

withdraw

my

money from my own private pension and

put it into property. I figured that if I

bought

a

small

office

building,

then

by

the

time

I

reached

retirement

age,

I

would have paid off the mortgage and could live off the rent

…

so that

’

s what I

did.

5)

I realized quite early on that my state pension wasn

’

t going to be sufficient, so I

took out a private one when I was about 30. It works like a managed investment

fund

–

a mixture of blue-chip stocks

–

so I don

’

t really have much say in how the

money is invested. Unfortunately, like a lot of private pension schemes, it hasn

’

t

really performed as predicted. I think the projected growth rate was between 8

and 12% and it

’

s grown at about 4.5%, which isn

’

t much above inflation. There are

signs that the stock markets are doing a little better now, so I

’

m hopeful that in

the

long

run

I

will

have

reasonable

funds

for

my

retirement.

Would

I

advise

anyone to do the same

…

with hindsight, probably not .

6.1

A contract to supply

B=Barbara

P=Paul

B

Paragon. Can I help you ?

P

Hello, is that Barbara ?

B

Yes, speaking.

P

Hi, Barbara, this is Paul from A1 Flooring in London. I

’

m just calling to discuss the

extension of our contract for next year. Is this a good moment for you ?

B

Yes, as good as any, I guess. Let me just get a pen and paper so I can make some

notes

…

Ok, so where have we got to ?

P

Well,

first

the

good

news.

The

Klik

laminate

flooring

has

been

going

really

well

here

–

you

’

ll probably have noticed that from the order book in the last six months or

so. Customers really love it : the feedback we

’

ve had has been excellent.

B

That

’

s great.

P

It is good. I have to say, I

’

m not so surprised

–

it

’

s an excellent product, very high

quality and the price reflects that of course. Which brings me on to my next point.

Now, I

’

m not asking for better commission

–

we

’

re ok on that

–

but what would really

help is more seasonal discounting from your end. What I mean is, reductions that we

could pass straight on to our customers. Generally, we run sales in January, spring and

late

summer

and

at

the

moment

Paragon

’

s

products

are

the

only

ones

that

don

’

t

feature. I suppose you could say that gives them a certain exclusivity in the eyes of

the customer, but at the same time

…

B

I can see the logic of what you

’

re saying, and I

’

ve no doubt it would help sales, but

what you must understand is that it

’

s very difficult for us to have a policy with you

that

’

s different from all our other customers. Let me think

…

what I could suggest is

that we try and feed you more discounted stock when we are coming to the end of a

particular product line. I can speak to the boss about that.

P

Well, could you also mention to him the principle of seasonal discounts, because I

think it would generate even more interest in the products.

B

All right, I will

…

but I

’

m not too optimistic. Are there any other points ?

P

Yes, there is one other problem, which is that when we place an order, it

’

s quite

often the case that you don

’

t have exactly what we want in stock and you offer us a

substitute instead. Let me give you an example: we want engineered wood flooring in a

natural oak and you only have it in a stained oak. On the whole we try to be flexible,

but it

’s something which seems to be happening more and more –

and what worries me.

B

I do understand, Paul, and I apologise. It

’

s something which we are trying to solve.

But

it

’

s

not

really

a

problem

of

our

own

making.

It

’

s

a

result

of

shortage

in

raw

material and delays further up the supply chain. We do try to carry reserve stocks of

all types of wood, but as you know it

’

s a sensitive product to transport and store and

we often have to rely on what

’

s available from our suppliers at a given time. That

’

s

just the nature of the product.

P

Yes, I appreciate all that, but explaining it to

our customers is another thing.