BEC中级真题(第二辑)答案及听力原文

BEC

中

级真题

（第二

辑

）答案及听力原文

Test 1

Reading

Part 1

1 C

2 A

3 B

4 D

5 A

6.B

7 C

Part 2

8 D

9 C

10 E

11B

12 F

Part 3

13 D 14 A 15 C 16 B

17.B

18.C

Part 4

19B

20 A

21 D

22 A

23 C

24 C

25 D

26 A

27 B

28 C

29 D

30 B

31 C

32 B

33 B

Part5

34 ITSELF

35 IN

36 CORRECT

38

SEEN

39 FROM

40 CORRECT

41 THOSE

42 FOR 43 WITH

44 THAT

45

CORRECT

Writing

Part 1

To:

P

. Jones

From:

Luisa Gambon

Date:

21 November 2002

Subject: Lateness

Mr Jones,

I have noticed that you often arrive late for work, especially on Monday mornings. As your

colleagues

are

starting

to

complain

about

that,

you

understand

that

unless

this

habit

changes, I will take disciplinary action against you. Come and see me tomorrow at 9 a.m.

in my office. Thank you

Band 5

All

content

points

are

covered,

using

natural

sounding

language

and

a

consistently appropriate tone.

Part 2

Report on customer complaints

INTRODUCTION

This report has the purpose of presenting the reasons for customer complaints in 2002.

FIELDINGS

The customer complaints received in 2002 were 300 in January. Then they increased to

540 in February because of the computer system's breakdown.

In March they fell to 230 because an improved order system was introduced.

The reasons for complaints from January to March were analysed:

1

?

firstly the companv received complaints for incorrect orders delivered. These errors

were fewer in March.

?

secondly the time taken to deliver is too high. but the company has planned to recruit

new agents.

?

Finally customers complain for the poor product quality. In order to solve this problem

more quality controls are making.

CONCLUSIONS

At

the

moment

all

customers

aren't

satisfied

but

many

measures

have

been

taken

to

improve their satisfaction.

Band 4

There

is

a

satisfactory

range

of

structures,

with

some

errors,

but

these

do

not

impede

understanding. The content points are adequately covered, and the register is appropriate.

The information is generally well organised, using headings and other discourse markers.

Listening

Part 1

1. JAYE

2. CUSTOMER SERVICES

3. OFFICE ASSISTANT

4. 457.60

5. EUROPE HOLIDAYS

6. BUSINESS CARDS

7. MARKETING EXECUTIVES

8 (THE) (COMPANY) EOGO

9

INFORMATION PACK

10. PARK HOTEL

11. FRONT GATE

12. NEW DESIGNS

Part 2

13 E

14 B

15 G

16 F

17 A

18 C

19 G

20 H

21 E

22. B

Part3

23 B

24 B

25 C

26 A

27 C

28 B

29 A

30 C

Tapescript

Listening Test 1

This is the Business English Certificate Vantage 2, Listening Test 1.

Part One. Questions 1 to 12.

You will hear three telephone conversations or tnessages.

Write one or two u'ords or a number in the

numbered spaces on the notes or forms

2

below.

After you have listened once, replay each recording.

Conversation One.

Questions 1 to 4.

Look at the form below.

You will hear a man asking a colleague for information about a former employee.

You have 15 second's to read through the form.

[pause]

Now

listen, and fill in the spaces.

Woman:

Personnel . . .

Man:

Hello, it's Tim here, from Finance.

Woman:

Hi, Tim.

Man:

I've

had

a

letter

from

the

tax

office

about

a

student

who

worked

here

last

summer

–

I wonder if you could look him up in your records.

Woman:

Sure, what's the name?

Man:

The surname's Jaye. First name Stephen.

Woman:

How does he spell his surname?

Man: J-A-Y-E. Got that?

Woman: Oh yes, here we are . . . lives at a hundred and eighty-three School Road,

Barnfield . . .

Man:

Yes, that's the one.

Woman: And you say he was working in Finance?

Man: Uhm, Customer Services, actually.

Woman: Aah - they had lots of students working for them last summer.

Man: Well, the tax people want to know his exact job title - I'm not sure why.

Woman: Mm, let me see . . . He was an office assistant.

Man: Right, got that. They also want to know about his monthly earnings.

Woman: Let's have a look . . . five hundred and thirty- eight pounds seventy a month . . .

Oh, sorry, he was a scale one, so that's four hundred and fifty-seven pounds sixty.

Anything else?

Man: That's fine, thanks. I'll send them the information today . . .

[pause]

Now listen to the recording again.

[pause]

Conversation Two.

Questions 5 to 8.

Look at the note below.

You will hear a man describing a problem with an order.

You have 15 seconds to read through the note.

[pause]

Now listen, and fill in the spaces.

Woman: Hello, Blackwell Printers. Julie Davidson speaking. How may I help you?

Man: Hello. This is Mark Jones from Europe Holidays. I was hoping to speak to Steven

Kirby about the stationery you're printing for us.

Woman: I'm afraid Steven's away until Friday.

Man: Oh - you see I'm not very happy with the business cards and I wanted to see if I

could make a couple of changes to the paper too.

Woman: Would you like me to pass on a message?

Man: Yes, please. The thing is, I've just received your proofs - the cards themselves are

fine, but you seem to have misunderstood the quantities. I'm sure I asked for five

3

hundred for each of the marketing executives and seven hundred and fifty for me but

you've put everyone down for seven hundred and fifty.

Woman: Right, I've made a note of that. Is there anything else?

Man: Yes, well this is my mistake really. Could you ask Steven to move the company logo

further to the left? It's too close to the address at the moment. I think that's all for now.

Thanks.

[pause]

Now listen to the recording again.

[pause]

Conversation Three. Questions 9

-12

Look at the notes below.

You will hear a woman making the arrangements for a delegation who are going to visit

her company.

You have 15 seconds to read through the notes.

[pause]

Now listen, and fill in the spaces.

Woman:

Geoff?

Man:

Yes?

Woman: I just want to finalise the preparations for the delegation next week.

Man:

Certainly. It's Thursday, isn't it?

Woman:

Yes. Now, can you make sure that each of them gets a name badge

and an

information pack. The badges are done, but you'll need to prepare the packs with all

the relevant information.

Man: Ok, that shouldn't take too long. What about catering?

Woman:

Coffee's organised

for eleven

and

three, but lunch

- it's at one

- we

need to

reserve it for twelve people . . . The office restaurant is closed next week . . . can you

ring the Park Hotel? The Grand Hotel was a bit disappointing last time.

Man:

I'll get onto that.

Woman: Now, they'll be coming straight from the station, and their taxi will bring them to

the front gate, so make sure you're there to greet them. That'll be about ten.

Man: Ten. And then . . .

Woman: Into Reception, I think. Make sure the new designs are on display, I want them to

see those first.

Man:

OK.

Woman:

Let me know when it's all finalised. Bye.

[pause]

Now listen to the recording again.

[pause]

That is the end of Part One. You now have 20 seconds to check your answers.

[pause]

Part Two. Questions 13 to 22.

Section One. Questions 13 to 17.

You will hear five short recordings

4

[pause]

Now listen to the recording again.

[pause]

That is the end of Part One. You now seconds to check your answers.

[pause]

Part Two. Questions 13 to 22. Section One.

Questions 13 to 17.

You will hear five short recordings.

For each recording, decide which type of document the speaker is talking about.

Write one letter (A-H) next to the number of the recording.

Do not use any letter more than once.

After you have listened once, replay the recordings.

You have 15 seconds to read the list A-H.

[pause]

Now

listen, and decide which type of document each speaker is talking about.

[pause]

Thirteen

Woman: Well no wonder the bank's returned it unpaid. Look, the figures don't match the

amount in words. I expect someone was filling it in in too much of a hurry. Let's see,

we'd

better

issue

another

one

straight

away

to

pay

Mrs

Burton,

because

it'll

be

another three weeks if we wait for the next cycle of payments. Her

expenses on that

sales trip were pretty high, and it wouldn't be fair to keep her waiting much longer.

[pause]

fourteen

Man:

Some

of

the

suppliers

are

already

asking

about

the

increases.

I'll

check,

but

I

seem to remember from last week's meeting that in the

end we agreed on three per

cent. So what I'll do is go down each column and calculate the new amounts, and then

it can be printed in

time to

be inserted into the new brochures. Can you

check the

figures for me, though, before it goes to the printers?

[pause]

fifteen

Woman: We've just received the paperwork from you about cleaning our premises, and I

have to say that it doesn't reflect what we agreed in our

conversation last week. For

one thing, it says that we have to supply our security code, and for another it specifies

monthly payment in advance, and I told you both of those were out of the question. I'm

afraid I really can't sign this. Could you send me a revised one?

[pause]

Sixteen

Man: Of course, this only gives a very general

picture. But as you can see, cash is a

particularly healthy area. That's even when we take into account regular outgoings on

loans

and

leasing

equipment,

which

are

included

in

the

final

totals.

And

even

more

significantly,

unpaid

orders

are

actually

excluded

from

the

final

calculation.

These

represent a sum of approximately thirty thousand pounds. With that in mind, we can

say that the company's overall position is still strong.

[pause]

Seventeen

Woman:

I've

just

asked

the

Arden

Conference

Centre

about

availability

for

our

next

training seminar, and they said they still haven't been paid for the one before last, which

should have been dealt with six months ago. I've had to ask them to send a duplicate! We

really must be careful. Arden give us very favourable prices, but we haven't got a contract

with them - Can you deal with it straight away so we stay in their good books?

[pause]

.Vow

listen to the recordings again.

[pause]

5

Section Two. Questions 18 to 22.

You will hear another five recordings.

For each recording, decide what the speaker's purpose is.

Write one letter (A-H) next to the number of the recording.

Do not use any letter more than once.

After you have listened once, replay the recordings.

You have 15 seconds to read the list A-H.

[pause]

Now listen, and decide what each speaker's purpose is.

[pause]

Eighteen

Man:

Hello. This is Guy Cooper from Centron Electronics here. I believe you rang for

some advice about your alarm system, which isn't functioning properly. The message I

got said you

weren't sure if you needed

someone to

come and sort it out, or if we

could advise you over the phone. Well perhaps you'd like to get back to me as soon as

it's convenient and tell me exactly what the problem is, and I'll see what I can do.

[pause]

Nineteen

Woman:

Well,

as

you

say,

Redlon

has

been

supplying

us

for

years

but,

quite

honestly, two-thirds of the complaints we receive about our

products are actually

due to faults in components we've had from Redlon. So I talked to the Production

Manager

and

he

agreed

that

I

should

look

at

some

alternatives.

Future

World's

range is fine for us, and one of their customers who I spoke to recommended them

highly, so that's why we've changed to using them.

[pause]

Twenty

Woman: The competition's getting tougher, and you know we're facing serious problems.

We need to see more benefit from the undeniably hard work we're putting in, and this

means saying no to jobs which aren't profitable. It would be much more beneficial to

put all our efforts into winning higher-margin contracts. So the way I feel you can help

most is by identifying the types of contacts which will bring in the income we need in

order to ensure our future.

[pause]

Twenty- one

Man: John Woods here, phoning about the project we discussed earlier. Could you give

me a ring so that we can talk about it a bit more? I've done a few calculations and I'm

beginning to wonder whether it's really a practical proposition. 1 still think the project's

got

potential,

but

there

are

significant

additional

costs

which

we

hadn't

taken

into

account. So could you get back to me as soon as you can, please?

[pause]

Twenty-two

Woman:

Hello,

Sally

here,

from

Pagwell

Paints,

returning

your

call.

I'm

very

sorry

you

aren't

happy

with

the

latest

consignment

you've

had

from

us.

It's

rather

strange,

because following

your complaint about the last delivery, we did in

fact

take action to change the specifications in the way you suggested. So it isn't quite

fair

to

say

that

we

ignored

your

advice.

I

know

it's

important

to

achieve

the

consistency

that

you

require,

but

perhaps

your

recommendation

wasn't

exactly

what's needed.

[pause]

Now

listen to the recordings again.

6

[pause]

This is the end of Part Two.

[pause]

Part Three. Questions 23 to 30.

You

will

hear

the

chairman

of

a

business

institute

making

a

speech

about

new

business awards that his institute has sponsored.

For each question 23-30. mark one letter (A, B or

C)

for the correct answer.

After you have listened once, replay the recording.

You have 45 seconds to read through the questions.

[pause]

Now

listen, and mark

A, 6

or

C.

[pause]

Man: Who are the managers of the best innovation developments in British industry? That

was the question which the first Business Today Innovation Awards set out to answer.

This project is all about rewarding good practice and performance. So, rather than simply

recognising

excellence

in

the

design

of

specific

products,

or

analysing

their

financial

impact on profits, the awards set out to take an objective look at exactly how companies

manage the development process itself.

Over three hundred and fifty organisations entered the competition and were initially

reduced

to

about

forty.

Then,

after

further

careful

checking,

a

short

list

of

just

fourteen of them was arrived at. These finalists, all manufacturers, were then visited

by the competition judges, a panel of four chief executives from leading companies.

The panel toured the finalists' facilities, received presentations on the companies and

their

projects,

and

interviewed

the

key

development

team

members.

The

products

varied enormously in their scale, function and degree of technology - from bread for a

supermarket chain to a

printer inside an automatic cash dispenser

Initially

the

organisers

were

concerned

that

this

range

could

create

difficulties

in

the

assessment process. But this fear proved baseless, as most elements in the innovation

process are shared by all manufacturers.

Interestingly, the finalists broke down into two distinct and equal groups: large firms with

one thousand employees or more and small firms with two hundred and fifty employees or

fewer.

With

both

groups

the

judges

decided

to

concentrate

on

two

of

the

clearest

indicators

of

a

successful

innovation

process,

which

are:

how

well

the

new

product

is

combined with

the

company's

existing

business, and

secondly, how- well the

innovation

methods are recorded and understood. Small firms naturally tend to do well in the first

category

since

they

have

fewer

layers

of

management

and

thus

much

shorter

communication lines. But they seem to put less emphasis on creating formal development

methods which would be repeatable in future innovations.

Large firms, on the other hand, have difficulty integrating the new development within their

existing

business

for

reasons

of

scale.

But

they

tend

to

succeed

in

achieving

well-documented

and

repeatable

development

methods.

This

is

because

larger

companies,

with

their

clear

emphasis

on

training,

fixed

management

structure

and

administrative systems, require more formal, daily record-keeping from their staff.

7

So what were the key questions the judges had in mind when assessing the finalists? One

of

the

most

important

areas

concerned

how

thoroughly

a

company

checks

what

is

happening in other fields in order to incorporate new ideas into the development process.

Many

of

the

finalists

impressed

in

the

area.

Xatura,

for

example,

had

demonstrated

genuine energy in searching for new ways of producing their range of specialitv breads.

They had looked at styles of home cooking in different countries, as well as the possibility

of exploiting new production technologies in order to achieve equally good results but on a

high-volume production line.

What then occupied much of the judges' thoughts was the quality of the links which the

development

team

established

with

senior

management,

suppliers,

the

market

and

manufacturing. The best examples of the first category were found in small firms, where

the individual entrepreneur at the top was clearly driving the innovation forward

Links with suppliers were also seen as an important factor, but not all supplier experiences

were

positive.

Occasionally

serious

problems

had

to

be

solved

where

suppliers

were

working hard to meet specifications, but the companies that the suppliers were using to

adapt their machinery were not so efficient. This, led to disappointing faults or fluctuations

in quality.

But in conclusion the awards demonstrate that innovation isn't just for high-tech internet

companies. You can also be successful in mature markets with determination and skill.

[pause]

Now listen to the recording again.

[pause]

That is the end of Part Three. You now have ten minutes to transfer your answers to

your Answer Sheet.

Note: Teacher, stop the recording here and time ten minutes. Remind students when

there is one minute remaining.

[pause]

That is the end of the test.

Test 2

Reading

Part 1

I. B

2 C

3 A

4 D

5

D

6 B

7 C

Part 2

8 C

9 B

10 E

11

A

12 D

Part 3

13 D

14 C

15 A

16 A

17 C

18.B

Part 4

19.D

20 D

21 A

22 C

23 A

24 C

25 B

26 A

27 A

28 D

29 C

30 A

31 C

32 D

33 B

Part 5

34

THAT

35

CORRECT

36

ONLY

37

SO

38

CORRECT

39

8

THE

40

HOW

41

CORRECT

42

OUT

43

CORRECT

44

WILL

45 BE

Test 2

Writing

Part 1

To:

All Staff

From:

Managing Director

Date:

7 December

Subject: Staff reward

I would like to thank you for the contribution in increasing the company's profit. The profit

increased due to very hard work and long working hours. Each of the staff will receive an

envelope with a reward on Tuesday. The reward is a trip to Hawaii, and I hope that this will

be the perfect reward. Enjoy!

Thank you

Band 4

All

points

are

adequately

covered

and

developed.

There

is

an

adequate

range

of

language, though with some repetition.

Part 2

Introduction.

The

purpose

of

this

report

is

to

assess

and

recomend

a

taxi firm

that

will

become

our

regular

transporter.

We

will

need

them

especially

during

next

year

trade

fair

and

conferences. There are two firms to assess.

Findings:

As

regards

to

Telecars

we

have

a

good

references

on

them.

It

is

very

experienced

traditional

firm

and

is

also

very

reliable.

They

provide

24-hours

service

that

is

useful

during night meetings and negotiations. StreetlightCabs is brand new company and there

are no references on them. But they provide long distance routes which we use

very often and they are also cheaper. On the other hand they don't have web page and so

internet booking isn't available.

Conclusion:

I recommend to choose Telecars because of their reliability, long tradition and well trained

staff.

Band 4

All the content points are covered and are well organised. The range of language is good,

and

though

some

errors

occur,

these

do

not

obscure

the

message.

The

register

is

appropriate.

Listening

9

Part 1

1

TAKING MINUTES

2

13(TH) OCTOBER

3

CERTIFICATE

4

CUSTOMER SERVICE

5

WORLDNET/WORLD NET

6

OUTSIDE LINES

7

TRANSFER CALLS

8

(THE) EQUIPMENT

9.

TRADE FAIR

10

AFTER LUNCH

11

REVISED BUDGETS

12

HEAD OFFICE

Part 2

13 H

14 E

15 F

16 A

17 D

18 G

19 E

20 C

21 B

22 H

Part3

23 C

24 A

25 A

26 C

27 A

28 C

29 B

30 B

Tapescript

Listening Test 2

This is the Business English Certificate Vantage 2, Listening Test 2.

Part One. Questions 1 to 12.

You will hear three telephone conversations or messages.

Write

one

or

two

words

or

a

number

in

the

numbered

spaces

on

the

notes

or

forms

below.

After you have listened once, replay each recording.

Conversation One. Questions 1 to 4.

Look at the form below.

You will hear a woman calling about training courses.

You have 15 seconds to read through the form.

[pause]

Now listen, and fill in the spaces.

Man:

Good morning, Oakleaf Business Training. How can I help you?

Woman: Hello, my name's Enid Stevens, of Appleyard Smith. I've

booked

two

one-day

courses, but now I need to change one of them.

Man:

Let me get your details up on the screen. Right, you've booked Report Writing next

month . . .

Woman: Yes, that one's OK. It's Taking Minutes that I can't manage, on the eighth of July.

Do you know when it's running again?

Man: Let me see. Not until the eighteenth of September, I'm afraid.

Woman: That sounds fine. Oh, I think I'll be abroad then.

Man: Then there's the first and the thirteenth of October.

Woman: I'd like the later date, please.

Man: Fine, I'll change your booking.

Woman:

Another

thing;

it

says

in

your

brochure,

everyone

attending

a

course

gets

a

certificate, but I haven't received one from a course I took last January.

Man:

I'm sorry about that. Which course was it?

10

Woman:

Something to do with dealing with the public . . . ?

Man: That must have been Customer Service.

Woman:

Sounds familiar.

Man:

OK, I'll put it in the post today.

Woman: Thank you very much. Goodbye.

Man:

Goodbye.

[pause]

Now listen to the recording again.

[pause]

Conversation Two. Questions 5 to 8.

Look at the note below.

You will hear a woman ringing about problems with a new telephone system.

You have 15 seconds to read through the note.

[pause]

Now listen, and fill in the spaces.

Man: Hello, Swinburn Telecoms.

Woman: I'd like to speak to Tony Wilson, please.

Man: I'm afraid Tony isn't available. Can I take a message?

Woman:

Yes please. I'm Sheila Dallas, from Worldnet.

Man:

Right.

Woman: I'm ringing about the telephone system your firm installed here yesterday. We're

not happy with it.

Man: Oh dear. What seems to be the problem?

Woman: First of all, your engineer said that with the number of extensions we've got, six

outside lines would be enough, but we asked for eight, and anyway you've charged

us for the larger system.

Man: Right, we'll look into that.

Woman: Then, whenever we try to transfer calls from one extension to another we lose

them. We're following the instructions, but it just doesn't work.

Man: I see.

Woman: And finally, could you ask Tony to check the invoice, please? He promised us a

discount

on

installation,

which

is

shown,

and

one

on

the

equipment,

but

that

isn't

there.

Man: Right. I'm sorry about all that. I'll get Tony to contact you as soon as he's free.

Woman: Thank you. Goodbye. Man: Goodbye.

[pause]

Now listen to the recording again.

[pause]

Conversation Three. Questions 9 to 12.

Look at the note below.

You will hear a woman calling about the arrangements for a meeting.

You have 15 seconds to read through the note.

[pause]

Now listen, and fill in the spaces.

11

Man: Good morning. Marketing Department. Peter Menzies speaking.

Woman: Hello. Could I speak to John Fitzgerald, please?

Man: I'm afraid he's not in the office at the moment.

Woman: Well, this is Elizabeth Parnell calling. I wanted to talk to John about the meeting

next week. You see, I only get back on Tuesday night from a trade fair in the States.

Man: So, would you like me to give him a message?

Woman: Yes, could you ask him if we can postpone Wednesday's meeting? Till after lunch.

That would be easier. It was originally going to be at ten a.m.

Man: OK. I'll ask him to change it. I'll get back to you with a time.

Woman: Thanks. And could you also ask him to add another item for discussion at the

meeting? I thought we were going to talk about the revised budgets - but I can't see

this on the agenda.

Man: OK. I'd better ask him to call you . . .

Woman: Yes, please. I'm at Head Office at the moment. Can he phone me here today - I

won't be back at my own desk until tomorrow afternoon.

Man: Right, I'll give him the message.

Woman: Thanks.

Man:

Bye.

Woman: Goodbye.

[pause]

Now listen to the recording again.

[pause]

That is the end of Part One. You now have 20 seconds to check your answers.

[pause]

Part Two. Questions 13 to 22.

Section One. Questions 13 to 17.

You

will hear

five

short

recordings.

Five

people

are

talking

about

different

business

books they have read.

for each recording, decide which book the speaker is talking about.

Write one letter (A-Hi next to the number of the recording.

Do not use any letter more than once.

After you have listened once, replay the recordings.

You have

15

seconds to read the list A-H.

[pause]

Note listen, and decide winch book each speaker is talking about.

[pause]

Thirteen

Woman: Yes, it was interesting . . . some of it was rather obvious, of course, like dressing

smartly, making sure you arrive on time, that sort of thing . . . but there was also quite

a lot I'd never really considered . . . like ways to interpret what the advertisement is

really asking for, reading between the lines . . . and a section which lists some of the

harder questions they tend to ask you, with effective answers you can give

[pause]

Fourteen

Man:

Invaluable,

I'd

say

.

.

.

certainly

helps

prevent

you

making

some

of

the

more

12

embarrassing

mistakes.

It

gives

you

a

kind

of

timescale

to

follow

through.

For

example, they stress that you need to get publicity up and running a good six months

before you want to stage the event. And get your main speakers booked earlier than

that. They say you must make sure you've got a good assistant to support you, check

the details.

[pause]

Fifteen

Woman: Actually, although it was a bit long, it was definitely useful. The trouble often is,

when

the management take

on

new staff, they don't necessarily really know what

skills

or

qualities

are

needed.

I

want

someone

who's

more

than

just

a

secretary

typing

out

letters

every

day

.

.

.

I'm

looking

for

a

right

hand,

someone

to

do

everything . . . and this book spells out what that means . . . it's helped me to draw up

a job description.

[pause]

Sixteen

Man: Well, I wish I'd read it years ago! That would have saved me from some of my worst

inefficiencies. I'd recommend

it to anyone. It shows you

how to

produce

a perfect

schedule for getting through your workload . . . Once you've got yourself organised,

made lists of tasks and priorities, you can make best use of each and every day . . .

otherwise you're just constantly confusing your PA with endless requests, all terribly

urgent . . .

[pause]

Seventeen

Woman:

Certainly, a lot of the book was very specialised . . . but it did give me an idea of

how7 the agencies do the job. Of course, they're the people with the creative ideas,

the expertise, so I'm happy to trust the image development work to them . . . but I

read the book so I could talk to them on equal terms about what we're trying to do,

and how it fits in with our overall business strategy.

[pause]

Now listen to the recordings again.

[pause]

Section Two. Questions 18 to 22.

You will hear another five recordings, five people are talking about why they decided to

use a particular company to supply their office

equipment.

for each recording, decide what reason each person gives.

Write one letter (A-H) next to the number of the recording.

Do not use any letter more than once.

After you have listened once, replay the recordings.

You have 15 seconds to read the list A-H.

[pause]

.Vow

listen, arid decide what reason each person gives.

[pause]

Eighteen

Man: We were having problems with the company we normally use so we looked at a

number of other companies and decided to give this one a try. They're just new in the

business and we were impressed as they promised they would deliver the goods we

wanted within two days and they did. We had to pay more than we would have

liked

but the results were worth it. Since then, I've told a lot of other people about them.

13

[pause]

Nineteen

Woman:

Apparently

they're

an

established

company

in

Scotland

with

an

excellent

reputation, but I didn't know that at the time. I found them through the internet. I was

just browsing through the list of suppliers one day and I noticed their name. I looked

them up and found that they had this fantastic discount available that particular month.

We ordered various things and the quality was so good we've continued using them.

[pause]

Twenty

Man: We like to try out different suppliers to

make sure we're always getting the best

deal. This particular company was running a big publicity campaign. I'd seen the ads

on TV and they really put me off. I just couldn't see the

appeal. But then someone I met at a training day

told me we should use them. His

company

had

used

their

service

for

years

with

no

complaints

so

we

followed

his

advice.

[pause]

Twenty-one

Woman: We'd

looked

round

the

market

to

find

the

cheapest deal possible

but

to be

honest

there

wasn't

much

to

choose,

in

terms

of

cost,

between

any

of

the

local

suppliers. However, we had a visit from a sales representative from one company and

we asked him to make up some complimentary printed letterheads for us. They were

exactly what we wanted so that was the

deciding factor. I think that personal touch

gives a company far better results than advertising ever can.

[pause]

Twenty- two

Man:

Obviously

there are many different factors

to consider when you choose a new

supplier. We always used a local company because they were relatively near and we

could even pick things up ourselves if necessary. But unfortunately they just became

too expensive. Now that express delivery services are widely available, distance is no

longer a consideration and we've been able to choose someone who can give us the

best package for the lowest cost.

[pause]

Now listen to the recordings again.

[pause]

That is the end of Part Two.

[pause]

Part Three. Questions 23 to 30.

You will hear a radio report about the London stock market.

For each question 23

—

30, mark one letter (A, B or C) for the correct answer.

After you have listened once, replay the recording.

You have 45 seconds to read through the questions.

[pause]

Now listen, and mark A, B or C.

[pause]

Woman: Hello. I'm Jane Bowen with our regular Friday look at the week just finished on

the London stock market.

The general picture is pretty mixed. Shares in the major banks are trading down,

while mining companies have surprised analysts with a small rise. Overall, it's been

a week of considerable movement, with the highest level reached at the close two

days ago and a sharp fall yesterday. A strong recovery saw most of those losses

being

made

up

today,

but

the

closing

figure

still

fell

short

of

Wednesday's.

Now

here's Charles Wrighton with some company news.

Man: Thanks Jane. And first, clothing retailer, Brownlow. Having finally found a buyer for

14