商务英语(BEC)高级阅读真题与答案

PART ONE

Questions 1 - 8

·

Look at the sentences below and at five passages taken from a book about famous

management thinkers on the opposite page.

·

Which passage does each sentence refer to?

·

For each sentence

1 - 8, mark one letter

A1 B, C, D or E on your Answer Sheet.

·

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

Example:

0ABCDE

1 Others in his field think very highly of him.

2 His ideas have spread beyond the business world.

3 He felt that people should be able to enjoy their work.

4 His ideas are more complex than they seem.

5 He did a variety of interesting things before writing his books.

6 His most successful book was written with a colleague.

7 He is particularly skilled at forecasting important developments.

8 Contact with the military was an early influence on his thinking.

A John Adair

Adair

is the pioneering

British

thinker

in the theory

of

leadership.

He was the

first person in the UK to hold a professorship in Business Leadership and has

published a series of influential books on the subject.

Despite his quiet appearance, Adair has had a colourful life, serving in a

Bedouin regiment and working on an Arctic fishing boat! His initial interest in

leadership came from his army experience and he used to lecture at the highly

prestigious academy where British army offices are trained. He now works as an

international consultant.

B Edward de Bono

De Bono is unusual among major gurus for two reasons: firstly, he was born not

in one of the great industrial nations but on the tiny island of Malta. Secondly,

his ideas have reached a wider audience than just managers, so that his books

have become essential rending in many different disciplines.

Most of de Bono s work has been concerned with the way human beings can train

themselves to think more creatively. This apparently simple idea has resulted in

37 books and a highly successful career as a lecturer and consultant.

management as a serious area of study. Certainly, his fellow management thinkers

consider him one of the founding fathers of the discipline, and his books and articles are quoted

more than those of any other management writer.

His first book was published as far back as 1939, yet he is still writing and

teaching. His greatest distinction has been his ability to predict coming trends

in business and economics. As a result, his ideas are treated with the greatest

respect and interest.

D Frederick Herzberg

Although relatively few contemporary management students will have read his

books, Herzberg s nameis instantly

recognisable

to anyone who has studied

industrial

organisations. This is because the American psychologist was responsible for

introducing the concept of motivation into management thinking.

As a young man, Herzberg became deeply interested

need for

mental

and emotional

satisfaction.

in mental illness

and the human

the approach

This led

him to criticise

of many companies to job design, and to argue for the need for job enrichment to

stimulate employees efforts.

E Tom Peters

The American s reputation was created in the I 980s by the

of one book, In Search of Excellence,

co- written

spectacular success

with

Robert

Waterman. The two were

first

(and only)

working

together

as management consultants

book to end up selling 5 million copies worldwide!

and no-one expected their

Although his ideas have been criticised, Peters popularity as a speaker and

writer has continued to grow. So much so that Peters has created his own business

to market books, videos and consultancy based on his work.

PART TWO

Questions 9 - 14

·

Read this text from an article about health clubs.

·

Choose the best sentence from the opposite page to fill in

each of the gaps.

·

For each gap 9 - 14, mark one letter A - H on your Answer Sheet.

·

Do not use any letter more than once.

·

There is an example at the beginning (0).

Travel stress brings boom to health clubs

A rapid growth in business travel has provided a lucrative spin-off

for British health clubs as companies try to prevent hard- working

executives from suffering travel-related stress.

Health clubs are fully

booked throughout

the coming months all

around

the country and many are planning to expand their facilities.

0 H According to Gillie Turner, group marketing manager for the

Champneysgroup of health clubs,

during

the last

recession

executives

lost

manyof their

extra benefits

as companies cut back. . 9 She says that

large

companies also seem to have decided that it is no good sending someone

to a country like Spain as a reward for doing a good job, because they

will simply eat too much and flop onto a beach. . 10

Champneys,the companyacknowledged as the market leader

in this

field,

is now planning to introduce a special

which will

run over three

days. . 11 Jonathon Stapleton,

general

manager

of Champneys, says that modern corporate life being what it is, most

business travellers

find

that

they are having to do the work which - even

a year ago - was done by two. 12

To meet this new demand, other health clubs are also thinking of

introducing similar schemes. Clare Brandish, the sales and marketing

director of another health club, has noticed a marked change in the

clientele at her club. . 13

Businesses of all

kinds are anxious

to reduce absenteeism.

. 14 Much

of the problem is caused by long periods

business entertaining and jet lag.

away from home, irregular

hours,

According to the Guild of Business Travel Agents, sales of

business-class

airline

tickets

have risen

by 12%in the past year,

hotel

bookings have gone up by 36%and car hire

has risen

by 24%. Dave Reynolds,

the GBTA chief executive, says that the trouble is that the same number

of people are being asked to travel more often. He comments that it is

no

wonder they need to take a break in a health club.

A It has been calculated

that about 40

million working days are lost

each year in Britain because of stress, ten times as many as are lost 10

industrial disputes.

B This has involved a considerable rise in the number of business

bookings, whereas previously most clients came as private individuals.

C Now they are being restored, as industry realises that the health

of its executives is vital.

D But who will benefit most from these developments?

E Because of the pressures this imposes, many companies have now

decided that

it

is worthwhile

paying for

their

senior

executives

to

take

a proper break and get advice on how to combat stress.

F Executives taking part in it will be given massages and health

treatments, workouts and a range of talks on how to deal with stress,

especially when travelling.

G So what s the reason for this now trend?

PART THREE

Questions 15 - 20

·

Read the following article on recruiting and managing staff

and the questions on the opposite page.

·

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 on your Answer Sheet, for the answer

you choose.

As a manager in the service

industry

sector,

I've

looked at hundreds

of CVsin my time.

They are not necessarily

the bland documents somebosses

might

think

they

are! They are full

of little

pointers

towards

individuals

personalities

and suitability

for

the

job. The first

thing

I

always

look

at is an applicant s employment record. I check for continuity and

stability. If somebody has a long list of previous jobs, all of varying

length, alarm bells start ringing. Rather than an irregular route from

job to job, what I hope to see is stable career progression. What does

their

career

path

look

like

- is

it

all

steps

forward,

or are

there

a lot

of sideways moves? And I am always pleased to find a family person with

children, because in my experience they tend to be responsible and

reliable.

I never rely on CVs alone. We get applicants to fill in one of our

own application

forms.

Weask why they've

applied,

what their

aspirations

and personal goals are, and also about their interests and hobbies and

any clubs they belong to. That gives you a useful insight into their

personality and lifestyle. The application form also enables us to test

how much people

have actually

been progressing

in

their

careers,

because

we ask for details of the salaries they have received for each job.

It s always worth looking

at

CVs and designing

application

forms

with

great care. Taking on employees might be rewarding, but it is also a big

investment for any business.

Mistakes in choosing

staff

can cost

companies

dear, so it makes sense to spend time ensuring you get the right person.

In the service sector, one of the aims of companies is to maintain

and improve customer service, and this is achieved partly through low

staff turnover. You need

to take on

people who understand

that, and will

want to stay. That s why, when you've taken staff on, the next thing is

getting the best out of them.

My management style comes from the days when I took over my first

business, an ailing road haulage firm which I was certain I could turn

into a profitable company. The first thing is to treat others as you d

like

to be treated

yourself.

As soon as I

took

over

the

business,

I talked

to everybody individually, and looked for ways to make sure their

particular skills benefited the company.

I

didn't

have much experience

then

of managing

people,

but above all

I always tried to be fair and honest with everyone. As a result, I think

the staff knew that

and accepted

my decisions, even if they didn't agree

with them all. Also, bosses must be able to communicate. You also need

to create team spirit,

and build

on the

strength

of

the

team. I

my plans for the company to all the staff, and let them all know what I

needed from them. The lorry drivers responded brilliantly, and were the

explained