中级BEC商务英语阅读

中级BEC商务英语阅读 The Myth of the Paperless Office 0 The concept of a paperless office grew with the advance of technology. It was 00 widely been claimed that as email became commonplace, people would stop 34 writing memos, keeping bulky files and bringing piles of paper to the meetings. 35 But the reality has in fact been quite the reverse, and paper, having already 36 survived five thousand years of technological change, and has proved remarkably 37 resilient. Worldwide, the amount of paper used for each year continues to 38 rise up, although statistics now show a slight reduction in the amount 39 it consumed in the UK. So, has technology failed in its aim to end the use of 40 paper? Max Bray, a business lecturer, thinks office workers still distrust computers. 41 „Technology is unreliable in most of people's eyes,?he says. 'If you are sent an 42 important email, you are likely to print it, because there is always the 43 fear that it might have get deleted.?In contrast, Paul Blunt, a marketing 44 manager for desktop products, who says there has been significant progress in 45 automating a wide range of tasks, even though the transition between has been more of an evolution than a revolution. 《The Myth of the Paperless Office》，无纸化办公室神话。讲的是新技术对现代办公的 影响。 34题，meeting在这里不是特殊指代，只是叙述的一般情况。不需要使用定冠词the。 35题，正确的 36题，和上面的部分联系起来作为一个整体来考虑。paper, having already survived five thousand years of technological change, and has proved remarkably resilient.中间的部分是插入语，可以不考虑，所以完整的应该是paper has proved remarkably resilient。主谓宾非常齐全，and是多余的。resilient是适应力强的，有弹力的。 37题，used在这里是后置定语，修饰前面的paper，意思是每年使用的纸的总数，不需要 for。 38题，持续增长，用rise，rise up是起义的意思。 39题，the amount consumed in the UK，consumed也是后置定语，表示英国的消费 总量。it多余。 40题，正确的 41题，in most people?s eyes在大多数人的眼里，of多余。 42题，正确的 43题，might have done表示可能已经做了某事，而这里的意思是指电子邮件等可能会被 删除，不用have，去掉。 44题，Paul Blunt, a marketing manager for desktop products, who says there has been significant progress。中间的部分是插入成分，不予考虑。完整的是Paul Blunt (who) says there has been significant progress.主语是人，谓语是says，后面是宾 语，成分齐全，who是多余的。 45题，the transition between has been more of an evolution than a revolution.依然是一个完整的句子，成分齐全，transition是主语，has been是谓语，between是 多余的。 Another successful year The UK-based agricultural and garden equipment group PLT has had another successful year and is looking forward to the future with confidence. The group, which also has distribution and fuel (19),has enjoyed record profits for the fifth year in a (20) . Pre-tax profits for the year (21) March 31 rose by 24 per cent to ?4.2 million. Total group sales (22) by five per cent to ?155 million, with the agricultural business delivering yet another record (23), despite the somewhat difficult trading (24) in the industry. Sales in the garden equipment (25) were slow in the early months of the year, but increased dramatically in the final quarter. Chairman Suresh Kumar said, „It is my (26) that we have continued to grow by (27) our customers well. I am delighted to (28) the continued development of our customer (29) and I would like to thank all our customers for their (30).As well as an increase in customers,our staff numbers also continue to grow. During the year, we have taken(31)58 new employees, so that our total workforce now numbers in excess of 700. All of the staff deserve my praise for their dedication and continued efforts in (32) these excellent results.? The group has proposed a final (33) of 9.4p per share, bringing the total to 13p for the year. 19 A commitments B interests C responsibilities D benefits 20 A row B series C line D sequence 21 A completing B closing C finalising D ending 22 A extended B lifted C expanded D climbed 23 A display B production C performance D demonstration 24 A conditions B features C states D aspects 25 A part B division C component D side 26 A certainty B thought C belief D idea 27 A caring B dealing C providing D treating 28 A inform B notify C comment D report 29 A source B base C foundation D origin 30 A support B favour C assistance D service 31 A up B back C on D over 32 A winning B gaining C achieving D earning 33 A dividend B recompense C return D interest 这是一篇性的文章，讲述了一个公司一年的业绩状况，形势喜人。 19题，interests在这里的用法比较特殊，不是兴趣，而是股权，权益的证明: 1)Something in which such a right, claim, or share is held: 权益、债权或股权的证明: has interests overseas. 有海外产权 2)A person or group of persons holding such a right, claim, or share: 持有此种权益、债权或股权的人或集团: a petroleum interest. 石油业者 20题，很显然意思是连续五年利润创记录，in a row是固定短语，连续几次的，连续不断的;in a line是成一排。 21题，年税前收益截至3月31日增长了24%，达到了420万英镑。the year ending March 31，表示以3月31日结束 22题，意思很明显，销售增长了5%。climb有一种用法是指数量或水平的增长(to increase in number, amount, or level)。例句:The temperature has climbed steadily since this morning. 24题，虽然整个行业的贸易状况很困难，但是agricultural business创造了另一个23和 创纪录的表现。 25题，garden equipment division 园林设备部。截至目前所做的解析，这个division已经是第二次在完形填空里出现了。 26和27题，It is my belief that 我相信。我相信是因为好好对待了客户所以我们才会持续增长。 28题，很高兴客户基数的持续增长。从意思上看可以排除C，A和B都是比较正式的通知，选D，报告。 29题，customer base客户基数，这也已经是第二次考到了。 30题，典型的客套话，感谢客户的支持。 31题，新增了58位新员工。take up占据，拿起，继续，开始从事等等;take back拿回，收回;take on一般做呈现讲，有雇佣的意思(朗文:to start to employ someone)， 例句:We're taking on 50 new staff this year.take over接管。 32题，付出了持续不断的努力实现了这些结果。achieve是最地道的。 33题，只需要理解dividend的意思就行了，因为后面有share(股份)，dividend是红利。 recompense是给….以补偿。 疑问: 23题为什么不能选D做“示范”讲, 先从文章的内容来理解的话，23这个空说的是agricultural business的业绩好，表现好， 用performance是很完美合适的 具体说这个demonstration,的确有“示范”的意思，但在英英词典是这么解释的: “an act of explaining and showing how to do something or how something works”,中文做“演示”讲 所以用在这里是不合适的，并没有进行业绩演示 你理解的“示范”，应该是那种带有榜样性质的示范。单看中文意思很容易混淆 Which section of the article (A, B, C or D) does each statement (1-7) refer to? You will need to use some of these letters more than once. 1 Managers need to take action to convince high-flyers of their value to the firm. 2 Organisations need to look beyond the high-flyers they are currently developing. 3 There is a concern that firms investing in training for high-flyers may not gain the benefits themselves. 4 Managers need expert assistance from within their own firms in developing high-flyers. 5 Firms currently identify high-flyers without the support of a guidance strategy. 6 Managers are frequently too busy to deal withthe development of high-flyers. 7 Firms who work hard on their reputation as an employer willinterest high-flyers. The Stars of the Future A Existing management research does not tell us much about how to find and develop high-flyers, those people who have the potential to reach the top of an organisation. As a result, organisations are left to formulate their own systems. A more effective overall policy for developing future leaders is needed, which is why the London Business School has launched the Tomorrow's Leaders Research Group (TLRG). The group contains representatives from 20 firms, and meets regularly to discuss the leadership development of the organisations' high-flyers. B TLRG recognises just how significant line managers are in the process of leadership development. Unfortunately, with today's flat organisations, where managers have functional as well as managerial responsibilities, people development all too often falls victim to heavy workloads. One manager in the research group was unconvinced by the logic of sending his best people away on development courses, 'only to see them poached by another department or, worse still, another firm'. This fear of losing high-flyers runs deep in the organisations that make up the research group. C TLRG argues that the task of management is not necessarily about employee retention, but about creating 'attraction centres'. 'We must help line managers to realise that if their companies are known as ones that develop their people, they will have a greater appeal to high-flyers,' said one advisor. Furthermore, selecting people for, say, a leadership development programme is a sign of commitment from management to an individual. Loyalty can then be more easily demanded in return. DTLRG has concluded that a company's HR specialists need to take action and engage with line managers individually about their role in the development of high-flyers. Indeed, in order to benefit fully from training high-flyers as the senior managers of the future, firms must actually address the development of all managers who will be supporting the high-flyers. Without this, managers will not be in a position to give appropriate advice. And when eventually the high-flyers do move on, new ones will be needed to replace them. The next challenge will be to find a new generation of high-flyers. Issues in the recruitment world In the competitive world of investment banking, good senior executives are not easy to find. So what should the industry's hard-pressed directors do when they need to find senior staff? Increasingly, they decide to call in the headhunters. These are busy and profitable times for the recruitment agencies that dominate the world of executive search and selection. (0) .....They needed new people to revitalise their operations, and the result has been a boom in the recruitment market. Pinnacle, a leading recruitment agency, has helped various UK investment banks to rebuild their entire senior management teams. It is hard to overstate the significance of this. (8)............ But now everything has changed, and Pinnacle is not the only major player in the field. Some analysts believe that rival recruitment specialists ALT Associates has a larger share of the market. However, there is little doubt that over its 13-year history, Pinnacle and its chairman, Matthew Edwards, have built up an impressive reputation. Edwards estimates that his company controls between 10 and 15 per cent of the headhunting market for senior investment banking jobs in the UK. (9)............Rather, it is the high-calibre jobs and people that Pinnacle deals with that define the company's success. For example, the company was recently commissioned to find a new chairman for NBS Bank, a vacancy that was one of the most talked about in the banking world. Most HR directors recognise that headhunters such as Pinnacle play a valuable role in the recruitment process.(10)............Some are concerned that a few companies, including Pinnacle, have too much power over high-level recruitment.(11)............As Tim Davidson, HR Director at Cawfield Bank, explains, They can be kingmakers. These are the people who decide who gets a future and who doesn't. If Edwards forms a view about an individual, it can affect their ability to get a particular job. That view could just have been formed on a bad day.' (12)............ Final decisions in the selection process are always taken by his clients, he says, whoever they are. The role of headhunters should not be exaggerated. Many companies never use them. But as top executives are hard to find, there will always be a role for people like Matthew Edwards. A Although others may put it lower, it is important to remember that the company's reputation is not based on market share alone. B Their chief worry is that the headhunters can now make or break managerial careers. C According to Edwards, this is a further indication that the way Pinnacle searches for a candidate tends to favour a certain type of manager. D But this acceptance does not mean they are universally happy, either with the state of the market or with Pinnacle's role within it. E Until a few years ago, even the biggest companies were unlikely to use headhunters to fill more than one or two jobs a year. FEdwards objects to this suggestion, claiming that all he does is find candidates and encourage them to apply for a particular post. G A number of big investment banks recently decided to make changes to their management boards after disappointing end-of-year results. 《Issues in the recruitment world》，招聘世界里的话题。围绕猎头公司(headhunter) 展开，说明了猎头公司的发展和重要性，以及用人单位对猎头公司的一些疑问。第一段引出 话题，说现在正是猎头公司占领市场的时候。接下来几段顺序介绍了猎头市场的发展阶段， 从起步阶段(第二段的内容)，到逐步发家(第三段)，当中列举了一个猎头公司的情况加以 说明(第四段)，然后第五段介绍了用人单位对猎头公司的一些质疑。最后一段是总的概括。 做这种题一定要理清文章的逻辑顺序，从整体上把握文章脉络。 第八题，第二段的最后一句。第二段是简单引出猎头公司的起步，起步阶段并没有多少公司 认识到猎头公司的重要性，就如第八题前面的一句话所说:It is hard to overstate the significance of this。很难高估这个的重要性，也就是说猎头公司的作用并没有被完全的 认识到。后面的空格应该相应的填入猎头公司不太被重视的句子。E选项正好满足这个特点: 直到几年前，甚至最大的公司都不可能一年利用猎头公司来填补一两个职位。 第九题，主要是介绍Pinnacle这个猎头公司的情况。前面说这个公司的市场份额在10%到 15%，空格后面一个rather(相反)，说定义公司成功的应该是公司所处理的高质量的工 作和客户。中间应填入一个表转折意思的句子，并且可能和公司的市场份额有关。A句满足 这个要求:虽然其他人可能把它(指市场份额)估计得更低，但一个公司的名声不仅仅是建 立在市场份额基础上的。 第五段，集中填入三个句子，所以一定要从意思上进行把握。这一段是用人单位对猎头公司的一些质疑，然后猎头公司Pinnacle的主席Edwards进行了一些反驳。 这一段第一句话说人力资源部经理认为Pinnacle发挥了很重要的作用，接着空格后面说的 也就是一些人提出了担心，所以中间的第十题应该填入表是Some are concerned that… 示转折意思的句子，而且可能是对猎头公司发挥的作用的消极看法。D满足这一要求:但是这种认可不代表他们完全的高兴。BUT是个关键的信号，acceptance是指代前面人力资源经理们对猎头公司发挥作用的认可。 第十一题，前面的句子是对猎头公司发挥作用的担心，认为它们权力过大了。这一题后面的句子是引用一个人力资源经理的解释，进一步说明猎头公司的影响力太大。所以十一题也应该与此相关。B符合:他们首要担心的是猎头公司会创造或者破坏管理职业生涯。Worry是关键词，同前面的concern相对应，make or break managerial careers也就是上下文所说的权利过大，简直拥有生杀大权。 第十二题，理解了前面的，不难做出选择。这里很明显就是猎头公司为自己辩护。前面指责猎头公司的评价会影响个人的选择。而空格后面是Edwards的解释，说最终的决定权是掌握在客户自己手中。所以这一题很明显应该填入对前面表示反驳的句子，也就是F，object to，非常明显的信号:Edwards反对这种说法，声称他所做的无非就是寻找候选人然后鼓励他们去申请某个特定的职位。