剑桥商务英语中级真题1

1、剑桥商务英语中级真题1READI NGPART ONELook at the stateme nts below and the in formatio n on the opposite page about feedback on staff performa nee. Which seetio n (A, B, C or D) does each stateme nt 1-7 refer to?For each statement (1-7), mark one letter (A, B, C or D) on your Answer Sheet.You will n eed to us

2、e some of these letters more tha n on ce.Changes in Performanee FeedbackA. In the past, feedback about your performa nee used to mean a quiet chat with the boss. But now 360-degree feedback-the system where employees are also give n feedback from peers and from the people they man age-is taking root

3、 in corporate culture. The system is characterised by greater participation and has grown out of the desire of compa nies to create more ope n work ing en vir onments where people work better together and ideas and opinions are excha nged betwee n teams and across levels of seni ority.B. PCs linked

4、to the company IT network are set to become the feedback machines. Many firms introducing 360-degree feedback are using Personal Developme nt Pla nner software. Feedback on an in dividual, which is based on a questionnaire relating to attributes needed for that person's role in the company, is c

5、ollected using this electr onic system. All the in formati on gathered is an alysed and the end result is a suggested developme nt pla n. The advantage is that individuals make requests for the feedback themselves and receive the results directly.C. Sarah Rains, from the pharmaceutical compa ny Opte

6、c, said, 'Now feedback is available on our n etwork, we encourage managers to choose how they use it. It is a flexible tool and we tell them that waiting for the annual eve nt of a formal appraisal n eed n't apply.' At the engin eeri ng compa ny NT, 250 tech ni cal man agers have bee n t

7、hrough the feedback process. Jack Palmer, a senior man ager there said, 'We n eeded to develop the in terpers onal skills of these tech ni cally-min ded people. In particular, we wan ted to build on their team-work ing and coachi ng skills.'D. So, how is the new feedback culture likely to af

8、fect you? It could form the basis of your personal developme nt programme, providi ng poin ters to your stre ngths and also to those areas you n eed to develop more. Or feedback could be used for 'successi on pla nnin g', where compa nies use the in formati on to speculate on who has the rig

9、ht skills to move into more senior positions. As yet, few organisations have stretched the role of feedback so far as to link it to salaries. But one thing is clear: the future will bring even wider participation by all members of staff.1. staff being reminded that it is not essential to restrict fe

10、edback to once a yearC-2. the way in which feedback could identify people suitable for promotion D3. the aim of improvi ng staff com muni cati on throughout an orga ni sati on A4. the feedback obta ined on an employee being lin ked to requireme nts for a particular job5. aspects of a group of employ

11、ees' work that were identified as requiring improvementc-6. feedback in dicati ng both positive and n egative aspects of an in dividual's work D7. the participati on of less senior pers onnel in a member of staff's feedback APART TWORead the article below about work ing in intern ati ona

12、l teams.Choose the best sentence from the opposite page to fill each of the gaps.For each gap (8-12), mark one letter (A-G) on your An swer Sheet. Do not use any letter more tha n once.There is an example at the begi nning (0).INTERNATIONAL TEAMSAn international team can be defined as a group of peo

13、ple who come from different nationalities and work together towards a com mon goal. (0) (G) The fact that they are spread out prese nts a range of opport un ities and challenges that teams working in the same place do not experienee.One trend, in particular, which is creating the need for more inter

14、national teams, is that we are in the middle of a dramatic in formatio n revoluti on. 1Thus, these teams can now spe nd as much time worki ng apart as together.They can access and share in formati on as n ever before. Busin ess will in creas in gly be done in an 'in formati on space', with i

15、n formati on beco ming a product in its own right. 2Doing this through the in ter netand e-mail is in expe nsive and relatively easy, in both tech no logically developed and develop ing coun tries.A questi on com monly asked by man agers is whether these teams actually work. Can they deliver improve

16、d performa nee? After a decade of work experie nee and research with intern ati onal teams, I believe the an swer is positive. 2 What's more, many of those compa nies which have actually in troduced intern ati onal teams have focused only on the performa nee of the teams, without tak ing into ac

17、co unt the con text in which they are in troduced. Con text plays a key role in the likelihood of their success.Creati ng the right con text for intern ati onal teams n eeds more tha n a quick fix, though. It requires a Ion g-term commitment. 4 On the contrary, companies need to focus on the way the

18、y operate, and possibly initiate a complete review of their practices, before in troduci ng an intern ati onal team.Give n these challe nges, what should orga ni sati ons do to make sure that their intern ati onal teams are successful? Much has bee n writte n about effective team processes in gen er

19、al, and the first thi ng to say is that most of these guidelines apply equally to international teams. Experience has shown that international teams are simply more complex vers ions of n ati onal teams. 5_While these eleme nts may have a variety of in terpretati ons in different cultures, they are

20、as important to international teams as they are to national teams.A. If an orga ni sati on is just begi nning to work globally and has only recen tly created intern ati onal teams, it often un derestimates the level of support n eeded by teams.B. It is now well established that any team will have a

21、greater chance of success if it has clear goals, a strong sense of commitme nt, appropriate leadership and good in terpers onal relati on ships.C. The recog niti on of this has created many more kno wledge workers, that is, people who create, excha nge and broadcast in formati on as kno wledge.D. Or

22、ga ni sati ons must un dersta nd that operati ng globally affects every aspect of bus in ess and they cannot simply set up intern ati onal teams and assume that everythi ng else can rema in un cha nged.E. The first major impact of this is that satellite tech no logy is in creas in gly allowi ng team

23、 members to participate in discussi ons wherever they are, at any time they choose.F. Unfortun ately, however, few orga ni sati ons un til now have bee n prepared to make the n ecessary in vestme nt to gain the pote ntial ben efits that intern ati onal teams offer.G. Un like most n ati onal teams, i

24、ntern ati onal teams ofte n work apart and across cultures and time zon es, for exte nded periods of time.1.PART THREERead the article below about leadership in bus in ess and the questi ons on the opposite page. For each question (13-18), mark one letter (A, B, C or D) on your Answer Sheet.THE EFFE

25、CTIVE LEADERFrom workplace surveys, I have found that most people want to be-a nd feel they could be-more effective leaders. Certa inly they want their leaders to be more effective. But what do we mean by effective leadership in bus in ess? It would appear a simple questi on. Un fortun ately, effect

26、ive ness is more easily recog ni sable whe n it is abse nt. Leaders who attempt to use bus in ess jarg on and try out the latest ideas are too often perceived as figures of fun. Whilst people freque ntly agree on what in effective leadership is, clearly knowing what not to do is hardly helpful in pr

27、actice.Huge amounts of research have been done on this very wide subject. When you look at leadership in different ways, you see differe nt thi ngs. While descripti ons of leadership are all differe nt, they are all true-a nd this is where disagreeme nt arises. However, leadership is specific to a g

28、ive n con text. The effective ness of your actions is assessed in relati on to the con text and to the con diti ons un der which you took them.For a magaz ine article I wrote recen tly, I in terviewed one publishi ng executive, author of several well-k nown publications, about what effective leaders

29、hip is. It was significant that, at first, he did not mention his own compa ny. He talked at len gth about what was happe ning in the in dustry-the mergers, take-overs and global n ature of the bus in ess. Before he was able to describe his own objectives for the new publishi ng orga ni sati on he w

30、as setting up, he had to see a clear fit between these proposals and the larger situation outside. Obvious? Of course. But I have lost count of the nu mber of leaders I have coached who believed that their ideas were valid, whatever the situati on.At this point, I should also mention another example

31、, that of a finance director whose plan of action was not well received. The compa ny he had joined had grow n steadily for twenty years, serv ing clie nts who were in the mai n distrustful of any product that was too revoluti on ary. The finance director saw pote ntial challe nges from competitors

32、an d wan ted his orga ni sati on to move with the times. Un fortun ately, most staff below him were un willi ng to cha nge. I con cluded that although there were certa in ly some pers onal skills he could improve upon, what he most n eeded to do was to com muni cate effectively with his subord in at

33、es, so that they all felt at ease with his differe nt approach.Some effective leaders believe they can con trol un certa inty because they know what the orga ni sati on should be doing and how to do it. Within the organisation itself, expertise is usually greatly valued, and executives are expected,

34、 as they rise within the system, to know more tha n those ben eath them and, therefore, to man age the operati on. A good example of this would be a firm of acco untants I visited. Their bus in ess was built on selli ng reliable expertise to the clie nt, who n aturally wants un certa inty to be some

35、thi ng only other compa nies have to face. Within this firm, giving the right answer was greatly valued, and mistakes were clearly to be avoided.I am particularly interested in what aims leaders have and what their role should be in helping the organisation achieve its strategic aims. Some leaders a

36、re highly in effective whe n the aim does n't fit with the n eed, such as the manu facturi ng man ager who was en couraged by her bosses to make revoluti onary cha nges. She did, and was very successful. However, whe n she moved to a differe nt part of the bus in ess, she carried on her programm

37、e of cha nge. Unfortun ately, this part of the bus in ess had already suffered badly from two misma naged attempts at cha nge. My point is that what her people n eeded at that mome nt was a steady hand, not further cha nges-she should have recog ni sed that. The outcome was that withi n six mon ths

38、staff were call ing for her resig nati on.1. In the first paragraph, the writer says that poor leaders * A.do not want to listen to criticism. B.do n ot deserve to be take n seriously. C.are easier to identify than good ones. D.are* more widespread than people think.c-2. Why does the writer believe

39、there is disagreeme nt about what effective leadership is? * A.Definitions of successful leadership vary according to the situation. B.There are few examples of outstanding leaders available to study. C.Leaders are unable to give clear descriptions of their qualities.* D.The results of research on t

40、he subject have concluded little.3. The publishi ng executive's priorities for leadership focused on A.significant and Iong-term aims. B.internal organisational aspects. C.professional skills and abilities.* D.overall bus in ess con texts.4. Accord ing to the writer, the finance director was un

41、successful because * A.staff were uncomfortable with his style.» B.existing clients were suspicious of change.-C.competitors had a more dynamic approach. D.colleagues gave little support to his ideas.5. Staff at the acco untancy firm who were promoted were required to » A.correct mistakes.

42、 B.have a high level of kno wledge. C.maintain discipline within the organisation. D.advise clients on responding to uncertainty.6. The example of the man ager at the manu facturi ng compa ny is give n to emphasise that A.managers need support from their employers. B.leaders should not be afraid of

43、being unpopular. C.effective leaders must be sen sitive to staff n eeds. D.ma nagers do not always understand the attitudes of staff.PART FOURRead the extract below from the annual report of a compa ny with manu facturi ng in terests around the world.Choose the best word to fill each gap from A, B,

44、C or D on the opposite page.For each question (19-33), mark one letter (A, B, C or D) on your Answer Sheet.Manu factur ing StrategyDuring the last year, we announced the significant expansion of our plastic sheeting plant in Malaysia, which, together with the acquisiti on of the Java nese factory, w

45、ill approximately double the Group's manu facturi ng 1.The cost of this development is within 2_and will be approximately $5.6m, of which $2.7m was incurred during the previous year. It is on schedule to 3 increasing volumes from October 2009.Follow ing the 4_of plastic tub ing manufacture from

46、Germa ny to Thaila nd, we have effectively doubled the capacity of this facility at an 5_cost of $12m. The project is set to cost less than the original 6 and is on target for in creased producti on by June 2010.In February, we announced our J_ to sell our factory in Irela nd. This decisi on is in l

47、ine with the Group's strategy of 8 on our core categories of bran ded products.In June, we announced investment in a new state-of-the-art UK manufacturing facility for specialist plasticcomp onen ts. This facility will be 9by mid 2009 and will in crease the Group's capacity to manu facture p

48、roductsefficiently in-house. At the same time it will 10about 200 new jobs in an area of high unemployment. Thefactory is to cost approximately $24m, towards which government 11 of up to $4m are already available. Sadly, as part of this move, we announced the 12 of our Blackburn facility, which is d

49、ue to take place in the early part of 2010.As part of our commitme nt to effective exter nal com muni cati ons with all our stakeholders, in October we _13 the corporate website, which is now providing up-to-date information on the Group and we look forward to receiv ing 14 from users of the site. E

50、xisti ng product websites are now in the 15_of bei ng redesig ned as part of the global rebra nding strategy.« A.output B.yield C.total« D.mass2. A.budget B.i ncome C.acco unt» D.fund3. A.forward B.tra nsfer C.advanee D.deliver4. A.replacement* B.rearranging C.relocati on D.redistribu

51、ti on5. A.aimed B.imagi ned C.accepted D.expected6.* A.guess B.judgement C.estimate D.c on vict ion7. A.focus B.object C.in te ntion D.purpose8.» A.concentrating B.planning* C.attending-D.directing9.甘 A.running B.implementing C.execut ing 甘 D.organizing10.» A.appoint B.result C.employ 

52、7; D.create11.-A.scholarships B.grants C.allocati ons D.gifts12.* A.finish B.closure C.ending D.conclusion13. A.dispatched B.prompted C.launched D.effected14.* A.attitude B.approach15.* C.outlook” D.feedback* A.practice* B.progress< C.process-D.procedurePART FIVERead the article below about marke

53、t research.n most of the lines (34-45), there is one extra word. It is either grammatically in correct or does n ot fit in with the meaning of the text. Some lin es, however, are correct.f a line is correct, write CORRECT on your Answer Sheet.f there is an extra word in the line, write the extra wor

54、d in CAPITAL LETTERS on your Answer Sheet.andhe exerciseMarket R esearch0 Market research involves in collecting and sorting facts and opinions from specific groups00 of people. The purpose of research can vary from discoveri ng the popularity of a political1 party to assess ing whether is a product

55、 n eeds cha nging or replaci ng. Most work in2 c on sumer research in volves in terviewers employed by market research age ncies, but3 certa in in dustrial and social research is carried out by any specialist age ncies. In terviews4 may be with in dividuals or groups and can last any thi ng as from

56、minu tes to an hour or5 more. In some in terviews, people may be asked to exam ine or try out products before6 giv ing up their opinion. Successful in terviewers tend to like meet ing people and should not7 on ly be shy of address ing stra ngers .In terviewers are usually expected to work8 un superv

57、ised, orga nising their own workload. Self-discipli ne is absolutely esse ntial-a nd9 as are good health and energy. There are no specific age limits for such a work though10 ma ny age ncies prefer to employ older applica nts with experie nee of meet ing people.11 M arket research age ncies which fr

58、eque ntly orga nise training, where trai nees lear n how to12 recog nise socio-ec ono mic groups and practise approachi ng to the public. For in formati on on marketresearch trai ning and qualificati ons, con tact the Market Research Associati on. 1.6.WRITINGPART ONE1. <ou are a man ager in an intern ati onal compa ny. You want to reduce the compa ny's spe nding on courier services.Write an email to the staff in your department:expla ining that spe nding on courier services has rise