商务英语听说口语部分题库.doc

祝您学业、事业成功！ 商务英语听说（口语部分）题库 （课程代号：5441）I. Warm-up questions. (8分)Direction: The examiners and candidate introduce themselves and the examiner asks the candidate about him/ herself, his/ her home, work or studies and other familiar topics. 1. Does your name have any special meaning?2. Why is the Spring Festival so important to Chinese people? 3. Can you describe one of the main festivals celebrated in your country? 4. What place in Guangzhou do you like best? Why?5. What are the major social problems in Guangzhou? How can they be solved?6. What hope or fears do you have for your future?7. What does friendship mean to you? What kind of people do you make friend with? 8. What impressed you most when youre at university? 9. Do you think the subjects you are studying today are relevant to present-day society? Why?10. Do you think computer has changed our life so much? Why?11. Who is your favorite film star? Will you describe him/her to me?12. Where have you been traveling to? Which place interested you most?13. Do you think watching TV is a waste of time? Why/Why not?14. What difficulties do you think you have in your study? How will you overcome the difficulties? 15. Can you imagine what life in Britain/Canada/Australia/London, etc. would be like?16. Why did you choose this university?17. What do you hope for most from your study?18. What do you intend to do after you finish studying?19. How do you like your life in university?20. What do you think of the training in the university? 21. In what way do you think university training is helpful or falls short?22. What do you regard as the most significant events in your countrys recent history?23. What aspect of English do you find the most difficult?24. How aware do you think people are nowadays about environmental issues? 25. How serious is unemployment in your country?26. In your opinion, what are the most serious problems associated with modern life?27. What do you think are the main causes of road accidents?28. As there are more and more private cars, what do you think the government should do in order to encourage citizens to use public transport?29. How do you see yourself in ten years time? 30. What can we do in our daily life to protect the environment? 30. Has your hometown changed much since you were a child?31. Do you like the same colors now as you did when you were younger? Why/Why not?32. Do any colors have special meaning in your culture?33. Do you prefer relaxing at home or going out in the evenings? Why?34. Is there any kind of entertainment you do not like? Why/Why not?35. How easy is it to travel around in China?36. How different are the clothes you wear now from those you wore 10 years ago?37. How important are clothes and fashion to you? Why/Why not?38. What would you suggest a visitor should see and do in your country?39. Do you think festivals are important for a country? Why?40. Tell me about your typical weekday and your typical weekend.41. What would you like to change in your daily routine?42. Do you want to study abroad? Why?43. Do you think people should never lie? Why?44. Who is the person you admire the most? Why?45. What do you think of the pollution in Guangzhou? Describe the pollution you have seen. 46. What do you think of suicide? 47. In your opinion, what is an ideal job?48. Which is your favorite season? Why?49. If you have a time machine, do you want to go back to the past or move into the future? Why?50. If the job that you apply for requires you to travel a lot, will you take it?51. On a bus, when you see a thief is trying to steal money from a lady, what will you do?52. What do you think is the advantage of TV commercials (advertisements)? 53. Do you like to take photographs? Why?54. Are your friends mostly your age or different ages? Why?55. Do you have any hobbies or interests? What are they?56. Is there anywhere you would particularly like to visit? Why?57. Do you have a large family or a small family?58. How much time do you manage to spend with members of your family?59. Could you describe the climate in Guangzhou?60. What do you think are the advantages and disadvantages of TV?II. Reading and answering questions. Direction: The candidates read the following passage aloud, and then each of them answers the TWO of the questions related to the dialogue.Passage1: A: The cost of cotton has decreased a lot recently. I suppose you can reduce the price of your cotton T-shirts accordingly.B: Well, it is true that the raw materials are cheaper now, but the labor costs are going up rapidly.A: Weve been doing business with you for years. Surely you can offer us a favorable quotation this time.B: Well, to be honest, our price is a bit high, but the quality is the best. I think you agree that for the same quality, there is nowhere else you can get the same price.A: Cant you see your way to reduce the price by 5% to US$ 4.90 each?B: Im afraid US$ 4.95 is our rock bottom price.A: what if we place a substantial order with you? Say, 3000 pieces?B: Well, business mainly depends on the size of orders. In that case, your proposal is accepted.Questions for student A:1. Why dose student B not agree to lower the price at first? 2. Is US$ 4.95 the lowest price student B could take?3. Why dose student B take your bid at last?Questions for student B:1. Why does student A ask you to make a discount?2. Is 3000 pieces a big order for you?3. Why student A is sure that you would offer him/her a good price this time?Passage2: A：We are told by Mr. King that you were interested in supplying a new line in artificial furs.B: Yes, thats right. The escalating costs of leather tend to persuade customers to look for something more competitive in price. So we have produced an amazing substitute, Letherine.A: Leather has always been an excellent material in the decorating of furniture, so we are not sure how our customers will react.B: Letherine has the same texture, strength and quality of leather, but is less than a quarter of cost.A: Can we take some samples with us?B: No problem.A: One more thing. Do you allow cash discount apart from trade discount and quantity discount?B: We allow a 3% cash discount for payment made within one month.Questions for student A:1. Why student B is interested in supplying Letherine?2. What are the advantages Letherine?3. What dose cash discount mean?Questions for student B:1. What is Letherine in the dialogue?2. What dose student A worry about the new product?3. What is the probable use of Letherine?Passage3:A: Is sales packing important in the circulation?B: Yes, very. It can not only protect the goods, but also attract customers.A: And push the sales and increase our foreign exchange income?B: Absolutely. And to a certain degree, it reflects the economical, technological and cultural level of a country.A: Then what are the important things that we should fix out attention on?B: The realization of the standardization of packing and if possible, measured introduction of foreign advanced technology.A: Do you think we still have a long way to go to meet the needs of the world market?B: Yes, but we are progressing rapidly.Questions for student A:4. Why sales packing is so important?5. Should the packing be standardized according to student B?6. What dose student B think you should introduce from abroad?Questions for student B:4. What dose packing reflect about a country?5. Has your packing made great improvement?6. Has your packing reached world-class level?Passage4: A: So how will the payment be made?B: Our client suggests 30-day bill of exchange, documents against acceptance.A: Did you tell them that we work on a small profit and fast turnover basis?B: Yes, I did. But you know, they have been settling their accounts this way for years, ever since we stated doing business with them 5 years ago.A: Then how can we get cash to buy the raw materials we need now?B: Have you ever thought of getting the draft discounted.A: Yeah, maybe that can be a solution to our money problem. Whats the current market rate of discounting?B: Ill check it up.Questions for student A:1. What payment dose your client make in recent years?2. What solution to your money problem dose student B give?3. Do you think student B has negotiated with your clients about the payment?Questions for student B:1. What money problem do you have?2. Dose your profit depend heavily on sales volume?3. Why you cannot change the way of payment with your client?Passage5:A: Im interested in your project Golden Time.B: Yes, the basic idea is to provide a kind of security when you get old.A: Can you explain how that works?B: Yes. The insured person contributes a certain sum of money each year till he or she is 60. Then he or she is entitled to receive some payments.A: How much can he get?B: It all depends on how much he contributes each year.A: What if the insured person is injured or dead?B: In that case, he will be paid compensation based on loss of earnings or suffering. In case of death, the company will offer benefit payment to his dependants. Again, the compensation depends on his annual contribution: i.e., his premium.Questions for student A:4. What kind of people can be secured by the project?5. When dose the insured begin to receive money? 6. How can the project benefit the insured family?Questions for student B:4. How the insured will be paid if he or she is injured?5. If the insured person is dead, what will his or her family be paid t?6. What will the insured do before he or she reaches 60?Passage6:Chinas foreign trade declined by just 0.1 % in October following the September 11 US terrorist attacks. Export rose by only 7 per cent in the first nine months. But there is good news: due to increases during the first of the year, the countrys foreign trade still climbed 10% for the first 10 months, total of US$4 417.8 billion. The growth rate of exports to the US and Japan two of Chinas major foreign trade partners- collapsed during the same time period while exports the European Union soared.Exports of machinery and electronic products, among all export commodities, showed the biggest margin of increase- 12.2%.But exports of traditional staple commodities, including garments, textiles and plastic products lacked strength. (120 words)1. Why chinas foreign trade dropped in October?2. Which countries do chinas commodities mainly export to?3. Which products have the biggest increase in export?4. What happened to the export of garments?5. Did the foreign trade decrease in the first 10 months? Passage7:A check is a special type of draft. The drawer is the person signing the check; the drawee is the beneficiary, that is, the person in whose favor the check is made out. Thus, a check is an unconditional order by the drawer or maker, asking his bank to pay a certain amount of money to a third party, the payee. If a check is issued by a bank, it is called a bankers demand draft. When the drawer signs the check, he should see to it that his deposit in the bank is not lower than the amount of check. If the drawer has not enough deposit in the bank for the check amount, the check will be dishonored, and this kind of check is called bounced check, which is not allowed. (133 words)1. What is a drawer?2. What is a bankers demand draft?3. What is bounced check?4. When the check will be dishonored?5. Under what condition the bank will pay the third party? Passage8: Corporations issue only a limited number of shares of stock. After those shares are purchased, they may be traded. This means that people buy and sell the shares. When you buy stock, you can never be sure you will get back what you paid for it. The price of a stock, like the price of most other goods and services, depends on how much buyers are willing to pay. The price a buyer is willing to pay depends on a number of factors:1. The general economic outlook will influence the price of stock. When the outlook is good, more people will want to buy stock. This means there is more demand for stock, and stock prices will go up. 2. A corporations earnings will affect the price of its stock. 3. When interest rates are high, stock prices go down. (140 words)Questions:1. Is it always safe to invest on stock? Why/ why not?2. What determine the price of a stock?3. When the economic outlook is good, will the demand for stock become more or less? 4. If the demand for stock becomes more, what influence can it bring to the stock price?5. When interest rates are high, what influence can it bring to the stock price?Passage9: Letters of credit (L/C) have been used for centuries in one form or another to enable travelers to obtain money from overseas banks. The process begins with the traveler asking his bank to open a letter of credit in his favor. The bank then drafts a letter which will allow him to draw money on overseas banks with whom the home bank has an agreement. The foreign banks will then draw on the home bank to recover their payments.This method of obtaining money has now generally been replaced by Euro cheques, travelers cheques, and credit cards. But documentary creditsletters of credit accompanied by documentsare most widely used in the import/ export trade. There are two types of documentary credit: revocable and irrevocable. The second type is more common in overseas business transactions. (135 words)Questions:1. What is the advantage of using L/C?6. If a traveler wants to use L/C, what should he do first?7. What is the most common terms of payment in import and export trade?8. What are the two types of documentary credit? Which one is more common in import and export trade?Passage10: Carton is made of light but very strong cardboard, or fiberboard; it has double lids and bottoms which are fixed together. Sometimes several cartons are made up into a single package and held by metal bands.Nowadays cartons are widely used in packing. Cartons are light, so they are easier to handle in the course of loading and unloading. Because of the fact of being made of cardboard, they are not likely to be mixed with wooden cases while in transport or storage, which lowers the rate of breakage. And the plastic sheets lined in prevent cartons from dampness. To ensure that cartons are strong enough, metal straps are usually used. Most clients are satisfied with carton packing. It is proved that cartons are quite fit for long distance ocean transportation. (131 words)Questions:1. Why cartons are easier to handle?2. Why cartons are not likely to be mixed with wooden cases?3. What kind of transportation are cartons fit for?4. What are cartons made of?5. Whats the purpose of using plastics sheet?III. Role-play. Direction: The candidate would be given either of the roles to play, and the other one is played by the examiner. Situation1:Role A:You are the sales manager of Guangdong Buyun shoe store. In recent years, Americans stared to wear Buxie, which is really or Chinese cloth shoes. Your shoes have become very popular in the U.S. and Canada. You have many orders from abroad so that your shoes sell out very fast. Now you have only 1,000 pairs of shoes in stock. For the new orders, the buyers have to wait for 3 months before they get the ordered goods. Now you are receiving a shoe agent from the U.S.Role B:You are a shoe agent in the U.S. Now you are in China. You are meeting the sales manager of Guangdong Buyun She Store. You want to place an order for 20,000 pairs of cloth shoes because you think there is a good market for them in the U.S. you want the delivery made within two months.Situation2:Information for Role AYou deal in air-conditioners. Now a customer orders 15 air-conditioners for his/her new offices. The total price is 75,000 RMB. The customer wants a discount. You proceed to offer and counteroffer. After negotiation, you finally agree to take 7% off the original price. You two make the deal. Information for Role BYou are a manager of a foreign company. You have placed an order for 15 air-conditioners in a large store. The total price is 75,000 RMB, but you want a 12% discount. You proceed to offer and counteroffer. Finally you agree with the salesperson and accept a discount of 7%.Situation3:Role A:You are talking with a Japanese merchant about the time of shipment. You cant make the delivery of goods as he asked you because of the bad weather. The beat you can do is to deliver half of the goods at the end of March, the remaining in next two months.Role B:You are talking with the sales manager of a Chinese company about the time of shipment. You want to make the shipment in March. The reason is that you want to place the goods on the market in time.Situation4:Information for Role AYou are having a talk with your old friend about your recent life. You have spent most of your money in the stock market but gains little. You are asking for some advice on investment from your friend.Information for Role BYou meet your old friend and find he lost his money in stock market. You need to tell him how the share prices fluctuate and give him some advice.Situation5:Information for Role AYou are a shop assistant. The customer bought a digital camera a week ago but found it didnt work properly after three d