剑桥商务英语高级模拟45.doc

Test 8 READING 1 hour PART ONE Questions 1-8 Look at the statements below and at the five extracts about taxes Which extract(A，B，C，D or E)does each statement(1-8)refer to? For each statement(1-8)，mark one letter(A，B，C，D or E)on your Answer Sheet You Will need to use some of these letters more than once 1 In the USif you donate 10，000 dollars to some charity organization，you can take that sum away from your total income when you pay income tax 2 This tax forces lower-income people and corporations to earn more money，because the less you earn，the more taxes you have to pay 3 This tax system ensures that the people with the lowest income dont have to pay income tax 4 The more money you earn，the more taxes you should pay in terms of income tax 5 You would violate the law if you lie to the tax authorities about the profits that your company has earned 6 Most right-wing political parties advocate this tax system 7 To the lower-income people，this tax is an obligation hard to bear 8 Many people would try to find ways that observe the law to pay less tax，while at the same time they would give the tax authorities a full and true report of their income or profits A Flat Tax Income tax is a direct tax which is levied on the income of private individualsThere are various income tax systems that existranging from a flat tax to an extensive progressive tax system A flat tax，also cal led a proportional tax，is a system that taxesUsually the flat tax is proposed to kick in at a certain income level，or to exempt income below that level。so that the lowest-income members of society dont need to pay income tax Proposed flat taxes usually allow little or no exemption of earned income besides the bottom-level exemption Advocates of a flat tax claim that it will end unfair discriminationThey also argue that flat taxes are easier(and cheaper)to administer and comply with than complex，graduated taxesMost political parties that advocate the introduction of a flat tax are on the right of the political spectrum B Progressive Tax A progressive tax，or graduated tax，is a tax that is larger as a percentage of income for those with larger incomesIt is usually applied in reference to income taxes，where people with more income pay a higher percentage of it in taxesThe term progressive refers to the way the rate progresses from low to high C Regressive Tax A regressive tax is a tax which takes a larger percentage of income from people whose income is low A tax which places proportiontely more of a burden on those with lower incomes Regressive taxes，as opposed to progressive taxes，are more burdensome on lower-income individuals than on higher-income individuals and corporations D Tax Deduction Within the United Statesincome tax system，a tax deduction，or tax-deductible expense ，is an item which is subtracted from gross income in order to arrive at the taxable income Effectively，the taxpayer pays no income tax on the amount of money he spent on tax-deductible expensesFor exampleif an individual earns$50，000 in a year and gives $5，000 to tax-deductible charities，he will end up paying income tax as though he had earned only$45，000 that yearIn this way，the federal and state governments encourage certain types of spending E Tax Avoidance and Tax Evasion Tax avoidance is the legal exploitation of the tax regime to ones own advantage，to attempt to reduce the amount of tax that is payable by means that are within the law whilst making a full disclosure of the material information to the tax authorities Tax evasion，on the other hand，is a crimeTax evasion usually entails taxpayers deliberately misrepresenting or concealing the true state of their affairs to the tax authorities to reduce their tax liability，and includes，in particular，dishonest tax reporting，such as under-declared income，profits or gains；or overstated deductions PART TWO Questions 9-14 Read this text taken from an article about how the accountants influence the decisions Choose the best sentence to fill 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 How the Accountants Influence the DecisionsAccountants in industry are often asked to evaluate projectsIn the recording industry this usually means working out the effect on company profits of the fine print in a recording contractMany people think it must be straightforward，but，like many publishing contracts，the devil lies in the detail _(9) _There is a high level of front-end investment in trying to break (popularise)an artist which usually comprises a non-returnable advance on royalties，recording costs，promotional costs and tour support costs which sometimes even extend to large buy-on fees to support major artists on big tours；i.e.they pay to play Usually the first department involved in a decision to sign an artist is the A&R (artistes and repertoire)departmentSometimes unfairly labeled the Urn & Ah departmentthey play a vital role in identifying potential starsAbout 95%of the artists dont make the grade_(10) _This financial analysis is called a Deal Memo and it also assist in the negotiation process When AR have identified a signing then there are a number of key decisions to be made in which the business affairs and finance departments become closely involved_(11) _Will it be a direct signing，i.e.，will the company be contracting directly with the artist，or has the artist been savvy enough to incorporate his own company and loan out his services to his own company？If the contract is with the artists company then it is vital that the record company get the artist to sign a letter(called an inducement letter)stating that he personally undertakes to fulfill his contractual obligations should his company be unable to do so；e.g.if it were wound up _(12) _Pete Watermans PWL with artists such as Kylie Minogue，Jason Donovan and Rick Astley was a good example of a production houseOther examples are 1ease-tape deals and R&D(pressing and distribution)where the record company does not actually own the product but can sell it under its name for a 1imited period _(13) _This will largely concentrate on the advances，royaltv rates and contract terms that should be offered to make it attractive to the artist to sign _(14) _It should be product based，for example，on the number of albums to be delivered by the artist(known 38 the minimum commitment )，rather than time basedIdeally the record company would want to sign the artist for just one album with multiple options for further albums at its sole and absolute discretion，so if the artist is a flop，then the contract is terminated after one album，but if he or she is a success then options are exercised A the term of the contract is very important B Having decided on the form of contract then，the finance department comes into the picture in assessing and analyzing the structure of the deal C Other possible forms of contract that could be considered are production house deals where a specialist company agrees to supply a number of artists to the record company D Firstly，it must be decided what form the contract is going to take E However，for the very few artists that the record companies successfully break then there is big money to be made and it is therefore vital that any proposed deal undergo a through financial analysis to ensure that the company is not over-committed F Contrary to popular myth that it is easy to make money in the music business，most artists actually lose money for the recording companies G Importance should be attached to both the term and form of the contract H In the recording industry this usually means working Out the effect on company profits of the fine print in a recording contract PART THREE Questions 15-20 Read the following article about CTO(Chief Technology Officer)and the questions For each question(15-20)，mark one letter(A，B，C or D)on your Answer Sheet Of the many things a CTO(Chief Technology Officer)must do to be successful，the one that can never be neglected is simple：maintaining focus on helping your company produce revenue and profitsOn a purely superficial level，this sounds like the job of the CEO or vice president of sales，but successful CTOs know that being closely involved in the revenue game is the key ingredient to the growth of your company and your career For some technology staff aspiring to the CTO position，there is a sense that getting too close to the money sullies the purity of the greater technology mission Of building elegant products and systemsThis may be true in an academic environment，but in the corporate world，those elegant products and systems need to help produce a profitThe CTO works at the strategic intersection of technology and business，and the unique talents of the CTO mean that he or she can leverage technology for the good of the business like no one else on the executive team To drive revenue in a company，the CTO must work as 3 partner with the CEO and vice president of salesQuite often，the tech leaders in an organization sit back and wait for executive managers to tell them what to do and then deliver requirementsA successful CTO realizes that the process of working through ideas for new products and services demands his or her participation from idea origination to final implementation While working as a partner with key executives at a company，the CTO should also keep in close contact with the sales staff members who are out talking to customers on a regular basisAsking three simple questions of sales staff on a regular basis helps keep the CTO in the loop on the realities of external market conditions：1)What are our customers asking for today?2)What are customers looking for in the next 90 days？And 3)How do customers envision their needs developing in the next year to 18 months？These answers help the CTO with budgeting，strategic planning，and product development，and most importantly，helping to drive revenue and profitability over the short and long term Finally，as an externally facing executive，the CTO must always have time for existing and potential customersThis means accompanying your sales staff on sales calls and understanding the challenges that your customers faceThe CTO can then use the feedback to help the company serve customers more effectively and drive revenueThats what its a11 about 15 According to the author，a successful CTO A is like a CEO or vice president of sales B can convert technology into the good of the business C realizes that he or she should take part in the developing of new products and services D should keep in close contact with existing and potential customers 16 In the second paragraph。the word aspiring means A inspiring B desiring C resigning D criticising 17 From the context，the word leverage (Line 6，Para 2)most probably means A change B adjust C convert D use 18 Why should a CTO often ask three simple questions of sales staff? A He/She wants to keep in touch with the sales staff B He/She wants to learn from the sales staff C He/She wants to know what their customers are asking for D He/She wants to learn about external market conditions from the sales staff 19 According to the passage，which of the following statements is correct? A Some technology staff may think the position is closer to the money when they want to become OTO B The technology staff in an academic environment can never be close to the money C A CTO is better than anyone else on the executive team D A CTO must answer the telephone from the customers 20 What is the passage mainly about? A The relationship between a CTO and CEO or vice president of sales B The main tasks of the CTO C How to become a successful CTO D Secrets of CTOs PART FOUR Questions 21-30 Read the article below about MCC Choose the correct word to fill each gap from A，B，C or D For each question(21-30)，mark one letter(A，B，C or D)on your Answer Sheet One of the most visible locational decisions ona high technology firm was made by the Microelectronics and Computer Technology Corporation(MCC)A joint venture of a dozen major computer and semi-conductor firms，MCC was founded to do research_(21) _advanced level technologies such as new generations of supercomputers，artificial intelligence and robotics_(22) _a consortium created in 1982 by several firms，it had no home base or locational inertia，and began its search for a site by examining 57 cities across the countryThe cities made polished sales pitches to lure the firms eventual 400 engineers and scientistsThe four finalists in the chase-Atlantis，Austin，San Diego and Raleigh-Durham，in the Research Triangle area of North Carolina，_(23) _was particularly noted for high tech activity When Austin was choosen its attractions to MCC were widely analysed by other would-be Silicon ValleysAustin，the state capital，is the site of the main campus of the University of Texas，a school that_(24) _among the top twenty in the country in research fundingThe universitys reputation，state commitments of further support，and the citys proven quality of life attractiveness_(25) _high tech people were the deciding factorsAustin and the State of Texas added to these attractions a package of financial and other incentives，including a favorable lease on land in the universitys research park and subsidized mortgages_(26) _relocating employees _(27) _return Austin had got not only the MCCIn the typical snowballing manner of high tech areas，several other companies have decided to move research _(28) _other advanced technology facilities thereLockheed Missiles and Space Company，3M Corporation，and Motorola are among the firms which have added to the agglomeration of technical workers there，_(29) _the expense of cities like Minneapolis and Phoenix，where the companies have other facilitiesAs a matter of fact，the entire 100 mile corridor between Austin and San Antonio is nicknamed Silicon Gulch San Antonio is the site of several computer biotechnology and electronics companies_(30) _the Gulch will rival the San Francisco Bay and Boston regions in high technology will depend on its ability to spawn a succession of new firms as technology advances and changes 21 A of B on C about D to 22 A For B To C As D Be 23 A all B every C none D each 24 A ranks B lies C is D of 25 A to B towards C for D from 26 A to B of C from D for 27 A TO B As C For D In 28 A but B and C besides D for 29 A at B to C for D with 30 A What B That C If D Whether PART FIVE Questions 31-40 Read the text below about playing games at work For each question(31-40)write one word in CAPITAL LETTERS on your Answer Sheet Playing Games at Work Many companies nowadays are finding that playing games can be beneficial to their executivesAlthough_(31) _are certainly plenty of opportunities to play management games，it should not be thought that this is because business people are light-heartedThey are often quite_(32) _opposite，in factWith all the pressures of modern business life，many people do not have the opportunity to relaxGames can allow individual self-expression and give business people the time_(33) _explore practical issues Many team-based games take place outsideHere the facilitators try to bring out issues of team communication，strategy and working styleBoard games are also popularIn most of_(34) _teams are required to manage an organisation or practice skills which they will need in their day-to-day working life At a different level，there are inter-company games in_(35) _teams from a range of organisations and industries come together in friendly competitionThe teams never actually meet，but they are kept in touch with_(36) _well they are doing by the same organizersPart of the attraction of this type of game is that_(37) _provides companies with the opportunity to let them learn build business awareness in a fairly realistic environment _(38) _the object of the exercise is，as always，to maximize profits，the real benefit comes from the interaction within the teamThere might even be some useful business lessons_(39) _wellPerhaps the most significant aspect_(40) _all，thoughis that business games give workers permission simply to play PART SIX Questions 41-52 Read the text below about customer care In most of the lines(41-52)there is one extra wordIt is either grammatically incorrect or does not fit in with the sense of the textSome lines，however, are correct If a line is correctwrite CORRECT on your Answer Sheet If there is an extra word in the linewrite the extra word in CAPITAL LETTERS on your Answer Sheet 41 as wellWhile our Customer Helpline(charged at local rates)is the 42 first point of contact with when you want to make an enquiry and 43 we receive a huge number of calls from customers-on 44 average，there are 50，000 calls a one weekAvailable 24 hours 45 a day，seven days a week，365 days a year，our Helpline on advisors 46 aims at to answer 95 per cent of all calls within 15 secondsThere 47 are more than 200 advisors，working in around the clock to 48 provide for this servicebacked by a further 80 support staff 49 who do handle any necessary paperworkAlthough our target 50 is to reply to letters within 10 working days，NatElectric regularly 51 responds within three to four days，and we are especially proud of the 52 very high standards achieved of our customer relations team WRITING 1 hour 10 minutes PART ONE Question 1 You are Marketing Manager for a Shanghai beer companyYou have been asked to write a short report about the first four