商务英语阅读试题

1、精选优质文档-倾情为你奉上Part III Reading comprehension Passage 1Richard Brasher, commercial director of Tescos non-food operations, is in the frame for the top job at Boots, where chief executive Steve Russell is to step down. Brasher is understood to be on a shortlist that includes Stuart Rose, the former bos

2、s of retailing group Arcadia, the Terry Duddy, chief executive of catalogue retailer Argos. Brasher is viewed as a high-flier within Tesco and is highly rated by the groups chief executive, Terry Leahy.Boots has been looking for a chief executive and a new chairman since the middle of December, when

3、 its current chairman, John McGrath, admitted that the group had not acted fast enough to address strategic issues that were facing it. McGrath is due to step down at the end of his contract in the summer, after overseeing the search for a new chief executive. Boots has been trying to find a way to

4、distinguish itself and its products from the increasing range carried by supermarkets.Last week Sainsbury, the food retailer, said it would be extending its own health and beauty offering after it axed a joint venture trial with Boots. Sainsbury and Boots have been working together since 2001, but S

5、ainsbury now wants to roll out its own programme in about 50 stores. Under the original trial, Boots supplied the products, including exclusive lines, to a specific area within Sainsbury stores at nine out-of-town supermarkets. Although both sides agreed initial targets had been met, they could not

6、agree terms to take the scheme forward. Observers suggested that the two had disagreed over sharing revenues.Boots has confirmed the departure of another senior member of management. Michael Bunting, head of treasury, will leave the company in April. Other senior staff who have left recently include

7、 Barry Clare, marketing director, and Ken Piggott, who was managing director of Boots core business.Questions 31-35 are based on passage 131. Boots, according to the passage, is _.A. a person B. a supermarket C. a hotel D. a factory32. Richard Brasher is to _.A. become chief executive B. be on a sho

8、rtlistC. be a high-flier D.work within Tesco33. Brasher is _.A. scolded badly by Terry Leahy B. highly assessed by Tescos chief executiveC. valued greatly by Tesco D.understood by Tesco34. Sainsbury is a _.A. person who worked with Boots B. business that wants to work with BootsC. supermarket that h

9、as developed its own program all the timeD. supermarket that stopped cooperation with Boots35. It seems that _.A. a lot of people left BootsB. Boots is thriving quicklyC. Boots has decided to reformD. Some senior staff have left or will leave BootsPassage 2Large companies need a way to reach the sav

10、ings of the public at large. The same problem , on a smaller scale, faces practically every company trying to develop new products and create new jobs. There can be little prospect of raising the sort of sums needed from friends and people we know, and while banks may agree to provide short-term fin

11、ance, they are generally unwilling to provide money on a permanent basis for long-term projects. So companies turn to the public, inviting people to lend them money, or take a share in the business in exchange for a share in future profits. This they do by issuing stocks and shares in the business t

12、hrough the Stock Exchange. By doing so they can put into circulation the savings of individuals and institutions, both at home and overseas. When the saver needs his money back, he does not have to go to the company with whom he originally placed it. Instead, he sells his shares through a stockbroke

13、r to some other saver who is seeking to invest his money.Many of the services needed both by industry and by each of us are provided by the Government or by local authorities. Without hospitals, roads, electricity, telephones, railways, this country could not function. All these require continuous s

14、pending on new equipment and new development if they are to serve us properly, requiring more money than is raised through taxes alone. The Government, local authorities, and nationalized industries therefore frequently need to borrow money to finance major capital spending, and they, too, come to t

15、he Stock Exchange.There is hardly a man or woman in this country whose job or whose standard of living does not depend on the ability of his or her employers to raise money to finance new development. In one way or another this new money must come from the savings of the country. The Stock Exchange

16、exists to provide a channel through which these savings can reach those who need finance.Questions 36-40 are based on passage 236. Almost all companies involved in new production and development must .A. rely on their own financial resourcesB. persuade the banks to provide long-term financeC. depend

17、 on the population as a whole for financeD. borrow large sums of money from friends and people they know37. The money which enables these companies to go ahead with their projects is .A. repaid to its original owners as soon as possibleB. raised by the selling of shares in the companiesC. exchanged

18、for part ownership in the Stock ExchangeD. invested in different companies on the Stock Exchange38. When the savers want their money back they .A. ask another company to obtain their money for themB. look for other people to borrow money fromC. put their shares in the company back on the marketD. tr

19、ansfer their money to a more successful company39. All the essential services on which we depend are .A. run by the Government or our local authoritiesB. financed wholly by the rates and taxesC. in constant need of financial supportD. unable to provide for the needs of the population40. The Stock Ex

20、change makes it possible for the Government, local authorities and nationalized industries .A. to borrow as much as they wishB. to make certain everybody saves moneyC. to raise money to finance new developmentsD. to make certain everybody lends money to themPassage 3They are among the 250,000 people

21、 under the age of 25 who are out of work in the Netherlands, a group that accounts for 40 percent of the nations unemployed. A storm of anger boils up at the government sponsored youth center, even among those who are continuing their studies.“We study for jobs that dont exist,” Nicollete Steggerda,

22、 23, said.After three decades of prosperity, unemployment among 10 member nations of the European community has exceeded 11 percent, affecting a total of 12.3 million people, and the number is climbing.The bitter disappointment long expressed by British youths is spreading across the continent. The

23、title of a rock song “No Future” can now be seen written on the brick walls of closed factories in Belgium and France.Recent surveys have found that the increasing argument in the last few years over the deployment in Europe of North Atlantic Treaty Organization missiles and the possibility of nucle

24、ar war has clouded European youths confidence in the future.One form of protest tends to put the responsibility for a countrys economic troubles on the large numbers of “guest workers” from Third World nations, people welcomed in Western Europe in the years of prosperity.Young Europeans, brought up

25、in an extended period of economic success and general stability, seem to resemble Americans more than they do their own parents. Material enjoyment has given them a sense of expectation, event the right to a standard of living that they see around them.“And so we pass the days at the discos, or meet

26、 people at the cafe, and sit and stare.” said Isabella Gaulat. “There is usually not much conversation. You look for happiness. Sometimes you even find it.”Questions 41-45 are based on passage 341. What Nicollete Stegerda said in paragraph 2 means that _. A. school education is not sufficient B. wha

27、t the students learn more than necessary C. the students cannot get work after graduation D. the students aim in study is not clear42. Which of the following is definitely true, according to the passage?A. The young people are studying too hard.B. The courses in the youth center are too difficult.C.

28、 The government financed the establishment of job-oriented schoolD. The tests given to the youngsters are too difficult43. Which of the following statements is not true?A. The rock song “No Future” expresses the European youths disappointmentB. European youths did not expect such a widespread unempl

29、oymentC. European youths worry that a new world war might break out in the future.D. Almost half of the guest workers in Western Europe are unemployed now.44. British youths _.A. are trying to find work on the continentB. are sympathetic with the unemployed on the continentC. show their concern for

30、unemployment in France and BelgiumD. have been the first to show their disappointment over joblessness45. It seems that young Europeans _.A. look upon life as their elders doB. are more like American that their elders in their way of thinkingC. look more like Americans than their elders D. expect mo

31、re from Americans than from their eldersPassage 4 There are various ways in which individual economic units can interact with one another. Three basic ways may be described as the market system, the administered, and the traditional system. In a market system individual economic units are free to in

32、teract among each other in the marketplace. It is possible to buy commodities from other economic units or sell commodities to them. In a barter economy, real goods such as automobiles, shoes, and pizzas are traded against each other. Obviously, finding somebody who want to trade my old car in excha

33、nge for a sailboat may not always be an easy task. Hence, the introduction of money as a medium of exchange eases transactions considerably. In the modern market economy, goods and services are bought or sold for money. An alternative to the market system is administrative control by some agence ove

34、r all transactions. This agency will issue edicts or commands as to how much of each good and service should be produced, exchanged, and consumed by each economic unit. Central planning may be one way of administering such an economy. The central plan, drawn up by the government, shows the amounts o

35、f each commodity produced by the various firms and allocated households for consumption. This is an example of complete planning of production, consumption, and exchange for the whole economy. In a traditional society, production and consumption patterns are governed by tradition; every persons place within the economic system is fixed by parentage, religion, and custom. Transactions take place on the basis of tradition, too. People belonging to a certain group or caste may have an obligation to care for other persons, provide them with f