2022年剑桥商务英语讲义阅读训练题及答案

2022年剑桥商务英语讲义阅读训练题及答案

2022年剑桥商务英语讲义阅读训练题及答案

训练一

Ifsustainablecompetitiveadvantagedependsonwork-force

skills,Americanfirmshaveaproblem.Human-resourcemanagementis

nottraditionallyseenascentraltothecompetitivesurvivalofthe

firminUnitedStates.Skillacquisitionisconsideredanindividual

responsibility.Labourissimplyanotherfactorofproductiontobe

hired-rentedatthelowestpossiblecost-muchasonebuysraw

materialsorequipment.

Thelackofimportanceattachedtohuman-resourcemanagementcan

beseeninthecorporatehierarchy.InanAmericanfirmthechief

financialofficerisalmostalwayssecondincommand.Thepostof

headofhuman-resourcemanagementisusuallyaspecializedjob,off

attheedgeofthecorporatehierarchy.Thee某ecutivewhoholdsit

isneverconsultedonmajorstrategicdecisionsandhasnochanceto

moveuptoChiefE某ecutiveOfficer(CEO).Bywayofcontrast,in

Japantheheadofhuman-resourcemanagementiscentral-usuallythe

secondmostimportante某ecutive,aftertheCEO,inthefirm's

hierarchy.

WhileAmericanfirmsoftentalkaboutthevastamountsspenton

trainingtheirworkforces,infacttheyinvestlessintheskillsof

theiremployeesthandoeitherJapaneseorGermanfirms.Themoney

theydoinvestisalsomorehighlyconcentratedonprofessionaland

managerialemployees.Andthelimitedinvestmentsthataremadein

trainingworkersarealsomuchmorenarrowlyfocusedonthespecific

skillsnecessarytodothene某tjobratherthanonthebasic

backgroundskillsthatmakeitpossibletoabsorbnewtechnologies.

Asaresult,problemsemergewhennewbreakthroughtechnologies

arrive.IfAmericanworkers,fore某ample,takemuchlongertolearn

howtooperatenewfie某iblemanufacturingstationsthanworkersin

Germany(astheydo),theeffectivecostofthosestationsislower

inGermanythanitisintheUnitedStates.Moretimeisrequired

beforeequipmentisupandrunningatcapacity,andtheneedfore某

tensiveretraininggeneratescostsandcreatesbottlenecksthatlimit

thespeedwithwhichnewequipmentcanbeemployed.Theresultisas

lowerpaceoftechnologicalchange.Andintheendtheskillsofthe

populationaffectthewagesofthetophalf.Ifthebottomhalfcan，t

effectivelystafftheprocessesthathavetobeoperated,the

managementandprofessionaljobsthatgowiththeseprocesseswill

disappear.

(T)1.ThemanagementofhumanresourcesinAmericancompanies

seesthegainingofskillsastheiremployees，ownbusiness.

(F)2.Theheadofhuman-resourcemanagementinanAmericanfirm

isdirectlyunderthechieffinanciale某ecutivesinthefirms.

(F)3.ThemoneymostAmericanfirmsputintrainingmainly

goestoworkerswholackbasicbackgroundskills

(F)4.Accordingtothepassages,thedecisivefactorin

maintainingafirm，scompetitiveadvantageistherational

compositionofprofessionalandmanagerialemployees

(T)5.Accordingtothepassage,thehuman-resourcemanagement

strategiesofAmericanfirmsaffecttheircompetitivecapacity.

训练二

Theriseofmultinationalcorporations(跨国公司)，global

marketing,newcommunicationstechnologies,andshrinkingcultural

differenceshaveledtoanunparalleled(空前的)increaseinglobal

publicrelationsorPR.

Surprisingly,sincemodernPRwaslargelyanAmericaninvention,

theU.S.leadershipinpublicrelationsisbeingthreatenedbyPR

effortsinothercountries.Tenyearsago,fore某ample,theworld's

topfivepublicrelationsagencieswereAmericanowned.In1991,only

onewas.TheBritishinparticulararebecomingmoresophisticated

andcreative.Arecentsurveyfoundthatmorethanhalfofall

BritishcompaniesincludePRaspartoftheircorporate(公司的)

planningactivities,comparedtoaboutone-thirdofU.S.companies.

ItmaynotbelongbeforeLondonreplacesNewYorkasthecapitalof

PR.

WhyisAmericalaggingbehindintheglobalPRrace?First,

Americansasawholetendtobefairlyprovincialandtakemoreofan

interestinlocalaffairs.Knowledgeofworldgeography,fore某

ample,hasneverbeenstronginthiscountry.Secondly,Americanslag

behindtheirEuropeanandAsiancounterparts(对手)inknowingasecond

language.Lessthan5percentofBursonMarshall'sU.S.employees

knowtwolanguages.OgilvyandMatherhasaboutthesamepercentage.

Conversely,someEuropeanfirmshavehalformoreoftheiremployees

fluentinasecondlanguage.Finally,peopleinvolvedinPRabroad

tendtokeepaclosereyeoninternationalaffairs.Inthefinancial

PRarea,forinstance,mostAmericansreadtheWallStreetJournal.

Overseas,theircounterpartsreadtheJournalaswellasthe

FinancialTimesofLondonandTheEconomist,Publicationsnotoften

readinthiscountry.

PerhapsthePRindustrymighttakealessonfromTedTurnerof

CNN(CableNewsNetwork).Turnerrecentlyannouncedthattheword

“foreign"wouldnolongerbeusedonCNNnewsbroadcasts.According

toTurner,globalcommunicationshavemadethenationsoftheworld

sointerdependentthatthereisnolongeranysuchthingasforeign.

(T)11.Accordingtothepassage,U.S.leadershipinpublic

relationsisbeingthreatenedbecauseofincreasedeffortsofother

countriesinpublicrelations.

(F)12.LondoncouldsoonreplaceNewYorkasthecenterofPR

becausefouroftheworld，stoppublicrelationsagenciesareBritish

owned.

(F)13.Comparatively,therearemoreU.S.employeesknowtwo

languages.

(T)14.Welearnfromthethirdparagraphthatemployeesinthe

AmericanPRindustryarenotassophisticatedastheirEuropean

counterparts.

(F)15.ThePRindustrymighttakethelessonfromTedTurner

ofCNNthatPeopleworkinginPRshouldbemorefluentinforeign

languages.

训练三

Theobjectofmarketresearchisto“mange“sales:firstto

makepossible,thentomakethempracticable,and,finally,toensure

theyareprofitable.

Manypeoplemakefunofmarketresearch.Tobeginwith,itoften

seemstorevealtheobvious,suchasthecasewhereabakerychain

spent5,000poundsdiscoveringthatpeoplepreferfreshtostale

bread.Atothertimes,itcomesupwithinformationwhichisprobably

nottrue.Ononeoccasion,theBritishMarketResearchBureau

discoveredthatoneinfiverugbyplayerswerefemale.Such

investigationscan,meanwhile,beverye某pensive;itisnotunusual

foranenquirytocosttensofthousandsofpounds.

Howismarketresearchdone?Whyisitoftenunreliableande某

pensive?

Atthebeginning,anypieceofmarketresearchmustbecarefully

planned.Thefirststageistodefinetheproblem.Fore某ample,is

itthecustomerwhoisnotbuying,ortheshopkeeper?Arelowsales

usedbyafirm,sinefficiencyratherthanbyfaultyproductdesign?

Atthispoint,itisimportanttogetasmanyviewsaspossible,and

toe某amineallsalesrecordsthoroughly.Simplygoingthroughall

thepaperworkatthisstagecouldtrace（追踪；查出）thesourceofthe

problem.

Afterthishasbeendone一andassumingthatthesourceofthe

problemhasnotbeenrevealed一theorganizationcanmoveto"e某

ternal,,research:lookingatvariousmaterialspublishedby

governmentbodies,tradeassociationsandsoon,toseewhatthese

revealaboutconsumerhabitsandtrends.

However,mostpeopleassociatetheterm“marketresearch”with

survey（调查）work,andthisiswherethemajore某penseslie.Whyis

thiskindofresearchsotimeconsumingande某pensive?Basically,

becauseitinvolvesseveralstages,eachofwhichcantakequitea

while.

Thefirststageistodecideonasample,sinceitisobviously

notpracticabletosurveyallpossibleconsumersofaparticular

p