教学材料商务英语阅读-Chapter Eight v2

Afterfinishingthischapter,youwillbeableto:

befamiliarwiththeBECPreliminarytestbefamiliarwiththeBECVantagetestbefamiliarwiththeBECHighertest剑桥商务英语证书

（CambridgeBusinessEnglishCertificate）

考试简介ContentsWhatisBECtests?WhyshouldwetakeBECtests?Howtotakethetests?什么是BEC考试

BEC考试是（商务英语证书）的简称。BEC证书上有剑桥大学校长的签名，在世界范围内获得公认。 剑桥大学考试委员会是世界著名高等学符剑桥大学的一个直属国际性考试机构，在世界范围内为全球各国提供英语作为外语的各类型考试，被公认为世界上最权威的考试机构之一。它所举办的英语水平考试，由于特别注重语言的交际功能，获得世界各国承认，被广泛作为入学、就业和考核晋升的依据之一。目前，该考试委员会在世界上140多个国家共设1900多考点，每年参加剑桥英语考试的考生逾百万人。

BEC考试从听说读写四个方面对考生在对外交流中（包括公务、经济和商贸等一般环境）实际应用英语的能力进行全面考察，其笔试命题材料均出自公务、商贸等交往中的真实材料和场景。考生不仅要有较好的英语语言知识水平，而且必须具备熟练运用英语来解决问题的能力。同时。BEC考试是目前国内各类海外考试中少数兼有口试的英语能力考试之一。口试采用二人一组的方式，考生除回答考官问题外，还必须就任务卡上的商务活动进行问答和讨论。这种独特的口试方式不仅可以放映考生的真实口语水平，而且能充分说明其应变能力。BEC共分三个等级：BEC初级（BECPreliminaryLevel，缩略为BECP），BEC中级（BECVantageLevel，缩略为BECV），BEC高级（BECHigherLevel，缩略为BECH）。考试答题卡由教育部考试中心海外考试处汇集后寄英国剑桥大学考试委员会评卷。评出成绩后（BEC初级分Passwithmerit、Pass、A2、Fail四等；BEC中级分A、B、C、D、E五等；BEC高级分A、B、C、D、E五等，），打印成绩通知单（包括不及格的D、E、Fail）和成绩证书,寄至教育部考试中心后寄发各考点向考生颁发。成绩证书终身有效。该证书为考生提供国际标准，世界承认的权威性英语能力证明。正因为如此，BEC考试自1993年在我国开考以来，立即受到众多部门的青睐，成了一种有效的上岗证明和求职资格证书，越来越多的合资独资企业把BEC证书作为录用人才，考核晋升的重要依据之一。BEC证书的用途BEC证书在世界各国获得普遍承认，是最具权威的英语能力证明。各类机构，特别是在工作中需要使用英语的商务部门、经济部门及各类涉外部门、三资企业都逐渐把BEC证书作为录用职员或考核雇员英语能力的最佳标准。因而，BEC证书无疑是权威、有效的上岗证明和求职资格证书。对于广大高校、大中专和公众对你英语能力的承认，为求职晋升和个人发展积累了资本。考试内容及方式考试分两个阶段进行。第一阶段为笔试，包括阅读、写作和听力.第二阶段为口试。考试时间分别为：BEC初级阅读写作90分钟，听力约40分钟（含填写答题卡时间），口试12分钟；BEC中级阅读60分钟、写作45分钟、听力约40分钟（含填写答题卡时间）、口试14分钟；BEC高级阅读60分钟、写作70分钟、听力约40分钟（含填写答题卡时间）、口试16分钟。

8.1ADetailedGuidetoBECPreliminary

8.1.1TheReadingTest

TheBECPreliminaryReadingTestconsistsofsevenParts.Parts1-5testgeneralcomprehension.Part6specificallyteststhecandidates’knowledgeofgrammarandvocabulary.Part7teststhecandidates’

abilitytoprocessinformationaccurately.Ittakesthecandidates1hourtoanswerallthequestionsinthispart.BECPreliminary

ReadingTipsPartone●Readallthreeoptionsbeforeanswering.●Becarefulofnegative.Parttwo●Readalltheinformationbeforeanswering.●Dotheeasyquestionsquicklyandthenseewhichpossibleanswersareleft.BECPreliminary

ReadingTipsPartthree●Lookatthegraphsorchartsandtrytopredictvocabularydescribingdirection(e.g.rise,fall)andstrengthofmovement(steadily,sharply).●Readallthesentencesbeforeanswering.●Becarefulofwordssuchasbut,despiteetc.BECPreliminary

ReadingTipsPartfourPartfourisatextaccompaniedbyseven,three-optionmultiplechoiceitems.Eachquestionpresentsastatementandcandidateareexpectedtoindicatewhetherthestatementis“Right”or“Wrong”accordingtothetext,orwhethertheinformationisnotgiveninthetext(“Doesn’tsay”).Candidateswillnotbeexpectedtounderstandeverywordinthetextbuttheyshouldbeabletopickoutsalientpointsandinfermeaningtherewordsinthetextareunfamiliar.BECPreliminary

ReadingTipsPartfive●Readthroughallthetextfirst.●Readallthequestionsbeforeanswering.●Beginwithquestion16andworkthroughthetext.●Neverleaveaquestionunanswered.●Whenyouhavefinished,checkallyouranswers.BECPreliminary

ReadingTipsPartsix●Readthroughallthetextfirst.●Whattypeofwordcouldfilleachgap?●Writepossibleanswersinthegapsinpencilontheexampaper.Thenlooktoseeifthesewordsareamongtheanswers.●Lookagainatthegapsyouarenothappywith.●Neverleaveagapunanswered.●Whenyouhavefinished,readthecompletetext.BECPreliminary

ReadingTipsPartsevenInthispart,candidatesaregiventwoshorttexts,forexampleamemoandanadvertisement,areaskedtocompleteaformbasedonthismaterial.Candidatesaretestedontheirabilitytoextractrelevantinformationandcompleteaformaccurately.

8.1ADetailedGuidetoBECPreliminary

8.1.2TheWritingTest

ForBECPreliminary,candidatesarerequiredtoproducetwopiecesofwritingin30minutes.BECPreliminary

WritingTipsPartone●Readallinstructionscarefully.Doyouneedtowriteamemooranote?●Checkyouhavecompletedallthepartsofthetask.Usetheinstructionsasachecklist.●Checkthelengthofyourfirstdraftandeditifnecessary.●Thinkaboutwaysofmakingnotesshorter.Whichwordscanyouleaveout?●Proof-readyouranswerbeforetransferringit.Checkgrammar,vocabularyandstyle.BECPreliminary

WritingTipsParttwo●Planthestructureofyouranswer.Howmanyparagraphswilltherebe!Whatistheirpurpose?●Thinkofphrasesandkeywordvocabularytoputintheparagraphs.●Checkthatyourplanfullycompletesallthepartsofthetask.Thenwriteafirstdraft.●Checkthefirstdraft:1.Doesitfullycompletethetask?2.Istheinformationclearlyorganized?3.Isthereanyunnecessaryinformation?4.Howmanywordsarethere?BECPreliminary

WritingTips●Makechangestothefirstdraft.●Checkthefinalversion:1.Doesitfullycompletethetask?2.Aregrammar,spelling,punctuationandstylecorrect?

8.1ADetailedGuidetoBECPreliminary

8.1.3TheListeningTest

TheBECPreliminaryListeningTestconsistsoffourparts,whichtakesthecandidatesapproximately40minutes(including10minutestransfer)tofinish.BECPreliminary

ListeningTipsPartoneandParttwo●Readtheinstructioncarefully.●Readtheinformationbeforeyoulisten.●Listentotheendofeachextractbeforeyouchooseyouranswer.●Usethesecondlisteningtocheckyouranswer.●Transferyouranswerscarefullytotheanswersheet.BECPreliminary

ListeningTipsPartthree●Readtheinstructioncarefully.●Readtheinformationbeforeyoulisten.●Thinkwhatkindofinformationtheanswermightbe:aname,address,numberetc.●Usethesecondlisteningtocheckyouyouranswers.●Transferyouranswercarefullytotheanswersheet.BECPreliminary

ListeningTipsPartfour●Readtheinstructionsandquestionscarefully.●Donotworryifyoumisstheanswerfirsttime.●Usethesecondlisteningtocheckyouranswers.●Transferyouranswerscarefullytotheanswersheet.

8.1ADetailedGuidetoBECPreliminary

8.1.4TheSpeakingTest

TheBECpreliminarySpeakingTestalwaystakesplacewithtwoorthreecandidatesandtwoexaminersanditconsistsofthreeparts.

Thetesttimeis12minutes.BECPreliminary

SpeakingTipsPartoneInpartone,theexamineraddresseseachcandidateinturnandasksquestionsaboutthemselvesandtheiropinions.Thequestionswillbeslightlydifferentforeachcandidateandcandidateswillnotbeaddressedinstrictsequence.Duringthistimecandidatesarebeingtestedontheirabilitytotalkaboutthemselves,toprovideinformationonsubjectssuchastheirhobbies,families,placestolive,freetime,transport,andtoperformsimplefunctionssuchasagreeinganddisagreeingandexpressingpreferences.BECPreliminary

SpeakingTipsParttwoInthispart,theexaminerwillaskeachcandidatetotalkaboutagiventopic.Candidatesarebeingtestedontheirabilitytosustaintheirtalkaccuratelyandappropriately.●Giveanopinionaboutallthemainpointsinthequestion.●Usewordssuchasand,but,aswell,because,so.●Thinkofaquestiontoasktheothercandidate.BECPreliminary

SpeakingTipsPartthreePartthreeisatwo-wayconversation(three-wayinathreecandidatesformat)betweencandidates.Theexaminerwillaskcandidatestodiscussasituation.Candidatesarebeingtestedontheirabilitytointeractappropriatelyusingappropriatefunctionallanguageandstrategies.●Listentotheexaminerverycarefully.●Asktheexaminertoexplainifyoudonotfullyunderstand.●Askyourpartnerthattheythinkandreacttotheirideas.●Ifyoudonotagree,saywhyandgiveareason.

8.2ADetailedGuidetoBECVantage

8.2.1TheReadingTest

TheReadingTest(BECVantage)consistsoffivepartstestingvariousreadingskills.Partfourspecificallytestsacandidatesknowledgeofvocabulary.Ittakesthecandidates1hourtoanswerallthequestionsinthispart.BECVantage

ReadingTips●Readallinstructionscarefully.●BeginwiththepartoftheReadingTestyoufeelmostconfidentabout.Youdonotneedtodothepartsofthetestinorder.●Readthroughthewholetextoncebeforelookingatthequestions.●Underlinetheanswersinthetext—itwillmakecheckingquicker.●Thequestionsaregenerallyinthesameorderastheanswers.Ifyouareconfidentthatananswerisright,continuefromthatpointinthetext,notfromthebeginning.BECVantage

ReadingTips●Leavedifficultquestionsandreturntothemlaterifyouhavetime.●Onlywriteoneanswerforeachquestion.●Neverleaveaquestionunanswered.Ifyourunoutoftimeorhavenoidea,guess.●LeaveenoughtimeforthewritingTest.Itrepresents25%ofthefinalmarks.●Useanytimeyouhavelefttocheckyouranswers.

8.2ADetailedGuidetoBECVantage

8.2.2TheWritingTest

ForBECVantage,candidatesarerequiredtoproducetwopiecesofwritingin45minutes.BECVantage

WritingTipsPartone●Readallinstructionscarefully.Doyouneedtowriteamemooranote?Thiswillhaveaneffectontheformalityofyourlanguage.●Checkyouhavecompletedallthepartsofthetask.Usetheinstructionsasachecklist.●Checkthelengthofyourfirstdraftandeditifnecessary.●Proof-readyouranswercarefullytocheckgrammar,vocabularyandstyle.BECVantage

WritingTipsParttwo●Planyouranswer.Howmanyparagraphswilltherebe!Whatisthepurposeofeach?●Thinkofphrasesandkeywordvocabularytoincludeintheparagraphs.●Checkthatyourplancoversallthepartsofthetask.Thenwriteyouranswer.●Checkyouranswer:1.Doesitfullycompletethetask?2.Istheinformationclearlyorganized?3.Arethegrammar,vocabularyandstylecorrect?●Makeanynecessarychanges.Makesureyoukeepwithin120-140words.

8.2ADetailedGuidetoBECVantage

8.2.3TheListeningTest

TheBECVantageListeningTestconsistsofthreeparts,whichtakesthecandidatesapproximately40minutes(including10minutestransfer)tofinish.

BECVantage

ListeningTipsBeforelistening●Readtheinstructionverycarefully.●Checkthetypeyouneedtogive.Isitwordsornumbers?●Checkthenumberofwordsyoushouldwriteforeachanswer.●Youwillalwaysbegiventimetoreadthroughthequestionsbeforeyoulisten.Usethistimewell.Trytopredictwordsyoumighthearandwhattheanswersmightbe.

BECVantage

ListeningTipsWhilelistening●Alwayslistencarefullytotherecording.●Don’tchooseanswertooquickly!Therecordingoftencontainswordsfromtheincorrectoptions.●Donotworryifyoumisstheanswerfirsttime.●Usethesecondlisteningtocheckyouranswers.BECVantage

ListeningTipsAfterlistening●Alwayscheckyouranswercarefully.●Onlywriteoneanswerforeachquestion.●Neverleaveaquestionunanswered.Ifyourunoutoftimeorhavenoidea,guess.●Transferyouranswercarefullytotheanswersheet.

8.2ADetailedGuidetoBECVantage

8.2.4TheSpeakingTest

TheBECVantageSpeakingTestalwaystakesplacewithtwoorpossiblythreecandidatesandtwoexaminersanditconsistsofthreeparts.Ittakesapproximatelythecandidates14minutestofinishthispart.BECVantage

SpeakingTipsPartoneInthefirstpartofthetest,theexamineraddresseseachcandidateinturnandasksgeneralquestions.Candidateswillnotbeaddressedinstrictsequence.Duringthistimecandidatesarebeingtestedontheirabilitytotalkaboutthemselves,toprovidepersonalinformationontheirhome,interestsandjobs,andtoperformfunctionssuchasagreeinganddisagreeingandexpressingreferences.BECVantage

SpeakingTipsParttwoThesecondpartisa“mini-presentation”.Inthispart,thecandidatesaregivenachoiceoftopicandaboutoneminutetoprepareapieceofextendedspeech.Aftereachcandidatehasspoken,theirpartnerwillbeinvitedtoaskaquestionaboutwhathasbeensaid.●Makesurethatyoucoverthepointsonthecard.●Remembertoaddsomeofyourownideas.●Usewordssuchasand,but,aswell,because,so.●Thinkofaquestiontoasktheothercandidate.BECVantage

SpeakingTipsPartthreePartthreeisatwo-wayconversation(three-wayinathreecandidatesformat)betweencandidates.Theexaminerwillgivecandidatesatopictodiscuss.Thecandidatesareaskedtospeaktogetherforaboutthreeminutes.Theexaminerwillsupporttheconversationifappropriateandthenaskfurtherquestionsrelatedtothemaintheme.●Giveyouropinion.●Encouragetheothercandidatetospeak.●Asktheothercandidatetoclarifyhis/herideas.●Disagreepolitelywiththeothercandidate.

8.3ADetailedGuidetoBECHigher

8.3.1TheReadingTestThereadingTesthassixpartstestingvariousreadingskills.Partfourspecificallytestsacandidate’sknowledgeofvocabulary.Ittakes1hourforthecandidates

tofinishthispart.BECHigherReadingTipsPartonePartoneteststheabilitytoreadforbothgistandspecificinformation.Remember:●Thecorrectsentencewillnotnormallyuseexactlythesamewordsasthetext.●Wordsfromtheother,incorrect,sentencesmightappearinthetext.●Eachtextwillnormallybeusedatleastonce.●Decidewhichisthebesttechniqueforyou:readingeachtextfirstandthenalltheoptions,orreadingeachoptionfirstandthenallfivetexts.BECHigherReadingTipsParttwo●Readatleastonesentenceeithersideofeachgapbeforefillingit.●Ensurethateachsentencefitsthegapgrammatically.●Payspecialattentiontolinkingwords,referencewordsandpronouns.●Checkeachsentencefitsinwiththelogicofthetextasawhole.●Readthecompletedtexttocheckyouranswer.Doesitfeelright?BECHigherReadingTipsPartthree●Readthewholetextfirsttogetafeelforthecontextandstyle.●Usethewordsaroundeachgaptopredictthewordmissing.●Alltheoptionsaregrammaticallypossiblebutonlyoneiscorrect.●Readthecompletedtexttocheckyouranswers.Doesitfellright?BECHigherReadingTipsPartfour●Readatleastonesentenceeithersideofeachgapbeforefillingit.●Filleachgapwithonlyoneword.●Readthecompletedtexttocheckifthegrammariscorrect.Istheoverallmeaningclear?BECHigherReadingTipsPartfive●Underlineanywordswhichseemstrange.●Concentrateonsmallgrammaticalwordssuchasarticles,pronounsandprepositions.●Makesureyouhavenomorethanonemistakeonanysingleline.●Readthewholesentencetocheckwhetheryouransweriscorrect.●Readthecompletedtexttocheckyouranswer.Doesitfellright?

8.3ADetailedGuidetoBECHigher

8.3.2TheWritingTestTheWritingTesthastwoparts.Thefirstpartinvolvesthekindofgraphicinputofinformationwhichiscommoninthebusinessworld,andstudentsshouldbeexposedtoawiderangeofexamplesofgraphsandchartsfromnewspapers,magazines,companyliterature,etc.Thesecondpartrequiresstudentstoplancarefullyinordertobeabletoproducesuccessfulanswers.Ittakes1hour10minutesforthecandidates

tofinishthispart.BECHigherWritingTipsTheWritingTestassessesperformanceinseveralareas:taskcompletion,organizationandlinkingofideas,appropriateness,rangeandaccuracyofvocabularyandgrammar.BECHigherWritingTipsTask●Successfultaskcompletionmeansfulfillingallpartsofthetask.Fullmarkscanbeawardedonlywhenallthepointsintherubricarecoveredfullyandappropriately.●Keeptowordlimit.Ifyouarebelowit,youhaveprobablynotfullycompletedthetask.Ifyouareaboveit,youhaveprobablyincludeunnecessaryinformation.BECHigherWritingTipsLanguage●Showarangeofgrammarandvocabulary.●Organizeandlinkyourideaclearly.●Uselanguagewhichisconsistentandappropriate.●Checkyouyourwritingcarefullywhenyoufinished.

8.3ADetailedGuidetoBECHigher

8.3.3TheListeningTest

TheBECHigherListeningTestconsistsofthreeparts,whichtakesthecandidatesapproximately40minutes(including10minutestransfer)tofinish.

BECHigherListeningTipsBeforelistening●Readtheinstructionverycarefully.●Checkthetypeyouneedtogive.Isitawordoranumber?●Checkthenumberofwordsyoushouldwriteforeachanswer.●Youwillalwaysbegiventimetoreadthroughthequestionsbeforeyoulisten.Usethistimewell.Trytopredictwords