剑桥商务英语高级模拟Word格式文档下载.docx

剑桥商务英语高级模拟Word格式文档下载.docx

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Lookatthestatementsbelowandtheviewsexpressedbyfivedifferentpeopleabouttheircareersinretailing．

Whichextract（A，B，C，DorE）doeseachstatement（1-8）referto？

Foreachstatement（1-8），markoneletter（A，B，C，DorE）onyourAnswerSheet．

Youwillneedtousesomeoftheselettersmorethanonce．

1Thewaythismarketoperateshasbeentransformed．

2Newemployeesaregivenanoverviewofhowthecompanyworks．

3I'

veincreasedmybusinessexpertisesincejoiningthecompany．

4Ienjoyworkinginretailmorethaninmyformerjob．

5Workingcloselywithotherpeopleisanimportantfeatureofthisjob．

6Companytrainingisorganisedsothatallstaffsharecommongoals．

7Ineedtokeepuptodatewithdevelopmentsinmyfield．

8Mybusinesswouldliketoemployonlypeoplegenuinelycommittedtoacareerinretailing.

ACAREERINRETAILING

Keepingthecustomersatisfiediscentraltotheretailbusiness．Buthowmuchjobsatisfactioncanworkersintheretailtradeexpect?

Fivepeoplewhoworkinretailingtalkabouttheircareers．

A

SteveCainisdeputydirectoroftradingforalargesupermarket．Hesays，“WhenImovedintotheretailsectorIfounditofferedmoretangibleachievementsandrewardsthanmypreviousbusinessconsultancywork．Thepowerbasehaschangedintheindustry，andit'

stheretailerswhoarenowdrivingthingsforward．Before，buyerswaitedfortheproducttocomeinandnegotiatedthepricewiththemanufacturers，butnowinfoodretailing，it'

stheretailersthemselveswhoaredevelopingtheirownbrandsandfixingprices，whichmakesitanexcitingfieldtoworkin．

B

VirginiaClementissupportanddevelopmentmanagerforalargeclothingdepartmentstore．

“ThismeansIamresponsibleforallthebuyingandmerchandising．Thisdemandsteamwork。

andformethisisoneofthemostattractiveaspectsofworkingatheadoffice．Youhavealotofcontactwithpeople，fromshopfloorstafftosuppliers．Weworkinaveryopenenvironmentandwe'

reveryteamorientated．Eachteamisresponsibleforgettingaparticularproducttothestoreontimeandintherightquantities．”

C

TimEdlund，whoworksinbuyingforalargeclothingstore，says，“Thebuyerhastohavesomeflairfordesign，butbalancingthat，youneedastrategicviewandbusinessacumen．

Therearenumerousfactorsinfluencingabuyer'

schoiceofproductrangeforeachseason．Ihavetobewareofcurrenttrendsinthesuppliers'

market？

competitors'

activityandbothlocalandglobalcustomerdemand．IgoalloverBritaintokeepabreastofthisinformation．

Workinghoursareveryirregular，soit'

sthecompleteoppositetoa9to5job．Itcanbeextremelyexhausting，butIloveit．”

D

DianeMaxwellisbuyingcontrollerforwomen'

swearforahomeshoppingcataloguecompany．

Shesaysthat，despitethehardwork，herjobremainsvariedandsatisfying．“I'

vegainedahugerangeofskillswiththecompanyinvariousfields，boththroughformalcoursesandbymeansofon-the-jobtraining．Thescopeofthebuyingroleisextremelybroad．It'

snotjustabouttheproduct．Thefocusofthejobis0nproducingaprofitablerangeandthatrequiresextensivebusinessknowledge．”

E

JanShawispersonneldirectorofasupermarket．Shesays．“Whatwereallywanttodoinourcompanyistakingonpeoplewitharealinterestintraderatherthanmanagerswhoonlywanttocompleteajobasfastaspossible．Ournewgraduaterecruitmentprogrammeaimstodoexactlythat．Theinductionprogrammeintroducesallaspectsofworkingforourcompany，givingearlyresponsibilityandfirst-handexperienceofthecompany'

sworkingculture．Careerdevelopmentwithinthecompanyisbasedongeneralmanagementskillsratherthanspecialisation，sowhateverdepartmenttheyarein，employeeswillfocusonsimilaraims．

PARTTWO

Questions9-14

Readthearticleaboutmanagementbuyoutsofcompanies．

Choosethebestsentencetofilleachofthegaps．

Foreachgap（9-14），markoneletter（A-H）onyourAnswerSheet．

DOnotuseanylettermorethanonce．

ManagementBuy-outsofCompanies

Involvingstaffinmanagementbuy-out（MBO）negotiationscanhelpsmooththepathforthefuture．Employeesarebecomingincreasinglyfamiliarwiththefluctuationsandinstabilitythattheirworkingenvironmentscanpresent．It'

snotjustmergersandacquisitionsthatcanupsetthesituation．InternalMBOscanalsobeparticularlyunsettingforemployees．Insomecases，theMBOtakesplacetosaveanailingcompany．Inothers，itistheresultofseniormanagementandboarddisagreements，oristopreventahostiletakeoverbid．__（9）_．Thisinsecuritycanbeverydamaging．Oneofthemostimportantfactors，oftennotconsideredduringtheprocessofanMBO，isthereactionoftheworkforce，yetitisthoseemployeeswhomoreoftenthannotcanmakeorbreakthefutureSuccessofanynewmanagementteam．_（10）_．Bymaintainingchannelsofcommunicationacrossthefloor．newmanagementteamscouldfindtherankandfileausefulallyinthebidtotakeover．Showingthoseemployeesthatabuy-outcouldbetotheiradvantage，creatingnewopportunitiesforpromotionorcareerdevelopment，willinthelong-termbeadvantageoustotheentirecompany．

Thechallengefornewmanagementshouldbetoreinspireemployees．_（11）_．Ifthenewteamdoesn'

tengageoldemployeesinfutureplansorconsiderthecontributiontheycanmake，theideathattheMBOwasmeanttosaveeveryoneislost．Inthissituation，long-termemployeesbegintoseethenewmanagementteamandshareholdersastheonlybeneficiariesinthebuy-outandfeelintheendthattheonlypeoplesavedarethoseatthetopofthecorporateladder．_（12）_．Thiswillmeanthattherescuewillfailbeforeithasreallystarted．

ItisdepressinglycommonfornewMBOteamsnottolearnfromthepast．_（13）_．Ifthenewteamcanfindinnovativewaystoinvolvestaffactivelyinvariousaspectsofthebuy-outprocess，thebenefitsaremanifold．_（14）_．Apackagewithsuchcomponentscangaintheirsupportandbeinvaluableinbuildingsuccessfortheventure，andisonethatenlightenedMBOteamstendtoadopt．

AIncludingtheminanybuy-out，discussionscanimprovethenewcompany’sfutureprospects．

BInsuchcircumstancesitiseasyforthenewboardtomakethesamemistakesastheold．

CPossibilitiesforrealisingtheseincludedecision-making，settinggoals，andofferingthechanceofafuturestakeinthenewcompany．

DWhateveritsorigins，thoselowerdownthecorporaterankscanoftenbeleftoutoftheequation，wonderingwhatistobecomeofthem．

ENobodybenefitsifthecompanyfailstomeetitsobjectives．

FYetthenewstartrepresentsagoldenopportunity．

GThisrequirementisparticularlyrelevantwhenacompanyhasfailedorwhenstaffhavelostfaithinthepreviousmanagement．

HInternalMBOscanalsobeparticularlyunsettlingforemployees．

PARTTHREE

Questions15-20

Readthefollowingarticleandthequestions．

Foreachquestion（15-20），markoneletter（A，B，CorD）onyourAnswerSheet．

“Harmonization"

isaprocessofincreasingthecompatibilityofaccountingpracticesbysettinglimitsonhowmuchtheyvary．Harmonizedstandardsarefreeoflogicalconflicts，andshouldimprovethecomparabilityoffinancialinformationfromdifferentcountries．

EffortstoharmonizeaccountingstandardsbeganevenbeforethecreationoftheInternationalAccountingStandardsCommittee（IASC）in1973．Internationalaccountingharmonizationnowisoneofthemostimportantissuesfacingsecuritiesregulators，stockexchanges，andthosewhoprepareorusefinancialstatements．

Harmonizationandstandardizationaresometimesusedinterchangeably．Butthereisstilladifferencebetweenthem．Standardizationnormallymeanstheimpositionofarigidandnarrowsetofrules，andmayevenapplyasinglestandardorruletoa11situations．Besides，standardizationdoesnotaccommodatenationaldifferencesand，therefore，ismoredifficulttoimplementinternationally．Whereasharmonizationismuchmoreflexibleandopen．Itdoesnottakeaone-size-fits-allapproach，butaccommodatesnationaldifferencesandhasmadeagreatofprogressinternationallyinrecentyears．However，withinaccounting!

thesetwowordshavealmostbecometechnicalterms，andonecannotdependonthenormaldifferenceintheirmeanings．"

Harmonization"

isawordthattendstobeassociatedwiththetransnationallegislationoriginatingfromtheEuropeanUnionwhile"

standardization"

isawordthatisoftenassociatedwiththeInternationalAccountingStandardCommittee．

Thereasonsthatmakenationalaccountingstandardsdesirablealsoapplyinternationally．Generallyspeaking，thereasonsforharmonizationareasfollows：

（1）Itisimportantandnecessaryforinvestorsandfinancialanalyststounderstandthefinancialstatementsofforeigncompanieswhosesharestheymightwishtobuy．Theyhopetomakeitquitesurethatstatementsfromdifferentcountriesarereliableandcomparable，oratleasttobeclearaboutthenatureandmagnitudeofthedifferences．Besides，theyalsoneedconfidenceinthesoundnessoftheauditing．

（2）TheadvantagesofharmonizationareveryimportantforMNEs．becausethegreateffortoffinancialaccountantstoprepareandconsolidatefinancialstatementswouldbemuchsimplifiedifstatementsfromallovertheglobewerepreparedaccordingtothesamestandards．Besides，itwouldbemucheasiertopreparecomparableinternalinformationfortheappraisaloftheperformanceofsubsidiariesindifferentcountries．What'

smore，manyaspectsofinvestmentappraisal，performanceevaluation，andotherdecision-makingusesofmanagementaccountinginformationwouldbenefitfrom