剑桥商务英语中级习题集(2010年春季)听力原文 联系客服

发布时间 : 星期一 文章剑桥商务英语中级习题集(2010年春季)听力原文更新完毕开始阅读4c9eaf563c1ec5da50e27090

[pause] Twenty-two

Woman: I'm calling from Johnson's about the work stations we've asked you to supply. We've

been reconsidering the office layout - largely on the basis of your advice, I might add - and we now think we should go for two more of the smaller units (type A) in place of one of the larger type C models. Please let us know what difference this will make to the overall cost.

[pause]

Now listen to the recordings again. [pause]

That is the end of Part Two. [pause]

Part Three.

Questions 23 to 30.

You will hear an insurance salesman, Dan, talking to a friend, Helen, about the appraisal interview be has just had.

For each question 23-30, mark one letter (A, B or C) for the correct answer. After you have listened once, replay the recording.

You have forty-five seconds to read through the questions. [pause]

Now listen, and mark A, B or C. [pause]

Woman: Hey Dan. How did the appraisal go? Man: Oh, it was pretty good thanks. Carol - she's my line manager - seemed to know me

better than I knew myself, and she really helped me to identify strengths and weaknesses I didn't know I had. I'd thought we were just going to talk about practical things, like what my prospects are for promotion, rather than my psychology!

Woman: Do you want a promotion? I thought you'd chosen to go down a grade when you took

this job.

Man: That's right. I used to manage a sales team. It meant working long hours, and it could

be pretty difficult at times, though on the whole I enjoyed the challenge. But it kept me at a distance from customers and I wanted to go back to that. So here I am, a sales rep again. I'd be interested in promotion if it didn't stop me doing the fun parts of the job.

Woman: How have people reacted to your taking a step down? Man: Most of the people in my last company found it strange, but in fact a couple of them

thought about changing to this company too, though it didn't come to anything. There seems to be a rumour going around that I'll be looking for something better soon, but actually I'm pretty happy here.

Woman: You certainly seem to be good at the job. Man: To be honest, with all the new insurance products coming out it isn't easy to keep up

with them all. I have to struggle to remember everything that's available. At least working with a computer comes fairly natural to me, so that saves time.

Woman: I'm glad I don't have to deal with customers the way you do. I haven't got the patience. Man: You certainly need that sometimes, when someone spends ages making up their mind,

but I don't find it a problem. And I don't mind explaining complicated policies in simple language: it's quite a challenge. But there are some people I'd much rather avoid. Unfortunately in this job, you've got to make everyone feel you really enjoy their company.

Woman: Quite frankly, the less I have to do with them the better!

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Man:

I tell you what though - in my appraisal I suggested some changes to the way I work. I couldn't persuade Carol to let me work fewer evenings and more on Saturdays, but at least I won't have to come into the office every day: she's letting me work from home instead. And that'll mean I'll waste less time travelling, so I should be able to make more commission, which will be a relief, as the basic salary's so low.

Woman: Good for you. Man: We also talked about an idea I have for increasing sales, which she'll put to the senior

managers. The company's spending much more on advertising now, so the name's more recognisable, but I suspect it doesn't lead directly to more business. Now that sales reps are allowed to travel anywhere in the country, incentives should be ~offered to existing customers to introduce new ones. It's the personal contact that counts.

Woman: So with your management experience, you must be in good position to judge your

own line manager. What do you think of her skills?

Man: She'll always make time to listen to anyone in the team who wants to talk to her, and

that's a plus. On the other hand, I've never known her to be ready for a meeting, even when she's called it herself, which isn't a very good model for the department. And it's really left up to us to motivate ourselves.

Woman: Well, I'm pleased your interview seems to have gone well. [pause]

Now listen to the recording again. [pause]

That is the end of Part Three. You now have ten minutes to transfer your answers to your Answer Sheet. [pause]

Note: Teacher, stop the recording here and time ten minutes. Remind students when there is one minute remaining.

That is the end of the test.

TEST 9

This is the Business English Certificate Vantage 4. Listening Test 1.

Part One. Questions 1 to 12.

You will bear three telephone conversations or messages.

Write one or two words or a number in the numbered spaces on the notes or forms below. After you have listened once, replay each recording. [pause]

Conversation One. Questions 1 to 4. Look at the note below.

You will bear a man phoning a customer about an order You have 15 seconds to read through the note. [pause]

Now listen, and fill in the spaces. [pause] Man: Hello. Could I speak to Bob Cole in Purchasing, please?

Woman: I’m afraid he’s out of the office for the day. Can I take a message? Man: Yes, please. It’s Alex Parker from Pilton Engineering.

Woman: Oh yes. We ordered some packaging machines from you, didn’t we? Man: That’s right, but I’m going to have to postpone the delivery date. We’re having

problems finding the right lifting machinery for them.

Woman: I see.

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Man:

Now, under the terms of the contract I signed, there is a penalty clause for late delivery. But I’m hoping Bob will waive that, since I also agreed to a very good bulk discount.

Woman: I’ll check for you. Man: Thanks. I’ve decided that, as we’re doing the maintenance, I won’t charge for

installation.

Woman: OK. I’ve got that. Man: Oh, and one more thing - I can’t find anything in the contract about who’s dealing

with insurance while the goods are on the road.

Woman: I’ll check that. [pause]

Now listen to the recording again. [pause]

Conversation Two. Questions 5 to 8. Look at the notes below.

You will hear a man leaving a message for a colleague about another company’s press conference.

You have 15 seconds to read through the notes. [pause]

Now listen, and fill in the spaces. [pause] Man: Hi, Julie, it’s Mike, with the information you asked for. Webster’s press conference

has just finished, and this is what the new Managing Director said about their plans. They’ve built up healthy profits, which they’ll spend on opening new outlets over the next five years. Next, he admitted that they’re concerned about their product image, so they’ve established the new post of Brand Executive reporting to the Marketing Director. They want someone with fresh ideas, who’ll make a big difference. Thirdly, since Webster was taken over by the Chilcott Group, they’ve made savings by centralising logistics, and they’ll now apply that process to purchasing. They’ve examined the feasibility of centralising property operations, but decided against it, at least in the short term. And finally, they plan to increase spending per customer by starting a loyalty card. Experience in the rest of the Chilcott Group shows that customers who join schemes like this spend a third more than other customers. OK, that’s all, Julie. Hope it’s clear.

[pause]

Now listen to the recording again. [pause]

Conversation Three. Questions 9 to 12. Look at the notes below.

You will hear a man telephoning a colleague about a building he has seen. You have 15 seconds to read through the notes. [pause]

Now listen, and fill in the spaces. [pause] Man: Oh hello, Jan. It’s Mark Hill here, the Accommodation Officer. I’ve just got back

from looking at fifteen Lemmington Road, another possible building for our training courses. This one looks very promising. It’s in excellent order, and although we might

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need to adapt some of the rooms, we wouldn’t need to upgrade it, unlike some of the other buildings I’ve seen. The seminar rooms are spacious and airy, and the accommodation is modern and well laid out. The overheads are cheaper than most of the other buildings I’ve looked at, probably because it’s new and well designed. Also on the plus side - it’s slightly out of town, so that means less property tax. The downside of that is that it’s further from Head Office than some of the other possibilities. The only real problem I can see is its size. It’s not a huge building, and during our peak months, it may not be sufficiently large to accommodate all our trainees.

[pause]

Now listen to the recording again. [pause]

That is the end of Part One. You now have 20 seconds to check your answers. [pause]

Part Two. Questions 13 to 22.

Section One.

Questions 13 to 17.

You will hear five short recordings. Five speakers are talking about the use of technology in recruitment.

For each recording, decide what recommendation the speaker makes concerning technology in recruitment.

Write one letter (A-H) next to the number of the recording. Do not use any letter more than once.

After you have listened once, replay the recordings. You now have 15 seconds to read the list A-H. [pause]

Now listen, and decide what recommendation each speaker makes concerning technology in recruitment. [pause] Thirteen

I’m the company’s recruitment specialist, and we’ve moved heavily into using the internet. It’s virtually eliminated the sorts of applications that don’t stand a chance. We have an online application system that works well, because it elicits the vital information at the outset. For instance, there might be something like ‘Do you have hands-on experience of the latest technologies in this field?’ People who can’t give the answers are immediately advised not to continue with their application. [pause] Fourteen

It’s astonishing that, while nearly all British businesses use the internet in one way or another, most of them just use their websites as shop windows for advertising jobs - then expect people to send in paper-based applications. They’re simply not using the technology to its best advantage. There are so many refinements that the internet makes possible, so every recruitment officer ought to be looking at making optimal use of it and cutting out as much paper as they can. [pause] Fifteen

Many companies think they’re up to date if they advertise vacancies on their website and send emails to applicants instead of letters. But that just isn’t enough. These days, lots of people send text messages, so businesses should follow suit, for instance when inviting someone to interview: it shows that the firm has joined the twenty-first century. And although the phone is much more traditional, it’s still a valuable form, because you can talk to applicants in person.

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