单选题AmericanschoosecityasapivotforEuropeantradeAnAmericanfirmwhichusesthemostsophisticatedcommunicationequiplnenthaschosenPeterboroughasthepivotbetweenitsEuropeancustomersandmanufacturingplantsaroundtheworld.Chesterton(UK)LtdispartofChestertonInternational,aspecialistengineeringgroupbasedinMassachusetts.ItsnewEuropeanCustomerServiceCentrehasbeensetupinofficesinaconvertedolderbuildingontheedgeofPeterborough'sQueensgatecoveredshoppingcentre.ThenewcentrewillreceiveordersfromallpartsofEurope,translatethem,andpassthemtotheChestertonfactoriesinHolland,EireandtheUSA.EachofitsPeterboroughstaffhasmasteryofatleastoneEuropeanlanguage-andallbutoneofthemwererecruitedfromthelocality.Chestertonspecialisesinpumpsandsealingde-vicesusedintheprocessindustries.InternationalManagerPhilipMetzsaid:"Peterboroughwaschosenbecauseitwastheplacewhichbestmetourcriteriaofcentrallocation,hightechnologycommu-nicationscapabilityandtheavailabilityofhighlyeducatedqualitystaff."ThePeterboroughoperationisareturn"home"forthecompany,whichwasformed102yearsagobyA.W.ChestertonsoonafteremigratingfromtheEastMidlandstownofLoughborough.

单选题 · Read the article below about family businesses and the questions. · For each question (13-18), mark one letter (A, B, C, or D) on your Answer Sheet. {{B}}FAMILY BUSINESSES{{/B}} A great many people maybe at some stage in their lives consider setting up a business with their family members. The idea may seem very attractive, but the reality of working with someone close to you can often cause unforeseen problems. 80% of family-run businesses think that when times get tough, love, romance or family bonds will see them through. But the fact is that although 70% of businesses are family-run, only 40% of these companies survive to the second generation. Why do so many family businesses fail? While money has traditionally been thought to be the root of all difficulties, the major problem is much more clear. In businesses which don't have family ties or relationships, people find it easier to communicate and to say what is on their mind. In contrast, with family businesses, people often make the mistake of thinking they know what views other family members have without actually discussing with them. There is one strategy which should be used in all family businesses to protect potential problems. As time goes by, one partner may lose interest or not work as effectively as they are expected to. If each partner's responsibilities are identified from the start so that they know exactly what is required of them, difficulties are less likely to arise as the business develops. It is also recommended to ask yourselves a few "what if" questions before starting a family business. For example, what if one of the partners brought a friend into the family business and others didn't like this person? What would you do? To avoid this kind of problem, you should talk it over amongst yourselves. This sort of research can make you aware of both your own attitudes and the attitudes of the other members of the family before problems actually occur. Contracts are another potential problems. Too many family businesses are run on the most informal terms. People often think it is unfriendly to ask a relative to sign a contract outlining the terms of a business venture. But you should treat the family business like any other business and be professional to draw up a contract. Whether the business is profitable or not, it is supposed who owns the shares must be clearly defined and written into a formal contract. It must also be clear who is running the company. Some family businesses take a vote on every decision. Perhaps this exercise in democracy should be applauded, but it created so many complications that in the end the business failed. Even a small committee can sometimes be too large. In matters affecting the entire company. only one of you should be the decision-maker. He or she doesn't have to be the largest shareholder, but should be the one best able to lead the business. Another type of problem arises when a relative decides to join an already established business. In these cases, you should do everything you can to avoid favourism. It is important to avoid putting him straight into any kind of managerial position. Instead, encourage him to learn not only the company but the people who make it work by working on the shop floor on the assembly line. They have to prove to be a valuable asset not to the family but to the business.

单选题Accordingtotheman,becauseoftheswine-fluAtheU.S.governmenthasshutdownalltheschools.BthemultinationalcorporationsinAmericaareverycautious.Cbusinessmenfrommexicohavebeenmonitoredclosely.

单选题Whatarethescientistsdoinglastinordertopiecetogethertheinstructionbookforhumanbiology?

单选题The Importance of a Name A name cannot make or break a product or company. It was not the name Edsel that doomed Ford's ill-fated car brand; the letters IBM, and the words they stand for, were not the critical ingredient in IBM's success. What matters is how well a company's goods or services meet its customers' needs. Having said that, however, we contend that a well-chosen name can give a company a decided marketing edge over comparable competitors, and that the branding effect of a strong corporate name can be especially important for service companies. Why? Because in services the company name is the brand name. Services do not lend themselves to individual branding the way tangible products do. Goods can be positioned and marketed with specific, appropriate brand names: Pampers, Alka Seltzer, Black flag. Consumers may be loval to such brands without ever knowing that the goods came from Procter performance, after all, is primary. So how important, really, is a service brand name? The answer is that strong branding can accelerate market awareness and acceptance of a high-quality service, while weak branding can accelerate failure for a poorly conceived or delivered service. It was widespread skepticism about the strategy that turned the name into a lightning rod for criticism. To be sure, one can find flaws with the name. When introduced, it was defined as acombination of "allegiance" and "aegis", and the very fact that it needed to be explained—and its pronunciation make clear—signaled a problem. But this is hindsight. Had the strategy been sound and well executed, we obviously would not be citing Allegis as a flawed brand name. Federal Express furnishes a contrasting example. We can now say that this is a strong and appropriate brand identity: Express delineates the nature and speed of the service, and Federal suggests a far-flung, perhaps governmentally sanctioned enterprise, But without its superlative ability to track and deliver parcels, and without its courteous employees and its professional-looking uniforms, trucks, envelopes, and advertising, the Federal Express brand would not be an example of excellence. The name was part of an overall operating strategy backed up by a sophisticated, cohesive branding programme. Are there any hard-and-fast rules for naming a service company? Beyond avoiding obvious negative connotations, there are no absolute. A strong service brand should immediately identify the service supplier and distinguish it from competitors. The customers could recognise the service benefit instantly from the brand name and understand, use and recall it with ease. A service company will obtain more advantages if its name is broad enough to cover not just the organisation's current business but also foreseeable expansions.

单选题 HOW DO AMERICAN CONSUMERS BORROW? Young consumers often have not established their credit ratings. Many do not have steady incomes. They might have difficulty borrowing money from an agency in business to make loan. Parents or relatives are usually their best source of loans. Of course, the parents or relatives would have money available and be willing to lend it. You might even get an interest-free loan. For most consumers the cheapest place to borrow is at the commercial bank. Banks are a good source of installment loan which may run for 12 months up to 30. Most of banks also make single-payment loans to consumers for short periods--30, 60, or 90 days. The newest type of bank loan is one that a depositor can get simply by writing a check. It works like this. A depositor is given a limited amount of credit, usually between $ 500 and $1, 000. He or she may write checks up to the amount allowed. Once a check has been written, the amount of the check becomes a loan. Usually no charge is made for interest until the loan is made. A typical interest rate is 3 cents per $100 per day, or just under 1% a month. Suppose that you used $100 of your credit and repaid it in 30 days. The cost would be 90 cents. If you repaid it in 10 days, the cost would be only 30 cents. There is another source of consumer loans that may be even cheaper than a bank. It is a credit union. But you have to be a member to borrow from one. A credit union is a cooperative. You remember that a cooperative is a business organized to provide its owners, or members, with goods or services at a saving. Like a bank, a credit union is both a savings and a lending organization. Its members deposit their savings in the credit union and are paid interest in return. These savings are used to make loans to members at low rates. Members of a credit union are people with a common bond. They may work for the same firm or belong to the same church, lodge, or labor union. Consumer loans are small in amount compared to those made to business firms. Companies that specialize in making loans to consumers, therefore, are sometimes called small-loan companies. These companies operate under state laws which regulate both the maximum amount that can be loaned and the rates charged. Regulations vary from one state to another. In general, however, the rates charged by small-loan companies are higher than those of other legal lenders except pawnbrokers. The following facts should tell you why. Half or more of the loans made by small-loan companies are signature of character loans. Practically all loans are paid in installments. In some states, small-loan companies will lend as little as $ 25 or $ 50. Many of their customers are persons whose credit ratings are so poor that they cannot borrow elsewhere. Another possible source of loans is a life insurance policy. Life insurance loans are easy to obtain. The rate charged is less than that for almost any other type of loan available to consumers. This is because the lender takes no risk. Also, borrowers may take as long as they want to repay their loans. Although that may seem like an advantage, it can also be a disadvantage. When a borrower is not required to repay a loan within a certain time, it is easy to let it run on and on. This increases the dollar cost of the loan because interest must be paid for as long as the loan continues.

单选题·Read the article below about product differentiation and the questions on the opposite page. ·For each question 13-18, mark one letter (A, B, C or D). Effective Product Differentiation As obvious as it may sound, the truth is there are a lot of businesses out there. The odds of not having any competition are next to impossible, and something any worthwhile business, whether big or small, has to eventually come to accept. Every one of those businesses are trying to do the exact same thing: get people to buy their products. When flooded with so many potential prospects it isn't always easy for the customers to know which business is the best and which one has the best product. What you need to do is help them along. Differentiating your business and your products from the competition is by far one of the most important details when dealing with any kind of industry. Everything a company does, from the creative ads they run to the inventive promotions they produce to the full color business cards they hand out is geared towards separating themselves from the rest of the flock. If you're going to compete with them you're going to have to do the same, and do it more effectively. Sometimes the most effective approaches can be some of the most simplistic. Printing well-colored brochures gives a business the chance to show their customers the subtle or not so subtle differences between them and the competition, whether it is better designs, better features, or better prices. Handing them a list of all the products or services you offer allows them the ability to see exactly what they're getting when they do business with you, and the more a customer knows about a business the better the odds are they'll feel comfortable with them. But, even going beyond the products, boosting up your company can also be an effective tool to place you above the competition. When you hand a person a business card, fully colored with a unique design you're handing them a means to remember you. A business card can say a lot about a person and the business they run. Simple, drab colors can be off putting to the per,son looking for a friendlier business. The right color scheme alone can differentiate you from the competition,and once you've managed to separate yourself out, you'll be in a prime position to be who the person favors when they need that specific product. With competition as steep as it is today, every business has its hands full trying to stay above the rest.When every little thing counts, the business the customers will take to heart will be the one who can show them just why they're the best qualified. Printing out the right kind of colorful brochure or business card can be a valuable method of stepping away from the crowded business field.

单选题In view of these circumstances, may we receive your assurance that, assuming we will not be receiving the shipment before July 2, you will be prepared to offer us a discount of 10 per cent on the quoted price? They want us to let them know if we ... a. can give them a discount b. will ship before July 2 c. will give them a discount if shipment is delayed

单选题18 our new brochure, which should arrive next week. A. I just have sent B. I have just sent C. just I have sent D. I have sent just

单选题{{B}}PART ONE{{/B}}·Look at the statements below and the text on mobile advertising on the opposite page. ·Which section (A, B, C or D) does each statement 1-7 refer to? ·For each statement 1- 7, mark one letter (A, B, C or D) on your Answer Sheet. ·You will need to use some of these letters more than once. Mobile Advertising The Next Big Thing{{B}}A{{/B}} Advertising on mobile phones is a tiny business. Last year spending on mobile ads was $ 871 million worldwide according to lnforma Telecoms Media, a research firm, compared with $ 24 billion spent on internet advertising and $450 billion spent on all advertising. But marketers are hailing the mobile phone as advertising's promised land. It is destined, some say, to replace not only internet advertising,the latest fad, but also television, radio, print and billboards, the four traditional pillars of the business. {{B}}B{{/B}} The 2.5 billion mobile phones around the world can potentially reach a much bigger audience than the planet's billion or so personal computers. The number of mobile phones in use is also growing much faster than the number of computers, especially in poorer countries. Furthermore, most people carry their mobile with them everywhere—something that cannot be said of television or computers. {{B}}C{{/B}} Yet the biggest selling point of mobile ads is what marketing types call ' relevance' . Advertisers believe that about half of all traditional advertising does not reach the right audience. But mobile advertising through text messages is the most focused: if marketers use mobile firms' profiles of their customers cleverly enough, they can tailor their advertisements to match each subscriber's habits. {{B}}D{{/B}} In September, Blyk, a new mobile operator, launched a service in Britain that aims to do just that. It offers subscribers 2]7 free text messages and 43 free minutes of voice calls per month as long as they agree to receive six advertisements by text message every day. To sign up for the service,customers must fill out a questionnaire about their hobbies and habits. So advertisers can target their messages very precisely. ' Britain is the largest, but also the trickiest European ad market, so if it works here it will work everywhere,' says Pekka Ala-Pietila, chief executive and one of the founders of Blyk.

单选题 · You will hear a talk about the British Foreign Trade during the 20th century by Mr, Fielder Thomason, an economic and finance professor from Bath University. In this speech, he is talking about foreign trade and especially invisible trade of the UK. ·For each question (23-30), mark one letter (A, B or C) for the correct answer. ·After you have listened once, replay the recording.

单选题Robots at WorkThe newspaper production process has come a long way from the old days when the paper was written, edited, typeset and ultimately printed in one building with the journalists working on the upper floors and the printing (19) going on the ground floor. These days the editors, sub-editors and journalists who put the paper together are (20) to find themselves in a totally different building or maybe even in a different city. This is the (21) which now prevails in Sydney. The daily paper is complied at the editorial headquarters, known as the pre-press centre, in the heart of the city but printed far away in the suburbs at the printing centre. Her human beings are in the (22) as much of the work is done by automated machines controlled by computers. (23) the finished newspaper has been created for the next morning's edition, all the pages are (24) electronically from pre-press centre to the printing centre. The system of transmission is an update on the sophisticated page facsimile system already in use on many (25) newspapers. An image-setter at the printing centre delivers the pages as films. Each page (26) less than one minute to produce, although for color pages four versions are used, one each for black, cyan, magenta and yellow. The pages are then processed into photographic negatives and the film is used to produce aluminum printing plates (27) for the presses.A procession of automated vehicles is busy at the new printing centre where the Sydney Morning Herald is printed each day. With (28) flashing and warning horns honking, the robots look for all the world like enthusiastic machines from a science-fiction movie, as they follow their random paths around the (29) busily getting on with their jobs. Automation of this kind is now (30) in all modern newspaper plants. The robots can (31) unauthorized personnel and alert (32) staff immediately if they find an intruder and not surprisingly, tall tales are already being told about the machines starting to take on (33) of their own.

单选题TheInternethasdonesomethingtojobsexceptthat_________.

单选题·Read the article below about robots at work.·Choose the best word or phrase to fill each gap from A, B, C, or D on the opposite page.·For each question 19--33, mark one letter (A, B, C, or D) on your Answer Sheet. {{B}}Robots at Work{{/B}}The newspaper production process has come a long way from the old days when the paper was written, edited, typeset and ultimately printed in one building with the journalists working on the upper floors and the printing {{U}}(19) {{/U}} going on the ground floor. These days the editors, sub-editors and journalists who put the paper together are {{U}}(20) {{/U}} to find themselves in a totally different building or maybe even in a different city. This is the {{U}}(21) {{/U}} which now prevails in Sydney. The daily paper is complied at the editorial headquarters, known as the pre-press centre, in the heart of the city but printed far away in the suburbs at the printing centre. Her human beings are in the {{U}}(22) {{/U}} as much of the work is done by automated machines controlled by computers. {{U}}(23) {{/U}} the finished newspaper has been created for the next morning's edition, all the pages are {{U}}(24) {{/U}} electronically from pre-press centre to the printing centre. The system of transmission is an update on the sophisticated page facsimile system already in use on many {{U}}(25) {{/U}} newspapers. An image-setter at the printing centre delivers the pages as films. Each page {{U}}(26) {{/U}} less than one minute to produce, although for color pages four versions are used, one each for black, cyan, magenta and yellow. The pages are then processed into photographic negatives and the film is used to produce aluminum printing plates {{U}}(27) {{/U}} for the presses.A procession of automated vehicles is busy at the new printing centre where the Sydney Morning Herald is printed each day. With {{U}}(28) {{/U}} flashing and warning horns honking, the robots look for all the world like enthusiastic machines from a science-fiction movie, as they follow their random paths around the {{U}}(29) {{/U}} busily getting on with their jobs. Automation of this kind is now {{U}}(30) {{/U}} in all modern newspaper plants. The robots can {{U}}(31) {{/U}} unauthorized personnel and alert {{U}}(32) {{/U}} staff immediately if they find an intruder and not surprisingly, tall tales are already being told about the machines starting to take on {{U}}(33) {{/U}} of their own.

单选题ThecrisismetbyJapanesechemicalgroupsiscausedby______.

单选题To provide structure and organization, managers should do all the following except ______.