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Shipping articles are contracts of agreement between the members of the crew and the ().
A . Charterers
B . Coast Guard
C . Master
D . vessel's owner
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The Shipping Articles shall be signed by each seaman and the ().
A . Master of the vessel
B . Shipping Commissioner
C . Coast Guard
D . Customs Service
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The article is a condensed and adapted version of the preface to the book “Conflict and Consensus in Modern American History”.
-
An abstract should reflect correctly the objectives and contents of the article. Do not include information that does not appear in the body of the article in the abstract.
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1 Choose the correct answer.► A and the are adjectives/articles. articles1 A and an are definite/indefinite articles. ________
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&8226;Read the following article about a successful British businessman and the questions on the opposite page.
&8226;For each question 15-20, mark one letter (A, B, C or D) on your Answer Sheet, for the answer you choose.
Every year British universities turn out 15,000 graduates in business studies. Many dream that they will one day be running a major business, wielding power and influencing markets. But only a very few will climb to the top and realise their fantasies. For the rest, compromise, disappointment, mediocrity and an alternative career away from the mainstream action will be their lot. Peter Blackburn is chairman and chief executive of Nestle UK, which employs more than 12,000 people and has a turnover of £1.8 billion. His advice to those who wish to move ahead of the pack is as straightforward as the man. "Take all your qualifications seriously. Although many top executives do not have first-class honours and it is often a disadvantage to be an intellectual, qualifications are increasingly important, as is the quest for improvement."
"I do feel that an international dimension helps every career. It says something about the person and if they have worked in another language, it gives a manager the important dimension of realising that each market is part of something bigger. Also it is always important in any career to keep your options open as events can take an unexpected turn. When they did for me, I acted accordingly. I still have to pinch myself to remind myself what I am doing. Even 10 years ago I didn't think this is what I would end up having achieved." "In the end, those that get right to the top retain their 'people touch', which can be very difficult as one gets swept up on the fast track of corporate life. But those who never forget where they have come from and keep their feet on the ground have a real advantage. The important thing is that you should never ask someone else to do something you couldn't do yourself. I am always looking for those who have the determination, the steel to see through our corporate objectives. I also want managers who can be role models for the next generation, people who will be an inspiration."
Blackburn started out working for a small confectionery company and was responsible for clearing up a major financial scandal when it was taken over by a larger company, Rowntrees. This was a project which marked him out and gave him visibility in Rowntrees. While many successful careers can easily be seen as an almost predictable procession, there are always one or two moments when success in a project promotes the executive, bringing star quality and something of an aura. However, if at the decisive moment a mistake is made, then the executive, instead of moving sharply forward, disappears into the pack and others are given their chance.
When Rowntrees was later taken over by Nestle, Peter Blackburn went on television and argued against the takeover. When the dust settled, the winners rewarded their spirited adversary. "l have always believed in doing the best that I can in any situation. Sometimes you have to make difficult decisions and then it's important to meet them square on. I have been fortunate in that the evolving company that I am now involved with has always believed in strong social values and has behaved as humanely as possible when it has been forced to close or to sell one of its businesses."
Peter Blackburn's career has been marked by two company takeovers. Many successful takeovers have been characterised by the new owners looking at the second layers of management and giving them a free rein. Mr Blackburn has. benefited from this process twice and says: "In both the takeovers I have been involved with, success has been achieved because the new owners have not gone in for ,wholesale clearouts. They have realised that it is the existing people who understand
A.be realistic about their abilities.
B.make sure they choose the right post.
C.improve their relations with other executives.
D.have a good educational background.
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According to the writer of the article, the two words "harmonization" and "standardization"______.
A.often refer to the same thing
B.are rather different in that they originated from different sources
C.always mean the same thing
D.occasionally refer to the same thing
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&8226;Read the article below about how to read annual report and the questions on the opposite page.
&8226;For each question 13-18, mark one letter (A, B, C or D) on your Answer Sheet for the answer you choose.
How to read annual reports
First, turn back to the report of the certified public accountant. This third-party auditor will tell you fight off the bat if Galaxy's report conforms with "generally accepted accounting principles". Then go to the footnotes. Check to see whether earnings are up or down. The footnotes often tell the whole story.
Then turn to the letter from the chairman, Usually addressed "to our shareholders," it's up front -- and should be in more ways than one. The chairman's tone reflects the personality, the well- being of the company. In this letter, the chairman should tell you how the company fared this year. But more important, the letter should tell you why. Keep an eye out for sentences that start with "Except for..." and "Despite the..." They're clues to problems. On the positive side, a chairman's letter should give you insights into the company's future and its stance on economic or political trends that may affect it.
Now begin digging into the numbers!
One source is the balance sheet. It is a snapshot of how the company stands at a single point in time. On the top are assets -- everything the company owns. Things that can quickly be turned into cash are current assets. On the bottom are liabilities -- everything the company owes. Current liabilities are the debts due in one year, which are paid out of current assets. The difference between current assets and current liabilities is working capital, a key figure to watch from one annual report to another. If working capital shrinks, it could mean trouble, one possibility: the company may not be able to keep dividends growing rapidly. Owners' equity is the difference between total assets and liabilities. It is the presumed dollar value of what the owners or shareholders own. You want it to grow.
The second basic source of numbers is the income statement. It shows how much money Galaxy made or lost over the year. Most people look at one figure first. It's in the income statement at the bottom: earnings per share. Watch out. It can fool you. Galaxy's management could boost earnings by selling off a plant. Or by cutting the budget for research and advertising. The number you .should look at first in the income statement is net sales. Ask yourself: are sales going up at a faster rate than the last time around? When sales increases start to slow, the company may be in trouble. Have sales gone down because the company is selling off a losing business? If so, profits may be soaring.
Another important thing to study is the company's debt. Turn to the balance, and divide long-term liabilities by owners' equity. That's the debt-to- equity ratio. A high ratio means the company borrows a lot of money to spark its growth. That's okay -- if sales grow too, and d there's enough cash on hand to meet the payments. A company doing well on borrowed money can earn big profits for its shareholders. But if sales fall, watch out. The whole enterprise may slowly sink. Some companies can handle high ratios; others can't.
Finally, you have to compare. Is the company's debt-to-equity ratio better or worse than it used to be? Better or worse than the industry norms? In company-watching, comparisons are all. They tell you if management is staying on top of things.
According to the writer, the most important element of the chairman's letter is
A.the expressions used.
B.the explanations given by the chairman.
C.the performance of the company during the year.
D.the company's future described by the chairman.
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According to the article, the population explosion of elk and deer was caused also by ______.
A.the adoption of a policy of aggressive predator elimination.
B.the increased number of National Parks.
C.the deceasing number of visitors to National Parks.
D.the heavy exploitation of endangered animals in the 20 century.
此题为多项选择题。
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•Read the following article and the questions after the article.
•For each Question 15-20, mark one letter (A, B, C or D) on your Answer Sheet for the answer you choose.
"Harmonization" is a process of increasing the compatibility of accounting practices by setting limits on how much they vary. Harmonized standards are free of logical conflicts, and should improve the comparability of financial information from different countries.
Efforts to harmonize accounting standards began even before the creation of the International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC) in 1973. International accounting harmonization now is one of the most important issues facing securities regulators, stock exchanges, and those who prepare or use financial statements.
Harmonization and standardization are sometimes used interchangeably. But there is still a difference between them. Standardization normally means the imposition of a rigid and narrow set of rules, and may even apply a single standard or rule to all situations. Besides, standardization does not accommodate national differences and, therefore, is more difficult to implement internationally. Whereas harmonization is much more flexible and open. It does not take a one-size-fits-all approach, but accommodates national differences and has made a great of progress internationally in recent years. However, within accounting, these two words have almost become technical terms, and one cannot rely on the normal difference in their meanings. 'Harmonization' is a word that tends to be associated with the transnational legislation originating from the European Union while 'standardization' is a word that is often associated with the International Accounting Standard Committee.
The reasons that make national accounting standards desirable also apply internationally. Generally speaking, the reasons for harmonization are as follows: (1) It is important and necessary for investors and financial analysts to understand the financial statements of foreign companies whose shares they might wish to buy. They hope to make it quite sure that statements from different countries are reliable and comparable, or at least to be clear about the nature and magnitude of the differences. Besides, they also need confidence in the soundness of the auditing.
(2) The advantages of harmonization are very important for MNEs, because the great effort of financial accountants to prepare and consolidate financial statements would be much simplified if statements from all around the world were prepared according to the same standards. Besides, it would be much easier to prepare comparable internal information for the appraisal of the performance of subsidiaries in different countries. Further, many aspects of investment appraisal, performance evaluation, and other decision making uses of management accounting information would benefit from harmonization. Above all, the cost of capital should be reduced by reducing the risk for investors if accounting can be made more comparable and reliable.
(3) International accountancy firms can benefit from harmonization. They are in favour of harmonization because it is good for their large clients.
(4) Governments in developing countries might find it easier to understand and control the operations of MNEs if financial reporting were harmonized.
The most fundamental of obstacles to harmonization is the size of the present differences between the accounting practices of different countries. In previous Section 8.5 some main differences concerned with international accounting are discussed. Besides, there are several significant differences within the equity class, let alone between that class and the other. These differences go to the root of the reasons for the preparation of accounting information. Further, the dichotomy between shareholder/fair view pr
A.International Accounting Standard
B.International Accounting
C.International Accounting Harmonization
D.International Accounting Standard Committee
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?Read the article below about golf and business.?For each question 23-28 on the opposite p
? Read the article below about golf and business.
? For each question 23-28 on the opposite page, choose the correct answer.
? Mark one letter (A, B or C) on your Answer Sheet.
Mixing Business and Golf
It's no secret in corporate circles that golf and business offer a near-perfect match. Where else but on a course can executives spend a leisurely four hours in such a private, sociable setting? What the is better way to strengthen a relationship with a client than by lifting a glass together after a round?
For all of the game's popularity, though, there's an art of mixing business and golf. How well you behave yourself over those 18 holes — balancing business and friendship, dealing with competition and success — suggests to others how you might behave in the boardroom or around the bargaining table. "If you're out playing golf with your partners, hey, have at it," says John Hansen, a former software-company CEO who now heads the Colorado Institute of Technology. "But when you're playing golf in a business setting — whether with employees, partners, or customers — man, you'd better be hypersensitive about how you act."
For starters, team the etiquette. There's a set of rules in golf that includes not talking when someone is hitting, not stepping in the line of a putt, and treating the course with respect.
Another key to success is engaging your playing partners but avoiding the hard sell. Less-experienced business golfers, says Hansen, think they need to come back to the office with something to show for all their time spent away. Just focus on the personal side, he says, "I am expecting that, by the 18th hole, you know the spouse, you know their children, you know the church they go to, you know everything about them."
Regardless of how serious your partners take the game, don't try to impress. The golf swing is difficult enough when you're relaxed. Add a degree of tension, and it becomes even harder. As CEO of RDA Corp. , a software development outfit outside Baltimore, Don Await plays a lot of business golf. "I've seen cases where people get so intimidated," he says. "You know, they're whiffing or hitting the ball three feet." Actually, most people do not pay much attention to what you shoot; they're too busy focusing on their own game. What people will remember is how enjoyable it was to play with you.
What do businessmen think of business and golf?
A.It is easier to make a deal while playing golf.
B.Golf offers a chance for businessmen to know each other better.
C.Playing golf together is one part of the deal.
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?Read this text taken from an article about the difference between internalization and globalization.
?Choose the best sentence to fill each of the gaps.
?For each gap 9—14, mark one letter (A—H) on your Answer Sheet.
?Do not use any letter more than once.
Internalization and Globalization
One of the most important considerations in the implementation of strategy is the extent to which the organization's activities are spread across geographical regions. H Merchants traveled the known world to sell products manufactured in their home country and to return with products from other countries. Initially, international business simply took the form. of exporting and importing. (9) .
Globalization, on the other hand, is more than simply internationalization. (10) . In order for a business to become global in its operations, we would usually expect a number of important characteristics to be in place. First, global organizations take advantage of the increasing trend towards a convergence of customer needs and wants across international borders.
Second, global organizations compete in industries that are globalized. (11)
Third, global organizations can and do locate their value-adding activities in those places in the world where the greatest competitive advantages can be made. (12)
(13) . The mentality of home base, 'foreign interests' that has been so prevalent among traditional multinational companies is eroded in the culture of global businesses. (14) . The development of an organization's global strategy, therefore, will be concerned with global competences, global marketing and global configuration and coordination of its value-adding activities.
A This might mean, for example, shifting production to a low-cost region or moving design to a country with skilled labor in the key skill cultural differences.
B In some sectors, successful competition necessitates a presence in almost every part of the world in order to effectively compete in its global market.
C Finally, global organizations are able to integrate and coordinate their international activities between countries.
D Finally, global organizations can cooperate with each other very well and can exchange their information in time.
E They have learned to effectively manage and control the various parts of the business cross national borders and despite local area.
F A large multinational company is not necessarily a global business.
G The term international describes any business that carries out some of its activities across national boundaries.
H Some businesses are entirely domestically based, others operate in many countries and yet others in almost all the regions of the world.
(9)
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Conjunctions, (), articles and pronouns consist of the grammatical or functional word
A.A.nouns
B.B.adjectives
C.C.prepositions
D.D.adverbs
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&8226;Read the article below about British companies and their performance in the American market, and the questions on the opposite page.
&8226;For each question (13-18), mark one letter (A, B, C or D) on your Answer Sheet.
BRITISH COMPANIES CROSS THE ATLANTIC
Next month a large group of British business people are going to America on a venture which may generate export earnings for their companies' shareholders in years to come. A long list of sponsors will support the initiative, which will involve a &3-million media campaign and a fortnight of events and exhibitions. The ultimate goal is to persuade more Americans that British companies have something to interest them.
While there have been plenty of trade initiatives in the past, the difference this time round is that considerable thinking and planning have gone into trying to work nut just what it is that Americans look for in British products. Instead of exclusively promoting the major corporations, this time there is more emphasis on supporting the smaller, more unusual, niche businesses.
Fresh in the memories of ail those concerned is the knowledge that America has been the end of many a large and apparently successful business. For Carringtons, a retail group much respected by European customers and investors, America turned out to be a commercial disaster and the belief that they could even show some of the great American stores a retailing trick or two was hopelessly over-optimistic.
Polly Brown, another very British brand that rode high for years on good profits and huge city confidence, also found that conquering America, in commercial and retailing terms, was not as easy as it had imagined. When it positioned itself in the US as a niche, luxury brand, selling shirts that were priced at $40 in the UK for $125 in the States, the strategy seemed to work But once its management decided it should take on the middle market, this success rapidly drained away. It was a disastrous mistake and the high cost of the failed American expansion plans played a large role in its declining fortunes in the mid-nineties.
Sarah Scott, managing director of Smythson, the upmarket stationer, has had to think long and hard about what it takes to succeed in America and she takes it very seriously indeed. 'Many British firms are quite patronising about the US,' she says. 'They think that we're so much more sophisticated than the Americans. They obviously haven't noticed Ralph Lauren, an American who has been much more skilled at tapping into an idealised Englishness than any English company. Also, many companies don't bother to study the market properly and think that because something's successful in the UK, it's bound to be successful over there. You have to look at what you can bring them that they haven't already got. On the whole, American companies are brilliant at the mass, middle market and people who've tried to take them on at this level have found it very difficult.'
This time round it is just possible that changing tastes are running in Britain's favour. The enthusiasm for massive, centralised retail chains has decreased. People want things with some sort of individuality; they are fed up with the banal, middle-of-the-road taste that America does so well. They are now looking for the small, the precious, the 'real thing', and this is precisely what many of the companies participating in the initiative do best.
The main reason that the British business people are going to America is to
A.encourage American consumers to buy their products.
B.analyse how American companies attract media coverage.
C.look for financial backing from American investors and banks.
D.investigate how British and American companies could form. partnerships.
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The common aspect for the journal articles, theses and conference papers lies in that_____.
A.they are all for the practitioners
B.they are all to be read by researchers
C.they are all for being published
D.they are all forms of reporting research
此题为多项选择题。
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?Read the following extract from an article about what airline alliances will take to people and those airline companies, and the questions followed.
?For each question 15—20, mark one letter (A, B, C, or D) on your Answer Sheet for the answer you choose.
Cooperative cooperation. Competitive cooperation. Confused? Airline alliances have travelers scratching their heads over what's going on in the skies. Some folks view alliances as a blessing to travelers, offering seamless travel, reduced fares and enhanced frequent-flyer benefits. Others see a conspiracy of big business, causing decreased competition, increased fares and fewer choices. Whatever your opinion, there's no escaping airline alliances: the marketing hype is unrelenting, with each of the two megs-groupings, One world and Star Alliance, promoting itself as the best choice for all travelers. And, even if you turn away from their ads, chances are they will figure in any of your travel plans. By the end of the year, One world and Star Alliance will between them control more than 40% of the traffic in the sky. Some pundits predict that figure will be more like 75% in 10 years. But why, after years of often ferocious competition, have airlines decided to hand together? Let's just say the timing is mutually convenient. North American airlines, have exhausted all means of earning customer loyalty at home, have been looking for ways to reach out to foreign flyers. Asian carriers are still hurting from the region-wide economic downturn that began two years ago-just when some of the airlines were taking delivery of new aircraft. Alliances also allow carriers to cut costs and increase profits by pooling manpower resources on the ground and cede-sharing—the practice of two partners selling tickets and operating only one aircraft.
So alliances are terrific for airlines—but are they good for the passenger? Absolutely, say the airlines: think of the lounges, the joint FFP (frequent flyer program) benefits, the round-the-world fares, and the global service networks. Then there's the promise of "seamless" travel= the ability to, say, travel from Singapore to Rome to New York, all on one ticket, without having to wait hours for connections or worry about your hags. Sounds utopian? Peter Buecking, Cathay Pacific's director of sales and marketing, thinks that seamless travel is still evolving. "It's fair to say that these links are only in their infancy. The key to seamlessness rests in infrastructure and information sharing. We're working on this. n Henry Ma, spokesperson for Star Alliance in Hong Kong, lists some of the other benefits for consumers. "Global travelers have an easier time making connections and planning their itineraries. ' Ma claims alliances also assure passengers consistent service standards.
Critics of alliances say the much-touted benefits to the consumer are mostly pie in the sky, that alliances are all about reducing costs for the airlines, rationalizing services and running joint marketing programs. It is believed that alliances will ultimately result in decreased flight choices and increased costs for consumers. Instead of two airlines competing and each operating a flight on the same route at 70% capacity, the allied pair will share the route and run one full flight. Since fewer seats will be available, passengers will be obliged to pay more for tickets.
Those who've already made the elite grade in the FFP of a major airline stand to benefit the most when it joins an alliance: then they enjoy the PFP perks and advantages on any and all of the member carriers. For those who haven't made the top grade in any FFP, alliances might be a way of simplifying the earning of frequent flyer miles. For example, I belong to United Airline's Mileage Plus and generally fly less than 25,000 miles a year. But I earn miles with every flight I take on Star Alliance member-Ail Nippo
A.Delight.
B.Indifference.
C.Objection.
D.Puzzlement.
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&8226;Read the article below about credit card in America, and the questions on the opposite page.
&8226;For each question 13--18, mark one letter (A, B, C, or D) on your Answer Sheet for the answer you choose.
HOW THE CREDIT CARD CAPTURED AMERICA
The proliferation of platinum American Express cards in the 1980s spawned rumors of an ultimate, highly exclusive, never publicized "Black Card". Carried by billionaires, it reportedly allowed holders to demand private shopping sprees at the world's most exclusive shops and to summon helicopters in the middle of Sahara. American express vehemently denies the existence of such a charge card. But the persistence of the myth suggests the social importance credit cards have for so many Americans. As one business writer puts it, "to have one's credit cards canceled is now akin to being excommunicated by the medieval church."
America's love affair with the credit card began in 1949, when businessman Frank X. McNamara finished a meal in a New York restaurant and then discovered he had no cash. In those days, gasoline and store charge cards were common, but cash was standard for almost everything else. The embarrassed McNamara called his wife, who rushed over to bail him out. His predicament gave him the idea for Diners Club. Within a year some 200 people carried the world's first multi-use credit card.
The problem was to persuade enough people to carry the cards. Diners Club turned to promotions. It gave away a round-the-world trip on a popular television show. The winners charged their expenses and made it "from New York to New York without a die in their pockets".
Banks, sensing among less affluent a pent-up desire to spend, began issuing cards of their own. The first to turn a profit was Bank of America's Bank Americard. Bankers from all over the country descended on its California headquarters to learn the secret of its success--so many that in 1966 Bank Americard, today known as Visa, began forming alliances with banks outside the state. The Bank Americard network soon faced a competitor when Wells Fargo Bank joined with 77 others to create what became Master Charge. After scooping up 1.3 million more "Everything Card" holders from what was then First National City Bank, Master Charge--today's Master Card--became for a while the biggest bank card in the country.
Five million holiday credit-card shoppers would have created a bonanza for the banks, but in the rush to market, the hanks had been less than cautious in assembling their lists. Some families received 15 cards. Dead people and babies got cards. Even a dachshund named Alice Griffin was sent one that promised she would be welcomed as a "preferred customer" at Chicago's finest restaurants.
Hundreds of Chicagoans discovered they could use or sell a car they "found", and by law, the person whose name appeared on it was liable for the charges--even if he or she had never requested or received the card.
When the prime rate hit 20% in 1981, the banks found that consumers didn't mind paying rates of 18--22% on their credit-card balance. High interest rates helped attract new players into the credit-card area, including sears' Discover Card and Visa. Airlines, car and insurance companies, even long-distance phone companies allied themselves with banks to offer credit cards. Experts estimate there are from 15, 000 to 19, 000 different cards available in the country.
Of course, credit cards have not only replaced cash for many purposes, but also in effect have created cash by making it instantly available virtually everywhere. The credit-card advance is becoming as ubiquitous as the automated teller machine.
What is the rumor of "Black card"?
A.The holder can spend freely at the best shops.
B.The credit card allows holders to pay their check without cash.
C.The holders can summon helicopters in desert.
D.The credit card is very important in American society.
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•Read the following article about recruitment in the UK and the questions on the opposite page.
•For each question (15-20), mark one letter (A, B, C or D) on your Answer Sheet.
graduate recruitment has a growing role. But companies need to know whether their recruitment staff who interview candidates for jobs really know what they're doing.
Carl Gilleard, chief executive of the Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR), acknowledges that in a perfect world, the people who recruit graduates would have been in the role for some time building up workplace knowledge. He says the reality is that the high turnover of graduate recruitment managers in most blue chips means there is little continuity in how companies operate. 'There's the difficulty in maintaining important contact with university careers departments, for example,' he explains. 'You need a depth of understanding to appreciate where the company is coming from and how it's progressing.'
We can identify two specialisms within the recruiter's role. Those that work on the recruitment and selection side need traditional human resources (HR) skills such as good interviewing technique, observation, common sense, objectivity, patience and listening skills. But increasingly there are those who take a strategic view and look more widely at how their company is represented in the marketplace. It's a clear advantage if you can identify with your target audience.
Many young members of middle management are seconded into HR for a year because their firms feel they can identify with job-seeking graduates. Yet in an industry that has been revolutionised by the internet, privatised career services and rocketing numbers in higher education, it is questionable how relevant these managers' experiences are. Some high-fliers see a secondment to HR as a sideways move; a firm's HR function might not carry the same kudos as, say, the finance department, although obviously the recruitment and retention of staff is of crucial importance.
Georgia de Saram, specialising in graduate recruitment at a law firm, is one of a new breed of young dynamic recruiters who see HR as their vocation rather than a transitory career move. 'I was attracted to the profession because I enjoy working with people and it's an obvious follow-on from my anthropology degree,' she says. 'In this capacity, you get to know people and they know you even though they might not know other people in the firm.' As a recruiter, she sees herself as the interface between graduates and the firm that's looking to attract them? It's such a tug of war between law firms for the best trainees - often they'll turn you down in favour of an offer they've received from elsewhere. You need to be good at marketing your firm, to know what interests graduates and how you can reach potential employees, whether that's through virtual law fairs or magazines.'
A recent AGR survey suggests that the sectors in which there is less turnover of graduate recruitment managers are more successful in recruiting the graduates they want. The legal sector's sophisticated understanding of the market, for example, means they manage to recruit exactly the right number of trainees despite intense competition and thousands of applications. The people recruiting seem to build up a specialism and then pass on their knowledge and expertise to those new to the graduate recruitment sector.
Jackie Alexander, an HR partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers, feels that HR professionals are finally reaching board level and receiving the sort of acknowledgement they deserve. 'They are judged by the value they add to the business,' she says, 'and, as a professional services firm, the right people are our biggest asset.' As Georgia de Saram points out: 'From our company's point of v. iew, if I can't establish a rapport with a candidate
A.detailed knowledge of their sector.
B.appropriate academic qualifications.
C.understanding of graduates' expectations.
D.experience of the companies they work for.
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&8226;Read the article below about business and customers and the questions on the opposite page.
&8226;For each question 13-18, mark one letter (A, B, C or D)on your Answer Sheet for the answer you choose.
Focus on Your Customer
If you think of the most successful companies around the world -- GM, Wal-Mart, IBM, etc. -- they all have one thing in common: loyal customers. It can cost ten to twenty times as much to acquire a customer as to retain one, so it's easy to understand why customer relationship management is such a hot concept. But, while everyone understands CRM is a good thing, putting a CRM strategy together isn't easy. The place to start? A customer-driven business model.
A customer-driven business model is the most prudent method of ensuring customer loyalty because it fosters a better relationship with new and existing customers. Others such as market, price, cost or e-commerce-driven business models may generate profits, but fall short of sustaining a loyal customer base. At the heart of customer-driven business model is a clear understanding of the customer -- not just customer trends (although this is useful information, too), but the buying habits and history of every one of your customers. This 360-degree view provides analytics from multiple channels (direct, web, fax, E-mail, call center, sales/marketing) and consolidates into a common repository. Monitoring buying habits and tracking market dynamics lets you more effectively market new and existing products and services.
If you think this is a daunting task, you aren't alone. Because most enterprises don't have a consolidated view of their customers, obtaining customer profit and cost information is often a Herculean effort.
Implementing a CRM solution is usually a huge project with a high probability of failure. Some analysts suggest most businesses underestimate the cost of a CRM Implementation by 40~75 percent. In fact, a successful CRM will interface with ERP systems to provide integration with all customer interactions such as order processing, billing. Also, CRM strategies must include commitment and sponsorship from senior management, as it should be deemed a strategic investment that is implemented incrementally and evolutionary.
Understanding critical success factors, such as those listed in the "Key to CRM Success" sidebar, mitigates the risks. First, start with a cultural change that focuses on a customer-centric business strategy. Make sure your organization is well aware of the high cost of customer attrition and is focused on improving retention, increasing loyalty. Understanding and broadcasting the cost of acquiring new customers versus fostering existing relationships.
Second, focus on an enterprise view of the customer that encompasses all customer data, such as communication history, purchasing behaviors, channel preferences, demographics, etc. Understand your customers' preferred channels and determine if there's some way to optimize them.
Adopt a flexible architecture that will expand with your business -- this is true with any IT project. Never deploy a strategic, costly solution using the big-bang approach. Always take an incremental, evolutionary, or iterative approach. The impact to your organization can be significant, thus, proceed slowly and ensure the returns on investment measures are in place.
The first paragraph indicates that loyal customers
A.help reduce costs of the company.
B.are quite common around the world.
C.produce huge profits.
D.are costly to develop.
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&8226;Read the article below about service production and the questions on the opposite page.
&8226;For each question 13-18, mark one letter (A, B, C or D) on your Answer Sheet for the answer you choose.
The importance of satisfaction and morale
Broadly speaking, job satisfaction is the degree of enjoyment that people derive from performing their jobs. If people enjoy their work, they are relatively satisfied; if they do not enjoy their work, they are relatively dissatisfied. In turn, satisfied employees are likely to have high morale -- the overall attitude that employees have toward their workplace. Morale reflects the degree to which they perceive that their needs are being met by their jobs. It is determined by a variety of factors, including job satisfaction and satisfaction with such things as pay benefits, coworkers, and promotion opportunities.
(8) Some large firms, for example, have instituted companywide programs designed specifically to address employees' needs. Employees at SAS institute, a large software development company in North Carolina, enjoy private offices, a free health clinic, two on-site day-care centers, flexible work hours with 35-hour work weeks, a company-subsidized cafeteria, and year-end bonuses and profit sharing. Managers at Hyatt Hotels report that conducting frequent surveys of employee attitudes, soliciting employee input, and -- most important -- acting on that input give their company an edge in recruiting and retaining productive workers. (9) For example, First Tennessee, a midsize regional bank, believes that work and family are so closely related that family considerations should enter into job design. Thus, it offers such benefits as on-site child care.
When workers are satisfied and morale is high, the organization benefits in many ways. Compared with dissatisfied workers, for example; satisfied employees are more committed and loyal. (10) In addition, they tend to have fewer grievances and engage in fewer negative behaviors (complaining, deliberately slowing their work pace, and so forth) than dissatisfied counterparts. Finally, satisfied workers tend not only to come to work every day but also to remain with the organization. By promoting satisfaction and morale, then, management is working to ensure more efficient operations.
Conversely, the costs of dissatisfaction and poor morale are high. Dissatisfied workers are far more likely to be absent for minor illnesses, personal reasons; or a general disinclination to go to work. (11) High levels of turnover have many negative consequences, including the disruption of production schedules, high retraining costs and decreased productivity.
(12) The results of one recent study shows that companies with the highest levels of satisfaction and morale significantly outperformed the 300 largest US companies over both 5 and 10 years. Of course, many other factors contributed to the performance of both sets of companies, but these differences nevertheless can not be ignored.
A Low morale may also result in high turnover -- the ratio of newly hired to currently employed workers.
B In turn, satisfied employees are likely to have high morale -- the overall attitude that employees have toward their workplace.
C In fact, evidence suggests that job satisfaction and employee morale may directly affect a company's performance.
D Such employees are more likely to work hard and to make useful contributions to the organization.
E Managers of smaller businesses realize that the personal touch can reap big benefits in employee morale and even devotion.
F Companies can involve employee morale and job satisfaction in a variety of ways.
G In
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&8226;Read the article below about losing an accent to achieve success, and the questions on the opposite page.
&8226;For each question 18--18, mark one letter (A, B, C, or D) on your Answer Sheet for the answer you choose.
LOSING AN ACCENT TO ACHIEVE SUCCESS
It was painful for Irwin Layton to warn one of his recently promoted managers that he had to correct his speech--or it could cost him his career.
The word "voltage" came out of Edwin's mouth sounding like "woltage", and "this" sounded like "dis". This often resulted in mistakes being made in the shipments he ordered. "I was really forced into submission. They said, 'Either you improve your accent or your chances of getting promoted to senior management won't be good,'" said Edwin.
Edwin is a junior manager making $ 51,000 a year at a manufacturing company in Mountain View. Despite of mixed feelings, he hired a speech coach to help him out. He is not alone. Accent reduction is rapidly turning into a major business for speech coaches in the Bay Area and other large cities. Young, first-generation foreign professionals in America hoping to improve their careers appear to make up the majority of those paying to get rid of their accents.
"I have people whose command of English is good--they've gone to universities here in the United States, but when they go into the workplace, they are held back," said Arthur Compton, founder of the Institute of Language & Phonology in San Francisco.
Edwin said he was embarrassed and tried to ignore incidents throughout his career when colleagues would point out his accent and do imitations of his pronunciations for fun. Edwin's experiences early in his career made him very sensitive to the problems he faced with his accent, and, like many others, he compensated by pushing himself to great extremes in education.
"I felt that just because I had an accent, some people thought I was stupid," Edwin said. "They lost patience. They did not want to wait to listen for what I was trying to say. It made me feel so bad. I knew I had so much to offer--my primary motive for working there was to do what I could to improve the company. Yet, none of that seemed to matter to them because they didn't have patience."
Speech coaches and many other professionals say that some Americans have a prejudice against those who speak with an accent.
Losing an accent is hard work. Each language has certain sounds, as we can tell from the many different alphabets, that are just not found in other languages. We learn as babies to make these sounds by moving the lips, mouth, and tongue muscles in set patterns. So a speech coach tries and resets these patterns for people who speak other languages.
For 13 weeks, and at a cost of $ 795, Edwin spent an hour each week with a speech instructor, pronouncing, over and over again, compound words such as "zookeeper", preposition phrases such as "in regard to", as well as words such as "this" and "voltage", all the while looking into a mirror at his mouth. Seeing himself allowed him to have a visual image to go along with the sounds he was making.
"When class was over, I was exhausted," he said. But following the long procession of lessons, he improved by 78 percent, received a healthy injection of confidence, and admitted that he should have done it sooner. His boss, Layton, called it a "win-win" situation, and is so enthusiastic that he is sponsoring a second employee in the program.
How did Mr. Edwin's accent bring trouble to his work?
A.He could not get along well with his colleagues.
B.He made mistakes at work just because of his accent.
C.His talent and passion for work were ignored.
D.Both B and C.
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The Customs may handle the inspection and clearance procedures for outward goods and articles after the arrival report is submitted.()
是
否
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Your company manages the stock of various advertising articles on a quantity and value basis.In the future, you want to analyze the value of these advertising articles.Unfortunately, the articles have been created with different material types, material groups, valuation classes, and in different number range intervals.For this reason, you want to change the assignments.Which of the following changes are possible, even if stock exists for the articles? Please choose the correct answer.()
A.You create a new valuation class and then change the valuation class of the advertising articles to the new valuation class
B.You create a new material type and then change the material type of the advertising articles to the new material type
C.You create a new material group and then change the material group of the advertising articles to the new material group
D.You create a new number range interval and then change the material numbers of the advertising articles to a number in the new number range interval
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The Chinese government () peace and cooperation, openness and inclusiveness, mutual l
The Chinese government () peace and cooperation, openness and inclusiveness, mutual learning and mutual benefit.
A. advices
B. recommends
C. advocates