高级商务英语真题和答案(2)

　　Energetics is a specialist management consultancy in the business of climate change。

　　There is a commonly held view that the only way to get (0) decent pay increase is to move on: togo out into the job market and find someone (31) is prepared to pay you a figure more in line (32)the talents you can offer. Whilst changing employers from time (33) time is something we probablyall need to do to advance our careers in the directions we want them to take, it is nevertheless anactivity that carries quite definite risks. Irrespective of (34) well we research prospectiveemployers, a new job is still largely a step into the unknown . It may turn (35) to be a good moveor it could prove to be a complete disaster : most of us (36) had experience of both. The pointhere, though, is that changing employers is not something we want to be doing all the time andcertainly not (37) time we feel the urge for better pay . We’d (38) taking more risks than weneeded to just to achieve a pay rise. Getting a pay rise should always be viewed (39) a seriousbusiness. There are no quick fixes or gold methods with “ guaranteed “ results. Quick fixes onlyserve to trivialize the issues and could (40) some circumstances get you into very serous troubleindeed.

　　答案及解析

　　关于加薪的文章，教你怎么样实现加薪。这道题目不难，但是抛开题目，单说文章里谈的加薪的方法，各位还是要辩证的看。要想人生第一份工作就找到自己满意的，是挺难，可是以加薪为目的跳槽，也未必是什么明智的好办法。

　　31题，太明显的定语从句，前面是someone，那么当然填入表示人的关系代词who。

　　32题，in line with，和什么一致，固定搭配，在中级的选词版完型里常考到这个词组。这句的意思是，找个一个愿意给你提供和你才能更加一致的薪水的人。

　　33题，from time to time，时不时的。changing employers from time to time，时不时的换老板。

　　34题，Irrespective of，同regardless of一样，后面接让步状语从句，不管我们对可能的雇主研究的多么好，新的工作都是一个未知数。用how well。

　　35题，turn out to be，固定用法。

　　36题，换工作，要么是个好的举措，要么将成为灾难。而我们大多数人这两种经历都有。有这种经历，是过去完成时，用have+done。

　　37题，理解前后文意思。换老板不是件我们经常愿意做的事情，并且也不是一想要加薪就要换老板。用every time，表示每次要加薪就准备换老板。

　　38题，这题有点难度，考验人的语法功底。首先这个句子是虚拟语气，We’d是we would的缩写，而不是we had。是表示对将来的假设，我们要承担更多的风险。所以用would be。

　　39题，比较明显的，view as，将什么视作什么。

　　40题，和circumstance相关的词组，很容易想到under/on some circumstance，在某种情况下。

　　1 Genuine feedback would release resources to be used elsewhere.

　　2 Managers are expected to enable their staff to work effectively.

　　3 Experts are unlikely to facilitate a move to genuine feedback.

　　4 There are benefits when methods of evaluating performance have been negotiated.

　　5 Appraisals tend to focus on the nature of the face-to-face relationship between employeesand their line managers.

　　6 The idea that employees are responsible for what they do seems reasonable.

　　7 Despite experts’ assertion, management structures prevent genuine feedback

　　8 An increasing amount of effort is being dedicated to the appraisal process.

　　A

　　Performance appraisal is on the up and up. It used to represent the one time of year whengetting on with the work was put on hold while enormous quantities of management hours werespent in the earnest ritual of rating and ranking performance. Now the practice is even morefrequent. This of course makes it all the more important how appraisal is conducted. Humanresources professionals claim that managers should strive for objectivity and thus for feedbackrather than judgement. But the simple fact of the matter is that the nature of hierarchy distorts theconcept of feedback because performance measure are conceived hierarchically. Unfortunately,all too many workers suffer from the injustices that this generates.

　　B

　　The notion behind performance appraisal- that workers should be held accountable for theirperformance-is plausible. However, the evidence suggests that the premise is wrong. Contraryto assumptions appraisal is not an effective means of performance improvement- it isjudgement imposed rather than feedback, a judgement imposed by the hierarchy. Useful feedback, on the other hand, would be information that told both the manager and worker how well thework system functioned, and suggested ways to make it better.

　　C

　　Within the production system at the car manufacturer Toyota, there is nothing that isrecognizable as performance appraisal. Every operation in the system has an associatedmeasure. The measure has been worked out between the operators and their manager. In everycase, the measure is related to the purpose of the work. That measure is the basis of feedbackto the manager and worker alike. Toyota’s basic idea is expressed in the axiom “bad news first” .Both managers and workers are psychologically safe in the knowledge that it is the system- notthe worker –that is the primary influence on performance. It is management’s responsibility toensure that the workers operate in a system that facilitates their performance.

　　D

　　In many companies , performance appraisal springs from misguided as assumptions. To judgeachievement, managers use date about each worker’s activity, not an evaluation of the processor system’s achievement of purpose. The result is that performance appraisal involvesmanagers’ judgement overruling their staff’s, ignoring the true influences on performance. Thus theappraisal experience becomes a question of pleasing the boss, particularly in meetings, which ispsychologically unsafe and socially driven, determining who is “in” and who is “ out”.

　　E

　　When judgement is replaced by feedback in the true sense, organizations will have a lot moretime to devote to their customers and their business. No time will be wasted in appraisal . Thisrequires a fundamental shift in the way we think about the organization of performanceappraisals, which almost certainly will not be forthcoming from the human resources profession.

　　In the last few years, managers throughout industry have seen more changes than many of themcould have expected to see in their entire working lives having to communicate information whichoften leads to feelings of insecurity has become a key activity. From being regarded as relativelyunimportant in many companies , management employee communication has become a centralcorporate need.

　　Concordia International provides a good example of a company that has adjusted well to thechanging needs for communication . since 1995 , Concordia has been turned inside-out and upside-down, to ensure that it is a marketing –led, customer-responsive business, one that looksoutwards at customers and competitors, rather than inwards at its own processes and the waythings were done in the past. In the last eight years, Concordia has reduced its workforce by morethan 80.000 people - or 35% -on a voluntary basis, with further downsizing anticipated.

　　From being an engineering company, Concordia is now remaking itself as a service company.The role of employee communication in such a context is to build people’s self-confidence, topersuade them that, although it is inevitable that the changes will go ahead, they also bring withthem new opportunities for employees. However, this is not an easy task. People tend to beskeptical of these claims and to feel that they are losing touch with the company they have workedfor over many years. This is understandable, since many of the old certainties are being sweptaway , including the core activities of the company they work for. Above all , they have had to faceup to the fact that they no longer have a job for life.

　　Research indicates that people respond to this predicament in a variety of ways. The bulk ofemployees fall into two main categories in terms of their response to the new situation: on the onehand there are the “ pragmatists” and on the other “ the highly anxious” the former see their job asa means to an end and have a relatively short-term perspective, with strong loyalty to their localterm , rather than the company as a whole . The second category, usually the majority, mayrespond to threatened changes with a feeling of having been let down, and even feel anger at thecompany for what they see as changing the terms of their employment.

　　` The employee communication process needs to be capable of accurately directing itsmessages at a variety of employee groups and departments within the workforce . this is whymiddle managers and line managers are so key to communication. They are the people who knowabout the full rage of concerns among the workforce. The problem in the past was that this crucialarea was often the responsibility of a separate, relatively isolated unit. Concordia putsresponsibility for communication firmly on line managers. All their research points to the sameconclusion: people prefer to get their information face-to-face from their line managers. That is thekey relationship and where arguments and hearts and minds –are lost.

　　The general rule in company communication is to tell employees as much as you can as soonas you can. If you can’t provide details, then at least put the news in context and commit yourselfto providing greater detail when it becomes available another rule of company communication isthat there must be a fit between what the company is telling its employees and what it is telling itsshareholders.15 In the last eight years, Concordia has

　　A made over 80.000 employees reduncdant

　　B completed a period of downsizing

　　C reduced its workforce of 80.000 by 35%

　　D given 35% of departing employees voluntary redundancy

　　16 From Concordia’s point of view, the role of communication is to

　　A win employee support before going ahead with the changes

　　B change the company’s core activities.

　　C emphasise the positive aspects of the changes

　　D explain the need for the changes

　　17 what does research show about most employees’ response to change?

　　A they expect it to have a bad effect on the company

　　B they feel completely powerless

　　C they become less loyal

　　D they fell they have been treated unfairly

　　18 Concordia’s communication process mainly relies on

　　A printed communication

　　B departmental heads

　　C personal communication

　　D a separate, specialized unit

　　19 According to the writer, what is the guiding principle about giving information within anorganization?

　　A Never make promises about future developments

　　B Give people an overall view at the earliest possible stage

　　C always include plenty of hard information

　　D Hold back until all the details can be provided

　　20 which of the following would be the most suitable title for the article?

　　A employee attitudes to company communication

　　B making company communication more effective

　　C Researching company commmucation

　　D Making employees feel less powerless

　　文章取材自一本管理手册，说的是一个组织里的有效沟通问题。这套题目有些特别，不像之前的阅读的第三部分，六道题目分别依次对应文章的六个段落，这题的答案稍微分散了些。

　　15题，答案很明显，但是选项很有迷惑性。答案是第二段的最后一句：In the last eight years, Concordiahas reduced its workforce by more than 80.000 people - or 35% -on a voluntary basis, withfurther downsizing anticipated.减少了80000员工(或者说减少了35%的员工)，预期还会减少更多。A选项是对的，made redundant是前面某套题目阅读的第五部分考过的词组;B不对，没有完成(completed)，因为预期还会裁减更多(with further downsizing anticipated);C也不对，迷惑性最大，reduced its workforceof 80.000，用了介词of，所以这句的意思是一共就80000员工，而实际情况是减少了80000员工;D不对，35%的员工被裁减，都是在自愿的基础上的，而不是离开的人中有35%是自愿的。

　　16题，问根据此人的观点，沟通的角色是什么。也就是问沟通的目的或者作用是什么。答案在第三段。沟通是为了帮助人树立自信，说服他们虽然要面临一些变化，但是同样也会拥有一些新的机会。说白了，就是鼓励这些被裁的人。答案选C，强调变化的积极方面。这里的positive aspects是对前面说的bring with them newopportunities的一个概括。(想起了电影《在云端》，up in the air，里面那个老男人的工作就是职业裁员专家，专门对被裁的人说些这样的话。)

　　17题，问调查显示大多数人对change的反应是什么。这题在答案中也很明显，但是选项很纠结。都有点似是而非。The second category, usually the majority, may respond to threatened changes with afeeling of having been let down.,and even feel anger at the company for what they see as changingthe terms of their employment.大多数员工的反应就是很失望，甚至会很愤怒。个人觉得这题出的不够严谨，没有哪个选项能严格从原文中提炼出来。对比下D要好点，因为对公司失望和愤怒，就是觉得受到了不公正的待遇。此题有待高手补充更完美的理由。

　　18题，问沟通过程主要依赖于什么。答案是第五段的这句：people prefer to get their information face-to-face from their line managers。喜欢面对面的从直属经理那里获取信息。所以选C，个人的交流。

　　19题，问组织内部提供信息的指导准则是什么。最后一段的第一句就是：The general rule in companycommunication is to tell employees as much as you can as soon as you can。尽可能的快，尽可能的多。不能提供细节的，至少给个大致的背景消息(put the news in context)。时机成熟了，再告知更多。选B：在可能的最早的阶段让人有个总体的印象。

　　20题，给文章选标题。这种题在BEC的阅读里还真不多见。选标题，就是要挑选文章的最主要意思，从整体上把握文章的main ideas。这篇文章通篇说的就是communication，前面介绍了沟通的背景：裁员;接着说了员工对裁员的反应;然后最后两段，一段说员工喜欢什么样的沟通方式，一段说沟通的原则是什么。综合起来，就是关于怎样进行有效沟通的问题。选B。A不对，片面了，只是文中某部分的内容，并且这部分内容是为后面做背景介绍，不是主要的;C不对，不是简单的research，research仅仅是介绍状况，文章还有关于实现措施的。