2023年剑桥BEC高级真题第三辑TEST3.doc

READING1 hourPART ONE Questions 1-8BEC第三辑高级 Test 3l Look at the statements below and at the five extracts on the opposite page from the annual reports of five mobile phone companies.l Which company (A, B, C, D or E) does each statement (1-8) refer to?l For each statement (1-8), mark one letter (A, B, C, D or E) on your Answer Sheet.l You will need to use some of these letters more than once.l There is an example at the beginning, (0).Example:0 This company has no direct competition.ABCDE1 This company is still making a financial loss.2 This company is having part of its business handled by an outside agency.3 This company has grown without undue expense.4 This company is trying to find out what the market response will be to a new product.5 This company continues to lose customers.6 This company aims to target a specific group of consumers.7 This company is finding it less expensive than before to attract new customers.8 This company has rationalised its outlets.AOur management team is dedicated to delivering operational excellence and improved profitability. In the coming year, we will focus our marketing on professional young adults, who represent the high value segment of the market and who according to independent research are most likely to adopt our more advanced mobile data products. Customer retention is central to our strategy, and we have been successful in reversing the customer loss of recent years by loyalty and upgrade schemes. A restructuring programme, resulting from changingmarketing conditions, has seen our workforce scaled down to 6,100 people.BAs the only network operator in the country, our marketing is aimed at expanding the size of the market. In the business sector, we have targeted small and medium-sized businesses by offering standardised services, and large customers by offering tailored telecommunications solutions. We have been at the forefront of introducing new telecommunications technology and services and have recently distributed 150 of our most advanced handsets to customers to assess the likely demand for advanced data services. Last year, the industry recognised our achievement when we won a national award for technological progress.CA new management team has driven our improved performance here. It is committed to bringing the business into profitability within three years after reaching break-even point in the next financial year. We are focused on delivering rising levels of customer service and an improvement in the quality and utilisation of our network. Good progress has been made on all these fronts. The cost of acquiring new subscribers has been reduced and new tariffs have been introduced to encourage greater use of the phone in the late evening.DWe have continued to expand our network in a cost-efficient manner and have consolidated our retail section by combining our four whollyowned retail businesses into a single operating unit. We expect this to enhance our operational effectiveness and the consistency of our service. Our ambition is to give customers the best retail experience possible. We were, therefore, delighted earlier this year when we won a major European award for customer service. This was particularly pleasing to us as we have always given high priority to customer satisfaction and operational excellence.EHere, we are focused on continuously realising cost efficiencies as well as improving the level of customer satisfaction and retention. We have already taken effective measures to reduce customer loss and to strengthen our delivery of customer service. The quality of our network has improved significantly over the past year and an increase in the utilisation of our network is now a priority. The operation of our customer service centre has been outsourced to a call centre specialist and this has led to a substantial increase in the level ofservice.PART TW0Questions 9-14l Read this text taken from an article about theimportance to companies of not losing their employees knowledge.l Choose the best sentence from the opposite page to fill each of the gaps.l For each gap (9-14), mark one letter (A-H) on your Answer Sheet.l Do not use any letter more than once.l There is an example at the beginning, (0).Protectrhg the corporate memoryMany companies risk losing expertise through job cuts. But by analysing how staff interact, they may be able to minimise the damage.Many staff have knowledge which is essential to their company. So what can businesses do to avoid losing that expertise when staff leave, and to dis- suade employees from keeping their knowledge to themselves in the face of possible job cuts?First, they need to recognise the problem. A downturn in the economy exposes many companies lack of commitment to understanding and using their peoples knowledge. (0).H.Unless, that is, theyve made it a routine or suffered because of losing knowledge in the past.Next, any attempt to stop knowledge walking out of the door must be handled sensitively. (9) . Employees would be extremely cynical and see it as an attempt to extract their unique knowledge, which they believe gives them job security.Strong incentives are needed to coax people into divulging their expertise when being dismissed. (10) . At first sight, this might seem excessive, but the disadvantages should be weighed against the benetits.Of course, not all knowledge can be captured by the organisation and tumed into a process. (11) . To ind out who these knowledge hotspots are, companies need to question their staff and analyse their social networks. Companies shouldnt ask employees what they know, but who they would ask if they wanted to know about different subjects. (12) . And, more importantly, the process reveals the others who always know somebody who knows.The latter can be high on the list for redundancy because managers are unsure what they do, or because they appear to be weak performers. (13) . People like this are often not ambitious but they can hold a company together. The most valuable knowledge is often not possessed by the people who seem to be star performers.If those at the centre of knowledge networks come to be seen as the most valuable people, those who keep their knowledge to themselves will look vulnerable when downsizing is deemed necessary. (14) . In such companies, the incentive to share knowledge should be even greater when jobs are under threat.For some companies, it may be too late to salvage important knowledge. Building a culture where knowledge is understood, valued and shared can take a long time. Nowmay be the time to prepare for the next downturn.Example:ABCDEFGHA Organisations that reward people for sharing knowledge will know who falls into each of these two opposing categories.B This approach enables them to identify those with a limited number of network relationships.C Launching a knowledge-sharing initiative at a time when people are expecting redundancies would not be a good idea.D This provides evidence of the risk that such a policy will meet resistance.E Because of the difficulty of achieving this, it is far better not to lose the valuable sources of knowledge at all.F But a knowledge mapping exercise might reveal that they play a critical role as mentors to the rest of the team.G The price may be an increase in theirredundancy package, provision of career counselling, or an agreement to hire them back as consultants.H When companies feel theyre in a crisis, it is one of the things that goes by theboard.PART THREE Questions 15-20l Read the following article about Go-Fast, a cost-saving programme introduced by the car manufacturer General Motors, and the questions on the opposite page.l For each question (15-20), mark one letter (A, B, C or D) on your Answer Sheet.Somewhere today, a group of staff from General Motors will meet as part of the Go-Fast programme, and hammer out a new initiative to cut costs and bureaucracy. They may focus only on wiper-blades, or staff appraisal, or showroom design. But by this aftemoon, there should be an outline savings plan, which will, when implemented, be measured carefully for signs of success. The aim is to transform GM from a lumbering leviathan into the corporate equivalent of a sports car. The intention is not just to be big GM is one of the biggest car manufacturers in the world but to be fast, particularly in its responsiveness to the market. The success of the programme is reflected in the large number of suggestions being introduced far more than in the old days, when every change had to come from senior , managers focusing on the big picture.The progress made has transformed investor perceptions of GM. Before the Go-Fast programrne was introduced, the conventional wisdom was that GMs market share was in permanent l free fall and its organisation incapable of doing anything about it. Now, the decline has been turned around, and the senior managers change of approach has led to the company being energised with a winning spirit that has unlocked long-dormant capabilities. That it took a firm of consultants to help devise the programme is perhaps a sad reflection of the danger of corporate thinking becoming inflexible.The shareholders support of GMs strategy to become more outward-looking and innovative is something of a luxury, though in the long run success would convince even the most sceptical shareholders. The strategy includes bearing down on costs and extracting maximum synergies from GMs numerous alliance partners, such as its tooling suppliers, and exchanging ideas and management tools with other corporations of widely differing sizes, sectors and nationalities. Having such input is one thing, but its value would be undermined without a coherent mechanism to put ideas into practice, and this is where the consultants proved invaluable.In the car industry, however, there was plenty of scepticism about the programme when it was first announced, with many convinced that only much smaller organisations stood a reasonable chance of making such a transformation, particularly when it involved changes to the company culture. Surprisingly, perhaps, this fear was not shared by the consultants who helped senior management to design the programme and, crucially, effect a change in leadership skills; rather, they were more concemed about the impact that pockets of opposition within GM might have.The results of the scheme so far give rise to cautious optimism. No aspect of GMs work can hide from scrutiny, and initial fears of a lack of joined-up thinking about the impact of one change on other areas soon dissipated, as the leadership panels responsible for approving and implementing changes took a broader view. But while internal management has improved dramatically, many analysts are sceptical that the initiatives can outweigh GMs mountainous pension obligations. The company is still suffering the effects of poor decisions in the past, such as the choice of certain alliance partnerships, and a major change of strategy might be necessary to recover from these. If this were to take place, the companys core car manufacturing would need to be much more firmly rooted than it is at present, to ensure it didnt suffer from lack of focus. However, the architects of the scheme are confident that GM will be far more outward-looking and innovative in the near future.15What point is made in the first paragraph about GMs Go-Fast programme?AThe intention behind it is to increase GMs market share.BSuggestions need to be agreed by senior managers.CAll areas of business are examined for possible improvements.DSenior managers are excluded from the initial discussions.16In the second paragraph, the writer regards it as positive thatAthe programme allows improvements to come from within.Bcertain senior managers have left the company and been replaced.Cthe consultants developed the ideas on the basis of company proposals.Dinvestors continued confidence in the company has been justified.17ln the third paragraph, the writer claims that the Go-Fast process is successful because ofAthe companys alliances with many business partners. .Bthe method of implementing changes.Cthe positive attitude of investors.Dthe exchange of management thinking with other companies.18When starting to set up the programme, the consultants expected thatAthe size of the company might make it difficult to introduce changes.Bsenior managers might be unwilling to change their work style.Cit might be difficult to change the company culture.Dsome of the workforce might resist the changes.19What concern is expressed in the last paragraph about the Go-Fast programme?AIt may not save enough to meet the companys financial demands.BManagement is being distracted from the companys core activities.CIt has led the company to make unwise strategic decisions.DThe company is focusing on changes in the wrong areas.20What would be the best title for the article? iAImproving internal and external communications .BChoosing the most suitable consultants CMaking a company more adaptableDChanging a companys management structurePART FOUR Questions 21-30l Read the text below about leadership.l Choose the correct word to fill each gap from A, B, C or D on the opposite page.l For each question (21-30), mark one letter (A, B, C or D) on your Answer Sheet.l There is an example at the beginning, (0).LeadershipLeadership is the heart of the managerial process, because it (0) . initiating action. Other terms identifying the same idea are directing, executing, supervising, ordering, and guiding. Whatever term is used, the idea is to (21) . into effect the decisions, plans, and programs that have previously been worked (22) . for achieving the goals of the group.Leadership concerns the overall (23) . in which a manager influences the actions of subordinates. First, it includes the (24) . of orders that are clear, comprehensive, and within the capabilities of subordinates to accomplish. Second, it implies a continual training activity in which subordinates are given instructions to enable them to (25) . the particular assigmnent in the existing situation. Third, it necessarily involves the motivation of workers to try to (26) . the expectations of the