Test 2
READING 1 hour
PART ONE
Questions 1-7
●Look at the statements below and the text on the opposite page about the
importance of listening
●Which ction (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 u some of the letters more than once.
词组英文
1 Sometimes it is necessary to insist on further explanation.
2 You shouldn’t focus on your respon while others are still speaking.
3 People are reluctant to admit that they don’t listen well.
4 There are benefits in eing things from the speaker’s perspective.
5 Keen obrvation of the speaker can support our listening skills.
6 It is risky to think about a different issue while someone is speaking.
7 People do not mind hearing their own views summarid.
Good listener, better manager
A
Too often we accu others of not listening, pretending that we ourlves are faultless, yet in our hearts we know that many of the mistakes we make come about becau we haven't listened carefully enough. We get things wrong becau we haven't quite understood what someone meant
翻译器英文翻中文when they were talking to us. Anyone who has ever taken the minutes of a long meeting will know how hard it is to remember — despite the benefit of notes - exactly what everyone said. But success depends on getting things right — and that means listening.
B
Listening is not the same thing as hearing; it is not an effortless activity. lt demands attention and concentration. It may mean quizzing the speaker for additional information or for clarification —it is always better to ask than to continue regardless and get things wrong. However, if you allow your mind to wander onto something el, even for a few minutes, you’ll miss what the speaker is saying — probably at the very moment when he or she is saying something critical. And not having heard, you won’t know you’ve misd anything until it’s too late.
C
The most common bad habit we have is to start thinking of what we are going to say about the subject long before the other speaker has finished. We then stop listening. Even wor, this often adds rudeness to inattentiveness, as once you have decided what to say there is a fair chance you will interrupt to say it. Good listeners don't interrupt. In fact it is often worth explaining the main idea
of what you have just been told before going on to make your own points. Nobody is offended by this and it shows that you have listened well.
D
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Above all be patient and accept that many people are not very good communicators. I t’s helpful to remember that the ways people move and position themlves while they are speaking can reveal a great deal about what they are saying. Equally importantly you should put yourlf in the other person's place, both intellectually and emotionally; it will help you to understand what they are getting at and form a respon. But don’t be too clever. Faced with a know-all, many people keep quiet becau they e no point in continuing.
PART TWO
Questions 8-12
●Read the article below about recruiting staff
again and again●Choo the best ntence from the opposite page to fill each of the gaps.
●For each gap (8-12), mark one letter (A—G) on your Answer Sheet.
●Do not u any letter more than once.
●There is an example at the beginning, (0).
pgg
Finding the right people
When a small company grows, managers must take on many new roles. Besides the day-to—day running of the business, they find themlves responsible for, among other things, relations with outside investors, incread levels of cashflow and, hardest of all, recruitment.
For most managers of small and medium-sized enterpris, the job of arching for, interviewing and lecting staff is difficult and time-consuming. (0)……G……… Interviewing, for example, is a highly skilled activity in itlf.
‘We have found the whole process very hard,' says Dan Baker, founding partner of a PR
0 A B C D E F G company. ‘In ven years we have grown from fi ve to eighteen staff, but we have not found it easy to locate and recruit the right people.’ (8) ........ . As Dan Baker explains, ‘We went to one for our first recruitment drive, but they took a lot of money in advance and didn’t put forward anybody suita ble. In the end we had to do it ourlves.’
Most recruitment decisions are bad on a pile of CVs, a couple of short interviews and two cautious references. David Rowe, a business psychologist, studied how appointments were made in five small companies. He claims that lection was rarely bad on clear criteria. (9) ........ . This kind of approach to recruitment often has unhappy conquences for both employers and new recruits.
Small companies often know what kind of person they are looking for. (10) ........ . According to David Rowe, this means that small company managers themlves have to devote more time and energy to recruitment. It shouldn’t be something that is left to the evenings or weekends.
Many companies start the recruitment process with over-optimistic ideas about the type of person that will fit into their team. ‘It’s very easy to say you must have the best people in the top positions,’ says Alex Jones, managing partner of an executive recruitment company. ‘But
someone who is excellent in one company may not do so well in another environment. (11) ........ . You can never guarantee a successful transfer of skills.’
Whatever the candidate's qualifications, their personal qualities are just as important since they will have to integrate with existing members of staff. This is where, the recruitment industry argues, they can really help.
According to Alex Jones, ‘A good recruitment agency will visit your company and ask a lot of questions. (12) ........ . They can ask applicants all sorts of questions you don’t like to ask and prent you with a shortlist of people who not only have the skills, but who are likely to fit in with your company’s way of doing things.’
Example:
A A finance director in a big company, for example, will often make a terrible small company finance director becau he or she is ud to having a team doing the day-to-day jobs.
B More often than not, the people making the choice prioritid different qualities in candidates or relied on guesswork.
C Recruitment would em an obvious task to outsource, but the company's experience of recruitment agencies was not encouraging.
D They need paying for that, of cour, but you will have them working for you and not for
the candidate.
E They are usually in very specific markets and the problem they face is that recruitment agencies may not really understand the ctor.
F This means that companies cannot spend more than the standard ten minutes interviewing each applicant.
G Yet few are trained and competent for all aspects of the task.
PART THREE
Questions 13-18
●Read the article below about Smithson’s, a British department store, and the questions on the
opposite page.
●For each question (13-18), mark one letter (A, B, C or D) on your Answer Sheet.
alphabetsDepartment Store Magic
For most of the 20th century Smithso n's was one of Britain’s most successful department stores, but
by the mid-l 990s, it had become dull. Still profitable, thanks largely to a ries of successful advertising campaigns, but decidedly boring. The famous were careful not to be en there, and its sales staff didn't em to have changed since the store opened in l908. Worst of all, its customers were buying fewer and fewer of its own-brand products, the major part of its business, and showing a preference for more fashionable brands.
But now all this has changed, thanks to Rowena Baker, who became Smithson's first woman Chief Executive three years ago. Since then, while most major retailers in Britain have been losing money, Smithson's profits have been rising steadily. When Baker started, a lot of improvements had just been made to the building, without having any effect on sales, and she took the bold decision to invite one of Europe's most exciting interior designers to develop the fashion area, the heart of the store. This very quickly led to rising sales, even before the goods on display were changed. And as sales grew, so did profits.
Baker had ambitious plans for the store f rom the start. ’We’re playi ng a big game, to prove we’re up there with the leaders in our ctor, and we have to make sure people ge t that message. Smithson’s had fallen behind the competition. It provided a traditional rvice targeted at middle-aged, middle-income custom ers, who’d been shopping there for years, and the customer ba was gradually cont
racting. Our idea is to ll such an exciting variety of goods that everyone will want to come in, whether they plan to spend a little or a Iot.’ Baker’s vision for the store is clear, but achieving it is far from simple. At first, many employees resisted her improvements becau they just wouldn’t be persuaded that there was anything wrong with the way they'd always done things, even if they accepted that the store had to overtake its competitors. It took many long meetings, involving the entire workforce, to win their support. It helped when they realid that Baker was a very different kind of manager from the ones they had known. Baker’s staff policies contained more surpris. T he uniform that had hardly changed since day
one has now disappeared. Moreover, teenagers now get young shop assistants, and staff in the sports departments are themlves sports fans in trainers. As Bak er explains, ’How can you ll jeans if you’re wearin g a black suit? Smithson’s has a new identity, and this needs to be made clear to the customers.’ She's also given every sales assistant responsibility for ensuring customer satisfaction, even if it means occasionally breaking company rules in the hope that this will help company profits.
Rowena Baker is proving successful, but the City's big investors haven't been persuaded. According to retail analyst, J ohn Matthews, ’Money had already been invested in refurbishment of the store an
d in fact that led t o the boost in sales. She took the credit, but hadn’t done anything to achieve it. And in my view the company’s shareholders are not convinced. The fact is that unless she opens veral more stores pretty soon, Smithson’s profits will start to fall becau turnover at the existing store will inevitably start to decline.’
13 According to the writer, in the mid-l990s Smithson’s department store
A was making a loss.
B had a problem keeping staff.
C was unhappy with its advertising agency.
D mostly sold g oods under the Smithson’s name.
14 According to the writer, Smithson's profits started rising three years ago
becau of
维多利亚大学排名A an improvement in the retailing ctor.
B the previous work done on the store.
C Rowena Baker's choice of designer.
D a change in the products on sale.
15 According to Rowena Baker, one problem which Smithson’s faced when she joined was that
西安注册会计师培训A the number of people using the store was falling slowly.
B its competitors offered a more specialid range of products.
qishengC the store’s prices w ere t at the wrong level.英语培训班宣传单
D customers were unhappy with the rvice provided.
16 According to the writer, many staff oppod Baker’s plans becau
A they were unwilling to change their way of working.
B they disagreed with her goals for the store.
C they felt they were not consulted enough about the changes.
D they were unhappy with her style of management.
17 Baker has changed staff policies becau she believes that
A the corporate image can be improved through staff uniforms.
B the previous rules were not fair to customers.
C customers should be able to identify with the staff rving them.
D employees should share in company profits.
18What problem does John Matthews think Smithson’s is facing?
A More money needs to be invested in the prent store.
B The company’s profits will only continue to ri if it expands.
C The refurbishment of the store is proving unpopular with customers.
D Smithson’s shareholders expect a quick return on their investments.
