1、剑桥商务英语高级-14 及答案解析(总分:96.00,做题时间:90 分钟)一、BREADING/B(总题数:1,分数:8.00)BPART ONE/BLook at the statements below and at the five extracts about taxes Which extract(A,B,C,D or E)does each statement(1-8)refer to? For each statement(1-8),mark one letter(A,B,C,D or E)on your Answer Sheet You Will need to use so
2、me of these letters more than onceAFlat Tax Income tax is a direct tax which is levied on the income of private individualsThere are various income tax systems that existranging frOm a flat tax to an extensive progressive tax systern A flat tax,also cal led a proportional tax,is a system that taxesU
3、sual ly the flat tax is proposed to k ick in at a certain income level,or to exempt income below that level,so that the lowest-income members of society dont need to pay income tax Proposed flat taxes usually allow little or no exemption of earned income besides the bottom-level exemption Advocates
4、of a flat tax claim that it will end unfair discriminationThey also argue that flat taxes are easier(and cheaper)to administer and comply with than complex,graduated taxesMost political parties that advocate the introduction of a flat tax are on the right of the pol itical spectrum BProgressive Tax
5、A progressive tax,or graduated tax,is a tax that is larger as a percentage of income for those with larger incomesIt is usually applied in reference to income taxes,where people with more income pay a higher percentage of it in taxesThe term progressive refers to the way the rate progresses from low
6、 to high CRegressive Tax A regressive tax is a tax which takes a larger percentage of income from people whose income is low A tax which places placesonately more of a burden on those with lower incomes Regressive taxes,as opposed to progressive taxes,are more burdensome on lower-income individuals
7、than on higher-income individuals and corporations DTax Deduction Within the United Statesincome tax system,a tax deduction,or“ tax-deductible expense“ ,is an item which is subtracted from gross income in order to arrive at the taxable income Effectively,the taxpayer pays no income tax on the amount
8、 of money he spent on tax-deductible expensesFor exampleif an individual earns$50,000 in a year and gives $5,000 to tax-deductible charities,he will end up paying income tax as though he had earned only$45,000 that yearIn this way,the federal and state governments encourage certain types of spending
9、 ETax Avoidance and Tax Evasion Tax avoidance is the legal exploitation of the tax regime to ones own advantage,to attempt to reduce the amount of tax that is payable by means that are within the law whilst making a full disclosure of the materialinformation to the tax authorities Tax evasion,on the
10、 other hand,is a crimeTax evasion usually entails taxpayers deliberately misrepresenting or concealing the true state of their affairs to the tax authorities to reduce their tax liability,and includes,in particular,dishonest tax reporting,such as under-declared income,profits or gains;or overstated
11、deductions(分数:8.00)(1).In the USif you donate 10,000 dollars to some charity organization,you can take that sum away from your total income when you pay income tax(分数:1.00)填空项 1:_(2).This tax forces lower-income people and corporations to earn more money,because the less you earn,the more taxes you
12、have to pay(分数:1.00)填空项 1:_(3).This tax system ensures that the people with the lowest income dont have to pay income tax(分数:1.00)填空项 1:_(4).The more money you earn,the more taxes you should pay in terms of income tax(分数:1.00)填空项 1:_(5).You would violate the law if you lie to the tax authorities abo
13、ut the profits that your company has earned(分数:1.00)填空项 1:_(6).Most right-wing political parties advocate this tax system(分数:1.00)填空项 1:_(7).To the lower-income people,this tax is an obl igation hard to bear(分数:1.00)填空项 1:_(8).Many people would try to find ways that observe the law to pay less tax,w
14、hi le at the same time they would give the tax authorities a full and true report of their income or profits(分数:1.00)填空项 1:_二、BPART TWO/B(总题数:1,分数:6.00)Read this text taken from an article about how the accountants influence the decisions Choose the best sentence to fill each of the gaps For each ga
15、p(9-14),mark one letter(A-H)on your Answer Sheet DO not use any letter more than once B How the Accountants Influence the Decisions /BAccountants in industry are often asked to evaluate projectsIn the recording industry this ususlly means working out the effect on comjpany profits of the fine print
16、in a recording contraceMany people think it must be straightforward,but,like many publishing contracts,the devil lies in the detail U (9) /UThere is a high level of front-end investment in trying to“break” (popularise)an artist which usually comprises a non-returnable advance on royalties,recording
17、costs,promotional costs and tour support costs which sometimes even extend to large“buy-on”fees to support major artists on big tours;i.e.they pay to play Usuallv the first dePartment involved in a decision to sign an artist is the A&R (artistes and repertoire)departmentSometimes unfairly labeled th
18、e Urn & Ah departmentthey play a vital role in identifying potential starsAbout 95of the artists dont make the gradeU (10) /UThis financial analysis is called a Deal Memo and it also assist in the negotiation process When AR have identified a signing then there are a number of key decisions to be ma
19、de in which the business affairs and finance departments become closely involvedU (11) /UWill it be a direct signing,i.e.,will the company be contracting directly with the artist,or has the artist been savvy enough to incorporate his own company and“loan out” his services to his own company?If the c
20、ontract is with the artists company then it is vital that the record company get the artist to sign a letter(called an inducement letter)stating that he personally undertakes to fulfill his contractual obligations should his company be unable to do so;e.g.if it were wound up U (12) /UPete Watermans
21、PWL with artists such as Kylie Minogue,Jason Donovan and Rick Astley was a good example of a production houseOther examples are 1ease-tape deals and R&D(pressing and distribution)where the record company does not actually own the product but can sell it under its name for a 1imited period U (13) /UT
22、his will largely concentrate on the advances,royaltv rates and contract terms that should be offered to make it attractive to the artist to sign U (14) /UIt should be product based,for example,on the number of albums to be delivered by the artist(known 38 the“minimum commitment”),rather than time ba
23、sedIdeally the record company would want to sign the artist for just one album with multiple options for further albums at its sole and absolute discretion,so if the artist is a flop,then the contract is terminated after one album,but if he or she is a success then options are exercised Athe term of
24、 the contract is very important BHaving decided on the form of contract then,the finance department comes int。the Dicture in assessing and analyzing the structure of the deal COther possible forms of contract that could be considered are production house deals where a specialist company agrees to su
25、pply a number of artists to the record company DFirstly,it must be decided what form the contract is going to take EHowever,for the very few artists that the record companies successfully“ break“ then there is big money to be made and it is therefore vital that any proposed deal undergo a through fi
26、nancial analysis to ensure that the company is not over-committed FContrary to popular myth that it is easy to make money in the music business,most artists actually lose money for the recording companies GImportance should be attached to both the term and form of the contract HIn the recording indu
27、stry this usually means working Out the effect on company profits of the fine print in a recording contract(分数:6.00)(1).(分数:1.00)填空项 1:_填空项 1:_填空项 1:_填空项 1:_填空项 1:_填空项 1:_三、BPART THREE/B(总题数:1,分数:6.00)Read the following article about CTO(Chief Technology Officer)and the questions For each question(1
28、5-20),mark one letter(A,B,C or D)on your Answer Sheet Of the many things a CTO(Chief Technology Officer)must do to be successful,the one that can never be neglected is simple:maintaining focus on helping your company produce revenue and profitsOn a purely superficial level,this sounds like the job o
29、f the CEO or vice president of sales,but successful CTOs know that being closely involved in the revenue game is the key ingredient to the growth of your company and your career For some technology staff aspiring to the CTO position,there is a sense that getting too close to the money sullies the pu
30、rity of the greater technology mission Of building elegant products and systemsThis may be true in an academic environment,but in the corporate world,those elegant products and systems need to help produce a profitThe CTO works at the strategic intersection of technology and business,and the unique
31、talents of the CTO mean that he or she can leverage technology for the good of the business like no one else on the executive team To drive revenue in a company,the CTO must work as 3 partner with the CEO and vice president of salesQuite often,the tech leaders in an organization sit back and wait fo
32、r executive managers to tell them what to do and then deliver requirementsA successful CTO realizes that the process of working through ideas for new products and services demands his or her participation from idea origination to final implementation While working as a partner with key executives at
33、 a company,the CTO should also keep in close contact with the sales staff members who are out talking to customers on a regular basisAsking three simple questions of sales staff on a regular basis helps keep the CTO in the loop on the realities of external market conditions:1)What are our customers
34、asking for today?2)What are customers looking for in the next 90 days?And 3)How do customers envision their needs developing in the next year to 18 months?These answers help the CTO with budgeting,strategic planning,and product development,and most importantly,helping to drive revenue and profitabil
35、ity over the short and long term Finally,as an externally facing executive,the CTO must always have time for existing and potential customersThis means accompanying your sales staff on sales calls and understanding the challenges that your customers faceThe CTO can then use the feedback to help the
36、company serve customers more effectively and drive revenueThats what its a11 about (分数:6.00)(1).According to the author,a successful CTO(分数:1.00)A.is like a CEO or vice president of salesB.can convert technology into the good of the businessC.real izes that he or she should take part in the developi
37、ng of new products and servicesD.should keep in close contact with existing and potential customers(2).In the second paragraph。the word“aspiring”means(分数:1.00)A.inspiringB.desiringC.resigningD.criticising(3).From the context,the word“leverage”(Line 6,Para 2)most probably means(分数:1.00)A.changeB.adju
38、stC.convertD.use(4).Why should a CTO often ask three simple questions of sales staff?(分数:1.00)A.He/She wants to keep in touch with the sales staffB.He/She wants to learn from the sales staffC.He/She wants to know what their customers are asking forD.He/She wants to learn about external market condit
39、ions from the sales staff(5).According to the passage,which of the following statements is correct?(分数:1.00)A.Some technology staff may think the position is closer to the money when they want to become OTOB.The technology staff in an academic environment can never be close to the moneyC.A CTO is be
40、tter than anyone else on the executive teamD.A CTO must answer the telephone from the customers(6).What is the passage mainly about?(分数:1.00)A.The relationship between a CTO and CEO or vice president of salesB.The main tasks of the CTOC.How to become a successfuI CTOD.Secrets of CTOs四、BPART FOUR/B(总
41、题数:1,分数:10.00)Read the article below about MOO Choose the correct word to fill each gap frOm A,B,C or D For each question(21-30),mark one letter(A,B,C or D)on your Answer SheetOne of the most visible locational decisions ona high technology firm was made by the Microelectronics and Computer Technolo
42、gy Corporation(MCC)A joint venture of a dozen major computer and semi-conductor firms,MCC was founded to do researchU (21) /Uadvanced level technologies such as new generations of supercomputers,artificial intelligence and roboticsU (22) /Ua consortium created in 1982 by several firms,it had no home
43、 base or locational inertia,and began its search for a site by examining 57 cities across the countryThe cities made polished sales pitches to lure the firms eventual 400 engineers and scientistsThe four finalists in the chase-Atlantis,Austin,San Diego and Raleigh-Durham,in the Research Triangle are
44、a of North Carolina,U (23) /Uwas particularly noted for high tech activity When Austin was choosen。its attractions to MCC were widely analysed by other would-be Silicon ValleysAustin,the state capital,iS the site of the main campus of the University of Texas,a school thatU(24) /Uamong the top twenty
45、 in the country in research fundingThe universitys reputation,state commitments of further support,and the citys proven quality of life attractivenessU (25) /U high tech people were the deciding factorsAustin and the State of Texas added to these attractions a package of financial and other incentiv
46、es,including a favorable lease on land in the universitys research park and subsidized mortgagesU (26) /Urelocating employees U (27) /Ureturn Austin had got not only the MCCIn the typical snowballing manner of high tech areas,several other companies have decided to move research U(28) /Uother advanc
47、ed technology facilities thereLockheed Missiles and Space Company,3M Corporation,and Motorola are among the firms which have added to theagglomeration of technical workers there,U (29) /Uthe expense of cities like Minneapolis and Phoenix,where the companies have other facilitiesAs a matter of fact,t
48、he entire 100 mile corridor between Austin and San Antonio is nicknamed“Silicon Gulch”San Antonio is the site of several computer biotechnology and electronics companiesU (30) /Uthe“Gulch”will rival the San Francisco Bay and Boston regions in high technology will depend on its ability to spawn a succession of new fi