1、剑桥商务英语高级-6 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/BBHow to approach Reading Test Part One/B In this part of the Reading Test you match eight statements with five short texts. First read each short text and then read the sentences to see which ones refer to the text. Make sure
2、 you read each text for overall meaning, Do not choose an answer just because you can see the same words in the text. Look at the sentences below and at the five sections from an article about benchmarking on the opposite page. Which section of the article does each sentence refer to? For each sente
3、nce 18, mark one letter (A, B, C, D or E) on your Answer Sheet. You will need to use some of these letters more than once.BA/BBenchmarking involves establishing minimum standards of performance and quality, based on identifying the best method and practice followed in other organisations. These stan
4、dards can then be used as yardsticks to measure the organisations current costs, production, management and customer focus, and identify areas where they fall short of norms. According to its supporters, benchmarking raises awareness of innovations and best practice, thus helping all companies takin
5、g part in benchmarking exercises to increase their competitiveness: by imitating best practice they may be able to reduce their costs or improve their customer service.BB/BThere are a number of approaches to benchmarking. Typically, exercises are carried out by companies working within the same fiel
6、d or sector, as in the International Motor Vehicle Programme. Between 1985 and 1990 this brought together car manufacturers from Europe, the USA and Japan with the aim of introducing the western companies to Japanese production methods. As benchmarking by competitors can be very sensitive, in some c
7、ases data is mediated through a neutral body, such as a business school, to protect confidentiality and make sure that no trade secrets are revealed.BC/BThere are also instances of companies in widely different industries comparing their management practices, to see how others have dealt with diffic
8、ulties in internal communications, supply chain management, and other areas where practice is transferable from company to company without affecting competition between rivals, in other words, topics where confidentiality is not at issue. To a certain degree this practice has been aided by the devel
9、opment of internet websites dedicated to the sharing of information, sites which, being in the public domain, are universally accessible. Of course, this means that only certain types of data are provided.BD/BUnlike benchmarking exercises with competitors, which run the risk that participants may wa
10、nt to take what they can and give away as little as possible, benchmarking between the divisions or business units of a single company is far less likely to lead to the withholding of information. As a by-product, co-operation among different sections of the company may well be enhanced, both throug
11、h increased understanding of how others operate, and by simply being able to put a face to a name, and know who to talk to about a particular work-related problem.BE/Blearning from the successes and failures of others can of course be very valuable. On the other hand, critics claim that by concentra
12、ting on existing best practice, companies simply seek to emulate other businesses. Content to achieve the best of what is being done at the moment, they do not attempt to move beyond it to reach the best possible. However this ignores the creative aspect of the process: learning about other organisa
13、tions operations may well spark off fresh ideas, as in a brainstorming session, and lead into the realm of true innovation.（分数：8.00）(1).Ideas that emerge from a benchmarking exercise may be better than any current practice.（分数：1.00）填空项 1:_(2).In some cases companies receive information without knowi
14、ng which organisation produced it,（分数：1.00）填空项 1:_(3).Certain methods of benchmarking generally do not impose restrictions on the kinds of knowledge that can be shared openly.（分数：1.00）填空项 1:_(4).One goal of benchmarking is to solve problems common to companies in a variety of fields.（分数：1.00）填空项 1:_
15、(5).Benchmarking exercises can enable all participants to make improvements in their operations.（分数：1.00）填空项 1:_(6).Benchmarking exercises may lead to an improvement in contacts with other people.（分数：1.00）填空项 1:_(7).It may be a weakness of benchmarking that organisations imitate others,（分数：1.00）填空项
16、1:_(8).Some forms of benchmarking do not restrict the availability of data to those organisations taking part.（分数：1.00）填空项 1:_二、BPART TWO/B(总题数：1，分数：6.00)BHow to approach Reading Test Part Two/B In this part of the Reading Test you read a text with gaps in it, and choose the best sentence to fill ea
17、ch gap from a set of eight sentences. First read the text for overall meaning, then go back and look for the best sentence for each gap. Make sure the sentence fits both the meaning and the grammar of the text around the gap. Read the text on the opposite page from an article about how a company red
18、uced its transport costs. Choose the best sentence from below 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.BRoute to big delivery savings/BThere are few areas left within the worlds largest businesses where one clos
19、e look can deliver instant savings of 1 per cent of sales. For Rhodia, the chemicals arm of French conglomerate Rh6ne-Poulenc, scrutiny of the companys transport costs in the UK led to just such savings. Management consultants A.T. Kearney were commissioned to review the companys operations. They sc
20、oured order books, invoices and transport logs at the companys fourteen UK sites. some transport they could not account for at all Surprising as it may seem, there were simply no records.A.T. Kearneys initial survey found that transport accounted for 10 per cent of the companys traceable spending in
21、 the UK, and that during a 12-month period, 235 different hauliers had moved products for the company. The company were also running a 30-strong fleet of their own.U (9) /UIn a more positive light, though, they meant that the opportunity to improve was huge.Transport buying was being dictated by the
22、 backgrounds of the buyers, rather than rational criteria.U (10) /UInstead, they were typically former drivers or site workers who bought transport from a network of contacts built up over many years.Even where buyers were seeking tile cheapest transport, their task was complicated by numerous diffe
23、rent tariffs for different measures. For A.T. Kearney, the solution lay in a comprehensive, standardised tendering process. During the following weeks, all the companys existing suppliers, Rhodias own fleet, and others were invited to tender for business.U (11) /UModelling of these responses began:
24、what if this part of the business was given to X, and this part to Y - what does it do to costs?Rhodia then went back to the most promising applicants and offered them deals for packages of business.U (12) /UIn this way the company ensured that they got the best possible arrangement. Inevitably, thi
25、s process favoured large suppliers.U (13) /UFor example, a driver with his own lorry, who had been transporting goods for the company for years, submitted a tender. A sub- contracting arrangement was made for him with one of the final suppliers.Today, Rhodia have five main hauliers, who account for
26、90 per cent of the companys transport spending. All rates are standardised: the whole system is a very simple one. But perhaps the most extraordinary outcome from this monumental number-crunching exercise was the bottom line impact.U (14) /UThe new set-up has delivered savings of more than 25 per ce
27、nt. And the company is confident of achieving even more savings.A Before the review, transport was eating up 3 per cent of the companys UK sales revenue.B Nevertheless, the situation was not helped by the fragmented nature of the haulage industry.C More than 60 did so, and their quotes were then ana
28、lysed.D Among the terms they included in these contracts were requirements for improvements in costs, flexibility and reliability.E None had come into logistics as part of a management career.F But hauliers at the other end of the scale were not automatically excluded.G These results horrified the c
29、ompany, as they were far worse than had been anticipated.H Some transport they could not account for at all.（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)BHow to approach Reading Test Part Three/B in this part of the Reading Test you read a longer text
30、 and answer six questions. First read the questions. Try to get an idea of what the text will be about. Then read the text for general understanding. Then read the text and questions more carefully, choosing the best answer to each question. Do not choose an answer just because you can see the same
31、words in the text. Read the article on the opposite page about interim managers who work for companies on short assignments and the questions below. For each question 15 - 20, mark one letter (A, B, C or D) on your Answer Sheet for the answer you choose.John Tiernan has spent five years trouble-shoo
32、ting as an interim manager, hired on short-term assignments by a variety of companies to sort out their problems. He has no desire to return to the certainties of a permanent position, because now, whichever company he is working for, he is perpetually involved in a meaningful task thats critical to
33、 the business at that time. Though he admits that sorting out the aftermath of other peoples misjudgments can be frustrating. At first he found the gaps between jobs traumatic, but now he has got used to them, so when a job ends he simply books a holiday.Mr Tiernan is part of a relatively small pool
34、 of managers used by agency BIE. Whereas most suppliers of interim managers have large databases, which they tap into in order to match a managers qualifications and experience with a client companys requirements, BIE tries to develop a good understanding of its managers personalities and of hew the
35、y are likely to fit into a company through interviews and from feedback on their previous assignments. He is very happy with the way the agency treats him, though he admits that he has no idea how this compares with other agencies. One advantage he finds of being one of a small number of managers is
36、 that they can get to know each other well, through the agencys social and professional development activities.Interim jobs are frequently highly pressured and can be uncomfortable. John Tiernan was recently brought in to improve customer service at a division of Jarvis Porter Group, a printing and
37、packaging company. Initial resistance from staff fairly soon melted away, but then Mr Tiernan realised that the divisions trading position was unsustainable, and it soon became clear that what was needed was a shutdown, not a rescue. Mr Tiernan managed the closure, in which about 250 jobs were lost.
38、The secret is always to keep channels of communication open. Making oneself known to the whole range of employees is useful, although it may net be enough to prove ones value to the company. Keeping the companys Chief Executive informed is essential for the interim managers actions to be understood
39、and accepted. Agencies, too, often like to keep track of what their managers are doing for their clients, though few have gone as far as W&S. This Dutch agency arranges .for its interims to be assisted by expert shadow managers back at base, who act as a sounding board for their ideas and actions.Cl
40、ient companies hire interim managers to deal with temporary situations, such as mergers or delays in filling senior posts. Although interim managers dont come cheap, inaction may be even more costly, and if the company has established a good relationship with an agency, it can trust in the latters a
41、bility to supply someone suitable. The interim manager arrives without corporate baggage or vested interests, which may be an advantage in the effect they have on staff, but the potential downside, which deters some companies from using them, is a fear that having only a short-term commitment to the
42、 company, they might net have its long-term interests at heart.Interim management providers defence is that the success of the system is precisely due to the reputation of managers such as Mr Tiernan. But there are fears that the growing demand for interim managers is encouraging too many new agenci
43、es to be set up, and the absence of uniform practices is endangering quality and leading to an overall fall in standards. Whatever happens, though, it looks as though interim managers are here to stay.（分数：6.00）(1).What does John Tiernan like about interim management?（分数：1.00）A.the opportunities to h
44、ave extended holidaysB.the chance to learn from other peoples mistakesC.the contact with a number of different companiesD.the knowledge that the work he is doing is important(2).Concerning the way that he gets jobs, John Tiernan believes that（分数：1.00）A.he would benefit from being on a computer datab
45、ase.B.the agency knows him well through personal contact.C.he would benefit from meeting more interim managers.D.the agency treats him better than other agencies would.(3).What did John Tiernan find about his assignment with Jarvis Porter Group?（分数：1.00）A.The task proved different from what he had b
46、een asked to do.B.The customer service staff did not co-operate with him.C.He thought it unnecessary to close the division down.D.Customer service was worse than he had expected.(4).According to the writer, which type of communication is uncommon for interim managers?（分数：1.00）A.maintaining close con
47、tact with the companys Chief ExecutiveB.getting to know people at all levels in the companyC.receiving feedback from somebody outside the companyD.sending regular reports to the agency about the work being done(5).What reason is given for some companies resistance to using interim managers?（分数：1.00）
48、A.Interim managers may not be concerned about the companys future.B.It is difficult to justify the cost of an interim managerC.The company has to rely on the agencys choice of interim manager:D.Interim managers can lower the morale of staff.(6).What point is made about interim management in the last paragraph?（分数：1.00）A.There are too few agencies to meet the demand.B.There is inconsistency in what agencies deliverC.Too few companies are aware of the bene
