第八课时
Questions 23-30（真题集TEST 1-PART 3）
● You will hear the chairman of a business institute making a speech about new business awards that that his institute has sponsored.
● For each question(23-30), mark one letter (A, B or C) for the correct answer.
● After you have listened once, replay the recording.
23 The aim of the ‘Business Today’ competition was to reward
A good produce design.
B skilful project management.
C rapid financial success.
24 How many companies were chosen to compete in the final of the competition?
A four
B fourteen
C forty
25 The types of products which the finalists were developing
A caused considerable problems for the judges.
B were all connected with the food industry.
C involved a common set of development aspects.
26 According to the speaker, what are small firms good at?
A fitting new products in with current production
B recording methods used in developing new products
C developing new management structures for products
27 The speaker believes big companies document innovation well because of
A the number of staff available
B the involvement of senior management.
C the insistence on regular procedures.
28 The panel was impressed by Natura because they had
A invested considerable time investing a new product.
B researched new ways of manufacturing their product.
C investigated new overseas markets for their product..
29 The judges praised the links between development teams in smaller companies and
A senior management.
B suppliers.
C the market.
30 The companies sometimes had problems because the suppliers
A could not understand the specifications.
B could not meet the deadlines.
C could not rely on their subcontractors.
答案：23－30 BBCA CBAC
听力原文：
Man: Who are the managers of the best innovation developments in British industry? That was the question which the first Business Today Innovation Awards set out to answer.
This project is all about rewarding good practice and performance. So, rather than simply recognizing excellence in the design of specific products, or analysing their financial impact on profits, the awards set out to take an objective look at exactly how companies mange the development process itself.
Over three hundred and fifty organizations entered the competition and were initially reduced to about forty. Then, after further careful checking, a short list of just fourteen of them was arrived at. These finalists, all manufacturers, were then visited by the competition judges, a panel of four chief executives from leading companies. The panel toured the finalists’ facilities, received presentations on the companies and their projects, and interviewed the key development team members. The products varied enormously in their scale, function and degree of technology – from bread for a supermarket chain to a printer inside an automatic dispense. Initially the organisers were concerned that this range could create difficulties in the assessment process. But this fear proved baseless, as most elements in the innovation process are shared by all manufacturers.
Interestingly, the finalists broke down into two distinct and equal groups: large firms with one thousand employees or more and small firms with two hundred and fifty employees or fewer. With both groups the judges decided to concentrate on two of the clearest indicators of a successful innovation process, which are: how well the new product is combined with the company’s existing business, and secondly, how well the innovation methods are recorded and understood. Small firms naturally tend to do well in the first category since they have fewer layers of management and thus much shorter communication lines. But they seem to put less emphasis on creating formal development methods which would be repeatable in future innovation.
Large firms, on the other hand, have difficulty interesting the new development within their existing business for reasons of scale. But they tend to succeed in achieving well – documented and repeatable development methods. This is because larger companies, with their clear emphasis on training, fixed management structure and administrative systems, require more formal, daily record-keeping from their staff.
So what were the key questions the judges had in mind when assessing the finalists? One of the most important areas concerned how thoroughly a company checks what is happening in other fields in order to incorporate new ideas into the development process. Many of the finalists impressed in the areas. Natura, for example, had demonstrated genuine energy in searching for new ways of producing their range of speciality breads. They had looked at styles of home cooking in different countries, as well as the possibility of exploiting new production technologies in order to achieve equally good results but on a high-volume production line.
What then occupied much of the judges’ thoughts was the quality of the links which the development team established with senior management, suppliers, the market and manufacturing. The best examples of the first category were found in small firms, where the individual entrepreneur at the top was clearly driving the innovation forward.
Links with suppliers were also seen as an important factor, but not all supplier experiences were positive. Occasionally serious problems had to be solved where suppliers were working hard to meet specification, but the companies that the suppliers were using to adapt their machinery were not so efficient. This led to disappointing faults or fluctuations in quality.
But in conclusion the awards demonstrate that innovation isn’t just for high-tech internet companies, You can also be successful in mature markets with determination and skill.
知识点总结：
如何扩大背景知识：
阅读商务报刊
背景知识考察点：
1）人
新人的选择，executive 执行官的选择；员工的管理：激励问题、人员培训
2）公司的问题
公司的类型 管理； 运作
3）公司的运作
成本、产品的研发 市场和营销 安全生产
4）报告，报表
Questions 23-30（真题集TEST3- PART 3）
● You will hear the Purchasing Manager of a manufacturing company giving a presentation to senior management about four possible new suppliers.
● For each question (23-30), mark one letter (A, B or C) for the correct answer.
● After you have listened once, replay the recording.
23 The advantage of the first company is
A the size of the factory.
B the company of the MD.
C the production capacity.
24 The speaker is concerned that the first company lacks
A sufficient firm orders.
B fully trained staff.
C reliable distributors.
25 The speaker was initially impressing by the second company because of
A its relationship with employees at the mines.
B its access to the raw materials needed.
C the methods it designed for checking safety in the mines.
26 The second company has problems because
A air transport has limited capacity.
B the road networks are underdeveloped.
C the seaport is too far away.
27 The third factory visited by the speaker
A is owned by a worker’ co-operative.
B was established by a haulage company.
C has financial support from the government.
28 The components manufactured by the third factory
A do not reach the required standard.
B are not accompanied by a guarantee.
C do not match product specifications.
29 The final company visited by the speaker
A has rapidly gained a world-wide reputation.
B has recently increased its production area.
C has received a loan to improve technology.
30 The speaker recommends the final company because
A it has agreed to reduce its prices for large orders.
B it can produce goods within the required timescale.
C its products passed the inspection test she carried out.
答案：23 C 24 A 25 B 26 B 27 C 28 A 29 C 30 B
听力原文：
Woman: As you know, the main supplier of our components announced suddenly last month that they were closing down shortly, leaving us in a very difficult situation. I shortlisted four potential replacement suppliers, and have visited them all. I’ll report on each, though I’ve only found one company that meets our needs entirely.
Initially, I was optimistic about the first company I saw. I was given an enthusiastic welcome and generous hospitality by the MD, but when he took me on a tour of the factory, I began to have a few doubts about his commercial expertise. The factory is enormous a converted aircraft shed, I think, almost too big to be practical. There is certainly enough machinery to produce the quantities we need, and that, of course, is vital.
However, I had one main concern. The company has recently invested heavily in state – of – the - art production equipment and in a comprehensive training programme for machine operators. But I was surprised to see that half the factory wasn’t in use because several important customers had cancelled orders. I was reassured that orders are dispatched quickly, and delivery times are impressive, and distribution isn’t a problem – but I’d need to inspect their products more closely to see if the quality’s what we require.
The second company looked promising too, because they are based in the region that produces the natural resources to make our components. Everything needed for their activities is available on their doorstep. They have a good working relationship with the local mine owners, who are known to have good safety records. During my visit, the company went into great detail about the quality inspections carried out on the material before it leaves the mines.
This company seemed to have no problems with transport – until I looked more closely. The factory is in a very mountainous region, about six hundred kilometers from the capital city. Passenger flights are fairly frequent, taking under two hours, but the journey by road can take days. The roads are really inadequate – the whole infrastructure needs massive investment. There is a seaport just over the border with the neighbouring country, which would certainly cut down on distance, but, as far as I can see, it might also bring other problem. We simple can’t risk depending on such fragile communications.
The third company I looked at, on the other hand, is on the coast, with good access to the main seaport. Transport and shipping of goods are well organized and, in fact, they own a haulage company as one of their subsidiaries. The production unit is new – built and equipped with the help of investment from the Ministry of Industry. What’s more, company workers are involved in decision-making, and industrial relations are excellent. Perfect so far.
Unfortunately, though, their finished products are not of the quality we demand. The specifications are right for our components, so no modifications in design would be necessary. But when I did a quick inspection, I found a higher percentage of faults than we’d be prepared to tolerate. If we chose them, we’d certainly have to negotiate longer warranties than those they’re offering at present.
The final company I visited seemed to have everything, though. It’s ten years old, well established, located between the capital and a major seaport. The company has grown rapidly and has just modernized its factory, thanks to a loan from the World Bank, which has enabled it to install the most up-to-date equipment available on the market. The production unit is now fully automated, and efficiency is the company’s great strength.
This company has a well-deserved reputation for the quality of his finished goods. Given their high standard, it’s not surprising that the costs are considerable, and they’re asking higher prices than the other companies I visited. But I’m confident we’ll be able to negotiate on this. The key point in their favour, in my opinion, is their ability to meet deadlines of a long-term contract. It’s easy to meet one deadline, of course – the difficult thing is to do it all the time.
To sum up, then…
第九课时
III Conversation/Discussion
1 特点：（1）同一问题，多种看法
（2）考题：细节+大意+意见
A
COST
B C
2 应对：（1）分清人物关系、立场、身份
（2）层次提示词
（3）要点提示词
练习1：Questions 23 – 30 （课堂讲义TEST5- PART 3）
• You will hear a discussion about in-company courses (courses given inside a company) and outside courses (courses given outside a company).
• Choose the correct ending for each of the sentences ( 23 – 30 ).
• Mark one letter ( A, B or C ) for the ending you choose.
• You will hear the recording twice.
23. The speakers have met to discuss the usefulness of
A certain members of staff.
B training courses.
C recent developments
24. The woman refers to the Management Training Board in
A Japan.
B Singapore.
C London.
25. A company can recover the cost of sending staff on a course if
A an individual's performance improves as a result.
B it dismisses staff who are not efficient.
C it asks a participant's relatives to help to pay.
26. The greatest cost of any course results from
A the high fees for attending the course.
B travelling and accommodation expenses.
C the absence from work of staff attending the course.
27. The woman thinks the best length for a course is between
A four and ten weeks.
B a fortnight and ten weeks.
C two weeks and one month.
28. One of the speakers favours in-company courses chiefly because such courses can be
A attended by all the staff.
B designed to meet the company's special needs.
C arranged for early in the morning.
29. The woman says that an advantage of staff attending courses abroad is the chance to
A meet people from other companies and countries.
B take part hi workshops about other companies.
C listen to international experts and consultants.
30. It is important for participants on courses to
A write detailed reports.
B judge their own performance.
C keep in contact with people they have met there.
答案：23 B 24 C 25 A 26 C 27 A 28 B 29 A 30 A
听力原文：
Ml: Good morning. I've asked you both to my office to hear your views on useful framing courses which might benefit certain members of our staff. First, what do you think about the general idea of training courses that we might send personnel on? How useful would such courses be. And should we look at courses outside the company or should we seek to bring in specialists to give such courses on the premises? I just want your general views at this early stage.
M2: I think training courses would be very useful indeed to improve our performance and keep abreast with recent developments of all kinds.
F1: There are a lot of extremely good courses given in many countries in East Asia, especially in Japan and also in Singapore. There's also a particularly good course that's very relevant to our needs given by the Management Training Board in London.
M2: The trouble is that it costs a lot to send our people abroad on training programmes.
F1: Training and development are always expensive, but they usually pay for themselves in the end -I mean in the improved performance of the people who attend. It's the company that benefits - even more than the individual.
M2: That's true, but my point is that it would be cheaper to bring in a couple of specialists and have the training sessions here within the company.
Fl: Clearly, we've got to consider in-company training courses - but we shouldn't dismiss outside courses as being necessarily much more expensive. Even the best courses abroad are only slightly more expensive relatively speaking. The most expensive part of any training course is not the course fee, high as this often is! Neither is it the cost of travel and accommodation. It is simply the length of time staff are absent from their jobs. They still have to draw their salaries. Also, special arrangements have to be made to do their work while they're away. But even in this respect we can save something by good planning beforehand. I mean planning efficient ways of substituting staff and reorganising the work of people who're going to be absent.
Ml: How long are the courses you're thinking of?
Fl: The longest course I envisage would be about ten weeks. Some courses might last no longer than one month. One month to ten weeks seems to be about the best time to justify the expense involved in travelling and accommodation costs.
M2: The advantage of in-company courses is that they can be shorter or longer than the time you've just mentioned. But their chief advantage is that the course can be specially tailored to meet the precise needs of the staff attending—that is, the company's own special requirements.
Also all courses can be given at times which cause least inconvenience to the company - perhaps during the mornings for one group of personnel and during the afternoons for another.
F1: But isn't another advantage of courses provided by the opportunity to meet other people attending the course? During discussion sessions and workshop groups, participants can meet people from other companies and even from other countries. In this way they can get an insight into other methods of working and of dealing with problems -something they can't get on in-company training courses.
Ml: Well, thank you both for your views. This session has been very helpful. Whatever decision we make here- outside courses or in-company courses I feel it's very important for all those attending to be reminded that such courses are a considerable expense for the company. And consequently, it's only reasonable to expect all those attending a course to write full reports. Also I'd want them to complete a course evaluation form which we must arrange to draw up.
练习2：Questions 23 - 30（课堂讲义TEST 8- PART 3）
• You will hear a discussion. A company production director is discussing with senior executives a proposed structure for the production engineering department of a large company.
• Choose the correct ending for each of the sentences (23 - 30).
• Mark one letter (A, B or C) for the ending you choose.
• You will hear the recording twice.
23. The proposals being made affect
A every department in the company
B the production engineering department.
C several other successful companies.
24. The production engineering department has a total workforce of
A 100.
B 600
C 800.
25. At present the engineering services and expertise is
A concentrated at headquarters.
B spread unevenly throughout 12 factories.
C both at headquarters and in the company's 12 factories.
26. Someone else agrees that the production engineering department is
A losing touch with its factories.
B too powerful.
C in need of more specialist knowledge.
27. The proposal is for the factories to become
A more independent and less closely integrated.
B more closely integrated and less independent.
C more independent but closely integrated.
28. The person who is making the proposal about the production engineering department is
A the company production director.
B one of the factory managers.
C a production engineering manager.
29. Under the proposed organisational structure, the factory managers will have
A the same responsibility as previously.
B less responsibility.
C more responsibility.
30. Production engineers from headquarters can give instructions to the production engineering manager in a factory only with permission from
A the general manager there.
B the engineering manager there.
C the chief production engineer at headquarters.
答案：23 B 24 B 25 A 26 A 27 C 28 A 29 C 30 A
听力原文：
Ml: I'd like to discuss with you a proposed structure for the production engineering department in our company - not our entire company but only one department - our production engineers. These proposals are based on the type of organisational structure in several successful companies both at home and abroad. Nevertheless, I'm aware that some
of these proposals are controversial and may come as a shock to some of you.
As you know, there are now 600 workers in our production engineering department. This workforce ranges from skilled machinists to production technologists. Their services are highly centralised in our production engineering department at our headquarters. I appreciate that this results in a slightly smaller workforce as well as greater ordination and a concentration of specialist know-how. But we're now finding that this very concentration of expertise here at headquarters encourages us to overlook some of the problems which many of our colleagues have in our twelve factories throughout the region. In a sense, the production engineering department is not aware of all that is happening in the factories and can't understand some of the day-to-day problems.
M2: If you mean that we are getting out of touch with our factories, I think I agree. We don't appreciate many of their difficulties. Shouldn't our factories have more power to make decisions for themselves?
Ml: Well, both yes and no. The whole issue is very complex.
Fl: But after all, if our factories have more power to act as they like with regard to production engineering, we run the risk of them losing sight of the company's overall objectives.
Ml: That's true. And so what I'd like to aim for is making our factories more independent from the view of production engineering while, at the same time, encouraging a greater degree of integration in the company.
F2: What about your position as the company production director? Surely, this is an, essential position, and it's essential for the company production director to have direct control of the factories.
Ml: Yes, and, as the company production director, I'll continue to have direct responsibility for each factory as well as for our headquarters.
M2: What about the managers of the factories?
Ml: They'll now have much more responsibility for their own factories.
F2: Will they be able to make decisions regarding production engineering?
Ml: Yes, they will. But under each factory manager there'll be a production engineering manager, responsible to the factory manager. He'll be working at the factory itself - and not at our headquarters. He'll also have authority in his own field.
M2: What about all the production engineers at headquarters? Will they no longer be required here? ,
Fl: A few will, but others will be transferred to our various factories to work there. Our chief production engineer here at headquarters will be responsible for co-ordinating policy. And he'll be assisted by a small team of production engineers. This team will be given direct access to each factory but it won't be in a position to give instructions to the production engineering manager there unless the general manager of the factory has first given permission.
