BEC Higher Answers
Reading
1C 2B 3D 4B 5A 6E 7C 8A 9D 10B 11G 12F 13C 14A 15B 16A 17D 18B 19C 20C 21C 22D 23C 24A 25D 26B 27A 28B 29B 30B 31what 32deal 33to 34everyone 35such 36as 37ought 38and 39your 40upon 41while 42with 43correct 44one 45 on 46at 47in 48for 49do 50correct
Listening
1by taxi 2board room 3 computer center 4quality control 5 TV advert 6 production line 7 tidy their desks 8 mobile phones 9 info pack 10interpreter 117:30 12director s speech 13H 14C 15D 16G 17B 18C 19A 20D 21H 22F 23B 24A 25A 26C 27C 28A 29B 30C
听力文字材料
Part I
Right, is that everyone? Oh, hello, Mr. Pandon, if you d sit just there, that…right. Now, as I m sure you all appreciate, it s absolutely vital that the visit goes off smoothly. Most of the agents already do good business with us, but there re several who don t. And I m very keen to secure a contact with them. It could open up crucial new markets. I ll go through the day in order. So they ll be coming here by taxi. I m expecting three vehicles, at least, that s what I ordered. They should be here by nine. We need to allow for delays and so on. But you need to make sure that you get them to the boardroom before half past. Otherwise the whole day will start late. OK, well, after the introductory presentation there, their first port of course is going to be computer center, it s the most up-to-date in the region and should make a good impression. After that we ll take them to see the quality control division. By then they ll be on their feet for quite a while. So it ll be over to the cafeteria for refreshments and a showing of the TV advert on video. Hopefully they ll be impressed by the image we re putting out. That ll take us to the question and answer session, then, lunch. Finally, with all that in mind, they ll be taken down the production line. I think it ll be helpful for them to see our products being assembled. Now there re certain things we must bear in mind during the day. We have to give a really professional impression. So everybody s got to tidy their desks. I don t want any mess at all. We re going to need two mobile phones to hand throughout the day. The second one is just in case the first one stops working or runs out of the battery time. Information packs, uh, they re still being printed up, but they ll be ready tonight. All the agents need to be handed their info packs before the start of the presentation. Language, well, it shouldn t be a problem except for Mr. Gonzalis from Bolivia. He must have the interpreter with him throughout the day. He does speak some English but it s far from perfect. And we don t want him missing important points or just generally feeling left out. Latin Americas are very exciting market at the moment. And I want us to be right in there. OK, now onto the evening, well, the booking s made and it s all arranged, including Ms. Wenis special dietary requirements. We ve got the private function room at the back, which is very comfortable and should fit us all in nicely. Although the food won t be served until 8 o clock, there re drinks and so on, so I want everyone there by half past seven. OK? Uh, the last point, the director s speech will be at 9, so be ready for that. He doesn t want to talk to a lot of people who ve got their mouths full. Well, I think that s about all. If anybody s got any questions…
Part II
13. Well, it s quite interesting, isn t it? I mean, overall you re never going to please everyone always. I think one of the main benefits is perhaps something we weren t really expecting. Earnest, I wasn t. And that s the way people with different roles, different jobs are working together here. Sure my responsibility is do go across the departments. Everyone wants a PC, needs help with the software. I am always here in about the problems. Never good things, of course, with the network. Here we re sharing experiences, different view points, bringing in the ideas which reflect our different roles. The n again that s maybe a problem in itself cause I really don t see how I m gonna hold all this in my head. I m sure that next week it ll all have disappeared from my memory.
14. Frankly, I wonder if my time would have been better spent back in the office. Well, I don t want to sound negative. Maybe it s just me. I grant you there s some great theory going around. Amazing ideas really. All these visions of what could really be happening, pictures of the possible future, and more have you. But, at the end of the day, we ll be back at the same old office. And I ll be typing and running around, and still be expected to do 10 things at once. So, if I m honest, I m not really sure how all these fine speeches are really going to help me in my job. A letter is still a letter, isn t it? Mind you, I m not saying it s not inspirational. In some ways.
15. I feel very privileged and on top of everything it s a great way to meet everyone. It s really helping my confidence. The sessions on technology have been interesting because I know so little about it. They ve told me I ll get more on that as time goes by. And actually my problem s not really that, because, well, what I need at this early stage is some kind of overview, some kind of feeling of the whole picture. You know, how those fix together. I don t know where I ll be in five years time, you see. So I m not quite sure what I need to know now. That s why it s a bit frustrating that each lecture seems so separate, so single-issue????, I d like a wide range to be covered.
16. It s going pretty smoothly I d say all in all, we ve had worse, we ve had better, and given that we had to put the whole menu together at a pretty short notice. Having said that though, I am not at all sure they see it like that. I don t know. I think half the problem is people come to something like this with so much hope. I mean they assume the world is going to change overnight. And of course nothing is that simple. I hear them complaining, but not about the food, I m happy to say, that is not quite what they want, too general, too specific, and so on. Anyway, the snacks and the luncheons seem to have gone down all right. And I suppose that s all I need to worry about.
17. Yes, often what (???) is worth it is worth it. It s difficult of course balancing the costs and benefits, the time lost from the office compared to what I am investing in, but I ve always said our staff, our people are our biggest asset. So anything that brings my people up must be a value in itself. Of course much will depend on the performance reports, which I hope the different departments can draw up to me reasonably soon. Otherwise I won t really be in a position to know if I did make the right choice. My main reservation at this stage is that I don t see sufficient input on the system, on the IT side of things. And that s a great pity, because it s vital that we explore our existing computer system to get the best out of them. I want a company that is right up-to-date.
Part III
Steve: Well, I definitely agree with you, Rose, that the suggestions scheme is a good idea.
Rose: Good
Steve: And it s got the MD support, which is crucial, of course.
Rose: Yes, well, I am pleased because while I ve seen these schemes in other companies, they do seem to be valuable, you know, worth setting up.
Steve: I suppose because they push profits up.
Rose: Yeah, well, not exactly. I mean, yes, ultimately that can happen. But it s more than if you get an efficient scheme going when it runs well. Then the real advantage is people feel more involved, that they matter more, see??? get more energy around the place.
Steve: I see what you mean. OK, so when we get the suggestions in. How do we start? I guess we check out viability , if it s worth going ahead?
Rose: Um, certainly you ve got to be seen to respond, but actually, the first thing, crucially, to acknowledge it. I d have thought we could use a notice board f or that. Put the suggestions on it so people see immediately that they go somewhere.
Steve: Right. Is there anyone who can t be involved, do you think? I was thinking that the assistants maybe shouldn t …
Rose: Oh, no. They should have a say. Some of their ideas could be useful. And it s important for them to feel more involved. I was wondering about the directors and so on because there is a danger …
Steve: That their ideas would seem like orders?
Rose: Absolutely. Mind you, I think we can set the thing up so that all ideas are to be judged as ideas, regardless of the level they come from.
Steve: OK. But I do think, whatever level they are at, that I am not sure about including the research and development people.
Rose: I think you ve got a point there. Yes. I mean R&D could be setting their own agenda because they could just end up putting forward existing ideas and then getting extra for them.
Steve: Yes, we have to make sure that that can t happen. Right. So how should we do the rewards? I was thinking of a proportion of benefit award we know it. I mean assuming the idea runs.
Rose: Oh, yes, obviously only the ones put into action will get. So, uh, well, it will depend on when we can the benefits coming in, I suppose. Say 2 years would or we could pay ???
Steve: I don t think we can predict the time. It depends on too many factors. Why don t we just say we estimate the value of the idea in terms of worth to the company and pay a proportion of that right away.
Rose: So a fifth, for example.
Steve: Sounds reasonable.
Rose: Um.
Steve: And we ll work out the time scale later.
Rose: What matters now, I think, is to get the idea over to people that it s something made have found doing. ????
Steve: More chance of promotion.
Rose: But we can t make any promises. I am not even that keen on profit or sales margins here. Just say an idea that they ll feel good if they come up with new ideas. But then we really d on t know exactly where it s going to lead us. It might really vary from office to office.
Steve: Let s start with Head Office, shall we? Or one of the regions?
Rose: Well, we ve got to start somewhere. How about ???? Western Branch Office?
Steve: Uh, and then spread to everywhere else later.
Rose: Right. Now how are they going to get their suggestions to us?
Steve: However they want.
Rose: What? Even by phone?
Steve: I see what you mean. Could be pretty disruptive.
Rose: If we get a lot or memos.
Steve: Would be good. They are simple and direct. In a box, maybe, in Reception.
Rose: But then we ll be putting off any people who don t go in there.
Steve: True. OK. They can send them to us then. Well, I hope this is going to work.
Rose: Bound to. It s not a question of whether it works but how well. We need to evaluate of course for the board. They want to know how much money we think we are saving.
Steve: But I don t think we ll know that exactly for some time yet.
Rose: There seems ??? for quality issues too.
Steve: We could just give an initial report on how many ideas we receive in the first month or something like that.
Rose: That s the most realistic game. There should be enough to start with. |
