剑桥商务英语中级模拟53.doc

TEST FOURREADING 1 HOURPART ONEQuestions 1-7· Look at the statements below and the information on soy and soy product on the opposite page.· Which section (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 use some of these letters more than once.AThe soybean is a legume native to China. For 5000 years, China has been using soybeans as a source of food and medicine. As one of the five sacred grains in China, soybeans were extensively cultivated and highly valued. In the eighteenth century, soybeans were introduced in Europe for the first time and were regarded merely as an object of botanical curiosity. It was only in the 1930's when the United States began exploring and developing soybean varieties through hybridization. Today, as a main source of protein, soybeans are a regular component of human diet in countries such as China, Japan and Indonesia.BMany countries around the world produce as well as consume soybeans for different reasons. In Asia, the soybean is grown chiefly for the beans, which is consumed fresh, fermented, or dried. As a source of protein and oil, soybean milk is made with the whole soybeans. Bean curd is made from soymilk and tofu is seasoned or cooked together with other dishes. In the West, soybeans are produced primarily for the soybean meal used as livestock feed. As more investigative results of research have unveiled the health benefits of soybean food products, soy foods are gaining more popularity as a health product.CSoy has been available for more than two decades in health food stores, specialty markets and restaurants that serve healthy, hot meals. But now it's poised to become the food of the next millennium, available soon in nearly everything, everywhere. Some people believe the soy protein business will triple over the next two years because of the FDA announcement (The FDA is now letting companies advertise a connection between soy protein and a healthy heart, and it is sure to mean healthy profits).DToday the one-billion-dollar-a-year soybean business is dominated by companies that produce soy burgers, soymilk and tofu, but the future is in new products like soy pizza, soy peanut butter, even soy breakfast cereal. But experience has shown that unless healthy food tastes good, it fails in the marketplace. And many consumers consider the taste of soy, in this case tofu, bland or at best, bean-like. In Boca Burger in Chicago they won't say how they make their soy burgers taste like meat, but they're convincing enough to be featured in school cafeterias and fast food restaurants.1. In food industry sales volume is determined by nothing other than flavor. 2. People in Asian countries eat soy products regularly to obtain protein. 3. Considerable profits will be achieved in food industry because of advertisements on soy products.4. The soybean is used as a source of food for both human and livestock around the world.5. The western countries primarily regarded soybean as an interesting and rare plant.6. Soy will become one of the most popular foods in the 21st century.7. Soy product may reduce the risk of heart disease.PART TWOQuestions 8-12· Read the article below about the history of IBM.· Choose the best sentence 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 use any letter more than once. YESTERDAY'S IBM IBM was established in the state of New York on June 15, 1911 as the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company. But its origins can be traced back to 1890, when the United States was experiencing waves of immigration. The U.S. Census Bureau knew its traditional methods of counting would not be adequate for measuring the population, so it sponsored a contest to find a more efficient means of tabulating census data. The winner was Herman Hollerith, whose Punch Card Tabulating Machine used an electric current to sense holes in punch cards and keep a running total of data. Capitalizing on his success, Hollerith formed the Tabulating Machine Co. in 1896. <u> (8) </u> The combined Computing-Tabulating-Recording Co., or C-T-R, manufactured and sold machinery ranging from commercial scales and industrial time recorders to meat and cheese slicers and, of course, tabulators and punch cards. Thomas J. Watson joined the company as general manager in 1914, when the diversified businesses of C-T-R proved difficult to manage. Watson boosted company spirit with employee sports teams, family outings and a company band. He preached a positive outlook, and his favorite slogan was "THANK". <u> (9) </u> He understood that the success of the client translated into the success of his company, a belief that, years later, manifested itself in the popular saying, "Nobody was ever fired for buying from IBM." Within 11 months of joining C-T-R, Watson became its president. The company focused on providing large-scale, custom-built tabulating solutions for businesses, leaving the market for small office products to others. During Watson's first four years, revenues doubled to $ 2 million. He also expanded the company's operations to Europe, South America, Asia and Australia. <u> (10) </u> During the Great Depression of the 1930s, IBM managed to grow while the rest of the U.S. economy struggled. Watson took care of his employees. <u> (11) </u> While most businesses had shut down, Watson kept his workers busy producing new machines even while demand was slack. Thanks to the resulting large inventory of equipment, IBM was ready when the Social Security Act of 1935 brought the company a landmark government contract to maintain employment records for 26 million people. It was called "the biggest accounting operation of all time, " and it went so well that orders from other U.S. government departments quickly followed.IBM's size and success inspired numerous anti-trust actions. A 1952 suit by the Justice Department, settled four years later, forced IBM to sell its tabulating machines-at the time, IBM offered them only through leases-in order to establish a competing, used-machine market. Another federal anti-trust suit dragged on for thirteen years until the Justice Department concluded it was "without merit" and dropped it in 1982. <u> (12) </u>.A IBM was among the first corporations to provide group life insurance, survivor benefits and paid vacations.B IBM is the most prominent casualty of the technology spending freeze, but others are suffering as well.C In 1911, Hollerith's company was merged with two others, Computing Scale Co., of America and International Time Recording Co.D But its origins can be traced back to 1890, when the United States was experiencing waves of immigration.E IBM's competitors filed 20 anti-trusts during the 1970s and none succeeded.F In 1924, to reflect C-T-R's growing worldwide presence, its name was changed to International Business Machine Corp., or IBM.G Watson also stressed the importance of the customer, a lasting IBM principle.PART THREEQuestions 13-18· Read the article below about American consumers' borrowing styles, and the questions on the opposite page.· For each question 13-18, mark one letter (A, B, C, or D) on your Answer Sheet for the answer you choose. HOW DO AMERICAN CONSUMERS BORROW? Young consumers often have not established their credit ratings. Many do not have steady incomes. They might have difficulty borrowing money from an agency in business to make loan. Parents or relatives are usually their best source of loans. Of course, the parents or relatives would have money available and be willing to lend it. You might even get an interest-free loan. For most consumers the cheapest place to borrow is at the commercial bank. Banks are a good source of installment loan which may run for 12 months up to 30. Most of banks also make single-payment loans to consumers for short periods-30, 60, or 90 days. The newest type of bank loan is one that a depositor can get simply by writing a check. It works like this. A depositor is given a limited amount of credit, usually between $ 500 and $1, 000. He or she may write checks up to the amount allowed. Once a check has been written, the amount of the check becomes a loan. Usually no charge is made for interest until the loan is made. A typical interest rate is 3 cents per $100 per day, or just under 1% a month. Suppose that you used $100 of your credit and repaid it in 30 days. The cost would be 90 cents. If you repaid it in 10 days, the cost would be only 30 cents. There is another source of consumer loans that may be even cheaper than a bank. It is a credit union. But you have to be a member to borrow from one. A credit union is a cooperative. You remember that a cooperative is a business organized to provide its owners, or members, with goods or services at a saving. Like a bank, a credit union is both a savings and a lending organization. Its members deposit their savings in the credit union and are paid interest in return. These savings are used to make loans to members at low rates. Members of a credit union are people with a common bond. They may work for the same firm or belong to the same church, lodge, or labor union. Consumer loans are small in amount compared to those made to business firms. Companies that specialize in making loans to consumers, therefore, are sometimes called small-loan companies. These companies operate under state laws which regulate both the maximum amount that can be loaned and the rates charged. Regulations vary from one state to another. In general, however, the rates charged by small-loan companies are higher than those of other legal lenders except pawnbrokers. The following facts should tell you why. Half or more of the loans made by small-loan companies are signature of character loans. Practically all loans are paid in installments. In some states, small-loan companies will lend as little as $ 25 or $ 50. Many of their customers are persons whose credit ratings are so poor that they cannot borrow elsewhere. Another possible source of loans is a life insurance policy. Life insurance loans are easy to obtain. The rate charged is less than that for almost any other type of loan available to consumers. This is because the lender takes no risk. Also, borrowers may take as long as they want to repay their loans. Although that may seem like an advantage, it can also be a disadvantage. When a borrower is not required to repay a loan within a certain time, it is easy to let it run on and on. This increases the dollar cost of the loan because interest must be paid for as long as the loan continues.13. Why is it difficult for young consumers to borrow money from bank? A. Because they have no steady work and can't register a credit card. B. Because they drag out the loan. C. Because they are unlikely to pay the things purchased by credit. D. Because they are unwilling to pay interest.14. According to the passage, what does single-payment loan refer to? A. You may run loans from 30 to 60, or 90 days. B. You must repay debts once in 30, 60, or 90 days. C. It is the newest type of bank loan. D. It refers to the loan provided for only one depositor.15. According to paragraph 2, if you use $100 of your credit and repay it in 20 days, how much interest will you pay? A. 70 cents. B. 60 cents. C. 80 cents. D. 50 cents.16. What is the requirement to borrow from a credit union? A. Consumers must be the members of a credit union. B. Consumers must have steady income. C. The organization must lend money at low rates of interest. D. Consumers must deposit their savings in the credit union.17. Which is not mentioned on borrowing from a small-loan company? A. These companies operate differently under state laws. B. These companies charged lower than pawnbrokers. C. Most of the loans made by these companies have no guarantee. D. Customers must repay the loans in installment.18. What is both an advantage and disadvantage of borrowing on life insurance? A. Life insurance loans are available to everyone. B. Some types of insurance have a cash value. C. Customers will let a loan run on and on. D. The deadline of repaying the loans is flexible.PART FOURQuestions 19-33· Read the article below about cruise business.· Choose the best word or phrase to fill each gap from A, B, C, or D on the opposite page.· For each question 19-33, mark one letter (A, B, C, or D) on your Answer Sheet. Cruise Ship Holidays Passengers on cruise ship holidays, as they are <u> (0) </u> on TV programs and films, usually appear to be both rich and elderly. Such people do not, however, accurately represent the 6.8 million <u> (19) </u> who took this kind of holiday last year. Over the last few years the world cruise industry has concentrated on <u> (20) </u> to younger, less wealthy people, giving them a/an <u> (21) </u> more like a floating disco than the traditional quiet holiday on a luxury ship. Even families with young children are no longer so <u> (22) </u> on cruise ship. Partly as a result, the number of passengers taking a cruise has increased by a/an <u> (23) </u> of 8.5 % a year since 1990. Cruise Star is now the world's <u> (24) </u> cruise line. The other two major companies are Intersail and Seaways. Together these three carry <u> (25) </u> half the world's cruise passengers and <u> (26) </u> almost all the industry's profits. For the 30 or so smaller firms, life is much tougher. That is because <u> (27) </u> size brings so many benefits to the large firms. They can negotiate bulk discounts on <u> (28) </u> such as food and fuel, and even, if they order enough of them, on ships. A secondary <u> (20) </u> for the smaller operators is that they cannot spread overheads such broadly marketing. A significant part of the cost of <u> (30) </u> people on a cruise happens before they go on board the ship. The three large companies between them spend more than $ 100 million a year on TV <u> (31) </u> in America. They <u> (32) </u> armies of salesman. Delivering passengers to the ship is part of package deal and, once again, <u> (33) </u> means savings: Cruise Star is the biggest single buyer of airline tickets in America.19. A. passengers B. holders C. managers D. producers20. A. calling B. showing C. appealing D. applying21. A. symbol B. experience C. product D. idea22. A. rare B. big