BEC阅读练习题

Discussion Trade FairYour company is attending a trade fair in a foreign country for the first time.You have been asked to help with the preparations for the trip.Discuss the situation together, and decide: What travel and accommodation arrangements you will need to make before the trip? Which kinds of business customs in the foreign country would be useful to know about, and how could one find about these before the trip.Candidate A: It is the first time for our company to attend a trade fair in Paris. So we have to do a lot of preparations before we set off. Do you think so?Candidate B: I m of exactly the same idea. Firstly, I think we must arrange an appropriate schedule. For example, we should arrive a day earlier to give us time to adjust and acclimatize.Candidate A: I agree entirely. As we know, travel fatigue, climatic changes, jet lag, foreign food, etc. will all have great effect on us.Candidate B: Yes. And then we should book air tickets and reserve accommodations in advance.Candidate A: Yes. I think we should contact the travel agent because it can offer variety of choices and discount.Candidate B: Thats just what I was thinking. Then, we must remind every participant that cultural differences can cause a lot of misunderstandings and even break a deal. So they should learn more about French culture.Candidate A: Can you put things into the perspective?Candidate B: For instance, shaking hands with everyone present, inviting your customers to lunch rather than dinner, avoiding talking business over the main course, etc. are all basic business customs that our participants should bear in mind.Candidate A: I go along with you about that. I think we can invite French people to give every participant lecture to help them familiarize with French culture.Candidate B: Ok, thats agreed. Ill present our ideas to the board of directors. Nice talking with you. Organizing a PR EventYour company is organizing the press launch of a new model of its car.You have been asked to help with the preparations for the event.Discuss the situation together, and decide: Who you will invite to attend your press conference. What information is needed in the press conference.Candidate A: Our company is organizing a press conference to launch our latest model. We must make careful planning and considerate arrangements to ensure the most satisfying outcome.Candidate B: True enough. I think the first thing we should take into consideration is the people we shall invite to the press conference. What are your views on this?Candidate A: As I see it, we should target most important motoring magazines, national papers, major regional papers and freelance journalists, etc.Candidate B: Thats a good point. When the public reads positive things in their favorite magazine or newspaper, they are the journalists own comments and therefore much more powerful than advertising because they arent influenced by the organization.Candidate A: Yes. So, our goal is to communicate the quality and image of our cars to the motoring press.Candidate B: Then, how about the information needed in the press conference. Would you comment on this point?Candidate A: I think we should make sure that press information packs are accessible to everyone present.Candidate B: I wonder if you could explain it in more detail.Candidate A: sure. The information packs include, for example, brochures about specifications of our advanced cars, the most attractive pictures reflecting the modern image of our cars, etc.Candidate B: I agree entirely. Whats more, I think welcome information and itineraries for guests should also be prepared in advance.Candidate A: Oh, exactly.WHAT IS IMPORTANT WHEN?ENTERTAINING CLIENTSl TYPES OF ACTIVITIESl COST Types of Activities:a. Entertaining client is done by way of a series of activities. Such as a sightseeing tour, a football match, a ballroom party, an orchestra performance, a ballet show, a fashion show, playing tennis and a formal meal, etc. b. The activities that you choose will constitute a part of the first impression that you will give to your clients. So you should be careful when choosing the type of activities. You need to consider the clients age, educational and cultural backgrounds and do some research about your clients characters and hobbies.c. For well-educated clients, they may expect some high class-associated activities, such as ballet, ballroom parties, and orchestra performances. If you fulfill their expectation/standard, your efforts will put a lot of weight on your credibility. d. For some young clients, you may wish to take them to some more fashionable activities, such as a music bar, a pop music show, a fashion show.e. For those sporty clients-football, tennisf. However, you should always end up all kind of activities with having a formal meal. You dont want to talk about business with your clients in the tennis court or theatre; they are just the warming-up activities for the key matter-business. After a whole day or a few days entertainment, you may find the distance between the two sides are much narrower than the beginning, and there might be a lot of things that you both want to talk about.The costs of entertainment a. Not always the essential thing. Depending on the nature/characteristics of the transaction or the size of the deal.b. Should consider the profit issue. If the company is expecting to make big gain/profits out of a specific client, it should at least put in proportional investment to entertain/please its clients. E.g.c. If the company foresees that the client is not very lucrative, then.d. The ideal plan would be spending as little money as possible to get the deal done. But you must not offend your clients. You should make them feel being welcomed. Complaint handlingWHAT IS IMPORTANT WHEN? DEALING WITH COMPLAINTS FROM CLIENTSl OFFERING AN APOLOGYl SUGGESTING A SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEMa. Offering an apology is the very basic level. b. When the clients think that they have received unfair treatments, the first thing that the company should do is to calm them down and try to keep the client. c. An apology is the first step and a useful method to maintain control of the situation.d. Offering an apology is an important gesture to show that the hosting company is fully aware of the situation and would like to take the potential responsibility for its mistakes. e. The complaining clients would feel that their complaints are being paid attention and may therefore be happy to proceed to the transaction with the hosting company.f. It is necessary to suggest a solution to the problem as well.g. The clients want to enter into the transaction in a good mood and with a reliable and trustworthy business partner. Apart from an apology, the client would want to have the problems and misunderstanding solved before their communication moves to the next level. If the hosting company failed or refused to suggest a solution, its sincerity of entering into the transaction would be put into doubt. Discussion Topic Entertaining Foreign ClientsYour company is entertaining a group of foreign clients for three days, including one non-working day.You have been asked to plan a programme for the visit.Discuss the situation together, and decide:l What kinds of activities would be suitable for the visitl What information it would be useful to know about the clients before finalizing the programmeInterlocutor: Select one or more of the following questions as appropriate, to redress any imbalance or to broaden the discussion.l What kinds of arrangements need to be made before foreign visitors arrive? (Why?)l Are there any disadvantages for a company in having a visit from foreign clients? (Why / Why not?)l Where would you take foreign visitors in your home town? (Why?)l Would you enjoy looking after business visitors for a few days? (Why / Why not?)l What problem might there be when socializing with foreign business people? (Why?)l What are the long-term benefits of establishing personal contacts with foreign clients?Team Work （项目管理 project management）WHAT IS IMPORTANT WHEN?MANAGING A PROJECTl ENCOURAGING TEAMWORK l KEEPING TO SCHEDULE (keeping to schedule守时)WHAT IS IMPORTANT WHEN?CHOOSING PEOPLE TO WORK IN TEAMSl VARIETY OF EXPERIENCEl PERSONAL QUALITIESKey point: improve working efficiency. This plays a crucial role in（起至关重要的作用） the commercial practice(商务惯例) in Western world.Explain the importance of team work:a. Teamwork reflects the combined（结合，聚集） experiences, knowledge, intelligence and views of a group of people, so it will definitely improve the quality and efficiency of the work.（definitely 修饰副词）b. If the participants worked together, it would be easy for them to come up with creative ideas（original or brand new）. This is particularly valuable for a relatively complex work, for the people working in a team, if one of them gets stuck (卡注)on a matter, others/the rest could chip in their ideas （share their ideas）and get the problem sorted. But if you work on your own, for instance, you are the sole manager in the department.c. If people did not work as a team, everyone would have to wait for the decisions made by the manager and it was not easy to get people to take on responsibility for anything.d. A huge and complicated project is not possible to be completed/done by merely one person. For instance, 3 Gorges project（三峡）-a huge amount of money, 30 million people have to emigrate（全体移民） to elsewhere, a lot of commercial contractse. You will get bored quickly if you work on you own. But if you work in a team itwould be a good story.f. Working in a team can increase personal awareness of abilities and complementary skills in colleague.(互补性的技能)How to improve teamwork:Common objective ;General ideas; friendly atmosphere; not bossy; patient; good manners; modest; leadership; good interpersonal skills; variety of experiencea. Variety of experience and a broad horizon would help to tackle urgent matters(解决问题) and establish his or her personal prestige（个人的威信）. Well-experienced staff are capable of overcoming storms and crises.b. On coming across problematic issues, new or inexperienced staff usually will feel depressed and even start to panic（惊慌失措）. One or a number of experienced staff will, in this kind of situation, automatically become the spiritual leaders of the team and can get the issues in question solved quickly.suspect(嫌疑犯) c. A wide range of experiences are important to a team member, because you never know what kind of problems might suddenly come up to you. Experiences in different fields will enhance（增加） the chance of successfully sorting out the problem （解决问题）with your knowledge which is based on your past experience.Personal qualities:a. The basis of the team work is mutual trust and friendly atmosphere b. Win-win suitationc. Good manners, not too bossy, patient, modest, leadership, good interpersonal skills.Project Management （项目管理）WHAT IS IMPORTANT WHEN?MANAGING A PROJECTl ENCOURAGING TEAMWORK （鼓励团队合作）l KEEPING TO SCHEDULEKey points: Team work, time pressure (keeping to the schedule)Team work: as explained in the teamwork sectionTime pressure:a. A well-designed schedule can clarify yourself to（清楚） the project. You should ensure that you would be running before the schedule rather than after it. b. Time is always of essence for a project.c. Failure to keep to the schedule will result in/cause late completion.d. Late completion will lead to: civil litigation, injured party will become entitled to claim compensation/entitled to sue the breaching company.e. When the project is being processed/in the course of carrying out the project, there will be a lot of commercial activities involved. Such as investment banks advance cash; raw material supply, planning permission, sub-contract/outsource. Failure to stick to the schedule will affect above matters.Competition WHAT IS IMPORTANT WHEN?DEALING WITH COMPETITIONl PRICING POLICIESl ADVERTISING STRATEGIESWHAT IS IMORTANT WHEN?SETTING PRICES FOR NEW PRODUCTSl PRODUCTION COSTSl COMPETIORS PRICESKey points: Pricing; Advertising; Production costs; Competitors price; Marketing; a wide range of services and productsPricing:a. (For a consumer): all consumers would like to go for higher quality and less expensive products. It is a common sense.b. (For a manager): correct pricing policies can capture a large number of consumers in a short period of time.c. For a newly established company: correct pricing policies are particularly important for newly established businesses. The major task for them at the early stage is to draw the public attention and make their company and their brand known to the public. When a new product is put into market, there may be very few people knowing/who know about it(e.g.Thai curry source)Competitors price:a. Once a new product is put into market, it will immediately face the competition from rivals. The price war sometimes can be incredibly fierce and crude.b. Competitors price will mirror the consumers attitude about certain products and the satisfaction about their prices.c. If you fixed the price higher than your rivals without higher quality of service, you might soon find yourself in an unfavorable situation.d. Correct pricing policies could also defeat some competitors in a short period of time. For example: Safeway, Tesco price war against all small bread manufactures. In this case, Safeway and Tesco fixed their price for 7p per loaf, which is 23p cheaper than their competitors offer. As a result of this, in 35 days time, most of their competitors went into liquidation.（破产）Advertising strategies:a. The fundamental task for a company is to make its products and itself known to the public. There are many ways to achieve this, advertising is the most important one. b. Advertising through different media can cover nearly every corner in the world. The main channels are:-TV-Radio-Internet-Newspaper-Bill Board-Poster（海报）-Magazinec. The advantage/point of advertising is not only about propagandizing（宣传） your company but also competing against/with your rivals（竞争对手）. A company, through proper advertisements, can manage to introduce the advantages of their products comparing to their rivals, and therefore convince the consumers that their products would be the right choice. For instance, Car manufactures can put in their new designs to the ads, e.g. ABS, double airbags to convince the prospective customers that their cars are safer than others.