Business English Reading Comprehension Passage OneThe relationship between the home and market economies had gone through two distinct stages. Early industrialization began the process of transferring some production processes (e. g. cloth-making, sewing and canning foods) from the home to the marketplace. Although the home economy could still produce these goods, the processes were laborious and the market economy was usually more efficient. Soon the more important second stage was evident --the marketplace began producing goods and services that had never been produced by the home economy, and the home economy was unable to produce them (e. g. electricity and electrical appliances, the automobile, advanced education, sophisticated medical care). In the second stage, the question of whether the home economy was less efficient in producing these new goods and services was irrelevant; if the family were to enjoy these fruits of industrialization, they would have to be obtained in the marketplace. The traditional ways of taking care of these needs in the home such as in nursing the sick, became unacceptable (and, in most serious cases, probably less successful). Just as the appearance of the automobile made the use of the horse drawn carriage illegal and then impractical, and the appearance of television changed the radio from a source of entertainment to a source of background music, so most of the fruits of economic growth did not increase the options available to the home economy to either produce the goods or services or purchase them in the market. Growth brought with it increased variety in consumer goods, but not increased flexibility for the home economy in obtaining these goods and services. Instead, economic growth brought with it increased consumer reliance on the marketplace. In order to consume these new goods and services, the family had to enter the marketplace as wage earners and consumers. The neoclassical(新古典主义的) model that views the family as deciding whether to produce goods and services directly or to purchase them in the marketplace is basically a model of the first stage. It cannot accurately be applied to the second (and current) stage.1. The reason why many production processes were taken over by the marketplace was that______.A.it was a necessary step in the process of industrializationB.they depended on electricity available only to the market economyC.it was troublesome to produce such goods in the homeD.the marketplace was more efficient with respect to these processes2. It can be seen from the passage that in the second stage ______.A.some traditional goods and services were not successful when provided by the homeeconomyB.the market economy provided new goods and services never produced by the homeeconomyC.producing traditional foods at home became socially never produced by the homeeconomyD.whether new goods and services were produced by the home economy became irrelevant3. During the second stage, if the family wanted to consume new goods and services, they had to enter the marketplace ______.A.as wage earnersB.both as manufacturers and consumersC.both as workers and purchasersD.as customers4.Economic growth did not make it more flexible for the home economy to obtain the newgoods and services because ______.A.the family was not efficient in productionB.it was illegal for the home economy to produce themC.it could not supply them by itselfD.the market for these goods and services was limited5. The neoclassical model is basically a model of the first stage, because at this stage ______.A.The family could rely either on the home economy or the marketplace for the neededgoods and services.B.many production processes were being transferred to the marketplaceC.consumers relied more and more on the market economyD.the family could decide how to transfer production processes to the marketplacePassage TwoAs is known to all, the organization and management of wages and salaries are very complicated. Generally speaking, the Account Department is responsible for calculations of pay, while the Personnel Department is interested in discussions with the employees about pay.If a firm wants to adopt a new wage and salary structure, it is essential that the firm should decide on a method of job evaluation and ways of measuring the performance of its employees. In order to be successful, that new pay structure will need agreement between Trade Unions and employers.In job evaluation, all of the requirements of each job are defined in a detailed job description. Each of those requirements is given a value, generally in “points”, which are added together to give a total value for the job. For middle and higher management, a special method is used to evaluate managers on their knowledge of the job, their responsibility, and their ability to solve problems. Because of the difficulty in measuring management work, however, job grades for managers are often decided without reference to an evaluation system based on points.In attempting to design a pay system, the Personnel Department should compare the value of each job with those in the job market. It should also consider economic factors such as the cost of living and the labor supply.It is necessary that payment for a job should vary with any distinctions in the way that job is performed. Where it is simple to measure the work done, as in the work done with the hands, monetary encouragement schemes are often chosen; for indirect workers, where measurement is difficult, methods of additional payments are employed.6. If a company wants its new pay structure to be successful, it is necessary to _______.A. give the workers extra pay to encourage themB. share the same opinion between the Trade Union and the employersC. consult some problems associated with payD. adopt a special way to evaluate the performance of its employees7. The methods of additional payments are adopted for indirect workers because __________.A. they don't have a higher payB. the firm hasn't enough fundC. the measurement of their work is very difficultD. their work is less important than that of other workers8. What should a firm consider in designing a new pay system?A. The value of each job alone.B. The method of calculating the pay.C. The requirements of each job.D. The labor supply and the cost of living.9. It can be inferred from the passage that _______.A. only the Accounts Department is involved in the management of salariesB. different job performances should be given different paymentsC. an evaluation system based on points is usually used to measure management workD. evaluating management work makes no difference from other work10. The main purpose of this passage is to _______.A. explain how the performance of a job can be measured in pointsB. describe the responsibilities of various departmentsC. tell readers how a firm can succeed in adopting a new pay systemD. tell readers how difficult the management work isPassage ThreeSelling skills can be very useful to you in your personal life. For example, have you ever wanted to use someone else's car? You had to use selling skills to persuade the owner to let you use it. When you apply for a job, you should really be trying to persuade the employer that you will be good employee. If you run for an elected office in an organization, you are really trying to sell yourself to others. You are trying to convince people that you have good ideas and will provide the type of leadership needed by that organization. Selling involves persuading others to accept your ideas or your advice.Selling skills are also important in most jobs. Business managers want to hire people who are creative, who work well with others, and who contribute to the success of their business. In the world of business, selling is a very important function. Business owners use selling skills to gain acceptance from customers and employees about store policies and procedures. Successful salespeople use selling skills to assist customers in making wise buying decisions.What Is Selling?Selling involves the art of communicating effectively with people — simply explaining how a product or service will benefit the customer. Customers will not purchase a product or service until they are convinced that they will benefit from owning that product or service. The salesperson needs to explain, advise, and generally help the customer. In fact, his most important job is to assist the customer in making a wise buying decision. The word selling is defined as:1. assisting the customer, and2. helping the customer make a wise buying decision.Assisting the CustomerBusiness in America today is very competitive. In our free enterprise system, there are many businesses that sell similar products and services. For example, you can purchase a pair of jeans from a department store, a women’s or men's apparel shop, a specialty store, or a discount store. Because customers can purchase the same product or service from more than one business, it is important that businesses provide polite, friendly service to customers. If customers do not receive polite and capable help from salespeople at a business, they may decide to purchase from another business. Salespeople make sure they provide the help customers expect.Helping the Customer Make a Wise Buying DecisionThe most important responsibility of any salesperson is to help customers make wise buying decisions. Customers have made wise buying decisions when they receive benefits from the products or services they have purchased. These benefits are called buyer benefits. A buyer benefit is the gain or personal benefit customers receive from the products or services they purchase. The salesperson's job is to make sure his customers purchase the products or services which will most benefit them.The Importance of SellingSelling is important to our economy, to business, and to the American people. In order to understand its importance, you need to be familiar with some basic facts about each segment of the American economy.The economy of our country is divided into three phases: production, marketing, and consumption. Production refers to the physical creation of goods and services. Farming, mining, fishing, lumbering, and manufacturing make up the production phase of our economy. Thousands of goods and services are produced each year. These goods and services, however, do not sell themselves. After goods and services have been produced, they must be made available to consumers for purchase. Marketing is the process through which goods and services flow from the producer to the consumer. Wholesalers and retailers make up the marketing phase of our economy.Selling is the most important marketing function performed by retail and wholesale businesses. Wholesalers buy from producers and sell to retailers. Retailers buy from producers and wholesalers and sell to consumers. Consumers are the users of goods and services in our society. The process of using goods and services is called consumption.What contribution does selling make to our economy? The role of selling in our society is to identify and provide the goods and services that will satisfy the needs and wants of the consumer. Manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers all depend on customers to purchase products and services. When a business's sales decline, the company usually reduces the number of its employees. The jobs of the many people who produce and provide goods and services, therefore, depend on successful salespeople. When customers purchase products and services, they help create employment in manufacturing, wholesaling, and retailing. Full employment in our country creates additional purchasing power for our consumers. Selling, therefore, assists in maintaining the high standard of living enjoyed in our country.What contribution does selling make to a business? The role of business in society is toprovide the types of products and services which consumers need and want. It is the job of the salesperson, as the business's representative, to satisfy the customers' needs and wants. Salespeople, and the manner in which they treat customers, can really determine the success or failure of most businesses.What contribution does selling make to the American consumer? Salespeople are often the only contact a customer has with a business. Salespeople represent the business to the customer. They should offer sincere, honest, friendly, and courteous service to customers. The salesperson's job is to make sure the customer benefits from purchasing a product or service. Salespeople can save customers time and money by providing product information, showing how a product or service will benefit the customer, and making sure customers purchase the products and services which will best meet their needs and wants.11.The main idea of the first paragraph is ________.A. the importance of selling skills in managing a companyB. the importance of selling skills in job-huntingC. the importance of selling skills in one’s personal lifeD. the importance of selling skills in borrowing12.Selling is defined in this article as _______________________________A. helping the customer, and helping him make a wise buying decisionB. getting customers to buy goodsC. getting customers to buy servicesD. Both B and C13.Business in America today is very competitive, because ___________.A. there are too many kinds of goods in the marketB. there are not many demanding customersC. there are too many similar kinds of goods or servicesD. there are too many businesses14.The three phases of the American economy are ____________________.A. manufacture, wholesale and retailB. production, sale and after-sale serviceC. production, marketing and consumptionD. production, consumption and service15.Which of the following is NOT true?A. Salespeople represent a business to the customer.B. Salespeople must offer satisfactory service to customers.C. Salespeople should help customers buy the products that will best benefit customers.D. The success or failure of salespeople has little to do with the success or failure of a business in most cases.Passage FourThe so-called Americanization phenomenon seems to be a consequence of the recent globalization in our world. If we find American products worldwide, it is also increasinglycommon to find Asian products in the United States.Going to any country in Asia nowadays, we are going to see a lot of the American icons (图标)everywhere. A few years ago when I was in Ho-Chi-Min City, formerly known as Saigon, I was completely astonished at the number of billboards advertising products from multinational companies, many of them American. It is unforgettable for me—the vision of the spectacular Coca-Cola billboard on a Ho-Chi-Min Street.Living in the United Slates now, I am discovering many Asian products in America, from food to movies. In one day in San Francisco, or Seattle, or Houston, we can buy Sisheido cosmetics from Japan at the Galleria Mall, have sushi(寿司) and sashimi(生鱼片) in one of the many Japanese restaurants in the city, go to the cinema and enjoy the beautiful American-Chinese movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and take home spring rolls from one of the many Chinese restaurants in town.I understand that a great many people would like to hold hack the globalization process in the world because they think they are losing their own culture, but it is very difficult to stop this process. We can only try to be critical and choose what is best for us to have or to buy.However, many people think that young people are not free to choose when they are constantly exposed to attractive advertisements that are specially made to capture the youth market. Peaceful protests could be arranged just to help people to think about the situation, but the tendency in our world is that we want globalization, but we don't want to lose our own culture.16. The Americanization phenomenon is more possible to be the result of ______.A. the influence of Americanization on the worldB. the influence of the West on the EastC. the globalization in the worldD. American products worldwide17. What was the author in the passage particularly impressed by?A. The wonderful American-Chinese movie.B. The delicious Japanese food in American cities.C. The high quality of Asian products.D. The fantastic advertisement for an American product.18.We can learn from the passage that one of the consequences of globalization that manypeople worry about is ______.A. the spread of culture from one country to anotherB. the destruction of cultural identitiesC. the prevalence of American cultureD. the resistance to globalization worldwide19. What attitude should we have towards the globalization process?A. Disapproving.B. Pessimistic.C. Critical.D. Indifferent.20. Young people today can't really choose what they should buy because they _______.A. are influenced by American cultureB. don't know what is suitable for themC. are critical about everything in the worldD. are faced with too many powerful advertisementsPassage FiveThe appeal of advertising to buying motives can have both negative and positive effects. Consumers may be convinced to buy a product of poor quality or high price because of an advertisement. For example, some advertisers appealed to people's desire for better fuel economy for their cars by advertising automotive products that improve gasoline mileage. Some of the products work. Others are worthless and a waste of consumers' money.Sometimes advertising is intentionally misleading. A few years ago a brand of bread was offered to dieters (节食者. with the message that there were fewer calories (热量单位,大卡) in every slice. It turned out that the bread was not dietetic (适合于节食的), but just regular bread. There were fewer calories because it was sliced very thin, but there were the same number of calories in every loaf.On the positive side, emotional appeals may respond to a consumer's real concerns. Consider fire insurance. Fire insurance may be sold by appealing to fear of loss. But fear of loss is the real reason for fire insurance. The security of knowing that property is protected by insurance makes the purchase of fire insurance a worthwhile investment for most people. If consumers consider the quality of the insurance plans as the message in the ads, they will benefit from the advertising.Each consumer must evaluate her or his own situation. Are the benefits of the product important enough to justify buying it? Advertising is intended to appeal to consumers, but it does not force them to buy the product. Consumers still control the final buying decision.21. Advertising can persuade the consumer to buy worthless products by ________.A. stressing their high qualityB. convincing him of their low priceC. maintaining a balance between quality and priceD. appealing to his buying motives22. The reason why the bread advertisement is misleading is that ________.A. thin slices of bread could contain more caloriesB. the loaf was cut into regular slicesC. the bread was not genuine breadD. the total number of calories in the loaf remained the same23. The passage tells us that _________.A. sometimes advertisements really sell what the consumer needsB. advertisements occasionally force consumers into buying things they don't needC. the buying motives of consumers are controlled by advertisementsD. fire insurance is seldom a worthwhile investment24. It can be inferred from the passage that a smart consumer should ________.A. think carefully about the benefits described in the advertisementsB. guard against the deceiving nature of advertisementsC. be familiar with various advertising strategiesD. avoid buying products that have strong emotional appeal25. The passage is mainly about _________.A. how to make a wise buying decisionB. ways to protect the interests of the consumerC. the positive and negative aspects of advertisingD. the function of advertisements in promoting salesPassage SixThe Supreme Court's recent decision allowing regional interstate banks has done away with one restriction in America's banking operation, although many others still remain. Although the ruling does not apply to very large money-center banks, it is a move in a liberalizing direction that could in the end push Congress into framing a sensible legal and regulatory system that allows banks to plan their future beyond the next court case.The restrictive laws that the courts are interpreting are mainly a legacy（遗赠物）of the bank failures of the 1930's. The current high rate of bank failure—higher than at any time since the Great Depression—has made legislators afraid to remove the restrictions. While their legislative timidity （胆怯）is understandable, it is also mistaken. One reason so many American banks are getting into trouble is precisely that the old restrictions make it hard for them to build a domestic base large and strong enough to support their activities in today's telecommunicating round-the-clock, around-the-world financial markets.In trying to escape from these restrictions, banks are taking enormous, and what should be unnecessary, risks. For instance, would a large bank be buying small, failed savings banks at inflated prices if federal law and states regulations permitted that bank to explain instead through the acquisition of financially healthy banks in the region? Of course not. The solution is clear. American banks will be sounder when they are not geographically limited.The house of Representative's banking committee has shown part of the way forward by recommending common-sensible, though limited, legislation for a five-year transition to nationwide banking. This would give regional banks time to group together to form counterweights to the big money-center banks. Without this breathing space the big money-center banks might soon extend across the country to develop. But any such legislation should be regarded as only a way station on the road towards a complete examination of American's suitable banking legislation.26. The restrictive banking laws of the 1930's are still on the book because _______.A. the bank failures of the 1930's were caused by restrictive courtsB. banking has not changed during the past 50 yearsC. legislators believe banking problems similar to those of the Depression still exist todayD. the banking system is too restrictive, but no alternatives have been suggested27. According to the author, the change to a nationwide banking system should be _______.A. postponed until the consequences can be evaluatedB. gradual so that regional banks have a chance to compete with larger banksC. immediate because we can't afford any more bank failuresD. much faster to overcome legislative fear28. It can be inferred from the passage that _______.A. many restrictions in banking operation have been cancelledB. the ruling of removing the restriction can make the banks plan their future freelyC. the ruling of removing the restriction can't be applicable to all banksD. the old restrictions will be helpful to set up a powerful domestic base29. What is the author's attitude towards the current banking laws?A. Tolerant and disapproved.B. Concerned and dissatisfied.C. Understandable and indifferent.D. Supportive and admirable.30. The main idea of the passage is that _______.A. despite many bank failures, the nature of banking has not really changed so muchB. the current banking law must be useful to today's banksC. center banks currently have too much power as compared with the regional banksD. banks have been forced to take needless and dangerous risks due to the restrictions Passage SevenOver the past decade, American companies have tried hard to find ways to discourage senior managers from feathering their own nests at the expense of their shareholder. The three most popular reforms have been recruiting more outside directors in order to make boards more independent, linking bosses' pay to various performance measures, and giving bosses share options, so that they have the same long-term interests as their shareholders.These reforms have been widely adopted by America's larger companies, and surveys suggest that many more companies are thinking of following their lead. But have they done any good? Three papers presented at the annual meeting of the Academy of Management in Boston this week suggest not. As is usually the case with boardroom tinkering, the consequences have differed from those intended.Start with those independent boards. On the face of it, dismissing the boss's friends from the board and replacing them with outsiders looks a perfect way to make senior managers more accountable. But that is not the conclusion of a study by Professor James Westphal. Instead, he found that bosses with a boardroom full of outsiders spend much of their time building alliances, doing personal favors and generally pleasing the outsiders.All too often, these seductions succeed. Mr. Westphal found that, to a remarkable degree,"independent" boards pursue strategies that are likely to favor senior managers rather than shareholders. Such companies diversify their business, increase the pay of executives and weaken the link between pay and performance.To assess the impact of performance-related pay, Mr. Westphal asked the bosses of 103 companies with sales of over $ 1 billion what measurements were used to determine their pay. The measurements varied widely, ranging from sales to earnings per share. But the researcher's big discovery was that bosses attend to measures that affect their own incomes and ignore or play down other factors that affect a company's overall success.In short, bosses are quick to turn every imaginable system of corporate government to their advantage-which is probably why they are the people who are put in charge of things. Here is paradox for the management theorists: any boss who can not beat a system designed to keep him under control is probably not worth having not beat a system designed to keep him under control is probably not worth having.31. What is the purpose of the large companies in recruiting outsiders and putting them on the board of directors?A.To diversify the business of the corporation.B.To enhance the cooperation between the senior managers and the board directors.C.To protect the interests of the shareholders.D.To introduce effective reforms in business management.32. What does Professor James Westphal’s study suggest?A.With a boardroom full of outsiders, senior managers work more conscientiously.B.Outside board directors tend to be more independent.C.Boardroom reforms have failed to achieve the desired result.D.Cooperation between senior managers and board directors suffered from the reforms.33. The word “seduction” in the fourth paragraph probably means “____”A. efforts to conquerB. exertions to understandC. endeavors to increase profitsD. attempts to win over34. Which of the following statements is true?A. Corporate executives in general are worth the high pay they receive.B. The income of corporate executives is proportional to the growth of corporate profits.C. Corporate executives tend to take advantage of their position to enrich themselves.D. The performance of corporate executives affects their own interests more than those of the shareholders.35. How does the author feel about the efforts to control senior executives?A. approving.B. optimistic.C. positive.D. doubtfulPassage EightHenry Ford, the famous U.S. inventor and car manufacturer, once said, “The business of America is business.” By this he meant that the U.S. way of life is based on the values of the business world.。
