BEC剑桥商务英语资料：BEC高级口试真题及应考提示.docx

Speaking Test Part IICustomer Relations: the importance of making customers feel valued1. Company growth: the importance to a company of controlling expansionMarketing: how to ensure that agents maintain a high level of effectiveness when representing a company2. Time Management: the importance of planning work time effectivelyProject Development: how to ensure inter-departmental co-operation on new projects3. Purchasing: how to evaluate and select new products4. Personnel Management: the importance to a company of having well motivated staffStrategic Planning: how to decide whether to purchase or rent company premises5. Sales: how to ensure that price levels for new products are set appropriately6. Communication Skills: the importance of foreign language training for selected employeesAdvertising: how to select a suitable agency to handle a company's advertising7. Finance: how to decide whether to float a company on the stock-market8. Marketing: the importance to a company of offering its products on the world-wide webStaff Training: how to evaluate the effectiveness of company training programmes9. Company Growth: how to decide when it is the right time for a business to expand10. Public Relations: the importance to a company of sponsoring well-known personalities from the arts and popular cultureRecruitment: how to ensure that the best candidate for a post is selected11. Information Management: how to analyse and make effective use of information12. Sales: the importance of brand image in ensuring that products or services sell wellTechnology: the importance to a company of keeping up-to-date with internet developments13. Quality Control: how to ensure that a company consistently maintains quality control standards14. Product Promotion: how to make effective use of the media when promoting a new product or serviceProduct Management: the importance of teamwork for the effective management of projects15. Health and Safety: how to develop a responsible attitude among staff to the health and safety requirements of accompany16. Technology: the importance of computer skills for the workplace of the futureCommunications: how to ensure that e-mail is used appropriately by staff for internal and external communications17. Staff Development: how to administer a staff budget effectively18. Market Research: the importance of finding out about customers' habits and attitudesFinancial Management: how to identify ways of reducing costs in a company19. Communication: how to achieve an effective working relationship between different departments within a company20. Communication skills: the importance of understanding cultural differences when working in an international environmentPersonnel Management: the importance of providing employees with clear job descriptions21. Company Growth: how to ensure that company growth proceeds at the optimum rate22. Time Management: how to manage a heavy workload effectivelyHealth and Safety: the importance to a company of having a Health and Safety policy23. Human Resources: how to ensure that staff at all levels receive appropriate feedback on individual performanceSamplesCustomer Relations: how to maintain customer interest in a company*s productsAs is know to all, it is very important for a company to maintain customer interest in their products. I think a company should try every possible way to retain its current customers.First, it should always make sure that it provides its customers with quality goods and after-sales service. Second, it should lay enough emphasis on the feedback from its current customers and take prompt action to take care of their needs and demands. Third, if possible it may provide some incentives to its old customers. For example, it can grant a certain discount to them if their purchases reach a certain amount. Apart from all these, a company should design strategies to attract new customers and create transactions with them, to expand their customer base, so to speak. These strategies include product diversification and upgrading.All in all, a company should try its utmost to keep its current customers satisfied with its products and services, and at the same time it should stay ahead of the market through product and pricing strategies.Should companies include employees' families in their health and fitness provision? (Why/Why not?)Is the welfare of employees an appropriate concern for companies? (Why/Why not?)Staff RelocationYour company needs to relocate several members of staff to a new branch opening in another part of the country. You have been asked to submit ideas on how to make relocation attractive for staff.Discuss, and decide together:I Which types of financial incentives the company could offer to staffI What information staff would need to know about the new locationFollow-up questions:What other assistance might be necessary for staff who are relocating? (Why?)How could staff who are unwilling to relocate be encouraged to do so?What do you think influences a company's choice of location for its branches? (Why?)What are the implications for company organization of having branches in different places? (Why?)Do you think there will be greater international expansion of companies in the future? (Why?/Why not?)Incentives Scheme for StaffYour company is considering setting up an incentive scheme to improve staff performance. You have been asked to make recommendations for the scheme.Discuss, and decide together:I What benefits an incentive scheme for staff would bring to the companyI What types of incentives could be offeredFollow-up questions:Which incentives do you think are most effective for encouraging people to work hard? (Why?)What disadvantages could there be in incentive schemes? (Why?)Is it essential for companies to reward extra effort? (Why?/Why not?)How do you think a company can inspire loyalty in employees?How do you think the traditional employer/employee relationship might change in the future? (Why?)Staff Suggestion Scheme For 3 candidatesYour company is planning to introducing a suggestion scheme and to encourage members of staff at all levels to contribute ideas. You have been asked to consider ways of setting up the scheme.Discuss, and decide together:I How to set up the scheme so that all staff feel they can contributeI How suggestions from members of staff could be evaluatedI What kinds of rewards would be suitable for suggestions madeHealth and Fitness Facilities For 3 candidatesYour company is considering providing a fitness center on the premises to help employees improve their health and fitness. You have been asked to make recommendations for this scheme.Discuss, and decide together:I What benefits the center would bring for the companyI Which types of facilities could be includedI How to promote the need for health and fitness to all staffStaff Relocation For 3 candidatesYour company needs to relocate several members of staff to a new branch opening in another part of the country. You have been asked to submit ideas on how to make relocation attractive for staff.Discuss, and decide together:I Which types of financial incentives the company could offer to staffI What other types of incentives might be importantI What information staff would need to know about the new locationIncentives Scheme for StaffYour company is considering setting up an incentive scheme to improve staff performance. You have been asked to makerecommendations for the scheme.Discuss, and decide together:I What benefits an incentive scheme for staff would bring to the companyI What types of incentives could be offeredI Which employees in the company should be targetedHow to fill a key vacancyIn order to fill a key vacancy, a company will usually follow the same standard procedure.It will begin by producing an accurate job description of what it would like the successful candidate to do. From this, it can then produce a profile of this ideal candidate, which is a list of skills, experience, attributes and so on.Having produced this profile, the company must then decide on the best recruitment method to capture a candidate with this profile. This might be an internal advertisement or an external advertisement in a newspaper, on the Internet say, even an agency or perhaps a headhunter.Having decided on the best recruitment method, the advertisements are then placed or the headhunter contacted and a list of candidates w川 be then drawn up to be put through the company's recruitment processes. This might be interviews, psychometric tests or even hand-writing analysis. This will then produce the ideal candidate for the company.The company will then have to negotiate terms with this candidate and, hopefully, this will result in terms which are both affordable for the company and attractive enough to get the candidate they want.Background InformationCareer Planning: how to assess the career opportunities provided by different types of companiesCareer Planning:Even after a job is offered and accepted, career decisions must be made. On-the-job experience may affect the desired path. Aspiring to achieve a position above the present position is natural. The planned career path to that position may involve either a series of promotions within the firm or switching to a different firm. While planning a career path is a useful motivator, the plans should be achievable. If everyone planned to be president of a company, most plans would not be achieved. This can cause frustration. A preferable career path would include short-term goals, since some ultimate goals may take twenty years or longer. The use of short-term goals can reinforce confidence as goals are achieved.Career Development: the importance of acquiring a range of skills throughout your careerIt is important a person to have a range of skills in the course of his career development. When he has a range of skills, he is obviously more competitive than those who don't and therefore has more chances of promotion. And it will be easier for him to find a job outside his company if he is not satisfied with his present job. In addition, a person with a range of skills is more likely to work his way up to the top of the corporate ladder.Human Resources: how to provide effective support for new members of staffTraining: The importance of a continuous programme of staff training within a companyStaff Management: how to achieve and maintain high motivation among a workforceMotivating Employees: Employees tend to be more satisfied with their jobs if they are provided (1) compensation that is aligned with their performance, (2) job security, (3) a flexible work schedule, and (4) employee involvement programs. Firms should offer job security, compensation that is tied to employee performance, more flexible work schedules, and more employee involvement programs. To the extent that job satisfaction can motivate employees to improve their performance, firms may be able to a higher production level by providing greater job satisfaction.Marketing ResearchManagers cannot always wait for information to arrive in bits and pieces from the marketing intelligence system. They often require formal studies of specific situations. For example, Toshiba wants to know how many and what kinds of people or companies will buy its new superfast laptop computer. Or Barat College in Lake Forest, Illinois, needs to know what percentage of its target market has heard of Barat, how they heard, what they know, and how they feel about Barat. In such situations, the marketing intelligence system will not provide the detailed information needed. Managers will need marketing research.We define marketing research as the systematic design, collection, analysis, and reporting of data and findings relevant to a specific marketing situation facing an organization. Every marketer needs research. Marketing researchers engage in a wide variety of activities, ranging from market potential and market share studies, to assessments of customer satisfaction and purchase behavior, to studies of pricing, distribution, and promotion activities.A company can conduct marketing research in its own research department or have some or all of it done outside. Although most large companies have their own marketing research departments, they often use outside firms to do special research tasks or studies. A company with no research department has to buy the services of research firms.Marketing: the importance of packaging products appropriatelyIn recent times, numerous factors have made packaging an important marketing tool. Increased competition and clutter on retail store shelves means that packages now must perform many sales tasks-from attracting attention, to describing the product, to making the sale. Companies are realizing the power of good packaging to create instant consumer recognition of the company or brand. For example, in an average supermarket, which stocks 15,000 to 17,000 items, the typical shopper passes by some 300 items per minute, and 53 percent of all purchases are made on impulse. In this highly competitive environment, the package may be the seller's last chance to influence buyers. It becomes a "five-second commercial.'* The Campbell Soup Company estimates that the average shopper sees its familiar red and white can 76 times a year, creating the equivalent of $26 million worth of advertising.Market Research: the importance of doing market research before launching a new productSales: How to sell a product effectively in international marketsProduct Promotion: the importance of selecting appropriate members of staff to attend exhibitions Communication: the importance in business of maintaining contact with clientsPublic Relations: the importance of adequate supervision and training of staff who deal with the public Management: How to run a meeting successfullyTransport Management: the importance to a business of an efficient public transport systemAny distribution of products from producers to wholesalers or from wholesalers to retailers requires transportation. The cost of transporting some products can exceed the cost of producing them. An efficient form of transportation can result in higher costs and lower profits for the firm. For each form of transportation, firms should estimate timing, cost, and availability. This assessment allows the firm to choose an optimal method of transportation. The most common forms of transportation used to distribute products are truck, rail, air, water, pipeline.Transport Management: the importance of using environmentally friendly means of transport whenever possible Health & SafetyEmployee Safety: Firms ensure that the workplace is safe for employees by closely monitoring the production process. Some obvious safety precautions are to check machinery and