BEC商务英语中级考试真题汇总

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BEC真题一

1 the failure of a company to set its prices appropriately

2 a context that makes it difficult to increase prices

3 the consequences of companies trying to conceal their approach to pricing

4 the means by which a company ensured precision in the prices it offered

5 the fact that companies can learn about the effects of a price reduction

6 the first sector to price products according to how much customers were prepared to spend

7 the widespread use of rough guidelines to determine prices

Getting the price right

A、

Chief executives need to pay more attention to pricing, according to Roberto Lippi of the Apex Group, a consultancy that offers advice on pricing strategy. He accepts that low inflation figures in many industrialised countries makes raising prices tough, but argues that this should not necessarily deter companies. He gives the example of the airlines, which, with their minimum stay requirements and massive premiums for flexibility, led the way in sorting customers into categories, based on their willingness to pay.

B、

The key to pricing is to avoid alienating customers. As Lippi points out, once a bad price has been established, it can be very difficult to turn the situation around. He gives the example of a consumer goods company that went bankrupt largely because it did not price its digital cameras properly. In contrast, he cites the case of a Swiss drug company that introduced software for every sales representative's laptop, enabling them to provide consistent and accurate price quotes. To help staff with this innovation, the company also created a new post of director of pricing strategy.

C、

Many of today's managers have the benefit of modern technology to help them with pricing. Supermarket chains, for example, can easily track customers' 'elasticity' - how their buying habits change in response to a price rise or a discount. But although a company can now measure this sort of thing in a more sophisticated way, following basic rules is still the most common way of setting prices. Most bosses still worry more about their costs than the prices they charge; one recent survey found that they spend as little as 2% of their time on pricing.

D、

One popular approach to pricing is illustrated by the car companies that charge extra for product add-ons such as electric windows, instead of offering them as part of the standard price. Although many customers are prepared to pay extra, Lippi recommends that companies make sure that price differences reflect real differences in the product, either in quality or in the extra service on offer. The worst approach is to try to keep the pricing structure secret from customers. Nowadays, that is more likely to lead to lost contracts than large profits.

这篇文章主要是关于定价(pricing)的。题目算是阅读第一部分里比较隐晦的了。四个部分分别介绍了影响定价的一些因素。

第一题，公司没有合理定价。答案是B段引用的一个例子：He gives the example of a consumer goods company that went bankrupt largely because it did not price its digital cameras properly.因为没有对数码相机合理定价，所以一个消费品公司破产了。和第一题吻合。

Consumer goods: goods such as food, clothing, etc. bought and used by individual customers消费品。

第二题，大环境使得涨价很困难。答案是A段，有点不太明显，甚至可能需要点经济学基础：He accepts that low inflation figures in many industrialised countries makes raising prices tough, but argues that this should not necessarily deter companies。很多工业国家的低通货膨胀率使得涨价变得困难。通货膨胀率是衡量一国宏观经济的重要指标，也就是这题所说的context。低通货膨胀率，说明经济不太景气，涨价会很困难。

deter: to make sb decide not to do sth or continue doing sth阻碍

eg: The price did not deter most customers

第三题，公司隐瞒定价策略的后果。答案是D段的最后一句：The worst approach is to try to keep the pricing structure secret from customers. Nowadays, that is more likely to lead to lost contracts than large profits.最坏的方法是试图让定价结构对消费者保密。今天，它更有可能导致失去合同而不是大的利润。

第四题，一个公司确保定价准确的方式。答案是B段的这么一句：a Swiss drug company that introduced software for every sales representative's laptop, enabling them to provide consistent and accurate price quotes。一个瑞士的医药公司为每一位销售代表的手提电脑引进了软件，确保他们提供持续准确的定价。这里的accurate对应于precision，引进的软件就是方式(means)。

第五题，公司了解降价的后果。答案在C段，但是不那么明显：Supermarket chains, for example, can easily track customers' 'elasticity' - how their buying habits change in response to a price rise or a discount.大的超市可以轻易追踪客户的弹性—他们的购买习惯是如何对涨价或打折做出反应的。这个题需要理解一个常见的经济学术语：弹性。

elasticity ：the extent to which people want to buy more or less of a product or service when its price changes。

这个术语的概念基本吻合第五题所说的。能够了解客户的需求弹性，也就了解了涨价或者降价的效果。

第六题，对产品定价首要的是根据客户所愿意支付的。答案是A的最后一句：based on their willingness to pay.。集于他们的支付意愿。这里的based on对应于the first sector。

第七题，粗糙的定价准则的广泛应用。答案在C段，有点隐晦：But although a company can now measure this sort of thing in a more sophisticated way, following basic rules is still the most common way of setting prices.虽然公司可以用一种更复杂的方式来衡量，遵守基本的规则仍然是定价的最普遍的方式。BUT是个信号。rough可以从反面对应于sophisticated,,the most common way对应于widespread use。

BEC真题二

Lebrun Steel Facing up to Tough Times

0 　After 98 years of trading, the steel manufacturer Lebrun knows from experience as how

00 　difficult fluctuations in the economic cycle can be for suppliers such as themselves.

34 　Since many of the nation's largest production companies which are its customers,

35 　Lebrun is adversely affected by any change for the worse in the economy. Yet Lebrun

36 　has managed to keep on sales steady (in the region of approximately $2.5 billion)

37 　and has recorded only one annual loss during the difficulties of the past five

38 　years, but despite the effects of the ongoing industrial slowdown. James Griffith,

39 　president of Lebrun, now has the task of turning up survival into growth, and

40 　his strategy is already becoming clear to those industry observers. In February of

41 　this year, the company acquired Bronson pic, additionally a one-time competitor.

42 　This merger will greatly expand the size of both Lebrun's labour force, and

43 　Griffith estimates it will boost its revenue by nearly 50%, while too increasing

44 　the number of plants and R&D centres in much a similar way. Griffith is

45 　optimistic that while the steel industry is about to pull out of recession, and he wants Lebrun to be ready for this.

这篇文章是介绍一个生产商面临的困境及所采取的措施。

34题，这个句子并不是定语从句，主谓宾都很齐全，主语companies，谓语are，宾语its customers.所以which是多余的

35题，正确的

36题，keep on doing继续做什么，接名词的话直接用keep，keep sales steady保持销售平稳，on多余。

37题，正确的

38题，but和despite不能同时使用，必须去掉一个。but后面要接完整的句子，这个后面不是句子，是名词性成分，所以保留despite，去掉but。

39题，turn… into 变为，成为。固定词组。turning survival into growth变生存为增长。Up多余。

40题，句子前后并没有指代的含义，代词those多余。

41题，a one-time competitor是修饰前面的Bronson pic ，additionally是另外的，附加的意思，用在这里意思和用法都不通，所以去掉。

42题，both表并列，而这个句子前后是没有并列的含义的，只说了扩展规模。所以both多余。

43题，too是副词，在这里用法不对

44题，in a similar way固定用法，much多余

45题，while用来引导时间状语从句，而很明显这个句子并不是，只是由that引导的从句，句子成分很齐全。去掉while。

BEC真题三

Fighting Fit

Fine Fitness, the health and fitness club operator, announced an impressive set of results yesterday: (19) a 38-per-cent jump in annual pre-tax profits, the company claimed that it had (20) none of the problems (21) last week by its rival, Top Fit .According to Samantha Collier,the chief executive, Fine Fitness (22) strong and is on (23) to reach its target of 100 clubs within three years, its strategy unaffected by the apparent (24) down of the economy.

The company opened 12 new clubs in the past year; (25) its total to 51. They have (26) to be highly successful, with people joining in large numbers, especially in the 25-to-40 age range. Even the more (27) clubs are still seeing sales growth, along with rising retention (28) of more than 70 per cent. This can be seen as clear (29) of the appeal of Fine Fitness.

Ms Collier admitted that as there were (30) too many companies competing with one another; there would almost certainly be (31) in the health-and-fitness-club sector of the market She predicted that, within a relatively short time, there might be only about three major companies still in (32).However, she declined to say which these were likely to be.

Profits rose by ￡6.3 million, although there was a fall in gross margins from 31 per cent to 28.6 per cent because of higher insurance premiums, extra management costs and start-up expenses for the company's new (33) in Spain.

19 A Stating B Reporting C Remarking D Informing

20 A taken B felt C experienced D caught

21 A released B issued C opened D revealed

22 A stays B remains C maintains D keeps

23 A track B direction C way D line

24 A falling B breaking C cutting D slowing

25 A bringing B putting C getting D mounting

26 A shown B resulted C proved D demonstrated

27 A installed B formed C established D confirmed

28 A rates B standards C proportions D volumes

29 A witness B sign C display D evidence

30 A purely B merely C simply D barely

31 A union B consolidation C alliance D combination

32 A trade B office C commerce D business

33 A trial B venture C proposal D speculation

文章介绍了一个经营健康俱乐部的公司的情况，依旧是形势喜人。

19题，一句话包含三个空，联系在一起做。昨天开会，宣布了一系列结果。报告税前收益增长了38%，公司并没有经历它的竞争对手所暴露的问题。19题选report，20题experienced，21题，revealed by its rival，被竞争对手暴露的问题。

22题，remains strong保持强劲;单看单词的意思，貌似keep也可以(不过说实话，如果不是有同学提醒，我压根想不到会填keep)联系此句上下文，提到了在对手出现问题时这个公司表现依然强劲remain在英文词典的解释是：continue to exist, especially after other similar or related people or things have ceased to exist 在相似或者相关人和事出现状况时仍然存在，所以，remain更符合这个题目的条件

23题，on track 步入正轨。公司正在实现目标的正道上。这个词在其他完型也出现过，不过不是正确答案。

24题，slow down放缓，固定用法。经济放缓。

25题，bring to，使总数达到51，这个题怕是要靠语感。put肯定不对，get to到达，mount在这里用法不对。

26题，proved to be证明是，固定用法

27题，这里填入的词要和前文对照，前面说新开了12家新的俱乐部，这里的空格前有个even和more，所以应该是填入与new相对应的词。established是已确立的(If you use established to describe something such as an organization, you mean that it is officially recognized or generally approved of because it has existed for a long time. )

28题，retention rate保留率，专有名词(Retained earnings divided by total after-tax earnings, expressed as a percentage)，指公司税后收益所保留的那一部分。

29题，公司吸引力的证据。clear evidence明显的证据。不选sign，sign只是迹象。

30题，simply修饰too many从用法和意思上都对，在这里就是表强调的，意思是公司太多了。

31题，consolidation强化、合并(To consolidate a number of small groups or firms means to make them into one large organization.)，有很多的公司相互竞争，所以需要进行一个整合。这是商英里的固定说法。

32题，in business在经营。是说很快这个市场上的公司会淘汰的只剩下三个。

33题，理解了venture的意思就不难做出选择，在这里是指商业冒险，也是商英地道说法。公司要在西班牙进行一些投机活动，因此增加了额外的管理费用。

BEC真题四

Critical Path

When David Hayden realised his company was heading for trouble, he took drastic measures to get it back on track

David Hayden founded his company, Critical Path, an email provider, in 1997 to take advantage of the boom in email traffic. Critical Path became a public company two years later, and Hayden took the opportunity to step down from his executive position in order to work on personal projects. At the same time, he agreed to stay with the company as Chairman, but the business was put in the hands of new managers by its investors. With sector-leading products and an expanding market, the company seemed to be on the up and up. However, by early 2001, it was in trouble. Shares that had been worth $26 in 1999, when they were first sold, were down to a mere 24 cents.

Called in by a panicking board, Hayden found himself back in charge as Executive Chairman, trying desperately to rescue what he could. The 1,100 staff had lost confidence in the company and did not know what was going to happen to them. And, as Hayden discovered, the management team was incompetent. Those guys didn't understand the product or the sector,' says Hayden. The heads of department didn't communicate and they didn't lead.' But what was worse, Critical Path had lost the goodwill of its investors.

Hayden knew that bringing the figures under control would be a vital step in the company's turnaround. 'You've got to sort out the finances. For me, that meant getting back the goodwill of the investors. That was tough, after what had happened. But although they were angry with the company, they didn't have bad feelings about me. I told them that I knew I could get the company on its feet again.' He was authorised to make whatever changes were required, and his first act was to find people within the company he could trust and put them in charge.

The next thing Hayden had to tackle was morale. 'Everyone left the office at five on the dot - they couldn't get away quickly enough. To get the buzz back and win the staff over, I had to prove my own commitment and put in the extra hours with them.' In return, it was assumed that nobody would ask for overtime pay until the company was on its feet again. Contrary to normal practice, Hayden was reluctant to lay people off, and apart from not replacing people as they reached retirement age, he left the workforce largely unchanged, although he did identify key people throughout the company who were given more responsibility.

But, as Hayden insists, before a company reaches such a crisis, there are warning signs that any financial director or accountant should take note of. 'A business that has an unrealistic pricing policy or has to negotiate extended credit with its suppliers is in trouble,' is his message. 'Or if you often have to apply for your overdraft limit to be raised or have trouble paying tax on time, something needs to be done.'

By 2003, the company was healthy again, with reasonably stable finances and a modest but steady share price of $1.60. 'One thing that helped save us was that our technology worked,' says Hayden. 'With 20 million email accounts, we never lost a single major client because the product kept on working.' With ideas for a fresh venture demanding his attention elsewhere, Hayden has moved on. 'It was time to go,' he says. 'I'm not a turnaround specialist. I prefer start-ups.'

13 What event coincided with Critical Path becoming a public company?

A Hayden became the Executive Director of Critical Path.

B Investors hired a replacement team to run Critical Path.

C Critical Path launched a successful new product on the market.

D Critical Path was floated on the Stock Exchange at 24 cents per share.

14 Which of the following situations did Hayden face at Critical Path in 2001?

A The employees were worried about job security.

B The investors were calling for changes to the company structure.

C The management was misleading the staff about the company's position.

D The board of directors did not realise the scale of the company's problems.

15 One reason Hayden was able to turn Critical Path around was that

A he managed to find new investors.

B the financial situation was not as bad as he had thought.

C he had built up a good relationship with the management team.

D he was given the support that he needed.

16 What was Hayden's policy regarding the staff of Critical Path?

A He paid overtime to everybody who worked outside office hours.

B He reduced the workforce by operating an early retirement scheme.

C He gave key staff the opportunity to help him set goals for the company.

D He restored motivation by showing willingness to work alongside staff.

17 According to Hayden, what could indicate that a business is in trouble?

A problems keeping accounts up to date

B suppliers refusing to offer new credit terms

C a frequent need to increase the amount borrowed

D difficulties in getting payment from customers on time

18 Hayden left Critical Path after he had rescued the company because

A he wanted to develop the technology for a new internet service.

B he wanted to concentrate on founding a new enterprise.

C he had been offered a job with a major internet company.

D he decided to go into partnership with a major client.

这篇文章名为《Critical Path》，字面上理解是关键路径，但在此文中是指一个公司的名字。整篇文章都是围绕这个公司遭遇的困境，以及这个公司的执行主席是如何力挽狂澜、扭转乾坤的。BEC考试阅读文章的一大特点是逻辑性强，层次分明，读完不会有找不着北的感觉。

13题，题目问当Critical Path成为上市公司时还发生了什么事。

A不对，原文说的很明白：Hayden took the opportunity to step down from his executive position。抓住机会从总裁的位置上退下来。

B项正确。原文说the business was put in the hands of new managers by its investors。业务被投资者交给了新的经理。和B选项的“投资者雇佣了一个替代团队来运营Critical Path”说的是一个意思。

C不对，原文说的是sector-leading products，行业领先的产品，的确是C选项所说的successful，但是new不对。

D不对，首先时间上不吻合，不是Critical Path成为上市公司时的事，其次这一句的描述也不对，只是说股价跌倒了24美分，不是float。

Public company：a company whose shares can be bought and sold on the stock market, etc.上市公司。

14题，题目问在2001年的Critical Path,这个Hayden面临着什么样的情况。答案在第二段找。

A段说员工们担心工作保障。原文中说“The 1,100 staff had lost confidence in the company and did not know what was going to happen to them”，1100号员工对公司失去了信心，不知道将会发生什么。和A的意思吻合。

B、C、D在原文中都没有提到。

这个题目关键是能理解job security的意思，它是商务英语里地道常见的用法(同样的还有employment security)：

job security：a situation where a job is likely to last for a long time and you will keep the job if you do what you are expected to

eg: Consumers have cut back on their spending because of worries about job security.

常见搭配(完形填空可能会遇到)

a high/low level of job security to have/improve/increase/provide job security

15题，题目问Hayden能够扭转局面的一个原因。答案在第三段找，并不很直接，需要一点概括。这一段先说了下公司的一些难处，比如投资人很生气，后果很严重。所幸的是投资人对Hayden并不反感：He was authorised to make whatever changes were required，他被授权进行一切需要的改变，也就是D选项所说的得到了需要的支持。

A不对，不需要找新的投资者，原文说的是“getting back the goodwill of the investors”，挽回投资人的好感。

B不对，财政状况的确很坏。

C在原文没有提到。原文的最后一句说在公司寻找可以信赖的人并让他们负责，不是说和管理层建立好关系。

16题，问针对Critical Path的员工采取的政策是什么。答案是第四段的第一句话：The next thing Hayden had to tackle was morale。需要解决的是士气问题。也就是D段所说的restored motivation。这一段是讲Hayden如何与员工站在一起。

A不对，原文说的很清楚：it was assumed that nobody would ask for overtime pay until the company was on its feet again。任何人不得索取加班补偿。

B不对，原文是apart from not replacing people as they reached retirement age。

C也不对，原文是who were given more responsibility，被赋予了更多的责任，不是“help him set goals”。17题，题目问什么可以表明一个公司陷入了困境。答案是第五段的这么一句：A business that has an unrealistic pricing policy or has to negotiate extended credit with its suppliers is in trouble。有一个不现实的定价政策或者需要和供货商谈判提高贷款。

Credit是很眼熟的单词，用法很多，让人晕头转向。这里的意思是：

money that financial institutions lend to businesses, governments and people

eg：It is unlikely that the bank will extend additional credit to the firm.

18题，题目问扮演了救世主角色之后的Hayden为什么选择离开。

答案是最后一段：“With ideas for a fresh venture demanding his attention elsewhere”和“I'm not a turnaround specialist. I prefer start-ups.”需要一个崭新的需要他的注意力的企业。也就是B选项所说的想要一个新的企业。