評論
打印
BEC閱讀部分內容多，時間緊。考察考生查找信息的能力、理解能力、詞匯結構的能力和邏輯的能力。有些題型國內的考試中常見，如PART THREE, PART FOUR，PART SIX 等。 但有些題型，如PART ONE， PART TWO對中國考生來說就比較陌生。尤其是PART TWO， 考察邏輯和理解能力，這恰恰是中國學生的弱項。下面我們就以真題為例來談談PART TWO 的做題技巧。
PART TWO Questions 8-12
Read the article below which reviews a new book on company planning. Choose the best sentence from the list on 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.
Firms need a better way of planning
Nick Field, in his book Strategy Management, offers a new approach to help companies map out their future.
Many companies have lost the art of strategy-making. They spend too much time looking at process change, organization and systems. (0)______. They have got things out of balance. In many companies, the development of strategy is in crisis. In a recent magazine poll, only six per cent of executives rated their company highly for long-term planning skills. (8) ______. If this figure is accurate, it is not surprising that 29% of the FTSE 100 companies failed to achieve real sales growth between 1992 and 1996, when take-overs are excluded from the figures.
（8）評析：前句談到：雜志調查顯示，只有6%的總裁對他們公司的長期規劃評價很高。
可見，這部分信息的重心是planning,和strategy。后句說，如果這個數字是準確的話，那么。。。可見（8）中必然要包含關于數據的內容。正確答案為C. Another survey estimated that only one in ten companies had the information they needed to make strategic decisions. C中含有數字only one in ten，而且話題和前句一致，都是關于strategy.
There can be no doubt about the value of effective strategy-making. Recent research has shown that what are described as 'visionary' companies - those with clear strategies for the future - deliver higher shareholder returns. They are less at risk from short-term earnings pressures because they know - and they can convince others - that they will survive these.
(9) ______ Times have changed. The big company of today is not being defeated by another big company but by the small companies. So how do they do it?. And where do companies that are failing in this respect turn? If a company accepts that their strategy development is not 'the best in the class', if they acknowledge that they need to do more to map out their future, influence rather than be influenced, shape their market instead of being shaped by it, how should they take on this strategy-making challenge?
（9）評析: 后一句談到"時代已經變了，大公司不是被大公司，而是被小公司擊敗。"既然后句談時代改變了，那么前句應當在談過去怎樣。正確答案為 F. In the past, it was generally believed that the scale of the company was the most significant factor.
Field's book Strategy Management puts forward a new approach to help companies rediscover the power of forward planning. (10) ______. The book is straightforward to understand and use, and offers practical and specific directions. Research and empirical testing have proved that it can be useful in all areas of industry and should be of value to any company.
(10)評析：前句談到Field的書《戰略管理》提到一種新的重新幫助公司發現未來規劃的能力。后一句也談到書，可見（10）句中一定包含關于書的信息。正確答案為A Clear guidelines are given on how to become involved with customers and build new forms of competitive advantage.
The approach put forward is based on two key building blocks, the first being that any company considering its future must have a commitment to win. (11) ______. The second building block is competitive advantage. The author defines four prime areas that differentiate organisations and influence purchase decisions. These are 'the performance of the product or service, sold at the most attractive price, with extraordinary levels of service and strong emotional values.' It may require only one of these areas to produce a competitive advantage. Take Coca-Cola for example. (12) ______.
(11)評析：前句提到two key building blocks的第一個，后句提到第二個，可見(11)的信息應當和第一個building block有關。前句中：the first being that any company considering its future must have a commitment to win. 這里重心落在commitment to win上。正確答案為E If this comes across forcefully enough rivals will see it and go elsewhere, believing the market will be taken over by another. 這里的this 指的即為commitment to win。
（12）評析：前句提到可口可樂，后面一定在舉可口可樂的例子。正確答案選
B Through the brand name, the company has established a relationship with customers' feelings that has made the product highly successful.
Companies can explore how to win by building on their commitment and working around this approach to identify which one or more of these four sources of advantage will lead to success
A Clear guidelines are given on how to become involved with customers and build new forms of competitive advantage.
B Through the brand name, the company has established a relationship with customers' feelings that has made the product highly successful.
C Another survey estimated that only one in ten companies had the information they needed to make strategic decisions.
D Lacking any debate about the future, these are typically reduced to a once-a-year form-filling exercise.
E If this comes across forcefully enough rivals will see it and go elsewhere, believing the market will be taken over by another.
F In the past, it was generally believed that the scale of the company was the most significant factor.
G They do not invest enough effort in determining where they want to be in their markets and how they are going to beat their competitors.
v. 調查，檢查，測量，勘定，縱覽，環視
n.
