BEC商务英语考试高级模拟练习7

　　Questions 15 - 20

　　Read the following extract from a book onmanagement and the questions on the oppositepage .

　　For each question 15– 20,mark one letter (A, B, C orD ) on your Answer Sheet for the answer youchoose

　　In the last few years, managers throughout industry have seen more changes than many ofthem could have expected to see in their entire working lives having to communicateinformation which often leads to feelings of insecurity has become a key activity. From beingregarded as relatively unimportant in many companies , management employeecommunication has become a central corporate need.

　　Concordia International provides a good example of a company that has adjusted well to thechanging needs for communication . since 1995 , Concordia has been turned inside-out andupside-down, to ensure that it is a marketing –led, customer-responsive business, one thatlooks outwards at customers and competitors, rather than inwards at its own processes andthe way things were done in the past. In the last eight years, Concordia has reduced itsworkforce by more than 80.000 people - or 35% -on a voluntary basis, with furtherdownsizing anticipated.

　　From being an engineering company, Concordia is now remaking itself as a service company.The role of employee communication in such a context is to build people’s self-confidence,to persuade them that, although it is inevitable that the changes will go ahead, they alsobring with them new opportunities for employees. However, this is not an easy task. Peopletend to be skeptical of these claims and to feel that they are losing touch with the companythey have worked for over many years. This is understandable, since many of the oldcertainties are being swept away , including the core activities of the company they work for.Above all , they have had to face up to the fact that they no longer have a job for life.

　　Research indicates that people respond to this predicament in a variety of ways. The bulk ofemployees fall into two main categories in terms of their response to the new situation: on theone hand there are the “ pragmatists” and on the other “ the highly anxious” the former seetheir job as a means to an end and have a relatively short-term perspective, with strongloyalty to their local term , rather than the company as a whole . the second category, usuallythe majority, may respond to threatened changes with a feeling of having been let down, andeven feel anger at the company for what they see as changing the terms of their employment.

　　` The employee communication process needs to be capable of accurately directing itsmessages at a variety of employee groups and departments within the workforce . this is whymiddle managers and line managers are so key to communication. They are the people whoknow about the full rage of concerns among the workforce. The problem in the past was thatthis crucial area was often the responsibility of a separate, relatively isolated unit. Concordiaputs responsibility for communication firmly on line managers. All their research points to thesame conclusion: people prefer to get their information face-to-face from their line managers.That is the key relationship and where arguments and hearts and minds –are lost.

　　The general rule in company communication is to tell employees as much as you can as soonas you can. If you can’t provide details, then at least put the news in context and commityourself to providing greater detail when it becomes available another rule of companycommunication is that there must be a fit between what the company is telling its employeesand what it is telling its shareholders.

　　15: in the last eight years, Concordia has

　　A made over 80.000 employees reduncdant

　　B completed a period of downsizing

　　C reduced its workforce of 80.000 by 35%

　　D given 35% of departing employees voluntary redundancy

　　16 from Concordia’s point of view, the role of communication is to

　　A win employee support before going ahead with the changes

　　B change the company’s core activities.

　　C emphasise the positive aspects of the changes

　　D explain the need for the changes

　　17 what does research show about most employees’ response to change?

　　A they expect it to have a bad effect on the company

　　B they feel completely powerless

　　C they become less loyal

　　D they fell they have been treated unfairly

　　18 Concordia’s communication process mainly relies on

　　A printed communication

　　B departmental heads

　　C personal communication

　　D a separate, specialized unit

　　19 According to the writer, what is the guiding ;principle about giving informationwithin an organization?

　　A Never make promises about future developments

　　B Give people an overall view at the earliest possible stage

　　C always include plenty of hard information

　　D Hold back until all the details can be provided

　　20 which of the following would be the most suitable title for the article?

　　A employee attitudes to company communication

　　B making company communication more effective

　　C Researching company commmucation

　　D Making employees feel less powerless

　　阅读答案

　　15 A 16-20 C D C B B