體驗(yàn)商務(wù)英語(yǔ) 綜合教程 U9U13聽力原文

1、9 Money09.1The French Government yesterday approved a Ff4.6bn urban development project east of Paris, co-ordinated by EuroDisney, and designed to create 22,000 jobs by 2015.Yule Catto, the chemicals group, launched a £240m bid for Holliday Chemical. Yule shares fell 32p (about 10%) to 274 in r

2、esponse to the news. Holliday's shares dropped 8p to end at 225p.The worldwide fall in stock markets last month encouraged Prince Alwaleed bin Talal to invest in media and technology companies. The Saudi prince spent $400m on a 5% stake in News Corporation, $300m on 1% in Motorola and $150m on 5

3、% of Netscape Communications.A beach scene painted in 1870 by French impressionist Claude Monet when he was desperately short of money made £3.8m at Christie's Auction House in London.Sales of the Financial Times hit an all-time record in November. Worldwide sales were 12.4% up on November,

4、 last year.New car registrations in Western Europe in November rose 10.4% to 991,800 from 898,400 a year ago, said the European Auto Manufacturers Association.0 9.2 (P = Peter, J = John, K = Kate)P I'm glad you managed to make it today. I'd like to start by taking a look at the year's sa

5、les and profit figures. First of all John, could you summarise the sales figures?) Well, we had a good January - 5.2 million. January's a difficult month because sales always drop after Christmas. In February we launched the new children's line and it went very well. Total sales rose to almo

6、st 8 million, which was nice. Unfortunately they then plummeted after the firein the main factory. But by the end of April we had recovered - 10.2 million was the figure - and since then sales have gone up steadily month by month. The December figures aren't in yet, but it looks like we will pro

7、bably reach 15 million this month.P Good. I've got a couple of questions, but I'll save them for later. Kate, sales have increased, but has that meant higher profits?K Yes, it has. We're waiting for the final figures, but we already know that overall, in the first three quarters of the y

8、ear, profits rose by 15% compared to last year, from 960,000 to 1.1 million. In fact since April, profits have increased every single month and they are still going up.P What about next year?K Well, as you know, next year we're going to centralise distribution so costs will decrease. Even if sal

9、es level off, profits will improve.0 9.3 (I = Interviewer, GG = Gerard Gardner)1 Gerard, how do you decide who to lend money to and who not to?GG One of the most important elements is to consider the individual or individuals. Frankly, if they're prepared and know what they want and can demonstr

10、ate an understanding of those requirements, it's far more impressive when they explain with clarity the purpose for which the money is required. It is essential that they're confident, not brash, just confident - usually the sign of someone who is well prepared. But the individual alone isn&

11、#39;t the only important factor. The business itself clearly is extremely important in deciding whether it can provide the means of repaying the money that it's borrowed. A quality business plan should be capable of demonstrating this. It should include the details of the business structure as w

12、ell as financial information. It's often clear that logical thought processes produce good financial structures. The third key element is intuition. Frankly, if it doesn't sound right, it probably isn't.0 9.4 (I = Interviewer, GG = Gerard Gardner)I Can you give me some examples from your

13、 experience? GG Well, yes, someone who has demonstrated in the past that they have been successful is often quite important in agreeing a future structure. One such occasion was a gentleman who had financed his business in the past, he'd been successful and had then had the opportunity to leave

14、the business to someone else, having sold on his interest. Sometime later, when the business had not been successful, he returned and wanted to buy the business back. Even though in his absence it had deteriorated. Our faith in him was rewarded and the second time around the business was more succes

15、sful and more profitable than it had been previously. Sometimes, you also just feel that a transaction is right even though it may be presented badly. Once such an opportunity arose on the financing of an entirely new product which was extremely badly presented. With considerable assistance a succes

16、sful business structure was created and today the firm is a well-known UK. company.I Have you ever missed any really big opportunities? GG Yes, some years ago I was given the opportunity offinancing a business which screen-printed business logos on umbrellas. This was before the current craze for go

17、lf umbrellas and although the individual was impressive, and, although the business plan also showed considerable foresight, I thought intuitively that no one would ever buy an umbrella with a business logo on and therefore turned down the opportunity.10 Ethics_0 10.1 (I = Interviewer, CB = Claire B

18、ebbington)I Why should companies be ethical or what are the advantages of a company in behaving ethically?CB Mm, I think the whole issue of ethics is a very complex one. Companies are made up of people. Multinationals are made up of many different nationalities. 1 think that companies are part of so

19、ciety and as such they should reflect society's standards. Companies, especially multinational ones, do have responsibilities in the world and should try to be a positive influence and 1 think if a company is not ethical, then it will not survive as a company.I Should a company have a code of et

20、hics?CB I think from my point of view it's useful on two counts. Firstly, it makes a commitment to certain good behaviour and so it's a way of communicating the importance of good behaviour to all of it's employees and partners. Secondly, if a company has a code of ethics and spends time

21、 communicating it, it does actually contribute to it's ethical behaviour. If you express these things in writing, especially, then you can be held accountable for them. This tends to mean that you are much more likely to act on them as well. I think following up that code is difficult. People te

22、nd to have different ethical standards, and defining the term 'ethics' can I think be a problem. But 1 think generally to express what your ethics are is a positive thing to do.0 10.2 (I = Interviewer, CB = Claire Bebbington)I What kinds of moral dilemmas do large companies face? Can you thi

23、nk of any examples?CB I think if you were to look at any company's ethical code you would usually find in it a section about offering bribes and this can be an area where 1 think people can get themselves into hot water. Facilitation payments are part of doing business in many countries, and bri

24、bes are something which most companies are not going to want to get involved in. But when does a facilitation payment become a bribe? And that is a question that can be quite difficult to answer.I Can you think of an example where a facilitation payment is clearly a facilitation payment and not a br

25、ibe?CB I think that there are many examples. When you arepaying consultants to make introductions to new business contacts, obviously the reason you choose these consultants is because they are well placed to give that kind of advice in a particular country. And you're paying for that introducti

26、on.I Can you give an example of a facilitation which is closer to a bribe?CB I would say size is important. Sometimes facilitationpayments are out of proportion to the kind of business that you are expecting to win. 1 think there are many instances. Also, you have to be careful with issues such as n

27、epotism.010.3A I'll never forget the trouble we had with that face cream.We launched it and you know it was a real winner. 1 mean,it was going really well. B Hmm, great. A When suddenly people started phoning and complaining itwas burning their skin.B Burning their skin? You mean, like a kind of

28、 allergy. A Yeah, it was making red marks on their faces. Thenewspapers heard about it and wanted to know what wewere doing about it. B Huh typical. They don't exactly help, do they? So what didyou do? A We didn't know what to do. You see, we'd tested it for oversix months, and you know,

29、 there'd been no bad reaction toit.B Well, so what was the problem? A Well, we'd invested a lot in the product and the launch. Imean, you know what advertising costs are these days, thensuddenly the number of complaints doubled in the space ofa week or so. B Doubled? Incredible? Did you mana

30、ge to keep it quiet?I A No, our Managing Director got more than a bit worried. i Said all this was harming the company's image. So we recalled the product and lost a lot of money. I tell you, the : only people with red faces were us. Since then, we've kept away from skin care products.'0

31、10.4: A OK, we agree then, we know Louisa has a drink problem, ' but we don't know why. Anyway her drinking is defmitely i affecting her work. And her relations with staff. | B Yes, so what are we going to do about it? In my opinion I there are several ways we could deal with this. !. A Oh y

32、es?B Well, we could have a talk with her and suggest she gets some professional help or we could do nothing and hope the problem goes away. Having said this, 1 think we should give her a verbal warning. 1 think it's a serious matter. A Mmm, let's look at the pros and cons of giving her a ver

33、bal : warning .; B 1 agree with you. Maybe it's too soon for a verbal warning. Let's look at this from a different angle. We don't want to make the problem worse, do we? So, how about this? It might be worth asking a friend to have a quiet chat with her. It could help a lot, 1 think .A O

34、K, let's think about the consequences of doing nothing. The drink problem could get worse or in time we may find she solves her personal problems. Who knows . B OK then, we've looked at all the options. And we agree, I think. The best way forward is to advise her to get professional help.A R

35、ight. So it's decided. So the next thing to do is to contact our medical officer. He'll give us some suitable names .0 10.5 (BD = Bob Dexter, NT = Nikos Takakis)BD A bit of information now, Nikos, 1 think you ought toknow. Carl often has lunches with Monica Kaminsky, thedesign manager for Ro

36、chester Electronics, our maincompetitor. NT Monica Kaminsky? Really? That's something I didn'tknow. BD Yes, and she often phones him at work. She has long, cosychats with him. I've no idea what they talk about. NT Are you saying, you mean . you think there's somethinggoing on between

37、 them? You know . BD I'm not saying anything. NT You don't really like Carl, do you, Bob?11 Change0 11.1 (I = Interviewer, JK = Jeremy Keeley)I OK Jeremy, let me start by asking you, why do people resist change?)K Resistance to change is the most natural of humanreactions and is based on unc

38、ertainty and it's based on fear fear of losing your job, fear of, perhaps, not being able to cope with a new situation. It's based on lack of trust in the decision-makers and it's based on a complete feeling of lack of control over the situation. All of those are very natural reactions,

39、and the way to manage resistance is not to completely ignore it but actually to manage it as if it were natural.0 11.2 (I = Interviewer, JK = Jeremy Keeley)I Can you think of an example where change was handled well?)K One of my favourite examples. I was working for a client a number of years ago, a

40、nd a new Chief Executive came on board and the client had to significantly reduce its costs. It had been trying to compete with its major competitor on a basis of volume and was trying to be cheaper. And its major competitor was four or five times its size and there was just no way that could happen

41、. And the new Chief Executive came in and within three weeks had publishedexactly what he was trying to achieve. And every single person in the organisation knew this chap's vision. They knew they were going to segment the market - they were going to go for corporate, high spend, high profile cu

42、stomers, and they were going to ignore the mass volume residential market which was a lot bigger, and with much larger margins. And the company was going to go for much more value-added. And the Chief Executive made absolutely clear, right from the beginning, exactly what he was going to do. He talk

43、ed about the number of heads he was going to have to take out of the organisation. So he talked about the pain - he was absolutely honest about it. But he also talked about the gains and explained his vision in a lot of detail to everybody but in a number of face-to-face communications and in a week

44、ly letter that he wrote to everybody in the organisation. Every week a letter came out from this chief executive saying exactly what progress had been made, exactly what he was still aiming to do - what the next steps were. And this happened week after week after week.He was a very effective manager

45、. And the second thing he did was move very quickly on the painful stuff. So he very quickly took out the people who didn't fit. So sometimes the decisions were hard, but he made them and he made them quickly.Skills, Exercise D0 11.3 (C = Carl, N = Nancy, M = Max, S = Stefan)C Can we move on to

46、the third point on the agenda, the open plan office? I know there are different opinions about this, so our main purpose will be to explore your views and see if we can reach agreement. Nancy, would you like to begin as 1 know you're in favour of the idea.N It's good for communication, peopl

47、e see each other at the office. It's er, I think good for team spirit too. 1 think there's more interaction between people but what's important is productivity, people work harder when they're on display.M I really can't agree with you there. I think that with open plan offices t

48、here is the problem of privacy.C OK Max, thanks. Em, Stefan, what do you think?S I agree with Max about privacy. What if you want to make a private phone call?C We could use meeting rooms.S Meeting rooms? Yes, that's true I suppose, but .M I don't think that works.C Let Stefan finish please.

49、 Max.S I'm just not happy about this proposal. I hope we're not going to have a vote about this. I mean, I really think we need a report or some extra survey done on this.C You've got a point there. Do we all agree?N/SYes./OK with me.C Right, so Max, would you prepare a short report plea

50、se? Ask staff how they feel about the open plan idea, and report back to me by, say, August 1, OK? Now, can we go to the next item on the agenda?M 1 was shocked to see hot-desking there. 1 think this is totally ridiculous. This will really upset people. It just won't work.C How do you feel about

51、 this. Nancy?N I'm pretty sure that hot-desking won't work unless we go open plan. I think one depends on the other. 1 don't think that hot-desking in closed offices works. But I think open plan without hot-desking is OK.S I don't understand your point. Can you explain it a bit more

52、clearly?0 11.4 (I = Interviewer, HW = Hugh Whitman)I I imagine you'll be making some changes, Mr Whitman, now that you're in charge at Metrot.HWYes, there will certainly be some changes, there always are when you acquire another company. Metrot is a fine company, that's why we force and

53、excellent products. We think we can help Metrotto become more dynamic and efficient. We want it tocompete successfully in European markets where there arebig opportunities for us. I You say, more efficient. Does that mean reorganisation?Job losses? I believe that the staff at Metrot are worriedabout

54、 this. HWIt's too early to say. But there could be some staffcutbacks in the short term. We shall see. Our plan is toexpand the company and create as many job opportunitiesas possible. I What about the factories? Some people say you'rethinking of relocating some of the factories and selling

55、offsome of the land you've acquired. HWI don't want to comment on that. Our aim is to buildMetrot and make it a strong company at the leading edgeof technology, with an image for quality, reliability andgood service. I I see. Thank you Mr Whitman. I wish you the best of luck in your new posi

56、tion.12 Strategy0 12.1 (I = Interviewer, MS = Marjorie Scardino)I How do you develop a strategy for a large company? MS There are lots of ways to go about it. I think the way we've done it is to first think about what assets we have what's unique about those assets, what markets we know abou

57、t and what markets are growing, and which of those markets can make the best use of our assets. We then put that into a bowl, heat it up, stir it around, and come out with a strategy.I And in broad terms, what is your strategy at Pearson? MS Well 1, we have approached our strategy . Let me answer it

58、 this way, by looking at it as three simple steps. When I joined Pearson a couple of years ago, we needed to improve our operations. We needed to just run the companies we had, and the businesses we had better. So our first step in our strategy was simply to operate better. To create better profits,

59、 and better cash generation, and better long term value for the shareholders. We then . the second step which was not happening in a serial way but happening at the same time, the second step was to look at the assets we had and see which ones we should keep and which ones we should dispose of. Thos

60、e we disposed of, we did because they would be worth more to other companies than to us because they didn't fit with the rest of our company, or were things we didn't actively control we had a passive interest in - so those disposals were an important part. And then the third step was to stitch together all our businesses, so that they were able to use each other's assets, to make a g