You have read an article in a newspaper which stat...

You have read the following magazine advertisement in which an American girl is looking for pen-friends and you want to get in touch with her.

Name: Andy Lewis Age :21

Interest: collecting coins, stamps and postcards, learning foreign languages.

All letters will be answered.

Address .20 Staten Street, Eylandt, DF8 3LF,USA

Write a letter to her (Andy Lewis), telling her about:

1) your family

2) your schooling or work

3) your hobbies

You should write approximately 100 words. Do not sign your own name at the end of your letter. Use "Li Ping" instead. You needn' t write the address.

&8226;Read the article below about setting up the appraisal scheme.

&8226;Choose the best sentence from the opposite page to fill each of the gaps.

&8226;For each gap (8--12), mark one letter (A-G) on your Answer Sheet.

&8226;Do not use any letter more than once.

Setting up an appraisal scheme

Appraisals can be a wonderful opportunity for your staff to focus on their jobs and make plans to develop their unused potential. They can also be a means of getting the best out of staff, both as individuals, and as team members. So, if you have decided that an appraisal scheme should be set up in your company, you need to establish some formal procedures and make some decisions before you begin. Even if your company already has a scheme, you need to consider what you want to achieve and how you are going to do this.

First of all, you need to decide on your key objectives and the real purpose of your scheme. (8) A scheme should never be introduced at a time of redundancies, or simply for profit or competitive edge, because this will create fear and alienate staff. The next step is to decide how the scheme can most successfully be managed. It is essential that all senior staff are committed to the process and willing to make a positive contribution.

The person given responsibility for designing the scheme and the appraisal forms needs to have knowledge of all roles within the organisation. He or she must also be aware of employees' potential needs. (9) It should be someone who is trusted and whom staff will turn to if they are concerned about their appointed appraiser or the appraisal interview. The design of the scheme should indicate who will be appraising whom. This needs great tact and sensitivity. First, remember that no manager can effectively appraise more than seven or eight people. It is equally important to remember that, if significant numbers of staff are appraised by someone they dislike, or by a person whose values they do not share, the success of your scheme may be threatened. (10) So bear this in mind from the beginning and, if necessary, establish an appeals procedure.

Having decided on your policy and who will appraise which members of staff, you need to communicate this in the simplest possible way. Avoid lengthy documents - few people will read them. (11) Host organisations choose a person's line manager to be the appraiser. This can be seen as an opportunity or a threat, so be ready to consider alternatives if necessary. Once you have established the appraisal process, make sure that appraisal interviews take place at a convenient time, and ideally on neutral ground. It should be borne in mind that some appraisals may involve the disclosure of confidential information. (12) These will show the decisions that were taken during the interview and will also indicate any new performance targets that have been agreed.

A It is important to select a manager who can deal effectively with any suspicions staff may have about appraisals.

B Such a measure can also reduce insecurity and unite staff in recognising the positive elements of appraisal.

C Having even one staff member in such a position may affect how others respond to the process.

D Ideally, this should be to provide a supportive framework that aids staff development.

E Simply make sure that staff know who will appraise them and why, and what form. the interview will take.

F It is therefore important to decide who will have access to written records of the appraisal.

G They can also be a means of getting the best out of staff, both as individuals, and as team members.

(8)

You work in a company which deals with industrial waste. You have read about a new kind of pump which could save your company thousands of dollars in service and maintenance costs.

Write a memo of 30—40 words to your Head of Department saying:

where you read about the new pump

why you think it could be a good investment

how you might get more information about it.

Write 40 — 50 words on a separate sheet.

You are going to read an article about guidebooks to London. For questions 21-35, choose from the guidebooks (A-G). The guidebooks may be chosen more than once. When more than one answer is required, these may be given in any order. There is an example at the beginning (0).

Of which guidebook(s) is the following stated？

It is frequently revised. 0. F

It is quite expensive. 【S1】______

It is not aimed at local people. 【S2】______

Its appearance is similar to other books by the same publisher. 【S3】______

It contains some errors. 【S4】______

It is reasonably priced. 【S5】______

It shows great enthusiasm for the city. 【S6】______

It has always been produced with a particular market in mind. 【S7】 ______

It is written by people who have all the latest information. 【S8】 ______

It is written in a friendly style. 【S9】 ______【S10】 ______

It is part of the first series of its kind to be published. 【S11】 ______

It omits some sights which should be included. 【S12】 ______

It contains more information than other guides. 【S13】 ______

It might appeal to London residents. 【S14】 ______

Its information about places to eat is enjoyable to read. 【S15】 ______

London Guidebooks

Visitors to London, which has so much to offer, need all the help they can get. Alastair Beckley takes his pick of the capital's guidebooks.

Guidebook A

Informal and familiar in tone, this valuable book has much to offer. Produced by the same people who put together London's principal listings magazine, this is right Lip to date with what's happening in the city very much its home ground. It is concise enough to cater for those staying for just a couple of days, yet covers all areas of interest to visitors in an admirably condensed and approachable way. On balance, this is the single most handy book to have with you in London.

Guidebook B

This book is beautifully illustrated, with cutaway diagrams of buildings and bird's-eye-view itineraries rather than plain maps. leis is a model of the clear professional design that is the recognisable trademark of this series. Its coverage of the main sights is strong, and visually it's a real trial - a delight to own as a practical guide. It's a bit pricey but well wor

You have read the following advertisement in a magazine.

You have a close friend who wishes to participate in this project and you feel he or she would be very suitable. Please write a recommendation to the magazine.

You should write no fewer than 106 words on the Answer Sheet.

&8226;Read the article below about telecommunications.

&8226;Choose the best sentence from the opposite page to fill each of the gaps.

&8226;For each gap 8-12, mark one letter (A-G) on your Answer Sheet.

&8226;Do not use any letter more than once.

THE CUSTOMER MAY NOT RING TWICE

Companies spend large sums of money on their telephone systems, but then use them to create the wrong image, according to Ben Lambert, International Performance Manager at a company called Octopus. He claims that many companies have an average response time of 17 seconds Some can take as long as 24 seconds to answer the phone. 'At one time you had to dial the number and wait for the exchange or an operator to connect you. You were aware that it was probably going to take time and if no-one picked up the phone you would probably hang on for 20 rings,' he says. 'Now you bang in the numbers and the phone rings at the other end almost before you have finished. (8) Unless it is vital to get through, you are rarely prepared to wait as long as 24 seconds. In fact, the average response time should be five to ten seconds.'

Telephonists are one of the main interfaces with the public and customers. They give the first impression of the company and by definition you get only one chance to make a first impression. The facilities manager should know the fastest response time to the telephone, the slowest response time and the average response time. Mr Lambert points to a television advertisement by a leading bank that promised an answer within four rings. (9) 'Banks are trying to promote themselves as service providers and this advertisement gave a very powerful message,' says Mr Lambert.

Octopus estimates that telecommunications is the most expensive support service in offices, costing on average ￡1,000 per employee each year. (10) Given the changes over the past ten years, the cost of communicating is likely to continue to rise. In 1986, the typical office worker had just a simple push-button, or even dialling, handset. Now the traditional desk-based telephone also has voice mail and direct dialling and the staff member relies increasingly on email, paging, video- conferencing, on-line business seduces and mobile phones. Mr Lambert says, 'Such is the importance of all this to regions and economies generally that cities are increasingly looking on communications as the key infrastructure issue. (11) They are becoming as important, if not more so, than physical communications.' Telephony can sometimes get too sophisticated, though. Some American companies, for example, are refusing to install automatic answering systems that tell callers to dial extension numbers. (12) This gives the opposite impression to the one that companies would like to project.

A This was a very simple strategy that created a new performance measure.

B Considering the cost of facilities, better systems are out of the question.

C You expect an equally quick response.

D Atlanta, for example, used the Olympic games as an opportunity to become one of the best places in the world for multimedia communications.

E In many cases these are left on all day and the caller is passed automatically from one office to another.

F It is second only to wages within the average company budget.

G He claims that many companies have an average response time of 17 seconds for incoming calls.

(8)

&8226;Read the article below about business book reviews.

&8226;Choose the best sentence from the list A-G to fill each of the gaps.

&8226;For each gap (8-12), mark one letter (A-G) on your Answer Sheet.

?Do not use any letter more than once.

Special Introductory Offer!

Gain a working knowledge of the top

business books rapidly and easily!

Now you can read the best business books in just 15 minutes each!

It's the executive dilemma of the Nineties: information overload. With the breath and depth of knowledge gained from books, it is less likely that you'll be caught off guard. There should be a simpler way to keep track of the latest ideas. And there is a systematic solution.

Suppose you had an assistant who screened and selected only the quality books for you. (8) . So you could obtain a working knowledge of the book's contents in a fraction of the time. Now you can have that assistant with Executive Book Summaries. Every month, you receive quick-reading, time-saving summaries of the best new business books. (9) This means that rather than taking five to ten hours to read, it takes just 15 minutes!

How you'll benefit.

Executive Book Summaries, designed for the busy executives, are a solution to the growing management problems of too much to read and too little time to do it.

Enhance your business confidence.

You gain a real understanding of the key points of the best new business books.

Learn more, remember more.

We've taken account of extensive research into the memory functions of the human brain. (10) .

Get ideas you can use.

(11) . In a summary, these ideas are more accessible and "actionable".

Cut hundreds of hours off your reading load.

How often have you opened a new book with great expectations, only to find it a huge disappointment? (12) .

The books we summarise cover just about every subject you need to know, from management techniques to guidance on your career.

A．These introductory texts are the most important books and using them can pay big dividends.

B．Discover practical tips and techniques you can apply without delay.

C．In order to avoid this problem, we select for you only the truly worthwhile titles and reject the rest.

D．According to studies published in psychology journals, you retain the content of a summary better than a book.

E．He or she would take the most important ideas from each one, and compile them into a neat executive summary.

F．With the breath and depth of knowledge gained from books, it is less likely that you'll be caught off guard.

G．Each contains all the key points in the original book, but instead of 200 to 500 pages there are only eight pages.

(8)

&8226;Read the article below about advertising.

&8226;Choose the best sentence from the opposite page to fill each of the gaps.

&8226;For each gap 8--12, mark one letter (A--G) on your Answer Sheet.

&8226;Do not use any letter more than once.

ADVERTISING

Advertising is part of our daily lives. To find proof, you have only to leaf through a magazine or newspaper or count the radio or television commercials that you hear in one evening. Most people see and hear a mass of advertising messages every day. And people respond to the many devices that advertisers use to gain their attention. Advertising is a big business, and, to many people, a fascinating one, filled with attraction and excitement. It is part literature, part art, and part show business. Advertising is the difficult business of bringing information to great numbers of people. The purpose of an advertisement is to make people respond into make them react to an idea, (8) .

At the beginning of the 20th century, advertising was described as "salesmanship in print". If this definition were expanded to include radio and television, it would still stand today.

(9) It can be found as far back as the public criers of ancient Greece-- who, for a fee, shouted out messages about a company's products to one and all.

(10) This early ad was the work of William Caxton, England's first printer, who used it to advertise religious books from his own studio. Caxton posted small printed notices along London's main streets. This same sort of simple, informational advertising is still used. (11) . The Industrial Revolution, in the 18th and 19th centuries, brought a new kind of advertising. Large factories took the place of small workshops, and goods were produced in large quantities. Manufacturers used the newly built railroads to distribute their products over wide areas. They had to find many thousands of customers in order to stay in business. They could not simply tell people where shoes or cloth or tea could be bought--they had to learn how to make people want to buy a specific product.

Advertising agencies began to develop in the United States just after the Civil War. (12) But they soon added the service of writing and producing advertisements.

From these modest beginnings, advertising has developed into a highly specialized and profitable business.

A Advertising is very old.

B Examples include the roadside signs that tell travelers that they can buy fresh corn just down the road or that there is a restaurant in the next town.

C Thus modern advertising was born.

D Advertising is part of our daily lives.

E such as helping to prevent forest fires, or to make them want to buy a certain product or service.

F At first, the chief objective of these agencies was to sell space in the various media, mainly newspapers and magazines.

G The first printed advertisement in the English language appeared in 1478, more than a century before Shakespeare's first play was produced.

(8)

&8226;Read this letter which you have had from James Brook, the General Manager of the company.

Dear Mr. Grant,

I'm pleased to tell you that we would like to offer you the post of Branch Manager of our Company in Hong Kong. The position is as important as your present job, because this branch is larger. We will give you a 10% increase in salary, and other benefits. Your new job will start at the beginning of November.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

James Brook

General Manager

&8226;You want the job, but there are some problems. Write a letter:

Thanking him for the offer

Giving a reason why you cannot start until December

Asking for a bigger increase in salary

Requesting details about the other benefits.

&8226;Write 60 -80 words.

&8226;Write on your Answer Sheet. Do not include any postal addresses.