The first ______ here is to develop production and ensure supply.

A、break off

B、shut off

C、turn down

D、get down

1 I take it that the purpose of any language course is to develop in learners the ability to engage in communicative behaviour and this, I have argued, must mean that there has to be a concern for capacity, for the procedural activation of competence. To coin a slogan: no course without discourse. But language courses have generally concentrated on competence and left capacity out of account. The structurally ordered course concentrates attention on linguistic competence as such but does not effectively indicate how this competence can be drawn upon as a communicative resource. It is true that words and sentence patterns will often be associated with situations, but these situations are designed simply to reveal the symbolic signification of linguistic forms. The direction of fit, as it were, is situation to language.

2 In courses which have a notional/functional orientation, the focus of attention is on the schematic level and the direction of fit is reversed. That is to say, the starting point is a particular notional frame. of reference or, more usually, a particular functional routine: asking the way, asking and granting permission, apologizing and so on. The language is then brought in to service the presentation of these schemata. In both cases the whole business of language behaviour is presented as a straightforward matter of projecting knowledge. One gets the image of the language user as somebody going around with bits of language in his head aiming for the appropriate occasion to insert them into the right situational slots.

3 But actual language use is not like this at all. It is rather a series of problems that have to be solved on the spot by reference to a knowledge of linguistic systems and communicative schemata. This knowledge does not provide ready-made solutions which are simply selected from storage and fitted in. But language courses have generally been based on the assumption that it does. Whether they are structurally or functionally oriented, what they have tended to do is to present and practise solutions. What they need to do, I suggest, is to create problems which require interpretative procedures to discover solutions by drawing on the knowledge available as a resource. In other words, they need to encourage the exercise of the capacity for negotiating meaning and working out the indexical value of language elements in context.

The writer is arguing in favor of__________

A．functionally oriented language courses

B．notionally oriented language courses

C．structurally oriented language courses

D．none of the above

听力原文：Interviewer: Today's guest needs no introduction. He is a man who has given us hours of interest and entertainment over the years, with his weekly series of wildlife programmes. He is, of course, Martin Middleton. Martin, you've been to the four corners of the Earth in search of material. Where did this love of adventures come from?

Martin: I don't really know ... I didn't travel much as a child, but I remember reading about the East and being fascinated by it. Then, when I was about 12, I met someone who'd been to Singapore -- and to me that seemed incredible ... and, of course, when I started in television, back in the early 1960s, you didn't travel to make a wildlife programme ... you went along and filmed at the local zoo. So, when I said I'd like to go and film in Africa, the Head of Programmes just laughed at me.

Interviewer: ... and, did you go to Africa?

Martin: On that occasion, no! But I eventually got them to allow me to go to Borneo in 1962. There was just me and a cameraman. We went off for four months, filming wherever we found something interesting. We bought a canoe, sailed up-river for ten days and ended up in a traditional long house. Nowadays, of course, it's all quite different.

Interviewer: Different? In what way...?

Martin: We do months of preparation before we set off, so when we start filming, we know exactly what scenes we want to get. I mean, you don't get up in the morning and say to your team, 'What shall we do this morning?' You have to know exactly what each scene is going to show ... to work to a strict plan.

Interviewer: Some of your programmes have taken place in some pretty remote areas. It's hard to imagine other programme-makers wanting to risk the dangers or discomfort that you've experienced.

Martin: Well, if you want original material -- you've got to go off the beaten track ... but you can find yourself doing some pretty strange things ... um ... like, for example, on one occasion, jumping out of a helicopter onto an iceberg. There I was ... freezing cold ... then it started to snow ... and the helicopter had gone back to the ship and couldn't take off again. So I was stuck there, on this iceberg, thinking, 'This is crazy ... I didn't even want to come here!'

Interviewer: What I wonder is ... where does somebody like yourself, who travels to all these exotic places as part of their work, go on holiday?

Martin: (laughs) I'm not very good at lying on a beach -- that's for sure. I wouldn't go to a place just to sit around. It's nice to have an objective when you're travelling... to have something you want to film ... mm ... I've just come back from the Dominican Republic, and we were put up for the first night in a big hotel ... The place was absolutely full of people, just lying there sunbathing. They seemed quite happy to spend the whole day stretched out around the pool ... they never seemed to want to go and explore the amazing things there were to see outside the hotel. For me, that would be a very boring way to spend a holiday.

Interviewer: Your programmes, though, must have inspired a lot of people to take their holidays in remote and little-known places.

Martin: You are probably right, but ...well ... I have mixed feelings about all this. I go back to the places where, years ago, I was the only European, and now there are cruise ships coming three times a day. So, you worry that in ten years or so, every remote place on the planet will be swallowed up, because everyone will be visiting it. But, on the other hand, I am in favour of tourism that is done in a way that protects the environment. You can see a good example of this in the Galapagos Islands, where the tourism is carefully managed. That's very successful, and could be a model for the future ...

What was the origin of Martin Middleton's love of travel?

A．living abroad in the 1960s

B．something he read as a child

C．a television film about Africa

Section A – This ONE question is compulsory and MUST be attempted

Introduction

Rudos is a densely populated, industrialised country with an extensive railway network developed in the nineteenth century. This railway network (totalling 6,000 kilometres), together with the trains that ran on it, was nationalised in 1968 and so became wholly owned by the government. By 2004, RudosRail, the government-owned rail company, was one of the ten largest employers in the country. However, in that year, the general election was won by the Party for National Reconstruction (PNR) with a manifesto that promised the privatisation of many of the large publicly-owned organisations, including RudosRail. The PNR argued that there had been a lack of investment in the railway under public ownership and that the absence of competition had meant that ticket prices and costs (particularly labour costs) were too high for the taxpayer to continue subsidising it. The combination of high ticket prices and large public subsidies was very unpopular. As a result the government split the railway network into eight sections (or franchises) and invited private sector bids for each of these eight franchises. Each franchise was for ten years and was for the trains, tracks and infrastructure of each section. Each franchise would be awarded to the highest bidder.

The East Rudos franchise, one of the eight franchises, was awarded to Great Eastern Trains (GET), a company specifically set up to bid for the franchise by former members of RudosRail’s management. It was the only independent company to win a franchise. The other seven franchises were awarded to companies who were subsidiaries of global transport groups and, initially, were largely financed through investment from the parent companies. In contrast, GET was primarily financed through loans from the government-owned Bank of Rudos. The ten-year franchise started in 2006. GET is an unquoted company, owned by its management team.

GET – the early years

The first three years of the GET franchise were extremely successful, both in terms of profits and passenger satisfaction. This was partly due to government subsidies to help ease the transition of the network from public to private ownership. However, it was also due to the skill and knowledge of the management team. This team already had significant operating experience (gained with RudosRail) and they adapted quickly to the new private sector model. GET was the most profitable of the new franchises and it was held up as an example of successful privatisation. Its investment in new trains and excellent reliability record meant that it quickly built up a well-respected image and brand. GET uses a series of television advertisements to promote its services. These feature an old lady arriving at various stations and texting her family that she has ‘arrived safe & on time!’ In a recent consumer survey these advertisements were rated as both memorable and effective.

In the newly privatised rail system many passenger journeys crossed franchise boundaries, so that a journey often involved the use of two or more franchise operators. GET developed an innovative booking and payment system that also automatically reallocated revenue from fares between franchise holders. It also allowed Internet booking and gave discounts for early booking. This system was so successful that GET now uses the system to process the bookings of three of the other franchise operators. GET is paid on a transaction basis for the bookings that it processes on behalf of these other franchisees.

The fourth and fifth years of GET’s operation were not as successful. No government subsidies were paid in those years and economic problems in the country led to a fall in passenger numbers. Financial information for GET for 2010 is provided in Figure 1. Figure 2 provides data for the rail industry as a whole in Rudos.

Figure 1: Selected information for GET in 2010

Extract from the statement of financial position: All financial figures in $m

Extract from the statement of comprehensive income

All financial figures in $m

Figure 2: Financial information for the Rudos rail industry as a whole

Current position

Despite the apparent success of GET, there has been considerable criticism of the overall privatisation of the railway. Much of this criticism is concentrated in two of the geographical areas where the franchisees have struggled to provide an efficient and economic service. The government has appointed auditors who are reviewing the operation of these two franchises and a government minister has stated that ‘terminating the franchise and opening it up to re-bidding has not been ruled out as an option’. A major rail accident in Rudos (with many fatalities) has also led to concerns about safety and led to new legislation being enacted. Further safety legislation is expected concerning the relaying of track and all franchisees will be expected to implement the requirements immediately.

In 2009, the PNR was returned to power, but with a reduced majority. The leader of the main opposition party originally suggested that the railways might be re-nationalised if he were to gain power. However, he has since moderated his view, although he suggests that ‘they should return a significant percentage of their profits to the taxpayer’. Road transport has also suffered under the PNR government, with many of the roads in the country heavily congested. Fuel costs have increased to reflect increasing scarcity, causing many companies to face spiralling transport and storage costs. For the first time in the country’s history, an ecology (green) party has won seats in government, capitalising on the growth of the ‘green consumer’, particularly in urban areas.

International rail developments

The pioneering privatisation initiatives in Rudos have been observed by other countries and many have adopted similar policies. Recently, the Republic of Raziackstan announced that it intended to privatise its railway network. Raziackstan is approximately five hours’ flying time from Rudos and is part of the former eastern trading bloc. It is a country where there is currently very little health and safety legislation. Although there is also little employment legislation, public service jobs are traditionally viewed as safe, and employees perceive that a ‘railway job is a job for life’. At present the railway network, which is 1,500 kilometres long, employs 8,000 employees generating revenues of $180,000,000. The country itself still has a limited technological and financial infrastructure, with only an estimated 20% of the population having access to the Internet. However, all political parties are united in their desire to privatise the railways so that money can be invested elsewhere in the country, for example, for providing better health care.

Because of the poor condition of the railway, the proposal is to retain and upgrade the rail tracks under public ownership. However, the trains and infrastructure, such as stations, will be privatised. The government is looking for letters of intent from private companies who are willing to take over the complete network (excluding the tracks).

A stipulation of the contract is that the bidder should have a significant industrial presence in the country. For some time GET has been interested in acquiring the company that undertakes most of the track and train maintenance in Raziackstan. This company SOFR (SOciety Fabrication de Raziackstan) was established in 1919 and has a long tradition of engineering. GET has used the company to refurbish some of its equipment and they have been delighted with the results.

The board of GET now senses a great opportunity. It would like to combine the speedy acquisition of SOFR with a bid to run the rail network in Raziackstan. In fact, early informal indications from the Raziackstan government suggest that the bid will be successful if SOFR has been acquired by GET as no other prospective bidders for the network have yet come forward.

Required:

(a) Using appropriate models and frameworks, analyse GET’s current strategic position from both an internal and external perspective. (20 marks)

(b) GET’s proposed strategy is firstly to acquire SOFR and then the franchise to run the rail network of Raziackstan. You have been asked to provide an independent assessment of this proposed strategy.

Write a report evaluating GET’s proposed strategy. (16 marks)

Professional marks will be awarded in part (b) for appropriate structure, style. and fluency of the report. (4 marks)

(c) Critical Success Factors (CSFs) and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are important business concepts in the context of franchising rail services.

Explain and discuss these concepts in the context of GET and the rail industry. (10 marks)

ASystempadministratoriscurrentlyworkingonaproblemwithIBMSupport.Theadministratorfeelsthattheirexpectationsarenotbeingmetonthisproblem.WhatistheIBMrecommendedproceduretoensurethattherequestishandledappropriately（）

A.Requesttochangetheseverityto1.

B.RequesttospeaktotheDutyManager.

C.Requesttoescalatetheproblemtodevelopment.

D.CallIBMSupportagainandrestarttheprocess

First aid ( 急救 ) is the care given to the injured or sick as soon as possible after an accident or illness. It is this immediate care and attention before the arrival of the ambulance that sometimes means the difference between life and death, or a full or partial recovery. First aid has limitations, as not everybody is a doctor or expert, but it is a key element of the total medical system. The principle to be adopted in first aid is immediate action. By-standers ( 旁观者 ) or relatives not knowing what to do, or being too fearful to try, have unwisely contributed to unnecessary deaths and worse injuries. It is important that any action taken by the first aid provider is started as quickly as possible. Quick action is necessary to save life and parts of the body. One who is not breathing effectively, or is bleeding heavily, requires immediate help. If quick effective first aid is provided, then they have a much better chance of a good recovery. But it should be remembered that any action taken is to be most careful, and fright ( 恐慌 ) by the first aid provider and by-standers will not be good to the whole thing. Try to remain calm and think your actions through. A calm and controlled first aider will give everyone confidence that the event is being handled efficiently and effectively.

1.The most important thing in providing first aid is to ( ).

A、call for an ambulance

B、prevent bleeding

C、know what to do

D、act quickly

2.According to the passage, some injured or sick people died as a result of ( )

A、other people's hesitation to offer first aid

B、unprofessional first aid

C、unnecessary first aid

D、unwise suggestions by by-standers

3.The writer seems to suggest that if you don't know much about first aid, you should ( )

A、call for help from professionals.

B、still try to help

C、stand by and not try to help

D、learn it from a doctor

4.While offering first aid, the helper should ( )

A、be self-controlled

B、have others to assist him

C、have confidence in the sick person

D、get rid of they by-sanders

5.Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage ( )?

A、One should not apply first aid to the injured without knowing the cause of the accident.

B、It is easy to carry out first aid if one has the necessary facilities.

C、First aid is an important part of the whole treatment.

D、First aid may not be effective before a doctor or expert comes.

_____ is the semantic process in which the meaning of a word moves gradually away from its first signification by successive shifts of meanings until there is no conection between the sense that is finally developed and that which the term had in at the outset.

A．Radiation

B．Concatenation

C．Elevation

D．Connotation

The author implies that the goal of college education should be to develop the students' ability to ______.

A．find commercial applications for scientific research

B．set up informed goals before doing any scientific research

C．think critically and independently about how research is applied

D．adapt readily to the scientific development in the commercial sector

The author implies that the goat of college education should be to develop the students' ability to ______.

A．find commercial applications for scientific research

B．set up informed goals before doing any scientific research

C．think critically and independently about how research is applied

D．adapt readily to the scientific development in the commercial sector