The demand for an asset rises if _________ falls.

In many factories, an assembly line is used to speed up the efficiency of the workforce.英译汉

Which of the following can NOT be inferred from the passage?

  A．Many sites set cookies in exchange for the user's free access.

  B．It is impossible to block all cookies while you enjoy online conveniences.

  C．The user can control cookies to a greater or lesser degree.

  D．Cookies are a kind of virus that can damage hard drives in PCs.

(a) An assistant of yours has been criticised over a piece of assessed work that he produced for his study course for giving the definition of a non-current asset as ‘a physical asset of substantial cost, owned by the company, which will last longer than one year’.

Required:

Provide an explanation to your assistant of the weaknesses in his definition of non-current assets when

compared to the International Accounting Standards Board’s (IASB) view of assets. (4 marks)

(b) The same assistant has encountered the following matters during the preparation of the draft financial statements of Darby for the year ending 30 September 2009. He has given an explanation of his treatment of them.

(i) Darby spent $200,000 sending its staff on training courses during the year. This has already led to an

improvement in the company’s efficiency and resulted in cost savings. The organiser of the course has stated that the benefits from the training should last for a minimum of four years. The assistant has therefore treated the cost of the training as an intangible asset and charged six months’ amortisation based on the average date during the year on which the training courses were completed. (3 marks)

(ii) During the year the company started research work with a view to the eventual development of a new

processor chip. By 30 September 2009 it had spent $1·6 million on this project. Darby has a past history

of being particularly successful in bringing similar projects to a profitable conclusion. As a consequence the

assistant has treated the expenditure to date on this project as an asset in the statement of financial position.

Darby was also commissioned by a customer to research and, if feasible, produce a computer system to

install in motor vehicles that can automatically stop the vehicle if it is about to be involved in a collision. At

30 September 2009, Darby had spent $2·4 million on this project, but at this date it was uncertain as to

whether the project would be successful. As a consequence the assistant has treated the $2·4 million as an

expense in the income statement. (4 marks)

(iii) Darby signed a contract (for an initial three years) in August 2009 with a company called Media Today to

install a satellite dish and cabling system to a newly built group of residential apartments. Media Today will

provide telephone and television services to the residents of the apartments via the satellite system and pay

Darby $50,000 per annum commencing in December 2009. Work on the installation commenced on

1 September 2009 and the expenditure to 30 September 2009 was $58,000. The installation is expected

to be completed by 31 October 2009. Previous experience with similar contracts indicates that Darby will

make a total profit of $40,000 over the three years on this initial contract. The assistant correctly recorded

the costs to 30 September 2009 of $58,000 as a non-current asset, but then wrote this amount down to

$40,000 (the expected total profit) because he believed the asset to be impaired.

The contract is not a finance lease. Ignore discounting. (4 marks)

Required:

For each of the above items (i) to (iii) comment on the assistant’s treatment of them in the financial

statements for the year ended 30 September 2009 and advise him how they should be treated under

International Financial Reporting Standards.

Note: the mark allocation is shown against each of the three items above.

(a) An assessment of accounting practices for asset impairments is especially important in the context of financial reporting quality in that it requires the exercise of considerable management judgement and reporting discretion. The importance of this issue is heightened during periods of ongoing economic uncertainty as a result of the need for companies to reflect the loss of economic value in a timely fashion through the mechanism of asset write-downs. There are many factors which can affect the quality of impairment accounting and disclosures. These factors include changes in circumstance in the reporting period,the market capitalisation of the entity, the allocation of goodwill to cash generating units, valuation issues and the nature of the disclosures.

Required:

Discuss the importance and significance of the above factors when conducting an impairment test under IAS 36 Impairment of Assets. (13 marks)

(b) (i) Estoil is an international company providing parts for the automotive industry. It operates in many different jurisdictions with different currencies. During 2014, Estoil experienced financial difficulties marked by a decline in revenue, a reorganisation and restructuring of the business and it reported a loss for the year. An impairment test of goodwill was performed but no impairment was recognised. Estoil applied one discount rate for all cash flows for all cash generating units (CGUs), irrespective of the currency in which the cash flows would be generated. The discount rate used was the weighted average cost of capital (WACC) and Estoil used the 10-year government bond rate for its jurisdiction as the risk free rate in this calculation. Additionally, Estoil built its model using a forecast denominated in the functional currency of the parent company. Estoil felt that any other approach would require a level of detail which was unrealistic and impracticable. Estoil argued that the different CGUs represented different risk profiles in the short term, but over a longer business cycle, there was no basis for claiming that their risk profiles were different.

(ii) Fariole specialises in the communications sector with three main CGUs. Goodwill was a significant component of total assets. Fariole performed an impairment test of the CGUs. The cash flow projections were based on the most recent financial budgets approved by management. The realised cash flows for the CGUs were negative in 2014 and far below budgeted cash flows for that period. The directors had significantly raised cash flow forecasts for 2015 with little justification. The projected cash flows were calculated by adding back depreciation charges to the budgeted result for the period with expected changes in working capital and capital expenditure not taken into account.

Required:

Discuss the acceptability of the above accounting practices under IAS 36 Impairment of Assets. (10 marks)

Professional marks will be awarded in question 4 for clarity and quality of presentation. (2 marks)

In which respect does the students' organizations seem to be effective?

A．Dealing with academic affairs of the university.

B．Ensuring that the students observe university regulations.

C．Evaluating students' performance in their study.

D．Keeping up the students' enthusiasm for social activities.

After lunch, without their parents'【C1】______, the two boys set off' to explore the beach which beyond the headland(岬). They had【C2】______their young sister to【C3】______, saying that the long【C4】______would be too【C5】______for her. Once they had got beyond the headland, the beach stretched(延伸)away endlessly before them. It was like【C6】______a new world. Here and【C7】______along the beach there were lots of sea - creatures. The two boys kept searching everywhere for those【C8】______things.

The afternoon passed【C9】______. The sun was already【C10】______when the boys reluctantly【C11】______to make their way homewards. But long before they reached the headland, they could【C12】______that the tide had come in so far that they were now【C13】______from either end of the beach. Their only【C14】______of returning back was to find a way up the cliff(悬崖)nearby.

They soon found a narrow path【C15】______to the cliff top. But halfway up, their only【C16】______was blocked by a【C17】______rock which they could not climb【C18】______. The two boys had to shout at the top of their voice,【C19】______that someone【C20】______come to help them out. Just then, to their great surprise, their father appeared over the top of the rock, and with him were two policemen. One of them climbed down with a rope which was lowered over the rock. The two boys were then pulled up to safety and thus saved from spending a miserable night on the cliff.

【C1】

A．promise

B．permission

C．suggestion

D．advice

Acknowledging that demand for its controversial stock sale was weaker than it thought, 【B1】______ .

The popular Internet search engine e-mailed investors registered to bid on its shares that it priced the initial public offering at $85 a share. That was the low end of the new expected range, which was already reduced from $135.

Also, 【B2】______ , and several big shareholders said they would not sell anything in the IPO.

The upshot, rather than raising $3.1 billion in what would have been the 13th biggest initial public offering, the sale would raise just $1.7 billion— 【B3】______ .

Under the symbol GOOG, Google is expected to begin trading on the Nasdaq Thursday.

Co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, who would have been worth $4.6 billion midway in the original IPO range, saw the value of their post-sale stakes shrink to $3.2 billion. Still, 【B4】______ .

A series of missteps by Google and renewed turmoil in tech stocks proved a powerful problem for what has been billed as the most anticipated IPO since the tech bubble burst. "Google has stumbled badly out of the gate, even before it was out of the gate," says David Garrity of research firm Caris & Co.

Late Wednesday, the Securities and Exchange Commission granted Google's request to certify the IPO, after delaying the offering 24 hours. Separately, Google said the SEC was investigating whether its co-founders had violated "quiet period" rules. Soon after the SEC decision, 【B5】______ .

Despite the blemishes, the IPO is another big accomplishment for the company. Started less than six years ago, Google has thrived letting consumers search the Internet for free while it charges advertisers for putting links on its Web site.

A. that would rank them near 50th on the Forbes richest Americans list

B. Google's two founders cut in half the number of shares they expected to sell as part of the offering

C. Google on Wednesday slashed the price and size of its much-hyped IPO

D. which would rank Google in the top 5 IPOs

E. Google closed the unusual auction for its shares and notified winning bidders

F. Google began to sell its shares at the price of $105 a share

G. which would not even rank it in the top 25 IPOs

H. Google decided to size down its number of employees

【B1】______

TO FOREIGNERS, few things seem as peculiarly British as the habit of sending young children away from home to school. At first glance, boarding schools are thriving, with almost 70,000 children within their walls .Independent education (both day and boarding) produces better-than-average academic results: they teach only 7% of English pupils but supply 38% of those gaining three or more A grades in the A-level exams takenen age 18.

Yet some boarding schools are struggling. While the demand for private schools has increased over the past 20 years, the number of children at boarding schools has dropped sharply -- from 112, 135 in 1985 to68, 255 in 2005. The decline leveled off four years ago, thanks, say some, to the popularity of the Harry Potter books.

One reason why boarding schools have lost some of their appeal is high fees -- the average is around Pounds 18,830 ($35,470) a year. Lurid stories of children who harm themselves or take drags, far from parental eyes, have not helped. Some schools are in trouble financially: three mergers have taken place this year; one school in Buckinghamshire will close in August; and another, in Sussex, was recently rescued by parents.

Yet Adrian Underwood, national director of the Boarding Schools' Association, describes the future as "rosy". His optimism stems partly from renewed political interest in taking children from foster care and children's homes and sending them to boarding schools instead. Only 6% of those in care in 2004 got five god grades in their GCSE exams (taken at about 16 years of age), compared with 53% of children overall. Boarding schools can offer small classes and good discipline, helping pupils to counter the low expectations that prevent them from achieving all they could.

A working party in the Department for Education and Skills has spent months looking at ways to expand the programme. Pilot projects are due to start in September 2007. Among the 80 or so schools that are interested are Wellington, an independent senior school in Somerset, and the Dragon School, a preparatory school in Oxford. John Walker, speaking for Britain's prep schools (which educate children from ages 7 to 13), says they could take pupils as young as five years old. Local authorities are less enthusiastic. Schools want full responsibility for the children they accept, while councils and social workers want to be able to check up on them. Some think that removing children from any version of parenting could have damaging long-term effects. Holidays are also problematic: the Fostering Network, which represents foster-carets, says that many foster parents are unwilling to have children only for the holidays.

For boarding schools, both those with an idealistic streak and the financially strapped, the appeal of increasing numbers is clear, as long as other parents don' t squawk. They have another reason to be keen. New laws will soon require charities to justify their tax breaks by proving that they benefit society at large. Independent schools, 80% of which have charitable status, reaped pounds 88m in tax rebates in 2004. Accepting a few needy children alight well safeguard that status.

In the opening paragraph, the author introduces his topic by ______.

A．posing a contrast

B．justifying an assumption

C．making a comparison

D．explaining a phenomenon

The passage supplies information for answering all of the following questions EXCEPT

A．How is the law of constancy linked to the law of abstraction?

B．What is the physiological process by which the brain's tends to form. abstractions?

C．Does the process of forming abstractions ever go beyond its physiological processes?

D．What artistic goal led Picasso and Braque to adapt their work's sense of perspective?

E．What effect, positive or negative, does abstraction often have upon the artistic individual?

The passage supplies information for answering all of the following questions EXCEPT

A．How is the law of constancy linked to the law of abstraction?

B．What is the physiological process by which the brain's tends to form. abstractions?

C．Does the process of forming abstractions ever go beyond its physiological processes?

D．What artistic goal led Picasso and Braque to adapt their work's sense of perspective?

E．What effect, positive or negative, does abstraction often have upon the artistic individual?