劍橋商務英語(BEC)中級閱讀教材講義

爲了幫助大家備考bec中級閱讀，下面小編給大家分享一些劍橋商務英語(BEC)中級閱讀教材講義，希望對你們有幫助。

劍橋商務英語(BEC)中級閱讀講義

Dear MR Ballard

You asked for a brief report concerning the recent events at the Southford Plant.

We have consulted the files and spoken to relevant members of the higher management and thus are able to provide an explanation for the breakdown reported in the press on 17 May of this year.

____1____ The handling equipment used to deliver the components to the assembly line has been known to be in need of an overhaul for the past six months. The plant has been working to full capacity to finish the American orders according to schedule.

As you know, we had commissioned a study by Industrial Research Consultants. ____2____ In it they warned that there was not enough space available to store sufficient components ____3____

We had decided to install fully automated robot system. However, at the same time it was clear to our production director that given the present maintenance staff, we would not have sufficient staff available if big problems were to arise____4____But we were still only working a two-shift system so the machines were not getting the necessary cover.

We all agree that the breakdown was extremely unfortunate and yet we must admit that, under the circumstance, it was not entirely unexpected.

We now believe that we have managed to sort out the major problems which we had been having with the conveyor equipment ____5____ Added to this is the fact that personnel department has been successful in recruiting some highly qualified maintenance staff who makes us confident that a repetition of the 16 May now seems entirely unlikely.

A. They also recommended expanding the present two-shift system to a three-shift one.

B. And also when the new robots are installed in September, we feel certain that such problems will become a thing of the past.

C. Unfortunately, as you know, there has been a major problem with recognizing the maintenance schedule.

D. The wide range oof machine we operate is not fully supervised at all times.

E. The cause of the breakdown was very simple.

F. They submitted their report on April 5.

G. There have been a number of delays and breakdowns in production recently which have been reported in the press.

H. The firm has been advertising for maintenance engineers for some weeks.

I. All the facilities in the plant will be coordinated to enable the workers to step up production of the new range of machines.

答案：1. E;2. F;3. A;4. H;5.B

　　BEC中級閱讀材料：中國理財產品

中國銀行業監管機構昨日表示，隨着各銀行擴大產品種類，2007年最後一個季度中國個人理財產品銷售額大幅飆升。

Sales of individual wealth management products in China shot up in the last quarter of 2007 as banks expanded their product offerings, the banking regulator said yesterday.

截至9月底，60家銀行業金融機構推出了個人理財服務，如共同基金、保險產品和離岸投資產品。

By the end of September there were 60 banking institutions in China offering individual wealth management services such as mutual funds, insurance products and offshore investments.

2007年前三個季度，各銀行此類產品銷售總額爲6000億元人民幣(合820億美元)。

Together China’s banks sold Rmb600bn ($82bn) worth of such products in the first three quarters of 2007.

但中國銀監會(CBRC)表示，預計2007年全年銷售總量將達1萬億元人民幣，原因是有更多的理財產品面世，同時客戶將資金從生息的定期存款中轉出。

But the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) said it expected that figure had jumped to Rmb1,000bn by the end of the year as more products became available and customers shifted money out of interest-bearing time deposits.

2007年11月份，中國通貨膨脹率創下6.9%的11年高點，而一年期存款利率僅爲4.14%，中國投資者面臨着實際利率爲負的局面，他們一直在尋求銀行存款的替代品。

With inflation hitting an 11-year high of 6.9 per cent in November and the one-year deposit rate at only 4.14 per cent, Chinese investors are faced with negative real interest rates and have been looking for alternatives to bank deposits.

中國國內銀行傳統上依賴存貸款利差，目前政府正鼓勵它們進行多樣化調整。中國存貸款利率由央行制定，以確保國有銀行能夠盈利。

The government is actively encouraging Chinese banks to diversify from their traditional reliance on the spread between deposit and loan interest rates, which are set by the central bank to ensure profitability at the state-owned lenders.

去年6月份，銀監會爲大中型國有銀行制定了目標，力爭在未來5年至10年，中間收入在總收入中所佔比重從目前的17 %左右升至40%-50%。

In June last year the CBRC set a target for large and medium-sized state-owned banks to increase their fee-based income from about 17 per cent of their total now to 40-50 per cent within the next five to 10 years.

多數全球規模最大的銀行都在中國設立了業務，而去年，包括渣打銀行(Standard Chartered)、瑞銀(UBS)和匯豐(HSBC)在內的許多銀行，已開始爲擁有100萬美元以上的客戶提供私人銀行服務。

Most of the world’s largest banks have set up operations in China and many, including Standard Chartered, UBS and HSBC, began offering private banking services available to clients with $1m or more to invest, last year.

德意志銀行(Deutsche Bank)昨日宣佈，已在北京註冊理財業務，從而可以提供包括人民幣存款和貸款在內的更多服務。

Deutsche Bank yesterday announced it had incorporated locally in Beijing, allowing it to offer more services, including renminbi deposit and lending services.

中國銀監會昨日警告稱，伴隨着理財服務的增長，瞄準無知個人的欺詐案件數量也有所上升，此類案件的社會影響惡劣。

The CBRC warned yesterday that the growth in wealth management services had been accompanied。

　　BEC中級閱讀材料：喝酸奶有益於牙齒健康

Eating yogurt and other foods laden with lactic acid may keep your gums from receding and teeth from falling out, Japanese researchers report.

Dr. Yoshihiro Shimazaki and colleagues found that consuming yogurt and lactic acid drinks was significantly associated with better periodontal health.

"But, milk and cheese were not," Shimazaki said.

Periodontal disease is a chronic bacterial condition associated with receding gums and tooth loss. Outside of regular brushing and flossing, effective measures to allay this disease are limited, Shimazaki, of Kyushu University in Fukuoka, Japan, and colleagues note in the Journal of Periodontology.

Previous research identified a lower occurrence of periodontal disease among people who eat high amounts of dairy products, but did not identify which dairy products were most beneficial, the researchers report.

Shimazaki’s team assessed the severity of periodontal disease in 942 men and women, aged 40 to 79 years, and their intake of milk, cheese, and lactic acid foods.

They found that people with generalized (more advanced) periodontal disease had a lower intake of lactic acid foods than people with localized (less advanced) periodontal disease.

Compared with individuals reporting no lactic acid food intake, those eating 55 grams or more of yogurt (half an 6-ounce carton) or lactic acid drinks a day had significantly fewer markers of severe periodontal disease. The investigators made allowances for factors such as age, gender, smoking, alcohol intake, frequency of tooth brushing, blood sugar and cholesterol levels.

日本研?a href="">咳嗽比漲俺疲運崮痰雀緩樗岬氖澄錟芊樂寡麗肝鹺脫萊萃崖洹?/p>

喜田島崎博士及其同事發現，喝酸奶及其它乳酸飲料能顯著改善牙周健康。

島崎博士說：“但牛奶和乳酪沒有這種功效。”

牙周病是一種慢性細菌感染性疾病，會引起牙牀萎縮和牙齒脫落。日本福岡九州島大學的島崎教授及其同事在《牙周病學》期刊中提到，除了勤刷牙和用牙線清潔牙齒外，能夠有效緩解這一疾病的方法比較有限。

研究人員在報告中稱，此前的研究發現，食用大量乳製品的人患牙周病的機率較低，但未發現哪種乳製品的作用最突出。

島崎教授領導的研究小組對942名年齡在40歲至79歲之間的男性和女性進行了調查，主要對他們所患牙周炎的嚴重程度以及攝入的牛奶、乳酪和乳酸類食品量進行了評估。

他們發現，瀰漫性重度牙周炎患者所攝入的乳酸類食品量比侷限性輕度牙周炎患者少。

與自稱從不吃乳酸類食品的人相比，每天攝入酸奶或其它乳酸飲品55克或更多的人有嚴重牙周病症狀的明顯較少。研究人員還考慮到了年齡、性別、吸菸、飲酒、刷牙頻率、血糖及膽固醇水平等各項因素。

Vocabulary:

be laden with:富含……

fall out: 脫落

intake:攝入量

make allowances for:考慮到……

　　BEC中級閱讀材料：中國航空貨運業

中國製造業的顯著增長，促使航空貨運公司爭相發展其在華業務。然而，這可能成爲一個業務規模擴張過大、速度過快的案例。

China’s spectacular manufacturing growth has left air freight carriers scrambling to develop their activities in the country. But it could be a case of too much, too soon.

兩年前，從南京或上海空運貨物至歐洲，每公斤運費高達4美元;如今的價格約爲2.50美元。南京祿口機場副總經理徐勇表示：“在此項業務上仍有錢賺的航空公司非常少見。”

Two years ago, flying goods from Nanjing or Shanghai to Europe cost up to $4 a kilogramme; today it the price is about $2.50. “Very few carriers are still making money here,’’ says Xu Yong, vice-president of Nanjing airport.

由於機隊擴張速度繼續超出需求，航空公司正加劇中國一些機場的擁堵問題。徐勇警告稱：“我們現在的飛機數量實在是太多了。”

As fleet expansion continues to outpace demand, carriers are adding to congestion problems at some Chinese airports. “We have just far too many planes now”Mr Xu warns.

荷蘭航空公司Martinair副總裁弗蘭克?德容(Frank de Jong)表示，中國空運貨物出口量正以每年約10%的速度增長，而飛機貨物運力的增幅約爲25%。

Frank de Jong, vice-president at Martinair, the Dutch carrier, says the volume of Chinese exports by air is growing by about 10 per cent a year but aircraft cargo capacity is rising by about 25 per cent.

在亞洲，約半數貨物在運輸時都是放在定期客運航班的腹艙內。例如，在客運航空公司中，大韓航空(Korean Airlines)擁有全球規模最大的貨運業務，其28%的收入來自航空貨運業務。

In Asia, about half of cargo transported is carried in the belly of regular passenger flights. Korean Airlines, for example, has the world’s largest cargo business among passenger airlines, with 28 per cent of its revenue coming from air freight.

在美國，大部分航空貨運業務由以UPS和聯邦快遞(FedEx)爲首的專業貨運公司負責。中國政府最近已進一步放寬了對上述兩家公司的准入限制。

In the US, the bulk of air cargo is handled by the specialist freight industry, led by UPS and FedEx. The Chinese government has recently granted greater access to the two companies.

瑞士信貸(Credit Suisse)分析師彼得?希爾頓(Peter Hilton)表示：“美國公司可以向中國體系內注入更多運力，並承接向來由亞洲航空公司包攬的貨運業務。”

Peter Hilton, analyst at Credit Suisse, says: “The Americans are being allowed to inject more capacity into the Chinese system and moving goods that would have traditionally gone to Asian carriers.”

中國政府已加大其發展國內航空貨運業的努力，鼓勵國內航空公司與經驗更爲豐富的西方貨運公司合作。而就在不久前，中國政府的重點還幾乎全放在航空客運業的改革和擴張方面。

Beijing has stepped up its efforts to develop a domestic air freight industry, encouraging its airlines to team up with more experienced Western cargo operators. Until recently, the Chinese government had instead focused almost exclusively on overhauling and expanding the passenger airline industry.

一位香港銀行家表示：“從政治角度來看，運送旅客比運輸貨物更能建立聲望，但政府已意識到，貨運對出口驅動型的製造業領域至關重要。”

A Hong Kong banker says: “Politically, there’s a lot more prestige in helping move people rather than goods, but the government has woken up to how crucial freight is for an export-led manufacturing sector.”