1997年英语专业八级考试真题及答案（4）
TEXT F
First read the question.
32. The message of the passage is that shares can now be sold
A. through the computer B. in the shop
C. at the bank D. through the mail
Now go through the TEXT F quickly and answer the question.
Investors seeking a cheap, no-frills way to sell privatisation shares need
look no further than the post box.
Most stockbrokers offer bargain-basement deals on postal trades. They are i
deal for selling a small holding for the lowest possible commission.
But the arrangements leave investors at the mercy of the Royal Mail and a seller will not know in advance how much a sale will produce.
Data processing engineer Mark Stanistreet of Bradford sold by post after buying a few National Power and Power Gen shares when they were privatised.
He says. “I didn’t really know where to go to for help. An information slip
with the shares gave details of Yorkshire Building Society’s share shop service, which offered to sell for a flat fee of $ 5.”
“It was an ideal first step that showed me how easy and cheap it is to sell shares, l have been investing in a small way since then.
“I use Yorkshire’s telephone service, which has a $ 9 minimum fee.” Many stockbrokers offer postal deals as part of their usual dealing services, but clients may normally sell only big company or privatization shares this way.
Share Hnk’s minimum postal commission is $ 7.50, Skipton Building Socie’s is $ 9 and Nat Weat’s is $ 9.95.
TEXT G
First read the question.
33. In the passage the author’ attitude towards the subject under discussion is ___.
A. factual B. critical C. favourable D. ambiguous
Now go through the TEXT G quickly and answer the question.
With increasing prosperity, Westem European youth is having a fling that is creating distinctive consumer and cultural patterns.
The result has been the increasing emergence in Europe of that phenomenon well known in America as the “youth market. ”This is a market in which enterprising businesses cater to the demands of teenagers and older youths in all their rock mania and pop-art forms.
In Western Europe, the youth market may appropriately be said to be in its infancy. In some countries such as Britain, West Germany and France, it is more advanced than in others. Some manifestations of the market, chiefly sociological, have been recorded, but it is only just beginning to be the subject of organized consumer research and promotion.
Characteristics of the evolving European youth market indicate dissimilarities as well as similarities to the American youth market.
The similarities:
The market’s basis is essentially the same-more spending power and freedom to use it in the hands of teenagers and older youth. Young consumers also make up an increasingly high proportion of the population.
As in the United States, youthful tastes in Europe extend over a similar range of products-records and record players, transistor radios, leather jackets and “way out,” extravagantly styled clothing, cosmetics and soft drinks. Generally it now is difficult to tell in which direction trans-Atlantic teenage influences are flowing.
Also, a pattern of conformity dominates European youth as in this country, though in Britain the object is to wear clothes that “make the wearer stand out,” but also make him “in”, such as tight trousers and precisely tailored jackets.
Worship and emulation of “idols” in the entertainment field, especially the “ pop” singers and other performers is pervasive. There is also the same exuberance and unpredictability in sudden fad switches. In Paris, buyers of stores catering to the youth market carefully watch what dress is being worn by a popular television teenage singer to be ready for a sudden demand for copies. In Stockholm other followers of teenage fads call the youth market “attractive but irrational.”
The most obvious differences between the youth market in Europe and that in
1997年英语专业八级考试真题及答案（4）
the United States is in size. In terms of volume and variety of sales, the market in Europe is only a shadow of its American counterpart, but it is a growing shadow.But there are also these important dissimilarities generally with the American youth market:
In the European youth market, unlike that of the United States, it is the working youth who provides the bulk of purchasing power.
On the average, the school-finishing age still tends to be 14 years. This is the maximum age to which compulsory education extends, and with Europe’s industrial manpower shortage, thousands of teenage youths may soon attain incomes equal in many cases to that of their fathers.
Although, because of general prosperity, European youths are beginning to continue school studies beyond the compulsory maximum age, they do not receive anything like the pocket money or “allowances” of American teenagers. The Europe an average is about $ 5 to $ 10 a month.
Working youth, consequently, are the big spenders in the European youth market, but they also have less leisure than those staying on at school, who in mm have less buying power.
TEXT H
First read the question.
34. The passage mainly ___.
A. discusses patterns in company car use
B. advertises famous British company cars
C. recommends inexpensive company cars
D. introduces different models of cars
Now go through the TEXT H quickly and answer the question.
Motorists would rather pay more tax than lose the place in the corporate pecking order conferred on them by their company cars.
And it is the company car—which accounts for half of all new motor sales each year—which continues to be the key method of measuring your progress up the greasy pole.
Although a Roll-Royce or Bentley is the ultimate success symbol, a Jaguar is still desired by most top directors, according to the survey by top people’s pay and perks experts at the Monks Partnership.
About 40 percent of company cars are perks rather than necessities for the job, even though the average company car driver with a 1500cc engine is paying more than three times as much in tax compared to a decade ago.
Average cash allowances for a company car rise from 1,500 for those whose job requires them to have four wheels, to ￡ 4,000 for chief executives.
For company chairmen, the BMW 7 series and Jaguar’s Daimler Double Six top the list of favoured cars , with upper range Mercedes-Benz models close behind.
The chief executive’s tastes follow a similar pattern with Jaguar’s Sovereign 4.0 litre and XJ 63.2, Mercedes-Benz’s 320/300 and the BMW 7-series proving most popular.
For other directors, the BMW 5 series is tops, followed by the Mercedes-Benz 200 series, Jaguar’s XJ 63.2 and the Rover 800 series.
Senior managers favour the BMW 3 and 5 series, depending on their rank and company size.
Sales representatives drive the 1.8 and 1.6 litre Ford Mondeos, Rover 200 and 400 series and Peugeot’s 405.
Top of the prohibited list are sports cars and convertibles.
But British policies are being relaxed, with 64 per cent of companies offering Japanese cars. The practice of employees trading up by making cash contribution to the value of the car they want is becoming more common, with some from reporting take-up rates in excess of 70 per cent.
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