商务英语阅读练习及答案

1

Read the following text and choose the best sentence from A to F below to fill in each of the gaps in the text:

China is the world’s largest shoemaker and exporter. But it must step out of its reputation as a cheap shoemaker. To achieve that goal, Chinese shoemakers should enhance their shoemaking technologies, improve their brands and begin exporting to more regions.

More than two-thirds of the 6 billion pairs of shoes produced last year in China were exported. Export volumes of Chinese-made shoes exceeded US $10 billion.

1)________ Leather shoes sold for US$ 5.50 per pair.

Low-grade shoes account for most of China’s exports of shoes. Prices of Chinese-made shoes are lower than those manufactured in Brazil, South Korea and Thailand. Chinese-made shoes tend to cost less than shoes manufactured by rising exporters such as Viet Nam.

2)________ Chinese shoemakers produce a combined 12 billion pairs of shoes per year, and oversupplies have left China’s shoemakers heavily reliant on shoe dealers who often choose account sales to reduce risks. Many retailers and wholesalers fail to pay shoemakers within a reasonable time.

But most domestic producers have failed to improve quality and upgrade their designs to increase competitiveness. Rather, they have begun focusing on the export market, where payments for their goods are generally ensured. 3)________

Most Chinese shoemakers, because they are small, do not invest to improve quality and/or upgrade designs. As a result, Chinese shoes are running towards international markets. China has few large shoe manufacturers. Most export US$ 100,000 worth of shoes per year. These small shoe exporters commonly adopt low-price strategies, which result in decreased export prices of their shoes. Overproduction and the debut of numerous small shoe exporters exacerbated the situation.

In addition, China’s shoemakers have long neglected research, development and design. 4)________ Chinese shoemakers also lack necessary information about international markets. Their technologies also lag behind those of their international counterparts.

As a result, Chinese shoemakers and exporters have lingered in the low-end shoe market. Unable to open new markets, they become used to concentrating on markets filled by other Chinese shoemakers. 5)________ Meanwhile, other markets, such as South America, Russia and Africa, have been neglected by China’s shoe manufacturers.

Given that situation, Chinese shoemakers should improve their production and sharpen their brand images to shed their reputations makers of cheap shoes. Domestically, pushed by some successful private shoemakers, China’s shoemaking industry has been restructured. Numerous small shoemakers have been merged and /or acquired by leading producers. Industry associations, especially the China Association of Leather Industry, are pushing shoemakers to create their own famous brands. According to the association’s development plan, China’s shoemaking industry will need 10 to 15 years to build and solidify its reputation for producing

high-quality shoes. 6)________

With the country’s long tradition of shoemaking, efficient industry reorganization, and government information and financial support, China will maintain its status as the world’s largest shoemaker, and will become a strong shoemaker in international markets.

A. Also, shoemakers receive tax breaks on their exports.

B. However, the average price of each pair of shoes China exported was US$ 2.40.

C. Overproduction is the main reason for the lower prices of Chinese shoes in the international market.

D. Such overseas markets as Japan and the United States, have become saturated with Chinese shoes.

E. The association plans to develop by 2010 three to five famous Chinese brands in international shoe markets.

F. They have for years received orde rs to produce existing styles or to copy others’ designs.

III. E-C Translation:

1. In the short-term, the strongest promise is in Chinese medicine, herbs and specialty food, as well as goods that play to the romantic foreignness of China -- whether in cosmetics, fashion or music.

2. Besides bringing in additional revenue, a global brand also burnishes a company’s image in China, stimulating sales among status-conscious domestic consumers.

3. Chinese brands under the wings of foreign companies usually have the advantage of plumper marketing budgets and better access to management expertise.

4. The world economy was beset by heightened geopolitical uncertainties in late 2002 and early 2003. Such factors continue to pose a downside risk to global economic growth, but this risk diminished substantially in the second quarter of 2003. A new non-economic shock —severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) —jolted economic activity in some countries in early 2003 but appears to have been largely contained.

IV. Key to Exercises:

1. Exercise II:

1) B; 2) C; 3) A 4) F; 5) D; 6) E

2. Exercise III:

1. 中国商品中走向国际市场的把握最大的，短期之内当推中药、草药和特色食品，还有能够体现中国浪漫而具异国情调的产品，例如化妆品、时装、音乐作品。

2. 品牌国际化可以带来更多的收益，同时可以提升公司在国内的形象，从而吸引那些注重品牌与地位的国内消费者购买。

3. 中国品牌借助于外国公司的力量，往往具有营销预算大幅度增加和更易获得管理知识两方面的优势。

4. 世界经济在2002年末和2003年初受到高度紧张的地理政治不稳定性因素的困扰。这些因素仍然可能促使全球经济下滑，但这一风险在2003年第二季度已大大降低。2003年初一种新的非经济冲击，即严重急性呼吸道症候群（SARS），影响到了某些国家的经济行为但似乎这在很大程度上已得到控制。

2

The idea that productivity was going to grow at a permanently lower rate had important implications for government policy. 1) ______ Since inflation results when the money supply rises faster than the production of goods and services, lower output per hour meant that the money supply needed to grow more slowly to prevent inflation.

Computers and the Internet changed all that. They made it possible for companies to economize in many ways. Individuals, too, found the new technology time-saving and, therefore, productivity-increasing. People like me order all manner of products over the Internet, saving me the need to drive to the store. 2) ______ Perhaps the most dramatic impact of this is in the area of travel, where the Internet allows people to buy airline tickets and book hotel rooms at sometimes ridiculously low prices. Eventually, government policymakers came to believe that the New Economy had reversed the productivity decline. 3) ______ This allowed the Fed to run a looser monetary policy than it otherwise would have been able to. This fueled the stock market boom, which provided capital for myriad new technology companies, which in turn underpinned the New Economy and continued to raise productivity.

The problem we are facing now is that while rising productivity raises living standards, it can also mean that fewer workers are needed to maintain output at the same level. So in a time of slack demand, as we have now, there are fewer jobs available. Indeed, high productivity is at the base of the jobless recovery we are experiencing.

A review of recent recessions shows that there has been a change in the behavior of productivity.

4) ______ Productivity rose after the recession mainly because employers were reluctant to hire as output increased. Thus, in the six quarters preceding the trough of the 1973-75 recession, there was zero increase in productivity during that whole period. In the six quarters before the 1981-82 recession, the total increase in productivity was just 0.8 percent. In the six quarters after the trough, productivity rose by 5.9 percent in both cases.

This started to change with the 1990-91 recession. Productivity rose by 1.2 percent going into the recession and 4.5 percent coming out. 5) ______ Now, in the current recession, which ended in the fourth quarter of 2001, we have seen even higher productivity on either side. The latest data show an increase in productivity of 4 percent in the six quarters before and 6.5 percent in the six quarters after. That is why employment growth and hiring levels remain weak. 6) ______

A. Historically, a sharp drop in productivity preceded recessions, as employers kept workers on even as output fell.

B. The higher productivity going in meant that fewer workers were needed coming out of the recession.

C. And it saves money as well by allowing easy price comparisons.

D. For one thing, it encouraged the Federal Reserve to keep a tighter hold on the money supply.

E. Employers are raising output without adding much new labor.