首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
You will hear the Chief Executive of a steel company talking to shareholders about the company’s performance over the last year.
You will hear the Chief Executive of a steel company talking to shareholders about the company’s performance over the last year.
admin
2013-07-20
42
问题
You will hear the Chief Executive of a steel company talking to shareholders about the company’s performance over the last year.
As you listen, for questions 1-12, complete the notes, using up to three words or a number.
After you have listened once, replay the recording.
ANNUAL REVIEW
The year’s results
1 This year’s and last year’s______are the same.
2 In the UK, several new______have been achieved.
3 The______was reduced, resulting in lower labour costs.
Problems experienced
4 Export business made difficult by the level of the______
5 Performance of subsidiary suffered because of low______
6 American joint venture currently running below its______
Measures taken
7 The return on assets now targeted at______
8 Team set up to examine______
9 The______to be made more dependable.
Technology being used more creatively.
The outlook at home and abroad
10 Particular difficulties expected for the______sectors in the UK.
11 In the US______is expected to remain high.
12 Good prospects for expansion of business in______
Woman: Ladies and gentlemen, it has been, in general, a good year for the company. Although overall profits are down compared with last year, they are, I am pleased to be able to announce, higher than we expected at this time last year: this year’s figure is three hundred and fifty-four million pounds compared with last year’s figure of four hundred and fifty-one million pounds. The Board is recommending a final dividend of seven pence per share, which makes a total dividend for the year of ten p per share, identical to last year.
The profit is mainly thanks to the company’s UK plants, which again put in very strong performances, setting a significant number of production records.
Deliveries to markets outside Europe were twelve per cent up on the previous year, largely due to economic conditions outside our control. Operating costs, we are pleased to report, were two per cent lower than in the previous year, due mainly to reduced employment costs, as the workforce was cut from fifty-two thousand to fifty thousand.
Now to the less good news: there have been difficulties with our export trade over the last year. The main culprit here has been the strong pound, which has reduced profits by approximately five hundred million pounds. Secondly, S. B. Steel, our fifty-one-per-cent-owned German stainless-steel subsidiary, continued to be badly affected by depressed selling prices. Then Huntingdon’s, our twenty-five-per-cent-owned joint venture in the USA, encountered technical problems during the year, which mean that it is unlikely to resume operating at capacity again until late this year.
Now, faced with these problems, your Board has taken a number of measures, which we believe will be effective within a short timeframe: firstly, we have established a target for all our businesses of achieving fifteen-per-cent return on assets. We are streamlining the organisation structures to make them flatter and more responsive to changing needs.
We have also established a team to look at our working practices with the aim of improving productivity. We are creating a considerably more reliable supplier base; and lastly, we are using information technology more creatively.
To turn now to the general outlook in the UK and abroad: the situation is complex. The UK economy is forecast to slow down next year. For the economy as a whole, a recession is not expected but, for the manufacturing sectors, there are predictions of, shall we say, unfavourable conditions.
Globally, however, demand for steel may well strengthen over the next year, because of improving business confidence. In the US, for instance, analysts think that consumer spending will be maintained at high levels. Although we can never be one-hundred-per-cent sure how the markets will develop, we do feel confident that the Middle East offers profitable prospects and we expect some growth opportunities in steel or steel-related businesses in this region.
[pause]
Now listen to the recording again.
[pause]
That is the end of Part One. You now have 20 seconds to check your answers.
选项
答案
(THE)MID(DLE)EAST
解析
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/9lOd777K
本试题收录于:
BEC高级听力题库BEC商务英语分类
0
BEC高级听力
BEC商务英语
相关试题推荐
A、 B、 C、 D、 A图画显示了一个男子拿着麦克风说话的场景,因此正确答案是(A)。(B)中如果忽略telephone而只看talking容易引起误导,成为陷阱。(C)中holding不是“抓着,握着”的
Whataretheytalkingabout?
Whataretheytalkingabout?
Whatisthespeakermainlytalkingabout?
Whataretheytalkingabout?
Whoismostlikelytalking?
随机试题
下列关于婴幼儿测量体重的表述,不正确的是()。
流行病学研究中容易出现的一个问题是偏倚,下列不属于偏倚的是
FR—IV矫治器适用于
某患者认为幼年时某次呕吐,实际上就是有人在食物中放毒,所以现在有病,是他们还没有放弃迫害,属于()
新生儿排胎便时间多在
货物的()是指国家对采购货物的性能、规格、质量、检验方法、包装以及储运条件等所作的统一规定,是设计、生产、检验、供应、使用该产品的技术依据。
按照我国城市当前水消费量来计算.如果每吨水增收5分钱的水费,则每年可增加25亿元收入。这显然是解决自来水公司年年亏损问题的好办法。这样做还可以减少消费者对水的需求,养成节约用水的良好习惯.从而保护我国非常短缺的水资源。以下哪一项最清楚地指出了上述论证中的错
利用“显示属性”对话框为桌面设置背景“Bliss”。
A、Theyarejusttoolazy.B、Theydon’tgetexternalhelp.C、Therearetoomanyresidents.D、Theydon’tcareaboutit.B录音提到养老院的一
A、Readingmagazinearticles.B、Writingresearchpapers.C、Reviewingbookreports.D、Selectinginformationsources.B信息明示题,文章主要谈论
最新回复
(
0
)