Discussion—about 5 minutes In this part of the test you are given a discussion topic. You have 30 minutes to lock at the prompt

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问题 Discussion—about 5 minutes
In this part of the test you are given a discussion topic. You have 30 minutes to lock at the prompt card, an example of which is below, and then about 3 minutes to discuss the topic with your partner. After that the examiner will ask you more questions related to the topic.
                    Cutting Departmental Costs
Costs involved in running your department have risen sharply, you have been asked to consider how these costs could be reduced.
Discuss, and decide together:
    What reasons there might be for the sudden increase
    How staff can be encouraged to help reduce costs
Follow-on questions
Who should take responsibility for controlling costs in a department?(why?)
Which are the areas which are usually most cost- intensive within a department?
(why?)
Should each area in a company be self-sufficient financially?(why?/ why not?)
Is the current attitude that the costs likely to continue to increase on a world-wide scale?(why?/ why not?)

选项

答案A: You know our departmental costs have risen a lot recently. B: Yes, I think we are exceeding our budget. Literally , costs have gone through the roof. A: So what do you think are the reasons? B: I think there are many reasons for this. You know last month we ran a series of promotion campaigns. That meant a lot of money, didn’t it? A: Yes, But I think we spent way too much on other sorts of things. I mean we could have spent less. B: Uh? A: you know we have been traveling a lot around the country. And most of us travel by air. B: You mean some of the travels are not necessary? A: Exactly. You know, some of the face-to-face talks may simply be replaced by email correspondence. B: There’s a lot in what you’ve said. I think we should make full use of our modern facilities and we can certainly forgo some expensive travels. A: Not only that, I think modern facilities, like computers, should be made full use of within the company, too. You can bet tons of money could have been saved if we had done that. B: What do you mean? A: You see, each month we spend a good deal of money on office supplies like printout paper. B: Yes, some of the managers always ask for printouts instead of retrieving information from the computer system. A: Especially those senior managers, who are usually older than others. They are simply not accustomed to the advanced computer system. B: And young people are also responsible for the increase in costs, too. You know many of them often keep their computers on for the whole night. A: And very often they forget to turn off lights when they leave their offices. B: So, something must be done before things become any worse. A: Right. I think we should offer some incentives to those who save costs in their jobs. B: Like what? A: Like a quarterly award for them. B: Neat idea. Maybe some small gifts like a shopping voucher will also work wonders. And personally I see an absolute need for a training course for our staff members. A: On computers? B: Yeah. So that they can make better use of them. And in this way, I believe we’ll be able to bring down our costs effectively. Follow-on questions I think it is the responsibility of all the staff in the department. If everyone joins together, the company would control costs, otherwise it would have to rise. I have to say the area is Sales. They have many traveling by air around the country, which spend much money on it. Yes. If each area is able to be self-sufficient financially, the general purpose to make profits and reduce costs will be reach quickly. Is the current attitude that the costs likely to continue to increase on a world-wide scale?(why? / why not?) Yes, many things, including oil, pesticides, transport labor, etc. have all become more expensive than before.

解析     这道小组讨论题的主题是削减部门成本。背景是你所在的部门的成本迅速增加,你被要求考虑如何减少成本。题目所给的两个提示点是导致成本突然增加的原因以及如何鼓励员工来帮助削减成本。
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