商务英语（BEC）二级模拟试题六（答案）

　　Question Thirteen

　　A couple called today and they said they couldn t arrive tonight.

　　You re lucky to find this vacancy. This is a busy time of the year. Please fill out this registration card and be sure to list your car s license number.

　　Question Fourteen

　　There s no charger for transfers if you have paid your fares already. Would somebody

　　give this young boy a hand? He s handicapped. I think you ll have to move over and let the young boy take this seat. Squeeze through!

　　Question Fifteen

　　Please sign your name on the check and don t forget the date. Then give me the check

　　and your driver s license. I ll give it to you in fifties. If you want to transfer your money from your savings account to the check account ,you have to fill out these slips as well.

　　Question Sixteen

　　My name is Dan Sloan. I paid for two tickets by credit card by telephone about two weeks ago on June 2nd ,I remember. I hope they re good seats. They re about halfway up the first balcong.

　　Question Seventeen

　　It s too bad that our flight is delayed for an hour. Our plane is supposed to leave at 9:10,but now it s already 10: 00. Let s go to Gate 2 and wait for the check-in. I m a little nervous. I am flying for the first time.

　　Section Two.

　　Questions 18-22……

　　Question Eighteen

　　I vote against visiting the mountains and riding horses. I was thrown from a horse last year. I vote that we go to the seashore. We could go swimming in the sea or take long walks along the beach and collect seashells.

　　Question Nineteen

　　Cigarettes will do no good to your health. And it s medically proven that they can cause lung cancer and a lot of other diseases. If you feel run-down without them ,I ll give you a prescription which will help you sleep.

　　Question Twenty

　　The Gamble Department Store has just opened a new shop near St. Maria Street. In the advertisement ,they re going to have a big celebration for the grand opening and the first one thousand customers can get free T-shirts. I want to get one.

　　Question Twenty-one

　　Eleven hours on the road is long enough for anyone, especially in this hot weather. I m anxious to get back to the family house. But I don t think we should overdo it. Let s rest for a while ,shall we?

　　Question Twenty-two

　　In the package ,there s a beautiful glass necklace. It s a birthday gift for my husband s sister who s living in Lincolnshire. I packed it very carefully, so I m sure it won t break on the way. But still I want to insure it for f25 just in case.

　　Part Three. Questions 23 30.

　　By Paul Abrahams in Tokyo

　　Results from Japan s largest petrochemicals companies for the year to March 3lst reflect the crisis facing a sector plagued by sluggish domestic demand ,over capacity ,plunging prices and the appreciation of the yen.

　　News of the sector s cire trading position follow this week s decision by Showa Denko to sell its polystyrene business.

　　The company, a marginal manufacturer, sold its 30, 000 tonnes a year Kawasaki plant to Asahi Chemical, Japan s largest polystyrene manufacturer with capacity of about 333, 000 tonnes a year, equivalent to about 25 per cent of the market. The move was the latest in a series of alliances and mergers as the troubled industry restructures.

　　Mitsubishi Petrochemical , the country s biggest plastics group , reported a loss of Y8,39bn ( $ 80m) compared with pre-tax profits last year of Y8.25bn. The group made an operating loss of Y13.8bn,the first since 1982. The poor result came despits cost-cutting measures, lower raw material prices ,and Y4bn worth of profits from equity sales.

　　Turnover fell 12.2 per ce nt from Y372bn to Y326bn, as prices and volumes declined. Earnings per share, which reached Y52. 5 in 1991 , fell to a loss per share of Y9.44. The group, which is scheduled to merge with Mitsubishi Kasei on October 1st ,cut its dividend from Y8 per share to Y4.

　　Mitsubishi Kasei s pre-tax profits fell 76. 8 per cent from Y9.3bn last year to Y2.2bn. The group reported its first operating loss in 40 years at Y467m, and only managed to post positive pre-tax results by selling Y15. 7bn worth of equities. Turnover fell 1.8 per cent ,the fourth yearly decline ,to Y696bn. The dividend was halved to Y3 per share.

　　Mr. Morihisa Takano ,managing director, said the newly merged group would generate pre-tax profits of Y10bn on sales of Y855 bn during the year to March 1995.

　　He predicted petrochemicals prices would bottom out during the summer. No decision had been made about the dividend ,but the new company could pass it during the current year, he Pre-tax profits at Mitsui Petrochemical industries, Japan s biggest polyethylene maker, plunged 75 per cent from Y9bn to Y2. 26bn on sales down 9. 3 per cent at Y272bn. The company blamed poor demand for the slump which offset the benefits of cost-cutting measures. The dividend is unchanged at Y6 per share. The group forecast pre-tax profits for the current year marginally up at Y3bn on turnover of Y276bn.

　　Shin-Etsu, one of Japan s biggest makers of polyvinyl chloride , reported profits down 26.1 per cent from Y17. 6bn to Y13bn. Sales increased 0. 2 per cent from Y275bn to Y276bn. Net profits fell 26. 6 per cent to Y7.08bn, or Y21.85 per share.

　　The group maintained the final dividend at Y3.75, making the full-year pay out Y7.5 per share. Shin-Etsu forecast pre-tax profits for the current year of Y15.5bn on sales of Y277bn.

　　The outlook for the petrochemicals industry remains blsak. The imbalance between supply and demand for ethylene, the basic building block of petrochemicals ,is about 2.8m tonnes of ethylene and is set to deteriorate further this year.

　　A massive 700,000-tonne-a-year ethylene complex owned by Maruzen ,Mitsui Petrochemical and Sumitomo Chemical comes on stream later this year and Mitsubishi Petrochemical is also commissioning a new 300,000-tonne-a -year plant this year.