prime-time television may cost $250,000 to $5,000,000 or more per minute, whereas a five-minute report on a network newscast would not cost anything. Publicity reaches a mass audience within a short time and new products or company policies are widely known.
Credibility about messages is high, because they are reported in independent media. A newspaper review of a movie has more believability than an ad in the same paper, because the reader associates independence with objectivity. Similarly, people are more likely to pay attention to news reports than to ads. For example, Women’s Wear Daily has both fashion reports and advertisements. Readers spend time reading the stories, but they skim through the ads. Furthermore, there may be 10 commercials during a half-hour television program or hundreds of ads in a magazine. Feature stories are much fewer in number and stand out clearly.
Publicity also has some significant limitations. A firm has little control over messages, their timing, their placement, or their coverage by a given medium. It may issue detailed news releases and find only portions mentioned by the media, and media have the ability to be much more critical than a firm would like.
For example, in 1982, Procter & Gamble faced a massive publicity problem over the meaning of its 123-year-old company logo. To fight this negative publicity, the firm had a spokesperson appear on Good Morning America to disprove the rumor(谣言). The false rumors were temporarily put to rest. However, in 1985, publicity became so troublemaking that Procter & Gamble decided to remove the logo from its products.
A firm may want publicity during certain periods, such as when a new product is introduced or new store opened, but the media may not cover the introduction or opening until after the time it would aid the firm. Similarly, media determine the placement of a story; it may follow a report on crime or sports. Finally, the media decide whether to cover a story at all and the amount of coverage to be devoted to it.
63. All of the following advantages of publicity are mentioned EXCEPT _____.
A. time saving A. believable
B. attentiveness B. clear
C. profitability C. dependent
D. credibility D. subjective
64. Compared with ad, news report or featuring stories are more _____. 65. The example of “Procter & Gamble” is given to show _____.
A. the efficient way of disproving rumors
B. the importance of a spokesperson
C. the interaction between firms and media D. the negative effect of publicity A. Doubtful.
B. Objective.
The Advantages of an Agenda
An agenda is a list of topics to be introduced and discussed during a meeting. Agendas generally include a reading of the last meeting’s minutes or notes, relevant announcements, a
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66. What’s the author’s attitude towards publicity?
C. Passive.
D. Supportive.
Section A
review of the topics for discussion and a roll call. Although agendas take time to set up, in the long run they can 41 time and resources.
Agendas provide an outline of discussion topics. The outline 42 the chairman or members of the meeting forgetting important topics to introduce. When all topics are thoroughly discussed, valuable decisions can be made as a group during the meeting instead of 43 making plans outside the meeting.
Agendas provide an opportunity to 44 members through announcements about critical events, goals and tasks. Agendas enable members who might not have access to everyone in the organization to announce important news and hear news of interest. Without an agenda, announcements may not be communicated to all the members, which can result in 45 . Agendas also summarize 46 meetings to help members review the progress made and 47 the focus for the current meeting.
Agendas generally mention items to be discussed for the next meeting. This gives the members a chance to 48 the discussion topics before the meeting. At many meetings, outspoken members are more than eager to participate while reserved individuals may be more 49 . However, knowing what is going to be discussed enables members to research topics of interests, 50 how the topics apply to their area and then make thoughtful, quality contributions at the meeting.
An agenda prioritizes the most important activities, 51 productivity and focuses the members. The mere presence of an agenda creates a formal atmosphere and discourages members from 52 time. The agenda prepares the chairman and encourages consistency (一致性) and organization. An agenda also sets the objectives and gives the members a goal. This organizes the thoughts of the members, direction of the meeting and the action after the meeting.
A collection of past agendas is an ideal 53 for external and internal institutions, organizations and the public for viewing the progress of your organization. The documentation helps the public and organization members assess 54 decisions, remind them of previous events or important figures and set feasible goals. The roll call also helps administration determine the most dedicated members by counting 55 and reviewing contributions to the meeting. This can help with decisions on which members to promote or assign the role of addressing the public.
41. A. take 42. A. finds 44. A. warn
B. limit B. suggests B. question B. crucial B. narrow B. keep
C. save C. sets
D. invest D. prevents D. nervously D. inform D. criticism D. regular D. find D. handle
43. A. hurriedly B. favorably B. confusion
C. confidently C. assure C. annual C. lose C. prepare
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45. A. coincidence 46. A. previous 47. A. shift
48. A. choose
C. agreement
49. A. hesitant 50. A. insist on 51. A. restores 52. A. sparing 53. A. record 54. A. tough 55. A. numbers
Section C
B. realistic
C. active C. reduces C. gaining C. past C. losses
D. curious D. think about D. increases D. devoting D. combination D. final D. money
B. believe in B. influences B. wasting B. situation B. right
C. approve of
C. alternative
B. attendance
Directions: Read the following passage. Fill in each blank with a proper sentence given in the box. Each sentence can be used only once. Note that there are two more sentences than you need. A. The discount is by far the better, but the supposedly clever students viewed them as equivalent. B. So retailers often take advantage of shoppers’ preference for discounting. C. One is to confuse them with double discounting. D. The main reason is that most people are useless at fractions (分数). E. They even control some irrelevant factors to make the studies more convincing. F. Marketing types can draw lessons beyond just pricing, says Mr Rao.
The Psychology of Discounting
When retailers (零售商) want to persuade customers to buy a particular product, they typically offer it at a discount. According to a new study to be published in the Journal of Marketing, they are missing a trick.
A team of researchers, led by Akshay Rao of the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management, looked at consumers’ attitudes to discounting. Shoppers, they found, much prefer getting something extra free to getting something cheaper. 67 . Consumers often struggle to realize, for example, that a 50% increase in quantity is the same as a 33% discount in price. They overwhelmingly assume the former is better value. In an experiment, the researchers sold 73% more hand lotion (护手霜) when it was offered in a bonus pack than when it carried an equivalent discount.
This numerical blind spot remains even when the deal clearly favours the discounted product. In another experiment, this time on his undergraduates, Mr Rao offered two deals on loose coffee beans: 33% extra free or 33% off the price. 68 .
Studies have shown other ways in which retailers can exploit consumers’ mathematical illiteracy. 69 . People are more likely to see a bargain in a product that has been reduced by 20%, and then by an additional 25%, than one which has been subject to an equivalent, one-off, 40%reduction.
70 . When advertising a new car’s efficiency, for example, it is more convincing to talk about the number of extra miles per gallon it does, rather than the equivalent percentage fall in fuel consumption.
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There may be lessons for regulators too. Even well-educated shoppers are easily foxed. Sending everyone back to school for maths refresher-courses seems out of the question. But more noticeably displayed unit prices in shops and advertisements would be a great help. IV. Summary Writing
Directions: Read the following passage. Summarize the main idea and the main point(s) of the passage in no more than 60 words. Use your own words as far as possible.
An Italian company has told staff to stop sending any internal emails for a week in an effort to reduce stress levels.
Home textiles (纺织品) company Gabel, based in the northern Como region, asked an expert to interview its employees about what their main concerns were at work, the local La Provincia di Como website reports. Many said that managing the huge volume of internal emails was a burden during the working day. That made the company’s management propose a solution, which—somewhat ironically (讽刺地)—was sent to all staff in an email.
“Together we will begin the following experiment, which will take us back in time to when people talked more,” managing director Emilio Colombo wrote, declaring an “email free” week until 13 November. “We invite you not to use email for internal communications (between colleagues at the same location), in favour of a more direct and immediate contact.”
The company’s president, Michele Moltrasio, tells the BBC it hasn’t been easy to stop such a deep-rooted practice, even temporarily, but that employees have welcomed the challenge. “They are rediscovering the pleasure of meeting and talking rather than writing,” he says. And that includes Mr Moltrasio, who is avoiding emails along with everyone else. “Even if from next week we all go back to using email, these days of experimentation are very worthwhile, to understand and rethink the methods and pace of working,” he says.
Several recent studies have found that a high volume of emails raises stress levels at work. In 2013, researchers said that a full inbox (收件箱) led to peaks in people’s blood pressure and heart rate. And last year, a study at the University of British Columbia found that limiting email use during the day lowered people’s stress levels significantly.
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第Ⅱ卷（共40分）
I. Translation
Directions: Translate the following sentences into English, using the words given in the brackets. 1. 你有可能劝服他不去美国吗？(persuade)
2. 这个会议只是浪费了大家时间，根本什么决定都没做成。(with)
3. 使我非常惊讶的是，其他人很在乎的事情在他眼里却不值一提。(worth)
4. 只有通过社会实践，学生才可以获得很多教材中学不到的必要的人生经历。(Only) IV. Summary Writing
Because of the result of a survey that internal emails worry employees most during the working day, an Italian company asked its staff to avoid internal emails for a week to promote direct and immediate contact and to reduce stress levels. Though challenging, the “email free” week was welcomed by both its president and its employees.
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