Admittedly, Cisco's financial results have not made happy reading recently because, in common with many other large technology companies, it has seen demand for its products decline in the downturn. In early February it announced that its fiscal second-quarter revenues of $ 9.1 billion were 7.5% lower than the same period in 2008 and that its profit had fallen by 27%, to $1.5 billion.

　　In response to hard times, Cisco plans to cut $1 billion of costs this year by, among other things, making use of its own video-conferencing and other communications technologies to reduce the amount its executives travel. It is also using these facilities to relay information from employees on the ground to its senior managers, and to get instructions from Cisco's leaders back out to its 67,000 staff. A rapid exchange of information and instructions is especially valuable if the company wants to alter course in stormy times.

　　If everybody in a company can rapidly grasp what they have to do and how it is changing, they are more likely to get the job done. But some firms are reluctant to share their goals with the wider world. Unilever, a big Anglo-Dutch consumer-goods group, has decided against issuing a 2009 financial forecast to investors, arguing that it is difficult to predict what is going to happen, given the dangerous state of the world economy. "We're not just going to provide numbers for the sake of it," explains James Allison, the company's head of investor relations. 　　Other companies that have decided not to provide annual earnings estimates for 2009 include Costco, a big American retailer, and Union Pacific, an American railway company. 　　Some firms, such as Intel, seem to have chosen to take things quarter by quarter. The giant chipmaker(芯片制造商) said in January that it would not issue an official forecast for the first quarter of 2009 after its fourth-quarter 2008 profit decreased by 90%. Several retail chains have also stopped providing monthly sales estimates because they cannot see what the future holds. Retailers, chipmakers and firms in many other industries may have a long wait before the economic fog finally lifts.

　　61. What can we learn about Cisco from the passage?

　　A) It will keep a record of the orders from sales teams.

　　B) It cuts $1 billion cost by solely relying on its own technologies.

　　C) Unlike other technology companies, its financial reports are encouraging.

　　D) Only employees can use the video-conferencing to pass information.

　　62. According to the author, the staff can perform better by__________.

　　A) getting instructions from their senior managers

　　B) seizing what to do at hand and what to do next

　　C) having a financial forecast as a goal

　　D) sharing their goals with others

　　63. What is important in the unstable time ff a company wants to change strategies?

　　A) To issue company's financial reports faster.

　　B) To obtain the up-to-date information of company's business.

　　C) To predict what is going to happen in the future.

　　D) To wait until the economic fog finally lifts.

　　64. The reason Unilever plans not to issue financial forecast in 2009 lies in__________.

　　A) its reluctance to share its goal with others

　　B) its rapid grasp of changes in the markets

　　C) the unstable economic situation

　　D) its reduction in the cost of prediction

　　65. What can we know about the giant chipmaker, Intel in the passage?

　　A) It did not issue first-quarter forecast for great decrease in January.

　　B) Inters chain store used to report sales estimates by year.

　　C) Only retailers and chipmakers are greatly influenced.

　　D) Intel's profit was greatly decreased in 2008's last quarter.

　　答案：

　　61.A)。定位 由題干中的Cisco定位到文章第一段第二、三句：Cisco，all American network-equipment giant… its senior executives cart track exactly what orders are coming in from sales teams around the world，and identify emerging trends in each region and market segment.

　　詳解 事實細節題。由定位句可知，思科公司的高級主管每天都會跟蹤銷售團隊的訂單，確定各個地區的新的發展趨勢，A)符合題意。第三段第一句提到Cisco plans to cut$1 billion of costs this year by，among other things，making use of its own video0-conferencing and other communications technologies.由among other things可知，思科公司減少開支的途徑不僅僅是依靠自身的技術，故排除B);第二段第一句提到Cisco’s financial results have not made happy readin9，可見思科公司的財務報告并不樂觀，故排除C);第三段第二 句提到It is also using these facilities…to get instructions from Cisco’s leaders.可見思科公司的領導者們同樣可以通過此設備下達指令，故排除D)。

　　62.B)。定位 由題干中的the staff can perform better by…定位到文章第四段第一句：If everybody in a company can rapidly grasp what they have to do and how it is changing，they are more likely to get the job done。

　　詳解 推理判斷題。由定位句可知，如果公司的每一名員工都可以迅速掌握自己目前和下一步該做的事情，他們就能更容易完成工作，即更好地完成工作，B)符合題意。A)對于公司的發展很重要，但是與員工們的表現無關，故排除;第四段第二句確實提到財務預測和財務目標的論述，但是作者并沒有將它們與員工的表現聯系起來，故排除C)、D)。

　　63.B)。定位 由題干中的a company wants to change strategies定位到文章第三段最后一句：A rapid exchange of information and instructions is especially valuable if the company wants to alter course in stormy times.

　　詳解 事實細節題。由定位句可知，如果公司想在動蕩時期改變策略，必須迅速交流信息與指示，也就是獲得公司最新的業務信息，B)符合題意。第一段最后提到，思科公司可以比其他公司更快得到財務結果，但作者并未明確表　明這樣對改變公司的策略很重要，故排除A);第四段第三句提到it is difficult to predict what is going to happen，可見公司預測將來要發生什么很難，而且文章也未涉及預測與改變策略的關系，故排除C);最后一段最后一句提到industries may have a long wait before the economic fog finally lifts，這里是指各行業所面臨的困難境況，并不是讓他們不采取任何措施，故排除D)。

　　64.C)。定位：由題干中的Unilever plans not to issue financial forecast in 2009定位到文章第四段第三句：Unilever…has decided against issuing a 2009 financial forecast to investors，arguing that it is difficult to predict what is going to happen，given the dangerous state of the world economy.

　　詳解：事實細節題。由定位句可知，聯合利華不計劃發布其2009年的財務預測的原因是：面臨世界經濟動蕩;的不安局勢，一切事情都很難預測。可見他們不發布預測就是因為世界經濟不穩定(unstable economic situation)，C)符合題意。第四段第二句提到But some firms are reluctant to their goals with the wider world，然后舉出了聯合利華的例子，可見后者只是前者的補充說明，不是因果關系，故排除A);由定位句可知，目前很難預測將要發生的事情，因此該公司不能很快掌握市場的變化形勢，故排除B);D)在文中未提及。

　　65.D)。定位：由題干中的the giant chipmaker，Intel定位到文章最后一段第二句：The giant chip marker(芯片制造商)said in January that it would not issue an official forecast for the first quarter of 2009 after its fourth-quarter 2008 profit decreased by 90%.

　　詳解：事實細節題。由定位句可知，根據大型芯片生產巨頭英特爾一月份的聲明，2008年第四季度其利潤F降了90%，因此該公司不會正式發布其2009年第一季度的預估;可見，該公司2008年最后一個季度的利潤大幅下降了.D)符合題意。該公司沒有發布2009年第一季度官方預測的原因是2008年最后一季度公司利潤下降，并不是因為當月利潤的減少，故排除A);該段第三句提到Several retail chains have also stopped providing monthly sales estimates，可見他們原來是按月上交銷售預測，并不是按年的，故排除B);最后一句指出Retailers，chipmakers and firms in many other industries may have a long wait…可見除了零售商和芯片制造商外，其他很多行業也受到了影響，故排除C)。