第八期 2010年6月真题 文章(4/6)

Passage One

As the new sales director for a national computer firm,

Alex Gordon was looking forward to his first meeting with the company's district managers.

Everyone arrived on time, and Alex's presentation went extremely well.

He decided to end the meeting with the conversation about

the importance of the district managers to the company's plans.

"I believe we are going to continue to increase our share of the market," he began,

"because of the quality of the people in this room.

The district manager is the key to the success of the sales representatives in his district.

He sets the term for everyone else. If he has ambitious goals and is willing to put in long hours,

everyone in his unit will follow his example. "

When Alex was finished, he received polite applause, but hardly the warm response he had hoped for.

Later, he spoke with one of the senior managers.

"Things were going so well until the end," Alex said disappointedly, "Obviously, I said the wrong thing."

"Yes," the district manager replied, "Half of our managers are women.

Most have worked their way up from sales representatives,

and they are very proud of the role they played in the company's growth.

They don't care at all about political correctness.

But they were definitely surprised and distressed to be referred to as he in your speech."

Passage Two

The way to complain is to act business like and important.

If your complaint is immediate,suppose you got the wrong order at a restaurant,

make a polite but firm request to see the manager.

When the manager comes, ask his or her name.

And then state your problem and what you expect to have done about it.

Be polite! Shouting or acting rude will get you nowhere.

But also be firm in making your complaint. Besides, act important.

This doesn't mean to put on airs and say "do you know who I am?"

What it means is that people are often treated the way they expect to be treated.

If you act like someone who expects a fair request to be granted,chances are it will be granted.

The worst way to complain is over the telephone.

You are speaking to a voice coming from someone you cannot see.

So you can't tell how the person on the line is reacting.

It is easy for that person to give you the run-around.

Complaining in person or by letter is generally more effective.

If your complaint does not require an immediate response,it often helps to complain by letter.

If you have an appliance that doesn't work, send a letter to the store that sold it.

Be businesslike and stick to the point.

Don't spend a paragraph on how your uncle Joe tried to fix the problem and couldn't.