剑桥商务英语3版

BEC剑桥商务英语教材第三版与第二版比较：第二版是经典的版本，第三版只是在教学上改动了一些，内容没什么变。剑桥商务英语是由教育部考试中心和英国剑桥大学考试委员会合作，于1993年起举办商务英语证书（BUSINESS ENGLISH CERTIFICATE）考试。该系列考试是一项水平考试，根据商务工作的实际需要，对考生在商务和一般生活环境下使用英语的能力从听说读写四个方面进行全面考查，对成绩及格者提供由英国剑桥大学考试委员会颁发的标准统一的成绩证书。证书终生有效。

剑桥商务英语证书在中国教育考试网报名。

对于BEC的备考，需要选用的是《新编剑桥商务英语(BEC)学生用书中级》第3版，这是最通用的版本。全书共有12个Module，每个Module包含Business Topic，Business Skills以及Exam Spotlight等3个部分，总计36个部分。每个部分的学习控制在2小时左右。两天学习一个Module，3个部分共耗时6小时左右。学完每个Module要抽出2小时左右的时间进行复习和巩固。

学生用书的内容与考试联系紧密，建议大家买一本同步辅导作为辅助。同步辅导和课文的12个Module是对应的，在课文前增加了词语准备的部分，并指出学习重点，提供课文翻译和参考答案。建议准备2本笔记本，一本用来记重点词汇和句型，另一本用来记错题和答题要点，方便复习。大家一定要根据自身情况有针对性地记笔记，切忌盲目记录，避免因为笔记拖慢学习进度，适得其反。

The 19th century was the age of capitalism, the 20th century socialism. The 21st century, it seems, will be the age of charity. But, as Mrs. Thatcher says, ‘The Good Samaritan （心地慈善的人）had to earn his money first.’Warren Buffett, when he made a gift of $31 billion to the Gates Foundation, already worth $29 billion, joked that his children would have to work for their living – apart from a billion dollars handout （施舍）to each.Later, when Buffett and Gates held a press conference to announce what they intended to do with their fortune, it was clear that channeling it through government was not an option. ‘Bill and Melinda will do a better job than… the Federal Treasury,’ said Buffet. Instead they would ‘seek out talent to distribute their money just as they sought out talent to acquire it’.For these tycoons, （企业界大亨）who have prospered （昌盛，成功）in the free market global economy, government and the public sector are monopolistic and inefficient. Governments may have built the welfare state in the 20th century, but to provide them with free cash to support these structures (schools, hospitals, etc.) was not on their agenda. Instead their efforts will be focused on alleviating work poverty and disease, and improving access to technology.Adam Smith’s ‘invisible hand’, the economic theory that the market will run smoothly if it is left to decide what products are sold and at what price, has been the guiding principle behind globalization. In America it has produced large fortunes for a handful of successful industrialists: men who now, it seems, are turning to philanthropy. (慈善事业)Opponents say that the free market shows no regard for social concerns and encourages poor employment and environmental standards. Wealth, they argued, is now concentrated among a handful of global corporations whose only interest is financial profit and who are only accountable to their shareholders. They would like to see governments put a brake on the activities of the businesses.But the power of governments, national and international, is dwindling. The welfare states of the 20th century, and the public sector workers who staff them, are slowly being replaced- if not by private sector workers, then certainly by private sector principles. Government and public service have become synonymous with inefficiency and waste.At the same time, the agents of international government- the UN, the IMF, the World Bank and the EU-have subsidized too many dictators and undermined too many economies. As their reputation declines, they will be replaced by the charity of the private sector.Children of the 60s, like Bill Gates have exploited the free market ruthlessly, （无情地，残忍地）but now they are preaching（劝诫，讲道） freedom and love and are choosing to give back to society. Their hearts are in the right place. But they share on enemy-modern government in all its forms. As Buffett said, only a fool gives his money to the treasury.Will such people make a better world? Who knows? But they mean to try.