Section A

Directions: In this section, there is a passage with ten blanks. You are required to select one word for each

blank from a list of choices given in a word bank following the passage. Read the passage through carefully

before making your choices. 应ch choice in the bank is identified by a letter. Please mark the corresponding

letter for each item on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre. You may not use any of the

words in the bank more than once.

The task of the global strategist of a business is to build a platform of capabilities derived from the

resources, experiences and innovations of units operating in multiple locations, to transplant those

capabilities wherever 26 , and then to systematically upgrade and renew them—ahead of the

competition.

Apple is an outstanding case of a company whose unique capabilities give it a worldwide 27

advantage, particularly with respect to its ability to build platforms from a product base that integrates

functional and 28 design. Apple has been able to leverage and exploit its California-based design and

marketing advantages successfully throughout the world. IKEA is another such case. The do-it-yourself

furniture and houseware company first developed a compelling set of capabilities to design, manufacture

and 29 furniture at low cost and sell it in a novel way in Sweden. Later, IKEA successfully 30

this formula in many other countries.

By contrast, Telefonica, a Spanish telecommunications company that is now the world's fifth largest

telecom by 31 , first developed its special advantage abroad. In 1989 and 1990, Telefonica had the

opportunity to enter Chile and Argentina, countries that shared many institutional and cultural

characteristics with its home country but that were 32 more rapid market reform. Throughout the

1990s, Telefonica took what it learned in Chile and Argentina about reconstructing former state-owned

telecoms to other Latin American countries that were privatizing their state telecoms and deregulating

their telecom markets.

These examples might lead the reader to believe that creating a global advantage is an easy task. But

many other 33 of expensive failed experiments suggest that creating a lasting global advantage actually

requires a great deal of 34 and operational finesse (技巧） . Our research suggests that global winners

typically create and sustain their international presence through a systematic process of 35 , renewing

and enhancing their core capabilities.

A) aesthetic

B) appropriate

C) clusters

D) competitive

E) exploiting

F) fiscal

G) instances

H) rehabilitated

I) reproduced

J) revenues

K) safeguarding

L) ship

M) strategic

N) transcend

0) undergoing