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Issues in the recruitment world
In the competitive world of investment banking, good senior executives are not easy to find. So what should the industry's hard-pressed directors do when they need to find senior staff? Increasingly, they decide to call in the headhunters. These are busy and profitable times for the recruitment agencies that dominate the world of executive search and selection.
(0) needed new people to revitalise their operations, and the result has been a boom in the recruitment market. Pinnacle, a leading recruitment agency, has helped various UK investment banks to rebuild their entire senior management teams. It is hard to overstate the significance of this. (8)............
But now everything has changed, and Pinnacle is not the only major player in the field. Some analysts believe that rival recruitment specialists ALT Associates has a larger share of the market. However, there is little doubt that over its 13-year history, Pinnacle and its chairman, Matthew Edwards, have built up an impressive reputation.
Edwards estimates that his company controls between 10 and 15 per cent of the headhunting market for senior investment banking jobs in the UK. (9)er, it is the high-calibre jobs and people that Pinnacle deals with that define the company's success. For example, the company was recently commissioned to find a new chairman for NBS Bank, a vacancy that was one of the most talked about in the banking world.
Most HR directors recognise that headhunters such as Pinnacle play a valuable role in the recruitment process.(10) are concerned that a few companies, including Pinnacle, have too much power over high-level recruitment.(11) Tim Davidson, HR Director at Cawfield Bank, explains, They can be kingmakers. These are the people who decide who gets a future and who doesn't. If Edwards forms a view about an individual, it can affect their ability to get a particular job. That view could just have been formed on a bad day.' (12)............ Final decisions in the selection process are always taken by his clients, he says, whoever they are.
The role of headhunters should not be exaggerated. Many companies never use them. But as top executives are hard to find, there will always be a role for people like Matthew Edwards.
A Although others may put it lower, it is important to remember that the company's reputation is not based on market share alone.
B Their chief worry is that the headhunters can now make or break managerial careers.
C According to Edwards, this is a further indication that the way Pinnacle searches for a candidate tends to favour a certain type of manager.
D But this acceptance does not mean they are universally happy, either with the state of the market or with Pinnacle's role within it.
E Until a few years ago, even the biggest companies were unlikely to use headhunters to fill more than one or two jobs a year.
F Edwards objects to this suggestion, claiming that all he does is find candidates and encourage them to apply for a particular post.
G A number of big investment banks recently decided to make changes to their management boards after disappointing end-of-year results.
答案與解析：
《Issues in the recruitment world》，招聘世界裡的話題。圍繞獵頭公司(headhunter)展開，說明了獵頭公司的發展和重要性，以及用人單位對獵頭公司的一些疑問。第一段引出話題，說現在正是獵頭公司佔領市場的時候。接下來幾段順序介紹了獵頭市場的發展階段，從起步階段(第二段的內容)，到逐步發家(第三段)，當中列舉了一個獵頭公司的情況加以說明(第四段)，然後第五段介紹了用人單位對獵頭公司的一些質疑。最後一段是總的概括。做這種題一定要理清文章的邏輯順序，從整體上把握文章脈絡。
第八題，第二段的最後一句。第二段是簡單引出獵頭公司的起步，起步階段並沒有多少公司認識到獵頭公司的重要性，就如第八題前面的一句話所說：It is hard to overstate the significance of this。很難高估這個的重要性，也就是說獵頭公司的作用並沒有被完全的認識到。後面的空格應該相應的填入獵頭公司不太被重視的句子。E選項正好滿足這個特點：直到幾年前，甚至最大的公司都不可能一年利用獵頭公司來填補一兩個職位。
第九題，主要是介紹Pinnacle這個獵頭公司的情況。前面說這個公司的市場份額在10%到15%，空格後面一個rather(相反)，說定義公司成功的應該是公司所處理的高質量的工作和客戶。中間應填入一個錶轉折意思的句子，並且可能和公司的市場份額有關。A句滿足這個要求：雖然其他人可能把它(指市場份額)估計得更低，但一個公司的名聲不僅僅是建立在市場份額基礎上的。
第五段，集中填入三個句子，所以一定要從意思上進行把握。這一段是用人單位對獵頭公司的一些質疑，然後獵頭公司Pinnacle的主席Edwards進行了一些反駁。
這一段第一句話說人力資源部經理認為Pinnacle發揮了很重要的作用，接著空格後面說的是Some are concerned that…也就是一些人提出了擔心，所以中間的第十題應該填入表示轉折意思的句子，而且可能是對獵頭公司發揮的作用的消極看法。D滿足這一要求：但是這種認可不代表他們完全的'高興。BUT是個關鍵的訊號，acceptance是指代前面人力資源經理們對獵頭公司發揮作用的認可。
第十一題，前面的句子是對獵頭公司發揮作用的擔心，認為它們權力過大了。這一題後面的句子是引用一個人力資源經理的解釋，進一步說明獵頭公司的影響力太大。所以十一題也應該與此相關。B符合：他們首要擔心的是獵頭公司會創造或者破壞管理職業生涯。Worry是關鍵詞，同前面的concern相對應，make or break managerial careers也就是上下文所說的權利過大，簡直擁有生殺大權。
第十二題，理解了前面的，不難做出選擇。這裡很明顯就是獵頭公司為自己辯護。前面指責獵頭公司的評價會影響個人的選擇。而空格後面是 Edwards的解釋，說最終的決定權是掌握在客戶自己手中。所以這一題很明顯應該填入對前面表示反駁的句子，也就是F，object to，非常明顯的訊號：Edwards反對這種說法，聲稱他所做的無非就是尋找候選人然後鼓勵他們去申請某個特定的職位。
