通用工程英语

      The passengers waiting in the immigration area will be separated into two lines, one for host-country (2)______ , and the other for international visitors. When it is your turn, you will be asked to show your passport, and sometimes will be asked how long you plan on visiting and where you will stay. When you are going to enter the U. S., you will also be required to provide your photograph and the(3)______ of all your ten fingers if you are a visitor. When everything is done, officers will (4) ______ your passport, which means you are approved to enter this country.

      After clearing immigration and (5) ______ your baggage, you will need to proceed through customs before being allowed to exit the airport. Customs is the authority that is responsible for managing the flow of goods, especially restrictive and prohibited ones. Each country has its own laws and regulations (6) _____ to goods into and out of it. As an international visitor, it is (7). _______ to beaware of the laws and regulations of the country you enter and(8)______with them.

      While you are on your flight, the stewards and stewardesses will hand out a customs declaration form to you. You will need to fill in your basic personal and travel information like your name, country of (9)______ , passport number, flight number, and countries you visit, etc. Meanwhile, there will bea few“yes”or“no”questions about what items you are bringing with you. Custom officials may or may not inspect your luggage. If they do check your bags and find restricted or prohibited items, you may be asked to pay duty and/or fines. So be sure to (10)_______ all items as required, which will ensure that your customs process is as smooth and speed y as possible. If everything is fine, you are free to exit the airport.

      However, in such a modern era with all kinds of social media, should companies still follow a traditional (2)______like being a member of a chamber of commerce? Do the advantages (3)______ disadvantages? Look at the following and you may find yourself an answer.

     The first advantage of joining a chamber of commerce is (4)______ your company's publicity, which means that your company can have more exposure both online and offline. Actually, if you do not (5)______ your company to others, it will always be nonexistence to them. Fortunately, each timethe chamber of commerce mentions you, you may obtain a link with someone. The more links you have, the more influential you will be. Needless to say, people tend to communicate with those well-connected businessmen or businesswomen.

     The second advantage of joining a chamber of commerce is having opportunities for networking, which  means that you can keep in touch with other professionals in a direct way. When joining a chamber of commerce,  you can rub(6)______ with other members. This can help you learn new things from people around  you and may even gain you early access to some important conferences and exhibitions.

      The third advantage of joining a chamber of commerce is gaining access to potential purchasers, which  means that you can directly do business with people who may need your products or services. A telephone  (7)______  is established by the chamber of commerce and every member will be involved in it.The purpose of the telephone direct ory is to give an access to the members of the chamber of commerce for  either members or non-members in the local area. Of course, this is very helpful if you want to know the exact  (8)_______ information of someone with purchasing power.

      However, everything has two sides and joining a chamber of commerce is no exception. Usually, the  disadvantages of being a member of a chamber of commerce are as follows:

      Firstly, you should pay membership fees. Secondly, an immediate return on your investment may not be seen. Thirdly, you may need to (9)_______ the chamber of commerce events into your already (10)______ schedules. Fourthly, you may be faced up with some unfriendly competitors.

     In a word, joining a chamber of commerce can bring you both advantages and disadvantages. To join it or not, you are the final decision maker.

     In order to avoid such a problem, the purchaser can (5)_______ bidder hand in a complete list of contracts he/she has performed, which are similar in size and scope to the purchaser’s contract. Information such as phone number, address, contact names and the like can be included. The purchaser can limit this list to contracts performed in the past year or in whatever time period which makes sense for his/her contract. By requiring a complete list instead of self-selected good references provided by the bidder, the purchaser will know his/her past performance in a (6)_______  way. The purchaser can either contact all names on the list or choose one or two if the list is too long. The purchaser must make sure that all bidders are treated equally and check the same number of references provided by the bidders. A (7)___________ should be also included in a purchaser’s IFB to (8)_______ that poor references maybe a key to a decision that a bidder is not  responsible.

    When checking the references, the purchaser should ask the same objective questions about all bidders, such as “Have the bidder performed the contract  (9)_________?”,“Did the bidder perform in time?”,“Was the bidder  (10)________ by the contract person?” This check will give the purchaser useful information and it is of the most importance to him/her. For instance, if one of the purchaser’s primary concerns is durability of the equipment after the three contract years, he/she can ask for references from all bidders whose possession of the same equipment has lasted more than three years, and then, ask questions of these references about any service problem after the initial three years of the contract.