The end of financial year is approaching and，with it，the AGM，when we will have to give an
account of the year’s proceeding to our shareholders．As usual，at this time of year，Iam sending a copy of this informal end－of－the－year report to all members of the sales force．I hope that you will all find it useful and that you will let me know if you have any comments．I value your input． We started this year with a major new product and we really hit the ground running．Our sales for the first quarter of the year were very impressive and，indeed，broke all records．（4）This was particularly heartening as this occurred at a time when many of our competitors were feeling the pinch．Indeed，there was talk among economic experts of an impending recession and even of economic meltdown．Fortunately，this gloom and doom did not materialize． It was good that we were able to buck the trend，but as I said，we had a major new product and one ，indeed，that is popularly believed to have broken the mould of kitchen equipment． Therefore，it would have been extremely surprising，not to say distressing，if we had not achieved substantial sales with it． What is rather distressing is that the rest of the year did not live up to the promise of the first quarter ， this despite the fact that the financial state of the country improved in the course of the year．（5）To some extent，of course，it would not have been realistic to expect that peak level sales could be sustained throughout the year． Some falling － off was worse than had been anticipated．This gave us all food for thought and，fortunately，we were able to learn from the experience ．Indeed，I think we should regard the introduction of the new product as a useful learning curve from which all departments have benefited．The whole programme of product launching has been assessed and revised where appropriate．We shall all be better prepared next time． On the whole，this was a successful year and we hope to build on that success in the coming year．Thank you all for your contribution to this success．Get ready to do even better next year！ For Questions 1－3，mark Y（for YES）if the statement agrees with the information given in the passage； N（for No）if the statement contradicts the information given in the passage． 1．The sales report was usually sent out in the middle of the financial year． 2．The company was not affected by an economic downturn in the first quarter． 3．The company gained useful experience on how to launch and sell a new product． For Questions 4 and 5，translate the underlined sentences of the passage into Chinese． Remember to write the answer on the answer sheet．
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