Vocabulary tasks

A Synonyms

1. The writer uses three different words to describe an institute of higher education. What are they? Are they exact equivalents?

2. Two words are used many times with the meaning of “to find and employ new people”. What are they?

3. The word “campaign” is used twice in the article (lines 21and 28). What other phrase is used with a similar meaning to “campaign”?

4. “about 55 per cent of graduates who attended DaimlerChrysler's open day were invited for interview” (line 26).

1. What other word is used in the article with a similar meaning to “about”?

2. Think of at least three other words or phrases to give the idea of approximation.

B Word search

1. The article deals mainly with the theme of recruitment. Find at least ten words or phrases in the text connected with the idea of recruitment. The writer uses several phrases to express the idea of time, either as an approximate date, e.g. ”the late 1890s” or to describe when something will or did happen, e.g. “in the next few years”. How many similar time expressions can you find in the article?

C Complete the sentence

Use an appropriate word or phrase from Exercise A or B to complete each sentence.

1. Due to rapid expansion the company had to carry out an extensive …recruitment campaign… to hire new employees.

2. In ………………… very few people knew much about the Internet.

3. ………………… the next few years the use of the Internet is bound to expand even more.

4. There are literally hundreds of business ………………… around the world offering MBAs.

5. Many companies now ………………… new job vacancies on the Internet and in the press simultaneously.

6. ………………… graduates in subjects such as information technology have a lot of opportunities for their first job.

7. Our recruitment campaign was so successful that we had over 100 ………………… for each job.

8. We usually invite about 5 per cent of those who apply to come for ………………… so we can meet them in person.

9. An MBA is one of the best ………………… for an international management job.

D Expanding vocabulary

1. The article focuses on the subject of engineering. There are many different branches of engineering. Two are mentioned in the article - mechanical engineering and aerospace engineering. What other branches of engineering can you think of?

2. The article mentions that there is a “steady decline” in the numbers of engineering students, leading to a “shortage” of potential recruits.

1. Think of at least two other words similar in meaning to “decline”.

2. Think of at least three words with the opposite meaning.

3. Think of at least one word equivalent in meaning to “shortage”.

4. Think of at least one word with the opposite meaning.

E Definitions

Match these terms with their definitions.

mainstay (line 5) global reach (line 8) set to soar (line 10) impetus (line 21) broadened the spectrum of job opportunities (line 22) blanket invitation (line 23) a novel campaign (line 28) would-be trainees (line 30)

an influence that makes something happen people who want to enter a training programme a new and imaginative way to recruit having a presence all over the world an offer open to everyone about to increase a lot increased the range of possible jobs most important part of something

Unit 12. Selecting international managers