Exercise 1. Business.

1. I was pleased to receive your response to my proposal but there are one or two points that need ..........

a) Notification; b) certification; c) clarification; d) signification.

2. A report has just been ......... that gives details of the causes of this trend towards informality in the business sector.

a) Published; b) directed; c) opened; d) held.

3. According to the ......... in the report it is clear that employees under the age of 35 prefer to dress casually at work.

a) Seeking; b) searching; c) findings; d) probing.

4. Thirty years ago this kind of informality would not have been ..........

a) Withheld; b) endured; c) suffered; d) tolerated.

5. All employees are kindly requested to ......... from smoking in the presence of customers.

a) Stop; b) restrain; c) refrain; d) restrict.

6. The meeting went on for three hours and as a result there was no time left to discuss all the topics on the ..........

a) List; b) index; c) contents; d) agenda.

7. There's really no point in hoping to add important topics right at the end of the meeting under the heading of any other ..........

a) Business; b) work; c) activity; d) tasks.

8. The chairman was obliged to bring the meeting to a ......... because a fire broke out in the adjoining room.

a) Cessation; b) standstill; c) stopping; d) halt.

9. It is absolutely essential that the clerk takes care to ......... any decisions that have been reached during the meeting.

a) Time; b) minute; c) detail; d) measure.

10. As so few members had turned up at the meeting, it was decided to ......... it until further notice.

a) Delay; b) wait; c) postpone; d) hold.

Exercise 2. Product Improvement.

1. Before the product is put on the market, the company must ......... whether it complies with safety standards.

a) Ask; b) calculate; c) ascertain; d) argue.

2. It is absolutely essential to do some thorough ......... before you even think of putting a new product on the market.

a) Revision; b) research; c) repeat; d) return.

3. You have a ......... to the public to ensure your toy products are suitable for children to play with.

a) Responsibility; b) concern; c) attitude; d) behaviour.

4. The company is busy trying to ......... the problems arising from the sudden drop in sales of their cosmetic products.

a) Answer; b) solve; c) discover; d) dissolve.

5. The job of the ......... of this particular section is to train the members to deal politely with any complaints from the public.

a) Controller; b) organizer; c) supervisor; d) governor.

6. Inspiration has its place in any form of product development but at the same time you also need to adopt some kind of ......... approach.

a) Systematic; b) thematic; c) automatic; d) emblematic.

7. A ......... approach to new ideas is to be welcomed but you do need a strong element of imagination as well.

a) Physical; b) fundamental; c) judgmental; d) logical.

8. Since 1993 or if you like within the last ........., there have been many products that have failed because of poor marketing.

a) Period; b) decade; c) scale; d) time.

9. We would definitely like to ......... the proposal you have presented to us with a view to including it in our current range of products.

a) Discover; b) uncover; c) examine; d) reflect.

10. As we have enough money in our present budget, we are happy to launch this new product in the nature of an ..........

a) Enterprise; b) experiment; c) undertaking; d) exception.