TEST 1 Англ яз

PART 1

GRAMMAR

Complete the sentences using the correct form of the verb in brackets.

1. __________ (you / work) on a new project at the moment?

2. My colleague always __________ (finish) work early on Fridays.

3. Our company __________ (already / invest) $4.54 million in Research and Development this year.

4. The marketing team __________ (meet) in London once a week.

5. At the moment we __________ (not develop) a new brand.

6. __________ (you / usually / buy) birthday presents for your colleagues?

7. The new company, GoKids, __________ (produce) books for children.

8. I __________ (see) my boss at 12.30 tomorrow.

9. I’m going to the conference too. I __________ (give) you a lift if you like.

10. The bus __________ (depart) from the central bus station at 7.35 p.m.

11. I won’t be able to make the workshop on Friday. I __________ (go) to Frankfurt for a long weekend.

12. __________ (you attend) the seminar next week?

13. I think the Budapest flight __________ (be) late too.

14. They __________ (stay) at the Ibis Hotel in Paris at the moment.

15. I’ve decided I __________ (leave) the company soon.

VOCABULARY

Complete the sentences using the correct alternatives.

16. What is Janice’s management ________________?

a) style b) way c) type

17. I’m working on a new research ________________

a) field b) project c) policy

18. I’ve heard our company is going to ________________ with PTL Limited.

a) merge b) acquire c) expand

19. We need to ________________ the layout of our department.

a) reorganise b) regulate c) relocate

20. I wouldn’t say they were cheap, but the CDs were certainly good________________

a) cost b) price c) value for money

21. We’ve discovered a complete lack of brand- ________________ among our target customers.

a) stretching b) awareness c) force

22. Expect ________________ on this service of up to 2 hours.

a) delays b) seats c) overbooking

23. The business has twelve retail ________________ in London.

a) subsidiaries b) outlets c) warehouses

24. Millers is a very ________________ company. I can’t see it ever modernising the way it operates.

a) conservative b) dynamic c) progressive

25. I’m working on a new campaign to ________________ our new product range.

a) promote b) move c) relocate 61 I work in a large department ________________ .

a) store b) kiosk c) warehouse

26. In order to get a new job, I need to ________________ .

a) retrain b) retail c) relaunch

27. Shall we walk upstairs or take the ________________ ?

a) subway b) lift c) left

28. I don’t ___________ with you at all.

a) complain b) criticise c) agree

29. Shop at Davey’s – we stand for ___________ and reliability.

a) quantity b) quality c) standard

Reading 1

Read the article and decide if these statements are true or false.

30. British companies are failing to spend money on modernising their businesses.

31. Large numbers of companies have invested in new IT equipment.

32. The press have reported on many unsuccessful projects.

33. LS took over Calcot.

34. LS recently took over its rival.

35. Bilton’s is a successful partnership.

36. Small and medium-sized businesses need to negotiate better.

37. Parts-2-go and Delkon are working closely together.

Changes in business operations

By Alan Rodger

British companies are investing huge amounts of money in making changes to their traditional business practices. The main aims behind this investment are to increase the quality of services provided, while reducing prices.

The demand for available and skilled IT resources in the UK is so great that many customer services companies have decided to outsource contracts to low-cost countries, such as India, in order to meet this demand.

So, what are the challenges and opportunities that outsourcing presents? There have been many newspaper stories of failed projects and broken-down relationships between customers and the service companies who have outsourced contracts. Probably the most famous of these stories was LS, who had agreed a ten-year deal to provide services for Tilkin. This ended earlier this year, when LS was replaced by Calcot. However, it was not all bad news and LS behaved professionally and helped to ensure the successful takeover of the service by its rival, so the only problems reported were minor ones.

The main goal of investing in outsourcing is to improve the quality of customer services, and to lower the cost of operations at the same time. One example of a successful outsourcing partnership is Bilton’s. Almost two years ago the company started outsourcing services to a consortium of companies. The deal with the consortium is for five years. Payments are made to the consortium if it reaches its targets – it has to deliver a two percent improvement in customer satisfaction annually.

There are huge opportunities for small and medium-sized businesses to make savings by using shared services. For instance, organisations with similar requirements can negotiate to use the same service provider. This would mean that the costs for each company would be reduced through savings of scale. This is the model behind a deal recently announced for a joint venture between Parts-2-go and Delkon.

Partnerships are great opportunities to show what can be achieved with open minds, shared interests, and a commitment to better and cheaper services. Perhaps the experience of the past can actually help make changes for the future.

From the Financial Times

GLOSSARY

READING 2

Match the headings (38–42) to one of the newspaper articles (a–e)

38 Congratulations to local company! ­­­_________________________

39 Creativity comes at a price _________________________

40 New branches opening soon _________________________

41 What a waste of time! _________________________

42 Growth in IT _________________________

Now decide if the statements are true or false.

43 2IT is going to employ a senior executive.

44 Scoopy’s only won one prize.

45 Mercury plans to develop its business in France.

46 The majority of companies offer staff opportunities to be creative.

47 Most managers interviewed spend over two thirds of their time in meetings.

a)

2IT, based in Coleford, provides computer support to companies across the country and has achieved a record turnover this year of over £3 million. Now, founder and CEO Anne Smith has decided it is time to take on a new managing director. She said: ‘We have grown into a very successful operation, and I have decided the best way to continue to develop and change is to take on someone else with new ideas.’

b)

A Midlands company is top of the advertising world after winning this year’s award ‘Advertisers of the Year’. Advertising agency Scoopy’s, based in Solihull, won every category it entered, beating a number of well-known national companies. Scoopy’s won first prize for the UK’s best brochure, and best agency overall. Scoopy’s director said the award had surprised everyone at the company, but they were thrilled.

c)

Mercury, the UK-wide furniture retailer, has recently appointed John Drake, the former managing director of French company LTR, as operations director. He will report to the chief executive, Dennis Strong. Drake will be responsible for overseeing the launch of ten new stores in the first quarter of next year. The out-of-town retail outlets will sell furniture direct to customers.

d)

A recent survey by the Belton Group has revealed that, although two thirds of companies claim to welcome innovation, only one third actually have strategies in place to enable staff to share their ideas, develop them, market them and ultimately increase the business. Companies may say they want innovation, but, to be truly innovative, companies need to encourage staff to work in teams, take risks and make mistakes.

e)

Meetings, meetings, meetings. Do you sometimes feel you spend your life sitting in one meeting or another? Well, if you do, you’re not the only one. One report, just published by Siliton Consultancy, claims that the majority of senior managers they questioned spent over seventy percent of their working life in meetings. Of these managers only six percent considered the meetings of any real value, feeling that too often meetings are badly–planned, badly-chaired and over-length.

READING 3

Read the article and decide if the statements (48–52) are true or false.

48 You can’t be successful in business and have a good work–life balance.

_____

49 Commitment is the only quality needed to become an effective leader.

_____

50 To be successful in business you may need to work longer hours.

_____

51 It’s more important to set work–life priorities when you are young.

_____

52 There’s no point aiming for a work–life balance when you have a family.

_____

Now complete the gaps (53–57) in the last two paragraphs with the sentences (a–e).

a) There is no point in pretending we can have it all.

b) It’s just that it has its price.

c) I’m sure we all know people who wouldn’t dream of missing the meeting.

d) You can work more intelligently, and delegate as much as you like.

e) However, unless they win the lottery, they will have less money in the bank!

Be a leader in business – with a life!

By Michael Skapinker

It is not possible to achieve a balance between work and life if you want to do well in business. To reduce only your workload will fail because in real life success in work depends on achieving targets. In a competitive business environment, leadership takes different qualities and skills – including commitment, passion, and of course a lot of time.

A work–life balance is not just about people wanting to leave the office at a reasonable time – they know that they have to compete against those who are prepared to work until the early hours, on the other side of the world. Take Pavan Vishnakarma, a freelance software developer who lives in Bhopal, for instance. He advertises himself as being available for work at any time.

The answer is surely to look for balance across our whole lives, rather than at any particular time. Life is about deciding what is important to you – and sometimes making hard decisions. There are periods when we want to devote ourselves to work and others when the family is more important.

It’s not that a work–life balance isn’t worth having. It certainly is. _______________ ⁵³. This is that you are not going to rise as high in the organisation or be as rich as those business leaders who have no interest in a work–life balance. _______________ ⁵⁴. However, if you are the sort of person who, faced with a choice between a school play and a crucial meeting, chooses the play, you will fall behind. _______________ ⁵⁵.

Show me a successful Chief Executive and I will show_you someone who barely_sees his/her children. _______________ ⁵⁶. We can’t. Those who spend more time with their family and friends will be richer in the ways that really matter. _______________ ⁵⁷.

From the Financial Times

PHOTOCOPIABLE © 2006 Pearson Longman ELT

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