3. Reading I

Fill in the gaps with proper words to complete the text (10 assignments, 3 points for a correct answer; maximum score – 30 points)

Gm vs. Ford: The hundred-year war

FORTUNE -- It's the mother of all corporate wars, bigger than Coke vs. Pepsi, older than Nike vs. Reebok, and more compelling than Pampers vs. Huggies. It's fought with billion-dollar 1) _____-- for new models and marketing, and it is subject to more ups and downs than the stock market.

The two companies have been battling it out for 2)_______, market share, and hometown bragging rights almost from the time GM) 3) _________ in Flint, Michigan in 1908, five years after Ford got started in the Detroit suburb of Dearborn.

Keeping score means watching three major indicators: annual profit, market capitalization, and U.S. market 4) ________.

At the moment, the two auto giants are fighting a battle over market share. GM is currently the overall 5) ________, but analysts are divided on who the real winner is.

Over the last century, the two companies have rarely changed position. Ford held the lead until the late 1920s when the Model T ran out of gas, and then fell permanently behind the market-dominating GM machine 6) __________ by Alfred P. Sloan. In the following decades, Ford enjoyed brief periods of leadership in the late 1980s and again in the 1990s, but GM stayed in front until it began to skid into its 2009 bankruptcy.

Since then, GM has been transformed into a fighting machine. Behind new 7) _____ Dan Akerson, it has been swapping out older 8) __________ for more aggressive younger ones, accelerating production plans and product programs, and working harder on the salesroom floor.

Akerson's moves have come as Ford rides a wave of public respect resulting from improved product quality, smart use of global resources, and the focused leadership.

At the moment, Ford holds a small 9)____________ in annual profits -- $6.6 billion in 2010 to $6.2 billion for GM -- and a larger one in market capitalisation -- $55 billion to GM's $50 billion -- thanks to a 20% run-up in share 10) ________ this year.

1. a) fortunes b) budgets c) amounts d) expenses

2. a) benefits b) consumers c) profits d) customers

3. a) was found b) was founded c) was initiated d) was started

4. a) part b) stake c) segment d) share

5. a) leader b) monopolist c) player d) outsider

6. a) created b) sold c) driven d) improved

7. a) leader b) boss c) chief d) CEO

8. a) executives b) workforce c) staff d) people

9. a) increase b) advantage c) benefit d) improvement

10. a) cost b) value c) price d) amount

4. READING II

(5 assignments, 2 points for a correct answer; maximum score – 10 points)

• Read the article below about retirement age.

• Choose the best sentence from those given below to fill each of the gaps.

• For each gap (1– 5) mark one letter (A – E).

• Do not use any letter more than once.

Many governments have started to deal with the ageing problem. 1) ______________________. So older people are going to have to stay economically active longer and ; and that is going to require not just governments, but also employers and workers, to behave differently.

Since 1971 the life expectancy of the average 65-year-old in the rich world has improved by four to five years. By 2050, forecasts suggest, they will add a further three years on top of that. Until now, people have converted all that extra lifespan into leisure time. The average retirement age in the OECD in 2010 was 63, almost one year lower than in 1970.

Living longer, and retiring early, might not be a problem if the supply of workers were increasing.2)____________________________________. The young will be shoring up pensions systems which are riddled with problems.

Most governments are already planning increases in the retirement age. America is heading for 67, Britain for 68. 3)_________________________. Belgium allows women to retire at 60, for instance, and has no plans to change that. Under current policies the mean retirement age by 2050 will still be less than 65, barely higher than it was after the second world war.

Working longer has three great advantages. 4)_____________________________ .

Raising the official retirement age is only part of the solution, working practices and attitudes need to change as well. 5)_____________________. In physically demanding occupations, some may be unable to work into their late 60s. The incapacitated will need disability benefits. Others will need to find a different job. But this should be less of a problem than it used to be now that economies are based on services not manufacturing. In knowledge-based jobs, age is less of a disadvantage.

1. Western managers worry too much about the quality of older workers.

2. But declining birth rates imply that by 2050 there will be just 2.6 American workers supporting each pensioner and the figures for France, Germany and Italy will be 1.9, 1.6 and 1.5 respectively.

3. They have announced increases in the official retirement age that attempt to hold down the costs of state pensions.

4. The employee gets more years of wages; the government receives more in taxes and pays out less in benefits; and the economy grows faster as more people work for longer.

5. Others are moving more slowly.