TEST ONE

Part 1

Questions 1-7

READING (1 hour)

Questions 1-45

• Look at the statements below and the job advertisements on the opposite page. • Which job (A, B, C or D) does each statement 1-7 refer to? • For each statement 1-7, mark one letter (A, B, C or D) on your Answer Sheet. • You will need to use some of these letters more than once. • There is an example at the beginning (0).

Example:

o You need to have experience of computer systems.

1 You will need to work effectively with other departments.

2 The company is going to expand significantly soon.

3 The company is the most important one in its field.

4 You may need to alter the way your department is organised.

5 You will need the ability to work well within groups.

6 The company offers good opportunities for promotion.

7 You will need to organise contracts with other companies.

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FINANCE DIRECTOR SOLVIT

£50-70,000

SOLVIT is the country's leading legal

management IT systems provider, having

developed the ability to deliver up-to-date

technology to customers way ahead of its

competitors. We now need to appoint a

Finance Director to play an essential role in

the strategic development of the company.

Candidates should have a record of

achievement in a high technology

environment (ideally software applications).

.. "FINANCIAL CONTROLLER

IB&CI Approx£45,OOO CORP

B&C CORP is a highly successful marketing

services company. With an impressive

client list, this well-established organisation

offers a secure and enjoyable career in an

exciting business area. The Financial

Contmller will be responsible for

recommending and carrying out any necessary changes in the running of the

finance department. The Controller will also

be expected to deal with and build

individual relationships with non-finance

managers, providing input and guidance.

...

......

Test One Reading

BUSINISS STRATIGY (ONSUlTANT

NlV RETAIL. GROUP

£50,000 + Benefits

NV is one of the country's biggest retailers and is

now looking to appoint a new in-house consultant

for business strategy. Key requirements are

analytical ability and a capacity to innovate. These

must be combined with strong teamworking skills.

Candidates should possess the potential to take

advantage of the considerable career progression

possibilities available within the NV Retail Group .

L·1lI VICE-PRESIDENT (fINANCE) TOUCHSTONE PLC

Approx £55,000 + Stock Options

TOUCHSTONE is involved in the

development, manufacture and marketing of

state-of-the-art medical products. We can

offer a rare and challenging opportunity in

senior finance. The Vice-President Finance's

responsibilities will involve the negotiation

of commercial arrangements including

licenSing and joint venture agreements. The

successful candidate will enjoy a rewarding

career with an organisation that is just about

to achieve rapid and effective growth.

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Part 2

Questions 8 -12

• Read the text below about work routines. • Choose the best sentence from the opposite page to fill each of the gaps. • For each gap 8 -12, mark one letter (A-G) on your Answer Sheet. • Do not use any letter more than once. • There is an example at the beginning (0).

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CHANGE YOUR OFFICE HABITS

Paper is a good thing. Forget about the paperless office. Software programmes such as Outlook and Lotus Notes and em ail are all very well, but it's better to have pieces of paper that you can see, touch, stick to your monitor, keep in a book - and remember. (0) .... Q. .... Re-discover the joys of paper and you'll find yourself working much more efficiently.

Becoming a fan of paper may not be your personal way of being more productive at work. (8) ........... The vast majority of office workers waste time during the day because of them -chatting, working ineffectively, or just staring into space.

To be effective, you need to plan. Set yourself a list of tasks each day and tick each one off as you have achieved it. If you're in the habit of missing lunch, don't. Take a proper break or by 3pm you'll be good for nothing. As a business advisor, I've worked with senior managers who were working until 9 or 1 Opm, but once I'd shown them how to plan effectively, they got twice as much done and were off home by six. (9) ........... But for most people, who have to struggle against their own bad habits with no outside help, making a change can be more difficult.

You need strength of mind to change bad habits. For example, you might not be replying to e-mails when you receive them, which means that just when you should be going home you have a whole series of people to reply to. (10) ........... So you need to train yourself to respond when the message comes in.

Of course, bad working habits aren't simply about how you work, but can also be a reflection of how you communicate. (11) ........... Rememberthattalk at work is always public and in most work settings your performance will, at some point, be evaluated on your conversational style.

It might seem impossible to change the way you communicate, but even a small alteration in style can make a big difference. If you get very nervous in meetings, you may tend to talk a lot to try to cover it up. What you need to do is to think carefully about what you really need to say, and then speak clearly and concisely. If you never speak in meetings, make an effort to say at least one thing. If you're worried that you come over as too bossy, try a gentler approach. (12) ........... And if you're always first to voice an opinion, make sure you rememberto ask others for theirs.

It's true that falling back into bad habits can be hard to avoid. But unlike dieting or giving up smoking, which involve stopping something enjoyable, changing bad work habits means you give up unenjoyable late nights at the office. It will improve your whole life.

Test One Reading

Example:

A That kind of major improvement is easy if you're at a high level, and someone is paid to come and organise you.

B Despite this, bad habits at work waste both time and money.

C However, that doesn't mean that you wouldn't benefit from changing your working habits in some way.

D Doing it badly is one of the prime causes of problems in the workplace, and judgements about people are often based on how well they express themselves.

E This may involve saying 'it would be helpful if you could ... ', rather than 'I need you to ... '.

F Many of them were probably expecting an answer much earlier on.

G Given the way our memories work, having things stored on computer just means we forget about them.

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Test One Reading

Part 3 Questions 13-18

• Read the article below about banking and the questions on the opposite page. • For each question 13-18, mark one letter (A, B, C or D) on your Answer Sheet for the answer

you choose.

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The changing face of banking

Banking has always been different from other industries. In its processes, it escaped the

industrial revolution of the 19th century, remaining for decades a cottage industry while manufacturing businesses developed along mass production lines. In its regulatory framework, too, banks stayed apart, and were given security by government protection, for which they paid a heavy price in the shape of restrictions on the businesses they could operate in to earn fees and on how those businesses should be run.

The cottage industry stage has long since passed. More efficient approaches to communication have enabled administrative processes that once had to be carried out separately in each bank branch to be grouped in processing centres. Economies of scale in some areas of the financial industry have at last followed, resulting in links between companies without the scale to compete alone.

Falling telecommunication costs have enabled banks to answer their customers' telephone calls from call centres dealing with customers over a wide area, rather than from offices for each individual town or city. Administration of investment funds has migrated to cost-effective centres. Several banks are exploring the transfer of some processing functions to other continents, following a path well worn by some sectors of manufacturing.

As well as the increased use of the telephone network for banking operations, the Internet is playing an increasing role. The belief that this will

lead to a rise in bank profitability appears surprising to some. Howard Davies, chairman of the Financial Services Authority, the UK's financial regulator, points out that the Internet makes it easier for customers to take control of their money. 'That must be worrying for an industry which for so long has relied on custOlners' inactivity,' he warned in a recent speech.

In fact, one of the most striking effects of technological advance on banking has been to make it much easier for new entrants to break into a market, without going to the expense of building a new branch network. In order to confront these new entrants, and also to l<eep up with the efficiency opportunities within the traditional banking industry, banks have begun a drive for greater scale of operations. However, even after years of banks merging with each other in order to achieve this, the US still has thousands of banks, and it's only in very few countries that a few of the largest banks control more than half the national market.

Marcel Ospel, chief executive of UES, now the third largest bank in Europe and itself a product of a merger between two of Switzerland's big three banks, says lTIOre drarnatic consolidation is yet to come, in both retail and wholesale finance. 'This industry, somewhere down the road, is going to look like the car industry or the oil industry, where you have a few international operators who each control 8, 10 01' 12 per cent of the world market,' he says.

13 What does the writer say about banking in the past in the first paragraph?

A It kept changing its methods. B It charged customers higher fees. e It benefited from government policy. D It refused to cooperate with certain types of business.

14 What change in banking is mentioned in the second paragraph?

A banks taking over other types of company B banks changing the location of main branches e banks developing new business partnerships D banks dealing with a greater number of customers

15 In the third paragraph, the writer's main topic is

A the fact that banks are relocating certain aspects of their operation. B the fact that banks tend to copy what their competitors do. e the results of changes in certain banking processes. D the problems that banks have had to deal with.

16 Howard Davies says that performing banking transactions over the Internet

A will produce surprisingly high profits for banks. B makes many customers feel nervous about security. e will reduce the amount of work involved in transactions. D enables customers to keep a closer check on their accounts.

17 According to the writer, because new banks have entered the market,

A some banks are stressing the benefits of traditional methods. B there has been an increase in the total number of banks. e existing banks have taken steps to increase in size. D each bank has a smaller share of the market.

18 In the concluding paragraph, we learn that in the future

A banks will combine operations with other industries. B a number of banks will become increasingly global. e banks will fluctuate in terms of their market share. D the largest banks will be those based in Europe.

Test One Reading

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Test One Reading

Part 4 Questions 19-33

• Read the text below about hotels for business travellers. • Choose the correct word to fill each gap from A, B, Cor D on the opposite page. • For each question 19-33, mark one letter (A, B, C or D) on your Answer Sheet. • There is an example at the beginning (0).

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Better and better for the business traveller

There's been a lot of progress in services for the business traveller. It (0) ...... ... c:.:. ........ off

with a desk in each room. Then a second phone was (19) ................... , so you didn't have

to (20) ................... the bedside one over to the desk. Today, any hotel

(21) ................... itself as a business hotel is (22) ................... to have a fax machine

available for your use, (23) ........................ there's not one actually (24) ................... for

you in your room. In fact, many hotels have gone a step (25) ................... by adding

direct, high-speed Internet access.

These facilities may sound expensive, but they're a worthwhile (26) ................... for the

properties, given that the American Hotel and Motel Association (27) ................... that

business and convention travellers (28) ................... for approximately fifty-six per cent

of domestic lodgings each year. That's a total of 221 million trips. No wonder hotels are

competing for the business traveller.

'It all (29) ................... out of the idea of having a business centre in the hotel,' says John

Fox of PKF Consulting, a New York-based firm that tracks hotel developments and

statistics. 'Today the (30) ................... is to bring the business centre into the room.'

But giving corporate travellers a high-quality service (3 I) ................... more than just

office equipment. It also involves being (32) ................... airports and financial districts,

and (33) ................... free shoe shines and mobile phones.

Test One Reading

Example:

A opened B began C started Died

19 A founded B advanced C introduced D commenced

20 A pull B put C place D position

21 A claiming B promoting C urging D notifying

22 A demanded B insisted C needed D required

23 A if B unless C without D whether

24 A attending B served C remaining D provided

25 A greater B longer C further D higher

26 A capital B investment C charge D fund

27 A adds B counts C totals D estimates

28 A represent B identify C account D calculate

29 A grew B increased C built D lifted

30 A trend B direction C course D route

31 A has B takes C does D gets

32 A close B next C about D near

33 A forwarding B offering C disposing D submitting

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Test One Reading

PartS

Questions 34-45

• Read the article below about MBAs. • In most of the lines 34-45 there is one extra word. It is either grammatically incorrect or does not fit in

with the sense of the text. Some lines, however, are correct. • If a line is correct, write CORRECT on your Answer Sheet. • If there is an extra word in the line, write the extra word in CAPITAL LETIERS on your Answer Sheet. • The exercise begins with two examples (0) and (00).

Examples: 0 @] [EJ ~@]@]000@]0

MBA Benefits

o A Masters in Business Administration (MBA) is without of doubt the best

00 management qualification available, and is equally useful in almost any field.

34 Whether you work in industry, the commerce or public service, an MBA will

35 prepare you for a general management role. If you work in professional

36 practice, an MBA will so broaden your understanding of the general business

37 issues that facing the clients you work with. If you're a consultant, it will

38 increase up your strategic awareness and analytical skills. Moreover, an MBA

39 can make it a big difference to your employability in a highly competitive jobs

40 market. People often think that there is a common MBA syllabus and since that

41 all courses are similar to. It is true that all MBAs have a central programme

42 covering key management functions, such as finance, human resources,

43 strategy and marketing. But there is the similarity ends. Some courses teach

44 each of these subjects separately while others take out a more integrated

45 approach, showing, for an example, the effect of finance on marketing decisions.

You should choose the course that best fits your career ambitions.

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