The Leader in English Training in Romania NAME:_____________________ COMPANY:_________________ DATE:______________________ SCORE:______________________ FINAL TEST LEVEL: Intermediate PART 1 – LISTENING (10 marks) A. You will hear five people talking about telephoning. For each recording, match each speaker to the piece of advice (a–h) that he/she gives. You will hear the recording twice. There are two pieces of advice you WILL NOT need. 1 Speaker 1 ___ a) Explain the purpose of your call 2 Speaker 2 ___ b) Don’t interrupt the other person 3 Speaker 3 ___ c) Be careful when transferring calls 4 Speaker 4 ___ d) Control any feelings of frustration 5 e) Prepare your call before dialling Speaker 5 ___ f) Be friendly and professional g) Clarify anything you don’t understand h) Take notes during the call Master your English! 9 The Leader in English Training in Romania B. Listen to the radio report and choose the correct option. 6 Over the last year, Matthews has seen a) overall profits fall by over fifty percent. b) its turnover more than double. c) clothing sales decrease by about a third. 7 Which statement is true of the smaller clothing retailers? a) Six have sold their businesses to bigger retailers. b) Three went bankrupt over the summer. c) Two hope to merge their operations soon. 8 According to Jane, Beanelys a) is the most popular retailer in the area. b) is changing the way the company is organised. c) plans to expand the chain. 9 Which statement does Jane make about the clothing industry? a) There have been relatively few changes in customer demand. b) Small businesses can’t afford the rates on their premises. c) There is a large number of competitors. 10 What reason is given for problems in the clothing industry? a) Companies are failing to diversify. b) There has been an increase in customers shopping online. c) Large companies can demand better deals from suppliers. Master your English! 10 The Leader in English Training in Romania PART 2 – READING (12 marks) A. You are going to read a magazine article about a radio presenter. For questions 11 – 16, choose the best answer - a), b), c) or d) – according to the information in the text. A New Voice on the Radio Margherita Taylor talks to Sarah Edhill about what it’s like being at Capitol Radio. Margherita Taylor is the only female presenter at Capital Radio, one of London’s top music radio stations. She got into radio while she was a student in Birmingham. Along with hundreds of other hopefuls, she and a friend queued for hours in the rain to take part in a ‘Search Star’ competition held by a local radio station, BRMB. ‘I had to read a travel script and a weather script talk about myself for a minute, then introduce a record. After that, they sent me back out into the rain,’ she says. But within days the phone call came to say that her voice had earned her a regular show on BRMB. Truly the stuff dreams are made of. After working there for eighteen months, she was offered a job with Capital. Margherita is a London girl and arriving at Capital was like coming home. ‘I grew up listening to Capital Radio,’ she says. ‘People say, “Wasn’t it frightening, joining such well-known presenters?” But everyone here is so down to earth. It would be off-putting if the others had people doing their make-up, or star signs on their office doors. But there’s none of that- Mick Brown, for instance, finishes his show and wanders off to get the bus home with everyone else.’ Margherita claims never to get nervous before a show – nerves are for the weak. ‘You can’t get nervous because then you make mistakes,’ she says. Of course, there has been the odd disaster. ‘For instance, when I did my first live concert show at BRMB, I’d only done one programme. In front of a crowd of 50,000, I went on stage to introduce a certain well-known singer. I said: “Please welcome our next performer. You know her best for hits like…” Then I just went blank. There was this silence from the crowd, and for the life of me I couldn’t think what she’d sung. That’s one occasion that will stay with me forever.’ Margherita says that her own musical tastes are varied. But she doesn’t pick her own music for her shows. The Capital computer selects the records in advance from a list approved by the station managers. ‘The station has a certain sound, and if we all picked our own music, it wouldn’t sound like Capital,’ she says. ‘But for someone who likes music, this is a dream job. I get to go to concerts and meet bands you can hear on my show. It’s great to hear the “behind the scenes” gossip.’ Most people would expect that a presenter’s most important qualities are a nice voice and huge amounts of confidence, but Margherita says that basic maths is handy as well. ‘You have to make sure that you’ve got an eye on everything that’s going on in the studio, but you’ve got to be able to add and subtract and think in minutes and seconds,’ she says. You’re dealing with timed records, and with announcements and commercials that are also timed precisely, and you have to be ready to switch to the news at exactly the right second. If you’re going over to a live event, you need to be ready for that on time, not a second earlier or later.’ This isn’t the sort of girl to let the rock’n’ roll lifestyle go to her head. Even if she did, her family would bring her down to earth. ‘When I started at Capital the only thing my brothers asked was whether they’d get free records,’ she remembers. ‘And my mum couldn’t even find the station on her radio.’ Margherita Taylor is very nice and very easygoing, but very much in control. She is so much a ‘Capitol Radio girl’ that you might think she is just doing a good job for the station’s publicity department, although you know what she’s saying really comes from the heart. She smiles a lot, laughs a lot and is generally a great advert for Capital. Master your English! 11 The Leader in English Training in Romania 11. What do we learn about Margherita in the first paragraph? a) She became a radio presenter by chance. b) She expected to win the competition. c) She was keen to become a radio presenter. d) She practised before the competition. 12. What do we learn about Margherita’s first live concert show? a) It is the only time she has made a serious mistake. b) Being nervous was not the cause of the problem. c) People often remind her of what happened then. d) She had not expected to have the problem she had. 13. One point Margherita makes about her job is that she a) has changed her attitude to music. b) is unhappy that the records she plays are chosen for her. c) likes most of the music that she plays on her show. d) enjoys talking to the people whose records she plays. 14. What does Margherita say about presenting a show? a) It is essential to keep in mind what is going to happen next. b) It is more complicated than she had previously thought. c) The ability to add and subtract is the most important requirement. d) The content of a show is sometimes changed suddenly. 15. How have Margherita’s family reacted to her success? a) with caution b) with interest c) with surprise d) without excitement 16. In the final paragraph, the writer says that Margherita a) was different from what she had expected. b) genuinely believes that Capital is a good radio station. c) feels it necessary to talk about Capital Radio all the time. d) has already changed her job at Capital Radio. Master your English! 12 The Leader in English Training in Romania PART 3 – SKILLS (10 marks) Complete the short dialogues below with a response (a–j). 17 A: Thank you for listening. Does anyone have any questions? B:____ 18 A: It’s nice to see you again, Sue! B:____ 19 A: Can we come back to that later? Dave, over to you now. B:____ 20 A: Are you saying that we’ll have to postpone the meeting? B:____ 21 A: I propose that we develop a prototype. B: ___ 22 A: In your opinion, when shall we publish the annual report, in December? B: ___ 23 A: Let’s look at the issue from a different angle. Is there a way we could save money, for example? B: ___ 24 A: So, have we covered everything? B: ___ 25 A: Right, let’s get started, shall we? B: ___ 26 A: Would you find out what happened to my plane tickets? They haven’t arrived yet. B: ____ Responses: a) You too. How are you? b) Yes, can you tell us the reasons for the low sales figures? c) Thanks, I’d like to focus on the problems we’re having with outsourcing. d) I agree with you. e) I think a month earlier would be better. f) Hold on a moment, Michelle isn’t here yet. g) No, just that we should start a bit later. h) Sure, I’ll look into things straightaway. i) Yes, I think so. Joe, do you agree? j) Do you mean by reducing salaries? Master your English! 13 The Leader in English Training in Romania PART 4 – USE OF ENGLISH (48 marks) A. Complete the sentences with the correct alternatives. 27 All the staff were asked to _______________ to Spain. a) outsource b) invest c) relocate d) reorganise 28 There’s a problem with the machinery so the quality of the goods hasn’t reached its usual _______________ a) fault b) flaw c) standard d) design 29 B-Voy Bank is looking for three new bank officers to work in its new high street _______________ a) branch b) factory c) plant d) store 30 It’s important that we get a _______________ for our product soon so that no one can copy our ideas. a) breakthrough b) discovery c) brainwave d) patent 31 This organisation is too _______________ There are four forms for everything! a) bureaucratic b) hierarchical c) flexible d) progressive 32 Bed-Lux has recently _______________ its main rival Duvet-Delights. a) merged b) taken over c) reorganised d) outsourced 33 I am writing to invite you to _______________ your research findings at the ECR conference. a) network b) socialise c) present d) talk 34 I want my new sofa to look good but it’s more important that it’s _______________ I don’t want to have to replace it for years! a) time-saving b) stylish c) durable d) space-saving 35 I’m 63 now, so I’ve only got two years to go until I reach _______________ age. Master your English! 14 The Leader in English Training in Romania a) redundancy b) appointment c) retirement Master your English! d) promotion 15 The Leader in English Training in Romania 36 Pre-tax profits have _______________ to an all time low of $1.2m. a) plummeted b) skyrocketed c) soared d) risen B. For questions 37-48, read the text below and think of the word which best fits each space. Use only ONE word in each gap. There is an example at the beginning (0). The birth of YouTube In 2005, Chad Hurley and Steve Chen, two software designers from Silicon Valley in California, (0) were invited to a dinner party. Several people had brought their camcorders to the party and these people were complaining about (37)___________ difficult it was to share home videos online. That was when Chad and Steve came up (38)_____________ the idea of YouTube, the site which makes (39)_______________ easy to upload home videos onto the Internet. They formed a company, borrowed some money and (40)_______________ up a business. It turned (41)___________ that millions of people already had short home video clips that they thought it (42)___________ be fun to share with other enthusiasts around the world. Launched in December 2005, YouTube soon contained more (43)_____________ a million short video clips. People were uploading 8000 clips a day, and watching three million a day. They had mostly heard about the site through word (44)______________mouth, email and hyperlink, and eighty percent of the clips had (45)_____________ made by amateurs. So why was YouTube such an immediate success? Researchers found that, (46)__________ average, people were spending fifteen minutes on the site during each visit, (47)_____________was enough time to view several short funny clips. In Master your English! 16 The Leader in English Training in Romania (48)____________ words, they were using YouTube to give them a little break from their work or study. C. For questions 49-54, complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the first sentence, using the word given. Do not change the word given! You must use between TWO and FIVE words, including the word given. Here is an example (0): 0. What type of music do you like best? FAVOURITE What __is your favourite __ type of music? 49. How much does a new laptop computer cost? PRICE What __________________________ of a new laptop computer? 50. They are opening a new branch of that bookshop in our town. BEING A new branch of that bookshop ___________________ in our town. 51. Patrick can’t wait to see the team’s next home game. FORWARD Patrick is really __________________ the team’s next home game. 52. A very friendly taxi driver drove us into town. DRIVEN We ________________________ a very friendly taxi driver. 53. Which of the places you visited interested you most? THE Master your English! 17 The Leader in English Training in Romania Which was _______________________ that you visited? 54. Sally arrived late at the conference because her flight was delayed. TIME If Sally’s _________________________ she wouldn’t have arrived late at the conference. D. In most of the lines (55-62) in the article there is an extra word. Find these words. If a line of correct, put a tick in the space next to that line. 55 Use of video or web conferencing by US companies instead of these face- to-face __________ 56 meetings has more than doubled in two years. A survey by the country’s __________ 57 National Business Travel Association found it that business travellers used __________ 58 it an average of five times last year, compared by with twice in 2002. But travel __________ 59 managers remain evenly divided on whether the technology will be retain its __________ 60 popularity in the future. Meanwhile, the association does forecasts that travel __________ 61 costs for US companies will rise by seven percent next year. The amount __________ 62 spent out on air travel and car hire will rise by five percent and the cost of __________ eating out will go up by three percent. From the Financial Times E. Complete the article using the correct form of the verbs in brackets. Fast-growing paper manufacturer GRED _______________ 63 (said / has said) yesterday that it _______________ 64 (creates / is going to create) seven hundred and sixty jobs over the next six years as part of an expansion plan.The firm _______________ announced / has announced) that it _______________ 66 65 (has been (plans / will plan) to build a major extension to its headquarters. This decision _______________ 67 (will result / is resulting) in new jobs throughout the region. The extension _______________ 68 (will complete / will be completed) in October and should expand the plant by a third.GRED also says it _______________ 69 (will help / helps) the business double sales over the next Master your English! 18 The Leader in English Training in Romania five years. The investment _______________ 70 (will also provide / is providing) extra production capacity, and a better goods despatch area. The investment comes after a record year for the company. Since March GRED _______________ 71 (saw / has seen) a huge rise in sales and last week a company spokesman predicted that profits _______________ 72 (could reach / is reaching) £1.7 million for the past twelve months. This would mean profits were up twelve percent on the previous year. GRED _______________ 73 (has planned / has been planned) to spend £40 million this year, opening forty-five shops and refurbishing existing premises. Two factories _______________ 74 (were also opened / have opened) by the company in Belgium recently. PART 5 – WRITING (20 marks) You work for a stationery company and you received and order five weeks ago for 25 printer cartridges from a client, Mr Scott. You are dispatching the order today. Write an email (120 to 140 words) to the client. Remember to include the following points: Thank him for the order Apologise for not dealing with it sooner Give a reason for the delay Give a new delivery date and time Offer a discount Master your English! 19 The Leader in English Training in Romania S1 = Satisfactory/Excellent (80-100 marks) S2 = Satisfactory/Good (65-79 marks) Master your English! 20 The Leader in English Training in Romania S3 = Satisfactory/Pass (50-64 marks) N = Not (yet) Satisfactory (< 50 marks) Master your English! 21