INGLESE B EXAMPLE EXAM

1.LISTENING
Catherine is telephoning Sean about the arrangements for a meeting next week in Prague
1.Catherine is phoning about the meeting on
a. Tuesday the 13th

b. Thursday the 13th

c. Tuesday the 14th

2.While in Prague Sean will attend

a. two meetings on the same day

b. only one meeting

c. two meetings over two days

3. The best way for Sean to travel to the meeting venue is

a.

by taxi

b.on foot

4.

Sean will be able to get to the station by

a.

2pm

b.

3 pm

c.

c.

by bus or underground

2.30 pm

5. The taxi will be booked by

a. Sean

b. Reception

c. Catherine

2. Audio 09
Sara, Michelle and Ian are having a meeting to update about the progress of the preparations for the launch
of a new product.
1.

Michelle says the product will be launched

a.

before Christmas

b.

after Christmas c.

on the 5th November

2. If the printing takes more time it

A. will cost them extra money
risk

B. shouldn't cause any problems

C. will put the launch schedule at

3. The location for the launch party

a.
yet

has already been booked

4.

The majority of caterers

a. are too expensive

b.

will be booked in 2 weeks

b. have an acceptable cost

c.

hasnt been chosen

c. dont offer enough choice

5. Ian believes the launch

a.

may have to be postponed

b.

must be cancelled

Listening 3.
1. How many job vacancies for phone operators are there?
a.5

b. 2

c. 8

2. How much will the top grade 2 salary be?

c.

will take place as planned

a. 16,915

b. 16,950

c. 15,950

3. How many days holiday will the staff have?

a.21

b.33

c.12

4. What is the reference code?

a. CS08011

b.CF08011

c. CS08811

5. When will the job begin?

a. 7th September
Part 1

b. 1st October c. 6th October

Reading

Decide if the following are true or false according to the article

1.

Soon there will be more women than men at university in OECD countries.

2.

The author believes that countries which prevent womens empowerment in the workplace will
suffer the consequences.

3. There are many women running large U.S or British companies.

4. More men than women lost their jobs during the U.S recession.
5. It would be very expensive to make school holidays shorter and the school day longer.
What do the following words refer to in the text?
6. that (paragraph 2)
7. these things (para 9)
8. juggling (paragraph 3) means

a. conciliare
9. plague (paragraph 7) means

B scegliere fra

c. rinunciare

a. evitano

b. affliggono

c.ottengono

Women and Work

The rich worlds quiet revolution: women are gradually taking over the workplace
Dec 30th 2009 | From The Economist print edition
AT A time when the world is short of causes for celebration, here is a candidate: within the next few months
women will cross the 50% threshold and become the majority of the American workforce. Women already
make up the majority of university graduates in the OECD countries and the majority of professional workers
in several rich countries, including the United States. Women run many of the worlds great companies, from
PepsiCo in America to Areva in France.

Womens economic empowerment is arguably the biggest social change of our times. Just a generation ago,
women were largely confined to repetitive, menial jobs. They were routinely subjected to casual sexism and
were expected to abandon their careers when they married and had children. Today they are running some
of the organisations that once treated them as second-class citizens. Millions of women have been given
more control over their own lives. And millions of brains have been put to more productive use. Societies that
try to resist this trendmost notably the Arab countries, but also Japan and some southern European
countrieswill pay a heavy price in the form of wasted talent and frustrated citizens.
This revolution has been achieved with only a modicum of friction. Men have, by and large, welcomed
womens invasion of the workplace. Yet even the most positive changes can be incomplete or unsatisfactory.
This particular advance comes with two stings. The first is that women are still under-represented at the top
of companies. Only 2% of the bosses of Americas largest companies and 5% of their peers in Britain are
women. They are also paid significantly less than men on average. The second is that juggling work and
child-rearing is difficult. Middle-class couples routinely complain that they have too little time for their
children. But the biggest losers are poor childrenparticularly in places like America and Britain that have
combined high levels of female participation in the labour force with a reluctance to spend public money on
child care.
Dealing with the juggle
These two problems are closely related. Many women feel they have to choose between their children and
their careers. Women who prosper in high-pressure companies during their 20s drop out in dramatic
numbers in their 30s and then find it almost impossible to regain their earlier momentum. Less-skilled women
are trapped in poorly paid jobs with hand-to-mouth child-care arrangements. Motherhood, not sexism, is the
issue: in America, childless women earn almost as much as men, but mothers earn significantly less. And
those mothers relative poverty also disadvantages their children.
Demand for female brains is helping to alleviate some of these problems. Even if some of the new theories
about warm-hearted women making inherently superior workers are bunk several trends favour the more
educated sex, including the war for talent and the growing flexibility of the workplace. Law firms,
consultancies and banks are rethinking their up or out promotion systems because they are losing so many
able women. More than 90% of companies in Germany and Sweden allow flexible working. And new
technology is making it easier to redesign work in all sorts of family-friendly ways.
Women have certainly performed better over the past decade than men. In the European Union women have
filled 6m of the 8m new jobs created since 2000. In America three out of four people thrown out of work since
the mancession began have been male. And the shift towards women is likely to continue: by 2011 there
will be 2.6m more female than male university students in America.
The light hand of the state
All this argues, mostly, for letting the market do the work. That has not stopped calls for hefty state
intervention of the Scandinavian sort. Norway has used threats of quotas to dramatic effect. Some 40% of
the legislators there are women. All the Scandinavian countries provide plenty of state-financed nurseries.
They have the highest levels of female employment in the world and far fewer of the social problems that
plague Britain and America. Surely, comes the argument, there is a way to speed up the revolutionand
improve the tough lives of many working women and their children?
If that means massive intervention, in the shape of affirmative-action programmes and across-the-board
benefits for parents of all sorts, the answer is no. To begin with, promoting people on the basis of their sex is
illiberal and unfair, and stigmatises its beneficiaries. And there are practical problems. Lengthy periods of
paid maternity leave can put firms off hiring women, which helps explain why most Swedish women work in
the public sector and Sweden has a lower proportion of women in management than America does.

But there are plenty of cheaper, subtler ways in which governments can make life easier for women. Welfare
states were designed when most women stayed at home. They need to change the way they operate.
German schools, for instance, close at midday. American schools shut down for two months in the summer.
These things can be changed without huge cost. Some popular American charter schools now offer longer
school days and shorter summer holidays. And, without going to Scandinavian lengths, America could invest
more in its children: it spends a lower share of its GDP on public child-care than almost any other rich
country, and is the only rich country that refuses to provide mothers with paid maternity leave. Barack
Obama needs to measure up to his campaign rhetoric about real family values.
Still, these nagging problems should not overshadow the dramatic progress that women have made in recent
decades. During the second world war, when Americas menfolk were off at the front, the government had to
summon up the image of Rosie the Riveter, with her flexed muscle and We Can Do It slogan, to encourage
women into the workforce. Today women are marching into the workplace in ever larger numbers and taking
a sledgehammer to the remaining glass ceiling.
Use the word given to form a word that fits in the gap.
11. I think professional ______________ is really important in a job, otherwise I wouldnt feel motivated.
(develop)
12. She studied ___________ at University and now she works for a Japanese bank. (economy)
13. Hes such an ___________ person, he always turns up late and never finishes projects on time. (rely)
14. Our company is running a cultural _______ course because they want to break into the Chinese market.
( aware)
15. Italy is definitely a ___ society, rather than a collectivist one. (individual)
16. I think there has been _________ breakdown, because my colleagues are really angry with their boss
and he knows nothing about it. (communicate)
17. the customer was so _______________ with the bad service that he complained. (satisfy)
18. __________ and corruption are very widespread in under developed countries. (bribe)
19. Shes a very _________ person, she has so many friends. (social)
20. Hes so_________he just can never make his mind up. (decide)
REPLY TO THE FOLLOWING EMAILS
1. WRITE 140-160 WORDS
Dear Sanjit,
The CEO and I have decided that it would be a very good idea to set up a cultural training course for our
employees, in which they can learn about different aspects of Indian culture. We are planning to expand our
business there and possibly transfer some of our production and therefore it is essential that we are
successful.
As I am sure you will agree, we need to make sure that employees have a basic understanding of the
cultural norms and business culture. Please let me know if you have any ideas about what to include in the
course, I know you have extensive experience of working in India, and so I would greatly appreciate any
suggestions.
The Communication Training Centre have been recommended to us as a possible provider for the course.
Could you please contact them and find out about costs, availability, course content etc? I'd like it to start by
the end of July if possible, so you will need to check if this is possible. Perhaps it would be a good idea to
have a meeting with them to discuss everything

Let me know also if you have any other recommendations about the organisation of the course.
Looking forward to your feedback.
Best,
Aliz

WRITE 50-60 WORDS

Dear Azar
Just to ask you to do a couple of things for me for next month's presentation of the company's
Code of Ethics because I am leaving for Berlin tomorrow. Please could you:
Send a memo to all employees inviting them to the presentation and asking them to confirm
attendance.Write the press release.
Please let me see the press release before you send it. You can contact
me by phone or e-mail while I am away, so please get in touch if you need anything.
Thanks so much for your help.
Best,

Maddy

READING
1 F 2 T 3. F 4.T 5. F
6. Organisations
7. ways in which the welfare state operates/ schools closing at midday/ shutting down for 2 months
8a9b
MODEL ANSWERS
1.
Dear Aliz,

Thank you for your mail about the cultural training course, I think its a great idea and Im pleased to
be useful to you.
As far as content is concerned, I think the course should include a basic understanding of the
country, such as social norms, its social structure etc and should look at the most significant
cultural differences.
The Communcation Training Centre has a good team of highly specialists. I have contacted them, as
you requested, and they have already sent me detailed information regarding costs, availability and
course content. Attached you will find a PDF file with all this information.
I also checked that they can start by the end of July and they have confirmed that this will be
possible.
I have arranged a meeting with a representative from the centre for next Monday at 10am in which
shell give us a brief overview of their courses and we can discuss all details, terms and conditions.
Please let me know if you need any other information.
Best,
Sanjit
2.
Dear Maddy,
Thanks for your email. I have sent the memo to the employees and once they reply I
will contact the caterers with the numbers for the buffet lunch.
I am attaching the press release for you to check, let me know if it is OK and I will
send it off.
Have a good trip to Berlin.
Best,
Azar

11. I think professional __DEVELOPMENT____________ is really important in a job, otherwise I wouldnt

feel motivated. (develop)
12. She studied ___________ ECONOMICS at University and now she works for a Japanese bank.
(economy)
13. Hes such an ___UNRELIABLE________ person, he always turns up late and never finishes projects on
time. (rely)
14. Our company is running a cultural __AWARENESS_____ course because they want to break into the
Chinese market. ( aware)
15. Italy is definitely a _INDIVIDUALISTIC__ society, rather than a collectivist one. (individual)
16. I think there has been _COMMUNICATION________ breakdown, because my colleagues are really
angry with their boss and he knows nothing about it. (communicate)

17. the customer was so _DISSATISFIED______________ with the bad service that he complained.
(satisfy)
18. ___BRIBERY_______ and corruption are very widespread in under developed countries. (bribe)
19. Shes a very _SOCIABLE________ person, she has so many friends. (social)
20. Hes so_INDECISIVE________he just can never make his mind up. (decide)