1 LEVEL: INTERMEDIATE NAME: DATE: SCORE:

MID TEST

Working with words 1 (10 POINTS) Complete these sentences with pairs from the list. stressful + depressing + dull challenging + worthwhile routine+fun rewarding + good demanding glamorous 1. My main duties are + varied

Working POINTS)

with

words

(10

Complete these sentences with words from the list. budget tasks deadline schedule objectives skills 7. Well never job resources track updates

fairly

meet

the

_________________, but sometimes I go on a trip abroad and thats a lot of _________________. 2. Being in recruitment is

_________________ at this rate. Can we go any faster? 8. You never know. At this speed we might even finish ahead of _________________! 9. If we have another good day well be back on _________________. 10. Its my job to allocate the _________________ to

_________________ because you help people with their careers and that makes me feel _________________. 3. A CEO probably has the most

_________________ job in the company, and of course it can also be quite _________________ executive events. 4. Most of the time I have lots of different tasks to do, so my job is really _________________, but sometimes I have to spend hours doing paperwork and that is really _________________. 5. Many people who work in finance find with all the

necessary

departments and check they have what they need. 11. The finance department is

on the phone asking why we dont appear to be staying within the _________________. should talk to you. 12. I find delegating I said they

_________________ one of the most difficult things to do on a project like this.

2 that their high-powered jobs are very _________________. want to leave. 6. Working for an NGO in Africa must be really _________________, but also very _________________ because you help so many people. Eventually they also find them _________________ and 13. My boss likes to receive _________________ from

weekly

everyone in order to avoid any problems or delays. 14. Any successful project

needs the manager to set clear _________________ right from the beginning. 15. Any project to is an new

opportunity

learn

_________________. 16. Come on everyone. Lets

get on with the _________________, otherwise well never get home. Working with words 3 (10 POINTS) Complete missing these letters. adjectives (each with the Business communication skills 1 (10 POINTS) Complete these questions with the missing words. 16. going? _____________s everything happening

underscore

corresponds to one letter only) 17. Theres a really _xc_t_n_ film

on TV. Come and watch! 18. Ive just sat through one of the

17. _____________s with the paint I ordered?

most b_r_ _ _ presentations in my life. Everyone was nearly asleep. 19. We had a r_l_x_ _ _ break at a

18. So, _____________ are we with stage one? 19. _____________ you call them for me and find out where the delivery is? 20. _____________ dont I do that for you? Ive got time.

health spa. 20. Standing at a top of a

mountain after a long hike is one of the most ex_ _ _ar_t_ _ _ feelings. 21. Everyone in my office has a Match answers in 21-25 to questions in 16-20. Write the question numbers next to the responses. 21. 22. 23. 24. Im afraid Im busy. ___ Great. Thanks. ___ Weve completed it. ___ So far so good. ___

different background, so we have really i_ter_ _t_ _ _ conversations. 22. We have a terrible boss who

tries to motivate us by making sure were f_ _ _ht_n_ _ of losing our jobs.

3 23. One of the most _nj_y_b_ _ 25. Were still waiting for it. ___

holidays I have ever had was staying at home doing nothing. It was great! 24. The trip was really t_ _ _ _g, because delays at the

especially

airport added five hours to the flight.

Language at work 1 POINTS)

(10

Language at work 2 (10 POINTS) Complete this email with the present simple or present continuous of the verbs in brackets. Dear Jaime, As you know, currently 10 Josie _________________ (take) a month off because of family problems. As a 11 result, I _________________ (need) someone to take over her responsibilities on the New York project. So the reason I 12 _________________ (email) you is to ask if you could deal with it. I 13 _________________ (understand) that you are very busy at the moment, but I 14 _________________ (think) I could delegate some of your less urgent work to Bruno. I called your office and they said you15_________________ (interview) people for the new position all day, so can you call me back a.s.a.p. tomorrow? Thanks.

Complete this conversation with the past simple or the present perfect of the verbs in brackets. Jane Hello 16 ________________________ (you/ meet) Frank? Samuel,

Samuel No, I havent. Nice to meet you. Is this your first time in the US? Frank I 17________________________ (come) here when I was a student, but that 18 ________________________ (be) a long time ago now! Jane Frank works at our office in Vienna. Samuel Oh. Im afraid, I 19 ______________________ (never be) to Austria. Ive heard that the skiing is great. Frank Yes, our family always spends some of their holidays in the mountains. Samuel I love skiing. planning our next skiing trip at the moment. _______________________ ever/ be) skiing in Frank?
20

Were

(you/ Italy,

4 Frank Yes, I have.

Samuel When 21 ______________________(you/ go)? Frank I 22________________________ (go) about five years ago, with a group of friends. It 23 ________________________ (be) great there, but if youre going skiing in Europe you should definitely try Austria. I could show you around. Samuel That sounds great!

Jane Sorry to stop you there, but we really need to go now 24 Frank. I ______________________ (put) you in the office next to mine. Frank Sure, lets go. It was nice meeting you Samuel.

READING- 20 POINTS
HOW I CURED MY WORKAHOLISM A KATIE JAMES I was promoted and my workload doubled. I started putting work before my family and becoming preoccupied with my job. I realized I had to change, so I did three things: I only went to essential meetings to make me more efficient, I never worked more than one hour beyond office hours, and I asked my boss to employ an assistant for me. I gave him a detailed job description of the new assistants post and a proposed salary for the position, and he agreed. B MARK SPENCER My last job dominated my life. I got over it by finding the most productive way of working, sorting the urgent from the important, and the important from the trivial. Often, urgent things arent urgent at all. Id usually have meetings that were really just gossip sessions, but I had convinced myself I was working hard. Theres pressure on people to work late, but I dont need to because I can close a deal twice as fast as younger managers because I have more experience. C ALISON PARKER In a previous job, I worked very hard, and, as my social life centered on work, I became very boring. If I had to make small talk that wasnt about my job, I was lost. It took up so much of my life that I even chose a colleague as my husband. The way I solved it was to start evening classes in something completely unrelated to my job, where I could meet people outside work. D TOM HARRIS I had set up my own business and really worked hard, doing 12-hour days, bringing work home and even taking my mobile phone on family holidays. Recovering from workaholism was really difficult for me. I didnt think the business could survive without me. You have to be honest and discover why you work so much. In my case, it was self-importance, not efficiency or productivity. Once I realized that, I was fine. E KAREN JAMES I got to the stage where I was depressed and my health was suffering. I decided to hire whats called a life coach, someone who helps you sort out your life! My coach made me realize that by being a workaholic I was not accepting responsibility for other areas of my life that needed attention. Now I never work at weekends, and I concentrate more on the other areas of my life. Find the answers to the following questions in the texts above. (Write the letter corresponding to each person only) Detail your answers to the additional questions below. Which of the people: 1. took their work at home? ______ 2. feels that they can work quicker than their colleagues? Why? ______ 3. married a colleague from work? Why? ______ 4. made themselves ill because of working too hard? ______ 5. found out that they have to consider every aspect of their life? ______ 6. realized that many of their meetings were unimportant? ______

6 7. decided how much someone should earn? ______ 8. could not even relax on holiday? ______ 9. couldnt have a normal conversation with people? Why? ______ 10. was convinced people couldnt manage without them? ______

2.______________________________________________________________________ 3. ________________________________________________________ 9. _____________________________________________________________________

LISTENING (10 POINTS): 1. Listen to the interview with Alicia Chavez, an expert in news media and new technology. Choose the correct answer - a, b or c - to the questions below. You will hear the interview twice.

1 What does Ms Chavez say about newspapers? a) They will soon be replaced by the Internet. b) They need to change. c) They are losing money. 2 What does Ms Chavez say about the newspaper business? a) Its becoming easier. b) Its becoming more challenging. c) Its always been very difficult. 3 What does Ms Chavez say is the main source of income for newspapers? a) Sales b) Marketing services c) Advertising 4 What does Ms Chavez say newspapers should do? a) Publish on the Internet b) Encourage readers to buy new devices c) Understand the technology that people use 5 How does Ms Chavez say that online content will be paid for mostly? a) By advertising b) By users paying for it directly, for example, through subscriptions c) Through the sale of electronic reading devices 6 What does Ms Chavez say about TV? a) The TV business and the newspaper business are similar. b) TV will probably be replaced by the Internet. c) When it was invented, it didnt end the newspaper business.

WRITING (10 POINTS): 1. You have received the following e-mail. Write a short reply (5060 words).
Include the following points. Apologise for the mistakes that were made. Explain that the employee who handled the arrangements is no longer with your company. Offer to arrange free transfers and accommodation for two visitors next time a meeting is held in Hong Kong.

To: Subject:

Agnes Wong Hong Kong travel arrangements

Dear Mrs Wong, Last month my company arranged fights, ground transfers and hotel accommodation through your company, Star Travel. We were hosting a meeting for our regional managers here in Hong Kong. We were very unhappy with the results of the booking. Though all of the fight arrangements were acceptable, two members of our group were not met at the airport as agreed, though their fights arrived on time. After waiting to be met, they finally took taxis. However, when they arrived at the hotel, it turned out that their booking had been changed to a different hotel. They again had to take taxis to get to the right location. We were treated very poorly by Star Travel and feel we are entitled to compensation. Please contact me as soon as possible to discuss how we may resolve this situation. Yours sincerely, Ms Eleanor Adams