Progress Test 5

Units 1720

Name

UPPER-INTERMEDIATE

Class

Date

Listening
You will hear a professor of information technology being interviewed about data
management. For questions 15, write one or two words in each gap to complete
the sentences. You will hear the recording twice.

Example: Information technology can provide rich data on

1
2
3
4
5

customer behaviour

The customer profiles which are created are used to influence

Obtaining information for customer profiles is easiest for
Companies are increasingly obtaining their customer data from
By sending information to peoples Facebook profiles, Beacon provided very
.
Beacon was shut down after a group of Facebook users began

.
.
.
.

.
5

UPPER-INTERMEDIATE PROGRESS TEST 5

Listen to the second part of the interview. For questions 68, choose the correct
answer (A, B or C). You will hear the recording twice.
6 What claim does Professor Newton make about the number of security breaches?
A The number has been greatly exaggerated.
B There have been more than people realise.
C The number of cases has gradually fallen.
7 According to Professor Newton, what is the main cause of security breaches?
A badly designed systems
B computer hackers
C careless employees
8 Why is Professor Newton not in favour of forcing companies to report security breaches?
A People would worry too much about unimportant cases.
B It would be difficult to enforce a law about it.
C It might lead to data being sold on the black market.

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Reading
Read the article about outsourcing and complete questions 18.

THE FUTURE OF OUTSOURCING

i The process of outsourcing company operations to overseas providers has all too often
been seen as a simple measure to reduce staff costs. (0) B . It is also true that
outsourcing deals are increasingly accompanied by layoffs.
ii However, many experts would argue that companies who see outsourcing only as a way
. After all, the
of lowering costs are missing the more important advantages. (1)
differences between pay in different countries will become smaller over time. The real
advantages are to do with productive use of employees hours. If the more routine tasks
in a company are outsourced, then this frees up employees to spend more time on other
. Likewise, engineers can spend more time on developing new ideas.
activities. (2)
Outsourcing thus represents an opportunity to ensure a company remains at the cutting
edge.
iii Yet at the same time, outsourcing is no longer something which just happens to the
. In fact, perhaps the whole idea of choosing
routine tasks in a company. (3)
particular tasks to outsource will soon seem out of date. With the growth of the Internet,
.
companies will soon be able to recruit teams of people from anywhere online. (4)
Instead, they will work from any part of the world and communicate with their employer
online. It will be a world of virtual companies where the only things that remain in-house
will be decisions about strategy.
iv Could this ever happen? We must imagine a situation where businesses will need to
. It will
compete for the best providers from a worldwide pool of talent. (5)
certainly create a need for a new set of skills for dealing with the virtual workforce, as
relationships between staff and management will be transformed.

In which paragraph does the author mention the following consequences of
increased outsourcing? Write i, ii, iii or iv. You may use any paragraph more than
once.

Example: the creation of the virtual company

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UNITS 1720

6 increased opportunity for innovation

7 the need to update management training
8 staff redundancies

iii

UPPER-INTERMEDIATE PROGRESS TEST 5

For questions 15, choose the best sentence (AG) to fill the gaps in the text. There
is one sentence you will not need.
A For example, sales staff will be able to focus more on detailed customer care.
B The gap between wages in industrialised and developing countries is considerable.
C Companies will be more likely to limit outsourcing to their own country.
D The savings are only likely to be short term.
E These employees will never come in contact with the companys offices.
F Manufacturing, customer service and other core activities are often outsourced as well.
G Providers may respond to this global marketplace by becoming more specialised in what they offer.

Grammar
For questions 112, complete the following text by putting a/an, the or nothing in
each gap.

ASTROTURFING
In 2010, (0) a social networking site for (1)
book lovers started to lose some of
site was criticised for its user unfriendly design. But then (3)
its followers. (2)
blogs, saying what (5)
great
number of comments started to appear on (4)
best to be found on (7)
Internet.
site it was and claiming that it was one of (6)
comments had been posted by (9)
same user, who was
However, all of (8)
website company.
employed by (10)
This creation of artificial enthusiasm for something is known as astroturfing. (11)
technique is becoming more common because it is so easy to carry out online nowadays. It
is, however, considered highly unethical and many companies have introduced (12)
code of practice to ban it.
12

For questions 1316, underline the correct verb form in the sentences. If both are
possible, underline both alternatives.

Example: I never used to like / never liked studying economics when I was at school.
13

14
15
16

They carried out / used to carry out a staff survey last week but we still dont know the results.
When I was in charge of the budget, I monitored / used to monitor peoples expenses very carefully.
Before our new manager took over, people often used to arrive / were often arriving late for meetings.
I joined the company when I left school so Ive been / I used to be here for five years.
4

For questions 1720, put the sentences into reported speech, beginning with the
words given.

He said that

he was waiting to hear the news about the budget

17 Ive finally decided to leave the company.

Karen said that
18 The new system will make it easier to track payments.
James claimed that
19 The invoices were not checked very carefully.
Elaine complained that
20 I cant see any point in changing the payment system.
The manager said that
4

UPPER-INTERMEDIATE PROGRESS TEST 5

Example: Im waiting to hear the news about the budget.

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Vocabulary
For questions 114, choose the correct answer (A, B, C or D) to complete the
sentence.

Example: They pulled out of the deal at the last minute and left us

Athick and fastBhigh and dryCdead and goneDdown and out

14

UPPER-INTERMEDIATE PROGRESS TEST 5

is the
1 Outsourcing our call centre to India could be a good idea but the main stumbling
language problem.
AstepBbrickCblockDstone
2 We place a
on our personal relationship with customers.
ApremiumBprizeCrewardDbonus
3 Our publications are read by a very wide
of people.
AfieldBspectrumCareaDsweep
4 With our new database, I have all the information I need at my
.
AfingertipsBfingernailsCfingerprintsDfinger-marks
5 I really dislike having to take the train into town at
times.
AhighBtopCpointDpeak
6 A number of interesting points have
from the customer feedback.
AarousedBrisenCarisenDraised
7 After due consideration, we have decided to go
with the project.
AaheadBaboutCafterDaround
8 We hope that you, as a valued customer, will take
of this great offer.
AbenefitBadvantageCprofitDgain
9 The
majority of employees feel that their contribution is not valued.
AwideBgreatCvastDbroad
10 I know there have been a few problems but I think we should
with our original plan.
AfixBfastenCattachDstick
11 We believe that we are likely to remain the market leader for the
future.
AforeseeableBforecastCpropheticDpredictable
12 Who is going to
the news about the factory closure to the staff?
AcrackBsplitCbreakDsmash
13 Our main objective is to
profits and value for our shareholders.
AgerminateBengenderCgeneraliseDgenerate
14 We have built up a very strong client
in the North East.
AfloorBrootCrestDbase

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Writing
You are the owner of a food manufacturing and distribution company. You see this
advertisement.

DO YOU HAVE A PROBLEM KEEPING YOUR BOOKS UP TO DATE?

Cyberbooks is an accounting service delivered over the internet. We carry out all your
accounting and bookkeeping tasks so you can concentrate on growing your business.
For further information please contact: info@cyberbooks.co.uk
Write an email to Cyberbooks. In your email:
describe your company
ask about fees
enquire about security measures and back-up systems.
Write 80100 words in the box below.

10 Total

60

UPPER-INTERMEDIATE PROGRESS TEST 5

UNITS 1720

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Cambridge University Press 2011

Business Benchmark Upper-Intermediate Units 1720