Section 1: Language knowledge (40 marks)

I. Choose the best answer for each blank by clicking the drop-down list box.

The best start-up ideas are often the simplest. But entrepreneurs often need to experiment

business models as their ventures grow. Christian Rucker, founder of The White Company,
made pre-tax profits of £2.2m the year before last, is a classic example.

While working an editor at fashion magazine Harper’s, Ms Rucker spotted a gap in the
market for stylish white bed linen and accessories priced midway between designer labels and mass-

market lines. After finding £20,000 from a local government grant and shares from her
grandmother, she launched her business in 1994, initially through mail order. Last year, The White

Company sales of £49.5m, up by almost £10m on the previous year.

‘Offering choice is part of great customer service,’ says Ms Rucker, company owns 14
shops, plus space in department stores and franchises in Dubai. “One channel feeds another. Someone

might see something in a store then an order online. will spend more
because you are making it easy for them.’

Ms Rucker, who aims for sales of £110m by 2011, believes the is to improve quality.

There comes a point it’s easy to drop the quality a little and take a higher profit margin.

II. Choose the best answer.

Câu Hỏi 2
………………are the money a business makes before payment to the government.
Select one:

a. Pre-Tax Profits

b. Return

c. Profits

d. Profit

Câu Hỏi 3
……………… the physical limitations, he is thriving on the trading desk winning the admiration
of colleagues.
Select one:

a. Despite

b. In spite of

c. Despite the fact that

d. A & B

Câu Hỏi 4
……………… is when a person or organization is unable to pay their debts.
Select one:

a. Bankruptcy

b. A Dividend

c. Annual Turnover

d. Pre-Tax Profits

Câu Hỏi 5
……………… is the amount of money which a business obtains (in a year) from customers by
selling goods or services.
Select one:

a. Sale

b. Sales

c. Turnover

d. Annual Turnover

Câu Hỏi 6
……………..on the noisy, frenetic trading desk, two bright and ambitious twenty-somethings
from different worlds became close friends.
Select one:

a. working

b. having worked

c. work

d. to work

Câu Hỏi 7
A part of a company's profits paid to the owners of shares is ………………
Select one:

a. annual turnover

b. a dividend

c. pre-tax profits

d. sales

Câu Hỏi 8
Gary Williams, the former head ofEuropean equity trading ……………… hired Prior 8 years ago,
has enormous respect for his determination.
Select one:
a. whose

b. ,who

c. who

d. that

Câu Hỏi 9
If our market share ………………, we would invest in the new product.
Select one:

a. falls

b. had been fallen

c. fell

d. had fallen

Câu Hỏi 10
If the machinery had not been replaced by the robots, the unemployment ………………
Select one:

a. All are correct.

b. would not have increased

c. might not have increased

d. could not have increased

Câu Hỏi 11
If the price of petrol ……………… further, we will make a loss.
Select one:

a. rises

b. will rise

c. will raise

d. raises

Câu Hỏi 12
It is not easy managing ……………… of any size for the high –powered trading machine.
Select one:

a. investors

b. investments

c. investing

d. to invest
Câu Hỏi 13
Money which people or organizations put into a business to make a profit is………………
Select one:

a. equity stake

b. investment

c. debt

d. capital

Câu Hỏi 14
Prior joined Goldman just four days ……………… he graduated from university.
Select one:

a. when

b. after

c. until

d. as soon as

CÂU 15 :

Sales rose ……………… 20% over the holiday period.

Select one:

a. at

b. of

c. to

d. by

Câu Hỏi 16
Since joining Goldman as a financial analyst in the equity division, Prior- ……………… IQ score
of 238 puts him in the top 1 % of the world's population.
Select one:

a. who

b. which

c. whom

d. whose

Câu Hỏi 17
The ……………… for the near future is not good, as market confidence remains low.
Select one:
a. forecast

b. equity stake

c. shares

d. stock market

Câu Hỏi 18
The average retail gasoline price stood ……………… $4.11 a gallon yesterday.
Select one:

a. to

b. by

c. of

d. at

Câu Hỏi 19
The Board of Directors was ……………… at the candidate's knowledge of South American
cultures.
Select one:

a. to amaze

b. amaze

c. amazed

d. amazing

Câu Hỏi 20
The CEO gives a brief …………… of the present economic situation that influenced the
company performance.
Select one:

a. analysis

b. analyzed

c. analyze

d. analyzing

Câu Hỏi 21
The difference between the price of the product or service and the cost of producing it is
………………
Select one:

a. profit margin

b. a dividend
c. profits

d. turnover

Câu Hỏi 22
The figures ……………… to a gloomy picture for a Japanese growth.
Select one:

a. point

b. have pointed

c. pointing

d. pointed

Câu Hỏi 23
The former head of equity trading has enormous respect for Prior's …………….
Select one:

a. determine

b. determination

c. determinations

d. determined

Câu Hỏi 24
The graph represents a decrease ……………… 16.4% from the first quarter.
Select one:

a. at

b. by

c. to

d. of

Câu Hỏi 25
The hotel is seeking new investment to avoid ………………. It currently has a debt of $ 5 billion.
Select one:

a. bankruptcy

b. downturn

c. debt

d. recession

Câu Hỏi 26
The sales of Dupont have gone up ……………… $19.6 billion……………… $27.4 billion.
Select one:

a. up/to

b. a & b

c. from/to

d. between/ and

Câu Hỏi 27
There is heavy trading on the ………………, with big losses in the share values.
Select one:

a. market

b. stock market

c. market segment

d. market share

Câu Hỏi 28
There was a ……… imposed on the volume of goods we were able to ship as the tax situation
was a burdensome.
Select one:

a. limited

b. unlimited

c. limit

d. limitation

Câu Hỏi 29
There was a further downturn in the economy this month as the ………………continues.
Select one:

a. growth

b. upturn

c. recession

d. recovery

Câu Hỏi 30
This year, orders from Brazil ……………… off.
Select one:

a. have been leveling

b. are leveling
c. have leveled

d. level

Câu Hỏi 31
Turnover at Stormgard increased almost 14 percent last year, with demand ………… insulation
products rising.
Select one:

a. in

b. about

c. of

d. for

Section 2: Language use (60 marks)

I. Read the following passages and answer the questions that follow.
Wal-Mart profits reach $13bn
by Jonathan Birchall
Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, beat expectations after its US discount stores accounted
for about 50 per cent of all US retail growth last year - while its full-year global sales passed
$400bn (€318bn) for the first time and profits hit $13.4bn.
Mike Duke, Chief Executive, said the fourth quarter and full-year results showed that Wal-Mart
had gained 'momentum' during the year in all of its markets, in spite of the tough economic
environment. 'We are doing all the right things to continue our momentum and to widen the gap
between the competition and us. We finished January strong, and February is off to a good
start.'
The results again underlined the retailer's ability to generate cash in a recession and to use the
money to invest in its business at a time when most of its rivals are cutting back. Wal-Mart has
been able to make acquisitions, concluding a $2.6bn deal in January for a controlling share of
D&S, the largest retailer in Chile.
It is continuing to invest in its stores with a big remodelling programme, called Project Impact,
now underway in the US. With this programme, Wal-Mart expects to significantly boost the sales
per square foot of its more than 3,000 supercentres and discount stores.
Total net sales at Wal-Mart USA rose 6 per cent on the last quarter to $71.5bn, although higher
than expected expenses, including healthcare costs, led to its operating income growing more
slowly than sales, up 2.2 per cent to $5.4bn.
Internationally, the strong dollar weighed on earnings, with the value of sales down 8.4 per cent
from the last quarter to $24.7bn and operating income down 14.3 per cent at $1.5bn. At
constant currencies, international operating income would have been up 5.1 per cent and net
sales up 9 per cent.
The retailer highlighted the performance of its Asda stores in the UK, which gained market
share with increased customer traffic and average purchases made.
 In Japan, Wal-Mart reported that comparable sales at its Seiyu stores fell 0.5 per cent from the
last quarter, but were positive in November and December.

Câu Hỏi 32
In its latest financial year, Wal-Mart .............................................................
Select one:

a. performed worse than had been expected.

b. had profits of less than $10 billion.

c. was responsible for half the growth of all US retailers.

d. had good sales in January, but less good in February.

Câu Hỏi 33
In the last three months of its financial year, there was (a) an………………………………
Select one:

a. 2.2 per cent increase in international sales in dollar terms.

b. 8.4 per cent decline in international sales in dollar terms.

c. 0.5 per cent falls in international sales in dollar terms.

d. 6 per cent rise in international sales in dollar terms.

Câu Hỏi 34
Sales at Seiyu stores …………………………………………………………………
Select one:

a. went down 0.5 per cent compared to last year, but was high in November and December.

b. rose 6 per cent on the last quarter to $71.5bn

c. fell 0.5 per cent on the same quarter last year, but was positive in November and December.

d. decreased 0.5 per cent in relation to the previous quarter, but was higher in November and December.

Câu Hỏi 35
What does each of the following underlined words / phrases refer to?

4. ………while its full-year global sales passed $400bn (€318bn) for the first time…… Trả lời
5. …the performance of its Asda stores in the UK, which gained market share… Trả lời

Which words in the passage mean the following?

6. Trả lời = increase a difference in performance

7. Trả lời = a company that has been bought by another company

8. Trả lời = the total value of goods and services sold, minus expenses such as transport,
returned goods, etc.
Fill in each blank with ONE suitable word from the passage. Put it in its correct form or tense.

9. Around 80% of our sales are Trả lời by 30 stores.

10. Inflation is now at a rate Trả lời with that in other European countries.

Câu Hỏi 36
II. Writing
Marketing report – Findings
You work in Marketing Department of Spring Balm. In the last three months, the launch of your
company’s new products has not been successful. You are asked to conduct a market survey to find out
what the reasons are.
After collecting data, you have to write a marketing report to submit to the management so that they can
see what is happening to the current marketing campaign. One of the most important parts of your
report is Findings. And here is what you need to complete. (20 marks)
*********

The aim of this report is to (1) for the failure of the launch of our new range

of Spring Balm toiletries (2) from over 500 interviews with consumers.
I shall begin with my findings about the products themselves. About one fifth of the consumers who have

tried (3) said they were dissatisfied with the taste of the Spring Balm toothpaste

(4), 47 people (5) skin irritation after using our deodorant spray.

(6), as regards the price, almost 90% (7) our products are overpriced

(8) well-established brands. Thirdly, with regard to promotion and place

(9) the name Spring Balm still means nothing to most consumers. On the other hand,

many of those who have heard about the Spring Balm collection (10) they cannot find our
product anywhere.

Câu Hỏi 37
1. Why does the woman like the recreation center?
Select one:

a. Her mother and father go there.

b. The classes are cheap.

c. It has many interesting classes.

d. It is close to her home.

Câu Hỏi 38
2. What did the woman make?
Select one:

a. A pottery group

b. Knitting

c. A plate

d. A sweater

Câu Hỏi 39
3. When does the woman want to start knitting classes?
Select one:

a. In December

b. In May

c. In April

d. In November

Câu Hỏi 40
4. How long has the speaker been involved in photography?
Select one:

a. 10 years

b. 13 years

c. 3 years

d. 6 years

Câu Hỏi 41
5. What kind of photos does he prefer?
Select one:

a. He likes all his photos.

b. He doesn't have preference.

c. He likes color photos.

d. He prefers black-and-white photos.

Câu Hỏi 42
They invest in a number of different areas. They start from the (6) Trả lời ,
which is cash. And moving up the scale of risk, they go from cash to (7) Trả lời

. They then look at, um, index-linked – i.e, linked to the rate of (8) Trả lời

- Trả lời . And, the next level of risk is (9) Trả lời , which is Trả lời

or Trả lời . A commercial property is an area where one can achieve a fairly
good income return, but you're investing (10) Trả lời into Trả lời -
something that ), you can see ... something that's slightly more safe.