PART 1 (0.

4pt/each)
Questions 1-5

 Look at the statements below and the extract from a report.

 Which section (A, B, C, or D) does each statement (1-5) refers to?
 For each statement, match one letter.
 You will need to use some of these letters more than once.

BUSINESS MEETINGS
A Many organizations are developing ways of minimizing the time workers spend
sitting in meetings in order to give them more hours working at their desks. They
realize that reducing the number of meetings is problematic, but some are using a
device called a Meeting Meter to determine how much money is wasted through
the widespread practice of over-populated and time-inefficient meetings. A
general meeting in a big company can cost $9000 an hour. Even staff in UK
government departments have been told to make less elaborate presentations and
to get through them more quickly.
B A solution has often been to take things at breakneck speed or abolish meetings
altogether. Olivia Dacourt, CEO of a retail chain, makes a point of not letting
anyone sit down in her meetings. ‘We cover more material in a 15-minute meeting
than you’d see in a two-hour sit-down meeting,’ she says. She drills her
employees to shout ‘pass’ if they have no comment to make, thereby saving a
hastily mumbled agreement with the previous speaker. In this way, her last staff
meeting clocked in at six minutes.
C Website designer Barry Hare has gone so far as to charge his clients a meeting
‘tax’. If they ask for a meeting, he doubles his design fee of $85 an hour.
‘Everyone I talk to hates meetings, but they don’t know what to do about them,’
he says. ‘Well, I’ve actually done something.’ Similarly, at JP Products, managers
have instigated a No Meetings Day every Friday. The scheme was devised by in-
house industrial psychologist Ada Pearson after hearing employees joke about the
need for a ‘meeting free-day’.
D But abolishing meetings is not as simple as clearing them from your diary. At JP
Products some workers have felt the need to get round the No Meetings Day
directive by holding spontaneous ‘huddles’ and ‘nice to knows’ to update each
other on progress. After her success in reducing the meetings quota, Pearson is
under pressure from meeting-weary managers to implement days that are free of
emails and telephone calls. But unfortunately, she has other priorities – thanks to a
lengthy meeting with the chief executive.
 1. a way of ensuring communication can take place without breaking company rules.
D
2. a way of ensuring that meetings are less likely to take place. C
3. people who attend meetings requesting limitations on other forms of
communication. D
4. the common situation of too many people attending meetings. A
5. a policy of cutting down on the amount of detail given in long speeches. A

PART TWO (2pt; 0.4pt/each)

Questions 6-10
Read the article below about computer software.
For each question 6-10, choose the best answer (A, B, C, or D)

Computer software
As more and more companies are using the Internet to do business. Mark Williams
explains how a new software package is helping the efficient transfer of medicines from
factory to patient.

AHL Pharmaceuticals is one of Britain’s largest wholesale distributors of medicines.

Under a European parent company, Setra AG, it covers 40 per cent of British market. The
company buys medicines from the manufacturers and delivers them on a twice-daily
basis to hundreds of hospitals and pharmacies around the country.

‘The responsibility for supplying such large quantities of medicines is frightening,’ says
IT director, Stephen Smith. ‘If a manufacturer has quality control problems, creating a
shortfall in supply, or if medicines are suddenly needed in large quantities somewhere
else in the world our stock levels can fall dramatically. In the past such a lack of balance
between supply and demand was a huge problem. With our new software system, we
know immediately of any possible manufacturing or supply difficulties, can warn our
customers and suggest possible alternatives.’

This system is so efficient because manufacturers can update details themselves of stock
levels and product information. Twice a day staff at AHL transfer this data to their main
computer system where it is made available through the AHL website to company
personnel and customers.

With so many people having access to the data, isn’t the security of the system at risk?
‘Not at all,’ says Smith. ‘We run the software within our own internal security system.
The data goes into a special “sandbox” which is separate from the rest of the system.
Even if someone manages to get into the software, they can’t go anywhere else on the
network.’

And does he think that this is the limit of the software’s use? ‘The first time I saw this I
had the feeling that life would be different from now on. Instead of having lots of pieces
of paper flying around, and expansion of the software system into the purchasing
department means that orders can now be dealt with in a moment. The only delay to
further expansion is deciding what area of the company to apply it to next.’

1. AHL Pharmaceuticals
A. manufactures medicines.
B. puts drug companies in contact with customers.
C. supplies medicines to customers.
D. researches and develops drugs

2. According to the text, what is the challenge for pharmaceutical manufacturers?

A. developing new types of medicines
B. transporting medicines to other countries
C. ensuring a constant supply of medicines
D. fixing the company’s supply chains

3. The most important function of the new software is to

A. maintain the quality of customer service.
B. expand the customer network worldwide.
C. inform patients about better quality medicines.
D. notify hospitals of medicines’ stock.

4. New information about medicines

A. is updated by the manufacturers twice a day.
B. is given direct to customers by manufacturers.
C. is demonstrated to the patients.
D. is made available to customers by AHL personnel.

5. The new software

A. will soon totally replace the need for paper documents.
B. can be used in many areas of the company’s business.
C. is delaying the expansions of the purchasing department.
D. can store all the data on the same system
PART THREE (0.2pt/each)
Questions 11-20
·       Read the article below about learning key skills in the computer.
·       Choose the correct word to fill each gap, from A, B, or C.
·       For each question 11-20, mark one letter (A, B or C).

LEARN KEY SKILLS FOR YOUR COMPUTER – ON YOUR COMPUTER!

Computers are now as commonly used in business as the telephone. Therefore, it’s
important that people know how to use them efficiently. Now you and your whole
organisation are able to do this in the simplest way possible (11) {1:MCS:%100%by~
%0%to~%0%in~%0%from} learning and practising on your own, with (12) {1:MCS:
%100%our~%0%its~%0%their~%0%them} wide range of courses at beginner,
intermediate, and advanced level on CD-ROM.
The person (13) {1:MCS:%100%who~%0%which~%0%what~%0%when} appears on
the screen acts as your teacher, (14) {1:MCS:%100%guiding~%0%guide~%0%guides~
%0%guided} you through the tasks and explaining everything. Then (15) {1:MCS:
%100%more~%0%too~%0%much~%0%very} difficult exercises allow you to practice
the things (16) {1:MCS:%100%have~%0%has~%0%had~%0%having} learned and test
your understanding.
These courses are excellent value – only $69.99. You (17) {1:MCS:%100%can~
%0%ought~%0%need~%0%might} save yourself money if you buy the complete
collection of seven courses. This is now available (18) {1:MCS:%100%at~%0%over~
%0%from~%0%in} the retail price of $410. You can make a further
saving (19) {1:MCS:%100%of~%0%with~%0%for~%0%by} 10% by ordering the
complete collection (20) {1:MCS:%100%within~%0%until~%0%before~%0%til} the
next thirty days.

PART FOUR (0.4pt/each)

Questions 21-25

 Read the article about things give a dollar bill its value.
 Then answer the questions 21-25 with NO MORE THAN FIVE WORDS.

💵 WHAT GIVES A DOLLAR BILL ITS VALUE? 💵

If you tried to pay for something with a piece of paper, you might run into some trouble.
Unless, of course, the piece of paper was a hundred-dollar bill. But what is it that makes
that bill so much more interesting and valuable than other pieces of paper? After all,
there's not much you can do with it. You can't eat it. You can't build things with it. And
burning it is actually illegal. So, what's the big deal?
Of course, you probably know the answer. A hundred-dollar bill is printed by the
government and designated as official currency, while other pieces of paper are not. But
that's just what makes them legal. What makes a hundred-dollar bill valuable, on the
other hand, is how many or few of them are around. Throughout history, most currency,
including the US dollar, was linked to valuable commodities such as government's gold
or silver reserves. But after the US abolished this system in 1971, the dollar became what
is known as fiat money, meaning not linked to any external resource but relying instead
solely on government policy to decide how much currency to print.
Which branch of our government sets this policy? The Executive, the Legislative, or the
Judicial? The surprising answer is none of the above! In fact, monetary policy is set by an
independent Federal Reserves System, or the Fed, made up of 12 regional banks in major
cities around the country. Its board of governors, which is appointed by the president and
confirmed by the Senate, reports to Congress, and all the FED's profit goes into the U. S
Treasury. But to keep the Fed from being influenced by the day-to-day vicissitudes of
politics, it is not under the direct control of any branch of government.
Why doesn't the FED just decide to print infinite hundred-dollar bills to make everyone
happy and rich? Well, because then the bills wouldn't be worth anything. Think about the
purpose of currency, which is to be exchanged for goods and services. If the total amount
of currency in circulation increases faster than the total value of goods and services in the
economy, then each individual piece will be able to buy a smaller portion of those things
than before. This is called inflation. On the other hand, if the money supply remains the
same, while more goods and services are produced, each dollar's value would increase in
a process known as deflation.

21. What is a dollar bill appointed as? Official currency

22. What was a US dollar linked to before 1971? Valuable commodities (hàng hòa có
giá trị)

23. What made up the FED? 12 major banks

24. What do profits from the FED go? The U.S Treasury

25. What is the purpose of currency? Exchange goods and services.

 PART 5
Questions 26-35
·         Read the text below about IT training.
·         In most of the lines (30-41), there is one extra word. It is either grammatically
incorrect or does not fit in with the meaning of the text. Some lines, however, are correct.
·         If the line is correct, write CORRECT.
·         If there is an extra word in the line, write the extra word in CAPITAL LETTERS.
·         There are two examples (0 and 00)

0 The arrival of a sophisticated computer system is a such big event in any SUCH
00 organization, but is obviously difficult to make the most of this type of investment CORRECT
26 without proper training. IT training can be expensive cost and, despite the good  COST
27 intentions of the people are involved, a huge amount of training is wasted every year.  ARE
28 Quite differently, until staff continue to struggle with computer systems that either  UNTIL
29 they do not understand or they can only exploit to a fraction of their true  CORRECT
30 potential. A common mistake is made to rush in and train people to soon. This is  MADE
31 to be expected. Quite reasonably, the logic is so that it is better to train people early  SO
32 than not to do it at all. The difficulty, however, is that the people’s memories are short, so it is  CORRECT
33 better to train people when the ‘go live’ date which is known. This way their knowledge  CORRECT
34 will still be fresh when they have to put it into practice. It may also be an error  CORRECT
35 to commission an external training organization because of their standards materials  OF
may not be suitable.