Written Exam in Business English

I. Read the following text and complete each gap with one of the missing sentences listed
below (A-G). There is one extra sentence you do not need to use.

Can you afford to retire? The answer to this question is much more likely to be no today than it
was a year ago - especially for those old enough to ask themselves the question. Retirement has
its own debatable affordability. The resurgence of inflation is eroding the real value of savings.
…. [1] …. The result is that the pot of assets many future pensioners are hoping to live off has
shrunk fast. Pundits have long predicted that, as populations age and the number of workers
for every dependent falls, those retirement savings would come under pressure—a problem
they have dubbed the “pension time-bomb”. The fuse now looks much shorter.
The soon-to-be retired are often advised to shift their assets into bonds and out of stocks as
they prepare to stop working, to protect their savings from big stock market corrections. So-
called “life-cycle” pension funds are usually invested almost entirely in stocks during their
owners’ younger years. …. [2] …. As workers near retirement, these funds usually swap most of
their equities for government bonds, which are supposed to hold their value. Only that this
seems to be an appalling time for bonds.
Given the recent asset-price crash, the value of the retirees’ pot has fallen considerably,
allowing them to draw much lower nominal payments annually. Should inflation remain above
2% for a while—say it averages 3% a year instead—then a retiree who made it to 90 might well
be living on just 65% of the real income they might have expected until recently.
…. [3] …. A lot of baby-boomers turned into pension-boomers in 2021, thing that reverses a
decades-long increase in the share of people working past 55. Survey data already suggest
some of those who recently retired are considering returning to work. Those who do not, or
cannot, probably face leaner years than they had expected. But individuals are not the only
ones who will bear the burden of the adjustment. Some of it will also be shouldered by
governments, through social-security and national-insurance schemes. And part of it will be
borne by a creature that is becoming ever rarer: the defined-benefit pension plan.
Many of those considering retirement today spent much of their lives working during the
golden age of defined-benefit schemes, when firms or employers in the public sector, such as
schools and local governments, agreed to pay workers an annuity after they stopped working.
…. [4] …. Over recent decades, ageing populations and rising life expectancies have together
pulled down interest rates; bigger savings pools chasing a finite volume of assets meant capital
became cheaper. It gradually became clear to firms and public-sector agencies just how hard
keeping their pension promises was going to be.
While the private sector began reclassifying defined-benefit plans as defined-contribution
schemes, where workers simply contribute a set amount to the pot with no guarantee of what
they get back after retirement, public-sector employers have had much less success in reducing
their exposure to these overgenerous pension schemes. …. [5] …. Many of the biggest defined-
benefit schemes, and some of the biggest pension funds in existence today, are run by public
institutions.
…. [6] …. Transfers are mostly paid using contributions from current workers. That first started
to look shaky in 2008, when withdrawals exceeded contributions for the first time. Payments
have since been partly financed from a trust based on past surplus contributions. But the excess
of withdrawals over contributions means that this trust is projected to run out in 2035, after
which the state will have to make up the difference. The fate of many defined-benefit and
social-security pensioners alike could ultimately depend on the government’s willingness to bail
them out.
A. Indeed, this is a strategy meant to capture the higher returns that listed equities tend to
generate over long periods.
B. These retirement schemes, not their members, are the ones bearing the mighty losses in
asset prices at present.
C. Even with all their problems, pensioners that depend on underfunded public defined-benefit
plans are miles better off than those relying on Social Security.
D. Higher interest rates have caused a repricing of bonds and stocks.
E. This impoverishment could fast become reality for millions.
F. The goal of a retirement system is to smooth living standards over people’s lifetimes,
especially at older ages when earning a living may no longer be an option.
G. In America, for instance, the result is that around $13trn of the defined-benefit assets are
managed by state, local and federal governments.

1-D 2-A 3-E 4-B 5-G 6-C

II. MULTIPLE CHOICE: For each blank decide which of the options A, B, C or D is best. ONLY
ONE answer is correct.

It is usually recommended that you buy travel insurance to help protect you financially from
some of the risks (1) ____ in travel. Travel insurance provides a safety net if you run (2) ____
problems before or while you are on your holiday. It can cover cancellations and disruption to
your plans, theft or (3) ____ of your personal possessions, and medical treatment or transport
home in an emergency. It can also protect you from incurring costs if you accidentally injure (4)
____ else or cause damage to property while you’re (5) ____.
Even more importantly, for those with a pre-(6) ____ medical condition such as high blood
pressure, high cholesterol or depression, leaving travel insurance as an afterthought or
forgetting it (7) ____ could prove very (8) ____. And while all this makes it clear insurance is an
absolute (9) ____ if you want protection, it is also important to keep in mind that certain
destinations or types of holidays, such as cruises, will (10) ____ you to purchase travel
insurance as a condition of travel or entry.

1. A) incurred B) involved C) ingrained D) implied

2. A) across B) over C) into D) against
3. A) loss B) lost C) loose D) lose
4. A) someone B) anyone C) no one D) whoever
5. A) away B) departed C) farther D) aboard
6. A) decided B) eminent C) existing D) owned
7. A) downright B) thoroughly C) wholly D) altogether
8. A) lavish B) costly C) overpriced D) richly
9. A) need B) must C) fad D) concern
10. A) request B) demand C) require D) impose

1-A
2-C
3-B
4-B
5-B
6-D
7-A
8-B
9-A
10-A

III. WORD FORMATION: Starting from the word in CAPITAL LETTERS in the right-hand column,
derive another word that best fits in the context indicated by a blank space. The words
should be used in their numerical order.

When it comes to things beyond food and energy, though, things might
get even more 1) ____. 1) PROBLEM
2) ____ of the supply of certain vital components being cut off from 2) FEAR
their economies in a potential conflict, countries like China and the US 3) RECENT
have 3) ____ launched a major effort to encourage 4) ____ of these 4) PRODUCE
items within their own borders. A good example to illustrate this are
the silicon microchips made in Taiwan, which are used in 5) ____ all 5) VIRTUAL
forms of modern technology - from smartphones to computers, to 6) 6) MEDICINE
____ devices, to cars, to planes, to weapons systems.
So is this a new "age of autarky"? Or will political leaders come to
realise that the global economy is simply too integrated, too 7) ____, to 7) CONNECT
be divided up into national blocks without inflicting 8) ____ pain on us 8) TOLERANCE
all? That could depend, 9) ____, on where they push their greater 9) FIRST
efforts at economic self-10) ____, and, secondly, on just how far they 10) RELY
push them.

1.PROBLEMS
2.FEARLESSNESS
3.RECENTLY
4. PRODUCT
5.
6.MEDICAL
7.CONNECTED
8.INTOLERANCE
9.FIRSTLY
10.RELIANCE