Listening and Speaking

Placement Test A
Name: ______________________________________ Date: _____________

I. Listening Comprehension

A. In this section, you will listen to a college class. Professor Taylor is talking to two students, Telal and
Miteb. You will hear the dialogue twice. Choose A., B., or C.
1. What is the class subject?
A. Chemistry
B. Marketing
C. English

2. Professor Taylor brought examples of ______________ for the students to look at.
A. product packaging
B. smartphones
C. MP3 players

3. What does Telal say about the product in the first box?
A. He knows the color of product that is inside the box.
B. He has an idea about what is inside the box, but he’s not sure.
C. He doesn’t have any idea about the content of the box.

4. What does Professor Taylor say about the first box?

A. It's not very good for children.
B. It's easy to see what the product is.
C. It doesn't have a creative design.

5. Why did many adults choose not to buy the smartphone?

A. Because of the packaging design and colors.
B. Because of the quality of the smartphone.
C. Because of the size of the smartphone box.

6. What was the result of the red and yellow smartphone box?
A. Several companies wanted the same packaging.
B. The phone became popular with older consumers.
C. Children wanted to have the smartphone.

7. What were the new colors of the smartphone box ?

A. grey and blue
B. silver and black
C. black and white

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 Listening and Speaking

Placement Test A

8. What can we say about the smartphone company’s mistake?

A. It affected the company image and profits.
B. It made the company start selling MP3 players.
C. It helped the company find new customers.

9. How did Miteb know that there was a watch in the second package?
A. He recognized the colors from the logo.
B. Professor Taylor told him about the watch.
C. He worked for watch company in the past.

10. Why is the Remit box an example of successful packaging design?

A. Because customers recognize the product quickly.
B. Because Remit sells lots of watches.
C. Because it uses cheerful colors.

11. Professor Taylor says that successful packaging design ____________.

A. is always attractive and nice to look at
B. often works without the consumer noticing
C. is easy when the brand is well-established

12. The students will probably read about ____________ in the course manual.
A. the smartphone industry
B. trends in technology
C. packaging for branding

II. Grammar

A. Complete the sentences with the correct form of the word in parentheses.

13. Marketing students at Greenville College usually _____________ (not – have) classes in the
auditorium, but right now they _____________ (attend) a lecture there.

14. A: What _____________ you _____________ (do) last weekend?

B: I _____________ (go) to Green Park with my friends.

15. A: _____________ you ever _____________ (be) to France?

B: No, never. But I _____________ (travel) to Belgium last year.

16. A: _____________ students _____________ (eat) in the classroom?

B: Sorry, you’re not allowed! You _____________ (eat) at the cafeteria.

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 Listening and Speaking

Placement Test A
17. Melissa _____________ (visit) her family in Mexico next summer and she _____________ (spend)
some days in Cancun with her friends, but she’s not sure.
18. Fatima’s grades aren’t good. If I _____________ (be) her, I _____________ (not – go out) every
night.

19. By the time the late students _____________ (arrive) in the classroom for the math class, Professor
Carson _______ already _________ (leave). She couldn’t wait for them.

20. The first computers for the IT lab _____________ (buy) in 2005. If former students _____________
(not - donate) money, Greenville College _____________ (not - buy) new computers last year.

III. Vocabulary

A. Complete the sentences. Choose A., B., or C.

21. After the fire at the museum, organizers needed to choose a new _______ for the art _______.
A. commitment, incident
B. location, exhibition
C. estimate, lecture

22. The government will _______ its efforts on _______ the museum this year.
A. concentrate, recovering
B. expand, demonstrating
C. contribute, concluding

23. According to health _______ , the new fitness _______ is good for us.
A. colleagues, priority
B. experts, trend
C. professors, role

24. There isn’t any _______ information about the _______ of our economy.
A. accurate, recovery
B. flexible, survival
C. ultimate, objective

25. The general _______ of the journalists is that the legal _______ is bad for the college.
A. impact, lecture
B. perception, controversy
C. reaction, cycle

26. Lee’s friends _______ him to _______ all his money in Bitcoin.
A. enhanced, impact
B. converted, input

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 Listening and Speaking

Placement Test A
C. convinced, invest

27. The computer _______ at Greenville College _______ most of the energy on campus.
A. network, utilizes
B. revolution, submits
C. modification, domains

28. According to students, a _______ problem at Greenville College is its grading system. They say it is
highly _______ and unfair.
A. diverse, capable
B. major, inflexible
C. principal, identical

III. Writing Cohesion

A. Complete the paragraph with the words in the word bank. There are three extra words.

after that because first for example however in addition only then on the other hand so

I had a terrible day yesterday. 29. _____________, I overslept and woke up late for classes. I got dressed
really fast and thought I wouldn’t miss my first class at college if I left right away. Buddy, 30.
_____________, had different plans – he wanted to go out for his daily walk. He always destroys
something in the apartment if I don’t take him out every morning. Last week, 31. _____________, he ate
my favorite pillow, 32. _____________ I took him to the park at the corner of my apartment building.
33. _____________, knowing I had already missed the first class, I headed to campus and decided to
study at the library. Surprisingly, the building was closed… the whole campus was really quiet and
empty. 34. _____________ I realized it was Saturday!

IV. Academic Skills

A. In this section, you will listen to a college class. Complete the student’s notes with key words.

What is branding? (Review)

o promotion of a 35. ______________ with a name, term, symbol, design, etc.
o makes a product stand out from 36. ______________
o shapes the 37.______________ of a product
o affects 38. ______________’ perception and decision-making

B. Listen to the second part of the class again. Write MI, if the statement is a main idea, or D, if it is a
detail.

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 Listening and Speaking

Placement Test A
39. Smartphones are basically the same product, but we are convinced to buy a gadget from brand X,
instead of brands Y and Z. [ ]
40. Branding is a vital strategy in marketing, since it is behind the image consumers create of a product.
[ ]

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