FINAL EXAMINATION

Course: ENGLISH FOR BUSINESS

Time Allotted: 90 minutes
Note: - All kinds of paper dictionaries are NOT allowed.
- Write your answers on the exam paper.

PART I: VOCABULARY AND EXPRESSIONS (30 pts)

A. Choose the best answer for each question. (15 pts)
1. The _______ sector is the services sector, including businesses, such as banking, shops and transport
services.
A. Primary B. Secondary C. Tertiary D. Fundamental
2. “________” refers to the market for goods produced on a large scale for a significant number of end-users.
A. Mass market B. closed market C. Open market D. Niche market
3. Negotiation is a two-way thing – both sides have to come to a ________ to get a final result.
A. prospect B. foundation C. promise D. compromise
4. Employees who are chosen from the talent ________ usually have good performance in their job.
A. pool B. pond C. river D. lake
5. The ability to make good judgments and quick decisions is called ________.
A. solution B. acumen C. skill D. method
6. A ________ is an exclusive feature of the product that no other competitive product has.
A. USP B. specialty C. characteristic D. potential
7. If you’re ______ for a special job, someone prepares you for it by teaching you the skills you will need.
A. rehearsed B. practiced C. groomed D. grown
8. In a presentation, you shouldn’t use a lot of ________ to show how much you know about the subject.
A. active sentences B. formal language C. technical language D. significant speeches
9. A lot of cosmetics companies give away _______ so that customers can try the product before they buy.
A. free samples B. leaflets C. posters D. valuable vouchers
10. In cultures where ________ is low, the management values teamwork and wants everyone to be
involved in the decision-making process.
A. masculinity B. power distance C. individualism D. uncertainty avoidance
11. In order to get to know more about candidates, employers will also need to check ________ either
before or after the interviewing stage.
A. references B. covering letters C. application forms D. documents
12. ________ training is the form of training that is given employees at their workplace while they are
doing the job they are being trained for.
A. Back-of-house B. Front-of-house C. On-the-job D. Off-the-job
13. One of the best ways to help companies be more ________ is that they supply goods in a way that is of
benefit to both customers and the environment.
A. sustainable B. stable C. recognizable D. durable
14. Most companies need to ________ in early growth phrases to increase their capital and keep their
business operations going.
A. employ people B. do marketing C. raise money D. promote advertising
15. Employees who are ______ usually understand their business better than someone taken from the market.
A. home-coming B. home-made C. home-to-work D. home-grown

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B. What is the right term for each of the following definition?
16. Grouping of an organization’s personnel according to the types or work activities they engage in:
_Departmentation by function___________________
17. Diagram that shows how work divided and where authority lies: _organizational chart________
18. Cash payment based on a calculation of the number of hours the employee has worked or the number
of units he or she has produced: _wage_____________
19. Logical reason for doing something: __rational motive__________________
20. Required dismissal of an employee who reaches a certain age: _mandatory retirement___________

C. Match the terms 1-10 with their definitions a-j (10 points)
21. accounts payable - a. an item that a company or person owns that has monetary value
22. accounts receivable b. the portion of a company owned by its investors and shareholders
23. Asset - c. money that is owed by the business to its suppliers
24. book value - d. the cost of production for the goods sold by a company
25. Equity - e. a consistent cost of running a business
26. liabilities - f. business costs that remain the same, no matter the amount of goods
27. cost of goods sold produced
28. gross profit - g. the total amount of profit a company makes after subtracting costs of
sales
29. fixed cost -
h. any debts that a company has yet to pay
30. Overhead -
i. the total value of a business’ assets found on the balance sheet
j. money that is owed to the business by its customers

PART II: READING COMPREHENSION (30 points)

Read the following texts and do the tasks that follow them.
Text A
When thinking about how you start your business, getting the right team together will be the most important
and the most difficult decision you make. The reason is simple. No one person has all the skills, experience,
contacts or reputation that are required to get a business up and running. So, in order to succeed, you will
have to form a core team or people. Before that, however, you can only know who else you need by
knowing your strengths and your weaknesses. Having a great business idea does not mean that you have the
skills to manage others. The hardest of all your decisions may be to let someone else lead the company you
founded. What, then, does the team need?
First, it needs the ability to sell – and in particular the ability to persuade others to buy into your vision.
Second, the team needs the ability to count. The business is managed by managing the flow of cash. It may
be the accountant’s job to do your books, but it is your responsibility to understand them so well that you
use them to drive the business. Third, the team needs experience. There are three types: customer
experience, product experience, and start-up experience. If you are going to sell an Internet service to
restaurants, you need experience in the development of Internet services and the experience of running
restaurants. If your team has only one or the others, you will either know what product to build or how to
build it, but not both. Fourth, the team needs to have contacts, relationships, and a network. Having people
who can help you informally or formally will help your business succeed. Finally, you and your team must
be fully aware that starting a business means giving up two things – time and money. It frequently means
working evenings and weekends, and being last in line for payment. Succeeding with an innovation-based
company takes everything: all your time, all your great ideas, lots of personal sacrifices – and it may take all
of your money.

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There is no magic formula to building a business. It is like putting together the pieces of a puzzle. But it is
worth remembering that the team is the most important piece.

Write T if the following statements are true and F if they are false. (20pts)
31. ______ If you want your new business to succeed, you yourself first need to gain all the necessary skills
and experience.
32. _____ New entrepreneurs sometimes rightly decide to let another person lead the company they started up.
33. _____ You need to know your strengths and weaknesses before building the right team.
34. _____ Good cash flow management is a necessary condition for a business to be successful.
35. _____ An effective team will have experience in three key areas.
36. ______ You need to put in a lot of time and efforts before you can enjoy the rewards of owning a fast-
growing start-up.
37. ______ Building the right team is the magic formula to setting up a successful business.
38. ______ Building a business is compared with the image of putting together puzzle pieces.
39. ______ Having a great business idea means that you have enough management skills.
40. ______ A good accountant himself can help you control the cash flow efficiently.

Text B
As companies recover from their pandemic downsizing, they have a golden opportunity - and critical need -
to reset their organizations to prosper in the era ahead.
When the Covid-19 pandemic caused the economy to crash, companies raced to stay solvent by reducing their
costs to match their declining revenues. Most focused on slashing their personnel costs through downsizing or
salary reductions, or both. For midsize companies without surplus resources or diversification, this was critical
for survival. Time was of the essence, so most downsizing was largely implemented across the board.
In the post-pandemic period, many managers’ strong instinct is to rebuild their organizations as they were pre-
pandemic. This is a big mistake — they’re facing a different business environment and set of customer needs.
During the pandemic, giant digital competitors grew rapidly in response to changes in buyer behavior (e.g.,
B2C online ordering and direct shipment), which drove many smaller companies to the brink of bankruptcy.
The problem is that these changes aren’t going away. This means that companies, especially midsize firms,
have to “skate to where the puck will be,” as hockey great Wayne Gretzky once observed. Simply rebuilding
your previous organization, which seems like the obvious thing to do, is counterproductive. Your post-
pandemic buildup, however, is an ideal time to make the fundamental organizational changes that the new era
requires.
(Jonathan Byrnes and John Wass, Harvard Business Review, March 2021)

Look back at the reading. Find the words or expressions which mean (10 pts):
41. ___________ to be successful, especially in making money (paragraph 2)
42. ___________ having enough money to pay your debts (paragraph 2)
43. ___________ more than is needed or used (paragraph 2)
44. ___________ much larger or more important than similar things usually are (paragraph 3)
45. ___________ look towards the future at all times (paragraph 2)

PART III: CASE STUDY & WRITING (40 pts)

A. CASE STUDY (10 pts): Read the case and then answer the question below (about 80-100 words).
When IPhone 7 was launched in the market 4 years ago, it had a premium price. Only few people could
actually afford an iPhone. Gradually, few years later, the price of this IPhone has been slashed down with

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time, such that, everyone could now afford an IPhone 7. A few months ago, IPhone 12 was introduced in
the market. Before that, IPhone 11 was launched. Both these IPhone were sold at very heavy prices and in
large quantities. Now people are waiting to buy the much-awaited IPhone 12s. Presumably, the current
generation of IPhone will have a price cut prior to the release of new IPhone.
Question: What strategy in Marketing Mix does Apple use? Explain briefly about this strategy of the
company.

B. WRITING (30pts): Write your email.

You have just received a complaint email from your customer. Write a response email.

From: joshi@hahoo.com
To: abcbookstore@gmail.com
Subject- Complaint regarding receipt of wrong set of books.
Sent: 21 March, 2022
Sir/Madam
On March 18, 2022 I bought a book set (Order No. 000154) to be delivered to
Chandigarh, Sector-20.
Unfortunately, I have not received the set I ordered for and have instead, received the
wrong book set. I am highly disappointed.
To resolve the problem, I would appreciate it if you could replace the wrong book set
with the one originally ordered. Please let me know as soon as possible what action you
propose to take.
I look forward to hearing from you within the next ten days.
Yours faithfully,
Joshi
Varun Joshi

THE END OF THE PAPER.