Unit 1 | Requirements and inferences

Requirements in reading / listening

Many reading/listening passages (job descriptions, directions, etc.) mention
SPOTLIGHT ON TESTING

some required things as well as some optional things. Test questions may ask
you to distinguish between what is required and what is optional.

1 Understanding Requirements
A. Read the job announcements.

ManagerNet Job Clearinghouse

1) Job: Quality Control Manager
Employer: Seaboard Technologies, Inc.
Duties:
• Oversee quality control testing of computer
memory chips and other products
2) Job: Product Development Manager
Employer: Hammer Cycle Sports, Inc.
Duties:
• Lead staff in the development of new products
and services

• Manage 20-person technical staff

• Assess customer satisfaction and respond to

• Maintain relations with customers

and suppliers
•
customer needs
Direct training of adventure guides and sales

• Contribute to company’s strategic planning

for the future
•
representatives
Keep up-to-date about improvements in
technology and industry standards
Qualifications:
•Master’s degree in management, industrial
engineering, or closely related field
• Manage product-development budget
Qualifications:
• Five years experience in quality control,
•High school diploma, some college preferred

•
preferably in management
Budgeting experience, experience in controlling • Current knowledge of extreme sports, especially
cycle sports

•
costs a plus
Willingness to travel frequently, often overseas • Ability to participate in company-provided
adventure travel programs

• Excellent communication skills

Contact: Human Resources Manager, Seaboard
Technologies, Inc., 57 Port Road, Natick, MA
01760 humres@seaboardnatick.com
• Excellent personal communication skills
• Budgeting experience a plus
Contact: Mr. Devon Cole, Hammer Cycle Sports,
Inc., 3411 Lincoln Hwy, St. George, UT 84711
coledevon@hammerbikes.net

B. Circle the letter of the best option.

1. The person hired for the Seaboard Technologies job is required to have
a. a college degree.
b. five years’ experience in management.
c. experience controlling costs.

2 Spotlight on Testing • Unit 1

Strategies for taking the: TOEFL® Test TOEIC® Test IELTS™ Test
 2. Which qualification is optional for the Hammer 3. is required for both jobs.
Cycle Sports job? a. Budgeting experience
a. High school graduation b. The ability to communicate well
b. Knowledge about extreme sports c. A college degree
c. Budgeting experience

Making inferences
To fully understand a reading/listening passage, you might have to “read between
the lines.” Some test questions ask you to make inferences—to understand what
is not said directly. Use clues from the context, logic, and your own experience.

2 Practicing with inferences

Check (✓) each statement that can be strongly inferred from the job announcements.
1. Seaboard Technologies has customers and/or suppliers in other countries.
2. Hammer Cycle Sports does not require an intelligent person.
3. Both jobs require the ability to handle money well.

3 Making inferences from personal statements

AUDIO FILE Listen to the personal statements. Check (✓) the two strongest inferences from
what each person says.
Ted
1. Seals are dangerous.
2. La Jolla is on the seacoast.
3. There are more seals now than in Ted’s childhood.
Lucia
4. The Amazon is bigger than the Tapajos.
5. The Tapajos is strong enough to carry away a house.
6. The river east of Santarem is not half brown and half blue.
Mari
7. There are restaurants near the Kifissia train station.
8. Mari has relatives living in Kifissia.
9. The Penteli mountain has fewer forests now than in Mari’s childhood.

4 Check your understanding

AUDIO FILE Listen again to the personal statements. Remember that
Write T for true or F for false. modal verbs tell you a lot.
Have to and must can show
1. Ted had to walk from downtown San Diego to requirements. Could or might
La Jolla. often show optional things.
2. Lucia has to stay out of the rivers in Santarem.
3. Mari’s family had to take a taxi from Kifissia to Penteli.
4. People in La Jolla have to stay out of the Children’s Pool.

5 Skills in review
Look again at Exercise 5 on p. 4 of the Workbook. In what ways does
Thomas reflect both Korean and American cultures?

Spotlight on Testing • Unit 1 3