Business English 1 Written Exam

60% of the grade (60 marks) for Business English 1 in the summer semester of 2023 is for a
90 minute written exam.

It is anticipated that the exam will be made up of the following:

8 marks Vocabulary questions

17 marks Writing 2 emails

20 marks Completing parts of a telephone complaint dialogue

15 marks Complaint email

Learning Objectives

The exam will aim to test the following learning objectives

Vocabulary:
You should be able to actively produce the vocabulary and grammar from the course
vocabulary lists posted on studip.

Emails:
You should be able to use less formal and more formal styles to begin/end an email, make
arrangements, give good/bad news, refer to attachments, use capital letters correctly, make
requests, and end an email.

Telephoning:
You should be able to:
- Answer the phone, begin a call and state the purpose of your call, connect a caller to
another person, ask a person to wait or warn them of silence, check information,

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 spell out words, make requests, say yes to requests in a friendly/polite way, offer
help or to take a message, and end a call.

- Make a complaint and deal with a complaint.

Written complaints:

You should be able to:

- Write a letter of complaint which includes an introduction/summary, gives details of

the problem, uses indirect speech, asks for an appropriate solution, provides a
warning and has an appropriate ending.

Examination Methods

Language
You should expect 8 questions testing your ability to accurately produce the words or
grammar items in the vocabulary lists posted on studip most weeks. These will partly be in
the form of a definition and sentence with the word taken out.

Example:

Write the word or words for each definition in the gap in the example sentence.
(Sometimes one or more letters have been given to help you.) You may not use a word
included in the definition and the word must come from the Business English 1
vocabulary lists. Sometimes the number of words, the kind of words, the number of
letters, or the tense of a verb is specified.

1. Definition: to complete a course and get a degree or diploma from a university or

college.

She g…………………..d from Harvard last year with a degree in history.

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 2. Definition: A period of time when a woman temporarily leaves her job to have a
baby.

My colleague had a baby in December, but she will be back from

………………………… ………………………… in March.

Answers: 1. graduated 2. maternity leave

Please note that other items of vocabulary from the vocabulary lists will also be very
important for the tasks below.

Other language questions will relate to the grammar of the vocabulary, and you are strongly
advised to pay to the mistakes correction exercises during the course.

Writing 2 Emails (17 marks)

You should expect to write two emails relating to the making of arrangements. One will
involve correcting and changing the level of formality of a badly written email. The other will
require you to write an email from instructions.
Register (i.e. the level of formality) and course vocabulary will also be important.
Example or indicative tasks will be given in class.

Telephone Dialogue (20 marks)

You should expect a telephone dialogue where I have taken out parts and given you
instructions what to say. The dialogue will relate to standard telephoning and customer
service language and also a complaint situation.
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Example:
Complete the conversation by filling in each blank. A description of what each speaker
does or says is found under each blank.

A One World . Sara Jones …………………………... How can I help you?

(A answers the telephone)

B Hello. This is Ross Brothers at Harvolux in Milton Keynes.
……………………………………………………………………………………….. an order I placed two
weeks ago, which has not arrived yet. It’s now a week late. (B states the purpose of
his call)

A …………………………………………………………………………

(A shows that she is actively listening. Then she asks for a number to give into her
computer)

B CXZ 657 YE.

A And you’re Harvolux?

B That’s right.

A So the order is a week late.

B That’s right.
A …………………………………………………………………………………….......

…………………………………………………………………………………….......
(A apologizes very politely and proposes investigation and then calling back)

What’s your contact number, Mr Brothers?

Example or indicative tasks will be given in class.

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Writing a complaint email (15 marks)

You will be required to write a complaint email for a given situtation.

Example complaints and an indicative task will be given in class.