DIPLOME D’ETUDES SUPERIEURES DE COMPTABILITE ET GESTION

FINANCIERE DE L’UEMOA
(DESCOGEF)
SESSION D’AVRIL 2012

EPREUVE : ANGLAIS

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EPREUVE D’ANGLAIS DU DIPLOME D’ÉTUDES SUPÉRIEURES
DE COMPTABILITÉ ET GESTION FINANCIÈRE (DESCOGEF)

Instructions to candidates

 (a) The time allowed for this examination is 4 hours.

 (b) Answer all questions.
 (c) Use the spaces provided in this combined question and answer
sheets to complete the questions.
 (d) All answers must be clearly and correctly numbered but need
not be in numerical order.
 (e) When you finish, check your work carefully.
 (f) The use of English dictionaries is not permitted.

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PART I - READING COMPREHENSION

Manufacturing price falls fuel fears of deflation

(by Christopher Adams, Economics Staff)

After decades of battling with inflation, an unfamiliar danger could be threatening

the UK economy. Prices charged by manufacturers for finished goods have fallen
over the 12 months to November.

Struggling against fierce competitive pressures, producers have had to cut prices
faster than at any time in the past 40 years. Official data show output prices for
manufactured goods, excluding food, drink, tobacco and petroleum, fell 0.5 % in the
year to November, the sharpest slide since records began in 1958.

Falling output could tip the manufacturing sector into recession, some observers
fear. If that were to happen, a contraction in manufacturing could hit other parts of
the economy, causing consumer demand to shrink and driving overall prices lower.

Economists blame the drop in factory gate prices on economic weakness in Asia
and the strength of sterling, which together have eroded the competitiveness of UK
exporters overseas and made imported goods cheaper. Domestic manufacturers
have had to cut their prices to compete.

On available evidence, is deflation a problem for the economy? For the moment,
there is little to indicate the possible wider consequences of falling output prices.
Recent economic data show ‘deflation’, or a decline in the general price level, is not
yet present.
Overall, the continued strength of the retail and service sectors have been keeping
the economy turning over – in spite of the inertia of the manufacturing sector.
Consumer spending, for example, is still relatively robust, in spite of slowing in
recent months. In fact, the annual rate of inflation for consumer spending on goods
and services, excluding housing, was 1.9 per cent in November, higher than for all
the other Group of Seven leading industrialised nations. Prices charged by retailers
for clothing and shoes have fallen, but these goods represent only a fraction of total
household spending.

‘We’re not at the stage where falling prices in manufacturing are having a big effect
on demand’, said David Mackie, economist at J. P. Morgan.

Growth in the service industry also remains resilient, with the transport and
communications sectors, key suppliers to manufacturers, enjoying strong demand.
Services output rose 0.8 per cent in the third quarter of last year.

However, if deflation were to take hold, the cycle could intensify any decline and be
difficult to stop.

As the value of finished goods at the factory gate falls, returns on the investment
made by manufacturers to produce those goods would diminish. Companies would
find it more difficult to cover the cost of borrowing and cut capital spending.

If demand for plant, machinery and vehicles dried up, suppliers of business
services in the transport, logistics and communications sector would also suffer. If
growth in real incomes slowed as a result and consumers became more concerned
about potential job losses, then household spending could contract too, forcing
producers to cut prices further.

But economists say this dark scenario is unlikely to happen.

Financial Times
A. Understanding main points :

Mark these statements T (true) or F (false) according to the information in the text.

Find the part of the text that gives the correct information.

1. The UK is definitely going to have big economic problems. /_____/

……………………………………………………………………

2. The UK’s usual economic problem is with inflation. /_____/

……………………………………………………………………

3. It is difficult for UK manufacturers to compete both at home and abroad. /_____/

……………………………………………………………………

4. The deflation cycle has already started. /_____/

……………………………………………………………………

5. The UK has the highest inflation rate of the Group of Seven

(G7) countries. /_____/

……………………………………………………………………

6. The service industries in the UK are in decline /_____/

……………………………………………………………………
 B. Understanding details

Read the last part of the text and complete the chart.

6.___________________ Manufacturers cut the 1. Returns on

_____________________ prices of finished investments diminish
goods _________________
_________________

5. Consumers_________ 2. Companies cut

_____________________ ____________________
_____________________

3. Suppliers of business 4. Demand________

services___________ _________________
__________________

C. Information search

What are the main causes of the fall in prices thought to be ?

Which of these are mentioned in the article. Please tick √

1. fall in price of petroleum

2. economic problems in Asia

3. high cost of imports

4. strength of the pound against other currencies

D. Word field

Which of the words below are associated with economic weakness? Please tick √

1. recession 2. decline 3. resilience 4. inertia

5. contraction 6. Robust 7. slowing

E. Word search

Find a word or phrase in the texts that has a similar meaning.

1. prices charged by manufacturers for finished goods

f………………………………g……………………………………p………………………

2. people or businesses that sell goods directly to the public

r………………………………………………………………………

3. money paid out by each family

h……………………………………..s…………………………………………….

4. profit made by a business compared with the amount of capital expenditure

r……………………………….on i……………………………………………..

5. interest that has to be paid on a loan

c……………………………………………….of b……………………………………

F. Synonyms

Which words have similar meaning? Match them

1. producer a) contract

2. shrink b) struggle

3. job losses c) manufacturer

4. fall d) unemployment

5. battle. e) drop
PART II - TERMINOLOGY PRACTICE

A. Number the following words or expressions with their underlined equivalents in

the text :

accuracy 1 external

Annual General Meeting implemented

board of directors ratified

shareholders (GB)
checking or stockholders (US)

deficiencies standard operating procedures

determine subsidiaries

deviations a synonym

directives transnational corporations

The traditional definition of auditing is a review and an evaluation of financial records by a

second set of accountants. An internal audit is a control by a company’s own accountants,
checking for completeness, (1) exactness and reliability. Among other things, internal
auditors are looking for (2) departures from (3) a firm’s established methods for recording
business transactions. In most countries, the law requires all firms to have their accounts
audited by an outside company. An (4) independent audit is thus a review of financial
statements and accounting records by an accountant not belonging to the firm. The auditors
have to (5) judge whether the accounts give what in Britain is known as a “true and fair view”
and in the US as a “fair presentation” of the company’s ‘corporation’s’ financial position.
Auditors are appointed by a company’s (6) most senior executives and advisors, whose
choice has to be (7) approved by the (8) owners of the company’s equity at the (9)
company’s yearly assembly. Auditors write an official audit report. They may also address a
“management letter” to the directors, outlining (10) inadequacies and recommending
improved operating procedures. This leads to the more recent use of the word “audit” as (11)
an equivalent term for “control” : (12) multinational companies, for example, might
undertake inventory, marketing and technical audits. Auditing in this sense means (13)
verifying that general management (14) instructions are being (15) executed in branches,
(16) companies which they control, etc…
B. Add appropriate words to these phrases :

1. Auditors………………………………………………………….companies accounts

2. Accounts have to …………………………………………….…..a fair presentation

3. Auditors write a………………………………………………………………………….

4. It’s the directors who…………………………………………………..…..the auditors

5. Auditors sometimes………………………………..…..better accounting procedures

6. Using external auditors is a …………………………………………..…..requirement

C. All the words below can be combined with account, accounts or accounting, in a
two-word partnership : e.g. bank account, accounts payable or tax accounting.
Add the word account, accounts or accounting to each of the words below :

1. ……………………..holder 11. bank……………………..

2. ……………………..methods 12. current……………………..

3. ……………………..day 13. standards……………………..

4. ……………………..equation 14. book……………………..

5. ……………………..payable 15. deposit……………………..

6. ……………………..principles 16. cost……………………..

7. ……………………..period 17. managerial……………………..

8. ……………………..procedures 18. numbered……………………..

9. ……………………..receivable 19. profit and loss……………………..

10. ……………………..savings 20. tax……………………..

PART III - TRANSLATION

Translate into French the last two paragraphs of the reading text : “If demand for plant,
machinery and vehicles dried up,………this dark scenario is unlikely to happen”.

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