BEC - Prelim - Reading - Part - One-Đã G P

BEC PRELIMINARY PRACTICE TEST
READING
QUESTIONS 1 – 45
PART ONE
Questions 1 – 5
• Look at questions 1 – 5.
• In each question, which sentence is correct?
• For each question, mark one letter (A, B or C).
Example
TO: All staff

SUBJECT: IT Training
Tell your line manager if you wish to attend. Places are for those who have not had IT
training this year.
Employees must attend the IT course if
A they had IT training earlier in the year.

B their line manager wants them to.
C they missed the previous IT training.
The correct answer is C.
This PHOTOCOPIABLE worksheet has been downloaded from www.intelligent-business.org 1

Copyright © Pearson Education Ltd 2006. Publishing as Pearson Longman. All rights reserved.
BEC PRELIMINARY PRACTICE TEST READING PART ONE (cont. …)
1
All orders delivered free of charge within 3 days.
For next day delivery, the attached charges apply.
A There is no delivery charge for any order.

B You must order your goods 3 days in advance.
C You must pay to receive goods the following day.
2
Large industrial company
is looking for graduates to join management team.
Experience not essential but an advantage.
Salary negotiable.
Applicants for the managerial position
A need to have a degree.

B can expect an excellent salary.
C must have management experience.
3 To: All Staff

Subject: Canteen closed next week
The canteen will be closed for redecoration next week. They will
deliver lunches to your offices if you order the day before.
Next week, staff
A must bring their own lunches to the office.

B cannot eat their meals in the usual place.
C must book if they want to eat in the canteen.

READING PART ONE (continued …)
4 TO: All staff

SUBJECT: Company magazine
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Articles required. Must be in PR office at least one week before issue
date. More information on website.
Staff who want to write for the company magazine must
A contact the PR office for more information.

B send articles in via the website.
C finish articles seven days before publication.
Meeting: NEW STAFF ONLY

Date: Monday, 6 July
Time: 08.30
Inform your line manager if you are

unable to attend.
A The meeting will allow managers to meet new staff.

B New staff must attend if their line manager cannot go.
C There is a meeting for new staff on 6 July.

READING
PART TWO
Questions 6 –10
• Look at the list below. It shows a selection of recruitment agencies.

• For questions 6 – 10, decide which agency (A – H) each company
needs to use to find staff.
• For each question, mark one letter (A – H).
• Do not use any letter more than once.
A E
ACCOUNTANCY SEARCH
IMAGE MAKERS
Specialist staff at all levels
Experienced public
relations staff
B F
SECURETEC HELPDESK
IT staff –specialists in information For all your administration staff

needs
security
C G
CONSULT4YOU CONSTRUCTEAM
Managers
for the engineering industry Managers for all construction
projects
D H
Making Impressions MAKE EASY

For advertising Skilled labour for the
and marketing manufacturing industry
staff

BEC PRELIMINARY PRACTICE TEST READING PART TWO (cont. …)
6 Rita Svenson, Finance Director of AB Construction, needs an assistant

to organise all the paperwork in her office.
7 Magnus Reilly, IT Director of GD Engineering, needs to recruit

someone to organize the financial side of his business.
8 Ali Behan, HR Manager of a large textile company, is looking for

several experienced operators to work on the new production line.
9 Andres Bolivia, head of an advertising agency, needs someone to

make sure that company and client data are protected.
10 Basem El Jahabi, CEO of an expanding engineering consultancy,

needs someone to write news about his company for the press.

READING
PART THREE
Questions 11 – 15
• Look at the chart below. It shows the regional production figures of a

manufacturing company during an eight-year period.
• Which year does each sentence (11 – 15) on the opposite page
describe? For each sentence, mark one letter (A – H).
• Do not use any letter more than once.
Production by region
16
14
12
10 million units
N. America
8
Europe
Asia
6
0
A B C D E F G H

READING PART 3 (continued …)
11 This year, production in North America fell slightly while in Europe it

continued to rise steadily unlike production in Asia.
12 While output in North America saw continued steady growth, European

production rose faster in contrast to Asia where it remained level.
13 This year, there was rising production in Europe and an increase in

Asia, whereas North America was not as productive as the previous
year.
14 While North American production continued to increase along with that

in Asia, Europe saw a slight reduction in output.
15 Whereas European production followed a steady growth pattern along

with North America, Asian production was slightly less than the
previous year.

READING
PART FOUR
Questions 16 – 22
• Read the article below about graduate recruitment in America.

• Are sentences 16 – 22 on the opposite page ‘Right’ or ‘Wrong’? If there is not
enough information to answer ‘Right’ or ‘Wrong’, choose ‘Doesn’t say’.
• For each sentence 16 – 22, mark one letter (A, B or C).
In September, the campuses of America will be full of not only returning
undergraduates, but also employers offering jobs to the best 10% of them. “We are
seeing a far more competitive market for talent,” says Steve Canale, a recruitment
manager at General Electric (GE). Companies are also looking at summer work-
experience students more as potential full-time employees than as temporary staff.
60% of GE's graduate recruits in America this year, for instance, will come from more
than 2,000 summer students.
Firms are working harder to improve their image in the eyes of undergraduates. GE
focuses on 38 universities where it actively promotes itself as an employer.
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC), an accounting firm, targets 200 universities and
gives a partner responsibility for each. PWC says that each of these partners spends
up to 200 hours a year “building relationships on campus”.
According to a survey by Universum, which asked 30,000 American students to
name their ideal employer, PWC came second in 2005 (up from 4th in 2004), beaten
only by BMW. Yet the German carmaker, which replaced Microsoft as the leader in
2005, avoids campuses, relying for its popularity, says Universum, on the “coolness”
of its products.
Adapted from In Search of the Ideal Employer

©The Economist Newspaper and the Economist Group.

BEC PRELIMINARY PRACTICE TESTREADING PART FOUR (cont. …)
16 The competition for recruiting graduates has grown recently.
A Right B Wrong C Doesn’t say
17 General Electric is offering jobs to all its work experience students.
18 Not many work experience students complete their studies.
19 Companies want to make more of an impression on students.
20 PWC gives each partner responsibility for one of 38 universities.
21 In 2005 BMW was the most popular employer for students.
22 BMW visits many university campuses to recruit staff.

READING
PART FIVE
Questions 23 – 28
• Read the article below about Yum! Brands, a fast-food company.

• For each question 23 – 28 on the opposite page, choose the correct answer.
• Mark one letter (A, B or C).
YUM! BRANDS
YUM! is one of the biggest fast-food companies in America, yet few of its customers
have ever heard of it. Its brand names - KFC, or Pizza Hut, or Taco Bell - are found
along the high streets of the world. From its modest base in Louisville, Kentucky, it
oversees the opening of three new restaurants, one of them in China, every day.
Yum! Brands, the parent of these well-known fast-food chains, has 34,000 (mostly
franchised) restaurants around the world, 2,000 more than McDonald's. At home in
America it accounts for about 4% of all restaurant-industry sales, behind only
McDonald's at 6.5%. With 1,378 KFC restaurants in China, and 201 Pizza Huts at
mid-2005, Yum! owns two of the best-known brand names in the world's biggest
market.
The company used to belong to Pepsi Cola but was sold by them in 1997 because
they were not interested in running restaurants. However, David Novak, the boss of
Yum!, who used to work for Pepsi, loves being in the restaurant industry. Mr Novak,
who became chief executive in 1999 and chairman in 2001, believes in a more
relaxed way of management than Pepsi. He wants people to feel that work should be
fun and employees respond to his accessible style.

READING PART FIVE (continued …)
Mr Novak declared that he was going to “love” the franchisees, who owned 60% of
Yum!'s restaurants when Pepsi sold it (the proportion is now about 75%) and whom
Pepsi had not always treated gently. Restaurant managers got stock options. The
logic: if the managers were happy, they were more likely to treat the “crew” members
working the kitchen and the counter well, as their efficiency and cheerfulness is vital
to the restaurants' success. This philosophy has been partly successful. The average
American kitchen employee stays with Yum! for one year, almost twice as long as in
2000.
Yum! benefits from economies of scale across the restaurant brands which all work
together instead of acting as rivals as they had done under Pepsi. Advertising media-
buying was unified through a single agency, for example. Collectively they are one of
the top five buyers in America.
International operations are in a single division, a trend started under Pepsi. This
concentrated the resources needed to penetrate new markets, a strategy that has
been very successful in China. There, KFC has gone after the fast-food market,
whereas Pizza Hut has positioned itself more as a place for casual dining, while Taco
Bell is just beginning to test the market.

BEC PRELIMINARY PRACTICE TEST READING PART FIVE (continued …)
23 According to the article, Yum! Brands is
A one of the largest companies in America.

B opening three restaurants every day in China.
C hardly recognized by most of its customers.
24 According to the article, compared with McDonald’s, Yum!
A has more outlets.

B has more restaurants in China.
C has a higher turnover.
25 What does the article say about Pepsi Cola?
A Yum! Brands was once owned by Pepsi Cola.

B David Novak was once Pepsi Cola’s Chairman.
C Pepsi has changed its management style.
26 David Novak gave the franchisees the opportunity to buy
A 60% of the company’s outlets.

B the Pepsi Cola company.
C shares in Yum! Brands.
27 Under Yum! Brands, the three companies KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza
Hut
A work together to improve purchasing power.

B are more competitive with each other.
C run similar advertising campaigns.
28 What does the article say about Yum! Brands’ international operations?
A The three companies are targeting the same market share.

B They are structured the same as they were under Pepsi.
C Each company is focusing on a different country.

READING
PART SIX
Questions 29 – 40
• Read the article below about Amazon, an online retailer.
• Choose the correct word to fill each gap, from A, B or C on the opposite page.
• For each question 29 – 40. mark one letter (A, B or C).
…AMAZON MOVES INTO SOUTH AFRICA…

LAST month, Amazon, an online retailer, (0)…… that it had opened a software
development centre in Cape Town, South Africa. Amazon chose South Africa
(29)…… of its pool of IT workers and good infrastructure.
(30)…… to a recent study, South Africa is well placed to (31)…… from the trend of firms
(32)…… business processes, such as customer care, to cheaper places. This could (33)……
100,000 jobs in South Africa as well as (34)…… a useful $90m-175m in foreign investment
by 2008.
Demand from American and British firms to do this (35)…… forecast to rise from $10 billion
now to maybe $60 billion by 2008, 40% of (36)…… is likely to be in banking and insurance.
That is more (37)…… countries such as India, China and the Philippines — which meet
(38)…… of the demand today—are likely to be able to (39)…… .
That is (40)…… IBM has decided to open a global call-centre for international corporate
clients in Johannesburg.
[Adapted from: Offshoring – Into Africa – Economist.com]

BEC PRELIMINARY PRACTICE TEST READING PART SIX (continued …)
Example:
(0) A told B mentioned C announced
Answer: C
29. A because B as C result
30. A Regarding B Concerning C According
31. A improve B help C benefit
32. A moving B pushing C translating
33. A employ B make C create
34. A attracting B appealing C requesting
35. A has B is C will
36. A what B which C whose
37. A that B with C than
38. A many B much C lot
39. A deal B cope C handle
40. A why B when C how

BEC PRELIMINARY PRACTICE TEST READING
PART SEVEN
Questions 41 – 45
• Read the two emails below.

• Complete the conference room booking form on the opposite page.
• Write a word or phrase (in CAPITAL LETTERS) or a number on lines
41 – 45.
TO: Edgar Manning

FROM: Javier Benitez
SUBJECT: Regional Development Meeting – 7th September
…………………………………………………………………………………………..
Sorry, but I have to attend a Sales Managers Meeting on 7th. Can we re-
arrange for 14th September? Also I’d like to start at 10.00hrs as 4 new
managers will be attending and they have a long way to come.
Would it be okay to have a hot meal in the canteen that day?
TO: Sophie Weitz

FROM: Edgar Manning
SUBJECT: Changes to 7 September booking
………………………………………………………………………………………….
Please see attached from Javier. The meeting I’m organizing is now 17th as
the Director’s Meeting is on 14th. The usual 8 managers will be12 and
although I‘d like to have a hot meal, we won’t have time, so sandwiches as
usual please. I’ve agreed the new start time and we should finish around
1700hrs.

BEC PRELIMINARY PRACTICE TEST READING PART SEVEN (cont. …)
CONFERENCE ROOM
BOOKING SHEET
Meeting title: (41) ……………………..
Meeting organiser: (42) ……………………..
Date required: (43) ……………………..
Start & Finish time: (44) …………………….. hrs
No. of people: 12
Type of lunch: (45) ………


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BEC PRELIMINARY PRACTICE TEST

TO: All staff

Employees must attend the IT course if

A they had IT training earlier in the year.

The correct answer is C.

This PHOTOCOPIABLE worksheet has been downloaded from www.intelligent-business.org 1

A There is no delivery charge for any order.

Applicants for the managerial position

A need to have a degree.

3 To: All Staff

Next week, staff

A must bring their own lunches to the office.

This PHOTOCOPIABLE worksheet has been downloaded from www.intelligent-business.org 2

4 TO: All staff

Staff who want to write for the company magazine must

A contact the PR office for more information.

Meeting: NEW STAFF ONLY

Inform your line manager if you are

A The meeting will allow managers to meet new staff.

This PHOTOCOPIABLE worksheet has been downloaded from www.intelligent-business.org 3

• Look at the list below. It shows a selection of recruitment agencies.

IT staff –specialists in information For all your administration staff

Making Impressions MAKE EASY

This PHOTOCOPIABLE worksheet has been downloaded from www.intelligent-business.org 1

6 Rita Svenson, Finance Director of AB Construction, needs an assistant

7 Magnus Reilly, IT Director of GD Engineering, needs to recruit

8 Ali Behan, HR Manager of a large textile company, is looking for

9 Andres Bolivia, head of an advertising agency, needs someone to

10 Basem El Jahabi, CEO of an expanding engineering consultancy,

This PHOTOCOPIABLE worksheet has been downloaded from www.intelligent-business.org 2

• Look at the chart below. It shows the regional production figures of a

This PHOTOCOPIABLE worksheet has been downloaded from www.intelligent-business.org 1

11 This year, production in North America fell slightly while in Europe it

12 While output in North America saw continued steady growth, European

13 This year, there was rising production in Europe and an increase in

14 While North American production continued to increase along with that

15 Whereas European production followed a steady growth pattern along

This PHOTOCOPIABLE worksheet has been downloaded from www.intelligent-business.org 2

• Read the article below about graduate recruitment in America.

In September, the campuses of America will be full of not only returning

experience students more as potential full-time employees than as temporary staff.

than 2,000 summer students.

focuses on 38 universities where it actively promotes itself as an employer.

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC), an accounting firm, targets 200 universities and

up to 200 hours a year “building relationships on campus”.

According to a survey by Universum, which asked 30,000 American students to

Adapted from In Search of the Ideal Employer

This PHOTOCOPIABLE worksheet has been downloaded from www.intelligent-business.org 1

16 The competition for recruiting graduates has grown recently.

A Right B Wrong C Doesn’t say

17 General Electric is offering jobs to all its work experience students.

A Right B Wrong C Doesn’t say

18 Not many work experience students complete their studies.

A Right B Wrong C Doesn’t say

19 Companies want to make more of an impression on students.

A Right B Wrong C Doesn’t say

20 PWC gives each partner responsibility for one of 38 universities.

A Right B Wrong C Doesn’t say

21 In 2005 BMW was the most popular employer for students.

A Right B Wrong C Doesn’t say

22 BMW visits many university campuses to recruit staff.

A Right B Wrong C Doesn’t say