Sale Reduction Your company is an international company which produces electronic productS

?The pie chart below shows the hours spent on four in-house training courses in your company.

?Using the information from the chart, write a report comparing the four courses.

?Write 120-140 words.

&8226;Read the text below from a brochure for a company that rents out office space.

&8226;In most of the lines (41-52) there is one extra word. It is either grammatically incorrect or does not fit in with the sense of the text. Some lines, however, are correct.

&8226;If a line is correct, write CORRECT on your Answer Sheet.

&8226;If there is an extra word in the line, write the extra word in CAPITAL LETTERS on your Answer Sheet.

REGUS INSTANT OFFICES

Regus offers for immediately available, fully-furnished, serviced offices in a growing number of locations worldwide. We bring together people, property

41 and technology to provide a platform. for doing the business on flexible terms

42 wherever, and whenever, you do require. You can hire an office for a day, a

43 week, a month, a year or however long you need them to. You can do it as

44 easily as you would book a hotel or rent a car, and, with our management

45 skills, you can be assured of such consistent quality. Increased demand

46 is continually driving us to open new centres. Our aim is to provide you a

47 world-class business service which is a driving force in changing the way

48 people work.' Regus centres can be found out in prominent, convenient

49 locations throughout the world. In each centre contains a range of facilities,

50 including serviced offices, meeting rooms, reception areas, altogether with

51 coffee/tea points and cybercafes. Everything is there of the highest standard.

52 In addition to being fully furnished and equipped up, each centre is staffed with a professional service team ready to assist you.

(41)

&8226;Read this text taken from an article about using wind to generate power.

&8226;Choose the best sentence from the opposite page to fill each of the gaps.

&8226;For each gap 9-14, mark one letter (A-H) on your Answer Sheet.

&8226;Do not mark any letter more than once.

Using wind to generate energy

Using the wind to generate energy is often considered unfeasible. In Great Britain, however, wind power is no longer a subject for cranks and dreamers. (0)H The wind now generates enough electricity to supply 250,000 people. Power companies are investing heavily in the business and windmills are becoming a common sight. (9) Even though wind power is clean and does not produce any greenhouse gases, pressure groups are determined to prevent its spread.

The National Wind Power Company wants to develop a huge wind farm on the top of Flaight Hill, an extremely beautiful area of Northern England. If they are given the go-ahead, the company will erect 44 rotors there. (10) They complain that the 60 metre turbines will spoil one of Britain's last remaining areas of natural beauty. They say that this is totally unacceptable. (11) They say that because the turbines are usually seen from some way away, their size would not be noticed because of the scale of the countryside.

The idea that wind farms ruin rural areas is not accepted by the British Wind Energy Association. The only problem is that people haven't got used to them yet. (12) They also claim that using the wind is an essential element in attempts to reduce pollution. And this is not all. (13) To support this, they point to statistics which show that 51 per cent of the power generated by wind turbines can be extracted, compared with about 30 per cent of that generated by coal-fired power stations.

The government is keen to boost the amount of electricity generated by renewable energy sources. In 1994, renewables, including the wind, produced just 2 per cent of Britain's electricity, compared with almost half from coal-powered stations. In future, the government would like to see at least 10 per cent of the nation's power coming from the wind. (14) This, however, would cover up to 1,250 square miles of countryside. One answer is to locate some of them at sea. It is estimated that as much as 20 per cent of Britain's energy needs could be supplied by, offshore wind turbines by the year 2025.

A. Local residents are determined to fight this plan.

B. They also dismiss claims that wind technology is inefficient.

C. However, this development has not been universally welcomed.

D. To achieve this, some 40,000 300-kilowatt turbines would be needed.

E. In a press release they state that the countryside is always changing and they deny that wind machines look ugly.

F. Recent research, however, has indicated some new problems.

G. Such allegations are dismissed out of hand by the company.

H. It is now regarded as an important and economically viable source of energy.

(9)

&8226;Read the article below about money management in Britain．

&8226;For each question 31-40．write one word in CAPITAL LETTER on your Answer Sheet.

Younger people are more likely to talk about their money issues than their elder counterparts，it has been revealed．Saga Personal Finance has found that 14 percent of over-50s are happy to talk about their finances ln (31) ，compared to 21 percent of under.50s．People (32) ．claimed they are unwilling to discuss money openly said they believe those matters should stay private(50 percent)and a tenth explained it was (33) they were embarrassed about their financial situation．Around half of the under-50s said they were happy to (34) ．money with their friends，whereas this fell to 30 percent among the older group．It was also revealed that 71 percent of Brits in a relationship have a separate current (35) ，explaining that they want to keep their money apart as the main (36) ．Nearly a fifth claimed it was because they did not want to take responsibility (37) ，someone else's spending and 12 percent explained this was a good way to avoid arguments regarding finances．However，15 percent of couples said they argue about money more than any (38) ．issue，with one in four having a row about it several (39) a month．It was also interesting to find out that arguments regarding money appear to occur more between couples who have been together a while， (40) may be because they feel more comfortable bringing up the‘sticky’issue．

(31)

(The candidate chooses one topic and speaks about it for one minute.)

A. Staff Management: how to achieve and maintain high motivation among a workforce

B. Market Research: the importance of carrying out market research for company growth

C. Technology: how to plan for the impact of new technology on a company

&8226;Read the extract below from the annual report of a bed manufacturer.

&8226;In most of the lines (41-52) there is one extra word. It is either grammatically incorrect or does not fit in with the sense of the text. Some lines, however, are correct.

&8226;If a line is correct, write CORRECT on your Answer Sheet.

&8226;If there is an extra word in the line, write the extra word in CAPITAL LETTERS on your Answer Sheet.

CHIEF EXECUTIVE’S REVIEW

The prime focus for management recently has been the integration into the Group of Damon Beds. This acquisition is very much greater part of our strategy to grow our

41 presence in the UK branded furniture market. We are neither convinced that

42 leveraging the proven brand management expertise of which we are proud is the

43 optimum route to continued and sustainable growth in shareholder value. Overall,

44 sales grew more quickly than 9%, to reach ￡125 million. This represents a small

45 increase in market share such as our strategy to build share in growing, added value

46 sectors gains momentum. Our established brands had another excellent year with

47 volumes and turnover at record levels. While we have increased capacity to cope with

48 significantly increased demand, boosted by the return to television advertising in early

49 last year. The purpose of the campaign is how to reinforce our position as the UK's

50 leading volume bed business by improving brand awareness still further on and, more

51 importantly, communicating to consumers regarding the message about the uniqueness

52 of the product and yet the benefits and reasons for choosing our beds. Early indications show that the campaign is already having the desired effect.

(41)

&8226;Read this text taken from an article about marketing.

&8226;Choose the best sentence from the opposite page to fill each of the gaps.

&8226;For each gap (9-14), mark one letter (A-H) on your Answer Sheet.

&8226;Do not use any letter more than once.

How effective is your marketing?

Gone are the days when companies had departments full of staff whose role nobody understood. Today we are all accountable and have to be able to demonstrate the value of our contribution to our businesses. And rightly so. But when it comes to marketing, what is effectiveness, how do you measure it, and why is its measurement so important?

Businesses are starting to recognise the key marketing questions. Are we providing the right products for the right people at the right price? Are our brands better than those of our competitors? (9) That's because marketing is not the fluffy stuff that can be axed when the going gets tough - it is the essence of business. So if marketing is important, it follows that it pays to know if yours is working.

The first stage in the process is understanding your current position. How successful is your brand today? What is your market share? You should equip yourself with some sound facts and figures on which to base your conclusions. (10) It could be simply to boost sales. You may want to reinforce your leadership in a market or trounce a competitive brand. Influencing future profitability, possibly by building a short-term brand share, may be a priority. A clear objective is essential.

But how do you know if your marketing is achieving your goals? (11) Their success is not just related to how many boxes leave the factory. Effectiveness may not be tangible. It may be financial, it may not. 'The brand' is an intangible asset, but it is now seen as an important one. Quantifying the value of an intangible asset is a difficult, but not impossible, task.

It is also necessary to evaluate both long-term effectiveness and the short-term outcomes of any campaign. (12) But the care of a brand is a marathon, not a sprint, and it is important not to lose sight of the long-term consequences.

Choosing the right measurement tools to evaluate a campaign is another important issue. (13) The accuracy they thus ensure should be consistent over time and correspond to the wider objectives of the business. Ultimately, marketing must deliver profit.

The essential debate should no longer be about the importance of marketing, but what we should do to measure its effectiveness, and what measures will ensure survival. (14) But to others it is likely to be a controversial issue - and one which can produce responses leading to widely different directions for their enterprises.

A Having done that, next comes establishing what it is that marketing activities should be achieving.

B Because of this, you may want to generate return on investment, perhaps by raising the quality of your brand.

C This shift in focus will be taken as read by the most successful businesses.

D Addressing such issues should mean that profits take care of themselves.

E Concerning the latter, it may be tempting to be seduced by efforts that yield quick results and satisfy investor pressure for immediate returns.

F These should be precise and based on empirical data.

G Good strategies are not necessarily linked to production or sales figures.

H Today we are all accountable and have to be able to demonstrate the value of our contribution to our businesses.

(9)

Task Sheet for Candidate A

Task Sheet 1

A: The management; how to treat your employees with TLC (Tender Loving Care)

B: Customer service: how to improve customer service

C: Leadership training; how failure paves the way to success

Task Sheet for Candidate B

Task Sheet 2

A: Staff management: how to keep good employees

B: Sales: how to increase your sales

C: Performance management: how strategic performance management is helping companies create business value