Use of English: Grammar
1 Fill in the gap with a/an, the or
–.
Alex Man worked for the computing company for two months before he decided (1)_____ position was not suitable for him. Once he had handed in his notice, he started to look for a job in the music industry. He joined (2) _____ band and has been touring (3) _____ world ever since. To date, he has played in (4)_____US, Australia, Singapore and many countries in (5)_____ Europe. It is believed that he has started writing his music and that soon (6)_____ songs he has written will be used to create (7)_____
award-winning album.
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2 Choose the correct alternative.
1 Sally is the teacher who
from/with whom I work closely at
school.
2 At which/in which point did he decide that he’s giving up his course?
3 Who/whom is the man standing over there by the red car? 4 I’m ever hopeful I’ll win the
lottery, in which case/in which
reason, I’ll buy a house for my
two sons.
5 He’s the person that/whom got offered the job at the television company.
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3 Read the text and then select the correct
answer A, B, C or D.
When we need to (1) ____________ a position, we place an advertisement online or in a local newspaper. We customarily receive hundreds of (2) ____________ for one job. It is my job to sift through the countless CVs and eliminate the candidates that are not suitable for the position. The remaining application (3)
____________, approximately half, are given to the Human Resources Manager who then draws up a shortlist of (4) ____________
employees. These people are then phoned and invited for an interview. Interviews usually last 30 minutes and the whole (5) ____________ takes two days. 1 A complete B achieve C fill D fulfil 2 A claims B applications C demands D requests 3 A manuscripts B documents C papers D forms 4 A potential B dubious C expected D significant 5 A treatment B means C process D method
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Use of English: Vocabulary
4 Replace the words underlined with the correct phrase in the correct form.
end up
find your feet get on in life
overcome setbacks
try your hand at something
1 If you don’t work hard, you won’t be successful.
2 We had never been windsurfing before and so when we were on holiday we had a go to see if we were good at it.
3 After two months of working as a swimming instructor, Alan
eventually became confident with his job.
4 As he was unable to successfully deal with some problems, he didn’t get promoted.
5 The young entrepreneurs were in an unexpected situation after a series of events, and this resulted in them asking the bank for a loan.
/5
5 Choose the correct answer, A, B, C or D.
1 It took the owner approximately two months to overcome
_____________ from some employees.
A insight B resistance
C the pros and cons D understanding
2 Once she had finished her master’s programme, she
decided she was going to _____________ a new hobby.
A gain B overcome C stand D take up
3 Do you know whether the company has undertaken
_____________ into the effects of its products on the environment?
A a venture B a setback
C an investigation D a post
4 The company, not knowing which way to turn, _____________ the options and then made a rational decision.
A weighed up B took control of C took up
D got on
5 When she left university she embarked on a _____________ in hospitality. A position B career C setback D study
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6 Read the following text and complete the gaps with the correct words in the correct form. There is one extra phrase that you do not need.
give someone a grilling be quietly confident
see right through someone panel interview
let your nerves show throw somebody
Once the candidate had stepped out of the room, the (1)________________ commented on how disastrous he
had been. From the moment he entered the room, he
(2)________________. Not something that you can help, but he mumbled all of his words and as he spoke his hands shook. One of the female panel members (3)________________ and he just crumbled. He had written some questionable information on his CV and she (4)________________. She knew he had lied about his work experience. The candidate hadn’t expected the interviewer to ask so many
questions about this and he was (5)________________. It would be fair to say that the candidate will not be getting the job.
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Reading
7 You are going to read about a journalist who worked
undercover for a retail company. Five paragraphs have been removed. Choose from the paragraphs A-F the one which fits each gap (1-5). There is one extra paragraph which you do not need to use.
1 __________________
Since I had got into bed at eleven thirty, my brain had run through some of the questions that I might be asked. “Tell us about yourself”, “Why are you leaving your current job?” and the question I dreaded the most, “Why are you interested in the position?”
2 __________________
It was decided, after some serious consideration, that I was the perfect
candidate. I was young, intelligent, and fashionable, and, in a way, I was an ideal match for the position that they had advertised on their website. The position was for a trainee buyer, without any
qualifications or experience in retail but who had an outgoing and
confident personality. 3 __________________
It took me over a week to prepare the perfect CV and covering letter, and as soon as I submitted it, I was called for an interview. The
interview was the next morning at ten o’clock. I had spent the whole weekend preparing the interview questions, and I was almost ready, but I still needed to find a reason why I was interested in the position and I needed to sound sincere when I answered the question.
4 __________________
I knew that if I told a massive lie, I would not sound genuine, therefore, I invented a small white lie. I would tell the company that I was
interested in the position because a job in fashion greatly interested me (which of course was a partial truth -the idea of being surrounded by fabulous clothes and shoes was any girl’s dream), and I would also
mention that many people had spoken about their work conditions and I wanted to experience them for myself (which was 100% true). However, I did not propose to say during the interview anything especially ‘positive’ or ‘negative’ about the working conditions. 5 __________________
The interview was held in a small room without windows and there
were three people interviewing me. I came across confidently and the way I answered the questions seemed to impress them, so much so, that at three o’clock that
afternoon, I received a call from the company saying, “You were
successful in the interview process and we would like to offer you the position”. I, of course, accepted the post and next week, I start my full-time undercover position.
A Having found the answer, I was able to get to sleep and I was woken at 8am the next morning by the sound of my alarm clock. It was time to get ready and make my way to the head office. B The real reason was to
discover if their company was treating its employees fairly or not, but of course, I couldn’t tell them that. There had been numerous emails to the
newspaper, where I worked as a journalist, from employees of the company describing some of the awful conditions the retail company was forcing their textile workers to endure. C If I got the position, the idea
was that I would work as an undercover journalist for a period of time, until I was able to deem the claims true or not. Although the prospect was quite exciting, I had to ensure that I was given the position and not someone else.
D As I sat at the kitchen table sipping warm milk, I thought about their textile workers earning below minimum wage and being forced to work each day from 7am until 11pm.
Anger spurned me on and I found a possible and
appropriate answer to the question.
E The textile company employed over one hundred people from a variety of countries around the world. Some of the
employees were complaining that they were getting below minimum wage and some were protesting that they never got paid on time. They claimed that they usually received their monthly income at least fifteen days later. F Unable to sleep, I decided the
best thing to do was to get out of bed and make myself a mug of hot milk. It was two in the morning and the thought of tomorrow’s interview was keeping my mind active.
Listening
8 You are going to hear
four speakers talking about new challenges at work. Match each speaker 1, 2, 3 or 4 with the best answer A-F from each list. There are two answers in each list you do not need.
How did the new challenge come about?
A After redundancies were made. B Following a friend’s request. C After a work promotion.
D Following the company’s move. E At the boss’s request.
F Following an unexpected meeting.
1 Speaker 1: 2 Speaker 2: 3 Speaker 3: 4 Speaker 4:
How does each speaker find the challenge they now face?
A Scary but life-changing B Boring and undemanding C Stressful and depressing D Time-consuming
E Hard work but enjoyable F Isolating and stressful
5 Speaker 1: 6 Speaker 2: 7 Speaker 3: 8 Speaker 4:
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Writing
9 You have read the following information on the website of a British university that you
would like to attend.
We welcome students from abroad on all of our courses. If you are interested in one of our courses, write to us detailing the course you would like to take, give the
reason(s) why you are interested, outline your educational history and state what you hope to do with the knowledge you gain from the
course.
Write your letter of application in 200-250 words. _____________________________________ _____________________________________ _____________________________________ _____________________________________ _____________________________________ _____________________________________ _____________________________________ _____________________________________ _____________________________________ _____________________________________ _____________________________________ _____________________________________ _____________________________________ _____________________________________ _____________________________________ _____________________________________ _____________________________________ _____________________________________ _____________________________________ _____________________________________ _____________________________________ _____________________________________ _____________________________________ _____________________________________