ENGLISH LANGUAGE FINAL EXAMINATION MOCK EXAM 1
ENGLISH FOR FINANCE/ACCOUNTING AND CONTROLLING Level: B2+
LISTENING
PART 1 __________/5 points
Listen to a discussion between consultants, Christina Shaw and David Yates, about a
management training programme for a company called Sandfords. Fill in the missing
information with up to five words. You will hear the recording twice.
1. Sandfords is operating _________________________________ market.
2. There were changes to arrangements and sessions kept
_________________________________.
3. This programme might be used as a way _________________________________ their
performance.
4. A proposal for sessions on negotiating skills and _________________________________
will be put forward.
5. Yes, they said March will be _________________________________, so as the launch is
over would fit in best.
PART 2
__________/5 points
Listen to the chairman’s speech at the Annual General Meeting and choose ONLY ONE answer
(A, B, C or D) to the following statements. You will hear the recording twice.
6. It is a very good year for the company because:
A. our sales revenue increased by $200.
B. we decreased our cost by 2%.
C. we opened our new headquarters in Kuala Lumpur.
D. we won a new contract in Malaysia,
7. Sales of software in China:
A. increased by 18%.
B. increased to $30 m.
C. were expected to grow by 8%.
D. grew to $13 m.
8. In Europe, however, …
A. sales of our software are to go down to 6%.
B. we have closed our marketing department.
C. the outlook is discouraging in the long term.
D. we don’t expect any increase in sales of software in the short term.
9. We won the Forbes magazine award for:
A. the best new security software.
B. one of the best new security softwares.
C. one of the fastest growing companies in Asia.
D. the fastest growing company in Asia.
10. The company raised money issuing:
A. 2 million bonds at a price of 43 pence.
B. 2 million new shares at a price of 43 pence.
C. 2 billion new shares at a price of 34 cents.
D. 2 million new shares at a price of 34 cents.
1
READING PART 1 __________/5 points
Read the article below, and choose ONE correct answer (A, B, C or D) to the following statements.
Strategic marketing planning addresses the company’s long-term goals and objectives rather than just
tactics for marketing products and services. Of course tactical marketing planning is just as essential,
but it comes at a later stage in the overall process. The strategic planning stage comes first and
involves taking a comprehensive overview of all the company’s sales and marketing activity. It starts
with three questions. Where is the company now? Where does management want the company to go?
What should the company do to improve its objectives? A good approach to take to the strategic
planning process is to separate it from the distractions of the day-to-day decisions about marketing
and sales activities, and to perform an annual comprehensive review of markets and opportunities,
matching this against the overall direction of the company and its long-term strategic goals.
Strategic market planning involves looking at the company from the customer’s point of view. You
need to keep coming back to the particular needs or problems which cause customers to purchase the
company’s goods and services. You can then set this against the improvements or benefits to the
customer’s personal or business life the company’s products can bring. Can these benefits be
enhanced or improved? You need to make a detailed study of those segments of the market which are
attracted to your company’s products and services. In order to get as much information as possible it
should involve segmenting the market in different ways: for example geographically, demographically
and psychologically. To build up a psychological profile of your customers in consumer markets factors
such as their overall lifestyles and attitudes need to be considered. What are the values and
motivations that lead people to decide to purchase your products? When you have some kind of a
grasp of this kind of information, you can step back to consider the bigger picture with questions, such
as which social, economic and cultural trends are affecting or might affect the customers’ general
interest or attraction to products like yours. For business-to-business markets, you will need to look at
industry-sector segmentation and other factors related to purchase decisions in large enterprise-size
purchases. An example of the latter would be the trend for big companies to outsource certain types of
service provision to low-cost countries.
Obviously, it is not enough just to gather information; you need to know how to interpret it and to
understand its possible implications. For example, if you see and understand the trend for business
process outsourcing early enough, you can decide what the consequences for you might be as a
provider of certain types of services and make decisions accordingly. To take another example, the
aging population bubble creates a general increase in demand for a wide range of products for this
age-group and profile. It creates market niches for specialized products for this market segment that
are large enough to make new product development and marketing worthwhile. The same shifts can
also reduce demand for other products. These long-term shifts in markets are frequently
misinterpreted as short-term competitive pressures or fluctuations in the economy. Without a strategic
marketing plan a company could waste resources or miss an opportunity. It’s difficult to estimate the
cost of missing an opportunity at the time it happens; it usually only emerges several years later when
a competitor opens a new factory or enters a new market and their revenue starts to accelerate and
overtake that of its competitors. In such situations it is easy to conclude that the annual cost of a
strategic marketing plan review is miniscule compared to the revenue, market share, and profitability it
can generate.
11 What is the relationship between strategic and tactical market planning described in the 1 st
paragraph?
a) Tactical market planning occurs before the strategic planning process.
b) Tactical planning is less concerned with detail than strategic planning.
c) Strategic planning comes before tactical planning and involves taking a comprehensive overview.
d) Strategic planning is more important than planning tactics.
12 What is the most effective way to undertake a strategic market plan?
a) You shouldn’t separate strategic market planning from decision-making related to sales.
b) You should undertake your annual view as a separate process from day-to-day sales and marketing
decision making.
2
c) You shouldn’t let the annual review distract you from day-to-day sales and marketing activity.
d) You should link your annual review to the day-day decision-making process.
13 How should companies construct a psychological profile of their customers?
a) By segmenting the market geographically and demographically.
b) By considering the particular need or problem which causes customers to purchase the company’s
goods and services.
c) By analysing the particular benefits the company’s products and services can bring to customers’
personal or business life.
d) By looking at customers, lifestyles and attitudes, including their values and motivations.
14 What does the author suggest might be the secondary effect of the ageing population
bubble?
a) To create new markets for niche products for other sectors of the population.
b) To increase the demand for niche products globally.
c) To reduce demand for certain other types of products.
d) To make new product development and marketing more worthwhile.
15 In what ways are long-term shifts in markets frequently misinterpreted?
a) There is so much competitive pressure that people don’t notice them.
b) People believe they are caused by short-term fluctuations in the economy.
c) People always believe that they will create new markets for niche products.
d) People are so worried about missing opportunities they don’t analyse them properly.
PART 2 __________/5 points
Read the article below and choose the best option: from A - E to fill each of the gaps.
Fill the gaps (1-5) with the sentences (A-E).
Banks are as likely as any other business to suffer the consequences of an economic recession. Their
business customers will suffer from falling sales and losses which will reflect in a surge of bad debts
as business loans fail to be repaid. (16) ____. For them the problem becomes redundancy and
meeting the normal household needs.
The problem is compounded because banking is becoming increasingly international. (17) ____. They
are spread across the world. Even the resources of a giant banking group like Midland or National
Westminster are not enough to finance oil exploration or the development of satellite communication
systems and this explains the growth of banking consortia. Banks from all the developed countries of
the world join forces to supply the capital required for some of the most ambitious (and risky) projects.
Unless these international ventures are successful the banks are faced with the problem of collecting
debts from customers in countries which are politically unstable. As if this is not enough, the banks in
the UK are also confronted with foreign banks which are beginning to look covetously towards our
domestic market for financial services.
Another problem for the banks is the increasing competition between our various financial institutions.
(18) ____ The latter collected savings from ordinary members of the public. Then they lent that money
to people who wanted to buy their own homes. In the past banks were not interested in such long term
loans. However, in recent years they have shifted their ground. They are now increasingly prepared to
grant loans to house purchasers, and in response the building societies are offering cheque facilities
to their own depositors. The result is that the dividing line between banks and building societies is
becoming blurred as the competition warms up. (19) ____ .
Technology provides both opportunities and threats to the banking community. Credit cards have
made it easier for the public to buy goods and services and in doing so to run up debts which, when
converted into formal borrowings, are very profitable from the banks’ point of view. (20) ____.
However, cash dispensing units are cheaper than cashiers and, while this may increase the
profitability of banks, it is also putting pressure on the Staff Departments to review their recruitment
policies.
A. At one time there was a clear-cut distinction between the banks and the building societies.
B. Similarly, the cash dispensing units which give customers greater access to their funds are likely
to be popular, particularly among ‘down-market’ customers.
3
C. The public at large are the beneficiaries.
D. The banks customers are not confined to these shores
E. Their private customers are unlikely to fare better
GRAMMAR AND LEXIS /20x0,5/ __________ / 10 points
I. Complete each sentence with a suitable word. The first letter may (or not) be provided.
21. The bank c_______ my account when I receive my monthly salary.
22. She forgot to pay a monthly p_______ and her insurance policy expired.
23. A s_______ account pays interest but usually has limits as to how much money can be withdrawn
during a certain period of time.
24. The_______ value, a term often used interchangeably with the face value, is the nominal value of
a share, bond, or other related securities on their date of issuance.
25. Coffee, tea and other foodstuffs are traded on the _______Exchange.
26. H_______is an attempt to reduce risk or uncertainty; speculating is the opposite.
27. The difference between the interest rate a lender pays and the rate the bank charges its borrowers
is known as a m _______.
28. B_______c_______are shares considered to be a safe investment
29. F_______are sums of money paid as penalties for breaking the law.
II. Choose A, B, C or D to complete the sentences below. Only ONE answer is correct.
30. Investors should diversify their _______to minimize their risk.
A) package B) portfolio C) packaging D) basket
31.Things of value that can’t be physically touched, such as reputation, brand names and trademarks
are called _______
A) intangible assets B) liability C) liabilities D) tangible assets
32. The borrower has to pay back the loan itself, also known as the _______ .
A) principal B) principle C) premium D) pension
33. Before starting a business, you have to raise the necessary _______ .
A) investment B) capital C) currency D) savings
III. Complete each sentence with a suitable word /derived from the one provided in brackets.
34. Young employees often complain that they are _______by more experienced colleagues
(understand).
35. I must apologize for the delay but at the moment we are dramatically _______ (staff).
36. Anyone with a _______may qualify for a special pension plan (able).
IV. Complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the first sentence, using
the word given. Do not change the word given.
37. The poor performance of the stock market continued. US investors remained confident.
despite
……………………………………………….., US investors remained confident.
38. If I were you, I would see the manager.
better
You ……………………………………………….. the manager.
39. It is not unusual for her to work overtime on Saturdays.
used
She ………………………………………………. on Saturdays.
4
40. It is a pity our company lost the deal.
wish
I ………………………………………………… the deal.
WRITING __________/10 points
You work for a bank which is launching a new product for corporate customers (new banking
app with unique features that might cater to your customers’ interests better than others).
Write an email to your staff. In this email:
1. invite them to a meeting to present the product/venue, date
2. describe briefly the benefits of the new banking app
3. stress how important it is for existing customers and new business
4. ask staff members to propose methods for promoting the new product
5. ask your employees to do some research and compare several banking apps
Do not forget about the layout of a formal email (your position: Head of Product Management).
Your e-mail address: [email protected]. Write to:
[email protected]
