KCJ EF TUL – 2012 PhD. Entrance ExamName: ______
Points: ______/50 Percentage: ______/100% (60% or higheris required to pass = 30 points and above)
PART ONEQuestions 1 – 12(22 points)
• You will hear the introduction to a seminar, called the Business Master Class, about the use of
Information Technology in the workplace.
• As you listen, for questions 1 – 12, complete the notes, using up to three words or a number.
• You will hear the recording twice.
THE BUSINESS MASTER CLASS
SEMINAR NOTES
Arrangements for participants
1 The event will take place over
......
2 Seminar organised by
......
3 The title of the last session will be
......
4 To use the New City Hotel car park, delegates must obtain a
......
Dr Sangalli
5 Dr Sangalli has advised many
......
6 The name of his consultancy is
......
7 He is the author of
......
8 InEurope, he is the best-known
......
The Business Master Class
Two problems for companies:
9 to become more
......
10 to establish new
......
Two outcomes of session:
11 design your own
......
12 take away documents containing actual
......
PART TWOQuestions 13 – 18(6 points)
Read this text taken from an article about how companies’ decision-making can go wrong.
• Choose the best sentence in the box below to fill each of the gaps.
• For each gap 13 – 18, mark one letter (A – H).
• Do not use any letter more than once.
• There is an example at the beginning, (0).
Bad business decisions are easy to make
Those who make disastrous business decisionsgenerally exhibit two characteristic types ofbehaviour. First they make a selectiveinterpretation of the evidence when deciding to goahead with a project. (0)...G... .
How do such bad decisions come about?One reason is that the people in control aredetermined to make their mark by doingsomething dramatic. (13)...... Once the leaderhas decided to put his or her name to a project,many in the organisation believe it politic tosupport it too, whatever their private doubts.(14)...... These doubters know that such aperception will cloud their future careers. Thedesire to agree with the boss is typical ofcommittees, with group members often takingcollective decisions that they would not have takenindividually. They look around the table, see theircolleagues nodding in agreement and suppresstheir own doubts. If all these intelligent peoplebelieve this is the right thing to do, they think tothemselves, perhaps it is. It rarely occurs tocommittee members that all their colleagues havemade the same dubious calculation.
Responsible managers usually ask to see theevidence before reaching a decision. (15)...... Even those who consider all the evidence, goodand bad, fail to take account of the fact that expertpredictions are often wrong. The reason for this isthat feedback is only effective if it is receivedquickly and often; and senior executives rarelybecome the experts they claim to be, because theymake too few big decisions to learn much fromthem. So when it becomes clear that disastercan appear, many executives insist on pressing aheadregardless. (16)...... The consequences of doingso can be incredible.So what can be done to prevent companiesmaking bad decisions? (17)...... Another is todelegate the decision on whether or not to continueto people who are not in the thick of the decision-making,such as the non-executive directors.(18)...... But they shouldn’t expect anygratefulness: people who have made huge mistakesare not going to say ‘Thank you, we should havepaid attention to you in the first place.’
A It would be far better, though, if dissidents in the organisation raised their doubts beforehand, and were listened to.
B They want to be recognised as having changed the company in a way that history will remember.
CToo much money has been spent and too many reputations are at stake to think about stopping at this stage.
DOne solution is to set targets for a project and to agree in advance to abandon it if these are not met.
EAfter all, people who persistently point to potential problems are seen as negative and disloyal.
FBut they often rely only on those parts of it that support their case.
GCoupled with this, they insist that the failure was someone else’s fault.
PART THREEQuestions 19 – 29(10 points)
Read the article below about life coaching – regular meetings between a business person and aneutral consultant to discuss work-related problems.
• Choose the correct word or phrase to fill each gap from A, B, C or D from the box below.
• For each question 19 – 29, mark one letter (A, B, C or D).
• There is an example at the beginning, (0).
Why I Found A Life Coach
Example:
(0)A staredB seenC inspectedD glanced
Anyone who has ever (0) D through a self-improvement bookhas probably learned that such books do not hold the (19) ...... of personal happiness. Having read too many of them withoutsuccess, I was (20) ...... to staying vaguely dissatisfied for therest of my life. But when I (21) ...... a newspaper article abouta new kind of consultant, called a life coach, I became curious,and decided to learn more.
I was looking for a more personal way to (22) ...... my life:I’d achieved my material goals before (23) ...... the support ofa coach, but professional challenges, long hours and not havingsomeone neutral to talk to were putting my work andrelationships at (24) ...... I realised I needed to learn how todeal with problems before they occurred.My life coach is very good at asking me (25) ...... questions which help me to discover what I’m dissatisfied with in my life,and to understand who I am. It’s good to have someone you cantrust and respect to (26) ...... things over with.I sometimes pick topics in (27) ...... of our discussions, suchas situations at work, or conflicts between me and colleagues,though I don’t always (28) ...... an agenda. And I know thateverything I say to my coach is in the strictest confidence. I’m farbetter at tackling difficult situations now, and best of all, I feelmuch more at ease with my life.
19 A solution B answer C key D secret
20 A patient B resigned C tolerant D contented
21 A found out B came across C ran into D met with
22 A evaluate B account C estimate D reckon
23 A appointing B signing C registering D enlisting
24 A danger B hazard C risk D peril
25 A examining B probing C exploring D investigating
26 A talk B discuss C say D tell
27 A preparation B readiness C precaution D anticipation
28 A set B put C place D hold
PART FOUR (12 points)
Read the text below about writing good covering letters.
• In most of the lines 1 – 12there is one extra word. It is either grammatically incorrect ordoes not fit in with the meaning of the text. Some lines, however, are correct.
• If a line is correct, write CORRECT .
• If there is an extra word in the line, write the extra word in CAPITAL LETTERS.
• The exercise begins with two examples, (0) and (00).
Don´t Get “Filed in the Bin”
0 When you’re applying for a job, what can you do to ensure that yourCORRECT
00 covering letter doesn’t just get ‘filed’ in the rubbish bin? Firstly, youYOU
1 always remember that the purpose of a covering letter is there to ______
2 complement for your CV. This means it should flesh out and explain ______
3 clearly through any points that the CV alone doesn’t deal with and that ______
4 therefore might otherwise be missed out by prospective employers. ______
5 For example, if you’re looking to change in industries, then your letter ______
6 ought to explain them why you want to make the move, what your ______
7 motivation is, and what you hope to achieve. If your CV shows that you ______
8 don't hold a relevant qualification that the job ad has specified it (say, ______
9 a university degree or a vocational diploma), so you’ll need to explain ______
10 why you should still be considered. It’s not easy, and often writing the ______
11 letter can take twice as long as writing your CV. But because to some ______
12 extent that is how it should be: a CV is a formal, with structured document ______
that simply imparts information, whereas a letter is your chance to make an
impression.
KCJ EF TUL – 2012 PhD. Entrance ExamName: KEY______
Points: ______/50 Percentage: ______/100% (60% or higher – 30 points and above - is required to pass)
PART ONEQuestions 1 – 12(22 points)
• You will hear the introduction to a seminar, called the Business Master Class, about the use of
Information Technology in the workplace.
• As you listen, for questions 1 – 12, complete the notes, using up to three words or a number.
• You will hear the recording twice.
THE BUSINESS MASTER CLASS
SEMINAR NOTES
Arrangements for participants
1 The event will take place over three days (1pt)
2 Seminar organised by Global conferences Plc (2pt)
3 The title of the last session will be Tomorrow’s software (2 pt)
4 To use the New City Hotel car park, delegates must obtain a permit (1pt)
Dr Sangalli
5 Dr Sangalli has advised manyLarge corporations (2 pt)
6 The name of his consultancy isLogic Solutions (2 pt)
7 He is the author ofIntelligent Change (2 pt)
8 InEurope, he is the best-knownIT analyst (2 pt)
The Business Master Class
Two problems for companies:
9 to become more customer-driven (2 points)
10 to establish neworganisational structures (2 pt)
Two outcomes of session:
11 design your ownframework for action (2pt)
12 take away documents containing actual (real-life) case studies (2 pt)
PART TWOQuestions 13 – 18(6 points)
Read this text taken from an article about how companies’ decision-making can go wrong.
• Choose the best sentence in the box below to fill each of the gaps.
• For each gap 13 – 18, mark one letter (A – H).
• Do not use any letter more than once. Also, there is one extra sentence you will not need.
• There is an example at the beginning, (0).
Bad business decisions are easy to make
Those who make disastrous business decisionsgenerally exhibit two characteristic types ofbehaviour. First they make a selectiveinterpretation of the evidence when deciding to goahead with a project. (0)...G... .
How do such bad decisions come about?One reason is that the people in control aredetermined to make their mark by doingsomething dramatic. (13)B...... Once the leaderhas decided to put his or her name to a project,many in the organisation believe it politic tosupport it too, whatever their private doubts.(14)E...... These doubters know that such aperception will cloud their future careers. Thedesire to agree with the boss is typical ofcommittees, with group members often takingcollective decisions that they would not have takenindividually. They look around the table, see theircolleagues nodding in agreement and suppresstheir own doubts. If all these intelligent peoplebelieve this is the right thing to do, they think tothemselves, perhaps it is. It rarely occurs tocommittee members that all their colleagues havemade the same dubious calculation.
Responsible managers usually ask to see theevidence before reaching a decision. (15)F...... Even those who consider all the evidence, goodand bad, fail to take account of the fact that expertpredictions are often wrong. The reason for this isthat feedback is only effective if it is receivedquickly and often; and senior executives rarelybecome the experts they claim to be, because theymake too few big decisions to learn much fromthem. So when it becomes clear that disastercan appear, many executives insist on pressing aheadregardless. (16)C...... The consequences of doingso can be incredible.So what can be done to prevent companiesmaking bad decisions? (17)D...... Another is todelegate the decision on whether or not to continueto people who are not in the thick of the decision-making,such as the non-executive directors.(18)A...... But they shouldn’t expect anygratefulness: people who have made huge mistakesare not going to say ‘Thank you, we should havepaid attention to you in the first place.’
A It would be far better, though, if dissidents in the organisation raised their doubts beforehand, and were listened to.
B They want to be recognised as having changed the company in a way that history will remember.
CToo much money has been spent and too many reputations are at stake to think about stopping at this stage.
DOne solution is to set targets for a project and to agree in advance to abandon it if these are not met.
EAfter all, people who persistently point to potential problems are seen as negative and disloyal.
FBut they often rely only on those parts of it that support their case.
GCoupled with this, they insist that the failure was someone else’s fault.
PART THREEQuestions 19 – 29(10 points)
Read the article below about life coaching – regular meetings between a business person and aneutral consultant to discuss work-related problems.
• Choose the correct word or phrase to fill each gap from A, B, C or D from the box below.
• For each question 19 – 29, mark one letter (A, B, C or D).
• There is an example at the beginning, (0).
Why I Found A Life Coach
Example:
(0)A staredB seenC inspectedD glanced
Anyone who has ever (0) D through a self-improvement bookhas probably learned that such books do not hold the (19) D...... of personal happiness. Having read too many of them withoutsuccess, I was (20) B...... to staying vaguely dissatisfied for therest of my life. But when I (21) B...... a newspaper article abouta new kind of consultant, called a life coach, I became curious,and decided to learn more.
I was looking for a more personal way to (22)A...... my life:I’d achieved my material goals before (23) D...... the support ofa coach, but professional challenges, long hours and not havingsomeone neutral to talk to were putting my work andrelationships at (24) C...... I realised I needed to learn how todeal with problems before they occurred.My life coach is very good at asking me (25) B...... questions which help me to discover what I’m dissatisfied with in my life,and to understand who I am. It’s good to have someone you cantrust and respect to (26) A...... things over with.I sometimes pick topics in (27) D...... of our discussions, suchas situations at work, or conflicts between me and colleagues,though I don’t always (28) A...... an agenda. And I know thateverything I say to my coach is in the strictest confidence. I’m farbetter at tackling difficult situations now, and best of all, I feelmuch more at ease with my life.
19 A solution B answer C key D secret
20 A patient B resigned C tolerant D contented
21 A found out B came across C ran into D met with
22 A evaluate B account C estimate D reckon
23 A appointing B signing C registering D enlisting
24 A danger B hazard C risk D peril
25 A examining B probing C exploring D investigating
26 A talk B discuss C say D tell
27 A preparation B readiness C precaution D anticipation
28 A set B put C place D hold
PART FOUR (12 points)
Read the text below about writing good covering letters.
• In most of the lines 1 – 12there is one extra word. It is either grammatically incorrect ordoes not fit in with the meaning of the text. Some lines, however, are correct.
• If a line is correct, write CORRECT .
• If there is an extra word in the line, write the extra word in CAPITAL LETTERS.
• The exercise begins with two examples, (0) and (00).
Don’t Get “Filed in the Bin”
0 When you’re applying for a job, what can you do to ensure that yourCORRECT
00 covering letter doesn’t just get ‘filed’ in the rubbish bin? Firstly, youYOU
1 always remember that the purpose of a covering letter is there toTHERE______
2 complement for your CV. This means it should flesh out and explainFOR______
3 clearly through any points that the CV alone doesn’t deal with and thatTHROUGH______
4 therefore might otherwise be missed out by prospective employers.OUT______
5 For example, if you’re looking to change in industries, then your letterIN______
6 ought to explain them why you want to make the move, what yourTHEM______
7 motivation is, and what you hope to achieve. If your CV shows that youCORRECT______
8 don't hold a relevant qualification that the job ad has specified it (say, IT______
9 a university degree or a vocational diploma), so you’ll need to explainSO______
10 why you should still be considered. It’s not easy, and often writing theCORRECT______
11 letter can take twice as long as writing your CV. But because to someBECAUSE______
12 extent that is how it should be: a CV is a formal, with structured documentWITH______
that simply imparts information, whereas a letter is your chance to make an
impression.
(Test questions taken from the official sample test for BEC Higher, University of Cambridge)