INTERMEDIATE PROGRESS TEST 4 UNIT 10-12

Name
Company

LISTENING TRACK 7
Listen to an interview with Lucy Bellman, CEO of International News and Media. Complete the sentences below with the correct
alternative - a, b or c. You will hear the interview twice.
1 According to Ms Bellman, a CFO should be _______________
a) an optimist b) conservative c) sales-oriented
2 Ms Bellman believes a CFO should _______________
a) let the business’s accountants deal with the details b) let the CEO make the big decisions c)be an accountant
3 Ms Bellman says that a CFO needs to prepare accounts and budgets _______________
a) quickly b) working closely with other accountants c) with great care
4 Ms Bellman believes that a good CFO understands _______________
a) both the details and the ‘big picture’ b) the details but not necessarily the ‘big picture’ c) the ‘big picture’ but not
necessarily the details
5 According to Ms Bellman, a good CFO _______________
a) can understand the CEO’s explanations of policies and so on b) is able to hide bad news so that shareholders don’t worry
c) can communicate clearly
6 Ms Bellman says that a good CFO _______________
a) can perform well even with only a little understanding of computers b) needs to know a lot about property, law and
company secretarial affairs c) should work closely with a company’s lawyers and secretaries
7 In Ms Bellman’s view, a good CFO _______________
a) will be a good manager b) would make a bad CEO c) deals with every matter very seriously
8 Ms Bellman says that a CFO has to work extra hard _______________
a) in times of crisis b) when foreign exchange rates change quickly c) when the CEO is on holiday

READING

Read the article and decide whether these statements are true or false.
9 Corporate responsibility becomes less important in a bad economy.
10 Mars is worried that demand for chocolate will decrease.
11 Wal-Mart has become more socially responsible mainly because of protests by consumers.
12 Fiona Dawson says that her company makes a luxury food rather than an essential one.
13 Consumers are cutting back more on premium foods than on ethical foods.

Why corporate responsibility is a survivor

Many people predicted that the recession would end talk of corporate social responsibility. Faced with the fear, or reality, of losing their
jobs or homes, consumers would rush past the Fairtrade shelves and pick up something the family could afford. Companies, meanwhile,
would concentrate on saving themselves rather than the planet.
That prediction has turned out to be wrong. Mars, the world’s biggest sweets and chocolate company, has announced that its
entire cocoa supply will be ‘produced in a sustainable manner’ by 2020. Mars will work largely with the Rainforest Alliance, which
encourages farmers to preserve their environment.
Wal-Mart, the world’s biggest retailer, recently told a meeting of 1,000 Chinese suppliers that it would hold them to strict
environmental and social standards.
Why are these companies acting in a way few expected? First, there are important business reasons. When Mars talks about
cocoa supplies being sustainable, they mean it. Chocolate manufacturers are worried about how much cocoa will be available a decade
from now. Worldwide cocoa production fell in 2008 for the fourth successive year.
Wal-Mart also has commercial reasons for its position. The company has been encouraging companies to cut down on
packaging. This enables it to fit more goods into each delivery truck, not only reducing its emissions but also cutting the amount it
spends on petrol. Cost-cutting is vital to beating the downturn and if companies can boost their green credentials at the same time, why
not?
But the companies go further. Not only do their announcements make business sense, they say; consumers, even now, insist on
them. Fiona Dawson, Mars UK’s managing director, says customers expect the company to ‘do the right thing’, adding that ‘nobody has
to buy chocolate’.
A recent report by Mintel, the research organisation, says: ‘Although a third of shoppers have cut down on the number of
premium foods they buy, only one in 10 has cut back on ethical produce.’ Justin King, chief executive of J Sainsbury, the UK retailer,
said in February that its Fairtrade sales were holding up well.
 About a fifth of consumers are uninterested in such issues and about a third cannot see what difference their purchasing
makes. But the biggest group, about 40 per cent, are those who are prepared to buy ethical goods if companies make it easy, which
generally means not making it expensive. FT

B Look at the final paragraph of the article. Complete the labels (14–18) on the pie chart with the words and phrases (a–e).
a) Uninterested in ethical issues
b) Don’t think their buying decisions matter
c) Others
d) Consumer attitudes
e) Prepared to buy ethically if it’s easy

LANGUAGE

Complete the conversation using the correct form of the verbs in brackets.
A How did you get your job at Solarworld, Hans?
B It’s kind of a funny story. I _______________19 (finish) university with a degree in IT but I hadn’t been able to find the job I wanted.
So, while I _______________20 (look) for a real job, I got a job driving a delivery van for an office supply company and, at the same
time, I was applying for lots of jobs in business.
A So did you apply to Solarworld?
B Well, I wrote them a letter and enclosed my CV but I _______________21 (send) a very short response saying they weren’t
interviewing.
A So what happened?
B Well, I had to make a delivery to Solarworld one day. My company _______________22 (receive) their order for some desks the week
before. And while I _______________23 (deliver) the desks, one of their IT guys was trying to fix a computer for a manager and he
just couldn’t do it. The manager was getting really angry. So I asked if I could have a look. I think they were both shocked but
they let me try.
A OK, I can guess what _______________24 (happen)!
B It was a basic problem and I solved it right then. And soon after, I was managing that guy who couldn’t solve the problem. The
first thing I did _______________25 (be) to make sure he _______________26 (give) some training!
B Complete the article with who, which or that. In some cases, more than one answer is possible.

Profile: Young CEO Thiago Abreu

Thiago Abreu, 25, runs his own company. The young CEO, _______________27 put himself through university and
earned a degree in chemistry, now runs INTChem. The firm,_______________ does on-site water and soil sampling and carries out
28

environmental damage analysis, is based in Brasilia. How do you get to be a CEO at 25? ‘My mother is the person_______________29 really
made me believe in myself’ says Abreu. ‘I come from a very poor place, a small village. It isn’t a place_______________30 produces many
businessmen. But here I am.’ INTChem,_______________31 currently has contracts with two large oil companies and a handful of other
smaller businesses, keeps Abreu busy. ‘I guess I’m the kind of person _______________32 likes it that way,’ Abreu says.

SKILLS

Complete the short conversations with the appropriate phrases (a–h) 33 A We need to deal with Simon’s behaviour.
B So_______________?
a) consider another approach
b) to do is e-mail Adrienne
34 A This just isn’t working.
B OK, so let’s_______________.
c) deliver any earlier
35 A What shall we do?
d) could be a problem
B The next thing_______________.
e) what are our options
36 A We have to stop people using Facebook.
f) were looking for 15
B I’m with you up to a point but_______________.
g) were hoping for 60
37 A We can give you 30 days’ credit.
h) it may not work
B We_______________.
38 A I need these by Friday.
B Unfortunately, we can’t_______________.

39 A We want payment on delivery.

B It_______________.

40 A I can give you a 10% discount.

B We_______________.

Complete the presentation with the words in the box.

attention background improvements parts questions talk

Hello, everyone, and welcome to Masatomo Electric Industries. I’m going to divide my _______________41 into three_______________42.
First, I’ll give you some_______________43 on our work with synthetic diamonds. After that, I’ll talk about some recent_______________44
we’ve made in our production processes. Finally, I’ll explain some of our R&D work in super-hard materials. I’ll be glad to answer
any_______________45 at the end of my talk.
Let’s start with the background. Could I draw your_______________46 to the first slide ...

VOCABULARY

Choose the best word to complete these sentences.

47 Two men were arrested for using PayPal for money_______________.
a) fixing b) trading c) laundering
48 Selling your company’s secrets to a rival is called industrial
a) fraud b) espionage c) pollution
49 I refuse to work for a company that does animal_______________.
a) fraud b) discrimination c) testing
50 ebay will close your account if they find you’re selling counterfeit
a) goods b) corruption c) fixing
51 We need a strong negotiator, someone who’s really_______________.
a) assertive b) diffident c) formal
52 If you have a clear understanding of what you can and can’t do, you’re
a) cautious b) casual c) realistic
53 He would do anything to succeed. He’s completely_______________.
a) principled b) ruthless c) laid-back
54 If you choose a course of action and you stand by your choice, you’re
a) critical b) decisive c) radical
Write one word in each gap to complete these idioms.
55 It isn’t fair. They keep moving the_______________.
56 If we all launch at the same time, we’ll have a level playing_______________.
57 You know, the C-56 just isn’t going to sell. We’re flogging a dead_______________.
58 Our market share is greater than expected. We’re ahead of the_______________.
59 No one has anything like the JC-5. It’s a one-horse_______________.
60 If you put me in the driving_______________, I’ll sort things out.

WRITING

Last year your company used the services of Ethic-on, a corporate training company that helps organisations work more
ethically. Read the letter below from Ethic-on. Then write a response of 120–140 words.

Dear trainee,
Last year your company received training from Ethic-on. As you know, we use case studies in our training programme. We’d like to
know how you’re getting on. Write to tell us whether our work made a difference or not. In your letter, please include the name of
your company, its area of business and three examples of ethical practice. The examples can be of good practice or of areas where
improvement may be needed.
Thank you.
Ethic-on Training Services

SPEAKING 15 points

Topic:

Grammar 5 points Pronunciation 5 points Vocabulary 5 points