Progress Test 3 (Units 8–11)

Choose the best answer to each of the following questions.

1 How does the bank manager assess Maria’s business plan?
a) inadequate
b) satisfactory
c) very strong
2 Maria wants to start up her business …
a) within the next year.
b) within a few months.
c) as soon as possible.
3 Apart from a bank loan, what other financial support does Maria plan to get?
a) venture capital from investors
b) a loan from her father
c) no other support
4 Maria wants to increase the total amount of the loan …
a) by 30,000.
b) to 50,000.
c) by 80,000.
5 Maria tries to negotiate …
a) the requirement for collateral.
b) the interest rate.
c) the repayment term.
6 The bank’s final offer includes:
a) a loan of 80,000.
b) an interest rate of 6 per cent on a five-year repayment plan.
c) 6.5 per cent interest on a loan of 50,000.
7 The result of the negotiation is:
a) an agreement.
b) a breakdown in the discussions.
c) a delay in making a decision.

Now listen to the conversation again. Which of the following does the bank
manager do during the negotiation? Your trainer will stop the tape at
intervals to give you time to mark your answers.
8 ask a closed question
9 ask for details
10 clarify the situation
11 soften the bad news
12 make an unconditional offer
13 make a conditional offer
14 ask an open question
15 summarise what was agreed

22 MARKET LEADER TEST FILE © Pearson Education Limited 2001

Language Finance terms
Choose the word that best fits each of the definitions.
16 Money paid by a government or organisation to make something cheaper
to produce or to buy:
a) gift.
b) stake.
c) subsidiary.
d) subsidy.
17 Money lent to someone so that they can start a new business:
a) start-up.
b) human capital.
c) venture capital.
d) working capital.
18 Capital that a company has from shares rather than loans:
a) equity.
b) assets.
c) collateral.
d) debt.
19 An amount of money owed by a business to a supplier or lender:
a) loss.
b) liability.
c) credit.
d) loan.
20 Money risked or invested in a business:
a) security.
b) collateral.
c) damages.
d) stake.
21 An arrangement between a bank and a customer, allowing them to take
out more money from their account than they currently have in it:
a) overdue.
b) overdraft.
c) overhead.
d) overpayment.
22 A written promise that a company gives to a customer stating that it will
repair or replace any product purchased if it breaks within a certain time:
a) warranty.
b) undertaking.
c) credit note.
d) advice note.
23 An amount of money paid for goods or services:
a) salary.
b) wage.
c) charge.
d) pay.

© Pearson Education Limited 2001 MARKET LEADER TEST FILE 23

 Opposites
Complete the letter below with the opposite of each of the words in brackets.

AIRBANKS HOTEL
SEAFRONT ROAD
PORTSMOUTH
PO1 4BY

Dear Sir or Madam

We are writing to express our [satisfaction] ...................................24 at the

poor quality of your service which we experienced during our stay last
weekend. We found the staff of your hotel very [helpful]
...................................25 and [sensitive] ...................................26 to customer
needs.

In the restaurant, the portions of food were [adequate]

...................................27 and poorly cooked. Furthermore, the waiter showed
astonishing [competence] ...................................28 by dropping a bowl of
soup in my wife’s lap. When we complained to the restaurant manager about
his disgraceful [management]...................................29, he was most
[polite] ...................................30.

He told us that if we were [happy] ...................................31 with the hotel

restaurant, we could always go and eat somewhere else. We think your staff
should be better trained in customer service …

Replace each of the underlined words with a single word from the box that
has the same meaning.

extrovert quiet arrogant aggressive hard-working

popular moody laid-back unpredictable dynamic
talented ambitious reliable

Tanya is someone you can always depend on .......................... 32. She is

not very talkative .......................... 33, but she is conscientious and works
long hours .......................... 34.
Jim, on the other hand, is rather relaxed about things .......................... 35.
He is outgoing among people .......................... 36 and everybody likes
him .......................... 37.
Sam is gifted with many skills .......................... 38 and keen to get on in
her career .......................... 39. She is very lively, but her moods are rather
changeable .......................... 40.

24 MARKET LEADER TEST FILE © Pearson Education Limited 2001

 Noun phrases
Make up a noun phrase of two words, taking one from each box, and
complete each of the sentences below. Add ‘of’ to the noun phrase where
necessary.

admission contingency damage legal loss speed

action confidence liability limitation plan response

41 We have made all the arrangements for tomorrow’s event, but we should
have a .......................... in case things go wrong.
42 The problems with deliveries increased over the following three months,
resulting in a .......................... in the supply network.
43 The qualities we value most in our suppliers are: reliability, consistency of
product, and .......................... .

Prepositions
Write the correct preposition into each of the gaps in the text below.
The emphasis .......................... 44 brands is essential
.......................... 45 the company’s new strategy. The aim is to cut
manufacturing costs by basing several different models .......................... 46
common engineering and parts. The strategy is dependent
.......................... 47 distinctive styling and clever marketing to prevent
customers switching .......................... 48 cheaper models. The company
has invested millions of dollars .......................... 49 developing brand
loyalties, and is now starting to profit .......................... 50 its selling
success.

Correcting mistakes
In each line of the text one word is wrong. Write the correct word on the line
provided.
It is impossible to overemphasise the importance of our individual contribute to the 51 ..............
company’s profitability. By identify the components of profitability, each of us can target 52 ..............
our daily actions more specifically. We can help improving profitability by continuously 53 ..............
questioning our established work practices and procedures. Examine our daily routines 54 ..............
and work patterns will focus our minds on the key factor that influences profitability: cut costs. 55 ..............

© Pearson Education Limited 2001 MARKET LEADER TEST FILE 25

 Similarity and difference
Complete the sentences by combining phrases from each of the two boxes
below. Refer to the table of figures for the information.

France Germany Britain

% seats held by women in
parliament 13 18 13
% change in population in the
next 50 years +1 –11 –4
litres of alcohol consumed per
person per year 11 11 7.5

56 Women hold 13 per cent of seats in parliament in .......................... .

57 .......................... has an increasing population.
58 France’s population is increasing slightly, .......................... , where it
is decreasing.
59 In Britain, the population will decrease by 4 per cent
.......................... .
60 The Germans drink .......................... .
61 The British drink .......................... .

in contrast to both just as much as neither

less than either whereas

France and Britain in Germany the figure is 11 per cent the French
Germany nor Britain Britain and Germany the Germans or the French

H Modal perfect
Write the most appropriate modal verb in each gap.
62 You .......................... have gone to the presentation on marketing in
the 21st century. It was excellent!
63 She .......................... have gone home already – it’s only 3 p.m.
64 It was foolish to risk so much money on the new dotcom company:
we .......................... have lost everything.
65 There were only two people who could have left this message. It wasn’t
John, so it .......................... have been Manuel.
66 You .......................... have made all those photocopies. I’d already
printed out copies for everyone.
67 I .......................... have taken the airport bus, but the last one had
left so I got a taxi.

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 Read the article and answer the questions that follow.

CUBAN CREATES ONLINE

WORLD OF LEATHER
I José Suarez, a Cuban-born industrial engineer,
found himself trading skins and hides almost by
accident. He had gone to Russia in the early
1990s, hoping to make a quick fortune with
electronic goods. But because he could not
convert his roubles into dollars, he needed a
commodity he could easily sell abroad. Someone
suggested leather. The international markets for
raw materials were booming, and his business
took off.
II With leatherXchange.com, Mr Suarez’s new
venture, he hopes to persuade the 170,000
participants in the $110bn global leather
industry that they are better off doing their
business over the Internet. ‘What we aim to do is
help companies cut costs by replicating online
what they now do offline,’ he says. The
leatherXchange picked up 550 members in 40
countries in its first full year of operation, and is
now adding 15 new members a week. Users pay
an annual membership fee plus fees based on
their online transactions and the use of the
leatherXchange’s search engines, which earned
revenues of $4m last year.
III It is a huge challenge. The industry is
fragmented and ranges from the slaughter-
houses and tanneries of the third world to the
manufacturers of luxury leather goods in Italy
and France. There are thousands of agents and
traders; the biggest company has less that one
per cent of the market.
IV To begin with there were no internationally
accepted standards to grade and classify the
quality of skins and hides. Purchasers for big
tanneries live on aeroplanes because the only
way they can ensure that hides are of a desired
quality is to inspect the merchandise
themselves. Even so, 30 to 40 per cent of
international consignments are typically turned
back by dissatisfied buyers. To cut down on
claims, Mr Suarez has written standards on how
to treat hides, and how skins should be graded
and classified. The grading standards and
product definitions are now posted on the
website, as are industry contracts to govern
agreements between buyers and sellers.
V It is also the fragmented nature of the
industry that could make an online leather
marketplace a success. Ironically, it is in
countries such as Brazil and India, with high
transport and telecommunications costs, where
the idea has really taken off. In Europe, the
leather industry still prefers to deal with their
suppliers personally, or over the phone.
VI In the tough new environment for B2B
ventures, every new service will have to earn its
own way within two years, Mr Suarez says. The
leatherXchange closed its first round of
financing in October last year, receiving 11.5m
from a group of financial backers. Mr Suarez
hopes to raise an additional 5m soon. That, he
says, should be enough to keep his venture
afloat for the next two years, when it aims to
break even.
From the Financial Times

Match each of the sections, numbered I to VI, with the most appropriate
heading from the box.

a) Setting international standards

b) Two years to make it pay
c) From engineer to entrepreneur
d) The problems of buying skins in Russia
e) The leather industry today
f) Future trends in the leather market
g) A new way to trade leather
h) Market responses to online leather trading

© Pearson Education Limited 2001 MARKET LEADER TEST FILE 27

 68 I ..........................
69 II ..........................
70 III ..........................
71 IV ..........................
72 V ..........................
73 VI ..........................

Choose the best answer to complete each sentence.

74 José Suarez started trading in leather because …
a) it was a commodity that could be exported from Russia.
b) it was a trade he was already familiar with.
c) it would be easy to trade over the Internet.
75 His business in leather was …
a) initially a failure.
b) slow to make profit.
c) an immediate success.
76 The aim of leatherXchange is …
a) to change leather trading practices fundamentally.
b) to help traders to reduce their expenditure.
c) to help the market to recover from a crisis.
77 The leather industry …
a) is in the hands of a few big companies.
b) has many small companies involved in it.
c) is dominated by Russian companies.
78 The main problem for purchasers of hides is …
a) to be sure of good quality.
b) to arrange transportation.
c) to find suppliers.
79 The online leather marketplace is most widely used in …
a) Western Europe.
b) Countries where Internet use is highest.
c) Countries with high telecommunications costs.
80 Financing Mr Suarez’s new venture …
a) has been easy.
b) requires a quick return for the backers.
c) has resulted in long-term debt.

Write a letter from the Fairbanks Hotel in response to the letter of complaint in
language exercise B of this test. Include the following points in your letter:
• a general apology
• your assurances that you will take action to make sure it never happens again
• offer a voucher for two complimentary (i.e. free) meals in the restaurant, valid for
12 months
• express hope that the customers will return to your hotel soon
You should write about 100 words.

28 MARKET LEADER TEST FILE © Pearson Education Limited 2001