University of Economics, HCMC
English Language Division

Paper Code: SPECIMEN TEST HP4

Exam in English for Business Communication (75 minutes)
Read the instruction carefully. RECORD your answers on your answer sheets.
Section 1: Language knowledge (40 marks)
I. Select and fill in each blank in the passage below with ONE suitable word.
Many of the products (1) _________ people in the Northern hemisphere depend on – (2) __________ as coffee, tea, and chocolate – are
(3)___________ in the warmer climates of the South. The prices consumers pay (4) _________ these commodities have not risen in real
terms over the last 40 years, (5) _________ the value of fertilizers, pesticide, machinery, and equipment (6) __________ from richer
countries has increased (7) ___________. On top of this, the market price of commodities frequently drops below the cost of producing
them. (8) __________ a result of this imbalance, (9) ________ of the people who grow these crops now have to work harder and longer for
less money. They are often isolated, and not in a position to negotiate when selling their (10) __________.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

(A)
(A)
(A)
(A)
(A)

(A)
(A)
(A)
(A)
(A)

in which
as far
produced
in
however
exported
substantially
from
much
produce

(B)
(B)
(B)
(B)
(B)
(B)
(B)
(B)
(B)
(B)

that
as long

proved
for
so
dispatched
perfectly
in
many
production

II. Choose the best answer
11. If the division head had not resigned last month, our
company probably________ its sales record.
A. would break
C. would have broken
B. had been breaking
D. will have broken
12. The director_________ he was in a hurry.
He_______ me to ask his deputy.
A. told/said
C. tell/say
B. said/told
D. say/talk
13.If we ________ our order, they would give us a
bigger discount.
A. will increase
C. could increase
B. increased
D. increases
14. Managers should be prepared to________
responsibilities to their employees whenever possible.

A. delegate
C. hand
B. send
D. listen
15. I would be very surprised why you______________
any of those complaints yourself.
A. hear
C. heard
B. hadn’t heard
D. don’t hear
16. Although the solution was obvious, it had never been
______________ .
A. proposed
C. suggesting
B. proposing
D. imposed
17. It has been _____________ that last month’s storm
damage will cost insurance companies $500 million.
A. sponsored
C. invested
B. estimated
D. boosted

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(C)
(C)
(C)
(C)
(C)

(C)
(C)
(C)
(C)
(C)

where
such
probated
with
consequently
imported
completely
with
amount
producing

(D)
(D)
(D)
(D)
(D)
(D)
(D)
(D)
(D)
(D)

when
as well

proceeded
to
but
sold
approximately
as
almost
productive

18. The decision of the city planners ____________ the
opinion of the citizens.
A. refers
C. reflexes
B. reflects
D. reacts
19. The National Executive is expected to ___________
these recommendations.
A. strive
C. dominate
B. endorse
D. renovate
20. They _________ a large drop in unemployment over
the next two years.
A. campaign
C. forecast
B. motivate
D. create
21. City Insurance _________ the market into three by
issuing three types of policy.
A. ranks

C. ranges
B. modernizes
D. segments
22. The hospital has already ______ on its drugs budget.
A. overspent
C. overspending
B. been overspent
D. to overspend
23. Introducing technology to use in our stereos is
________than developing our own technology.
A. cheap
C. cheaper
B. cheapest
D. cheaply
24. The majority of the town’s_________ agreed to
expand the business district to include Western Avenue.
A. populate
C. population
B. popularity
D. populous


25. The manager made an___________ estimation of the 33. The company president has __________ denied the
number of items produced on the assembly line each
rumors.
day.
A. consistently
C. consistent
A. exact
C. exactness

B. consisted
D. consistency
B. exactly
D. exacting
34. A good manager should respond_________ to his
26. She always has good ideas and easily finds solutions employees’ concerns promptly.
to problems. She is a very______ person.
A. to
C. with
A. emotional
C. creative
B. in
D. for
B. formal
D. patient
35. Next year, our agent in Shanghai will be in
27. The financial resources we have available for
charge_______ distributing our products throughout
expanding the factory facilities are ______limited.
China.
A. extremes
C. extremity
A. for
C. by
B. extreme
D. extremely
B. of
D. from
28. We’re still waiting for someone ______ the customer 36. Members of the sales department will start calling
service department to respond to our complaint.

clients________ the rest of the staff plans the event.
A. with
C. towards
A. whether
C. from
B. upon
D. from
B. during
D. while
29. Changes in last quarter’s _______________ process
37. For such a large building project, you’ll need to take
were criticized at first.
out a massive loan to raise the necessary_______.
A. budgeted
C. budgetary
A. assistance
C. timeline
B. budgeters
D. budget’s
B. institution
D. capital
30. Most analysts agree that __________ operation is
38. Though________ lasted more than a year, employees
the key to succeeding in the rapidly changing global
still have not finished preparing for the merger with
marketplace.
MT&L, Inc.
A. efficiency
C. effect
A. expenditures

C. negotiations
B. efficiently
D. efficient
B.
prospects
D. alterations
31. The job I've been offered is ___________ attractive,
39. Initial ______________ for the project was not
but I think I might find it boring after a while.
followed by later public acceptance.
A. superficially
C. superficial
A. enthusiastic
C. enthusiasm
B. superb
D. superficiality
B. enthusiast
D. enthusiastically
32. This world-famous agency specializes in providing
40. It was an unpopular policy and caused a number of
the ideas, methods and tools to help organizations
_____________ within the party.
___________ improve their performance.
A. responds
C. profiles
A. radical
C. radically
B. conflicts
D. agents
B. radiant

D. radiantly
Section 2: Language use (60 marks)
I. Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow.
SHARES FALLS AS BskyB PLANS FOR LONG TERM
British Sky Broadcasting saw more than £2bn ($3.6bn) wiped off its market value on Wednesday after Europe’s largest pay-television
group outlined growth plans. Investors took fright at proposals to increase marketing and infrastructure investment to attract customers to
the pay-TV market and the pressure this puts on the company’s short-term profitability. The share fell 19 percent, or 114p, to a two-year
low of 448p.
James Murdoch, BskyB’s Chief Executive, said “a short term fall in operating margin” was expected in 2006, with significant growth
from 2007 onwards. “There will be a reduction in terms of margin in the short term because of the increased volume of subscribers coming
in those years,” he added.
Some analysts’ fears that growth was running out of steam under the existing business model were worsened by yesterday’s
disappointing news that just 81,000 new subscribers were added in the final quarter of last year to 7.4m. But Mr. Murdoch said BskyB was
on track to meet its target of 8m subscribers by the end of 2005. He also set out a new target of 10m subscribers by 2010. Although £25m
will be spent on advertising and a further £450 would be invested in its infrastructure over four years.

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Pre-tax profit almost quadrupled to £480m in the year to June 30, compared with £122 the previous year. Group turnover was £3.66bn,
up from £3.19bn in 2003. The full year dividend was 6p, payable from earnings per share of 15.5p, up from 9.6p. BskyB expected the
penetration of pay television to reach 80 percent of UK households in the long term, compared with 43 percent at the end of this period.
It is believed that it would benefit from increasing take-up of pay television as younger customers arrive on the market, and by
technological advances. Mr. Murdoch said: “As a management team you have to be focused on the long term, on creating real, durable
value…we’ve only scratched the surface here. This is especially a business that has its best year ahead.”
Choose the best answer
1.

Which statement is NOT TRUE?
A. Its market value- the total current value of BskyB’s shares- is now £2 billion.

B. BskyB’s share price has fallen.
C. The share fell 19%.
D. There were under 100,000 new subscribers in the last quarter of last term.

2.

James Murdoch thinks……
A. The number of new subscribers will continue to rise in the long term.
B. BskyB will spend £25bn on advertising in the next few years.
C. A further £450 would be invested in its human resources development over four years.
D. The company did not expect that happened.

3.

Which statement is TRUE?
A. BskyB had turnover of below £3bn and already reaches 80% of UK homes.
B. BskyB had turnover of £3.66bn and will reach 43% of the UK homes.
C. BskyB had turnover of £3.66bn and will reach 80% of the UK homes.
D. BskyB had turnover of below £3.19bn and already reaches 80% of UK homes

What does each of the following underlined words/ phrases refer to?
4.

Investors took fright at proposals to increase marketing and infrastructure investment to attract customers to the pay-TV market and
the pressure this puts on the company’s short-term profitability. (Paragraph 1)

5.

It is believed that it would benefit from increasing take-up of pay television as younger customers arrive on the market, and by
technological advances (Paragraph 5)


Which words / phrases in the passage mean the following?
6. a person who pays to receive a service
7. the basic systems and services that are necessary for a country or an organization to run smoothly, for example buildings, transport and
water and power supplies
8. the act or process of making a way into or through something
Fill in the blank with ONE suitable word from the passage. Put it in its correct form or tense if necessary.
9. His ……………………… that the system should be changed was rejected.
10. Cigarettes ……………………… has been banned.
II. WRITING: You are working as the Sales Manager of a beverage company. Last month, the company’s sales were below target. You
had a meeting with the sales representatives to decide what actions to take in order to increase sales. Study the following notes about the
actions agreed on in the meeting with their effects and write the Recommendations section of a report to the CEO.

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Actions to be taken

Effects
Increase words of mouth for our products.

Distribute free samples to customers
Listen to customers

Reward our top salespersons with vacation days or
monetary awards

Understand and meet their needs and wants
Give our sales staff a greater incentive to perform their tasks
at a higher level than ever


Your writing should begin like this:
RECOMMENDATIONS
To increase sales, we have agreed on the following three points.
Firstly, _______________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
III. LISTENING: (20 marks)
PART ONE: Listen to the conversations and choose the best answer to each question
Conversation1: Questions 1 – 3
1. When will John arrive?
A. Noon
B. 2:15
2. How long has he been gone?
A. Four days
B. Three weeks
3. Where will the woman take him?
A. The train station
B. The office
Conversation2: Questions 4 – 5
4. Who are the speakers waiting for?
A. A taxi cab driver
B. A train conductor
5. What did the man just do?
A. He played a ball game.
B. He wrote an editorial.
PART TWO: Listen







C. 2:00
D. 2:50
C. Two weeks
D. One month
C. The airport
D. Home

C. A pilot
D. A newspaper delivery person
C. He arrived at the airport.
D. He made a phone call.

to a weather report and complete the notes

A severe (6) _________ moving into area, beginning before midnight, continue most of
tomorrow, end early tomorrow evening;
Expected total snowfall of (7) _________ centimeters;
Wednesday will be (8) _________ but very cold;
Cold weather expected to last until the end of the month if not (9)_________ through next
month;
No signs of spring until mid-April despite a (10) _________ than average winter last year.

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THE END


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