PROGRESS TEST 1

PART 1: VOCABULARY

1 Complete the talk with a word from the box.

purposes / tail / picture / point / different / wrong /brick / hear / nutshell / beat

GOOD COMMUNICATION

Good communication is vital for businesses. To put it in a (1)__________, if you can’t communicate

well, your business will probably go under. As time is money, it’s best not to (2)__________ around
the

bush at meetings. It’s important to get straight to the (3)__________. That doesn’t mean you have
to

rude, just clear and relevant. The last thing you want is to be talking at cross-(4)__________, which
will

happen if you are not clear about what you are saying. Neither do you want to waste time talking to

people who give you nothing back. Talking to a (5)__________ wall is a total waste of time. Keeping

people in the (6) __________ is an important part of a good manager’s role. You don’t want people
to

get the (7)__________ end of the stick, do you? I’ve listened to many speeches and not been able to

make head nor (8)__________ of them because they were so muddled. It seemed as if the presenter
was

on a completely (9)__________ wavelength from everyone else in the room. Finally, don’t always

believe what you (10)_______ on the grapevine. Check out the facts before you pass any
information on.

VOCABULARY

2 Choose the correct option (a–d).

11 The new assistant manager is rather __________. He doesn’t say much or seem very confident.

a) reserved b) eloquent c) responsive d) rambling

12 I’d like you to be more __________ in your summary. I don’t need every minor detail, just a

broad outline of the key points.

a) hesitant b) fluent c) succinct d) sensitive

13 It was very __________ of you to mention the mistake he made in front of everyone. He was

very upset.

a) persuasive b) tactless c) inhibited d) focused

14 His presentation wasn’t particularly __________. It didn’t link together very well at all.

a) articulate b) vague c) coherent d) emotional

15 His responses were completely __________. I learned nothing from them as there was no detail

at all.

a) vague b) inhibited c) concise d) extrovert

16 You can get __________ a lot using email instead of face-to-face meetings because it’s easier to

make excuses when no one can see you.

a) off b) away with c) out d) on with

17 Email is also a good way of directly __________ your ideas or products to someone powerful

who you may not be able to meet otherwise.

a) launching b) engaging c) influencing d) pitching

18 Could you please __________ what you mean exactly? I’m not sure I fully understand.

a) engage b) clarify c) interrupt d) digress

19 The audience was extremely __________ to our product presentation and asked lots of
questions.

Some even placed big orders.

a) focused b) persuasive c) eloquent d) responsive

20 The speaker kept __________ and talking about his own experiences instead of the main topic.

a) digressing b) confusing c) interrupting d) clarifying

VOCABULARY

2 Complete the sentences with one word from each box.

free/focus/luxury/marketing (x2)/ special/ market(x2)/niche/raw

penetration/plan/group/ samples/ brands/ segmentation/ offers/market/material/mix

(21) 11 We have drawn up a __________ for the new product.

(22) 12 It’s important to get feedback from the __________ . If they don’t like the product we’ll

have to make the changes very quickly.

(23)13 I think that if we have __________ on all our products in October, it’ll help sales and focus

people’s minds on the brand.

(24)14 We believe we’ve found a __________ which no one else has spotted yet.

(25)15 We are sending out __________ of our new product to everyone in our database so they can
try
it.

(26)16 They are in the business of designing some of the word’s most famous __________

(27)17 You have to adapt all levels of the __________ to the different countries and regions you are

in .

(28)18 We’re going to have to make savings on our __________ costs. Can we find alternative,

cheaper suppliers?

(29)19 They’re changing the image of their product to appeal to all age groups to gain maximum

__________ .

(30)20 Our __________ is based on the income levels of our potential customers.

VOCABULARY

2 Choose the correct verb in each sentence.

(31)11 We’ve just signed the contract and now we’re going to have dinner together to cement/sour
our

new business relationship.

(32)12 We need to develop/restore our reputation after the disastrous publicity last month.

(33)13 Talks with the workers have resumed/restored this morning after the 3-day strike.

(34)14 I’ve been promising/cultivating relations with the purchasing manager of EXO inc for several

months in the hope that he will give us a big order.

(35)15 The strike severely disrupted/fostered the flow of orders leaving the factory last week.

(36)16 Poor service seriously maintains/undermines our customer relations so we must give all our
staff

regular training.

(37)17 After the manager lost his temper with his staff, relations soured/severed considerably and
now

nobody has any respect for him at all.

(38)18 Your actions have jeopardised/established the whole project. It may have to be closed down

now.

(39)19 The open-door policy resumes/promotes good communication between all staff members.

(40)20 We’ve severed/cemented all ties with that company. We simply cannot work with them any

more.

VOCABULARY
2a Complete the sentences with a word or expression from the box.

severance/on strike/perks/handshake/benefits/industrial action

(41)11 The staff took __________ when management refused to increase their pay.

(42)12 The factory workers went __________ because the working conditions were so bad.

(43)13 The fringe __________ with this job are fantastic.

(44)14 There are a lot of __________ being a senior manager, such as gym membership, use of the

company club and so on.

(45)15 He got a golden __________ when he left the company.

(46)16 His __________ payment was quite large by industry standards.

2b Complete each sentence with a word formed from the verbs in brackets.

(47)17 We’ve made an __________ (asses) of the damage done and it’s not as bad as we first

thought.

(48)18 I’m not looking forward to my staff __________(appraise) this year as I know I haven’t

performed particularly well.

(49)19 Many people put __________ (empower) near the top of their satisfaction lists.

(50) 20 I get a lot of __________ (satisfy) from seeing my customers happy.

PART II: READING

READING

A Read the article and decide if these statements are true (t) or false (f).

51 Very few Facebook users log in every day.

52 Business schools understand the value of social and business networking.

53 Most business schools are very happy for their students to use Facebook.

54 Universities’ intranets are usually very similar in look and feel to Facebook.

55 BusinessBecause.com is a social networking site aimed at business schools.

56 BusinessBecause.com is specialised for business schools, but reaches a global market.

57 BusinessBecause.com has been in business since 2008.

58 Haas School of Business uses Facebook alongside its own network.

B Choose the best word or phrase to complete each sentence.

59 When it launched, Facebook was to students.

a) closed b) only available c) marketed mostly

60 Universities social media networks.

a) use b) fail to understand c) discourage the use of

61 Many business schools have their own intranet that they feel Facebook.

a) is much better than b) could be replaced with c) competes with

62 The article says that business schools don’t have the resources available to big

companies such as Facebook.

a) financial b) IT c) networking

63 According to the article, the over-35s group is a Facebook market.

a) growing b) steady c) shrinking

64 MBA students at Haas first meet one another .

a) when they arrive b) using the Haas intranet c) on Facebook

65 Most Haas students and alumni use networking site.

a) only their favourite b) more than one c) the Busines

sBecause