BEC Preliminary Test Paper (II) READING QUESTIONS 1 – 45 PART ONE Questions 1 – 5 Look at the question 1 – 5. In each question, which sentence is correct? For each question, mark the correct letter A, B, or C. 1. The company provides _____ an overcoat. a uniform. A suit. 2. Mrs Rothe will _____ be late for the meeting tomorrow. take part in the meeting tomorrow. Not be at the meeting tomorrow/ 3. Mike is flying to Turkey on _____ 7 July. 8 July. 9 July. 4. Compared to last year, European sales have _____ improved. remained steady. Decreased. 5. The company received a letter asking for _____ a delivery date. information. an order. PART TWO Questions 6 – 10 Look at the list below. It shows the contents of a company’s Annual Report. Decide in which part of the report (A – H) you would find the information (6 – 10). For each question, mark the correct letter (A – H) on your Answer Sheet. 6. A statement of the company’s income and expenses. 7. The names of new executives and board members. 8. A look at the performance of smaller companies that Stella owns. 9. A list of what the company owns and owes. 10. A statement by the company that checked the financial reports. PART THREE Questions 11 – 15 Read the graph below. Tell if the sentences (11-15) are TRUE or FALSE.  ( ) 11. The chart shows that Indonesia is a wonderful place of tourist interest. ( ) 12. For holidaymakers from Indonesia, Pakistan is not as attractive as Australia. ( ) 13. In Indonesia, tourists from Korea are more than that from Sri Lanka. ( ) 14. Someland was the most popular destination for holidaymakers from Indonesia. ( ) 15. Indonesian didn’t like to spend their holiday in Japan. PART FOUR Questions 16 – 22 Read the following article. Are sentences 16 - 22 “right” or “wrong”? If there is not enough information to answer “right” or “wrong”, choose “doesn’t say”. For each sentence 16 - 22, mark one letter (A, B, or C) on your Answer Sheet. Industry and Schools in Partnership The new Manufacturing Partners program aims to improve teachers’ understanding of manufacturing by inviting 2,000 teachers to take part in factory visits. It will not be just one-way traffic, however, about 500 manufacturing employees are also invited to visit schools each year to improve their awareness of modern schools. Peter Davis, program director, believes employers will also see the benefits. “It’s an excellent means of improving professional development by helping to improve management and communication skills.” Davis says. Until now, manufacturing firms have been slow to send staff into schools and teachers haven’t been to visit factories, either. According to Davis, most would rather visit a bank or retail company instead. Head teacher Andrew Morris recently spent three days at KTM, an engineering firm. Afterwards he admitted his view of industry had been out-of-date: “I thought it would be a dirty place to work, but conditions have obviously improved a lot nowadays.” KTM director John Dimmock said that without a doubt his staff had benefited from explaining their jobs to teachers and pupils. 16. One aim of the program is to increase manufacturing employees’ knowledge of schools. right B. wrong C. doesn’t say 17. Manufacturing employees think the program will not benefit them. A. right B. wrong C. doesn’t say 18. Peter Davies believes that sending employees into schools will help their professional abilities. A. right B. wrong C. doesn’t say 19. Manufacturing companies already send many employees into school. A. right B. wrong C. doesn’t say 20. Davis thinks that many teachers do not want to visit factories. A. right B. wrong C. doesn’t say 21. Andrew Morris used to be an engineer. A. right B. wrong C. doesn’t say 22. The director of KTM wasn’t sure about the benefits of the project. A. right B. wrong C. doesn’t say PART FIVE Questions 23 – 28 Read the following article. Choose the correct answer for each question 23 – 28. Mark one letter (A, B, or C) on your Answer Sheet. Chairman Statement Despite the appearance of a new competitor on the market the company continued to grow and increase its market share throughout 2000. Partly in response to this new threat but, more importantly, as part of a strategy for growth, several key decisions were taken this year. The most significant new developments included a range of vitamin rich children’s drink and low calorie diet drinks, which both proved very popular. The company is still best known for its range of refreshing fruit drinks and, not surprisingly, these were our biggest sellers once more. There were two new additions to the range last year, Squish! and Liquid Sunshine, both of which have a distinctive Caribbean flavor. The first sales figures suggest that our expensive TV advertising campaign was very successful and that these products will soon be as popular as the rest of the fruit drink range. Growth in the keep-fit and health markets meant our energy drinks did well in 2000. Sales of one brand, Booster!, were second only to fruit drinks in April. The strength of this particular market also explains the success of our new diet drinks. There were, however, big differences in the performance of our older products. The company’s oldest product, mineral water, continued to enjoy a healthy share of a very profitable mass market. It seems our customer are still happy to stay with the brand despite the increasing number of competitors’ products. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of our Ice-T and Chocomania drinks. Sales showed an initial increase in the summer after we re-launched both products but customers soon bought other bands and total annual sales for both product ranges were disappointing. The company also said goodbye to its own brand of cola, launched in 1998. After two unsuccessful years of trying to break into the huge cola market, 2000looked like being another poor year. The company finally accepted that it had made a wrong decision and stopped production in September of that year. 23. What was the main reason the company decided to launch its new production range? A. It faced increased competition. B. It wanted to enter new market. C. It initiated a policy of expansion. 24. The new fruit drinks cost a lot of money to ____ A. develop B. produce C. launch 25. The best selling drinks in April were____ A. energy drinks B. fruit drinks C. Diet drinks 26. The company’s brand of mineral water has a _____> A. small share of a small market B. large market of a small market C. large share of a large market 27. Sales for Ice-T and Chocomania______ A. rose and then Fell again B. increased steadily C. were disappointing all year 28. when did the Company stop producing its own brand cola? A. 1998 B. 2000 C. 2002 PART SIX Questions 29 - 40 Read the newspaper article below about a new alliance in the packaging industry. Choose the correct word for blankets 29 – 40 from A, B or C below. For each question, mark the correct letter A, B or C. The Big Number The country’s demand for telephones, mobile phones, faxes and the Internet is growing at an increasingly fast rate. In fact, it is growing 29____ quickly that our telephone numbering system needs re-organizing 30____ some major changes will have to 31____ made. These changes, 32_____, will make the system simpler and easier to use. It is 33____ an important task that all the UK phone companies are working together to make 34____changes. The changes will 35____ only make hundreds of millions of new numbers, but they will 36____ bring order and flexibility to the system for years to come. 37____ main changes are due to happen 38____ now and year 2002, which will give you 39____ of time to prepare. You will find details of the number changes on our website, 40____ you can visit any time at www. Numberchange.org, or call our free phone helpline on 0808 2000. 29. A. so B. that C. too 30. A. and B. with C. before 31. A. been B. be C. being 32. A. despite B. however C. although 33. A. much B. such C. so 34. A. this B. there C. these 35. A. if B. not C. but 36. A. furthermore B. additionally C. also 37. A. The B. Those C. Their 38. A. from B. between C. until 39. A. plenty B. many C. lot 40. A. when B. who C. which PART SEVEN Questions 41 – 45 Read the memo and notice below. Complete the form followed. Write a word or phrase (in CAPITAL LETTERS) or a number on lines of 41 – 45 on your Answer Sheet WRITING QUESTIONS 46 – 47 Questions 46 It is the beginning of December and you have been asked to find out how many days’ holiday staff in your department intend to take over Christmas. Write a memo to all staff in the department: * saying on which days the company is closed * asking them to confirm their holidays * giving a deadline for filling in holiday forms. Write 30 –40 words. Questions 47 You had arranged to meet Christine Hendrikson but had to cancel the meeting at short notice. You receive the fax below from her. Write a fax to Christine: * apologizing for canceling the meeting * giving a reason for the cancellation * offering a new date and time * asking her to confirm the new date and time. Write 60—80 words. References Reading Part one: 1-5: a c b a b Part two: 6-10: G D C H F Part three: 11-15: F T F T F Part four: 16-22: A C A B C C B Part five: 23-28: C C B C A A Part six: 29-40: A A B B B C B C A B A C Part seven: 41. BUDDY HOLLY 42. PALACE THEATRE 43. 3 JULY 44. 20:00 45. 6