PRACTICE TESTS

And, nearly any entrepreneur with a high-tech or Internet-based business plan could receive a large amount of money from investors to develop the business.. Passage 4: Fair Trade Chocol

PRACTICE TEST 1 - VOCABULARY AND GRAMMAR

PRACTICE TEST 2 – READING COMPREHENSION

Passage 1:

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Passage 2:

The Internet Entrepreneur

The late 1990s was a volatile time for the Internet entrepreneur There were a large number of new high-tech and Internet-based businesses being started up, some based on little more than dreams And, nearly any entrepreneur with a high-tech or Internet-based business plan could receive a large amount of money from investors to develop the business These businesses were called ‘dot-coms’ after the last part of their Internet addresses, and that time in business history has become known as the dot.com era Most dot.com ventures failed as the inconsistencies between high-tech dreams and realities clarified, but a handful of entrepreneurs from that time remain successful today

Many people look back at the dot.com era with a certain amount of cynicism Some charge that there were entrepreneurs who deliberately mislead investors about the potential of their business plans; that they had the ulterior motive of getting their hands on large amounts of cash before anything else – a ploy that some say was common in the dot.com era By 2001, most of the dot-coms had disappeared and were sarcastically referred to as “dot-bombs” By the time the hype died down, incredible amounts of money had been lost This is an unfortunate legacy of the dot-com era Why did companies like Microsoft, Apple, and Google find success, while so many others disappeared? There is no concise answer, but one interesting coincidence is that many of them were started by two or more entrepreneurs working in conjunction with each other At Microsoft, Bill Gates and Paul Allen complemented each other; Apple had Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak; and owe Google to the rapport between founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin

Besides collaborating with others, today’s entrepreneurs need to be able to think on their feet because the business situation changes so quickly Entrepreneurs need to do constant research to keep track of changing trends Today’s entrepreneurs need to be hardworking and tenacious- the easy money of the dot-com era is history Experimentation and innovation are critical in a rapidly changing and highly competitive marketplace

It seems that the mistakes of the dot-com era have shown the world what the high-tech economy truly is – and what it isn’t it isn’t a place where anyone with a dream can get rich It is, however, a powerful and flexible business environment where people with sound business ideas and effective business models can work together to produce successful business innovations – sometimes very successful one indeed But,

as has always been true in the business world, there is no substitute for thorough planning and hard work

1 What is the author’s main purpose in writing this passage?

A To expose the negative side of the dot-com era

B To explain the history and qualities of a type of entrepreneur

C To convince the reader to become an entrepreneur

D To show how being an entrepreneur s easier today than ever before

2 What is most likely the reason that it was easy to get money from investors in the dot-com era?

A Investors were mainly Internet entrepreneurs

B Investors didn’t expect to get their money back in those days

C Investors were confused about the potential of high-tech business ideas

D Investors knew that any idea would succeed

3 Why do many people look back on the dot-com era with cynicism?

A Because many companies misled their investors

B Because they are jealous of success of dot-coms

C Because the level of technology was so much lower then

D Because there were no true entrepreneurs in that era

4 Why did some people probably refer to dot-coms as “dot-bombs” by 2001?

A Because most dot-com companies were short-lived failures

B Because dot-com companies started up extremely quickly

C Because some dot-com companies became extremely successful

D Because many people wished to eliminate dot-com businesses

5 According to the passage, what do Microsoft, Apple, and Google all have in common?

A They all produce high-quality computers

B They are all cynical about dot-coms

C They all have a good rapport with each other

D They were all developed by more than one person

Passage 3:

The magic of the merger

The previous year was undoubtedly the year of the merger More companies than ever before joined together in deals that totalled $2.25 trillion and created the world's largest ever bank and the world's biggest oil company Faced with plummeting oil prices, oil giants Exxon and Mobil sought to achieve economies of scale through a $250bn merger

There are several factors behind the increase in mergers and acquisitions Firstly, the accelerated rate

of globalisation has left companies desperately seeking overseas acquisitions in order to remain competitive Another factor behind the increase in merger activity is the record performance of stock markets, which has enabled companies to finance major acquisitions on the strength of their inflated share prices Earlier this year Vodafone, the UK mobile telephone operator, acquired its US counterpart AirTouch by making AirTouch shareholders a cash and stock swap offer worth a total of $62bn The deal created Vodafone AirTouch, the world's largest mobile telecoms group with over 29m customers New technology is also making it easier for companies to diversify as different industries come to rely on common technologies Microsoft, for instance, is busily diversifying into cable and mobile telecommunications as well as WebTV The US software giant has a $5bn equity stake in AT&T, which recently bought Media One for $57bn Under the deal, Microsoft will succeed in introducing its recently-launched cable television software into millions of homes in the US and UK

Not all mergers, however, are the result of global economic trends, political change or technological innovation BMW's takeover of the Rover Group injected much needed investment into the struggling

UK car manufacturer whilst extending BMW's product range And when the UK pharmaceutical firm Zeneca merged with Swedish drug company Astra, the new company started life with strong combined R&D capabilities, further strengthened by the world's best selling drug Losec in its portfolio of products Despite all these potential benefits and their promise of competitive advantage, mergers and acquisitions are not risk-free ventures Such alliances are more than just financial agreements; they also involve the coming together of different corporate and, in many cases, national cultures This can have a destabilising effect on a workforce and may mean projected efficiencies are not delivered Daimler and Chrysler, for example, face the challenge of integrating two very different corporate and national cultures

1 Exxon and Mobil merged in order to

A enter new overseas markets

В reduce costs and improve margins

С create the world's biggest company

D undercut competitors' prices

2 Vodafone was able to acquire AirTouch by

A selling highly-valued share to customers

В obtaining a loan based on its share value

С exchanging shares as part of the deal

D buying under-valued AirTouch shares

3 What is Microsoft's interest in AT&T's acquisition of Media One?

A It will raise Microsoft's equity stake in AT&T

В It will give Microsoft access to new technologies

С It will increase the size of Microsoft's core market

D It will help Microsoft break into new markets

4 Why was the BMW takeover in Rover's interests?

A Rover was able to raise capital

В It extended Rover's product range

С Rover gained new distribution channels

D It reduced Rover's operating costs

5 What is the main challenge facing Daimler and Chrysler?

A Customers may not want to buy foreign products

В Workforce reductions could affect delivery times

С Their managers might not work together effectively

D The cost of the merger will outweigh any savings

Passage 4:

Fair Trade Chocolate

Have you ever wondered where the chocolate in your favorite candy bar come from? Chocolate comes from the cacao tree, which grows in warm, tropical areas of West Africa, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, and South America And who eats the delicious chocolate made from the cacao grown in these places? The majority of chocolate is consumed in Europe and North America This probably sounds like

a familiar story, with developing countries producing inexpensive raw materials that are manufactured and sold as finished goods in developed countries, and generally, that’s what happens with chocolate Large chocolate companies buy cacao beans at a low price and produce cocoa and chocolate products to sell at a relatively high price

But the familiar story has a new chapter Beginning in the 1980s, some consumers learned that cacao farmers were living difficult and uncertain lives The farmers received money for their crops based

on world markets, and the market price for cacao was sometimes so low that farmers received less for their crops than the crops had cost to produce In response, groups of consumers in Europe and the United States developed ‘fair trade’ organizations to guarantee that farmers of cacao, as well as coffee and tea, would receive fair and consistent prices for their crops

Fair trade organizations benefit farmers by buying cacao beans or other products from them directly

at higher-than-market prices and eliminating ‘middle men’ such as exporters Fair trade organizations also encourage farming techniques that are not harmful to the environment or to farm workers, for example, growing cacao without chemical pesticides or fertilizers in the shade of rain forest trees One organization, Equal Exchange, helps farmers set up farming cooperatives in which they can share resources and work on projects such as community schools Another, Fairtrade Labelling Organizations

International (FLO), guarantees that products bearing its label meet standards that improve the lives of growers and producers

The results of fair trade are a better standard of living for some farmers and gourmet chocolate bars made with organically produced cocoa that consumers don’t feel guilty about buying And although fair trade chocolate is somewhat more expensive than other chocolate and now makes up only 1 per cent of chocolate sold, the fair trade idea is spreading quickly You may soon see fair trade chocolate right next

to the more famous bars in your favorite store

1 Cacao trees might be grown in _

2 People in _probably eat a lot of chocolate

A Peru B Papua New Guinea C Switzerland D South Africa

3 Why does the author mention the large chocolate companies?

A to accuse them of taking advantage of developing countries

B to persuade readers to buy chocolate products from them

C to give examples of companies that manufacture and sell finished goods

D to explain why the price of cocoa is low

4 Consumer groups created fair trade organizations _

A to invest in world markets

B to get more money to farmers

C to make crops cheaper to produce

D to respond to consumers in Europe

5 The author implies that _

A there will be more fair trade chocolate in the future

B fair trade chocolate is not as tasty as other chocolate

C consumers feel guilty about buying fair trade chocolate

D there is probably no reason to worry about cacao farmers

Passage 5: Fill in appropriate word/phrases from the list

all apart contain divide every filbers

lumber microscope polar rural telescope such sure

Plants grow in almost ……… (1) part of the worlds We see ……… (2) plants as flowers, grass, and trees nearly every day Plants grow high on mountaintops, far out in the oceans, and

in many desert and ……… (3) regions

Without plants, there could be no life on earth Man could not live without air or food, and so he could not live without plants The oxygen in the air we breathe comes from plants The food we eat also comes from plants or from animals that eat plants We build houses and make many useful products from

……… (4) cut from trees Much of our clothing is made from the ………(5) of the cotton plant

Scientists believe there are more than 350,000 species of plants, but no one knows for

………(6) Some of the smallest plants, called diatoms, can be seen only with a

………(7) A drop of water may hold as many as 500 diatoms The largest living things are the giant trees of California Some of the stand more than 290 feet high and measure over 30 feet wide

Scientists ………(8) all living things into two main groups – plants and animals It is usually easy to tell the two ……… (9) Almost all kinds of plants stay in one place, but nearly all species of animals move about under their own power Most plants make their own food from air, sunlight, and water Animals cannot make their own food The basic units of all life, called cells, are also

different in plants and animals Most plant cells have thick walls that ……… (10) a material called cellulose Animal cells do not have this material

Passage 6: Complete the passage with appropriate words/ phrases from the list

available consequently disturbing eliminating even

explains for example in marine poison refers

scattering too with

Environmental pollution is a term that ………(1) to all the ways by which man pollutes his surroundings Man dirties the air with gases and smoke, ……… (2) the water with chemicals and other substances, and damages the soil with ……… (3) many fertilizers and pesticides Man also pollutes his surroundings ……… (4) various ways ……… (5) people ruin natural beauty by ……… (6) junk and litter on the land and in the water They operate machines and motor vehicles that fill the air with ……… (7) noise

Environmental pollution is one f the most serious problems facing mankind today Air, water, and soil are necessary to the survival of all living things Badly polluted air can cause illness, and

……… (8) death Polluted water kills fish and other ……… (9) life Pollution of soil reduces the amount of land that is ……… (10) for growing food Environmental pollution also brings ugliness to man’s naturally beautiful world

SAMPLE TEST 4

PAPER 1: READING COMPREHENSION

I Circle the correct choice

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…… ….90% of Asia’s people live in the eastern and southern parts of the continent, which contain some of the most ………… regions in the world

A Most/ thick-populated

B Most/ thickly-populated

C Almost/ thick-populated

D Almost/ thickly-populated

You should drive carefully because accidents

…………easily

A occurring C occur

B occurred D are occurred

He directed that no one ……… before sunset

A eats C ate

B eat D could eat