Practice review

present simple vs present continuous

1 Complete the text with the present simple or present continuous form of the verbs in brackets.
Sarika Gupta is a technology programmer, and she ________ (love) what she ________ (do.) She ________
(work) for Datascope, an exciting IT company based in Bangalore, the Silicon Valley of India, and she is also
a shareholder in the company. Datascope ________ (gain) an excelent reputation worldwide for its innovative
products and solutions. Not only are its young engineers extremely skilled, they also ________ (know) how
to market their ideas. As a result, the companys fame ________ (spread) rapidly, and currently a number of
leading companies ________ (try) to enter into some form of partnership with it.
That is why this week Sarika and Vijay, her Head of Department, ________ (not work) at Datascope. They
________ (attend) a series of meetings with representatives from global IT companies. Sarika ________
(know) that some of these companies ________ (want) to outsource part if their operations to India, so
she ________ (believe) something good for Datascope will come out of these meetings.

2 Complete the conversation below with the words from the box.

afraid how opinion perhaps see so views why

C One proposal is that we bring out a new product under the Topalino brand. So, what are your ________
on this?
N In my ________ , this is the best solution if we want to regain market share.
I ________ dont we focus on our pricing policy first? Isnt that the key issue?
J Im ________ I cant agree. What we need to do to begin with is reposition our market leader.
R ________ about doing both, Jasmina? We can certainly bring out a new product, and reposition another
at the same time.
J I ________ what you mean, but weve got to start somewhere, and thinking about our best-selling product
is whats most important at this stage.
C I think ________ too ________ we could agree to bring out a new product later this year.

talking about the future

1 Complete each dialogue with the correct form of will or going to.

A: Im afraid we havent received a copy of the booking form yet.

B: Sorry about that. If I could just have your number, I ________ fax it over to you straight away.

A: Have you planned the weekend excursion for our visitors from China?
B: Yes, Tom ________ show them round the old town and the harbour.

A: Ive just heard some bad news.

B: What is it?
A: They ________ cancel our trip to Brazil.

bring out: to present to the public (lanzar)

straight away: without hesitation or delay (inmediatamente)

1
 past simple vs present perfect
1 Complete the two conversations with the words in brackets. Use the past simple or present perfect as
appropiate.

A: How long ________ (your offices/be) in this area?

B: Since April 2007.
A: Where ________ (you/be) before that?
B: In the city center. But the rent ________ (be) outrageously expensive, so we ________ (decide) to relocate
to the sububs.
A: And ________ (you/ever/regret) your decision?
B: Frankly, we ________ (be) slightly worried about all the changes in the first couple of months, but we ________
(soon/realize) that it was the right move. This part of town is extremely attractive, and in fact, it ________
(develop) enormously over the last two or three years.

A: So, it seems you ________ (have) a very good year so far.

B: Absolutely! Sales ________ (stand) at $14M at the end of the last quarter, and they ________ (already/increase)
by 6%.
A: What about your market share?
B: It ________ (remain) stable since 2008, but we are confident it will increase when we launch our new product.
A: ________ (you/have to) make anyone redundant?
B: No. At Lortex, we pride ourselves on the fact that there ________ (not be) any redundancies for over eight
years.

market share: the percentage of the market for a product or service that a company supplies (participacin en el mercado)
make someone redundant: to fire (despedir)
pride ourselves on something: be proud (enorgullecerse)
2
 Reading
1 Read the text and answer the following questions.

English 2.0
English is to international communication what Google is to search engines, Microsoft to software and Intel to the
microchip. It is, for better or worse, the 'industry standard'. And those who don't speak at least a little risk losing
business to the increasing number who do. Around a quarter of the Planet currently speaks some English.
That's more than one and a half billion people. In a recent survey by Euro barometer, 69% of Europeans said
they thought everyone should speak English. More than half of Citizens already do. For most, it's not a question of
choice but of necessity, as English has rapidly become the first language of business, science and popular culture.
As Professor David Crystal, Author of The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language, puts it, wave dollar bills in front of
someone, and they will learn complicated spellings and grammar.'
Not everyone, however, is so tempted by the dollar bills. A few years ago, the French Ministry of Finance decided to
ban English terms like e-mail, Internet and start-up, replacing them with French equivalents. And, even in Germany,
where phrases such as Joint venture and Power partner are considered cool and modern, politicians have expressed
concern about the growing threat of English in their national culture.
But whose English are they talking about? UK prime minister, Gordon Brown, has said: 'By 2050 the number of
English-speaking Chinese is likely to exceed the number of native English speakers'. But already non-native speakers
of English outnumber native speakers 4 to 1. The English they speak is certainly not the English of Shakespeare and
the Queen or even of Robbie Williams and David Beckham! It's Global English, International English, what we might
even call English 2.0. The grammar is a little more restricted and the vocabulary rather more basic. But it does the job.
And culture has nothing to do with it.
Some say English 2.0 can be even more effective than the original, citing the case of the South Korean airline that
bought its flight simulators from a French supplier rather than a British one because they understood their English
better! Indeed, English needs to evolve in this way if it is to remain the world's number one language. Spanish is
growing almost as fast as it gains popularity in Asia and Africa. And, where in 1996 85% of the Internet was in
English, that figure is now down to 60% and falling.
So, with increasing competition, is it still worth making the investment in learning English? The answer, for the
time being at least, is emphatically yes According to one commentator, a global market value can even be given
to speaking English. Currently, it's worth $5.4 trillion, which amounts to a tenth of the world economy!

1 Do you think the article overstates the importance of English?

2 What other languages might eventually take over from English as the international language of business?
3 Do you think that big business acelerates the advance of the English language?
4 Why are you learning English and how do you think it will improve your performance in your company?

3
Grammar plural nouns; demonstrative adjectives
Ability talk about personal objects

Stressed to the limit

Pressure is part and parcel of all work and helps to keep us motivated. But excessive pressure can lead to stress, which
undermines performance, is costly to employers and can make people ill. - UK Health & Safety Executive

Speaking
1 Which of these factors produce the most stress? Add your own ideas.

dealing with the public working long hours meeting deadlines

traveling making phone calls learning to use new technology
being promoted looking after children doing boring, repetitive tasks
dealing with big sums of money being responsible for peoples lives
waiting for other people to do things

2 In your opinion, what are the three most stressful jobs? Use the list below
to help you.

middle manager chief executive teacher taxi driver telephonist

secretary police officer factory worker pilot air traffic controller
stockbroker doctor lawyer shop assistant accountant waiter
computer programmer firefighter miner architect journalist

4
 Speed of life

Speaking
1 Are we all working harder than we used to? Does it seem like your working week is getting longer and longer?
How pressured do you feel at work? Read the text below. Which statistics surpreise you most?

Thinking space Land of the free?

When Dr Rosemary Stewart asked 160 British
managers to keep a diary of their activities for
a month, she discovered the average manager
had only nine 30-minute periods without
interruption. Those she interviewed complained
that there is just no time to think and that its
one damn thing after another.
According to a survey published in Wired Magazine,
US executives work 25% longer hours than they did
in the 1970s. Market researchers at Kelloggs
discovered that 13% of them eat breakfast in the car.
The most shocking study shows that the average
American father spends just six minutes a day
talking to his kids.

Multi-tasking Tough at the top

Canadian professor, Dr Henry Mintzberg found
that half the tasks managers perform take only
nine minutes or less. Only 10% last more than
an hour. Typically, executives work very fast on
several things at once, and welcome any
interruption to their schedule to stop and take
a break.
In a recen interview for a profile of global business
leaders, famous workaholic Bill Gates revealed
that he can at last afford to slow down. There are
days that I work 14 hours, he admits, but most days
I dont work more than 12 hours. On weekends I
rarely work more than 8 hours.

1 Time management. Look at these strategies for managing your time.

- say no more often

- make lists of things to do

- throw things away

- keep a record of how long each task takes you

- hold fewer meetings

- check e-mails at specific times of the day

- delegate more

- plan ahead

- maximise your uptime

- do nasty jobs first

Do you do any of these things? Add your own ideas to the list.

5
Stressed to the
limit

1 Complete the chart with the correct form of the word.

noun verb adjective

stress stress ________ /stressed
motivation ________ motivating/________
creativity create ________
________ excite ________ /excited

2 Complete the sentences using the words from ecercise 1.

a Working with the public can be very ________

b When the new boss arrived, staff morale was very low and nobody was very ________
c Im a graphic designer so my job requires a lot of ________
d I dont find the new project very ________

3 Write similar sentences about your company.

output: production
uptime: the time during which an employee is actually working

6
Grammar have to; should
have to 1 Make sentences with has to/have doesnt have to/
dont have to.
I
air traffic controller factory worker take decisions
You have to be creative
We dont have to An air trafic controller has to take decisions very
They
work at night. quickly (Its necessary)
A factory worker doesnt have to be creative.
He has to (Its not necessary)
She doesnt have to a lawyer secretary wear suit type letters
middle manager chief executives solve day-to-day
problem take strategic decisions
Do I/you/we/they have to work at night? shop assistant computer programmer deal with
Does he/she public know computer languages
lorry driver taxi driver drive long distances
memorize maps
nurse factory worker wear special clothes work
should at night
accountant telephonist use a computer be honest
I teacher engineer tell people what to do wear a tie
You
He
She
should 2 Make sentences that are true for you using
shouldnt should/shouldnt.
We
They
work well/have a certain amount of pressure
do the job for free.
To work well, you should have a certain amount
of pressure.
companies/try/reduce the level of stress
Should I/you/he/she workers/work very long hours
we/they managers/communicate/ideas
companies/learn/motivate workers
workers/have time/rest

You use has to/have to to show that it is necessary to do

something.
Reading
Everyone has to pay taxes. 1 In your opinion, are these sentences below
We all have to use the same computer programs. true or false?

When you want to show that it isnt necessary to do a Stress is always a bad thing.
something you can use doesnt have to/dont have to. b Work-related stress can cause health problems.
He doesnt have to travel much in this job. c Bad management is the main cause of stress.
We dont have to dress formally for work. d Reducing stress costs companies money.
e Its easy for companies to reduce stress.
You use should or shouldnt to show that it is a good or
bad idea to do something.
2 Read the article about stress.
You should use the Internet for getting new ideas.
You shouldnt work so hard if you want to live to an
old age.

staff turnover: the rate at which workers are replaced