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SAMPLE TEST 1
Time 1 hour
INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATES
Do not open this question paper until you are told to do so.
Write your name, centre number and candidate number on your answer sheet if they are
not already there.
Read the instructions for each part of the paper carefully.
Answer all the questions.
Read the instructions on the answer sheet.
Mark your answers on the answer sheet. Use a pencil.
You must complete the answer sheet within the time limit.
At the end of the test, hand in both this question paper and your answer sheet.
* 500/2704/9
© UCLES 2015 Cambridge English Level 2 Certificate in ESOL International (Business English)
BEC HIGHER
Page 72
PART ONE A D
Questions 1 – 8
Basic activities such as catering, cleaning and There are signs that the spread of contracting out
security were often the first to be contracted out to MSSs is impacting on the way OWOs are run,
• Look at the statements below and at the five extracts from an article on the opposite page about
as both the private and public sectors yielded to generating a need for high-level staff who will be
organisations which outsource (OWOs). These are organisations which give contracts for some
the 1990s’ philosophy of concentrating on core skilled at negotiating and handling relationships
of their activities to be run by managed service suppliers (MSSs).
activities. As a result of outsourcing, many with partner organisations rather than simply
• Which article (A, B, C, D or E) does each statement 1 – 8 refer to? canteens have lost their institutional atmosphere giving internal directions. Meanwhile, many
READING SAMPLE PAPER
• For each statement 1 – 8, mark one letter (A, B, C, D or E) on your Answer Sheet. and resemble high-street retail outlets, boosting
MSSs face new employment and recruitment
both the range of products and facilities for
• You will need to use some of these letters more than once. issues as their workforces often consist of staff
workers and the MSSs’ turnover. Profits from the
inherited from dozens of organisations in both
• There is an example at the beginning, (0). growing UK outsourcing market are helping the
the public and private sectors.
biggest catering MSSs to expand overseas as the
industry develops a global dimension.
Example:
0 There are signs that some MSSs are moving into foreign markets. B E
A B C D E Estimates of the scope and value of managed The growth in outsourcing has coincided – and
0
service supplying vary according to the may continue to coincide – with increasing
definitions used of what activities are included or interest in the concept of the virtual organisation
excluded in calculations. Although some MSSs – one which chooses to outsource almost
1 There is a risk that outsourcing too many operations could weaken an OWO. are large – for example, the Alfis Group is, with everything so that it can concentrate on handling
200,000 employees, one of the ten biggest relationships with its clients. However, a recent
2 OWOs are finding that they need to adapt their management methods as a result of the private sector employers in Europe – they enjoy
report warns that the notion of virtual
increased outsourcing they commission. little of the public name recognition of the
organisations must be balanced against the
OWOs for whom they work. At the same time, in
negative possibility of ‘hollow’ organisations,
3 There are different ways of assessing the total financial worth of outsourced business. fields such as IT and research, OWOs now
left with only a ‘fragile shell remaining’. The
outsource not only non-core activities but also
report also expresses concern that some large
those where they believe specialist MSSs can
4 There may be improvements for an OWO’s staff when it outsources services.
bring additional expertise. MSSs have ‘gradually taken control of
significant parts of public sector activities’,
5 Despite their success in business terms, MSSs may not be high profile. changing the basis on which the success or
otherwise of those activities is assessed.
6 OWOs may not have consistent policies with regard to MSSs.
• Read this text taken from an article about how companies’ decision-making can go wrong.
A It would be far better, though, if dissidents E One solution is to set targets for a project
• Choose the best sentence from the opposite page to fill each of the gaps.
in the organisation raised their doubts and to agree in advance to abandon it if
• For each gap 9 – 14, mark one letter (A – H) on your Answer Sheet. beforehand, and were listened to. these are not met.
• Do not use any letter more than once.
B They want to be recognised as having F After all, people who persistently point to
• There is an example at the beginning, (0).
changed the company in a way that history potential pitfalls are seen as negative and
will remember. disloyal.
C This is not to argue that companies should G But they often rely only on those parts of it
never attempt anything brave or risky. that support their case.
Bad business decisions are
easy to make D Too much money has been spent and too H Coupled with this, they insist that the
many reputations are at stake to think failure was someone else’s fault.
Those who make disastrous business decisions Responsible managers usually ask to see the
about stopping at this stage.
generally exhibit two characteristic types of evidence before reaching a decision. (11)........ .
behaviour. First they make a selective Even those who consider all the evidence, good
interpretation of the evidence when deciding to go and bad, fail to take account of the fact that expert
ahead with a project. (0)...H... . predictions are often wrong. The reason for this is
How do such bad decisions come about? that feedback is only effective if it is received
One reason is that the people in control are quickly and often; and senior executives rarely
determined to make their mark by doing become the experts they claim to be, because they
something dramatic. (9)......... . Once the leader make too few big decisions to learn much from
has decided to put his or her name to a project, them. So when it becomes clear that disaster
many in the organisation believe it politic to looms, many executives insist on pressing ahead
support it too, whatever their private doubts. regardless. (12)........ . The repercussions of doing
(10)........ . These doubters know that such a so can be daunting.
perception will cloud their future careers. The So what can be done to prevent companies
desire to agree with the boss is typical of making bad decisions? (13)........ . Another is to
committees, with group members often taking delegate the decision on whether or not to continue
collective decisions that they would not have taken to people who are not in the thick of the decision-
individually. They look around the table, see their making, such as the non-executive directors.
colleagues nodding in agreement and suppress (14)........ . But they shouldn’t expect any
their own doubts. If all these intelligent people gratitude: people who have made huge mistakes
believe this is the right thing to do, they think to are not going to say ‘Thank you, we should have
themselves, perhaps it is. It rarely occurs to paid attention to you in the first place.’
committee members that all their colleagues have
made the same dubious calculation.
Turn Over
4 5
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BEC HIGHER
BEC HIGHER
Page 74
PART THREE 15 What criticism does the writer make of managers in the first paragraph?
Questions 15 – 20
A They lose interest in the issue of incompetent employees.
• Read the following extract from an article about incompetent employees, and the questions on B They fail to take a firm line with inefficient employees.
the opposite page. C They have little idea of what is really required of their staff.
D They often make bad decisions when choosing new staff.
• For each question 15 – 20, mark one letter (A, B, C or D) on your Answer Sheet for the answer
you choose.
16 What is the effect of the first of the methods suggested for dealing with incompetent staff?
• Choose the correct word or phrase to fill each gap from A, B, C or D on the opposite page.
• For each question 21 – 30, mark one letter (A, B, C or D) on your Answer Sheet.
Turn Over
8 9
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BEC HIGHER
BEC HIGHER
Page 76
PART FIVE PART SIX
Questions 31 – 40 Questions 41 – 52
• Read the article below about working abroad. • Read the text below about writing good covering letters.
• For each question 31 – 40, write one word in CAPITAL LETTERS on your Answer Sheet. • In most of the lines 41 – 52 there is one extra word. It is either grammatically incorrect or
• There is an example at the beginning, (0). does not fit in with the meaning of the text. Some lines, however, are correct.
• If there is an extra word in the line, write the extra word in CAPITAL LETTERS on your
Example 0 I T answer sheet.
10 11
BEC HIGHER
Page 77
Part 5
1 31 0
31
H I G H E R 32 1 32 0
30 A B C D
BEC H - R DP462/362
READING ANSWER KEY
BEC HIGHER
Part One Part Two Part Three Part Four Part Five Part Six
1 E 9 B 15 B 21 D 31 FOR/WITH 41 THERE
2 D 10 F 16 D 22 B 32 YOURSELF 42 FOR
3 B 11 G 17 C 23 B 33 MANY 43 THROUGH
4 A 12 D 18 A 24 A 34 FEW 44 OUT
5 B 13 E 19 D 25 D 35 ONE 45 IN
6 C 14 A 20 C 26 C 36 THEIR 46 THEM
7 E 27 B 37 WHAT 47 CORRECT
8 E 28 A 38 WHICH 48 IT
29 D 39 SO 49 SO
30 A 40 OVER/ACROSS 50 CORRECT
51 BECAUSE
52 WITH
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