BOSSES

There are very few people I really dislike but Mr Mackenzie, (1) ______, is certainly one of them. I have been working for Mardex since I left school five years ago as secretary for Mr Norton, (2) ______, and our branch has always been (3) ______ - a happy place. Mr Norton , (4) ______, always encouraged us and stood up for us (5) ______. Then, one morning last April, (6) ______, Mr Mackenzie arrived.

I always arrive first, a minute or two after 9.30, (7) ______, and everyone else turns up in the next quarter of an hour. That morning I was surprised to see a thin man waiting outside, (8) ______, (9) ______, (10) ______. Ah, he observed sarcastically, a sign of life! What do you do here? (11) ______? I told him who I was and showed him into Mr Nortons office. Mr Norton arrived ten minutes later, (12) ______, (13) ______.

Since then Mr Mackenzie has visited us quite often. He calls us together and makes a little speech, (14) ______. He tells us how idle and useless we all are. The first time, he said we were a lot of dilettantes, (15) ___. He explains that when he arrived in Dundee, (16) ______, everything was a shambles. Now it is the most efficient branch in Britain, (17) ______.

The whole atmosphere in the office is different now. Mr Norton, (18) ______, shouts at me irritably and smokes three packets a day. The worst of it is that we never know when Mr Mackenzie is coming, (19) ______. Our only hope is that he is so ambitious that he is bound to be promoted to Head Office in London, (20) ______.

A number of phrases have been omitted from each of the paragraphs. Choose the most appropriate phrase from the list given to complete the description.

Paragraph 1 A - the Branch manager in Fairley B - the Area manager for my firm C - who is a kindly, good-humoured man of about 50 D - that is to say, it was until recently E - when no one expected it F when there were problems with the head office

Paragraph 2 A which disappeared from his face as soon as he saw Mr Mackenzie B which the official opening time C who was impatiently tapping his foot on the ground D with his usual cheerful smile E with a wispy beard and fierce, penetrating grey eyes F if, in fact, you do anything G dressed in a dark blue suit

Paragraph 3 A which is all due to him, no doubt B which sounded bad but did not upset us much because we did not know what he meant. C which is always the same D where he was Branch Manager before his present appointment

Paragraph 4 A which makes it difficult to put on a show of efficiency B who used to be so pleasant and gave up smoking because of his bronchitis C where he can make other peoples lives miserable and leave us alone

PARAGRAPH 1 1. B 2. A 3. D 4. C 5. F 6. E PARAGRAPH 2 7. B 8. E 9. G 10. C 11. F 12. D 13. A PARAGRAPH 3 14. C 15. B 16. D 17. A PARAGRAPH 4 18. B 19. A 20. C