N.B.

Correct answers are bolded

VOCABULARY AND LANGUAGE
Choose the correct definition of the following words and expressions:
1. full-blown
a. potentially problematic
b. most complete
c. explaining too much
2. recoup the investment
a. ask for money back b. provide finance for

c. get returns on the money invested

3. fleet
a. group of cars owned by a company
b. able to run quickly
c. people or organizations affected by companys activities
4. headcount
a. group of cars owned by a company
b. the number of people
c. people or organizations affected by companys activities
5. something that provokes a negative reaction
a. turn-off
b. work out

c. cut-off

Complete the sentences with the correct word or expression:

6. We are depending _ the government to improve local transport services.
a. of
b. on
c. from
7. Sandra will ____ with an overview, and Ill continue with a sales figures analysis.
a. kick around
b. kick off
c. bounce off
8. He screamed at the manager. ____, he was fired.
a. However
b. Because
c. Consequently
9. When my _____ was up, I negotiated a reduction in hours.
a. bargaining power
b. maternity leave
c. redundancy package
10. The companys policy is not to _____ difficult issues.
a. shy away from
b. follow suit
c. set out

TOEFL PRACTICE
Choose the correction for the underlined words:
1. Acts of vandalism are frequently blamed on low employed rates among youth.
a. employee
b. employing
c. employment
2. The introduction of new various of apples has increased yields on many farms.
a. vary
b. varying
c. varieties
3. Unfortunately, enough many mail deliverers are still bitten by dogs.
a. too
b. far
c. both
4. George Cadbury provided a pleasant housing estate for his chocolate factory workers,
much of whom had previously lived in appalling conditions.
a. who many
b. many of whom
c. much of them
Choose the correct way to complete the sentences:
5. Today _____ the single largest organized industry in India.
a. the cotton textile industry
b. there is the cotton textile industry
c. the cotton textile industry is
d. it is the cotton textile industry.
6. _____ toward animated cartoons with war-related topics has come under criticism from
such groups as the National Coalition against Television Violence.
a. It is the trend
b. That the trend
c. The trend
d. Trends
7. ____ will the personal assistant go home before the boss leaves the office.
a. Not once
b. Not until
c. No sooner than
8. At each end of the tube _ , one which gathers light and one which magnifies the image.
a. two lenses are there
b. are two lenses
c. are there two lenses

9. The problem facing most tourists is ______ among so many possibilities.

a. what they should see
b. what should they see
c. should they see what
d. they should see what
10. _______ patients should try to reduce needless office visits for colds and minor
respiratory ilnesses.
a. Doctors that agree
b. Doctors agree that
c. That doctors agree
d. Doctors agreeing that

READING COMPREHENSION
Take another quick look at the article about call centers in India and choose the
correct option to complete the sentences.
INDIA: Call centres ring the change
India's call centres have a lot to answer for, according to the traditionalists. Not only has the
booming sector helped spawn a brash new generation of profligate consumers, they say, but its
revolving-door work culture is also undermining virtues such as loyalty, hierarchy, patience and
discipline. Such anxieties might appear futile in view of the fact that the sector has almost
quadrupled its headcount in the past three years to more than 350,000 employees and looks set to
continue expanding at 50 per cent a year.
Such concerns are also becoming the chief headache of Indian call-centre managers. Attrition
rates, particularly in the larger hubs of Bangalore, Delhi and Mumbai, have jumped to more than
50 per cent a year in the past 18 months. This is still comfortably below the worst rates in western
centres, where it could exceed 100 per cent. It is now posing serious challenges to India's
increasingly stretched human resource managers. 'Until very recently, India had a culture where
you took a job for life and never dreamed of leaving it unless you had a firm counter-offer,' says
Noni Chawla, a management consultant and head-hunter in Delhi. 'But these young call-centre
workers think nothing of taking a job, doing four weeks of training and leaving without anything
else in the bag.'
There is an economic logic to such restlessness, however. In spite of India's unmatchable supply
of English-speaking graduates - roughly 2.5m a year graduate in India, most of them with some
level of English - the industry's rate of expansion has meant that demand has often outstripped
supply. This is particularly true of the more established centres. I would advise companies that
are setting up in India to avoid Bangalore in particular,' says Paul Davies, managing director of
Onshore Offshore, a UK-based consultancy. 'There is a circuit where new companies come in and
poach employees at higher salaries.'
One solution has been for companies to choose more isolated locations - as HSBC has recently
done, when it opened a call centre on the coast of Andhra Pradesh. India has more than 50 towns
with a population of 500,000 or more. Nevertheless, the strategy has its risks. One multinational
that recently opened a centre in the Rajasthan capital of Jaipur has found it hard to boost its
employee count at the pace it would wish. 'India has a lot of English speakers, but investors
should not overestimate the number that are ready to work,' said Raju Bhatnagar, president of
ICICI OneSource, an Indian third-party call centre, with 4,200 employees in Bangalore and
Mumbai. It is probably better to face problems of attrition than of shortage of supply.'
Another remedy, which has taken on increasingly bizarre forms, is to make the workplace more
attractive. Some companies have introduced salsa classes. Others have moved to multi-cuisine
canteens. Almost all have on-site recreational facilities, such as football tables and cafes, albeit
with limited success. 'You can only really attract people with such gimmicks,' says Mr Chawla.
'Retaining them is a different matter.'
More seriously, companies are also becoming more alert to dealing with employee trauma,
particularly for those who work on the telephone, for example abusive calls. 'Ali calls are
recorded, so we sit everyone around and replay it and ask everybody to suggest where it could
have been better handled,' says Mr Bhatna-gar. 'It helps the employee realise that it was nothing
personal. In fact, only about 1 per cent of calls are abusive and training can do much to help.' 'The
typical Indian response to anger is to fall silent, which only makes the Western customer worse,'
says Mr Davies. 'But they learn very quickly.'
Another solution - still in its infancy - is to hire part-time older employees, including housewives,
and to allow them to telecommute from home. About 80 per cent of India's call-centre employees
are aged between 20 and 25 and do not consider the industry to be a long-term career.
Another option, which one company is considering, is to open a call centre on campus and allow
students to drop in and out and work part-time. 'The more flexible we can be, the more likely the
employees are to stick around,' said a human-resources manager in Delhi.

Ultimately, though, there is not much companies can do to surmount the two core problems; that
very few people like to sleep during the day and work at night (the permanent 'jet-lag syndrome')
and that, in spite of some of the more glamorous-sounding outgrowths, most work in call centres
is repetitive and is likely to remain so.
At the same time, there is little to suggest the problem of an inherently footloose workforce will
pose a mortal threat to India's continued expansion. 'Call-centre attrition is a universal problem,'
says Mr Bhatnagar. 'It has got worse in India, but not nearly to the extent you would see in the
West.

Now choose the correct option to complete the sentences:

1. Despite significant growth in the sector, a high turnover of staff in Indias call centers
has led to
a. loss of contracts.
b. criticism of its work culture.
c. closure of many call centers.
2. Young workers recruited by a call center in India
a. often leave the job to work in another center that pays better.
b. often leave, even if they dont have another job to go to.
c. Both (a) and (b).
3. As a result of some unfair tactics by competitive call centers, some multinationals are
now
a. increasing employee count at a faster rate.
b. opening call centers in more remote locations.
c. retaining workers with attractive work facilities.
4. Allowing more mature employees to work from home or part-time is another way of
a. telecommuting from home.
b. attracting more experienced employees.
c. dealing with the problem of staff turnover.
5. Despite high attrition rates, call centers in India are expected to
a. continue to grow.
b. do worse than those in the West.
c. close for good.

WRITING
Read the Case study Energy saving at Supersun and write a short report (up to 200
words) outlining your proposals for Supersuns energy strategy.
Energy saving at Supersun
Background
Supersun is a chain of 30 supermarkets in California. Tight profit margins and strong competition
mean that the company has had to become increasingly creative with marketing strategies to
retain customers and increase their customer base. The company is now considering another,
simpler method to improve the bottom line. Energy is the supermarket industrys biggest
operating cost next to shelf stock, and Supersun could significantly reduce costs by improving
energy performance. Ever increasing energy bills and the governments clean air legislation are
also forcing the retail sector to find ways to reduce energy consumption and CO2 emissions.