PRACTICE

1 Choose the correct option a, b or c.

As a result of the fast 1 the company is enjoying, we are looking for new markets. One of our main 2
territories for next year is China. We need to create a new marketing 3 which takes local 4 into account. We
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have seen many brands do badly in that part of the world. This is generally because companies have failed to
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their products and marketing to make their products 7 to new customers. It’s almost impossible to have a
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policy throughout the world, and successful multinationals are those who have realised this. Product 9 is
vital for success in the Chinese market. Our production process is very 10 so we are able to meet the needs of
individual markets quite easily.

1 a growing b grown c growth

2 a product b target c local
3 a strategy b target c preference
4 a preferences b standards c customisation
5 a consumption b consumable c consumer
6 a specialise b adapt c appeal
7 a appealing b preferable c customised
8 a customised b productive c standardised
9 a consumption b specialisation c customisation
10 a adaptable b consumable c preferable

2 Write one word which best fits each space.

1 That me. I need to make a phone call.
2 Before I , can we discuss the budget?
3 We’ll to that later.
4 Can we to the next item, please?
5 Is this a good to talk about staff?
6 How if we employ two more staff?
7 I’m afraid I disagree you.
8 That’s not a idea. I quite like it.
9 I think we listen to what he says.
10 I agree building a new factory is necessary.

3 Write one word which best fits each space.

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is to confirm your order for five GH engines at a unit price of €5,000, which we received this morning.
I can confirm that we will 2 the engines to your factory in Riga next Monday.
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agreed at our meeting last week, we can give you a discount of five percent providing you pay for the goods on
time. We 4 our terms and conditions for your records.
If you have any queries, please do not 5 to contact me.

4 You will hear eight short recordings twice. For questions 1–8 choose the correct answer.
1 Which country is the company planning to target next year?
a Australia b India c South Africa

2 What was the company’s biggest problem?

a finding local experts
b changing the packaging
c creating new advertising
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3 Why did the man start his own business?
a Online sales grew surprisingly fast.
b He lost his job with a design company.
c His friends wanted him to do it.

4 What size boxes does the man want?

a 40 x 40 x 30 cm
b 40 x 40 x 50 cm
c 40 x 40 x 60 cm

5 What does the woman want to discuss at the meeting?

a pricing b reorganisation c production

6 What do the man and the woman agree on?

a working hours
b holidays
c training

7 Which product did Max order?

a b c

8 What was the total price of the order?

US$14,400 US$40,400 US$4,000

a b c

5 Listen to a radio interview with Gina Velas, an expert in project management. Choose the
correct option a, b or c.
1 What does the interviewer say about failure?
a It’s a good way to learn.
b You can’t afford to fail.
c It’s caused by a lack of experience.

2 What does Gina say about experience and skills?

a Project managers must train their teams.
b Teams must evaluate their own skills.
c Project managers should have relevant training.

3 Project managers should set goals that are

a challenging.
b clearly defined.
c simple.

4 Why does Gina say about changing goals?

a Clients are unable to assess them.
b It often affects the budget.
c Project managers like making changes.

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5 What can poor communication skills lead to?
a project failure
b team disappointment
c weak managers

6 What else can demotivate a team?

a pressure from other staff
b not having enough resources
c losing control

7 What does Gina say about unexpected problems?

a Risk assessment predicts all problems.
b Allow extra time for them.
c Schedules are always flexible.

6 Listen again and fill in the blanks

A Some people say that learning from (1) ……….. is the way to become a good project manager.
But you can’t really (2) ……….. to fail when you’re running multi-million-pound projects…
B Many people are promoted to project manager without the (3) ……….. training. Project managers
have to (4) ……….. their own abilities and skills and be able to evaluate skills and abilities of the
people in the team. They must then lead the team toward the end (5) ……….. . So it’s a good idea for
new project managers to receive specialised training.
C One of the biggest mistakes is not (6) ……….. goals clearly enough. If you can’t give your team
clearly defined goals, then they’re not going to know exactly what they have to (7) ……….. . A project
manager shouldn’t set goals that are simply impossible to achieve.
D Clients often (8) ……….. changes and the project manager must (9) ……….. these requests and
make sure that, firstly, they can be (10) ……….. and, secondly, that they’re really needed. When
clients want to change something, it’s usually going to affect the (11) ……….. , too.
E Project managers need to (12) ……….. ideas and plans clearly to team members. Without this
skill, problems will begin to appear and a (13) ……….. successful project could fail. I find
communication is often one of the weakest skills in many managers, not just project managers.
A manager needs to understand the team well and be able to (14) ……….. this in the way he or she
communicates; otherwise the whole team will be (15) ……….. .
F As well as poor communication, setting impossible (16) ……….. is the quickest way for project
managers to lose control. But perhaps one of the worst things is not having the resources to do the
job (17) ……….. .
G Project managers do risk assessments. Without that, projects (18) ……….. won’t finish on time, or
they may not even finish at all. However, you can never plan for all (19) ……….. issues; managers
should build some kind of (20) ……….. into the schedule to allow for these.
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