Mid-Term Assignment - Level 2
Full Name: Rojas Brigitte Nicole
IMPORTANT: Do not edit the document online. First, download it and,
then, write your answers. Finally, send a Word or a Google Docs file to
[email protected]Deadline: You have time until 4 November before midnight. In case you
need more time to hand in, send an email to let your teacher know about
this delay.
Dictionary you can use: https://www.wordreference.com/
Vocabulary
Complete the text with words from the box.
exchange interest labor market plan sales tax
unemployment
Private sector sets up new fund for small businesses
HTTC, a Birmingham-based telecommunications group, has set up an investment fund to
help finance new businesses in the area. The area has a high (1)_____unemployment
_____________ rate because of the current economic recession. Recent changes in the
pound–euro (2)________exchange__________ rate have made it harder for businesses
that make goods for export. HTTC hopes that providing loans with a low
(3)______plan____________ rate will allow new businesses to grow and to create new jobs
for the (4)_________labor_________ force in the area. The local government has recently
agreed to offer (5)________tax__________ incentives for new businesses as well.
In addition to offering funding, HTTC is also providing training and consulting for people who
are considering starting a new business. The company is offering assistance with
(6)_____sales_____________ research, product development, and
(7)___________market_______ forecasting as well as developing a business
(8)________interest__________ .
Number Answer Number Answer
1 5
2 6
3 7
4 8
Grammar
Put the words in the correct order to make sentences.
Bahrain/When/you/do/to/want/visit ?
Answer: When do you Bahrain want to visit?
called/I/soon/him/as/as/arrived/I .
Answer: I soon as arrived I called as him
restructuring/should/ How/we/the/announce?
Answer: How should we announce restructuring?
They’re/to/going/new open/office/a .
Answer: They are going to new open a office.
conference/the/at/How/people/many/we/are/expecting?
Answer: How many we are the people expecting at conference?
our/increase/to/sales/We/like/would/.
Answer: We would to like sales our increase
Do/go/you/up/expect/next/demand/year/to/?
Answer: Do you go to expect next year up demand?
Improve/to/hoping/their/They’re/performance .
Answer: They’re hoping to improve their performance
Complete the sentences with words and phrases from the box.
as soon before going to have having until when
while
1. __________________ you book your ticket early, you get a discount.
2. Dan is leaving at 4:00. Try to arrive __________________ 3:30 so you have a
chance to talk with him.
3. __________________ you finished preparing your presentation?
4. We’re __________________ start our market research next week.
5. I waited __________________ after he finished his meeting.
6. Telephone your office __________________ as you can.
7. Pietro and Christos are __________________ lunch with AEG tomorrow.
8. Leanne read the report __________________ she was waiting for her flight.
Number Answer Number Answer
1 5
2 6
3 7
4 8
Reading
Read the article and decide if the statements are true or false.
1. According to the article, your business idea should be something you care a lot
about.
2. The writer says that if your idea is good, people will pay for it.
3. All of the software start-ups that the writer became involved with were a big success.
4. According to the article, the first and most difficult part of starting a new business is
finding the right employees.
5. In a small business, a foil is a person who can do things that you can’t do.
6. According to the article, if the product idea is right, the business will almost certainly
succeed
Complete this summary of the article with words and phrases from the box.
finance ‘foil’ full-time job new business sales someone
Having your own business can be either a (1)__________________ , or something you do
outside of your regular work. To start a (2)__________________ , first find an idea you’re
passionate about. Then raise (3)__________________ for the new business. Begin by
talking to friends and family members.
When the money is in place, organize the (4)__________________ , delivery and finance
parts of the business. If you want to grow your business, find (5)__________________ who
can do the things that you cannot do. If this (6)__________________ is a success, make
sure you reward him or her with a share in the business.
Number Answer Number Answer
1 4
2 5
3 6
Turn a good idea into a great business
By Mike Southon
Retrieved from The Financial Times
Last week's column was about resolving to make this year the year that you start a
new business or become self-employed.
This might be the first step towards a job for someone unemployed, or an interesting
addition to current employment. In both cases, the basic process is the same: you
need to find something that you are genuinely passionate about, and then see if
friends will give you money for your work.
This is the fundamental difference between a good business idea and a bad one. If
it's a good idea, people will give you money for your products and services; if it's a
bad one, they will not.
I must have had thousands of business ideas pitched at me over the years and this
is by far the first and most important measure of success. It may seem too simple,
but I learned this lesson the hard way in the 1990s.
In the 1980s, I co-founded, built and sold a successful computer service and
assumed that all other start-ups I became involved in would go the same way.
It became very challenging to then work with fascinating people who had written
brilliant software that, for various reasons, nobody would pay for. Ultimately, these
companies folded.
I now tell people that there is no such thing as a bad business idea - the only issue is
whether the person sitting opposite me has the right qualities to make it happen. The
first stage is always the difficult task of securing some revenue. Assuming you pass
this test, the next issue is about people.
You can simplify business into three basic tasks: sales (generating revenue),
delivery (providing a product and service) and finance (making sure you make
money in the process).
Finance help is readily available, first from a friend or family member, then later a
bookkeeper or accountant.
This still leaves sales and delivery. Sales is a task for friendly, outgoing people while
delivery is a job for organized people who pay attention to detail. If your ambition is
to grow a business rather than merely be a sole trader, the next and most important
step is to find a foil, someone with the opposite set of skills and personal qualities to
yourself.
If you are naturally introverted, then it would be someone to generate the revenue for
you, while you concentrate on delivery. If you are more extroverted and find it easy
to charm revenue from your friends, then it would be someone to deliver on your
promises.
The inability to find a foil is the biggest difficulty in developing a business past the
initial revenue stage and this willingness to start building a team is what, in my
experience, separates the successful from the unsuccessful entrepreneur.
Once this key person is in place, the key challenges for the entrepreneur are not to
interfere and to make sure that person has an adequate shareholding in the
enterprise.
This should be an agenda item on the table from the first day of employment. As
soon as your key person has proved a success, which is typically shown by helping
secure regular profitability, then a package of shares in the business and profit
sharing should be put in place.
This is an important first step in establishing an important principle. Successful
entrepreneurship is less about a brilliant business idea, and more about your ability
to attract and work with other people.
Vocabulary
Self-employed (adj): not working for an employer but finding work for themselves,
or having their own business
ES: cuentapropista
Pitch (v): a sales talk, often one in which the salesperson tries to convince the
buyer of the need for his or her product
ES: discurso de venta
By far (adv): very much
ES: por lejos
Measure (n): a unit or standard of measurement
ES: medida
The hard way (adv): as a consequence of difficult experiences
ES: por las malas/a los golpes
Co-found (v): establish [sth] jointly
ES: cofundar
Challenging (adj): arduous, testing
ES: desafiante
Fold (adj): if a business foils, it fails
ES: fracasar, cerrar
Readily (adv): easily
ES: fácilmente
Bookkeeper (n): person who keeps accounts
ES: contador
Sole (adj): single, only
ES: único
Foil (n):
ES: complemento
In place (adv): positioned in readiness
ES: en orden, a punto, listo
Shareholding (n): owning stocks in a company
ES: participación accionaria
Profitability (n)
ES: rentabilidad
Package of shares (n)
ES: paquete accionario
Entrepreneurship (n): business initiative
ES: espíritu emprendedor
Listening
Listen to a telephone conversation between Agnes Yim and Adnan Yilmaz. They are
discussing Mr Yilmaz’s visit to Hong Kong next month. Write the letter of each event
next to the correct date on the schedule.
Link to the audio: progress_test_3.mp3
a) Global Trade Show begins
b) Global Trade Show ends
c) Mr Yilmaz gives a presentation
d) Mr Yilmaz listens to presentations
e) Mr Yilmaz arrives in Hong Kong
f) Meeting with new sales manager
g) Mr Yilmaz goes to Shanghai
h) Half day with regional sales manager
i) Day open for meetings to be confirmed
j) Day off
Monday 31st August
Tuesday 1st September
Wednesday 2nd September
Thursday 3rd September
Friday 4th September
Saturday 5th September
Sunday 6th September
Monday 7th September
Tuesday 8th September
Wednesday 9th September
Final grade:
