Getting started:
Test-run your business English
Were in en Nachweis seiner Eng li sch ken nt nisse er bring enmö ch te, macht am best en einen Sprachtest. Zum Auftakt unseres Sonderheftes präsentieren wir Ihnen
hier Übungen, die so oder ähnlich Teil eines Tests sein könnten.
EASY MEDIUM ADVANCED
1. On the phone (6 points)
If you work at reception, as a PA or in customer service, you will probably need to make phone calls in English. Choose the appropriate responses to make this telephone conversation sound professional and polite.
PA: Müller. Braun Was kann Leuchten ich für GmbH, Sie tun? mein Name ist Karin
Customer: from Industrial Hello, Lighting Ms Müller. Ltd in This Bristol. is Tim Do Sawyer you speak English?
PA: (A–1) Yes, of course. What do you want? (A–2) Yes, of course. How can I help you? Customer: May I speak to Mr Braun, please?
PA: (B–1) I’m afraid he’s not in the office at
the moment.
(B–2) Sorry, he’s out now.
Customer: Do you know when he’ll be back?
PA: (C–1) No. Shall I tell him something? (C–2) I’m afraid not. Would you like to
leave a message?
Customer: Could you ask him to call me back?
PA: (D–1) Yes, of course. Could you give me
your number, please?
(D–2) Yes, but I need your number. Customer: I’ll give you my mobile number. It’s 0044-162-0333.
PA: (E–1) Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t catch the number. Could you repeat it, please?
(E–2) That was too fast. Please say the number again.
Customer: 0044-162-0333. And I’ll be in the office until 7 p.m. today.
PA: (F–1) OK, Mr Sawyer. If I see Mr Braun
later, I tell him.
(F–2) Thank you, Mr Sawyer. I’ll ask Mr
Braun to call you as soon as he’s back. Customer: Thank you, Ms Müller. Goodbye.
2. A visitor arrives (6 points)
If you work at reception, you will also have to welcome visitors. Match the questions and answers to form short dialogues.
A. How was your flight?
B. Have you been to our company before? C. Could you enter your name in this list,
please?
D. Would you mind taking a seat for a moment? E. Would you like something to drink?
F. Just let me know if you need anything else.
1. OK, thanks.
2. A cappuccino would be great.
3. Yes, I have — two or three years ago.
4. Well, it was a bit rough because of the strong winds.
5. No, not at all.
6. Yes, of course.
3. A business letter (10 points)
Mistakes in business correspondence do not make a good impression. The letter below is supposed to be in proper British English. Mark the mistakes and write in the corrections below.
(A) Dear Mrs Sanders
(B) Thank you very much for the interesting informations about your latest digital coffee maker. (C) Our shops are selling your products for almost ten years now. (D) This appliance is further proof that your company is the most innovative manufacturer in your branch. (E) Its really great! (F) We also appreciate that every single part is produced in your own company, even though labor costs are much lower in Asia. (G) You offered to make one of your new coffee makers available to us so that we can get some practise using it. (H) Could you send one until the end of this month so that we can test it during the summer campaign? (I) By the way, know you that some customers have already expressed interest in it? (J) I’m sure they will the coffee maker buy as soon as we have it on our shelves.
4. A job interview (7 points)
Interviews at international companies are often held in English. Put the words in the correct order.
HR manager: Mr Martins, thanks for applying for our vacancy as head of sales for China. What can you tell me about yourself?
Martins: up in Beijing, / my father / where / at the / worked / I grew / British embassy
A.
.
HR: Why are you leaving your current job? Martins: discontinued / A / took over / all / with China / business / and / competitor
B.
.
HR: Why do you think you are qualified for this position?
Martins: business / I can / back / on over / with Asia / ten years / look / doing / of
C.
.
HR: Why should we hire you in particular? Martins: well / Mandarin fluently /China and / speak / and know / the Chinese / I
D.
.
HR: How can you bring added value to our firm? Martins: great value / expertise / be of / your company / My intercultural / will / to
E.
.
HR: What are your salary expectations? Martins: the basic / but would / sales bonus / like / I / salary / about / agree with / to talk / the F.
.
HR: We can discuss that. When could you start? Martins: mean / Does / the job / that I / this / got / have
G. ?
5. What did you negotiate? (7 points)
If you have to negotiate terms and conditions, you need to get all the details right. In the dialogue below, Thomas wants to make sure he has understood everything that his colleague negotiated. Ask questions that can be answered with the words and phrases in bold.
Thomas: Lisa, could you update me on your negotiations for the latest order of coffee makers?
Lisa: Yes, of course. Here are the important details. We ordered (A) 200 digital coffee makers. The unit price is €599. They have given us a discount of five per cent (B) because we are a regular customer. The delivery date is (C) 30 November. If we require earlier delivery, the unit price will increase (D) by 15 per cent because of overtime payments to their production staff. If they are unable to meet the delivery date, they will have to pay (E) a contractual penalty of 20 per cent of the order value. For technical support, we can contact (F) their technical staff any time. The company offers a five-year guarantee on all their products. The coffee makers are produced (G) in their factory in Dover, so transport will be by ship and train.
6. Financial matters (8 points)
If you work in the financial department of an international company, you have to be familiar with some key financial terms in English. Choose the correct word in each case.
In the third and fourth quarters of the last business year, our company strengthened its position in the market for household appliances. We (A) spent/saved more on marketing campaigns, and our (B) revenues/expenses increased by four per cent. The (C) profits/losses of the two preceding years could be turned into a plus, so our shareholders will receive a dividend once again. After deducting all costs, we had an average (D) gross/net margin on all our products of eight per cent. This can be partly attributed to our decision to start selling our products directly to (E) retailers/wholesalers. However, as a result of the technological challenges of the market, development costs (F) fell/rose by three per cent. As we had to invest more in technological research, our R&D budget shows a slight (G) deficit/ surplus. But we are in the fortunate position of being able to offset this by drawing money from our (H) debts/reserves.
7. Understanding information (6 points)
Being able to read a text and understand it quickly so that you can summarize its content for someone else is an important business skill. Read this short text once and then — without looking at it again — decide whether the statements are true or false.
Manchester. In a press conference at “My Home Is my Castle”, the international trade fair for contemporary living, Carl Knight, co-founder and former CEO of Homes, a company that has developed a new digital coffee maker, said that Homes has had an excellent year on the domestic market and now plans to expand to Asia and South America. Next June, the first Homes store will be opened in Buenos Aires. Two months later, another flagship store will follow in Brasilia, the capital of Brazil.
With the new digital coffee maker, coffee can be made from both whole beans and ground coffee, but not from instant coffee. The first 50 buyers of the new coffee maker will receive a free package of fair-trade coffee. And the first 1,000 buyers will take part in a competition to win a weekend for two at a spa.