University of Economics, HCMC Paper Code: SPECIMEN TEST HP4

School of Foreign Languages for Economics

EXAM IN ENGLISH FOR BUSINESS STUDIES (75 minutes)

SECTION 1: Vocabulary and Structure (30 marks, 1 mark/answer)
Make the best choice
1. The power of money has become __________ in 10. He was employed to __________
today’s business world, which can unfortunately the computerization of records.
contribute to unethical decisions. A. integrate
A. pervading B. motivate
B. pervasive C. supervise
C. pervaded D. achieve
D. pervasion 11. __________ is the extra money that you pay if you
2. The __________ strategy was to target the heads of have borrowed money, or the extra money that you
the household as they had the final say on where the receive if you have money in some types of bank
disposable income would be spent. account.
A. promotional A. Investment
B. promoting B. Intangible
C. promoted C. Interest
D. promotive D. Income
3. To __________ is to make a deal between different 12. _____________ is the difference between the funds
parties where each party reduces demands or a country receives and those it pays for all
changes their opinions in order to agree. international transactions
A. deal with A. Balance sheet
B. confront B. Balance of payments
C. complain C. Balance of trade
D. compromise D. Balance outstanding
4. People in __________ cultures are good at changing 13. It is difficult to __________ the success of the
plans. campaign at this stage.
A. multi-active A. measure
B. reactive B. allocate
C. linear-active C. include
D. collective D. classify
5. It’s not fair to make __________ out of loans to poor 14. __________ is the process of dividing a broad
students. consumer or business market, normally consisting of
A. changes existing and potential customers, into sub-groups
B. profits of consumers based on some type of shared
C. efforts characteristics.
D. messes A. Market expansion
6. The President has accused two cabinet ministers of B. Market segmentation
working secretly to ________ his position. C. Market penetration
A. undermine D. Market promotion
B. undergo 15. All the companies or individuals (‘middlemen’)
C. undertake involved in moving goods or services from producers
D. underlie to consumers are called _______________ .
7. A person such as an employee, customer or citizen A. vehicles
who is involved with an organization, society, etc. B. distribution couriers
and therefore has responsibilities towards it and an C. transportations
interest in its success is a(n) __________ . D. distribution channels
A. account holder 16. __________ is a marketing process that showcases
B. shareholder the differences between products.
C. stockholder A. Product variation
D. stakeholder B. Product marketing
8. A __________ is an amount of a company’s profits C. Product differentiation
that is paid to people who own shares in the D. Product segmentation
company. 17. Some car manufacturers, food retailers and
A. loan department stores now offer products like personal
B. mortgage loans, credit cards and insurance. Technically these
C. dividend are not banks but __________.
D. surplus A. credit crunch
9. __________ is the process of designing the products B. non-bank financial intermediaries
or services to benefit a local market while at the C. traditional investment funds
same time developing and distributing them on a D. stockbroking management services
global level.
A. Globalization 18. __________ are private investment funds for wealthy
B. Localization investors that use a variety of risky investing
C. Glocalization strategies than traditional investment funds, in order
D. Grobalization
 to achieve higher returns. D. placement
A. Non-bank financial intermediaries 29. A __________ is a country or place that has a low
B. Hedge funds rate of tax so that people choose to live there or
C. Stockbrokers register companies there in order to avoid paying
D. Conglomerates higher tax in their own countries.
19. More resources are being __________ to the project. A. money launderer
A. divided B. tax harbour
B. separated C. tax haven
C. allocated D. tax evasion
D. conformed 30. __________ is comprised of all capital contributed to
20. __________ is a strategy for setting a low price to try the company including paid-in capital and retained
to sell a large volume and increase market share of a earnings.
particular product or service. A. Shareholders’ equity
A. Market penetration strategy B. Shareholders’ dividend
B. Market development strategy C. Stocks
C. Product development strategy D. Liability
D. Product expansion strategy
21. __________ measures the responsiveness of the
quantity demanded or supplied of a good to a change
in its price.
A. Price differentiation
B. Price response
C. Price elasticity
D. Price adaptivity
22. At the _________, prices may have to be reduced
because competitors are established in the market,
but companies try to defend their market share while
also maximizing profit.
A. introduction stage
B. growth stage
C. maturity stage
D. decline stage
23. A statement showing the value of a business’s
assets, its liabilities, and its capital or shareholders’
equity is called a(n)__________
A. income statement
B. cash flow statement
C. balance sheet
D. financial record
24. The _________ account shows if a company is
receiving more money than it’s spending.
A. profit and expense
B. profit and loss
C. profit and share
D. profit and fund
25. LeoStone PLC has declared __________ after a year
of heavy pre-tax losses.
A. bankruptcy
B. dividend
C. equity
D. recession
26. __________ free trade is potentially hostile to
environmental concerns and may put human health
and safety at risk.
A. Unfettered
B. Restricted
C. Limited
D. Definite
27. DVP has cut its __________ to 2 USD per share
after two years of declines in annual turnover.
A. dividend
B. turnover
C. sample
D. distribution
28. Hoang Yen group, a restaurant & buffet chain, is
suffering in the current __________ because
consumers are spending less money going out.
A. recession
B. annual turnover
C. bankruptcy
SECTION 2: Reading Cloze (20 marks, 2 marks/answer)
Fill in each blank with one suitable word/phrase. You don’t need to use all the words provided

statistical features conditions statements balance

agency shareholders motivation individual company
communication strategy external internal

One of the most important (31) _features_______________ in any business is communication. Good
communications are required at all stages of the business process. Businesses employ, and are owned
and run by, various groups of people. Workers, directors and (32) ____shareholders____________ are
three important groups closely involved with a business. Other influential groups include customers,
suppliers and the government.
Communication takes place between these groups and the individuals who make up the groups. Within
individual companies, internal communications occur at, and between the various levels. Directors
communicate with one another concerning the company’s overall (33) strategy________________. They
inform managers of their plans, and the managers then communicate with the other employees.
Negotiations are conducted concerning pay and working (34) __conditions_________. Managers
communicate decisions and orders and try to improve morale and (35) ___motivation______ through good
communication. Employees also communicate with each other, for example over production and wages.
(36) _external_____ communication occurs when a company’s directors or employees communicate with
those individuals and groups who deal with the company. Shareholders receive copies of the company’s
financial (37) ___statements_____________ together with the reports of the Chairman and Directors.
Government departments require (38) __statistical______ and financial information from the company. An
adveritising (39) __agency_______ is consulted about the company’s advertising policies. Customers
need to know if goods have not been despatched and suppliers contacted if their goods have not been
delivered. Reliable and effective (40) _communication______ is one of the key elements which leads to
efficient management of a company.

SECTION 3: Reading Comprehension (30 marks, 2 marks/answer)

The Business Cycle

Expansion and contraction

All market economies have periods when consumption - spending on goods and services - rises.
Consumers buy more, companies invest more, and production, income, profits and employment increase.
These periods are always followed by periods when spending and investment fall, and unemployment
rises. This is the business cycle.

A period during which economic activity increases and the economy is expanding is an upturn or upswing.
If it lasts a long time it is called a boom. The highest point of the business cycle is a peak, which is followed
by a downturn, during which the amount of economic activity decreases. If the economy keeps contracting
for more than six months, the downswing is called a recession. A serious, long-lasting recession is called a
depression or a slump. The lowest point of the business cycle is a trough, which is followed by a recovery,
when economic activity increases again, and a new cycle begins.

Fiscal policy

Governments and central banks use fiscal policy, which involves changing the levels of government
expenditure and taxation to try to limit the extent of the business cycle. If an economy is moving into a
recession, the government might have a reflationary fiscal policy. This means trying to stimulate the
economy by increasing government spending, or by cutting levels of direct or indirect tax so that individuals
and companies have more money to spend.

If an economy is overheating - expanding too quickly - it means that industry is working at full capacity and
producing as much as it possibly can. Because demand is greater than supply, leading to rising prices and
inflation, the government might have deflationary fiscal policy. This means trying to cool down the
economy: reducing the amount of economic activity by raising tax rates or cutting government expenditure.
This reduces the level of demand in the economy and helps to reduce inflation.
Monetary policy

Governments or central banks can also use monetary policy - changing interest rates and the level of the
money supply - to influence the level of economic activity. They can boost or increase economic activity if
the economy is in a downturn by reducing interest rates and allowing the rate of growth of the money
supply to increase. Alternatively, if the economy is growing too fast and causing inflation, they can slow it
down by increasing interest rates and reducing the rate of growth of the money supply.

The main reason for having an independent central bank is to prevent governments from creating a political
business cycle - a cycle that will be at a high point at the time of the next election. Governments can do this
by beginning their periods of office with a couple of years of policies designed to stop the economy from
growing, followed by tax cuts and monetary expansion in the two years before the next election. This
policy, sometimes called boom and bust, helps the government get re-elected but is not good for economic
stability. An independent central bank makes this less likely to happen.

Based on the information in the article, say whether the following statements are True (T), or False
(F).

41. If the government thinks the economy is contracting too much, it can cut taxes and increase its
spending. TRUE

42. If an economy is overheating, it means that industry is working below its potential. FALSE

43. Monetary policy involves interest rates and the money supply. TRUE

44. If there is an independent central bank, governments can’t manipulate the business cycle. TRUE.

Choose the correct answer:

45. What should the government do if the economy is growing too quickly?

A. raise tax and cut its expenditure

B. cut tax and increase its expenditure

C. raise tax and raise its expenditure

46. A recession is a period when….

A. the economy keeps contracting for less than six months.

B. the economy keeps expanding for more than six months.

C. the economy keeps contracting for more than six months.

What does each of the underlined words refer to?

47. “… by a downturn, during which the amount of economic activity decreases …” (para 2) a downturn

48. “… causing inflation, they can slow it down by increasing interest rates and reducing …” (para 5)
government /& central bank

Find words from the text which mean:

49. purchasing and using goods and services consumption

50. the willingness and ability of consumers to purchase goods and services demand

51. government actions concerning taxation and public expenditure fiscal policy

52. the total amount of money available in an economy at a particular time money supply

53. the money collected by the government from the income of individuals and businesses (direct) tax

Fill in each gap of these sentences with one suitable word FROM THE ARTICLE:

54. _Monetary__ policy, including setting interest rates, is designed to maintain financial stability.
55. During a(n) upturn/upswings/boom_, parts of the economy expand to the point where they are working
at full capacity.

SECTION 4: Listening (20 marks) - You may listen 2 times for each part.
PART 1: Listen and fill in the gaps (1 mark/answer)
Microfinance schemes started with several NGOs and social enterprises, for example Grameen Bank in
Bangladesh. They distribute very small (56) ___loans__ to poor people, often without financial collateral.
But they use some kind of different collateral, sometimes it can be social (57) _collateral____, so they
create a group of people and within the group, people help each other to repay the loan, but it’s usually a
very small amount of money, and from the bank’s point of view it actually provides a unique risk (58)
_management_ tool. Of course, (59) _distributing_ loans to poor people sounds very risky, but because we
are talking about a large number of people, with a very small amount of money, it actually creates a very
nice porfolio in which the risk can be (60) diversified__.
NGOs and social enterprises proved that these kinds of schemes can be (61) _scalable_, and the poor
people are actually repaying the loans, so now the (62) conventional_ banks like Citibank and Barclays are
taking part in these (63) _schemes__, not for the purpose of doing good only, they are actually doing it as
part of their business. They are developing their microfinancing and (64) microcredit_ products in
developing countries. It seems that microfinance is doing really well particularly in Bangladesh and part of
India, and there are some (65) _positive_ cases in Latin America and Africa too.
PART 2: Listen and fill in the notes (2 marks/answer)
Q: What recent changes have you noticed in the job market?
A: The most unique change in the job market recently is the intervention of (66) _ online recruitment__ and
websites. As a global business, we can recruit roles that are based wherever. Besides, the candidate or
(67) _job seekers_______ do have a large number of choices. For example, you can go online at home to
look for roles and jobs that are advertised worldwide. It’s an absolutely (68) _unique opportunity__ for both
candidates and employers. In terms of the recruitment market, there has been an increasing need for
interim and temporary employees. The fact is that many organizations will continue to experience change,
and quite often, (69) _specialist people_ will need to be brought in on project bases to handle specific
projects in areas such as IT, (70) human resources__ … and people will keep looking for project
management.