ZHAW_Englisch3_Ordner

UNISEMINAR

Prüfungsskript

Business English 3

Winterthur, März 2013

Einleitung uniseminar.ch

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Einleitung ......................................................................................................................................................... 3

Exam HS 2012 ..................................................................................................................................................... 5

Exercises HS 2012 ........................................................................................................................................ 5

Solutions HS 2012 ....................................................................................................................................... 18

Exam FS 2012 (Studienordnung 2009) ................................................................................................. 33

Exercises FS 2012 (SO 2009) ................................................................................................................ 33

Solutions FS 2012 (SO 2009) ................................................................................................................. 44

Exam FS 2012 (Studienordnung 2006) ................................................................................................. 55

Exercises FS 2012 (SO 2006) ................................................................................................................ 55

Solutions FS 2012 (SO 2006) ................................................................................................................. 67

Exam HS 2011 (Studienordnung 2009) ................................................................................................ 77

Exercises HS 2011 (SO 2009) ................................................................................................................ 77

Solutions HS 2011 (SO 2009) ................................................................................................................ 88

Exam HS 2011 (Studienordnung 2006) ............................................................................................. 100

Exercises HS 2011 (SO 2006) ............................................................................................................. 100

Solutions HS 2011 (SO 2006) ............................................................................................................. 113

Exam FS 2011 ................................................................................................................................................. 126

Exercises FS 2011 .................................................................................................................................... 126

Solutions FS 2011 .................................................................................................................................... 138


Exercises HS 2010 (SO 2009) ............................................................................................................. 150

Solutions HS 2010 (SO 2009) ............................................................................................................. 162


Exercises HS 2010 (SO 2006) ............................................................................................................. 175

Solutions HS 2010 (SO 2006) ............................................................................................................. 187

Exam FS 2010 ................................................................................................................................................. 199

Exercises FS 2010 .................................................................................................................................... 199

Solutions FS 2010 .................................................................................................................................... 211

Einleitung uniseminar.ch

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Exam HS 2009 ................................................................................................................................................ 224

Exercises HS 2009 ................................................................................................................................... 224

Solutions HS 2009 .................................................................................................................................... 236

Exam FS 2008 ................................................................................................................................................. 248

Exercises FS 2008 .................................................................................................................................... 248

Solutions FS 2008 .................................................................................................................................... 258

Exam HS 2007 ................................................................................................................................................ 269

Exercises HS 2007 ................................................................................................................................... 269

Solutions HS 2007 .................................................................................................................................... 277

Solutions HS 2010 (SO 2009) uniseminar.ch

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Solutions HS 2010 (SO 2009)

Points Distribution

1. Reading 20 points 2. Language 20 points 3. Writing 20 points 1. Reading

1.1. Reading

Read this article from the Financial Times and answer the questions on the following page.

Business bows to growing pressures

By Alison Maitland

1 The language of responsibility has spread so rapidly in business that it is now turning up in some surprising places. In the UK, envelopes pop through the letterbox stamped with the Royal Mail’s website and the exhortation: “Read our CSR report”.

2 Whether the acronym for corporate social responsibility means much to the average customer is a moot point. That may not matter. Messages such as this, or the small print in drinks advertisements that urge customers to enjoy alcohol “responsibly”, are not directed at the public so much as governments, regulators, investors and employees.

3 A decade ago, few companies with social and environmental programmes were willing to speak out about them for fear of attracting closer scrutiny, and possibly shouts of “hypocrisy”, from campaign groups. Today, many companies feel they cannot afford not to talk about what they are doing, even if this does make them more vulnerable to attack. Rising expectations of business are being given extra impetus by continuing revelations of corporate malpractice, particularly in the US.


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4 Companies that find themselves subject to greatest scrutiny include those with dominant market positions, such as former state-owned utilities; those dealing directly with consumers, such as banks and retailers; those producing essentials such as food or drugs; and those exploiting natural resources or depending on supply chains in low-income countries, such as oil producers and clothing manufacturers. Trust and responsibility have become valued additions to the CEO lexicon. Some talk of responsibility as a moral obligation.

5 Mervyn Davies, chief executive of Standard Chartered Bank, which does business in more than 50 developing economies, says that the pursuit of profit is not enough, that companies need principles and that employees want to see those principles in action. “I don’t think companies can just go about doing their business and ignore what’s happening around them and not make a contribution,” he says.

6 Others justify it on business grounds. “We know very clearly that companies which adopt and embrace corporate responsibility are more likely to create wealth and shareholder value than those that do not,” says Michael Fairey, deputy chief executive of Lloyds TSB. “The business case revolves around the creation of employee motivation, customer satisfaction and brand loyalty.”

7 Is there clear evidence that responsible business boosts financial returns? Many studies have examined whether there is a link. Those that have established a connection easily outnumber those that have found no link or a negative correlation, according to Risk, Returns and Responsibility, a report by the Association of British Insurers that reviews the evidence.

8 Determining cause and effect is not always straightforward, however, especially given the lack of consensus about what corporate responsibility entails. Environmental initiatives, such as cutting energy use, can obviously reduce costs. A report by Innovest Strategic Value Advisers for the UK’s Environment Agency finds “strong evidence” of higher financial returns, business opportunity and competitive advantage for companies that are environmental leaders, although it says it is not always clear if these are due entirely to environmental governance. One example of superior investment returns is the Winslow Green Growth Fund in the US, which has outperformed its benchmark over one, three and five years.


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9 Measuring intangibles such as employee morale or brand loyalty and linking them directly to improved financial performance is much harder. But chief executives seem convinced by the anecdotal evidence that employees care about their company’s reputation. “CEOs are telling us over and over again that when they are talking to groups of new graduates, this is an area on which they are questioned,” says Robert Davies, chief executive of the International Business Leaders Forum (IBLF), which has been promoting responsible business practices for 14 years.

10 He says labour rights, human rights and environmental standards are hot topics and financial companies get asked about investments in ethically or environmentally questionable projects. Companies are right to be concerned about what current and prospective employees think. They can have a big impact on reputation, not only by how they behave but also by what they say to outsiders. Three-quarters of the British public say they would believe an employee’s word about a company’s social and environmental record over that of a corporate brochure or advertisement, according to Mori, the pollsters.

11 The biggest incentive for companies to behave properly is the damage caused when they do not. Take Citigroup, the world’s largest financial services company, which has seen its share price dragged down this year by a series of legal and regulatory problems that have cost it billions of dollars. The image last month of Chuck Prince, Citigroup chief executive, apologising for banking law violations in Japan is a powerful one. Mr Prince has been trying to instil ethical behaviour in the group since his appointment a little over a year ago.

12 Companies, of course, can obey the law and behave ethically while not involving themselves in wider social concerns, but both are increasingly seen as crucial elements of responsible business. The damage caused by corporate malpractice can be both immediate and enduring. “CEOs are talking more about [corporate responsibility]. Are they taking responsibility? Some are. Some are not,” says Mr Davies at the IBLF. “The tragedy is that, so often, they have to be hit by a crisis.”

13 Institutional investors are increasingly concerned about this type of crisis and the ethical, social and environmental risks that companies run. Last month, a group of leading European investors called on investment banks and brokers to


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provide more mainstream research on both governance and social and environmental management. Big investors see the way that companies handle issues, such as obesity or human rights, as a measure of the overall quality of their management, says Mr Davies.

14 For growing numbers of companies in the supply chain, responsible practices are no longer a matter of choice. Vodafone, for example, requires its suppliers to comply with its new code of ethical purchasing, designed to provide safe and fair working conditions. Vodafone says terminating a contract with a supplier would be an act of last resort, but the threat is there.

15 Miles White, chief executive of Abbott Laboratories, the big US pharmaceuticals group, is clear that spending money on sending cut-price HIV/Aids drugs to Africa is a cost of doing business. “If I do not provide our products in Africa, governments will license our intellectual property to others who can. Governments will intervene,” he says. Greater government regulation to enforce corporate responsibility is one of the demands of non-governmental organisations. They can be expected to continue to lobby for it as long as they perceive a mismatch between the rhetoric and the way some companies behave.

16 For multinationals in particular, it requires unrelenting effort to ensure high standards by every employee at every site in every country in which they operate. But unless they do, their credentials will be jeopardised. Witness the way that the reserves scandal at Royal Dutch/Shell has undermined its pretensions to leadership as a “sustainable” oil company. Companies that fail to make all the connections on corporate responsibility increase the risk of damage to shareholder value and fuel cynicism among the public and campaigners. Few CEOs acknowledge this openly.

17 One who does is Peter Bakker, head of TPG, the Dutch-based logistics group that has formed a long-term partnership with the United Nations World Food Programme. “You cannot go out claiming that you are going to help save some hungry people,” he says, “and make a complete mess of your accounting, or take a huge pay rise as an executive, or pollute the environment.”


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1.1 Reading

• Read the whole article and find the paragraphs which contain the following ideas.

• Write your answer in the space provided on the answer sheet. An example (0) is given.

Example:

(0) Companies which act ethically are more likely to make profits paragraph 6

a) A scandal at a financial company paragraph 11

b) The expectations of major investors paragraph 13

c) The views of a CEO paragraphs 9, 17

d) Types of companies that are under most pressure paragraph 4

e) Use of product advertising to promote a CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) message paragraph 2

f) A company putting demands on supplier paragraph 14

g) A crisis at a major oil company paragraph 16


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1.2. Vocabulary

• Find words and expressions from the article that have a similar meaning as the expressions a-m below.

• Write your answer clearly on the answer sheet provided. An example (O) is given.

Example:

(0) process of trying to achieve something (paragraph 5) = pursuit

a) careful examination (paragraphs 3, 4) = scrutiny

b) open to being criticised (paragraph 3) = vulnerable to attack

e) making full use of (paragraph 4) = exploit

d) something you must do for ethical reasons (paragraph 4) = moral obligation

e) increases / raises (paragraph 7) = boosts

f) exceed in quantity (paragraph 7) = outnumber

g) actions that break the law, an agreement or principle (paragraph 11) = violations

h) teach people to think, behave or feel in a partieular way (paragraph 11) = instil behaviour

i) continuing for a very long time (paragraph 12) = enduring

j) trying to persuade people to support (paragraph 15) = lobby

k) bringing a legal agreement to an end (paragraph 14) = terminate

l) what you will do if everything else fails (paragraph 14) = act of last resort

m) put in danger/under threat (paragraph 16) = jeopardised


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2. Language

2.1 Matching these expressions to the correct function (3 points)

• Match the expressions (1 - 6) to the correct function (a - g). • Fill in the correct answers on the answer sheet provided. • An example (0) is given on the answer sheet.

(0) Look, let’s sleep on it. d. Avoid making a decision

1. What would you say to a discount? b. Making a suggestion

2. I think we could work with that. a. Being vague

3. Are you saying you can deliver that many items in that colour?

f. Checking for exact information

4. We’re lookin at an initial order of 20 units. g. Describing your needs.

5. If you won’t do a discount, we’d like a free sample. c. Introducing a condition

6. Somewhere in the region of $ 350. e. Reaching agreement

2.2. Matching sentences (3 points)

• Match the two parts of the sentences to form useful expressions for discussing solutions to problems.

• Fill in the correct answers in the spaces on the answer sheet. • An example (0) is given on the answer sheet.

(0) They could consider e. reducing the delivery costs.

1. Would you mind going f. over the audio-visual equipment?

2. So, that’s now 11 participants with d. the company chairman, then?

3. Can I just check that we a. start at 9 am and finish at 5 pm?

4. I’d like to c. confirm that we’ll be in room B.

5. Well, actually, what I meant g. was that I’ll bring a video camera

6. Let me just make sure b. that I can have access to the computer


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2.3. Transformations

• For questions 1 - 7, complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the first sentence, using the word given. DO NOT CHANGE THE WORD GIVEN.

• You must use between three and five words, including the word given. • Write your answer on the answer sheet provided. • An example is given (0).

Example:

0. My boss was too impatient to read the report to the end.

that

My boss was so impatient so that he did not read the report to the end.

1. The moment I returned from my trip to New York, I got an email asking me to go

back.

No sooner

No sooner did I return from my trip to New York, than l got an email asking me

to go back.

2. Adam had never found a job so rewarding until he started working for himself.

Never

Never had Adam found a job so rewarding until he started working for himself.

3. If inflation doesn't slow down soon, we're in for a bad time.

Unless

Unless inflation slows down soon, we're in for a bad time.

4. Although the team was unsure about the project, they accepted it.

spite

The team accepted the project in spite of their doubt about it.


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5. The latest scandal will make her resign.

forced

She was forced to resign due to the latest scandal.

6. CEOs may sound very enthusiastic in their reports, but you should always make

sure you have hard evidence.

how

No matter how CEOs may sound in their reports, you should always make sure

you have hard evidence.

7. At the meeting, I wanted to raise the topic of staff motivation.

bring

At the meeting, I wanted to bring up the topic of staff motivation.

3. Writing Your clothing manufacturing company in Switzerland has recently set up a project clothing production site in Pakistan. The first evaluation of this project site has revealed two main positives: faster production and cheaper employment. However, there are a number of negatives: noise, dust and too many machines in one room. Your manager has asked you to write a report on the evaluation results of this project. So far you have written the introduction and some of the findings.

Finish the findings, making sure you cover the rest of these bullet points:

• discuss the second example of success regarding the new site • discuss the key failures of this project, particularly in terms of unfair working

conditions

Then add a conclusion and a recommendation about the Pakistan production site. Write your answer in 160 - 180 words.


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Report

Pakistan production site

The aim of this report is to evaluate the successes and failures of our project production site in Pakistan. It will also make a recommendation regarding whether or not the project should be continued and what changes need to be implemented in order to improve working conditions.

Findings:

General

A new production site in Pakistan was established in January of this year. The driving factor behind this project was reduction of production costs. After nine months of operation an evaluation of the project has now produced results that can help us make a decision as to whether we should continue with the factory in Pakistan or we should return our production site to Switzerland.

Successes

(i) The results show that the production rate at the Pakistan site is faster. Production has risen by 30%, which is a considerable increase in just nine months. The reasons for this number are number of employees employed at any one time and longer working hours per individual worker.

(ii) The project has also been successful in setting up a highly efficient communication structure. This proved beneficial to us when it was discovered last week that one of the chemicals constituted a health hazard. Due to modern means of telecommunication such as skype and an efficient staff running the factory we could act quickly to amend the situation.

Failures

So far, local human rights groups have twice protested against what they see as ‘inhumane’ working conditions for the peasant farmers, now employed as factory workers. Accusations against us include claims by their spokespersons that the working hours per individual worker are ‘far too long’ and that wages are ‘ridiculously low’.


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Conclusion

There is no doubt that we have made considerable progress in economic terms by setting up the factory in Pakistan, but it is equally clear that we must take the allegations seriously if we want our company’s reputation to remain unblemished.

Recommendation

While I do not recommend closing down the project production site, I do recommend meeting with the leaders of the newly formed trade union to renegotiate the terms of contracts.


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Answer Sheet

1. Reading

1.1 Reading (1 point each) 1.2 Vocabulary (1 point each)

(0) Pursuit

a. scrutiny

b. vulnerable to attack

c. exploit

d. moral obligation

e. boosts

f. outnumber

g. violations

h. instil behaviour

i. enduring

j. lobby

k. terminate

l. act of last resort

m. jeopardised

(0) 6

a. 11

b. 13

c. 9,17

d. 4

e. 2

f. 14

g. 16


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2. Language

2.1. Matching function 2.2. Matching sentences

(half a point each) (half a point each)

2.3. Transformations (2 points each)

(0) so impatient that he did

1. did I return

2. had Adam found

3. inflation slows down soon

4. in spite of their doubt

5. was forced to resign

6. matter how

7. to bring up the topic

(0) e

1. f

2. d

3. a

4. c

5. g

6. b

(0) d

1. b

2. a

3. f

4. g

5. c

6. e

Documents

ZHAW_Englisch3_Ordner