We really must be careful. Arden give us very favourable prices, but we haven't got a contract with them - Can you deal with it straight away so we stay in their good books?
[Pause]
Now listen to the recordings again. [Pause]
Section Two.
Questions 18 to 22.
You will bear another five recordings.
For each recording, decide what the speaker's purpose is. Write one letter (A-H) next to the number of the recording. Do not use any letter more than once.
After you have listened once, replay the recordings. You have 15 seconds to read the list A-H. [Pause]
Now listen, and decide what each speaker's purpose is. [Pause]
Eighteen Man: Hello. This is Guy Cooper from Centron Electronics here. I believe you rang for some
advice about your alarm system, which isn't functioning properly. The message I got said you weren't sure if you needed someone to come and sort it out, or if we could advise you over the phone. Well perhaps you'd like to get back to me as soon as it's convenient and tell me exactly what the problem is, and I'll see what I can do.
[Pause]
Nineteen
Woman: Well, as you say, Redlon has been supplying us for years but, quite honestly,
two-thirds of the complaints we receive about our products are actually due to faults in components we've had from Redlon. So I talked to the Production Manager and he agreed that I should look at some alternatives. Future World's range is fine for us, and one of their customers who I spoke to recommended them highly, so that's why we've changed to using them.
[Pause]
Twenty
Woman: The competition's getting tougher, and you know we're facing serious problems. We
need to see more benefit from the undeniably hard work we're putting in, and this means saying no to jobs which aren't profitable. It would be much more beneficial to put all our efforts into winning higher-margin contracts. So the way I feel you can help most is by identifying the types of contacts which will bring in the income we need in order to ensure our future.
[Pause]
Twenty-one Man: John Woods here, phoning about the project we discussed earlier. Could you give me
a ring so that we can talk about it a bit more? I've done a few calculations and I'm beginning to wonder whether it's really a practical proposition. I still think the project's got potential, but there are significant additional costs which we hadn't taken into account. So could you get back to me as soon as you can, please?
[Pause] Twenty-two
Woman: Hello, Sally here, from Pagwell Paints, returning your call. I'm very sorry you aren't
happy with the latest consignment you've had from us. It's rather strange, because following your complaint about the last delivery, we did in fact take action to change the specifications in the way you suggested. So it isn't quite fair to say that we ignored your advice. I know it's important to achieve the consistency that you require, but perhaps your recommendation wasn't exactly what's needed.
[Pause]
Now listen to the recordings again. [Pause]
That is the end of Part Two. [Pause]
Part Three. Questions 23 to 30.
You will hear the chairman of a business institute making a speech about new business awards that his institute has sponsored.
For each question 23-30, mark one letter (A, B or C) for the correct answer. After you have listened once, replay the recording. You have 45 seconds to read through the questions. [Pause]
Now listen, and mark A, B or C. [Pause]
Man: Who are the managers of the best innovation developments in British industry? That
was the question which the first Business Today Innovation Awards set out to answer. This project is all about rewarding good practice and performance. So, rather than simply recognising excellence in the design of specific products, or analysing their financial impact on profits, the awards set out to take an objective look at exactly how companies manage the development process itself. Over three hundred and fifty organisations entered the competition and were initially reduced to about forty. Then, after further careful checking, a short list of just fourteen of them was arrived at. These finalists, all manufacturers, were then visited by the competition judges, a panel of four chief executives from leading companies. The panel toured the finalists' facilities, received presentations on the companies and their projects, and interviewed the key development team members. The products varied enormously in their scale, function and degree of technology - from bread for a supermarket chain to a printer inside an automatic cash dispenser. Initially the organisers were concerned that this range could create difficulties in the assessment process. But this fear proved baseless, as most elements in the innovation process are shared b; all manufacturers. Interestingly, the finalists broke down into two distinct and equal groups: large firms with one thousand employees or more and small firms with two hundred and fifty employees or fewer. With both groups the judges decided to concentrate on two of the clearest indicators of a successful innovation process, which are: how well the new product is combined with the company's existing business, and secondly, how well the innovation methods are recorded and understood. Small firms naturally tend to do well in the first category since they have fewer layers of management and thus much shorter communication lines. But they seem to put less emphasis on creating formal development methods which would be repeatable in future innovations. Large firms, on the other hand, have difficulty integrating the new development within their
existing business for reasons of scale. But they tend to succeed in achieving well-documented and repeatable development methods. This is because larger companies, with their clear emphasis on training, fixed management structure and administrative systems, require more formal, daily recordkeeping from their staff. So what were the key questions the judges had in mind when assessing the finalists? One of the most important areas concerned how thoroughly a company checks what is happening in other fields in order to incorporat new ideas into the development process. Many of the finalists impressed in the area. Natura, for example, had demonstrated genuine energy in searching for new ways of producing their range of speciality breads. They had looked at styles of home cooking in different countries, a: well as the possibility of exploiting new production technologies in order to achieve equally good results but on a high-volume production line. What then occupied much of the judges' thoughts was the quality of the links which the development team established with senior management, suppliers, the market and manufacturing. The best examples of the first category were found in small firms, where the individual entrepreneur at the top was clearly driving the innovation forward. Links with suppliers were also seen as an important factor, but not all supplier experiences were positive. Occasionally serious problems had to be solved where suppliers were working hard to meet specifications, but the companies that the suppliers were using to adapt their machinery were not so efficient. This, led to disappointing faults or fluctuations in quality. But in conclusion the awards demonstrate that innovation isn't just for high-tech internet companies. You can also be successful in mature markets with determination and skill.
[Pause]
Now listen to the recording again. [Pause]
That is the end of Part Three.
You now have ten minutes to transfer your answers to your Answer Sheet.
Note: Teacher, stop the recording here and time ten minutes. Remind students when there is one minute remaining. [Pause]
That is the end of the test.
TEST 2
Part One. Questions 1 to 12.
You will hear three telephone conversations or messages.
Write one or two words or a number in the numbered spaces on the notes or forms below. After you have listened once, replay each recording.
Conversation One. Questions 1 to 4. Look at the form below.
You will hear a woman calling about training courses. You have 15 seconds to read through the form. [Pause]
Now listen, and fill in the spaces.
Man: Good morning, Oakleaf Business Training. How can I help you?
Woman: Hello, my name's Enid Stevens, of Appleyard Smith. I've booked two one-day courses,
but now I need to change one of them.
Man: Woman: Man: Woman: Man: Woman: Man: Woman:
Man: Woman: Man: Woman: Man: Woman: Man: [Pause]
Now listen to the recording again. [Pause]
Conversation Two. Questions 5 to 8. Look at the note below.
You will hear a woman ringing about problems with a new telephone system. You have 15 seconds to read through the note. [Pause]
Now listen, and fill in the spaces.
Man: Hello, Swinburn Telecoms. Woman: I'd like to speak to Tony Wilson, please. Man: I'm afraid Tony isn't available. Can I take a message? Woman: Yes please. I'm Sheila Dallas, from Worldnet. Man: Right.
Woman: I'm ringing about the telephone system your firm installed here yesterday. We're not happy with it. Man: Oh dear. What seems to be the problem?
Woman: First of all, your engineer said that with the number of extensions we've got, six
outside lines would be enough, but we asked for eight, and anyway you've charged us for the larger system.
Man: Right, we'll look into that.
Woman: Then, whenever we try to transfer calls from one extension to another we lose them.
We're following the instructions, but it just doesn't work.
Man: I see.
Woman: And finally, could you ask Tony to check the invoice, please? He promised us a
discount on installation, which is shown, and one on the equipment, but that isn't there.
Man: Right. I'm sorry about all that. I'll get Tony to contact you as soon as he's free.
Woman: Thank you. Goodbye. Man: Goodbye.
[Pause]
Let me get your details up on the screen. Right, you've booked Report Writing next month...
Yes, that one's OK. It's Taking Minutes that I can't manage, on the eighth of July. Do you know when it's running again?
Let me see. Not until the eighteenth of September, I'm afraid. That sounds fine. Oh, I think I'll be abroad then. Then there's the first and the thirteenth of October. I'd like the later date, please. Fine, I'll change your booking.
Another thing; it says in your brochure, everyone attending a course gets a certificate, but I haven't received one from a course I took last January. I'm sorry about that. Which course was it? Something to do with dealing with the public ? That must have been Customer Service. Sounds familiar.
OK, I'll put it in the post today. Thank you very much. Goodbye. Goodbye.