Stream : 3rd Year L/Ph May , 2015

Duration: 2h 30m
Third Term English Exam Topic 02

Read the passage then do the following activities.

Business ethics can be examined from various perspectives; including the perspectives of the
employee, the commercial enterprise, and society as a whole. Very often, situations arise where
there are conflicts among parties such as serving the interest of one party is to detriment of others.
For example a particular outcome might be good for the employee, whereas it would be bad for
the company or the society or vice versa. Some ethicists see the principal role of ethics as the
harmonization and the reconciliation of conflicting interests .As a matter of fact, ethical issues and
approaches are being discussed in the context of business.
Philosophers and others disagree about the purpose of a business in a society. For instance,
they suggest that the major goal of business is to maximize returns to its owners and shareholders.
Thus, under this view, only those activities that increase profitability should be encouraged. However,
others point out that self-interest would still require business to obey the law and to adhere to basic
moral rules because the consequences of failing to do so could be very costly in fines, loss of license
or company reputation.
Other theorists think that a business has moral duties that are extending well beyond serving
the interest of its owners and stockholders, and these duties consist of more than simply obeying
the law. They believe a business has moral responsibilities to people who have an interest in
the conduct of the business which might include local community or even society as a
whole.

Part One : Reading and Interpreting (15 points)

A/ Comprehension: (7points)
l/ What type of discourse is the text? (Choose a,b orc)

a-Narrative b- Expository c-Argumentative

2/Put "true" or "false" un front of each statement.

a) Ordinary people have no views about business ethics.
b)Debates on ethical matters exist today.
c) According to philosophers, business, should obey the law and moral values.
d) The purpose of business is to serve the interests of the owners and stockholders.

3/Answer the following questions according to the text.

a) Which function of ethics is mentioned in the first paragraph ? b)What

effects may a company face if it doesn’t respect the law? c)What do other
theorists believe about business?

4/What do the underlined words refer to in the text ?

a- so(§2)…… b- they(§3)……..

5/.Choose a title for the text.

-Business and trade.

-Business in the world

-The aim of a true business

B)Text Exploration (8points)
1/ Insert punctuation and capitals where necessary.

should companies be managed for the benefits of shareholders he asked

2/Find in the text words closest in meaning to the following:

a- Fights (§ 1) -b- Aim (§2)

3/ Complete the shart as shown in the example :

Nouns Adjectives Verbs
Ex: Increase increasing To increase
*disagreement *…………………….. *……………………….
*…………….. *…………………….. *to employ
*…………….. *requirable *……………………..

4/Complete sentence ‘b’ so that it means the same as sentence ‘a’.

1/a-Ethical issues and approaches are being discussed in the context of business.
b-Ethicists ……………………………………………………………… business.
2/a-A company ought to obey the laws of a country .
b- A company……………………………………………………………..
3/a-I have to pay a fine because I did not pay my taxes on time.
b- I wish ………………………………………………………………………………….

5/ Ask the questions which the underlined words answer.

a-Theorists think that business has moral duties.
b-Nowadays, ethical issues are discussed by the majority of people.

6/ Classify the following words according to their final "s" pronunciation

Perspectives – conflicts – approaches – owners
/s/ /z/ /iz/

Part two  : writing (5points)

Choose one topic only

Topic 1 : Imagine you are a journalist . write an opinion article developing the following statement :
" Ethics has everything to do with business " .
You may use the following notes :
 Business is a human activity / obey moral standards
 Safety regulations
 Good practice of business / ensure success

Topic 2 : Write a composition of about 100 words on one of the ancient civilizations.