University of Economics, HCMC Paper Code: SAMPLE TEST HP4

School of Foreign Languages for Economics

EXAM IN ENGLISH FOR BUSINESS STUDIES (70 minutes)

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

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
agency shareholders motivation individual
communication strategy external balance

One of the most important (31) ________________ 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) ________________ 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) ________________. They inform managers of their plans, and the managers
then communicate with the other employees. Negotiations are conducted concerning pay and working (34)
________________. Managers communicate decisions and orders and try to improve morale and (35)
________________ through good communication. Employees also communicate with each other, for example over
production and wages.
(36) ____________ 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)
________________ together with the reports of the Chairman and Directors. Government departments require (38)
________________ and financial information from the company. An adveritising (39) ________________ 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) ________________ is one of the key
elements which leads to efficient management of a company.

SECTION 3: Reading Comprehension (40 marks)

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.

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

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

Choose the correct answer:

44. 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

45. 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?

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

47. “…producing as much as it possibly can …” (para 4)

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

Find words from the text which mean:

49. purchasing and using goods and services

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

51. government actions concerning taxation and public expenditure

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

53. the money collected by the government from the income of individuals and businesses

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

54. __________ policy, including setting interest rates, is designed to maintain financial stability.

55. During a(n) __________, parts of the economy expand to the point where they are working at full capacity.

SECTION 4: Listening (10 marks) - You may listen 2 times.

Microfinance schemes started with several NGOs and social enterprises, for example Grameen Bank in Bangladesh.
They distribute very small (56) _________ to poor people, often without financial collateral. But they use some kind of
different collateral, sometimes it can be social (57) _________, 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) _________ tool. Of course, (59) _________ 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) _________.
NGOs and social enterprises proved that these kinds of schemes can be (61) _________, and the poor people are
actually repaying the loans, so now the (62) _________ banks like Citibank and Barclays are taking part in these
schemes, not for the (63) _________ of doing good only, they are actually doing it as part of their business. They are
developing their microfinancing and (64) _________ products in developing countries. It seems that microfinance is
doing really well particularly in Bangladesh and part of India, and there are some (65) _________ cases in Latin
America and Africa too.
KEY
SECTION 1

01. B pervasive 02. A. promotional 03. D compromise 04. A multi-active 05. B. profits
06. A undermine 07. D. stakeholder 08. C. dividend 09. C glocalization 10. C. supervise
11. C. interest 12. B balance of 13. A. measure 14. B. market 15. D. distribution
payments segmentation channels
16. C. product 17. B. non-bank 18. B hedge funds 19. C. allocated 20. A. market
differentiation financial penetration
intermediaries
21. C. price 22. C maturity 23. C. balance 24. B. profit and loss 25. A bankruptcy
elasticity stage sheet
26. A. unfettered 27. A dividend 28. A recession 29. C tax havens 30. A. Shareholders’
equity

SECTION 2
31. features
32. shareholders
33. strategy
34. conditions
35. motivation
36. external
37. statements
38. statistical
39. agency
40. communication

SECTION 3
41. TRUE
42. FALSE
43. TRUE
44. A
45. C
46. a downturn
47. industry
48. governments or central banks
49. consumption
50. demand
51. fiscal policy
52. money supply
53. tax
54. monetary
55. upturn/upswing/boom

SECTION 4
56. loans
57. collateral
58. management
59. distributing
60. diversified
61. scalable
62. conventional
63. purpose
64. microcredit
65. positive

AUDIO SCRIPTS
... Microfinance schemes started with several NGOs and social enterprises, for example Grameen Bank in
Bangladesh. They distribute very small loans to poor people, often without financial collateral. But they use some
kind of different collateral, sometimes it can be social 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-management tool. Of course, 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 portfolio in which the risk can be diversified. NGOs and social enterprises
proved that these kinds of schemes can be scalable, and the poor people are actually repaying the loans, so now
the conventional banks like Citibank and Barclays are taking part in these 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
microcredit products in developing countries. It seems that microfinance is doing really well particularly in
Bangladesh and part of India, and there are some positive cases in Latin America and Africa too.