Listen to the recording and choose the correct response. You will need to choose only one response. Answers are provided at the bottom of the page. Note: Wait a few seconds to load the page completely.
1)
a) USA Today is a revolutionary paper that changed the way news was reported. While it is no longer in service, the paper promoted shorter stories and more accurate information.
b)The newspapers before USA Today were old fashioned. They were in trouble because not many people were reading those papers. They were also filled with horror stories about crimes and killing.
c) There are several great things about USA Today. The greatest one being that it revolutionized the way news was written and distributed. It became the number 1 selling paper and promoted new methods of writing to reporters.
d) Long stories and lack of colored photos were the main reasons that USA Today competitors failed in the news market. However, with the presence of USA Today, these newspapers slowly caught up to the latest news trends.
2)
a) There are different ways for you to get a job in journalism, and the easiest method is through unpaid internships. In addition, it is worth building up a set of cuttings in a portfolio from secondary school onwards.
b) Your qualification in journalism is not as important as practical skills, so that you should develop your skills, such as communication. You’re also advised to create a portfolio from secondary school onwards.
c) Getting a job in journalism requires relevant experience, such as writing articles to meet specific deadlines. You’re advised to apply for temporary internships with local papers. d) Building up a set of cuttings in a portfolio may also help when applying for a job.
Your employers care more about practical knowledge in journalism, and you’re advised to practice your editing skills. You’re also advised to build up a portfolio after graduation.
3)
a) New arrivals to North America need to make sure that their degrees or diplomas are accepted. Most companies see training as the most important when hiring, and apprenticeships can help new arrivals to look for a job in North America.
b) New arrivals to North America do not need to gain any academic qualification, because most companies do not view formal education as a major requirement. Rather, being involved in an apprenticeship training is more important when hiring.
c) Most companies view academic qualification as a major requirement when hiring, and they prefer to hire people educated in North America. Research indicates that immigrants are usually offered a lower salary than people who have completed their training in North America.
d) New arrivals to North America need to make sure that their academic qualifications or trade certificates are accepted. A significant number of companies view formal education as a major requirement. People educated in North America may initially be offered a higher salary than immigrants.
4)
a) One of the mistakes a manager usually makes is to create an ideal combination from the best parts of several processes. Disadvantages are overlooked, which is one of the reasons why some attempts lead to problems. What we can do is to change attitudes.
b) There are two mistakes that usually occur when setting up a business system, and the cause of problems has been mentioned, such as inaccurate information.
c) The biggest mistake when setting up business systems is to create an ideal combination from the best parts of several processes. Inaccurate information usually leads to problems, while adjusting attitudes is the best solution.
d) There are two mistakes that usually occur when setting up a business system, and there are various reasons why these attempts turn out to be misguided. In general, no action can be taken at any stage.
5)
a) The body Global Marine Species Assessment listed endangered ocean species by taking the population size and decline rate into account, and recommendations to retain ocean biodiversity are given, such as reducing fishing quotas.
b) Considering the population size and decline rate of one ocean species is essential with the aim to assess 20,000 species. We need to establish ocean reserves as there is no reserve nowadays.
c) The body Global Marine Species Assessment listed endangered ocean species by taking the population size and geographical distribution into account, and recommendations to retain ocean biodiversity are given, such as establishing migration corridors.
d) The geographical distribution of one endangered species needs to be consider, and the assessed figure is expected to be 1,500. Increasing the number of ocean reserves is critical when retaining ocean biodiversity.
6)
a) We used to think that animals have friends only for biological reasons but now we know this not to be free, however, animals cannot have friends from different species.
b) We used to think that animals have friends only for biological reasons because they are unable to be generous and give up something important for a friend without expecting anything back from them.
c) We used to think that animals have friends only for biological reasons but we are discovering that animals can also have friends like humans can, and can sometimes have friends from different species.
d) We used to think that animals have friends only for biological reasons because we focused too much on how animals need to survive with the help of another animal.
7)
a) Scientists have lied about the severity of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, just like how journalists have made things sound worse than they are in the past.
b) Scientists have claimed that the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a very big problem nowadays due to it being twice the size the state of Texas.
c) Scientists have claimed that the plastic in the ocean is very harmful to sea life, especially since there’s more plastic in the ocean than plankton.
d) Scientists espouse the harmfulness of the Great Pacific Garbage patch but rather than trying to remove it we should try to prevent more garbage from entering the ocean.
8)
a) People care about global warming but there’s a lot of talk, little action, and certainly no solution yet.
b) People are starting to suffer from global warming fatigue and global warming campaigners must therefore turn sad stories into happy ones.
c) People are negative about global warming, constantly espousing the fact that politicians are choosing the economy over the environment.
d) People care about global warming but do not want to read articles that make them feel depressed and helpless.
9)
a) Employers acknowledge that social media can be useful but are also worried about the negatives and they should take a more active role in ensuring that staff feel challenged
b) Employers are using social media to their advantage by reaching out to more customers, increasing sales and improving their brand image through social networking sites.
c) Employers should provide employees who spend a lot of time on social networking sites with development opportunities in order to ensure that they feel challenged.
d) Employers understand the threat social media has on their business due to negative comments online and the worry that employees might waste too much time online.
10)
a) Dr. Tony Wagner believes that schools focus too much on tests and academic performances instead of the seven skills that he thinks young people need to have in order for them to find a good job.
b) Dr. Tony Wagner believes that global companies create teams from all over the world to solve problems and the ability to work in an international team is highly desired in employees.
c) Dr. Tony Wagner believes that all young people need to become good communicators and understand different cultures in order to participate in virtual meeting rooms.
d) Dr. Tony Wagner believes that schools should rethink the way they educate people in order to equip young people with the skills they need to achieve a successful career.
11)
a) Classical music should be called songs because that is the terminology that is used on iTunes.
b) Classical music should be called songs but only if they have lyrics; opera for example, can be called songs.
c) Classical music should not be called songs because eighty percent is purely instrumental.
d) Classical music should not be called songs because we should aim to be more sophisticated when referring to them.
12)
a) There are different ideas about evolution but these really only came about in the nineteenth century.
b) There are different ideas about evolution but only in Western culture. This is because the Enlightenment only happened in the West.
c) There are different ideas about evolution and this is why Arthur Conan Doyle wrote a novel about a lost world.
d) There are different ideas about evolution and Alexander von Humboldt was a person as part of the Enlightenment who proposed some of these ideas.
13)
a) Loss of hearing are caused by long-term exposure to noise. However, in everyday life, the average decibels lever is below 140 decibels, which has no negative effect on our hearing. Only jet engine at close range is the worst culprits at an ear.
b) A conversation at close range as well as a rock band at close range could contribute to hearing loss. However, long term exposure to jet engineer made people get used to noise and wouldn’t cause hearing loss as rock band does.
c) The danger zone of hearing loss are discussed, ranging from 30 decibels to 100 decibels. All this noise can damage the delicate hearing cells. As a result, a person with hearing loss can’t hear voice.
d) Loss of hearing are caused by exposure to noise over a long window of time. At 90 decibels level, people have risk of hearing loss begin. Lots of everyday life can damage your hearing, for examples, long term exposure to rock bands and jet engines.
14)
a) The majority of hurricanes last only a few days and that’s the main reason why they do not always kill people when they reach land.
b) Comparing with the cyclone, typhoon typically begins as a tropical storm and is relatively faster in wind speed.
c) The hurricanes, which are also refers to the typhoons or cyclones, are ranked according to their wind speed and ability to cause damage.
15)
a) Because carbon bonds easily with other elements, there are more carbon compounds than non-carbon compounds. There are more than ten million carbon compounds, which is ten times the number of inorganic compounds.
b) Organic compound doesn't include all living organisms, boil at lower temperatures, and bond easily with other elements. As for inorganic compounds, they are more common than organic compounds.
c) A compound is made when two or more elements unite and there are two main branches of chemical compounds: organic and inorganic compounds. There are five differences between organic and inorganic compounds.
d) Organic compounds include all living organisms, boil at lower temperatures, and bond easily with other elements. As for inorganic compounds, they are more common than organic compounds.
16)
a) Global cooling will occur soon due to sunspots, which will further result in the average temperatures on Earth dropping. As a result, the ice pack in the Arctic Ocean will grow larger and move south.
b) The temperatures in the Northern and Southern hemispheres decreased during the Little Ice Age. There was less rain in summer during this period, which resulted in a lack of food.
c) Global cooling has taken place on Earth in the past and the Little Ice Age lasted from around 1300 to 1800. Some scientists think changes in Earth’s orbit make the temperature drop, and a lack of sunspots might affect temperatures on Earth.
17)
a) Friedrich Mohs was the first person to realize how hard diamonds are. The professor tells the students to look in their textbooks so that they can learn about the hardness of them.
b) The hardest mineral is determined by Mohs Scale of Hardness. Diamonds are close to glass in hardness, and Gypsum is known as the softest substance on Mohs.
c) Mohs Scale of Hardness is created to rate minerals. Hardness refers to a material’s ability to scratch other objects and different materials are received different rank on this scale.
18)
a) Auroras appear as colorful streams of light in the sky in high northern and southern latitudes. They are caused by three things: nitrogen atoms getting excited, solar winds in the Earth's magnetic field, and electrons in oxygen atoms giving off energy.
b) Students are confused about the effects of the Earth magnetic field. When solar winds reach the Earth’s magnetic field, the electrons in oxygen atoms give off energy. Thus, auroras are the result of solar winds hitting the magnetic field.
c) The aurora australis are seen in the Northern Hemisphere in March and November. When nitrogen atoms in the atmosphere get excited, the magnificent green lights appear in the sky.
19)
a) Print media such as newspapers and magazines are replaced by the use of television commercials. The TV commercials are relatively cheaper, which were once worth the money that advertisers spent. This lets the advertiser get more value from its money.
b) Television will no longer be the largest marketing segment and more people are getting their news from the internet nowadays. While TV commercials can cost millions of dollars to make and air, it is possible to advertise to specific groups of people on the Internet.
c) The costs involved with advertisements have been ranked. Internet advertisements can be targeted to a specific audience and are usually cheap. As for television commercials, they can cost millions of dollars.
20)
a) The mayors of towns and the local governments are responsible for passing zoning laws. They regulate how people use the land in certain parts of the open land.
b) Zoning laws keep buildings in places where they should be. There are quite a number of zones, and all serve distinct purpose.
c) The major zones found in cities are commercial and residential districts. For examples, in the residential district there are no houses and apartments.
21)
a) The lecture is mainly about the methods the Mayans used to write with. They often used paper to write on and unfortunately many figures and pottery were stolen by Spanish conquerors.
b) The lecture is mainly about various aspects of Mayan civilization. They developed exceptional works of architecture as well as writing system. However, all of these have not survived to present day due to Spanish conquerors.
c) The lecture is mainly about the role of the Spanish in Mayan culture. The Spanish conquerors announce that they defeated the Mayans in battle and then destroyed many of Mayan’s written records.
22)
a) Some French soldiers found the Rosetta Stone in 1799 and it contained information in three languages. Thomas Young discovered about eighty words in each text that were similar and then Jean-Francois Champollion wrote a grammar and a dictionary of hieroglyphics.
b) The Rosetta Stone was found in an ancient Egyptian temple and there was Latin written on it. Scholars took many years to decipher it and Thomas Young made the first important discovery about it.
c) The text on the Rosetta Stone became the key to understanding ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics. On it there are eighty words in the Demotic and hieroglyphic texts that were similar to words in ancient Greek. However, scholars were still unable to figure out the alphabet for hieroglyphics.
23)
a) Philadelphia was an important early American city and was the logical choice as the new country's capital because of a roughly central location in the U. S. However, government of Pennsylvania failed to protect the federal government.
b) There was an early problem between congress and the American army. Therefore, the continental congress never met in Philadelphia and it ruled out Philadelphia as the capital city in United States.
c) How Washington D.C. became the capital of United States is an intriguing story. Since in 1783 some soldiers interrupted a meeting of Congress in Philadelphia,it decided to create a completely new and independent area as the capital city.
d) Congress wanted a strong central government. At that time, Washington D.C., between Virginia and North Carolina, had been a focal point of the American Revolution. The Continental Congress had met there before the war.
24)
a) The professor would focus on two of four methods of teaching reading: phonics and look-and-say. The phonics method renders students the ability to teach him or herself new words, while the loo-and-say methods may use flashcards.
b) Everyone needs to know how to read and there are four primary ways to teach reading. Specifically, students do not learn the alphabet with the phonics method because it teaches students new word slowly.
c) The lecture about phonics method is discussed by going into details on individual learning methods. A student who learns to read with the phonics method might have a smaller vocabulary than normal.
d) By using flashcards properly, the students learn the letters and which sounds each one makes. Teachers, first, teach their students the alphabet and then teach the students how letters can blend together.
25)
a) The skin, the body's first line of defense, helps animals fight off diseases. Also, the mucus in the nose prevents airborne foreign bodies—many of which do very little good—from entering the body.
b) There are two major types of immune that organisms have: innate and adaptive. The skin and mucus are part of the adaptive immune system.
c) The way that the immune system works is remarkably complex. Skin, the first line of defense, can keep foreign objects out of the body, while white blood cells, acting like soldiers fighting invaders, can fight pathogens in the body.
d) White blood cells are responsible for fighting pathogens inside the body. Pathogens can enter bodies and cause them to become sick. However, white blood cells are not always effective.
26)
a) The best way to exterminate mosquitoes in high insects environment is the kill their eggs first. They lay their eggs in stagnant water, like in swamps. So draining these areas can control them.
b) Mosquitoes cause some problems. Sucking animal’s blood enables female mosquitoes to reproduce. Mosquitoes kill more people than any other creature on Earth and the way to control them is difficult.
c) Mosquitoes suck blood from various animals by a long feeder in its mouth to provide them with nourishment. So to control them, DDT, an insect killer, must be used many times to be successful.
d) The place that mosquitoes live is dark and mysterious and it also protects them from their predators. However, DDT, an effective way to eliminate mosquitoes, was now banned in many countries.
27)
a) Tigers have sharp, curved teeth for slicing meat, while horses’ teeth are flat for grinding plants. Similarly, amongst dinosaurs, allosaurs have sharp, straight, conical teeth that were well adapted for crushing the bones of other dinosaurs, while hadrosaurs had flat teeth for eating grass and similar materials.
b) We can tell what kind of food an extinct animal such as a dinosaur ate by examining its teeth and jaw and comparing them with present-day animals. Sharp, serrated teeth imply that it was a carnivore, whereas flat surfaces for grinding tough fibres suggest a herbivorous diet.
c) Researchers have found that dinosaurs had the same kinds of diet-related issues with their dentition as modern-day animals. Meat-eaters in particular had tooth cavities due to bacteria in their food. However, herbivores also had problems due to their teeth being ground down as they chewed on tough plant fibres.
d) Hadrosaurs, like horses, were adapted to a vegetarian diet. Their teeth were flat and designed for grinding tough material such as plants, though they were sometimes ground down to a flat surface. This led to problems with dentition. Allosaurs, on the other hand, like tigers, had sharp teeth for eating meat.
28)
a) Brainpower is a survival technique that helped our ancestors. They had to do a lot of exercise and this creates proteins called BDNFs, which help the brain to develop. This is how humans have survived for so long and been so much more successful than other species.
b) Modern classrooms and offices don’t help people’s brains to work well. This is because they discourage exercise. Exercise boosts brainpower because during exercise the brain produces a protein that encourages brain development. Our ancestors did a lot more exercise than us and this helped them to survive.
c) Our brains produce a special protein when we exercise, which helps the brain to grow and develop. This chemical was important for our ancestors due to the unstable and fast-moving environment in which they lived. However, in our current environment, we get this protein in other ways.
d) People who work or study in modern classrooms or offices don’t get much exercise. Nowadays many people do little except sit and lie down, which isn’t good for proteins in the brain. This contrasts with our ancestors, who walked around 12 miles each day in their struggle for survival.
29)
a) A new project will look at the problems of housing in London. Because housing is too expensive in the city, people have had to move into garages. Researchers hope their new project will solve this problem by getting people into better homes and also back in work.
b) A new project intends to use garages to provide housing for the homeless in London. Although small, there will be areas outside the home to prepare food and clean clothes. The houses will provide both accommodation and training for the people living there.
c) A recent project will aim to give homeless people education and training in building houses and garages for key workers in the most expensive neighbourhoods of London. The houses will help people get to work more quickly because of their central location.
d) A recent project will aim to put homeless people into their own homes. They will each have their own bedroom, shower room, kitchen and garage and will need to build the homes themselves. Having your own space is generally better than sharing a larger home with others.
30)
a) Employers only see the negative side of social media because they have too many problems with employees being rude or spending too much time using social media instead of working. Because this situation is challenging, it is easier for companies to stop the use of social media.
b) Social media can help employers to develop their businesses and find new staff. However, it is a problem when an employee criticises the company online or spends too much time using social media. To stop employees spending time on social media, employers must develop and challenge their staff.
c) There are both advantages and disadvantages of social media in the workplace. On one side, a company’s brand can become stronger. On the other side, there is a chance that the company’s brand will become weaker if an employee says something negative about the company.
d) Because social media can stop employees working, some employers prevent them from using social media. However, these employers do not enjoy the benefits that social media can bring, such as an increase in customer demand for their product or a stronger brand.
31)
a) Young people are being taught just seven key workplace skills and one expert believes they will find it difficult to get work in the future as a result. He therefore suggests that schools need to change the skills that they teach in the future.
b) Young people need to know how to talk to people around the world. Technology has changed the way business people meet; meetings are no longer held in one building but instead an international group of people meet online.
c) Schools must work harder to train students to become good managers so that they can lead and influence other people. This is the most important skill that young people need if they want to get - and keep - their dream job.
d) People who are involved in education need to think about the way they teach. It is important that young people leave school with the key skills they need to succeed in the workplace but they do not have these skills today.
32)
a) The main point is to question whether the biographical facts of a writer's life are of any importance in evaluating his work. Hemingway is the example used here, and there does seem to be a direct connection between the events of his life and those in his books, but knowing this should not get in the way of a true critical judgement of the works.
b) The writer Ernest Hemingway had a particularly eventful and exciting life and a lot of his real-life experiences got into his books. The speaker thinks this is irrelevant and doesn't believe that having lived such a full life makes the books any better, but he regrets that people now would prefer to read the biographies of writers rather than the books they wrote.
c) It is difficult to tell whether the speaker approves of Hemingway's lifestyle or not. He was famously macho and spent a lot of time hunting wild animals, going to wars and getting into fights. All these things got into his books, and the speaker thinks that this is not necessarily a good thing as it means that too many people prefer to read about his life than read his books.
33)
a) For the purposes of argument, culture is divided into material and non-material, and the speaker's aim is to show how they both affect each other. Material developments in tools and technology can affect non-material culture, our customs and beliefs, and the other way around. Genetics is used as an example as it has changed the way we think about life, but also our beliefs have affected its rate of development.
b) The subject is culture and the two kinds of it - material, which is to do with technology and science, such as genetics, and non-material, which is basically what we think about it, our beliefs and so forth. The speaker's main point is how our beliefs and attitudes resist developments in the material culture even when they know they are beneficial.
c) In comparing material with non-material culture - the first being the objects and technologies we create, and the second our customs, beliefs and attitudes - the speaker gives greater emphasis to the material culture. He gives the example of the development of genetic science and the benefits it has brought to mankind, despite a fair amount of opposition.
34)
a) As a historian, if you really want to understand the sensibilities of those who lived in the past, you must be like a novelist and get into the skins of your characters and think and feel as they do. You are asked to imagine what it's like to be a peasant in medieval times, asking the sort of questions a peasant might ask. What the writer is saying is that a historian needs imaginative sympathy with ordinary people in the past.
b) The text explains how, in order to understand people in the historical period they are studying, a historian must have the same ability the novelist has to get into the minds of characters. This is due to the fact that the world was different then, and the ways of thinking have changed, for example, between the Middle Ages and the 21st century. He explains this by saying historian's sensibilities change over time.
c) To understand the past you have to be able, as far as possible, to think as the people in the period you are studying thought. The example of what it must have been like to be a peasant in the Middle Ages is used. However, sensibilities change over time and we can't completely throw off the mentality of the present. Therefore, every age will have a slightly different perspective on the same period of the past, no matter what the facts are.
35)
a) The speaker is a trained marine biologist who became an anthropologist after hearing about an ancient people who lived on beaches and got their food from the sea. Because he was a keen fisherman, he identified with these people and began to study anthropology. They lived in a very simple way, catching fish with their hands and gathering shells, such as oysters.
b) The speaker is a marine biologist who became interested in the Strandlopers, an ancient people who lived on the coastline, because of their and his connection to the sea. Their way of life intrigued him - as a child he had spent a lot of time by the sea, exploring and collecting things - so he began to study them, and discovered some interesting information about their way of life, how they hunted, what tools they used, and so on.
c) The speaker is a marine biologist who became an archaeologist when he heard about a mythical people called the Strandlopers, or beach-walkers. He was interested in them because as a child he had lived by the sea and so he identified with them. His aim was to prove they were not a myth and set about finding evidence to prove they really existed, and in this he was successful.
36)
a) The English Revolution has been interpreted in several ways by historians: as a fight between the aristocratic Cavaliers, who were open to life, and the serious Puritans; as a battle for power between parliament and the monarchy over the rights of Englishmen that had been going on for centuries; and as a class war similar to the French Revolution, of which it was a forerunner.
b) The speaker reminisces about his views of the English Revolution when he was a student and how it seemed quite clear which side he was on - the aristocrats', not the puritans'. Later he realised there was more to it than that and there were several ways of interpreting the Revolution: as a struggle between the king and parliament, as a class war or as an unpredictable situation without clear sides.
c) There are three main interpretations of the English Revolution. The longest lasting interpretation was that the Revolution was the almost inevitable outcome of an age-old power struggle between parliament and crown. The second sees it as a class struggle, and a lead-up to the French and other revolutions. Finally, the third interpretation sees the other two as too fixed, not allowing for unpredictability, and that the outcome could have gone either way.
37)
a) The speaker talks about the use of memory in Proust's novel In Search of Lost Time and how memories are usually brought about by the taste or smell of something, in this case, a biscuit dipped in tea. So, it is the senses that provoke memories that can take us back to our childhood.
b) What we experience is processed by the brain into memories in three stages. First, there is the sensory input, which is momentary. This is then stored in the short-term memory. If this experience is important or meaningful to us, we will reinforce the memory, possibly by repetition, and it will then be stored in the long-term memory.
c) Using the writer Proust as an example, the speaker tells us how long-term memory works before going on to talk about short-term memory. Distant memories are usually involuntary and are brought to mind by something that stimulates one of the senses. Short term memory also requires sensory input, but it lasts only a fraction of d second.
38)
a) Dolphins have adopted group living as a response to living in close contact with other animals in the ocean, some of which kill dolphins for food. Living in social groups makes it easier to hunt for food and, in a dangerous environment, it makes sense in terms of safety to move about in large numbers.
b) Dolphins, whales and porpoises are all social animals, but some species are more sociable than others. This depends on the environment because a species adopts the lifestyle most suitable for this. Among dolphins, forming groups makes it easier for them to find food, reproduce and gain knowledge. They are safer, too, because dolphins can communicate danger when there are threats around.
c) The speaker explains that whales, dolphins, and porpoises have evolved differently and face different threats. River dolphin numbers are declining, while ocean dolphins are doing well in spite of the threats they face. The reason for this is that ocean dolphins are better adapted for finding food and avoiding predators.
39)
a) While cliches in writing reveal lazy thinking and are to be avoided at all costs, in the graphic arts they become essential, helping to get the message across quickly, clearly and with emotional force. This is especially true of advertising and propaganda where the impact must be immediate.
b) Cliches are worn out, overused and over-familiar phrases, and the etymology of the word helps to explain this. Originally, a cliche or stereotype was a printer's term for a pre-set block of type with phrases used frequently in the newspapers. The word has since adopted a negative meaning and careful writers avoid them where they can.
c) The speaker tells us that cliches are the enemy of literature and art. They are words, phrases and images that have become stale through overuse and therefore have nothing new to say to us. They are an enemy to clear and original thinking, although they are sometimes useful in advertising to get a simple message across.
40)
a) Consumers face more choices than they did in the past and a study showed shoppers are attracted if a number of options are presented to them. However, those options still need to be of a good quality and something that appeals to the consumer or, as in the study, they will walk away without making a purchase.
b) With a wide range of choices, one would expect consumers to buy more products. However, a consumer experiment found that when customers had many choices, they were likely to sample the products but became overwhelmed and did not buy much, whereas they were more likely to buy something when they had far fewer options to choose from.
c) While many of us believe that we enjoy making choices, several studies have shown that this is not in fact the case. When faced with choosing from several types of jam. consumers were interested at first but soon became overloaded with choice. They simply abandoned the choice and went back to their favourite brands.
d) The incredible range of choices that consumers now have is making business difficult for companies who have to provide more and more choices to keep up with the market but also for consumers who expect choice but give up without making any choices at all if they feel confused by the wide range on offer.
41)
a) Managers should not rush into letting their employees telecommute. It may sound good because businesses can save money on things like office space, but if workers' needs and ambitions are not well catered for in the arrangement, the company culture will ultimately be damaged and they may even be sued.
b) Telecommuting has a lot of advantages but to make it work. company leaders need to plan in advance to ensure that they anticipate issues for example training, security and communication. They also need to ensure that they hire workers who are suited to working remotely and ensure equal access to resources and advancement.
c) Company leaders have to be careful that they do not have one set of practices for those in the office and another for those who telecommute. Besides needing to be fair at all times, managers will find that a telecommuting arrangement will simply not work if workers feel isolated and excluded from the company culture.
d) When workers ask if they can work from home, companies should consider a telecommuting arrangement. as it has several advantages for businesses as well as workers. There is money to be saved on overheads and training but for telecommuting to function properly, only independent staff should be allowed to work in this way.
42)
a) Developers in Perth and other parts of Western Australia are suggesting that it would be better to build much-needed homes within the city centre, as this would be more affordable for local people. It would also make transportation to and from jobs and shops cheaper and qUicker.
b) Many existing buildings in city centres, such as Perth are being cleared to make way for modern developments. Although this is improving the visual impact of the city, it is causing difficulties in areas where there is not enough space to accommodate the expanding population.
c) The housing shortage in Perth is being addressed by encouraging people to move to other cities in Western Australia where there is more space to develop new housing and infrastructure. This will benefit people struggling to find accommodation and also avoid having to develop on bushland.
d) Cities like Perth in Western Australia are experiencing a rapid growth in urban development. and the current trend is to expand into surrounding regions. Although some people think this is more cost effective than building within cities. others believe it 's having a harmful effect on the environment in these areas.
43)
a) In order to improve the chances of their students obtaining jobs after they have finished their courses, some business schools are adjusting their grades. These adjustments are being made to all grades awarded since 2007 but instead of benefiting the students it is, in some instances, having the opposite effect.
b) Since 2007, the education of business students has been improving but this has not been reflected in the grades that they are achieving. Business schools have been under pressure from employers to ensure that the grades that students are achieving match their abilities far better than in recent years.
c) Some business schools have realized that their grading system has been inaccurate since 2007 and are currently making changes to correct the errors. Students' grades are being revised, and employers have welcomed this move as it means that they will be able to employ better qualified students.
d) Business students are finding it increasingly difficult to get employment, as the standard of law courses has declined since 2007. Employers have criticized the schools for adopting unsatisfactory teaching methods. and have urged them to ensure students get higher grades.
44)
a) In Rwanda it is legally required that building projects involve mainly local workers. This helps to restore job opportunities.
b) Due to the Rwandan genocide normal equipment can be very expensive in some parts of Rwanda. For example the cost of shipping a bulldozer to remote regions is prohibitive.
c) Nizeye incorporated the local culture into his building projects. He also provided work opportunities for locals. Thus the building process could support the whole community.
d) An engineer named Nizeye had been working in Rwanda for many years. He was brilliant and liked to help the local people because they were very poor and had suffered during the war.
45)
a) Culture throughout the world plays a mutually beneficial role in the consumer markets of a society. Through culture, consumers are able to identify the products most important to them, and at the same time, culture is able to adapt to what buyers and sellers desire at any given moment.
b) The way a consumer buys, uses, and values a product is independent of cultural influence. A consumer may purchase desired products and still practice the beliefs and customs of their culture. Even the organizations responsible for bringing various products to consumers operate without regard to cultural sensitivities.
c) Consumers in different cultures value different things. These values, which can be unique from one culture to the next, impact not only what kinds of products these consumers buy, but also who they buy them from, how they buy them, and for what uses and reasons.
d) Throughout the many cultures found in the world, consumers have behaved predictably. While each society may have different values, the level of consumption as compared to other cultures is relatively equal. Globalization ensures that consumers adopt the same process when buying goods and services.
46)
a) While we are not about to run out of oil, we are certainly past the peak of oil production, which occurred about 40 years ago. This is despite improvements in technology, geology, and with tax-subsidized investment in exploration.
b) Unless major oil consumers invest in exploration now (which would be the first time major funds have been invested since 1964) global oil production will level out and be unable to meet increased demands from India and China.
c) With the continuation of improvements in technology, geology, and with government support, there is little doubt that further major reserves of oil will be found in the near future. This should result in sustainable oil supplies for a further 150 years.
d) Oil consumption reached its first peak in 1964. Since that time the world has become increasingly dependent on oil. It is unlikely that there will be any new major oil discoveries in the immediate future or at any subsequent time.
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