[pause]</p>Now listen to the recording again.
8 B; h& G& Q7 `+ v[pause]
5 C. L7 g6 l. ~; v5 v5 bThat is the end of Part One. You now have twenty seconds to check your answers.+ a: q8 m* |$ m9 k: W
[pause]
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Part Two. Questions 13 to 22.You will hear five different business people talking about trips they have recently been on.4 P* k3 {. A& V; ~: y1 P+ g( i3 O
For each extract there are two tasks. Look at Task One. For each question 13-17, choose the purpose of each trip, from the list A-H. Now look at Task Two. For each question 18-22, choose the problem described, from the list A-H.
& p5 ^- ~8 k7 E$ f0 I# FAfter you have listened once, replay the recording
0 d5 s2 {7 M; F* xYou now have thirty seconds to read the two lists.
8 ?7 z. N4 J) K- n[pause]
4 R/ \# r! S" j) iNow listen, and do the two tasks.. p7 H2 G1 w- C8 ~
[pause]
) `; i2 N8 r% ~. M% XMan: Of course, I was looking forward to it. I mean, it meant seeing the results of quite a lengthy process to find the right person, which I myself had invested quite a lot of time in. It’s a demanding post, with a lot of responsibility. I think the potential we thought we’d spotted is being realised, and that she’s going to deliver the sort of new initiatives we hoped for. She’s already got the team adapting to her approach. But I did feel a bit stupid in the meeting, sitting there without the right figures. I just can’t believe I didn’t pick up the chart. I could still see it, sitting on my desk.: b2 C$ O+ \) @ o& b/ V8 H
Woman: Well, the whole thing was a serious challenge, and if I’m honest I didn’t really feel up to it in the first place. It wasn’t a good time to be going away from the office, and I certainly didn’t feel happy, being asked to present pretty different ideas at this stage of the game. I completely understand that the last thing they wanted was to have someone dropping in from above, as it were, and saying, oh, well, we’ve decided to change the rules, etcetera. They’d been applying the system as it was in good faith. And then I was just so tired. What with the wedding celebration going on in the hotel, I definitely didn’t get enough rest, and that left me disorientated, so I underperformed.
3 X) e+ o. T7 {* b6 s2 }/ E' \Man: I wasn’t happy to be going out there when there was so much that had to be dealt with, just left there on my desk. My secretary’s extremely good, but she can’t do the impossible, obviously. But it was clearly crucial to get some kind of idea of what it looked like, whether we were on to the right kind of thing. Getting the right location and space is vital. I’m more or less convinced that this is right for what we want. It will attract customers. The trouble is, I had out-of-date architect’s plans with me, so I kept getting confused about the dimensions. But the hotel staff were really helpful when we were trying to get the up-to-date stuff faxed through.
, X& ?# m8 ?5 E2 ^7 nWoman: It’s the first time I’ve been over there since we decided to go ahead with the expansion and I must say I was impressed with the number of really good candidates there were. It really is a good region, in terms of being able to attract and recruit the right people and I’m confident we chose the right people. I wish the same thing was true for the other branches. What I just can’t believe is that I managed to set such a bad example by arriving a whole hour after we should have started. I felt like a real fool, going on about heavy traffic, when I’d never accept that kind of excuse myself!) T$ P9 ~/ o. b( B. f5 ^; @
Man: They said it was all different, and they certainly weren’t wrong! I could hardly believe some of it! It’s definitely eye-opening to see what policy can mean in reality. But the way they’re applying it, I mean the actual techniques, really is impressive. I didn’t say anything, of course, just took my notes, and I will be drawing up my report as soon as I can. FI1 definitely be recommending that some of their ways of going about things get applied in the other branches. It was confusing at the same time, I have to admit. They were showing me all these graphs, different models of analysis, and I couldn’t really follow that way of presenting the data. And then that guy’s accent! Great hotel, though.
$ i6 q% x1 }$ f8 p+ t! W[pause]- X1 ?" M: @. K+ [" @' h
Now listen to the recording again.9 ]6 Y$ O( E) }: b. s J- g9 o
[pause]
' _+ b6 N2 }; FThat is the end of Part Two.
3 g+ v- d" R: c6 i8 D& J[pause]
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Part Three. Questions 23 to 30.You will hear part of a conversation between a management consultant and the Human Resources manager of Jenkins, a company which manufactures children’s clothing.% j( z5 F" V8 ?3 Y3 v( z
For each question 23-30, mark one letter, A, B or C, for the correct answer.
% f7 H+ p6 V+ j) A0 wAfter you have listened once, replay the recording., ?5 Q) y$ ], X& `8 e9 d% R; L
You have forty-five seconds to read through the questions.
5 }1 i- `" H/ W1 A: s( T[pause]
|! u% O2 A+ D: g% W6 |Now listen, and mark A, B or C.
0 j9 c9 V N3 N9 L5 ]' }[pause]
4 M8 p# z: [) B0 wWoman: Good morning, nice to meet you. Do sit down.# z% O; L8 J! E4 L/ H" r
Man: Thank you.* N0 T* F' V! u1 i
Woman: Now, you’re Human Resources manager of Jenkins, aren’t you? Give me some background on the company - so I get a general picture.
/ j3 i# ?6 q) y2 ^7 F2 ~( H1 w5 R8 {Man: Stephen Jenkins founded the company nearly thirty years ago, and named it after himself, and he ran it for a long time. Last year one of our competitors proposed combining, with the idea that separately the two companies were too small to survive. They were probably right, but anyway Stephen turned down the offer. Then, because he was getting on, he handed over the day-to-day running to his daughter, Catherine, while retaining full control himself.
( ~2 x$ c" q* q' MWoman: And you make children’s clothes, don’t you? Aren’t there problems in the sector?
$ ^( V0 q" n$ E q1 x4 ]Man: Well, we mostly sell to retail chains, which sell them under their own brand labels. Things aren’t as easy as they were, what with cheap imports, and the more expensive children’s boutiques making inroads at the top end of the market. But we position ourselves in the middle range, so we’re not too badly affected. We’re under increasing pressure to cut our profit margins, though, because of growing competition between High Street retailers. |