English Language test
English Language Proficiency Quiz
Test your understanding of the English language with our comprehensive quiz. This 15-question test covers a variety of topics from workplace communication to language mechanics.
Features:
- Multiple-choice format
- Focus on real-world language use
- Instant feedback on your answers
To: All staff
From: HR Department
Please remember that your manager must agree any holiday dates before you complete a form.
Why is the HR department sending this email?
To ask staff for some information
To explain how something is done
To tell managers about a problem
To encourage employees to take holidays
Job opportunity: FINEFOODS
Description: Agent required for nationwide distribution. Some experience in food retail an advantage. Refrigerated van provided.
Finefoods requires an agent to:
Own a suitable vehicle for delivery.
Be a specialist in food distribution.
Deliver goods all over the country.
Deliver goods in many countries
To: All staff
Subject: Accounts Dept. Staff wishing to enrol for the Accounts course should contact Jane Fellows, who needs to know numbers.
Staff should tell Jane Fellows
How many people have enrolled for the course.
If they are interested in doing the course.
Which of the courses they have decided to do.
The number of staff interested
Phone Neil Smith at our showroom for a free quotation, or to arrange a visit from our representative.
Contact Neil Smith if you want to
Obtain information about the company's prices.
Arrange a visit to the showroom.
Speak to a representative about special offers.
Buy something for free
Every organisation has its share of employees-from-hell: the lazy, deluded, hypochondriac underperformers. They are difficult to manage and miserable to work with. Their productivity is low and their ability to poison staff morale high. They are, alas, always well-entrenched and management-resistant.
Interestingly, their numbers in any organisation have more to do with management’s refusal to deal with the situation rather than with poor selection. That is, their existence in the organisation is nearly always due to a long line of weak managers who have declined to tackle the problem.
Interestingly, their numbers in any organisation have more to do with management’s refusal to deal with the situation rather than with poor selection. That is, their existence in the organisation is nearly always due to a long line of weak managers who have declined to tackle the problem.
What criticism does the writer make of managers?
They lose interest in the issue of incompetent employees.
They fail to take a firm line with inefficient employees.
They have little idea of what is really required of their staff.
They often make bad decisions when choosing new staff.
Traditionally, there are three classic ineffective ways of dealing with the incompetent. The first is to ignore the problem, hoping that it will go away. Rather than confront laziness or serious absenteeism, the manager gives the employee less work to do. This inevitably leads to frustration on the part of the good hardworking staff who see the problem employee getting away with it.
What is the effect of the first of the methods suggested for dealing with incompetent staff?
It has only a short term effect on the problem.
It means that better workers will not have to work so hard.
It makes good workers aware that problems are being dealt with.
It sends a negative message to those who do their job well.
The second approach, which has traditionally been the most favoured, is to pass them on. There is usually a part of any business where people believe the poor performer can do no damage. Alternatively, poor performers can be moved to another branch in the dreariest part of town, or to another town, or even to
another country. A clever variant of this tactic is to herd all the incompetent employees into one part of the company that is then sold off or privatised.
There is a third approach which is to promote the incompetent. This sounds bizarre and exceedingly stupid but is not infrequently adopted. The idea is that, although these posts are quite senior and well-paid, the actual jobs are fairly pointless ones in which incompetent people can hide without doing any serious damage. The employee is thus confirmed in his or her delusions of competence.
another country. A clever variant of this tactic is to herd all the incompetent employees into one part of the company that is then sold off or privatised.
There is a third approach which is to promote the incompetent. This sounds bizarre and exceedingly stupid but is not infrequently adopted. The idea is that, although these posts are quite senior and well-paid, the actual jobs are fairly pointless ones in which incompetent people can hide without doing any serious damage. The employee is thus confirmed in his or her delusions of competence.
In both the second and third ineffective methods of dealing with incompetent employees, the managers’ aim is to
Have all of the incompetent staff working in the same part of the company.
Improve the attitude of the incompetent staff to work by giving them promotion.
Put the incompetent staff in a situation where they can do as little harm as possible.
Make the work so unattractive that the incompetent staff want to leave.
All three of these strategies are the result of not dealing with the problem early on. Many managers find
dealing with incompetence very difficult. The scenario that all managers hate is as follows: show a
subordinate a low mark on their appraisal form. The employee first wants the behaviour defined; then
wants an example of when this behaviour occurred; then argues about how this incident occurred and how
typical it was. The net result is a row about the past and frustration on the part of both.
dealing with incompetence very difficult. The scenario that all managers hate is as follows: show a
subordinate a low mark on their appraisal form. The employee first wants the behaviour defined; then
wants an example of when this behaviour occurred; then argues about how this incident occurred and how
typical it was. The net result is a row about the past and frustration on the part of both.
Employees who are given a low mark on their appraisal form will
Demand a detailed explanation of what they have done wrong.
Claim that special circumstances have had an effect on their work.
Deny that their work has been in any way unsatisfactory
Argue that they find the work they have had to do frustrating
A different and more successful method is the problem-solving approach. This insists that one still shows the low score but, rather than attempting to explain it, one describes what needs to be done differently to achieve a higher score. The emphasis is on the future not the past; on a clear description of the desirable behaviour, not the incompetent behaviour. The touchy or sensitive employee normally responds to this reasonably well. Nevertheless, there are those who cannot, or will not, respond to good management. They may be unable to do the job due to not having the ability to learn ever-changing tasks fast enough. They may be distracted by problems at home or more likely they have been managed very poorly in the past.
When talking to an incompetent employee a manager should
Make no reference to the most recent appraisal mark.
Compare the work of the employee with that of more efficient workers.
Make clear what will happen if performance does not approve.
Explain to the employee how he or she can gain a better appraisal mark.
There is really only a very limited number of things that can be done with the really incompetent. Buy them out, which may be the best solution for all concerned; raise the game by making sure they are given ever higher but reachable targets. A final strategy is to insist that they have an annual psychological test where a disinterested outside consultant does a motivation analysis and has the power to recommend that they be let go – not encouraged to go to another part of the organisation, but into the bracing waters of the job market.
What does the writer suggest as a way to deal with really incompetent employees?
Set them targets which it would be impossible to attain.
Give them a test designed to identify their strengths
Pay them a sum of money to leave the company.
Get an outside consultant to find them another job.
According to Greek mythology, Atlas was a Titan of enormous strength. After being
defeated by the god Zeus, Atlas was forced to carry the earth and the sky for an eternity. In depictions of Atlas, he is shown as a stooped figure carrying the globe on his shoulders. Because of his association with the globe, maps began to be decorated with this image of Atlas. Accordingly, the word “atlas” became a nickname for a collection of maps. Today, an atlas refers to any book that consists of a bound collection of maps. For example, an atlas can be made up of maps of the countries of the world or of the states of the United States. Sometimes an atlas will also contain graphs and charts with other statistical information about the culture, religion, climate, or government of the population of a given area.
defeated by the god Zeus, Atlas was forced to carry the earth and the sky for an eternity. In depictions of Atlas, he is shown as a stooped figure carrying the globe on his shoulders. Because of his association with the globe, maps began to be decorated with this image of Atlas. Accordingly, the word “atlas” became a nickname for a collection of maps. Today, an atlas refers to any book that consists of a bound collection of maps. For example, an atlas can be made up of maps of the countries of the world or of the states of the United States. Sometimes an atlas will also contain graphs and charts with other statistical information about the culture, religion, climate, or government of the population of a given area.
Based on information in the passage, it can be inferred that Atlas supported the earth and the sky because he was
A Titan of enormous strength
Punished after losing to Zeus
Associated with maps and globes
A slave to the god Zeus
The pilot can control the up-and-down movements of the hot air balloon by regulating the heat in the envelope. To ascend, the pilot heats the air in the envelope. When the pilot is ready to land, the air in the balloon is allowed to cool and the balloon becomes heavier than air. This makes the balloon descend.
As used in the paragraph, which is the best synonym for ascend?
Move
Fly
Sink
Climb
Before the balloon is launched, the pilot knows which way the wind is blowing. This means that she has a general idea about which way the balloon will go. But, sometimes the pilot can actually control the direction that the balloon flies while in flight. This is because the air above the ground is sectioned into layers in which the direction of the wind may be different. So even though the pilot can't steer the balloon, she can fly higher or lower into a different layer of air. Some days the difference between the direction of the wind between layers is negligible. But other days the difference is so strong that it can actually push the balloon in a completely different direction!
Based on its use in the paragraph, it can be understood that negligible belongs to which of the following word families?
Solemn, grave, serious
Substantial, considerable, large
Exhilarating, thrilling, exciting
Insignificant, small, unnoticeable
Goodies makes excellent ice cream. Like Randolph Farms, Goodies
uses all natural ingredients. They only make three different flavors—strawberry, vanilla, and chocolate— but they make them very well. The strawberry is amazing. Every bite of it reminds me of the strawberries that I used to pick behind my old house. The vanilla is wonderful. It is very smooth and has a refreshing, creamy taste. The chocolate is outstanding. It is made with real cocoa beans from Bolivia. I didn't know
where Bolivia is so I decided to look for it on a map. After hunting awhile, I discovered that it is in South America! That's a long way to go to get cocoa, so it must be good. I would say that the only drawback to Goodies ice cream is that they only make three different flavors.
uses all natural ingredients. They only make three different flavors—strawberry, vanilla, and chocolate— but they make them very well. The strawberry is amazing. Every bite of it reminds me of the strawberries that I used to pick behind my old house. The vanilla is wonderful. It is very smooth and has a refreshing, creamy taste. The chocolate is outstanding. It is made with real cocoa beans from Bolivia. I didn't know
where Bolivia is so I decided to look for it on a map. After hunting awhile, I discovered that it is in South America! That's a long way to go to get cocoa, so it must be good. I would say that the only drawback to Goodies ice cream is that they only make three different flavors.
The author writes, "That's a long way to go to get cocoa, so it must be good." Using this information, we can understand that the author believes that
Goodies loses money on sales of chocolate ice cream
Bolivia makes the best cocoa in the world
Things that are hard to get must be high quality
Cocoa from the United States is not very good
Although there is a chance fruit flies can carry germs on to your food, this is not very likely. Fruit
flies are annoying, but they probably will not hurt you. Because they are such a nuisance, however, most
people want to get rid of these pesky bugs as quickly as possible. Some people use pesticide sprays on
the fruit flies. Although this will kill the flies, it will also spread harmful poison all over your kitchen. Luckily,
there is also a completely safe way for you to get rid of fruit flies in your house.
flies are annoying, but they probably will not hurt you. Because they are such a nuisance, however, most
people want to get rid of these pesky bugs as quickly as possible. Some people use pesticide sprays on
the fruit flies. Although this will kill the flies, it will also spread harmful poison all over your kitchen. Luckily,
there is also a completely safe way for you to get rid of fruit flies in your house.
A nuisance is something that
Bothers you
Can be dangerous
Grows fast
Is very small
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