Tests Answer key

3 on holiday / away
Unit 1 4 extra costs
LANGUAGE AND SKILLS TEST 5 quality control
Language 6 online
1 7 components
1b 8 apology
2a
3d Reading
4b 7
5c 1C
6d 2A
7c 3D
8b 4B
9a 5A
10 d 6D
7C
2
1 will be doing Writing
2 Will you still be working 8
3 will you have achieved Model answer
4 will be doing Dear All
5 will have disappeared CHANGE THE COMPANY AND EARN EXTRA
6 will have created HOLIDAY!
7 will have moved Want to take part in changing our office culture and
8 will have built earn extra holiday this year? Then you are sure to
9 will have finished be delighted that we are holding a staff competition
10 will be going to improve your working environment.
The company is offering every member of staff the
3 chance to participate. We are doing this because we
1b value all our employees and feel everyone should
2c be involved in any changes which will affect them.
3a So, we’d like each one of you to come up with
4c different and innovative ideas; your suggestions
5b could relate to office space, catering, dress code or
anything that makes our office a better place to work.
4 All you have to do is complete the online form by the
1 based end of the month. You should include details about
2 responsible how your suggestion would operate in practice, as
3 main this will determine who receives the prize amongst
4 involved employees with similar ideas. The prize we are
5 going offering is two days’ extra holiday for each
suggestion which the company implements, with
5 a maximum of three suggestions being implemented
1 on this year.
2 CORRECT If you are interested or have any questions, please
3 about contact the HR team as soon as possible.
4 for Yours sincerely,
5 an HR Manager
6 been
7 CORRECT LCCI ENGLISH FOR BUSINESS
8 if Model answer
9 to Would you like to learn a new language or spend
10 CORRECT time working abroad? Then why not take advantage
of some exciting new company schemes?
SKILLS As you know, everyone at EurAm Foods will soon
Short listening be working very closely with their international
6 colleagues as we all take a more standardised
1 Max Ludigen approach to our operations. To encourage stronger
2 Leadership relationships, the company is happy to announce that

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 Tests Answer key

they are offering various opportunities for staff to get 3

to know their international colleagues while learning 1a
and travelling. 2c
Firstly, because we believe good communication is 3c
key to success, training courses will be soon be 4b
offered globally – by webinar – so that you can train 5a
alongside your colleagues in other parts of the world.
In addition, the company is going to offer language 4
classes to staff who frequently travel or staff keen to 1 (a)round
add it to their professional development. Click on the 2 ensure
link to find out which language courses will be offered 3 agree
and discuss availability with your Line Manager. 4 step
Even more exciting is the new office work-exchange 5 hear
programme. Staff will be able to spend three months
working in an office abroad while an international 5
colleague replaces them at home. Places for this 1 you
are limited and employees must have a minimum 2 CORRECT
of three years’ service in the company to qualify. 3 at
Let your HR representative know if you wish to apply 4 as
for a placement. 5 in
And finally, there is going to be a competition to 6 of
design a new uniform for shop-floor staff worldwide. 7all
The competition is open to any employee and the 8 CORRECT
winner will receive a €1,000 EurAm Foods Voucher 9 CORRECT
and two days extra holiday this year. For full details 10 it
of the competition, click on this link.
These opportunities will be available very soon. SKILLS
Don’t hesitate to contact your HR representative Short listening
if you have any questions on any of these exciting 6
new opportunities. 1 quotation
2 3 / three
3 basic management
Unit 2 4 venue
LANGUAGE AND SKILLS TEST 5 Balen
Language 6 the-job
1 7 positive feedback
1b 8 HR manager
2d
3c Long listening
4a 7
5c 1b
6b 2c
7c 3a
8a 4a
9b 5c
10 d 6b
7a
2
1 could be given more Writing
2 ought to / should be employed 8
3 can be done Model answer
4 has to / must / needs to be spent Dear Mr Barnet,
5 mustn’t / shouldn’t be forgotten Thanks for your email. I’m surprised that I have to
6 needs to be developed choose two courses, as I understood I could choose
7 could be improved only one. I would definitely like to attend the in-house
8 would / could be recruited Dealing with conflict course on 12/13 June. As I am
9 does not have to be introduced having a few problems with a difficult team member,
10 might / may not be given it is important to attend a course that will help me
deal with them.

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 Tests Answer key

For the second course, it would be very helpful if 9b

I could attend the Working with different cultures 10 d
course because we are now working in multicultural
teams. However, I’m concerned about the dates 2
because this course comes straight after my first 1 probably won’t have
choice. Would it be possible to do the culture course 2 are certain to cut
later in the year? In addition, please could you let me 3 won’t rise significantly
know if the residential course is two or three nights 4 are unlikely to decrease
away? 5 is due to be built
Regards, 6 will probably increase
John Harding 7 are likely to sponsor
8 also certain to
LCCI ENGLISH FOR BUSINESS 9 definitely going to open / definitely opening
Model answer 10 are due to open
Dear Mr Sanders
I am writing to request some more professional 3
training as this is my first management position. 1 turn
Following my three-month appraisal, I realise that 2 with
I need to improve my skills in some areas. I have 3 made
found some excellent courses offered by a company 4 approach
called NPY Training. As my appraisal suggests 5 time
I sometimes have problems communicating with
my staff, it is important I attend the Communication 4
Skills course, reference NPY CS1. According to 1b
my manager, it is vital that I develop skills in active 2a
listening and giving clear feedback so that I can fully 3b
understand staff issues and communicate decisions 4c
more effectively. As it’s an online course over 5c
30 hours, I can complete it in my own time. The
cost of this course is €800. 5
I am also interested in developing my skills in 1 of
effective planning. My manager believes this will help 2 caused
me to organise my workload better and complete 3 despite
tasks on time. It will also teach me to create realistic 4 cause
schedules for my team. The Effective Planning 5 coming
course (NPY EP1) only takes one day and costs
€400. The next course is on 8th September and SKILLS
my assistant is happy to cover for me on that date. Short listening
I am attaching full details of both courses. I would 6
like to attend them as soon as possible. 1 Staff numbers
Because registration for the Effective Planning 2 2,256
course closes soon, could you let me know if 3 operating costs
I can attend this course by tomorrow afternoon? 4 positive effect
As I understand it, there is only one place left. 5 commercial mortgage
Best regards, 6 Clarebigh
7 cash flow
8 current performance
Unit 3
LANGUAGE AND SKILLS TEST 7
Language 1c
1 2a
1c 3b
2d 4c
3c 5a
4b 6d
5a 7c
6a
7d
8b

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 Tests Answer key

Writing very optimistic about the future as we continue to

8 reduce operating costs and carry out the company
Model answer restructuring. The overall forecast for the coming
This has been a challenging year, largely as a result year looks promising.
of the global economic depression, which has
caused a downturn in our key markets: Europe and
the Americas. Here we had to make many tough Unit 4
decisions. However, our entry into two new markets, LANGUAGE AND SKILLS TEST
India and Australia, has helped to reduce the losses. Language
In spite of the challenges, we finished the year with 1
group sales of $30 billion, compared to $40 billion 1b
last year. Sales fell 30% in the USA, while European 2a
sales were down 20% on the previous year. On the 3d
other hand, sales in India were very encouraging for 4c
our first year. Our sales there reached $3 billion and 5a
they are growing steadily. Australian sales saw 6c
a slower start, but the year ended with total sales 7b
of $88 million. 8b
Unfortunately, we had to close three stores in the 9b
USA and four across Europe, although our online 10 c
sales remain steady in all of those particular markets.
Our plans for the future include launching a new 2
high-end brand in North America and Europe to 1 won’t be able to access the app unless
boost sales in those regions. We are also planning 2 will survive if they develop / won’t survive if they
to open two small stores in Australia and six in India, don’t develop
which gives us cause to be optimistic. 3 on condition that you spend
4 doesn’t / won’t lose its competitive edge providing
LCCI ENGLISH FOR BUSINESS it keeps
Model answer 5 we had the funds, we could invest
Executive summary 6 will increase as long as we use
2018 was a very challenging year for WeatherWorld 7 get this service if you have
Tents, with mixed results. There were sales declines 8 I were you, I wouldn’t recruit
in some markets, which were caused by the 9 provided you offered
economic slowdown across Europe and North 10 staff like it if we asked them
America. However, with economies booming in
Australia and some parts of South East Asia, there 3
was some good news. Overall, we finished the year 1 down
with total sales revenue of $23 million, up 2.5% on 2 deal
the previous year. 3 back
With regard to sales in Europe, these were down 9% 4 point
on the previous year. This figure was largely a result 5 go
of the economic slowdown and the arrival of a major
new competitor, who came into the market with 4
extremely competitive prices. In North America, it 1b
was very similar – sales fell by 7%. These results 2a
have led to the company having to make a number 3c
of tough decisions in order to lower operating costs, 4b
improve efficiency and therefore remain competitive. 5b
Decisions include investing in setting up a new
factory in India as well as planning a major 5
restructuring of the company. 1 to
The good news is that sales in Australia and South- 2 order
East Asia really took off, and contributed 30% of 3 recover
the total sales revenue. This gives us cause to be 4 sum
optimistic and we anticipate that these regions 5 recommend
will continue to grow over the coming year.
We were very pleased to be able to give our
shareholders a 2% dividend, which is slightly lower
than last year, but better than we expected. We are

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 Tests Answer key

SKILLS In order to solve these problems, we need to do

Short listening two things. Firstly, I propose that we give Customer
6 Service staff more training in how to deal with
1 complicated customers and the importance of keeping them
2 virus happy. Despite the high cost, if the Customer Service
3 holidays department is well trained, customers will feel that
4 hours they are being thoroughly looked after and that we
5 midday really care. This is crucial in retaining customers.
6 dinner Secondly, we should invest in a new order and
7 quantities distribution processing system to minimise the
8 contract possibility of delivery errors in the future.
I have look at several automated systems and feel
Long listening that the best solution would be the DVStar System.
7 It has excellent reviews and focuses particularly on
1b customer satisfaction at each stage of the order and
2a distribution process. For example, it tracks customer
3c orders at every step of the way for both the business
4c and the customer. It can be tailored to our needs and
5a allows for same day pick, pack and dispatch for
6b orders made before 2 p m. The system also
7b minimises errors by checking postcodes, which
should solve our delivery problems.
Writing I therefore recommend that we purchase this system
8 as soon as possible.
Model answer
This proposal evaluates the use of two office
software products to improve efficiency. Recently Unit 5
there have been complaints about our current LANGUAGE AND SKILLS TEST
software, so we have decided to upgrade it. I have Language
looked at two packages, IKL Admin Software and 1
HVRT IT. 1c
The IKL package is aimed at small businesses with 2d
up to twenty employees only. Although we currently 3a
only have fifteen employees, we plan to expand 4b
soon. IKL does offer a useful technical service 5d
contract, but it’s very expensive. 6a
The HVRT package is for companies with up to 7c
50 employees, which is great for our expansion 8b
plans. Their software provides all the functions we 9c
need although they only have a built-in helpdesk. 10 a
I therefore propose that we purchase the HVRT
package as it offers more features and allows the 2
business to expand. It is also less expensive as 1 Even though
there is no service contract. 2 despite
3 on the other hand
LCCI ENGLISH FOR BUSINESS 4 However
Model answer 5 despite
This report aims to assess the damage that recent 6 Nevertheless
customer complaints have had on the business and 7 though
to propose ways to deal with the problems. 8 although
Recently, there have been a large number of 9 Despite
complaints that orders have been sent incorrectly 10 in spite
and deliveries have failed to arrive on time. We have
always been very proud of our excellent customer 3
service, so this situation is very disappointing. In 1 on
addition, we have received emails from angry 2 picture
customers saying that the Customer Service staff 3 making
are rude and very unhelpful. 4 for
5 why

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 Tests Answer key

4 a lack of motivation among some members of your

1b team. This can easily be resolved with more targeted
2a training through a course which focuses on how to
3b get the best out of your staff. I am confident that this
4a will ensure that you develop the best sales team you
5c can.
I am sure that in the coming months you will continue
5 to develop your skills.
1a Yours sincerely,
2 that
3 less LCCI ENGLISH FOR BUSINESS
4 CORRECT Model answer
5 the Dear Edward,
6 well I am pleased to report that your appraisal overall
7 more was very satisfactory. You demonstrate a good
8 Despite knowledge of your job and perform the necessary
9 been duties very well. Furthermore, your attitude towards
10 CORRECT your job is very positive at all times and you are well-
motivated.
SKILLS I am impressed with what you have done this year
Short listening despite not being able to achieve all your goals.
6 I understand that you felt they were unrealistic and
1 promotion your line manager accepts that they may have been
2 leave set quite high. However, he feels that you did a good
3 more challenging job in difficult circumstances and he will set more
4 most experienced realistic targets this year.
5 performance review However, there are two areas where your line
6 Monday-Thursday manager feels that you need to improve – teamwork
7 honest and communication. You state that you find it difficult
8 negative comments to share work with your team, especially when you
are responsible for them achieving their goals. I feel
Reading that more training in encouraging teamwork will help
7 you and the team improve in this area, so we will
1E organise this for you. In addition, it seems that you
2C sometimes have problems communicating with your
3F team. The team would benefit greatly if you could
4G better understand some of the issues they face and
5D provide clearer feedback. This can easily be resolved
6A with more targeted training in leadership and
7B communication.
Nevertheless, I am confident that you will continue
Writing to contribute effectively to the company. With the
8 relevant training and some demonstration of
Model answer improvement in your performance, you could take
Dear Marc, on more responsibility, which will help your career
I am pleased to report that you demonstrate some development in this company.
very good management skills in your role as Sales Yours sincerely,
Manager. You display great aptitude for dealing with
problems and communicate well with both your staff
and clients. You demonstrate the ability to listen Unit 6
carefully and actively and seem to be quick to LANGUAGE AND SKILLS TEST
understand new ideas. You are always ready to Language
praise your team when they do something well 1
and give them constructive feedback. 1b
I am encouraged by your work so far, although 2d
there is one area which I feel could be improved on. 3c
Meeting most of your team targets has been a great 4d
achievement, but unfortunately your team has not 5b
exceeded any of them. It seems that there may be 6c

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 Tests Answer key

7c 7 Long listening
8a Section 1
9d 1H
10 a 2A
3C
2 4G
1 wouldn’t have lost, if we had invested 5F
2 would have been sold if we hadn’t won
3 might not have been, if all the products hadn’t Section 2
been recalled 1G
4 If we hadn’t built, we would have had 2B
5 might not have got, if I hadn’t worked 3A
6 Would we have saved, we had invested 4H
7 would have been, if our approach had been more 5E
8 wouldn’t have chosen, if they hadn’t had
9 you have agreed to work, you had known Writing
10 could have increased, if we had used 8
Model answer
3 Dear all,
1a We are pleased to announce that the company has
2b decided to use fair trade suppliers in the future. Our
3a aim is to provide entirely ethically produced products
4c from next year. Our purchasing manager has just
5b returned from a trip to Africa where he has been
able to source some excellent new suppliers.
4 As a result of his trip, we are now setting up
1 in a scheme to help these African producers and
2 on suppliers in order to improve their working conditions
3 solution and pay. We are also helping them achieve the
4 side consistent quality we demand.
5 How In addition, we are establishing a worker exchange
programme. Many employees will have the chance to
5 take advantage of this interesting new programme.
1 CORRECT Employees from the supplier companies will be able
2 to to work here in our UK offices for three months and
3 been workers from the UK can go to Africa to visit the
4 of suppliers’ businesses. This will allow staff to see how
5 to the raw materials are produced. The programme will
6 CORRECT start next month, so if you are interested in taking
7 with part in this scheme, please let the HR Manager know
8 any as soon as possible.
9 going
10 CORRECT LCCI ENGLISH FOR BUSINESS
Model answer
SKILLS We are pleased to announce that we have completed
Short listening the investigation into the recent press articles about
6 unethical business practices in some of our factories
1 face cream and the quality of our meals. Two factories were
2 red marks identified as having poor quality control systems,
3 ingredients being unsafe, and using suppliers with unethical
4 bacteria practices. We are delighted to say that procedures
5 legally have now been put in place to avoid such problems
6 full refund in the future.
7 TV documentary As part of the company’s commitment to provide
8 Production Director a safe working environment, we have developed
a new code of ethics and everyone is encouraged
to familiarise themselves with this document, which
is now online. The new code of ethics includes the
requirement for all our factories to have the same

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 Tests Answer key

production and quality control processes and checks 4

have started taking place in every factory in all the 1c
regions. 2b
Another key point concerns ensuring that all 3b
suppliers match our ethical standards. We are now 4a
checking all meat suppliers more carefully to make 5c
sure that their staff are working in acceptable
conditions and paid fairly. In addition, the welfare of 5
any animals used in our food production must also 1 hit
match our new code, in order to supply quality meat. 2 Due
If you believe that someone is not following the code 3 caused
of ethics, you can report them to HR without 4 therefore
identifying yourself. Staff or suppliers who do not 5 latest
follow these codes will be warned or dismissed for
repeat offences. SKILLS
We would like to encourage staff involvement to Short listening
further improve our ethical approach so we have 6
created a new online suggestion box. Full details 1 Oxleighton
are available on the website and employees will 2 supplier
be rewarded for any ideas that are used. 3 2,500
Finally, the CEO is going to do a webcast to all 4 credit agreement
company employees to accompany this newsletter. 5 Reducing stress
Further details will appear on the website, and we 6 three days
hope you will join us. 7 last Friday
8 managerial
Unit 7 Reading
LANGUAGE AND SKILLS TEST 7
Language 1b
1 2c
1b 3d
2a 4c
3d 5b
4a 6a
5b 7c
6c
7d Writing
8b 8
9c Model answer
10 d Dear Mr Smith,
I’m really sorry to tell you we’ve hit a big problem
2 with Phase 1 of the school construction project in
1 to discuss ideas on a daily basis Doha. Due to unforeseen circumstances, we won’t
2 working on the report all day be able to meet the original deadline for Phase 1.
3 collect the goods any day The reason for this is that our main supplier failed
4 in a few weeks’ to deliver all the building materials on time. The
5 hardly ever praises problem was caused by a fire at their factory last
6 for work from time to time. week which has put them behind schedule. I tried
7 almost never leave work to source materials of the same quality from other
8 didn’t really like my job at first suppliers, but without any success. However, our
9 by 7 p.m. at the latest supplier promises to deliver in two weeks’ time.
10 Now and then I get I therefore propose that we start working on
Phase 2 of the project, which is not dependent on
3 these building materials. We will obviously need to
1 close reassess the overall schedule but I will have the
2 chance final phase completed by the original deadline.
3 play Yours sincerely,
4 prioritise
5 returning

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 Tests Answer key

LCCI ENGLISH FOR BUSINESS 6 they informed us / them (that) they wouldn’t / would
Model answer not make any changes this / that / won’t make any
Dear Mr Raven, changes this year
I am really sorry to inform you that the St Kitts 7 said (that) they had / have spent
school project has hit a major problem and, as 8 promised to help/promised (that) he would help me
a result, we are unlikely to meet the Phase 2 9 advised me not to
deadline. 10 she confirmed that she hadn’t wanted / didn’t
The main reason for the delay are construction want to
issues with your new plans. Unfortunately, your
architect was not aware of how much additional 3
work the addition of four new classrooms would 1b
involve for us. 2a
Unexpected problems have also arisen with 3c
extremely bad weather conditions that we had last 4b
night. Unfortunately, the severe storms have done 5a
a lot of damage to the main harbour at St Kitts which
means we are currently unable to receive the 4
materials we would need to complete the additional 1 At
classrooms. Unfortunately, the goods cannot leave 2 Feel
China while the main harbour is damaged here, so 3 on
all new shipment orders are suspended and won’t 4 Are
arrive by the scheduled date. 5 go
We are currently trying to solve the problem of
getting the materials to the island as soon as 5
possible. One possibility is to instruct the freight 1 been
forward company to send them by air if the airport 2 CORRECT
reopens soon. However, this will also be a much 3 who
more expensive option and does not guarantee 4 more
completion of the new classroom by the end of 5 about
Phase 2. We are therefore proposing that we meet 6 even
to re-assess the schedule and budget. Please let 7 very
me know your availability in the next day or two. 8 CORRECT
I hope to hear from you soon. 9 often
Yours sincerely, 10 are

SKILLS
Unit 8 Short listening
LANGUAGE AND SKILLS TEST 6
Language 1 renegotiate
1 2 double
1d 3 8 / eight
2b 4 minimum orders
3c 5 Staff holidays
4c 6 video meting
5d 7 central processing
6a 8 1st / first
7b
8a Long listening
9c 7
10 b 1c
2b
2 3b
1 insisted (that) Mary applied 4a
2 advised me to move 5b
3 complained that none of the equipment worked / 6c
works in this/that 7b
4 confirmed (that) they had been / were discussing
5 said he had finished the report the night before /
last night

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 Tests Answer key

Writing As part of the re-branding, the company will re-

8 launch with new colours on the planes – purple
Model answer and white. Staff will also wear these colours in
CloCo, the specialist sports clothing company, has designer uniforms. To improve in-flight catering,
just announced a full review of the company’s fair a partnership has been signed with upmarket
trade policy. This is as a result of a newspaper European supermarket chain Cuisine U, who
investigation into fair trade companies, which has will provide meals, drinks and duty-free items.
uncovered some worrying allegations about some Europe Airways promises their new service will
of CloCo’s overseas manufacturing processes. ensure each flight is a relaxing experience. To
The investigation indicated that working conditions summarise the new image, Saunders says, ‘It’s
were poor and that some of the materials used were not the destination that’s important on our flights
not fair trade or organic as stated on the labels. but the journey to get there’.
Senior management have already gone to visit some
of the factories to check for themselves and are due
to complete initial reports by the end of the week.
The company has always been very proud of its
ethical approach to business and is very concerned
about these allegations.
The CEO, George Kramer, said he was deeply sorry
about the news, if it proved to be true. He promised
that the company would do everything it could to
ensure that all staff, including those who work for
subcontractors, were paid a fair wage and had good
working conditions.
It is expected that the full review will be completed in
two months. CloCo also assured the public that they
would keep them updated on the progress of the
review.

LCCI ENGLISH FOR BUSINESS

Model answer
Europe Airways today announced that it has
changed not only the way it looks but the way it looks
after its customers.
Thirty years ago, Europe Airways was the customers’
favourite airline, but sales declined in the last decade
and the company performance was unsatisfactory.
Since arriving last year, CEO Jack Saunders, has
been determined to turn the company around. As
a result, there has been a large restructuring of
booking and IT systems, and increased staff
recruitment and training.
Mr Saunders’ vision of a first-class, customer-
focused business, which brings comfort back to
affordable travel, is to be launched with a brand-new
image, which will highlight the changes. He has
promised that this vision of a friendly, comfortable
and reliable airline will become a reality when it re-
launches this week.
Saunders assures the public that passengers will
be looked after by the best-trained cabin staff in
the industry, whose goal is to provide first-class
customer service. In addition to excellent
interpersonal skills, staff will now be able to speak
a minimum of two languages in addition to English.
In order overcome problems with booking and
boarding, new online booking and IT systems have
been put in place and all support staff have been
trained in using them.

© Pearson Education 2018 PHOTOCOPIABLE 10