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Look at the statements below and the five extracts on the opposite page from newspaper articles about economic development of the five places in the world.
Which extract(A, B, C, D or E)does each statement(1-8)refer to?
For each statement(1-6), mark one letter(A, B, C, D or E)on your Answer Sheet.
You will need to use some of these letters more than once.
There is an example at the beginning(0).
Example:
0 Mining is the major industry of the area.
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A
Jharkhand, a state that traditionally has focused on agriculture, is attracting big international investors as the costs of land and labour rise in coastal regions. In 2007 alone, 187 new foreign enterprises had established presences in the state. Jharkhand’s main draw—low wages and cheap land—will continue to provide incentives for Foreign Direct Investment in the years to come. The state capital Ranchi, a six-hour bus ride from Kolkata, accounts for about 30 percent of the total investment in the state.
B
Vietnam will continue to invest heavily in its agricultural future. Rice is the major product of the country, and Vietnam’s ever-growing food demands will see that crop yields will need to be consistently high. Hi-tech research is required, and government policies will ensure that more R&D investment is put in the country. Hi-tech industries also are setting up in a number of development zones, many of which were opened around 2003 and are growing rapidly thanks to favourable incentives.
C
The future of Hubei is largely dependant on the success of the Three Gorges Dam project. As a result, there have been many upgrades of Hubei’s river ports, and there is likely to be many more as larger volumes of cargo are transported up and down the river. Wuhan intends to turn itself into the major manufacturing hub of central China. With the flow of river traffic from the Three Gorges and government incentives to move manufacturing inland, Wuhan is more likely to succeed in this aim, with further enterprises linked to exports and distributors likely to find a base in the city.
D
Philippines plans to invest more than $200 billion in infrastructure development in 2007. A large portion of Philippines’ industrial output is related to its rich mineral deposits, with the smelting and pressing of ferrous and non-ferrous metals accounting for 19.6 percent of the total industrial output. Related manufacturing industries have been relocating to Philippines in recent years from Singapore and Malaysia. In the future, manufacture will continue to be a major industry in Philippines.
E
Manitoba is rich in natural resources and is a major source of timber products in Canada. It boasts rich deposits of copper, silver and uranium. There is a great need to further increase infrastructure, especially roads and rails. The province’s located at the crossroads of the nation’s two largest economic engines. Tourism is one of the major hopes here as the far west of the province is becoming more popular and accessible for those traveling to the lake routes.
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Read this text about barriers to international business.
Choose the best sentence from the opposite page to fill each of the gaps.
For each gap(9-14), mark one letter(A-H)on your Answer Sheet.
Do not use any letter more than once.
There is an example at the beginning(0).
Barriers to International Business
Firms desiring to enter international business face several obstacles, some much more severe than others.(0).G...
A nation’s culture and social forces can restrict international business activities. Culture consists of a country’s general ideas and values and tangible items such as food, clothing, and buildings. Social forces include family, education, religion, and customs.【P1】______
Some countries also have different values about spending than do Americans. The Japanese have long been a nation that believes in paying cash for the products they buy, although the use of credit cards has soared in Japan over the last few years. The Japanese still save nearly 20 percent of individual income, compared to about 4 percent saved by people in the United States.
【P2】______In some countries, purchasing items as basic as food and clothing can be influenced by religion. And some societies simply do not value material possessions to the same degree that Americans do.
Most firms know the importance of understanding the cultural and social differences between selling and buying countries.【P3】______ For instance, a business deal in Japan can fall through if a foreign businessman refuses a cup of green tea during a visit to a native Japanese firm.
The political climate of a country can have a major impact on international business. Nations experiencing intense political unrest may change their attitude toward foreign firms at any time; this instability creates an unfavourable atmosphere for international trade.
Tariffs and trade restrictions are also barriers to international business. A nation can restrict trade through import tariffs, quotas and embargoes, and exchange controls.
Import tariffs: a duty, or tax, levied against goods brought into a country is an import tariff.【P4】______The risk in importing tariff is that the other country could take the same action.
Quotas and embargoes: a quota is a limit on the amount of a product that can leave or enter a country. Some quotas are established on a voluntary basis.【P5】______For instance, Japanese automobile manufacturers have voluntarily reduced the number of cars shipped from the United States to five automakers here the time they need to modernise their factories. An embargo is a total ban on certain imports and exports. Many embargoes are politically caused.
Exchange controls: restrictions on the amount of a certain currency that can be bought or sold are called exchange controls.【P6】______
Example:[*]
A Tariff can be used to discourage foreign competitors from entering a domestic market.
B A government can use exchange controls to limit the amount of products that importers can purchase with a particular currency.
C The voluntary quota reduced the quantity of products for exportation.
D Selling products from one country to another is sometimes difficult when the cultures of the two countries differ significantly.
E Generally, a voluntary quota fosters goodwill and protects a country from foreign competition.
F However, managers still make costly mistakes when conducting business internationally simply because they do not understand such differences.
G The most common barriers to international business are: cultural, social, and political barriers, and tariffs and trade restrictions.
H Social forces which are universal in people’s daily life can create obstacles to international trade.
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Read the following article about investment in foreclosed properties and the questions on the
opposite page.
For each question(15-20), mark ones letter(A, B, C or D)on your Answer Sheet.
An incredible opportunity for real estate investors is investing in foreclosure. Foreclosed homes repeatedly sell at deep discounts; which provides buyers a straightforward opportunity to profit. Because foreclosed homes are often highly discounted, they can be purchased and sold with a large return. Homes that are facing or have vanished by way of foreclosure often meet the investing goals of both the long term investor and the investor that plans to flip the property.
Plainly stated, a foreclosed property is one that has been repossessed by the lender for non-disbursement of the mortgage. Since the majority mortgages are collateralised by the actual property, a dwelling that has gone through foreclosure has re-claimed by the bank. There are a lot of things that occur all through this progression, and depending on which status the residence is located, the procedure can actually take numerous months. As a consequence of the difficulty of the process as well as the length and the cost for both the bank and homeowner, there exists a chance for investors to arbitrate and help both parties in the circumstances.
Throughout the period previous to a home is officially repossessed by the bank, the real estate investor may have an opportunity to jump in. Throughout this preforeclosure time, the bank is actively taking steps to eject the property owner and take back the house. For the duration of this time, the homeowners are in the situation that they are no longer making payments to the bank and at jeopardy of losing their credit rating, their dwelling, and even their pride. Throughout these periods, an investor can choose to intervene and buy the habitat at a discounted rate from the homeowner. Depending on the situation, the investor could be able to purchase the house for less than is owed on it(short sale)which presents an important occasion.
As mentioned before, the preforeclosure process may last many months. Nonetheless, if a declaration is not met involving the bank and landholder or a likely investor, the route ends with the bank placing the house up for community public sale.
The last step in a foreclosed habitat is when the regional sheriff comes to provide the eviction notice and paste the public sale notice on the front door. At that point forward, the dwelling is officially foreclosed.
Though it is much more challenging, after a habitat is foreclosed upon, it may well be bought at a discount at community sale. Although these auctions there are certainly deals to be had. However, it is important to realise that if the smallest bid is not met, the bank that owns the property could opt to get it back. In addition, at open public sale, you are competing with a number of additional investors so you may well not get as high-quality of a contract as you would have previously. All in all though, investing in foreclosed homes can be a grand way to profit.
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Read the article below about how capital controls and monetary policy are important adoptable in developing countries.
Choose the correct word or words to fill each gap from A, B, C or D on the opposite page.
For each question(21—30), mark one letter(A, B, C or D)on your Answer Sheet.
There is an example at the beginning(0).
Capital Controls and Monetary Policy in Developing Countries
This paper -looks at both the theoretical and empirical literature on capital controls and finds that (0). D.....controls can play an important role in developing countries by helping to insulate them from some of the harmful【C1】______of volatile and short-term capital flows.
The authors look at controls on capital inflows in Malaysia(1989-1995); Colombia(1993-1998); Chile(1989-1998); and Brazil(1992-1998), and also consider the【C2】______of Malaysia’s controls on outflows in 1998-2001. They conclude that there is sufficient backing in both economic theory and empirical evidence to consider more widespread【C3】______ of capital controls in order to 【C4】______some of the macroeconomic problems【C5】______with short-term capital flows, to enable certain development strategies, and to allow policymakers more flexibility with regard to crucial monetary and exchange rate policies.
The paper follows what appears to be a shift in the position of the International Monetary Fund (IMF)towards such controls. In a February paper, the IMF concluded that “there may be【C6】______ in which capital controls are a legitimate【C7】______of the policy【C8】______to surges in capital inflows.“ The Fund’s Global Financial Stability Report【C9】______ in April 2010 was less sanguine about capital controls, but the net result is that the IMF appears more open to【C10】______capital controls than in the past.
Example:
A these B those C economic D capital
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Read the article below about passive-aggressive organisation.
For each question(31-40), write one word in CAPITAL LETTERS on your Answer Sheet.
There is an example at the beginning(0).
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The Passive-Aggressive Organisation
Healthy companies are hard to mistake. Their managers have access to good, timely information, the authority to make informed decisions, and the incentives to make them on behalf of the organisation, which promptly and capably carries them (0).A good term for the healthiest of such organisations is “resilient“, since they can react nimbly【B1】______challenges and recover quickly 【B2】______those they cannot dodge.
Unfortunately, most companies are not resilient. In fact, fewer than one【B3】______ five of the approximately 30,000 individuals 【B4】______responded to a global online survey Booz Allen Hamilton conducted describe their organisations that way. The largest number-over one-quarter—say they suffer from the cluster of pathologies we place【B5】______the label “passive-aggressive“. The category takes its name from the organisation’s quiet but tenacious resistance, in every way but openly, to corporate directives.
In passive-aggressive organisations, people pay those directives lip service, putting in only enough effort to appear compliant. Employees feel free to do as they see fit【B6】______there are hardly ever unpleasant consequences, and the directives themselves are often misguided and thus seem worthy【B7】______defiance.
Making matters worse, senior management has left unclear where accountability actually lies, in effect absolving managers of final responsibility【B8】______ anything they do. Those【B9】______ initiative must wait interminably for a go-ahead, and their actions when finally taken【B10】______accompanied by a chorus of second-guessing, a poor but understandable substitute for the satisfaction of accomplishing the task at hand.
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Read the text below about strategic recruiting.
In most of the lines(41-52), there is one extra word. It either is grammatically incorrect or does not fit in with the sense of the text. Some lines, however, are correct.
If a line is correct, write CORRECT on your Answer Sheet.
If there is an extra word in the line, write the extra word in CAPITAL LETTERS on your Answer Sheet.
The exercise begins with two examples(0 and 00).
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0 The desire to become more strategic that has been espoused by recruiting
00 leaders for more than over a decade, and yet, year after year, newly introduced
【M1】______initiatives seem more tactical and administrative than it ever. Recruiting processes
【M2】______have nearly doubled in size when you look at the steps involved in , but no one
【M3】______seems to think or can prove that output has changed all of that much. When you
【M4】______look at what the typical recruiting organisation actually does , the plain truth of
【M5】______the matter is that 90 percent of the work is administrative or tactical at its best. There’s
【M6】______nothing wrong with tactical work; it does for the most part generate a
【M7】______positive return in the short term. But let there be no doubt on that a truly strategic
【M8】______recruiting function would do a fraction of what typically gets done and a lot more
【M9】______of what hasn’t been getting done. Strategic actions have a broader, long-term
【M10】______impacts on that manifest themselves by fundamentally altering an organisation’s
【M11】______capability or capacity to compete with. Little of what gets billed as being these days
【M12】______is actually strategic. In fact, it seems that the word “strategic“ in conjunction with recruiting is
most often used by vendors selling goods and services that have absolutely no strategic impact.
