Aufnahmeprüfung Kanton Aargau Englisch Kaufmännische BM2 KV Lenzburg Reinach 60 Minuten Kandidat(in) Name Vorname Datum der Prüfung Zusatzblatt verwendet und beigelegt O ja O nein Reading Points / 20 Grammar Points / 20 Writing Points / 20 Total Points / 60 Mark Expert 1 Expert 2 Bitte lesen Sie vor Prüfungsbeginn die Anweisungen und überprüfen Sie das vorliegende Dokument auf seine Vollständigkeit. Setzen Sie Ihren Namen zu Beginn der Prüfung ein. Gutes Gelingen. 1/8
A. READING COMPREHENSION Task 1 Read the article about an Information Technology (IT) consultant and the questions. For each question 01-06, choose the correct answer. Mark it with a cross in the first column. Example Why? They... X She There 01 Gavin chose IT as a profession because he hoped to earn a high income. became bored with his previous job. enjoyed using computers as a hobby. 02 According to the second paragraph, he is effective in his job because he can always be contacted by phone. has experience in different businesses. has a wide range of computer knowledge. 03 What problem does he often experience? late payment calls at short notice angry clients 04 What is his favourite type of customer? individuals families companies 05 Most of his business comes from his website. repeat orders. word of mouth. 06 What does he find most rewarding about his work? seeing clients understand how computers can help them being able to manage his own time effectively learning to use new computer applications 2/8
IT CONSULTANT Gavin is a successful freelance IT consultant - but he hasn t always been one. His original training was as an architect and he went on to practise that profession for several years, before losing his job in a recession. Rather than look for another job within architecture, he decided to see if he could make a living from his favourite leisure occupation - computers. I never imagined I'd make such good earnings, he says. And he s doing well - the quality of his work means that his phone is always ringing. Because I know both the software and the hardware side of computers, I can find out where problems are quickly. It's often the case in consultancy that different specialists are only able to work on certain aspects. Of course, there are disadvantages to the job. Scheduling can sometimes be a problem. If he s already busy, and then someone calls with an urgent problem, it can either mean letting them down, and so missing out on the payment, or having to work very late to get all the jobs done. People are often very irritated with their computers and the delays breakdowns cause them, but Gavin knows this anger isn t aimed at him. Most of his clients are private individuals working from home. However, he also deals, for example, with families where the parents want to learn about the Internet in order to keep up with their children, and occasionally with small companies, although crowded offices are not necessarily enjoyable places to do his work in. He s lucky that the kind of client that accounts for most of his business is also the one he prefers to work with. It s a strange truth that because he s very effective in his work, he doesn t often need to be asked back to do more. But personal contact does help, in that clients are always recommending him to their friends and colleagues, and this of course saves the time and effort of advertising in newspapers or building a website. Despite the stress he feels sometimes as he hurries from one side of the city to the other to keep appointments, he enjoys his work. When people suddenly realise what their machine can do for them and how many boring tasks it can take away from them, that s brilliant. When that happens, it s all worth it. 3/8
Task 2 You are going to read some information about five women who have started businesses from their homes in the countryside. For questions 07 20, choose from the women (A-E). The women may be chosen more than once. When more than one answer is required, these may be given in any order. There is an example at the beginning (00). Which woman or women has international contacts? 00 D don t employ anyone? 07 08 were initially short of money? 09 10 needs to be available outside office hours? 11 has found a separate workplace? 12 has suffered setbacks in her business? 13 have changed their roles in their companies? 14 15 charge less to be able to compete more easily? 16 17 depends only on personal recommendation? 18 has had to make an unpleasant decision? 19 produces work mostly for local people? 20 4/8
Running a business in the countryside Five women talk about their experiences setting up a business in the countryside. A My customers are friends, says CHRISTINE HOGAN, who runs a computeraided design business with a turnover of over 200,000 a year and four full-time employees. My husband and I moved out of London to the country when our children were small, and I wanted work I could do at home. I had worked with computers before I was married, so my husband suggested I set up a computer-aided design business. It needed a huge amount of money and things were difficult in the beginning. But I have been very careful, making sure that I told the bank manager if I was likely to overspend. Being in the house is a big saving, and I can carry on working in the evening if I want. It has remained a small business. We hardly ever deliver work people from the area tend to collect it from us. B I enjoy being independent, says MAGGY SASANOW, who works from home as a designer of greetings cards. I trained in art at university, and wanted to work in a museum. But when I married, we went to live in the countryside, where there wasn t that sort of work. So I decided to set up my own business and I produce a range of 50 greetings cards which I sell to museums. I work in a big room upstairs. The disadvantage of working from home is that there is always something that needs doing like mowing the lawn. My business comes completely by word to mouth I don t advertise at all. People send work down from London as I am cheaper than other artists. Working alone, I don t get to exchange ideas with other people any more, but generally there are more advantages than disadvantages. C It has been hard at times, says DELIA TURNER, whose curtain-making business has seen good times and bad. I started my business eight years ago. Then this type of business was expanding, and in two years my turnover went from 24,000 to 80,000. I used to manage six full-time curtain-makers. But I had to sack them because of the decline in the economy, which was painful because it is not easy to find other jobs in this area. I am right back almost to where I started, making curtains at home myself, with my husband s help, and using women who work from their homes. I have to be prepared to cut my prices when it s necessary and to look at different opportunities. D TESS STRICKLAND runs the editorial and production side of her children s book publishing business from her farmhouse. I moved to the countryside three years ago for two reasons. The first was financial, because London was so expensive, and the second was because I love the country. I enjoy being able to work when I want to. Eighty per cent of my income comes from deals with Australia, the Far East and North America, so I have to take calls at odd hours. The disadvantage is that it requires discipline to shut the office door. I publish children s books from cultures around the world, working with authors and artists. My entire professional experience had been in London, so I used to feel very alone at first. E MEG RIVERS runs a cakes-by-post business and a shop with a turnover of 250,000 a year and employs six people, some part-time. I started ten years ago at home. I am very interested in health, so I started making fruit cakes, using good quality flour and eggs. Then I started getting requests from friends and relatives, and soon I was sending cakes all over the country. Seven years ago I rented a small building and everything is made there we have a baker and assistant, and a professional cakeicer. I don t cook at all now, as I run the commercial side. My greatest problem has been the financial side of the business, which has been difficult simply because we didn t have an enormous amount of money to set up with. 5/8
B. GRAMMAR Task Complete the gaps 21 50. Don t write more than three words per gap. If a word is given in brackets, you have to use it. Transfer your answers to the answer chart on the next page. Lars: Excuse me, which movie are you waiting for? 21 Tony: We... (wait) for the new Stars Wars movie. 22 In fact, we... (wait) here for more than five hours. 23 Lars: Five hours? When... (arrive)? 24 Tony: We... (get) here at 6:00 o clock this morning. 25 More than forty people... (stand, already) here waiting for tickets when we arrived. 26 Lars: I... (not believe) that! Are you serious? 27 Tony: Yes, definitely. Guess what - this particular showing (be) sold out for over a week. 28 Lars: What about the film? When (start)? Tony: At 8.30 p.m. 29 Afterwards, we... (go) to the aftershow party. 30 We... (already reserve) tickets. Lars: Oh, that sounds great. That will be great fun! 31 In 70% of offices, employees. (ban) from using Facebook. 32 Already six of the seven Harry Potter books (turn) into films. 33 If she had had more self-confidence, they..... (offer) her the job. 34 If I don t get a good grade in the exam, I... (not / go) to university. 35 If I was the president of the US, I (have) my private airplane. 36 I am looking forward. (hear) from you. 37 I don t mind (cook). 38 Unfortunately, we can t afford... (buy) a new car. 39 She told me she. (hate) raw fish, so she would not eat the sushi served to her. 40 The police officer asked her what she... (think), when she parked her car on the pavement. 41 Tom explained that his dad. (leave) the family when he was little. 6/8
42 Jake got an extraordinarily good mark in his test. He.. have cheated. 43 Shops in Switzerland close at around 7 p.m.,... they? 44 My pants are quite dirty, but yours are even...! 45 Sam drives... (careful) than Tom. 46 She has lived in this flat... twenty years. 47 Sometimes it s quicker to go to work... foot than to drive. 48 They offered to help me but I didn t need help. 49.. mobile phone is this? - It s mine! 50... is your new car like? Red and fast! Answer Chart Answers from left to right. 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 7/8
C. WRITING Task Write 100-120 words. What would you do if you lost your job?.. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Content: / 5 Organisation / Coherence / Cohesion: / 5 Grammar: / 5 Vocabulary: / 5 TOTAL : / 20 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8/8