Complete the summary with words from the passage. Use NO MORE THAN ONE WORD for each answer.
Managers need a range of communication skills to carry out their jobs effectively. They need to be able to articulate their ideas and vision and to convey enthusiasm. Good managers may, at times, need to be able to argue points cogently and to persuade people to their point of view. However, good managers appreciate that communication is a two-way process, and that listening is an important element of communication. Listening to the views of others can help to test ideas as well as to develop new products and methods of production. The most common forum in which managers are required to communicate are meetings. It is important for managers to plan for meetings, whether with a single person or with a group. Managers should not invite too many participants to keep numbers to a minimum. They should have a clear agenda for discussion and should exercise tight time controls to prevent meetings dragging on. Managers should enter each meeting with a clear idea of what they want it to achieve. At the end of a meeting, it is good practice to summarize what has been agreed and what needs to happen in the future.
Adapted from Get Ready for IELTS Reading
Summary
There should be a small number of at meetings and there needs to be a for any meeting, which will include a clear agenda. During the meeting there needs to be good management and clarity about what the meeting should hopefully . At the end, there should be a summary and agreement about action.
Complete the summary with words from the passage. Use NO MORE THAN ONE WORD for each answer.
Communication skills should not be taken for granted. Many managers require training in written and oral communication skills and many businesses would benefit from employing managers who speak at least one other language. Interpersonal skills are also necessary if a manager is to work successfully with other people. If managers lack interpersonal skills, then they are likely to be of limited effectiveness in their role. Managers with effective interpersonal skills can motivate others and can co-ordinate the work of their employees. To do this, managers may need to coach and encourage employees as well as solving disputes and, perhaps more importantly, preventing conflict.
Adapted from Get Ready for IELTS Reading
Summary
Working with other people is not always easy, but it is for the role of managers that they have interpersonal skills that are . Their may need encouragement and help with and solving problems between colleagues.
Read the passage and complete the summary. Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.
MARCEL BICH
The man who turned a luxury item into an everyday object
Marcel Bich, a French manufacturer of traditional ink pens, was the man who turned the ballpoint pen into an item that today almost anyone can afford. Bich was appalled at the poor quality of the ballpoint pens that were available, and was also shocked at their high cost. However, he recognized that the ballpoint was a firmly established invention, and to decided to design a cheap pen that worked well and would be commercially successful.
Bich went to the Biro brothers and asked them if he could use the design of their original invention in one of his own pens. In return, he offered to pay them every time he sold a pen. Then, for two years, Bich studied the detailed construction of every ballpoint pen that was being sold, often working with a microscope.
By 1950, he was ready to introduce his new wonder: a plastic pen with a clear barrel that wrote smoothly, did not leak and only cost a few cents. He called it the 'Bic Cristal'. The ballpoint pen had finally become a practical writing instrument. The public liked it immediately, and today it is as common as the pencil. In Britain, they are still called Biros, and many Bic models also say 'Biro' on the side of the pen, to remind people of their original inventors.
Bich became extremely wealthy thanks to his invention, which had worldwide appeal. Over the next 60 years his company, Société Bic, opened factories all over the world and expanded its range of inexpensive products. Today, Bic is as famous for its lighters and razors as it is for its pens, and you can even buy a Bic mobile phone.
Adapted from Complete IELTS Band 4.0-5.0
Summary
It is thanks to Marcel Bich that most people today are able to a ballpoint pen. It was the bad quality and of the pens which were available at the time that inspired him to design a ballpoint pen that would be both inexpensive and reliable. After getting permission from the Biro brothers to base his pen on their , he carefully other ballpoints that were sold in the shops, and in 1950 introduced his own version, the 'Bic Cristal'. It was popular with the , and Bich became very rich. His company, Bic, now makes a variety of cheap , such as lighters and razors.
Read the passage.
Rubik's Cube
How the puzzle achieved success
Erno Rubik first studied sculpture and then later architecture in Budapest, where he went on to become a teacher of interior design. It was while he was working as a teacher that he began the preliminary work on an invention that he called the 'Magic Cube'.
Rubik was inspired by geometric puzzles such as the Chinese tangram, a puzzle consisting of various triangles, a square and a parallelogram which can be combined to create different shapes and figures. However, unlike the tangram, which is two-dimensional, Rubik was more interested in investigating how three-dimensional forms, such as the cube, could be moved and combined to produce other forms.
His design consisted of a cube made up of layers of individual smaller cubes, and each smaller cube could be turned in any direction except diagonally. To ensure that the cubes could move independently, without falling apart, Rubik first attempted to join them together using elastic bands. However, this proved to be impossible, so Rubik then solved the problem by assembling them using a rounded interior. This permitted them to move smoothly and easily. He experimented with different ways of marking the smaller cubes, but ended up with the simple solution of giving a different colour to each side. The object was to twist the layers of small cubes so that each side of the large cube was an identical colour.
Rubik took out a patent for the Cube in 1977 and started manufacturing it in the same year. The Cube came to the attention of a Hungarian businessman, Tibor Laczi, who then demonstrated it at the Nuremberg Toy Fair. When British toy expert Tom Kremer saw it, he thought it was amazing and he persuaded a manufacturer, Ideal Toys, to produce 1 million of them in 1979. Ideal Toys renamed the Cube after the toy's inventor, and in 1980, Rubik's Cube was shown at toy fairs all over the world. It won that year's prize in Germany for Best Puzzle. Rubik's Cube is believed to be the world's best-selling puzzle; since its invention, more than 300 million Cubes have been sold worldwide.
Adapted from Complete IELTS Band 4.0-5.0
Match the words with their definitions.
Complete the summary. Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.
Rubik's Cube
Originally named the , Rubik's Cube consists of a number of smaller cubes organized in . The smaller cubes can be twisted in almost any way, though not . The Cube's is shaped in a way that allows the smaller cubes to move smoothly. Each side of the smaller cubes has a different colour, and the aim of the puzzle is to organize the cubes so that the colours on the sides of the large cube are .
The manufacturers of the puzzle changed the name of the Cube to the name of its . It has now sold more than any other in the world.
Now you will hear someone describing how to cook a traditional dessert. Complete the sentences. Write NO MORE THAN FOUR WORDS for each answer.
7 steps to cook the traditional desert
1. Peel and
2. Cook
3. Mix
4. Put in bottom of
5. Rub sugar,
6. Put mixture
7. Bake for
You will hear a student representative welcoming new students to the university and explaining a little about traditional English meals. Listen and complete the notes. Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS OR A NUMBER for each answer.
Notes:
very popular dish: Fish and chips: fried in - not . Popular esp.
Another traditional meal: Sunday lunch
meat, with
Traditionally eaten
You will hear a talk on nutrition. Complete the notes. Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS for each answer.
Topic: Healthy eating
Healthy eating is:
Note: balanced diet incl. meat, veg, fruit, cereals &
Listen to the next part of the talk. Choose THREE reasons why the speaker thinks so many people have an unhealthy diet.
Listen to the last part of the recording and complete the table. Write NO MORE THAN ONE WORD for each answer.
Group responsible:
| Limit advertising for unhealthy food | Stop selling unhealthy snacks and drinks | Make sure children eat a balanced diet |
| Educate the public about a healthy diet | Provide children with fresh and healthy options |