A1

MIDTERM EXAM
NAME:
DATE:
AM / PM


I. GRAMMAR TASK: You have 30 minutes to complete this section.

CIRCLE THE CORRECT ANSWER.

1. Dunder Mifflin is a company that __________ paper products since 1985.

a. sell
b. sells
c. is selling
d. has been selling

2. Last year, Dunder Mifflin ______________ five million dollars.

a. earns
b. earned
c. will be earning
d. has been earning

3. Currently, the company ________________ new employees.

a. hired
b. is hiring
c. will be hiring
d. has been hiring


4. In the future the company ____________ an office in Trenton, New Jersey.

a. opens
b. opened
c. will open
d. has been opening




CIRCLE THE MOST APPROPRIATE ANSWER.

(1) Jill was working as a secretary in a law firm. She liked her job, ________ she was unhappy
with her salary. (2) _____________, she checked the job postings on Craigslist every day.
One day she saw that Dunder Mifflin was hiring. (3) She applied for the job ________ she
thought she was a qualified candidate. (4) __________ , she updated her resume. (5)
___________, she wrote a cover letter. (6)__________ , she sent in her application. (7)
_____________, one week later she was contacted for an interview. (8) The interview went
well ______________ she was hired!

(1) a. therefore b. since c. and
d. but
(2) a. for this reason b. despite this fact c. beside this fact
d. in this capacity
(3) a. consequently b. because
c. except
d. although
(4) a. instead b. also c. first d. but
(5) a. yet b. but c. when
d. second
(6) a. although b. next c. since
d. accordingly
(7) a. although b. finally
c. because
d. but
(8) a. or b. but
c. and d. also


CIRCLE THE SENTENCE CLOSEST in MEANING to the underlined word(s).

(1) A: Pam and Jim were lingering over coffee in the break room.
B: What is lingering?
A: You know, they were ____________________

a. enjoying their coffee
b. drinking their coffee in a rush.
c. taking their time to drink their coffee.
d. criticizing the poor quality of the coffee.

(2) A: Jim kept fidgeting with his tie.

B: Whats fidgeting?
A: You know, he was ____________________

a. taking off his tie.
b. looking at his tie.
c. showing Pam his tie.
d. nervously touching his tie.

(3) A: Pam was telling him about her start-up company.
B: What do you mean by start-up?
A: You know, she was explaining ____________________

a. her failing company.
b. her successful company.
c. her newly created company.
d. her well established company.

(4) A: Jim advised Pam that she would need a catchy name for her company.
B: What do you mean, catchy?
A: You know, he suggested a name that was________________

a. attractive.
b. wonderful.
c. businesslike.
d. sophisticated.

II. WRITING TASK: You will have 30 minutes to complete this essay.

In some countries, both new mothers and new fathers are given paid time off to take care of
their newborn baby. In the U.S., only mothers can take off from work. Which system do you
think is better? Write a three- paragraph essay to support your argument.

Be sure to do the following:

- Take a position and present reasons to support your argument
- Organize your essay into paragraphs
- Check the grammar when you finish
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III. LISTENING TASK: You will have 20 minutes to complete this task.

CIRCLE THE BEST ANSWER BASED ON THE CLIP FROM The Office. You will hear this
clip once before you begin the task, and once after.

(1) Why is Erin so excited when she arrives to work?
a. She has a new desk.

b. She was given a new computer.
c. She was late to work and did not get in trouble.
d. She recently received a promotion at the office.

(2) Why is Pam happy?
a. Pam is going on vacation.
b. Pam is getting a pay raise.
c. Pam is employee of the month
d. Pam feels good that she did something nice

(3) Packer is a new employee; what does he need?
a. A desk.
b. A chair.
c. New pencils to write the report.
d. A higher salary with benefits and more vacation.

(4) Why does Dwight get angry at his boss, Michael?
a. The special delivery was a lie.
b. Somebody took hi favorite chair.
c. He wants to move to a new desk.
d. He does NOT want to move to a different desk.

(5) Why does Packer want to sit at Dwights desk?
a. He likes the view.
b. He likes making Dwight angry.
c. He wants to sit with his friends
d. He used to sit at that desk before.

(6) How long as Dwight been sitting at the desk?

a. Ten months.
b. For ten years.
c. For twelve years.
d. Since he arrived to work in the morning.

(7) What did Packer do to the desk?
a. He carved his name in the desk.
b. He spilled some juice on the desk.
c. He did not do anything to the desk.
d. He left his lunch on the desk for everyone to see.

(8) Why does everyone go complain about the new employee, Packer?
a. He talks too much.
b. He is a lazy coworker.
c. They believe he is awful.

d.They believe he stole office supplies.

IV. READING TASK: You will have 30 minutes to complete this task.

READ THE PASSAGE BELOW AND CIRCLE THE BEST ANSWER TO THE QUESTIONS.

This is an interview with Marjorie Kaplan, president of the Animal Planet and Science networks
(a TV show).
Chaos and Order: How to Strike the Best Balance
By ADAM BRYANT

10

15

20

25

30

Q. Do you remember the first time you were somebodys boss?

A. I was working at Ogilvy & Mather. I had several people working for me, some of
whom were spectacular, and one of whom was a lovely, lovely human being who wasnt
going to make it in the business. So it was hard.
Q. And so what did you do?
A. I convinced him that he wasnt going to make it in the business.
Q. How old were you?
A. I was probably in my early 30s.
Q. How did you handle that difficult situation with that one employee?
A. I found it incredibly hard. Its easy to be somebodys friend. Its harder to be their
manager. And that was kind of the baptism-by-fire experience. You have somebody
whom you like enormously, whom you had a real relationship with, and then you have to
find the ways to say, O.K., lets first try to make it better, to try to clear a path for that
person, and then to help
them make the decision not to stay. That was really hard.
Q. So how do you hire? What questions do you ask? And what are you looking for?
A. What I have done very successfully is given people assignments before I hire them.
For example, I have two senior development executives who
work for me. I hired them both. I told them, look at Animal Planet. Tell me
three prime-time shows you like and three shows you dont. And tell me how youd make
them all better. And then in the second round, I asked the people I was really interested
in to actually assess some shows that had come in for development and to do write-ups
on them.
Im looking for bold ideas. I want people who are looking for a challenge. I want to have a
conversation with somebody where we can have a good debate about something. I want
to feel like theyre going to be additive. I want people in the room who are going to tell
me things I havent thought about before.
Q. And what kind of more general questions do you ask?
A. Whats the worst experience youve ever had and why? Whats the most frightening
thing youve ever had to do and why? What have you done in your current job that youre
most proud of, and why? Its about hiring people who are going to go the extra mile, who

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40

45

always want to do a little bit more, who ask you interesting questions about the job, who
want to
know what its going to take to grow. For me, its mostly energy. I also tend to hire people
who lean forward rather than people who sit back.
Q. If you could ask job candidates only a handful of questions to decide whether you
wanted to hire them, what would they be?
A. The obvious questions are: What was your biggest accomplishment
and why are you most proud of it? And, what was your biggest failure and what did
you learn from it? And since were in the television business, you probably have to make
sure you ask, Whats your favorite show on television?I might say, Whats the biggest,
boldest, greatest idea you have for us that were not doing that you think would help
transform
our business? Or, What do you think were doing that were not doing well enough, and
that you think you could make better? And then Id probably ask one about
management. Id probably ask a question like, Whats the one thing youre doing in your
job now that you hope to never have to do again?

QUESTIONS:
(1) Why does Marjorie Kaplan ask people what their favorite show on television is? (line
42).
a. she likes TV
b. she watches a lot of TV
c. she is in the television business
d. she wants her employees to watch TV
(2) How would you best describe Marjorie Kaplan based on this article?
a. an animal lover
b. a creative director
c. a brand new employee
d. an experienced manager

(3) Which qualities best describe what Marjorie Kaplan seeks in a new employee?

a. calm, kind, intelligent

b. organized, social, hospitable
c. thoughtful, energetic, opinionated

d. detail-oriented, attractive, careful


(4) What does Marjorie Kaplan say is difficult about being a boss for the first time?

a. hiring talent
b. paying workers
c. firing employees
d. being a manager

(5) In line 3, the word spectacular most likely means:
a. smart
b. terrific
c. friendly
d. disappointing

(6) Lines 10-16 discuss how Marjorie Kaplan:
a. hired someone

b. fired someone
c. got a promotion
d. became president

(7) Before hiring someone, the Marjorie Kaplan does which of the following?
a. video tape each person
b. give each person an assignment
c. have another person interview them
d. have each person write down questions

(8) Which question does Marjorie NOT generally ask in interviews?

a. Why are you leaving your job?
b. What do you think were not doing well?

c. What is the greatest idea you have ever had?

d. What is your biggest failure and how did it help you grow?


(9) In line 33, the phrase going to go the extra mile most likely describes:
a. a person who is lazy
b. a person with lots of experience
c. a person who has never been fired
d. a person who is a very hard worker


(10) What is the purpose of this article?
a. an article about Animal Plant
b. a guide for employers on how to workers

c. a story about a fictional characters business
d. a look at the management style of an individual




V. SPEAKING TASK: You will have 3 minutes to complete this task (1 minute for
planning, 2 for speaking).

You are interviewing for you dream job (for example: nurse, teacher, engineer). I am
your employer. In 3 minutes, tell me why you are suited for this position. Be sure to talk
about your personal characteristics, as well as your education and the past work
experiences that qualify you for this job.