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SECTION TEST - GENERAL TRAINING READING
(Time: 60 minutes)

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Passage 1

Passage 2

Recycling at work - handy hints to employers

It is estimated that avoidable waste costs UK businesses up to 4.5% of their annual revenue. Reducing waste in the workplace is about being efficient. By becoming more efficient, businesses not only increase profits but they also save natural resources.

On the island of Jersey, for example, the amount of waste produced each year has doubled since 1980. In 2004 it topped 100,000 tonnes - and 60% is generated by local businesses. A lot of waste for a small island!

Setting up a company scheme

Waste audit

Before starting a recycling scheme, perform an audit. This will make you aware of how much waste you are producing in the company.

Company policy

Consider switching your office waste contractor to one that provides a recycling service.

Buy recycled paper. Although this is sometimes more expensive, costs can be reduced by lowering consumption and using duplex printers.

Get everyone involved

• Raise awareness internally within the company, perhaps by putting up educational posters.

• Allocate a person to be the point of contact for anyone with queries.

There are also a couple of ways to increase motivation:

• Hold internal competitions between different departments. For example, see which can reduce their waste the most within a specific time period.

• Send out regular newsletters reporting on all waste improvements. Staff will then see the impact their actions are having.

What to recycle and how

Paper

According to a recent survey, 65% of waste produced is paper waste. Waste paper will inevitably be produced in the workplace, but it is not necessary to discard it. It can serve a variety of purposes before it is recycled, such as writing notes. Envelopes too can be re-used for internal mail.

Plastic cups

Rather than supplying disposable plastic cups in your workplace, get ceramic mugs that can be re-used. Not only do they make your tea taste better, but they can reduce your office waste by up to 1%!

Electrical equipment

Rather than giving up on any old electrical equipment and just throwing it away, why not try upgrading it? This reduces waste, as well as avoiding the need to manufacture a new machine - a process which creates a large amount of waste. You could also consider donating your old computers to charities when it comes to replacing them.

Answer the questions below. Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the text for each answer.

charities/ to charities newsletters/ regular newsletters notes/ writing notes printers/ duplex printers posters/ educational posters audit/ an audit/ waste audit mugs/ ceramic mugs

What does the writer think should be carried out in a company before it starts recycling?

What machines can help to cut the stationery budget?

What can be displayed in the workplace to publicise the recycling scheme?

What can be distributed to motivate staff to recycle more?

What can unwanted paper be used for in the office?

What can be bought to cut down on the waste produced by staff refreshments?
Where can unwanted PCs be sent?

How to answer any interview question

To start, take a tip from consultants who coach executives on how to handle media interviews. They say you can deliver the message you want to an employer, regardless of the question you're asked.

’Unlike some politicians, who take no notice of press questions and immediately introduce a different topic in response, job candidates must answer employers' queries,' says John Barford of the interview training firm Genesis. 'However, you can quickly make the transition from your answer to the important points you want to convey about your qualifications,' he says.

He advises candidates at job interviews to apply the formula Q = A + 1: Q is the question; A is the answer; + is the bridge to the message you want to deliver; and 1 is the point you want to make.

Diligent preparation is also necessary to effectively answer any interview question, say senior executives. They give a number of useful tips:

• Learn as much as you can beforehand. Ask company employees questions prior to job interviews to gain as much insight as you can. If the company is publicly owned, find out how viable it is by reading shareholder reports. You can then tailor what you say to the company's issues.

• Be prepared for questions that require you to show how you handled difficult challenges. These questions require stories in response, but as it's unlikely that you'll have one that fits every situation, try to recall some from your past experience that show how you coped with a range of issues.

• Count on being asked about a past mistake or blemish on your career record, and don't try to dodge the issue. Ms Murphy, president of the Murphy Group, a media interview training firm, says that it's important to steer clear of lies at all costs. Just answer the question and move on.

• When discussing a mistake, focus on the positive outcomes. 7ou learn as much by dropping the ball as you do by catching it,' says senior executive Mr Friedmann. When he was being interviewed for his current job, he mentioned he had been involved in many successful turnarounds and one that failed. ’And I said how I'd benefited in many ways from going through that experience,' he says.

Complete the sentences below. Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the text for each answer.

lies politicians/ some politicians employees/ company employees benefited/ benefitted shareholder reports formula

The writer warns candidates not to imitate the way that ignore questions in interviews.

Interviewees are recommended to follow a certain to allow them to communicate their main points.

Senior executives advise candidates to request information from before an interview.

A candidate can also learn about a business by studying its .

The head of an interview training firm advises people to avoid telling .

In his job interview, one executive explained how he had considerably from a previous failure.

Passage 3

The Construction of the White House

Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, DC, the White House was originally designed by James Hoban, an Irish-born American architect. In 1792, after defeating eight other entrants, Hoban won a contest to design a mansion for the president of the United States. President George Washington oversaw the original construction, which began on October 13, 1792. Prior to the design contest, engineer Pierre Charles L’Enfant had worked with President Washington to design the capital city. L’Enfant’s vision of the president’s house was four times larger than the mansion Hoban built. Labor and material expenses required Hoban to build the house on a much smaller scale, with only two main floors instead of three. In addition, rather than using the expensive imported stone of his original plan, the majority of the brick he used was made right on site. Hoban employed builders and craftsmen from overseas as well as local slaves and laborers. The total expenditure for the project was $232,372. This was just a fraction of what L’Enfant’s proposed palace would have cost.

James Hoban’s design was a near copy of a residence in James Gibbs’s Book of Architecture, published in 1728. Neoclassicism, influenced by the Greco—Roman style, was the popular choice for architects throughout Europe during that time. When Napoleon became emperor, he employed the best architects he knew to transform Paris into a classical Roman capital. Roman triumphal arches and Corinthian columns adorned all of Paris’s major structures. Architects in Germany built monuments, halls, and theaters inspired by classic Greek structures such as the Acropolis in Athens. The popularity of the neoclassical style grew internationally, spreading as far as America. Though the architectural styles were borrowed from classical designs, each country added a unique flair in order to achieve a sense of nationalism in its capital.

The house that James Hoban designed was not completed until after the second president of the United States took office. Despite the unfinished interior, President John Adams and his family moved from the temporary capital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, into the president’s house on November 1, 1800. Throughout his term, Adams lived in the mansion with half-finished walls, no heating, and no running water. The interior of the building was completed in 1801 during Thomas Jefferson’s term. Before Jefferson moved in, he hired architect Benjamin Latrobe to install coal-burning fireplaces and two water closets. Latrobe also created two terraces on the east and west sides of the building and installed a furnace that relied on kettles and pipes in the basement.

Just over twenty years after the construction of the president’s house began, the building was burned down during the War of 1812. After British troops torched the house on August 25, 1814, rumors surfaced as to whether the capital would be moved inland. However, the Battle of New Orleans, an encounter in which the Americans came out victorious over Britain, evoked a sense of nationalism in the country’s heart. The victory inspired the rebuilding of the president’s house, a task that was once again handed over to James Hoban.

Hoban worked on the rebuilding for two years before President James Monroe moved into the unfinished home and purchased a number of furnishings. Benjamin Latrobe, who later built the Capitol building, designed large porticos for the house with columns that supported the roof. In 1824, his south portico was completed with a double staircase leading up to the new porch. The north portico was completed in 1830 during the presidency of Andrew Jackson. Though these columns give the White House its distinguishing features today, there was some criticism at the time that they overshadowed the intricate stone carvings on the house. During Jackson’s term, running water was installed, though a furnace and gas lighting were not introduced until the 1840s.

Major renovations on the president’s house continued through the 1800s, including modern innovations such as the telephone and electric wiring. A hot water system, a greenhouse, a private bath, and a number of conservatories were also added. The conservatories, including the rose and orchid houses were removed in 1902, when construction began on the West Wing. The president’s Oval Office was added to the West Wing at the order of President Taft in 1909. Each succeeding president and first lady contributed to the interior and its furnishings. Inspectors ordered a full renovation of the White House after the building almost collapsed while a balcony was being added for Harry Truman in the late 1940s. During the temporary closure, all of the modern conveniences, including central air conditioning were added. The last major modification to the White House was the removal of over forty layers of paint from the exterior walls in 1978.

For over 100 years, the White House was only a nickname associated with the presidents’ home. This term was likely related to the whitewashed exterior that stonemasons completed in 1798. The home was either referred to as the “President’s House” or the “Executive Mansion” until Theodore Roosevelt formally established it as the White House soon after taking office in 1901.

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