English for starter 10 commercial AB

Activity Book

‫ﻡ‬٢٠١٥¥٢٠١٤



Vocational Stream
Commercial Grade 10

Activity Book

‫م‬2015 - 2014
‫المؤسسة العامة للطباعة‬


Contents
Lesson

Title

Page

1

Functions of Management

3

2

Management Concepts

6

3

Appointments

9

Test 1

12

4

Money and Banking

14

5

Bank Accounts

17

6

Customer Service and Loans

20

Test 2

23

7

Office Equipment

25

8

Satellites

28

9

Friendship

31

Test 3

34

10

Account Books

36

11

An Electronic Office

39

12

Success in Life

42

Test 4

45

Correspondence

47

Glossary

60

2

1 Functions of
Management

Exercise 1 Vocabulary

Write the words in the list in the correct boxes below.
company
head office
Juliet

Susan
receptionist
Helen

secretary
sales assistant
training officer

Jobs

Commercial
organisation

Secretary

company

Andy
John
Mark

managing director
Karen
sister company

English names
(for men)

Ian

English names
(for women)

Exercise 2 Name labels
A Write name labels for these people.
Name
1 Ian Banks
2 Karen Dobson
3 Juliet Sanders
4 Mark Norton-Smith
5 Paul Vickers
6 Emma Bradley

Married?
Yes
?
No
?
No
Yes

Mr Ian Banks

B Complete the dialogue.
A Good morning
B Good
. My name’s Ian Banks.
A Welcome to the conference,
Banks. Here’s your name label.
B
you.
3


Exercise 3 Grammar
Choose the correct letter: a, b, c or d.
a receptionist or a secretary?
1
a Huda is
b Huda
c Is Huda
your second language?
2
a Where is
b What is
c When is
receptionist at T ST ?
3 Who
a the
b is she

c Salw a
.
4 Is Ali in his office? No,
a he isn’t
b he is
c she isn’t
5 Is English his second language? Yes,
a he is
b his
c is
is Susan Bennett?
6
a What
b She
c Who

d Is she Huda
d How much is
d is the
d she’s out
.
d it is
d Is she

Exercise 4 Writing
Read this paragraph about Huda. Then write about Andy.
Huda is a secretary. She w orks for a Syrian company in Damascus. Her first language is Arabic and
her second language is English.
Andy

Exercise 5 Numbers
A Write the blue numbers in words.
1 13
2 30
3 43
4 34
5 18
6 12
7 2
8 5
9 15
10 3

4

B Write these jumbled numbers correctly.
1 EHT RE three
2 ENNI
3 NOE
4 FEET NIF
5 RY T HIT
6 ORFU FY T


Unit 1
Exercise 6 The language of maths
A Write the words in the list in the correct boxes.
div ision addition div ide multiplication
subtraction add subtract multiply
Symbol

Verb

Noun

+
–
x
÷
B Match the sentences to the calculations. Then calculate the answers.
1 Subtract three from tw elv e.
a T w elv e times three
2 Add three to tw elv e.
b T w elv e div ided by three
3 Multiply tw elv e by three.
c T w elv e plus three
4 Div ide tw elv e by three.
d T w elv e minus three
2
3
4
ANSWERS 1

5


2 Management
Concepts
Exercise 1 Job requirements

Read these job advertisements and decide which person is most suitable for which job.

W A N R TECEPTIEON I STD

SECR ETAR Y
all
for busy office in sm
company.
d at
Computer skills anperience
ex
s
ar
least two ye
essential.
Reply to box 793.
W AGES CLER K
company.
in manufacturingskills,
Needs computer on and
maths qualificatiar
minimum one ye
t box
experience. Contac
926.

EExp erience
i
–

1 Hanan

d good
Pleasant manner an
mputer
Co
telephone skills.
No
skills preferred. ary.
experience necess
Write to box 628.

CComputer
t skills
kill

M
Maths
th qualification
lifi ti
TTelephone
l
skills

–

✓

✓

2 Ibrahim

1 year

✓

✓

–

3 Reem

3 years

✓

–

✓

1
2
3

6


Unit 2
Exercise 2 Selecting Employees
The following sentences describe a typical process for selecting new employees, but they are in the

wrong order. Reorder the sentences to make a coherent text. The first sentence has been done for
you.
and suitable candidates are invited for interview.
and applications are received.
and a short list of the best applicants is drawn up.
After that, candidates are sorted.
Next, appointments are arranged
A job offer is made to the successful candidate,
and one of them is selected.
and finally, an employment contract is signed.
The candidates on the list are interviewed again,
Firstly, a vacancy is advertised

Exercise 3 Grammar
Rewrite the sentences, using possessive ’ s.
1 This is under the control of the management.
2 You have to write all the phone numbers of the companies.
3 Can you write the name of the customer on the note book of your director?
4 The losses of the company are huge.
5 The manager has to properly deal with the structure of the organisation.

7


Exercise 4 Dialogue
Read and complete the telephone dialogue.
A Good morning. Mike Harper’s office.
?
B Hello. Can I speak to Mike Harper,
here today.

A I’m sorry. He
B What about Della Paine?
lunch at the moment.
A Yes. She’s in today, but
secretary there?
B Is Huda
. I’ll put you through to her.
A Yes, she
.
B

Exercise 5 Industries
Match industries (1-6) to the phrases (a-f). Then use each in a meaningful sentence.
1
2
3
4
5
6

advertising
banking
farming
manufacturing
mining
shipbuilding

a
b
c

d
e
f

producing food
making things
telling everyone about products and services
getting minerals from under the ground
making ships
looking after people’s money and lending money

Exercise 6 Writing
Write a job advertisement using the following guides.
1 what position is available
2 what qualities should the applicant have

8


3 Appointments
Exercise 1 Days of the week
A Write the days in the list in the correct order.
Saturday Friday Monday Sunday
Thursday Tuesday Wednesday
1 Sunday
5

2
6

3
7

4

B Complete the sentences so that they are true to you.
1 The weekend in Europe and America is Saturday and Sunday, but the weekend in Syria is
.
.
2 There isn’t any school on
.
3 My English lessons are on
.
4 My favourite day is
.
5 My busiest day is

Exercise 2 Dialogue
Write the missing word or words in the dialogue.
, Sally? My watch isn’t (2)
.
Don What time (1)
Roberts.
Sally It’s eleven forty-five, (3)
twelve. Thank you. What time am I meeting Mr Smith?
Don Quarter (4)
Mr Smith (6)
twelve o’clock.
Sally (5)
! Oh no! That’s only (8)

Don Twelve (7)
minutes from now! I can’t get there in fifteen minutes!
Sally It’s all right, Mr Roberts.
office is on the other side
Don It’s not all right. Mr (9)
of town. It’s forty-five minutes from here. Get me a taxi quickly.
don’t need a taxi.
Sally But (10)
Don What do you mean?
.
Sally Mr Smith is coming here. You’re meeting him in your (11)
then.
Don Oh, I see. That’s all (12)
9


Exercise 3 Grammar
Rewrite the sentences, using the words in brackets, to give the same meaning.
1 I’m not working on Wednesday afternoon. (… Wednesday afternoon off.)
2 He’s meeting Ali for lunch tomorrow. (… lunch with Ali tomorrow.)
3 When are you visiting New York? (… to New York?)
4 What time is your appointment with Mr Smith? (… meeting Mr Smith?)
5 I’m having lunch with my wife at 1.30. (My wife and I …)
6 There is a holiday tomorrow. (Huda is not …)

Exercise 4 Composition
Write a letter to a friend. Use the guide words in the list.
1
2
3

4
5
6

10

Thank you - message
Yes - meet next week
I - visiting my uncle - Sunday
I - working - cousin’s shop - Monday afternoon
I - not - anything - Tuesday afternoon
What - you - Tuesday afternoon


Unit 3
Exercise 5 Addresses on letters
Draw four envelopes in your exercise book. Write these addresses with correct punctuation on the
envelopes.
1 mr andy whitington 42 baker street london england
2 ms della paine 44 thayer street london w 1 a 4 gd uk
3 western oil company 32nd street new york 01446 usa
4 ms sally harding tst uk 396 cromwell road london sw3 9rt uk

Exercise 6 Email addresses
Complete the text about email addresses by using terms from the list.
abbreviation

at

dot

hyphen

lower case

underscore

This is Omar’s email address at TST:
tst dot com.’
We say the address like this: ‘omar dot alkindi (1)
.
Email addresses can have capital letters, but usually all the letters are (2)
Here is another address:
for company, and uk is
There are two abbreviations in Don’s address: co is an (3)
an abbreviation for United Kingdom.
between his names where Omar uses a dot. Some people use a
Don uses an (4)
.
(5)

11


Test 1
Part One: Reading comprehension
(35 marks)
I Read the text then answer the following
questions.
Creating a Board of Directors

In this age of increasing focus on corporate
governance, a good board of directors is
essential even for small private companies. In
addition to providing governance oversight, a
strong, experienced board can be your advisor
and mentor, can extend your sales force, can
provide access to capital and can keep you out
of trouble.
You must select and recruit the right board
members. You need to identify the types of
skills or expertise and external relationships
that you or others at your company lack. A
good board will provide that expertise and
those relationships, greatly expanding the
capabilities of your company.
There are four basic steps to forming and taking
advantage of a good board:
a Determine the role and responsibilities that
you would like your board of directors to
play and document that role in your
corporate bylaws.
b Identify and recruit board members with the
skills and relationships your company lacks.
c Use board meetings to advance strategic
issues, not to provide an update on the
business.
d Keep your board members actively engaged
in the business between board meetings.
e Finally, if you are a small company, your
board should have 3-5 members, including

yourself.
Questions
1 Name four benefits of having a good board of
directors.
2 What is the most important characteristic
that the board should have?
3 Choose one of the four steps to form a good
board and explain it.
12

4 Match the following words taken from the
text with their meanings.
a oversight
i supervision
b bylaw
ii regulation
c corporate
iii power
d access
iv right to use
e governance
v company
5 Are the following statements true or false?
Correct the false statements.
a A good board expands the capabilities of
your company.
b A small business should have a minimum
of five members.
6 Continue the following sentence: To form and
take advantage of a good board, you should

meet them regularly not to … but to …

Part Two: Grammar and structure
(60 marks)
II Complete the sentences with the right
word related to industries.
1
is telling everyone about
products and services.
is making things.
2
3
is looking after people’s
money and lending money.
is making ships.
4
III Complete the dialogue.
Sally (on the phone):
(thinking): Quick. I must write it down. Paul
Sawyers is meeting Mr Roberts for lunch at 1.30
on Thursday. That’s the day after
tomorrow.)
! He’s having lunch with Richard
Bean on Thursday.
Mr Roberts: Sally, am I doing anything
important on Thursday?
. It’s my
wife’s birthday and I’m meeting her for lunch.
Sally: Oh no!
.

Test 1
IV Fill the text with words from the list.
damaging process blending
organisational problems
emotional energy logic
Leaders and managers should be able to:
towards goals,
1 direct
resources and organisation structure
2 determine the
to be solved
3 see the world as full of colour constantly
new colours and shapes
4 influence people through the use of
, facts and reason
5 view work as an enabling
6 have a low level of
involvement in their work.
V Complete the sentences.
is measuring and reporting
1
actual performance and taking corrective or
preventive action as necessary.
2 The month of July is directly
before
and directly after
.
3 Salwa has two children so we write on a

letter addressed to her
Salwa.
4 20x10%=2 is said
5 If the time is 9.15, we say

VII Choose the correct verb in brackets.
1 Khaled is not working. He (reads / is
reading) a magazine.
2 What (are you doing / do you do) tomorrow?
3 I (am arriving / arrive) at noon tomorrow.
4 (Does / Is) she a secretary?
5 Is she working? Yes, she (is / has).

Part Three: Writing (25 marks)
VIII Read the answer that Mr Smith wrote
to Mr Rich. Then write the appropriate
request letter that Mr Rich had written
to Mr Smith.
Rich Ltd
February 10, 2009
Managing Partner
Garden City

.

or
.
6 Today is Wednesday 22 April; we say today is
the
.

VI Choose the correct word in brackets.
1 (What / Who) is your second language?
2 He is (begining / beginning) his work now.
3 Can you help me (with / for) this computer?

Dear Mr Rich
This is in response to your letter of February 7,
2009, regarding the software you are
requesting. I have reviewed the proposed deal
and determined the cost of the installation of
the new system.
I have attached the whole file for your review.
Please call if you have any questions or require
further information.
Sincerely
Kim Smith
Design Department
Computer Resources Consultants

13


4 Money and
Banking
Exercise 1 Banking phrases

Match the underlined phrases in (A) to the definitions in (B).
(A)
1

2
3
4
5
6
7

My account is in credit.
I’d like to make a w ithdraw al.
I hav e a sav ings account.
Do you w ant to make a deposit?
Can I apply for a loan?
May I take some personal details?
T he account is free if you stay in
credit.
8 I w ant to open an account.

(B)
a keep my money at the bank and earn
interest
b name and address, for ex ample
c has some money in it
d don’t spend more money than you
hav e
e take some money out of my account
f start keeping money in the bank
g ask to borrow some money
h pay some money into your account

Exercise 2 Dialogues

Complete B’s requests for repetition, following the example.
1 A
B
A
2 A

Hav e you got change for ten pounds?
For how much?
T en pounds.
You w ill hav e to pay interest ev ery
month.

B
A Interest.
3 A Fil l in this form and giv e it to Mrs Smith.
B
A Mrs Smith.

14

4 A T here is a list of interest rates on the
board near the cash desk.
B
A Near the cash desk.
5 A Our salaries are paid at the end of the
month.
B
A At the end of the month.
6 A T here are fiv e hundred coins in each bag.
B

A Fiv e hundred.


Unit 4
Exercise 3 Imperatives
Fill in the spaces with words from the list.
check keep make note down write
Sally I never have any money at the end of the month! I don’t understand it! Where does my
money go?
Della There’s an easy way to find out.
Sally How?
a diary for a week.
everything that you spend.
Della
where your money goes.
a record of your spending and
Sally That sounds interesting!
a saving plan and your problem will be solved.
Della Then,
Sally That’s a great idea. I’ll start tomorrow.

Exercise 4 Articles
Read the following sentences. Fill in the blanks with a, an or the where necessary.
record levels in the past three years.
1 Oil prices have risen to
2 If you would like to be able to write
3 Q: What kind of
A: I’m looking for

6 We have to draw up

account.

work are you looking for?
work in a bank or some other financial institution.

4 Your job will be to find as many
5 That’s not

checks, I suggest you open

prospective clients as possible.

good saving plan. We have to think of something better.
new business plan.

old one isn’t good enough.

Exercise 5
Imagine that you went to a bank to open an account. Write the dialogue that occurred between you
and the bank clerk.

15


Exercise 6 Read and complete
Read and complete the four opinions about online banking. Use words from the list.
account available bank click how to log on making
online prefer service site statements transfer
1 Banks are open only during office hours, and

visiting the bank takes time. But online or
Internet banking is (1)
24
hours a day, seven days a week, and it’s there
on my computer screen. If I want to know how
much I’ve got in my (2)
, I don’t
have to wait until the bank opens. I can just
(3)
and see.

rnet
my bank’s Inteen’t got
2 I never use
. I hav
(4)
(5)
time to learn re
fer to talk to aMy
p
I
d
do it, an
a computer.
real person thantomated
,
bank has an au
telephone (6) le 24/7.
b
which is availa

3 I know onli
ne banking is u
her
seful. For
’m in anot
example, you ca
I
f
I
.
s
s
e
in
ia, for
on bus
money from on n (7)
ravel a lot banon or Saudi Arabcal Syrian
t
I
e
ac
4
co
u
n
t
e
lo

to another
without leavin
country - IL can’t walk into my easily access
But I don’t likeg your home or office.
n
,
a
c
le
p
I
.I
exam
, but
it because I’m
(8)
afraid of
)
)
1
2
1
1
(
(
n
s
a
t
c

mistakes. I mig
se I
ccoun
(9)
ht
my bank a nline banking becau
into my
the wrong butt
the screen. So
o
e
k
li
o
)
n
o
3
o
ls
1
n
a
ank (
go to the bank I (10)
nload my bcounting program.
w
to
o
d

an
d
d
o
c
everything the
a
old-fashioned
computer’s
way.

Which two opinions are negative about online banking?

Exercise 7 Banking compound nouns
Fill the spaces with words from the list.
account balance account holder bank charges banknotes credit facilities
debit balance bounced check house loan savings account traveller’s cheques
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

16

The amount of money in your bank account is your
are paper money.
.
The costs of bank services are called
If you have a bank account, you are a(n)
If you have an overdraft, your account has a(n)
If you need to borrow money, the bank may offer you
loan or a credit card.
You need a minimum of $25 to open a(n)
.
You have to pay $20 for every
, please.
I would like to change some
.
I need to apply for a(n)

.

.
.
, such as an overdraft, a
.


5 Bank Accounts
Exercise 1 Vocabulary

Choose the correct word to complete the sentences.
, you must pay interest.
1 If your account is

a in credit
b overdrawn
c secret
d bad
2 Each amount that you pay in or take out of your account is a
a cheque
b balance
c cash
d transaction
.
3 Every month the bank sends its customers
a a list
b an account c a statement d a balance
.
4 The amount that you have in the bank is the
a balance
b account
c interest
d overdraft
if you borrow money.
5 Interest is what you
a pay
b spend
c receive
d charge
, you pay interest.
6 If you have
a a cash card
b an account c a balance
d an overdraft

your account.
7 When you write a cheque, the bank
a charges interest on
b pays interest on
c takes money out of
.
8 If you have money in the bank your account is
a in debit
b in credit
c in balance
d overdrawn

.

d pays money into

Exercise 2 How to use cheques
Complete the dialogue with two words in each gap.
A Can you explain to me how to use a cheque book?
words, you write
B Well, when you want to pay someone, you write a cheque. (1)
the name of the payee on one of (2)
in the book.
mean by ‘payee’?
A What (3)
the person you’re paying to.
B (4)
A I see.
date on the
B You write the amount (5)

cheque too. Then you sign it and give it to (6)
. He sends it to his bank, and
the bank transfers the money from your account (7)
payee’s account.
payee gets the amount that you wrote on the cheque.
A (8)
B Yes, exactly.
. Thanks.
A (9)
17


Exercise 3 The present simple
Fill in the spaces with words from the list.
do (x2) does (x2) doesn’t (x2) don’t like (x2) likes (x2)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

Where
Where
I
Mary
She

you keep your money?
she usually have lunch?
like online banking but I
withdrawing from an ATM.
have lunch in the office.
Internet banking.
you have a bank account? Yes, I
.
he owe the bank any money? No, he
.
to pay in cheques. Susan
to pay in cash.
Helen and Rima

Exercise 4 Comprehension
Read the text and answer the following questions.
Sally has just been on holiday in Syria. She didn’t bring cash with her; she brought traveller’s
cheques instead. Before she left Britain, she collected £200 of traveller’s cheques from her bank.
Two of the cheques were for £50 and the rest were for £20. While she was in Syria, she changed
most of the cheques at banks. She signed the cheques, and the banks gave her Syrian money. At
that time, there were about sixty-nine Syrian pounds to each British pound, so the banks gave
Sally about 1 380 S.P. for a £20 traveller’s cheque.
Traveller’s cheques are better than cash for tourists. If you lose the cheques, a bank will replace
them at once. You can use them in large hotels, travel agents and airline companies. If you have
any left at the end of your holiday, your bank will exchange them when you get home.
Now, Sally is at her hotel. She wants to take a taxi to the airport, but she has no Syrian money
left! She’s going to change her last £20 cheque.
1 How many £20 traveller’s cheques did Sally take to Syria?
2 If her hotel room cost 2000 S.P. , how many £20 traveller’s cheques did she need?
3 The Syrian lira and the British pound are

.
a currencies
b cheques
c banks
d accounts
.
4 Sally got the traveller’s cheques from
a Syria
b a hotel
c her bank
d a friend
5 How much was 69 S.P.?
a 50p
b £1
c £5
d £6
6 Where is Sally going to change her last £20 traveller’s cheque?
a at the bank
b at the airport c at the hotel d in the taxi

18


Unit 5
Exercise 5 Abbreviations
Match the abbreviations in the list to the definitions below.
ATM
1
2
3

4
5
6

a/c payee

b/f or bt/fwd

bal.

a/c

int.

When you borrow money, you must pay this to the lender.
This shows the amount of money in your bank account.
This means that the cheque must be paid into a bank account.
This is the balance from the previous month. It goes at the top of a statement.
You can pay money in or draw money out of this.
This is the abbreviation of a cash machine.

Exercise 6 Writing
Write a paragraph describing two types of bank accounts. Use the guide words from the list.
two types - current account - deposit account
if - a lot of transactions - current account
need - current account - if - write a lot of cheques
if - save money - earn interest - deposit account
many businesses - both types
some private customers - too

19


6 Customer Service
Exercise 1 Reading

and Loans

Read the text and the sentences below. For each sentence write True or False or Not in the text.
Because businesses spend and receiv e large amounts of money, they need safe and efficient w ays
to keep and to transfer their money. So banks prov ide many serv ices to businesses. T hey prov ide
tw o main types of bank account: current accounts and deposit accounts. A current account is for
paying in and taking out money freq uently; a deposit account is for sav ing money and earning
interest. A credit transfer is one w ay of mov ing money q uickly and safely from one account to
another. Com panies also use bankers’ drafts; these are cheq ues from a company’s bank to a
supplier’s bank.
Banks prov ide many other important serv ices to businesses, such as loans, w hich help businesses
to grow . Banks can also prov ide useful financial adv ice. T hey prov ide credit references too: for
ex ample, w hen a new customer asks T ST to supply goods on credit, T ST w ants to know that the
company w ill pay its debts. T ST therefore asks for a credit reference from the company’s bank. T he
reference says w hether the bank thinks the company can repay its debts.
1 T he tex t describes fiv e serv ices that banks offer.
2 Bank managers are efficient people.
3 Co mpanies can use current account cheq ues and bankers’ drafts to pay bills.
4 Banks borrow money from businesses.
5 Banks can help businesses to grow bigger.
6 Banks can offer useful adv ice about money.
7 Banks nev er giv e out information about their customers.
8 A credit reference promises that a company can repay its debts.

Exercise 2 Situations
You are working at the switchboard. What would you say in the following situations?
1 A caller is w aiting for an ex tension that is still engaged. Apologise to the caller.
2 After a w ait, the req uired ex tension is now free and ringing. T ell the caller.
3 T here is no reply from the Sales Of fice. Inv ite the caller to ring back later.
4 T he ex tension is busy. Ask the caller w hether he w ishes to hold or call back later.
5 T here is no reply from the Sales Manager’s ex tension. Of fer to try someone else.
20


Unit 6
Exercise 3 The present simple
Circle the correct word or words.
1 Do you meet
Are you meeting
2

3

4

5

him at the airport on T uesday?

How long

is
the jour ney
does

What time

is
leav ing?
leav e
the train usually
It usually
at 12.
does
leav e?
leav es

Where

is
Mr Bailey? He
does

Hello, w here

6 Is she driv ing
Does she driv e

do you go
are you going

taking?
take?

do.
am.

Yes, I

It usually

take
takes

2 hours.

10.

has
lunch.
is hav ing
now ? I

to w ork ev ery day?

go
am going

Yes, she

home.

is.
does.

Exercise 4 Business words
Answer the questions.
1 What do you call a person w ho has a credit card?
2 What do you call a person w ho organises trav el for customers?
3 What do you call a bank loan w hich you need for house repairs?
4 What do you call a bank loan w hich you need for your company?
5 What do you call a form w hich you complete w hen you apply for a job?
6 What do you call the department in a bank that deals w ith foreign currencies?
7 What do you call a cheq ue that a bank guarantees?
8 What do you call the kind of cheq ue w hich you take on holiday abroad?
9 What do you call a bank account w hich you use for freq uent transactions?
10 What do you call a bank account w hich you use for sav ing money?

A cardholder

21


Exercise 5 Loan agreements
Match the words in the list to their meanings.
conditions

debt

period

repayment

rate of interest

1 a length of time; for ex ample, a loan agreement may be for 90

security

days or 6 months

2 a sum of money that you ow e to a person, a company or a bank
3 the payment of money from a borrow er to the person w ho lent it
4 things (e .g. the period of repayment) that a bank w rites dow n in a loan
agreement
5 something (e .g. a house) that you promise to giv e to someone if you cannot
pay back the money that you hav e borrow ed from them
6 the percentage (%

22

) charge that a bank makes w hen it lends money


Test 2

Part One: Reading comprehension
(35 marks)

I Read the text then answer the following
questions.
Penalising Banks
Banking law s allow banks to charge for serv ice
rendered as they are categorised as serv ice

prov iders for banking matters to the public.
Ex amples of serv ices utilised by most people are
replacement for a lost AT M card or a damaged
AT M card, the use of cheq ue books, transferring
money, etc.
But since the charges by banks for all these
serv ices w ere approv ed, it is obv ious that the
banks hav e taken adv antage and started
charging for v ery little serv ice they render.
But the q uestion is how much is any serv ice
w orth and w hat professional lev el of ex pertise
is applied to serv ices? For ex ample, I w ent to
my bank to report my lost AT M card. T he officer
attending to me made an error w hen punching
in the details of my account and could not get
the correction done. A senior officer attended
to the problem but still could not get it
rectified. I w as told to come back the nex t day.
Isn’t this a case of disserv ice by the bank? I, as
a customer, had to take leav e or ex cuse myself
from w ork, spend time, w aste petrol and pay
parking charges all because of this ‘dis serv ice’
by the bank. T he w orst ex perience inv olv ing
banks w ould be w hen you take a driv e through
the tow n and the traffic only to find the AT M
‘out of serv ice’.
What I w ould like to suggest is that, w herev er
or w henev er any charge for serv ice by a bank
is mentioned, there is a salient clause for
possible ‘dis serv ice’. It’s time somebody looks

into this and the suggestion is that the penalty
should be ten times the amount charged for the
serv ice.
Questions
1 What is the main idea of the tex t?
2 How are the tw o ex amples giv en by the
w riter dissatisfying? Ex plain.
3 Com plete the sentences.
a T he banks prov ide for the follow ing
serv ices:
b T he bank should be penalised

4 iF n d in the tex t w ords that mean:
a prov ided
b accepted
c helping
d superior
e main
5 Hav e you ev er heard people complaining
about bank serv ices? Giv e an ex ample.

Part Two: Grammar and structure
(60 marks)
II Fill the text with words from the list.
account cardholder cashier
industry month payment signs
transfers v oucher
Now adays many businesses accept
by credit card, especially busi(1)
nesses in the tourist (2)

, such as
hotels and trav el agents. So how do credit cards
w ork?
T he (3)
(a hotel guest for ex ample)
giv es his or her card to the (4)
.T he
card has the cardholder’s name and
(5)
number on it. T he cashier uses a
small machine that (6)
the name and
number from the card onto a paper
.
(7)
III Complete the dialogue.
Banker
Salah I’d like to open a bank account, please.
Banker
Salah I need a current account and I’d also
like a credit card and a debit card.
Banker
. T hat
w ill giv e you free banking prov iding
you stay in credit. Are you interested
in Internet banking?
Salah
. My
office is jus t round the corner, so it’s
q uite easy for me to get to the bank

during opening hours.
23