General Training Reading Test 2 with Answers

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Questions 15–27

Read the text below and answer Questions 15–21

Conditions of employment

Weekly hours of work – 40 hours per week at the ordinary hourly rate of pay for most full-time employees, plus reasonable additional hours (penalty rates  apply). Part-time employees work a regular number of hours and days each week, but fewer hours than full-time workers. Casual employees are employed on an hourly or daily basis.

Entitlements (full-time employees):

Parental leave – up to 12 months’ unpaid leave for maternity, paternity and adoption related leave.

Sick leave – up to 10 days’ paid sick leave per year; more than 4 continuous days requires a medical certificate.

Annual leave – 4 weeks’ paid leave per annum, plus an additional week for shift workers.

Public holidays – a paid day off on a public holiday, except where reasonably requested to work. Employees working on public holidays are entitled to 15% above their normal hourly rate.

Notice of termination – 2 weeks’ notice of termination (3 weeks if the employee is more than 55 years old and has at least 2 years of continuous service)

Note:

The entitlements you receive will depend on whether you are employed on a full-time, part-time or casual basis.

If you work part-time, you should receive all the entitlements of a full-time employee but on a pro-rata or proportional basis.

If you are a casual worker, you do not have rights to any of the above entitlements nor penalty payments. Casual workers have no guarantee of hours to be worked and they do not have to be given advance notice of termination.

1 Penalty rate = a higher rate of pay to compensate for working overtime or outside normal hours e.g. night-time or on public holidays.

Questions 15–21

Do the following statements agree with the information given in the text?

True – if the statement agrees with the information

False – if the statement contradicts the information

Not Given – if there is no information on this

15. Part-time workers are entitled to a higher rate of pay if they work more than their usual number of hours per week. 16. Casual workers may be hired by the hour or by the day. 17. A full-timer who takes a year off to have a baby can return to the same employer. 18. A full-time worker needs a doctor’s note if he is sick for 4 days in a row. 19. A full-time night-shift worker is entitled to 5 weeks’ paid holiday each year. 20. Any workers over 55 are entitled to 3 weeks’ notice of termination. 21. Casual workers can be dismissed without notice.

Questions 22–27

The text below has six sections, A–F.

Choose the correct heading for each section, A–F, from the list of headings below. Write the correct number, i–x.

List of Headings i. Written communication ii. Clarity iii. Style iv. Research v. End of message vi. One point per email vii. Relevance viii. Specify the response you want ix. The subject line x. Internal emails

22. Section A 23. Section B 24. Section C 25. Section D 26. Section E 27. Section F

Writing Effective Emails

Follow these simple rules to make a positive impression and get an appropriate response.

A) Like a headline in a newspaper: it should grab the recipient’s attention and specify what the message is about – use a few well-chosen words. If the email is one of a series e.g. a weekly newsletter, include the date in the subject line. Never leave it blank.

B) If you need to email someone about several different issues, write a separate email for each subject. This allows the recipient to reply to each one individually in a timely manner. For instance, one subject might be dealt with quickly while another could involve some research. If you have several related points, put them all in the same email but present each point in a numbered or bulleted paragraph.

C) Your email should be clear and concise. Sentences should be short and to the point. The purpose of the message should be outlined in the first paragraph and the body should contain all of the relevant information.

D) Be sure to include a ‘call to action’ – a phone call or a follow-up appointment perhaps. To ensure a prompt reply, incorporate your contact information – name, title, company, phone/fax numbers or extensions, even your business address if necessary. Even internal messages must have contact information.

E) Only use this technique for very short messages or reminders where all the relevant information can fit in the subject line. Write EOM at the end of the line to indicate that the recipient doesn’t have to open the email.

F) Emails, even internal ones, should not be too informal – after all, they are written forms of communication. Use your spell-check and avoid slang.

Questions 28–40

Read the text below and answer Questions 28–40.

Making the Cut

When we talk about how films convey meaning we tend to refer to acting, music, dialogue, props and narrative developments, but often forgotten is the visual essence of a film itself, which is the cutting together of moving images – “motion pictures” – each one carefully tailored to meet a particular need or purpose.

Most films and many important scenes within them open with an establishing shot. Typically this shot precedes our introduction to the main characters by presenting us with the locale in which the scene’s action or dialogue is about to occur. Occasionally, however, a director will use an establishing shot with another goal in mind. An opening view of a thousand soldiers parading in synchronized fashion might have little to reveal about the film’s geography, for example, but it does inform the audience that ideas about discipline and conformity are likely to arise in the material that follows. In this way, establishing shots can also introduce a film’s theme.

After an establishing shot, most directors choose a long shot in order to progress the narrative. This type of shot displays the entire human physique in relation to its surroundings, so it is ideal for bridging the narrative divide between location and individual activity. A long shot is therefore often used to centre on a pivotal character in the scene. A film might begin with an establishing shot of bleak, snowy mountains and then cut to a long shot of a lone skier, for example, or a sweeping panorama of a bustling metropolis could segue into a street view of someone entering a building.

From here the door is wide open for directors to choose whichever shots will enhance the narration. Close-up shots are popular in suspense sequences – a handgun being loaded, a doorknob being turned, the startled expression of someone freshly roused from sleep. Confining the visual field in this way adds to the viewer’s apprehension. Dramatic films will probably want to emphasise character interaction. The third-person shot – in which a third of the frame consists of a rear view of a person’s upper torso and head – can be effectively utilised here. This shot encourages us to actually slip into the persona of that character, and vicariously live through their experiences.

A number of special-purpose shots are used quite rarely – once, if at all, in most films. One such type is the money shot. A money shot has no specific technical features or content, but is typically the most expensive element of a film’s production values and comes with a cost massively disproportionate to its screen time (which may be limited to just a brief glimpse). Because of its spectacular, extravagant nature, however, the money shot is a major revenue generator and is widely exploited for use in promotional materials. Money shots are most popular amongst – but not limited to – high visual-impact genres such as action, war, thriller and disaster films.

But more affordable shots can also add an interesting twist to the story. The Dutch tilt can depict a character in a state of psychological unease by shooting them from a jaunty angle. In this way they appear literally and metaphorically unbalanced. A trunk shot often shows a small group of characters peering into the trunk of a vehicle. It is filmed from a perspective within the trunk itself, although frequently to avoid camera damage directors will simply place a detached piece of trunk door in the corner of the frame. This shot was a favourite of Quentin Tarantino and has been used in many crime and gangster films, often as a first-person shot through the eyes of someone who is tied up and lying inside the vehicle. A shot that has gained traction in avant-garde circles is the extreme close-up. This is when a single detail of the subject fills up the entire frame. Alfred Hitchcock famously used an extreme close-up in ‘Psycho’, when he merged a shot of a shower drain into a view of a victim’s eye. It has also been used in Westerns to depict tension between duelling gunmen eyeing each other up before a shoot out.

Not all types of shots are used in order to enhance the narrative. Sometimes financial restrictions or technical limitations are a more pressing concern, especially for low-budget film makers. In the early murder mysteries of the 1920s and 1930s, the American shot – which acquired its name from French critics who referred to a “plan américain” – was used widely for its ability to present complex dialogue scenes without alterations in camera position. Using the American shot, directors have their cast assemble in single file while discussing key plot points. The result is an efficiently produced scene that conveys all relevant information, but the trade off is a natural tone. Because few people in real life would ever associate in such an awkward manner, American shots tend to result in a hammy, stiff feel to the production.

Questions 28-33 

Look at the following descriptions (Questions 28–33) and the list of terms below.

Match each description with the correct term, A–J.

28. A group of people, full length body shot 29. Two people, only one facing camera, head and shoulders shot 30. Distance shot of central city, from the air 31. A single person, head and shoulders, off-centre angle shot 32. Lone pedestrian, walking a city street 33. A flaming bus, about to crash

List of Terms A. Trunk shot B. Dutch tilt C. Establishing shot D. Money shot E. American shot F. Long shot G. Extreme close-up H. Third-person shot I. First-person shot J. Close-up

Questions 34-37

Answer the questions below:

Choose no more than three words from the passage for each answer.

34. Which two aspects of story can be shown with an establishing shot? 35. What does a long shot focus our attention on? 36. What do close-ups restrict in order to make audiences nervous? 37. What does a third-person shot place importance on?

Questions 38–40

Complete the summary below.

Choose no more than two words fom the text for each answer.

Some shots are not used very often. Money shots have a high 38 ………. considering that they only last for a few seconds. The money shot brings in a lot of money, however, and is an important part of the film’s 39 ………… Other, less expensive shots can still be fascinating: a character can be made to seem 40 ……….. in both mind and body when filmed with a Dutch tilt, for instance.

Remember, there are three sections to the Reading test and you have 60 minutes to complete all three!

You have now reached the end of your Reading test; download the answers and see how well you have done.