English Comprehension and Communication Test

"Today the CEO announced that the company will ______ into Europe next year."

Which words best complete the blank in the sentence above?

Your team doesn’t have anyone skilled in data analytics, so your boss asks you to do your best to analyze visitor behavior on the company’s website. A week later, you ask a colleague on a different team for feedback on your work so that you can improve it before presenting to your boss.

After reviewing your analysis, he says, “This makes no sense. Have you ever worked with data before?”

How do you reply?

Your assistant attended several meetings on your behalf while you were out on sick leave. You need to include a summary of each meeting in your next team newsletter. For each meeting below, choose the clearest and most concise way to restate the key points your assistant compiled.

"I quickly ______ my boss’ meeting invite to let him know I would be there."

Which words best complete the blank in the sentence above?

All of the sentences below contain the exact same words. Choose the sentences which place all of the words in correct grammatical order and convey a sensible message.

Your boss told you to project more during meetings so that people standing in the back don't miss anything.

What does project mean in this sentence?

Carefully read the excerpt below.

The Bank of England has hardened(1) its stance on Facebook’s Libra digital currency, telling the social media company it must meet its highest standards to get the green light for launch in Britain.

In its toughest intervention to date, the central bank’s financial policy committee (FPC) said digital currencies such as Libra would need to reach the same high standards as those of traditional payments.

In practice, that would mean digital wallets enabled to hold Libra hitting standards that other cryptocurrencies have so far avoided. These include being part of the UK’s financial services deposit protection scheme, holding capital(2) to protect consumers, and being subjected to central bank stress tests.

In a warning to Facebook, the Bank’s quarterly FPC assessment of emerging financial risks said: "If payment tokens were used widely to facilitate routine payments, they should have the same level of operational resilience(3) and safeguarding as the use of debit cards to make payments from current accounts."

^{(Adapted from original text source.)}

Carefully read the CEO’s speech to the company’s investors.

Our products should not be creating anger between people, even if it is profitable. As long as I’m CEO, this company will not be a supporter of that approach. As members of the community, we have other standards to measure against besides just profit and the last thing we want is for our products to cause bad behavior by their users. So even if the sales of some products stop growing, we’ll quickly get out other products that will make up for that without resorting to harmful tactics. And as we get more products to market faster, our prices will drop quickly, which will encourage more users to try them. In other words, our moral approach to business is something we, as a company, will cash in on.

In the CEO’s speech below, which words best substitute for the corresponding bolded parts above?

Our products should not be _____, even if it is profitable. As long as I’m CEO, this company will not be a _____ of that approach. As members of the community, we have other _____ besides just profit and the last thing we want is for our products to _____ bad behavior by their users. So even if the sales of some products _____, we’ll quickly _____ out other products that will make up for that without resorting to harmful tactics. And as we get more products to market faster, our prices will _____, which will encourage more users to try them. In other words, our moral approach to business is something we, as a company, will _____ on.

You forgot to review a budget proposal by the Monday deadline set by your boss until it was too late to finish it that day. Now, Tuesday morning, your boss asks if you finished all your work yesterday.

What do you say to your boss?

Your company is livestreaming a presentation about its financial position to its global employees and you need to clarify the meaning of some metaphors mentioned by the speakers.

For each of the sentences below, which paraphrase captures its meaning correctly?

Your supervisor tells you that one of your coworkers, Dan, does not want to team up with you on the next project because something you said hurt his feelings.

How do you address the situation?

You drafted an email on your phone in poor lighting while in transit. Now back in the office, you need to proofread what you wrote before sending it out. Read the email draft below.

The agenda for next week’s meeting includes presentations from both the marketing and sales teams. Marisol, you will need to has completed the analysis of the most recent campaign by then. You guys need to present slides of those outcomes at the meeting, OK? Meanwhile, Lucas should do something similar for the sales team. Rather than presenting individual case studies, tries to analyze the quarter as a whole this time. Let's nail these presentations and show the executives how much improvement we have made?

Which sentences have errors in grammar or punctuation?

You have been tasked with giving a presentation at work. Due to the level of detail required, the presentation is scheduled for a total of three hours. About an hour into the presentation, you notice that the audience is getting distracted and starting to pay more attention to their phones than to you.

Which methods would be effective at re-engaging your audience?