Most/mostly; near/nearly; hard/hardly

1. The company is … in debt and is likely to go bankrupt soon. 2. The

situation they’ve found themselves in seems to be … complicated. 3. For

our company to remain competitive, we need a …-skilled and …-edu-

cated workforce. 4. He knows … well everything there is to know on the

subject. 5. The personnel manager had … finished to interview all ap-

plicants when some new cropped up. 6. The factory has been sold just …

to a small engineering firm. 7. If people could travel … on public trans-

port there wouldn’t be so much traffic congestion. 8. He gave … of both

his time and money to many worthy causes. 9. Work …, play … and be

happy. 10. A number of …-ranking officials have resigned in the wake of

the scandal. 11. The … they can expect is a 4% pay increase. 12. You can

… expect a pay-rise when you’ve been working for the company for two

weeks.

15. Complete the following passage by putting the verbs in brackets into

the correct tense form.

Managers and management scholars alike long (to be intrigued) by

the fact that some employees consistently (to work) harder than others

who equally (to be talented) and qualified. The study of motivation (to

help) managers understand this kind of variance in performance. More

importantly, a working knowledge of what (to motivate) people (to en-

able) managers to take constructive steps to improve their employees’

job performance. The term motivation (to derive) from the Latin word

movere, meaning “to move”. It is virtually impossible to determine a

person’s motivation until that person (to behave) or literally (to move).

By observing what someone (to say) or (to do) in a given situation, one

can draw reasonable inferences about his or her underlying motivation.

As it is used here, the term motivation (to refer) to the psychological

process that (to give) behavior purpose and direction. By appealing to

this psychological process, managers (to attempt) to get individuals to

willingly pursue organizational objectives. Before describing specific

motivation theories and related applications, it is necessary to examine

three important background factors. First, motivation (to occur) amid

complexity, not in isolation. Second, managers often (to make) faulty

assumptions about what employees (to want) from their jobs. Third, so-

cial change (to erode) the usefulness of traditional motivational tools.

16. Fill in the gaps with the correct article if necessary.

Human resource development in Japan consists of four principal

elements. Managers in many Japanese companies believe that … most

important element is … on-the-job training (OJT). … second element is

… focus on … intellectual skills – … know-how to deal with unusual situ-

ations such as changes in or problems with … production. For example,

if … machine is producing defective parts workers must have sufficient

reasoning skills and knowledge to rectify … problem. … third element of

Japanese human resource development is … use of … variety of OJT ex-

periences coupled with short, intensive, off-the-job training (off-JT) to

develop necessary skills. Workers gain … experience in two to three doz-

en positions with … cluster of related workshops or worksites. This broad

OJT allows workers to become familiar with … variety of machinery and

production methods, and it provides … basis for developing vital intel-

lectual skills. Theory-oriented off-JT helps workers develop … ability to

theorize about and systematize their on-the-job experiences. Japanese

workers participate in short (two days to one week) off-JT experiences

inserted between off-JT every … few years. … fourth element of human

resource development in Japan is fair assessment of … skill development

and fair compensation. If two workers are doing … same work but one is

better at … problem solving, that person is compensated accordingly.

17. Fill in the gaps with the correct modal verb.

1. In any business it is important that managers … be efficient. They

… be able to achieve their objectives and to get the right things done.

2. Effective managers learn how to manage their time. They never forget

that time … not be replaced. 3. Before being able to control the time,

the manager … find out how he is actually using it. He … know where it

goes. 4. The manager … not rely on memory when logging time. 5. This

logging time … be done once or twice a year: it shows the executive how

he actually spends his time at work. 6. Once the manager has an accurate

picture of how he uses his time, he … analyse the time log. 7. As a result

of such analysis the manager will get rid of some activities which … be

done just as well by someone else. 8. Some managers like to set aside

certain time for important tasks. For example, they … work at home one

day a week. 9. A common method of managing time is as follows. The

manager works out all the jobs he … do in the coming day or week. Then

he lists the tasks in order of priority. 10. Peter Drucker, the American

expert on management believes that effective executives … acquire the

ability to use time efficiently.

18.* Render the following passage in Russian (10–12 sentences) focusing

on key vocabulary.