Read the text below and answer Questions 1–7.
Car Rental Advertisements
Agency A
Good Deal Car Rentals
Have we got a deal for you!
Compact cars only $375/week
We offer:
• The lowest rates in town
• Two convenient locations
• Payment by cash or credit card
To reserve your car, call us at:
432-555-0943 (airport)
432-555-7118 (train station)
Open from 7:30 A.M. to 9:30 P.M. every day of the week
Agency B
Fast ‘n Frugal Car Rental
• Compact and mid-sized cars
• Vans
• Small trucks
• Rent by the day, week, or month
We have the best rates in town. Compact cars start at $350/week.
Special prices for National Car Club members—10 percent off our usual low prices!
Reserve your vehicle today by calling our convenient downtown location:
921-555-9642
Open 6:30 A.M. to 10:30 P.M. every day. Closed Sundays.
All major credit cards accepted. No cash, please.
Agency C
Dollar Dan’s Rent-a-Car
• Conveniently located next to the Hilltown Hotel
• Guaranteed lowest prices around. Compact cars only $35/day.
We have hundreds of compact, mid-sized, and luxury cars to choose from, all right on our lot. So come on down and pick out your car. There’s no need to reserve a car at Dollar Dan’s because we guarantee that we’ll always have a car available for you.
• Visit us anytime. We’re open twenty-four hours/day, seven days/week.
• Payment by credit card only.
______________
Read the text below and answer Questions 8–11.
Spanish for Health-care Workers
Instructor: Dr. Lucia Mendez
A
Classes are held in Room 203. The class meets twice weekly, Monday and Wednesday evenings from 6:30 to 8:15 P.M. You are expected to attend every class and to arrive on time. Please speak with the instructor about any unavoidable absences.
B
We will use the text Spanish for Health-care Workers. Students are required to read one or more chapters before each class (see reading schedule below). In addition, each student will prepare an oral presentation to give to the class before the end of the semester. The Language Laboratory, Room 302, is open Monday–Friday from 9:30 A.M. until 8:30 P.M. In addition to attending class, each student must complete a weekly exercise in the lab.
C
There will be four to five quizzes throughout the semester in addition to a midterm and a final exam. Missed quizzes or exams will count against your grade; there will be no make-ups. The breakdown for calculating each student’s final mark is as follows: quizzes and exams—50 percent; oral presentation—30 percent; class participation—20 percent. A grade of B or higher is required to pass this class.
D
If you need extra help or would like to discuss anything with the instructor, my office hours (Room 320) are 5:00–6:30 on Mondays and Wednesdays. The Language Lab staff is also available to help you with your assignments. In addition, individual Spanish tutors are available. Please talk to the staff in the Language Lab for more information about tutors.
Read the text below and answer Questions 15–20.
Asking for a Raise
If you are thinking about asking for a raise in salary, there are several things to keep in mind. First, consider whether you deserve a higher salary. You probably do, but you should be able to explain exactly why to your boss. Sit down and make a list of your job accomplishments. Be as specific as possible. For example, think about important projects you have worked on, things you have done to improve the organization of work in your department, or how your efforts have brought more money to the company. Also include any professional development opportunities you have taken advantage of recently and be ready to explain how they have improved your performance on the job. By going through the process of listing your accomplishments, not only will you be better prepared when you meet with your boss, you will also feel more confident that you deserve what you are asking for.
Bear in mind that salary levels are based not only on performance but also on the market for your particular skills. Before you ask for a raise, you will need to do some research. You should investigate the industry standards for salaries for people in similar positions with similar levels of experience. This will help you determine what would be a reasonable amount of money to ask for. Your initial request should actually be slightly higher than the amount you want in order to leave some room for negotiation. Then, if you have to go lower than this amount, you still end up with something close to what you want.
A crucial point is the timing of your request. If you have recently been given new responsibilities, it makes sense to ask for a higher level of compensation. On the other hand, if the company is going through financial difficulties, a request for more money will probably not be met with a favorable response. It would be better to wait until the company is in a better financial position. Finally, there is one thing you should never do: Never give personal reasons for wanting a higher salary. Your need to pay your child’s college tuition or buy a bigger house is of no concern to your boss. Your salary level should be based on professional considerations alone, and that is where you need to keep the conversation.
______________
Read the text below and answer Questions 21–27.
Hanson, Inc. Employee Manual - Chapter V: Employee Benefits
Leave
All full-time employees are entitled to a minimum of two weeks of annual leave time. Employees who have completed five years at Hanson are entitled to three weeks of annual leave. After completing ten years at Hanson, employees may have four weeks of annual leave. In order to take advantage of annual leave time, the employee must complete the Request for Annual Leave Form and submit it to his or her supervisor a minimum of thirty days in advance. The supervisor has the final decision about whether to grant the leave as requested. Any annual leave days not used in a calendar year may be rolled over and added to the leave days for the following year. In addition to annual leave, all full-time employees are entitled to ten personal leave days per year. Personal leave days must be used within the calendar year, or they will be forfeited. Part-time employees are entitled to five personal leave days per year.
Health Insurance
Employees may choose to sign up for a company-sponsored health plan. Complete information on the available plans can be requested from the Human Resources Department. Health benefits are also provided for the employee’s spouse and children. The company pays 50 percent of the monthly premiums, with the other 50 percent being deducted from each paycheck. Part-time employees are also eligible for the company-sponsored health plans; the company pays 25 percent of the premiums.
Retirement
Employees may determine how much they wish to contribute to the company retirement fund, up to 5 percent of their salary. Contributions will be deducted from each paycheck. The company will contribute an equal amount to each employee’s retirement fund. This benefit is available to both full-time and part-time employees.
Read the text below and answer Questions 28–40.
Green Energy
As energy prices rise and the effects of greenhouse gas emissions become more widespread, people everywhere are becoming increasingly concerned about using fossil fuels. More and more people are turning to so-called “green technologies” as a way to reduce dependence on nonrenewable fossil fuels. The ideal alternative energy source would be sustainable (the supply will not be exhausted), clean (no emissions), and reliable. The three most popular alternative energy sources are geothermal power, solar power, and wind power.
Since geothermal energy taps heat from the earth, its resources range from water found just below the surface of the earth, to hot water and hot rock found a few miles below the surface, to even deeper rock of extremely high temperatures. In a process similar to drilling for oil, wells as deep as a mile or more can be drilled into underground reservoirs to tap steam and hot water that are used to run turbines and create energy. Power companies can then transmit this energy over power lines.
Geothermal power on a smaller scale can be used for heating and cooling houses or commercial buildings. Geothermal heat pumps, also known as ground-source heat pumps, rely on the fact that the earth beneath the surface remains at a relatively constant temperature throughout the year. Like a cave, the ground is warmer than the air above it during the winter and cooler in the summer. The geothermal heat pump transfers the heat stored in the earth into the building during the winter, and transfers it out of the building and into the ground during the summer. The ground, in other words, acts as a heat source in winter and a heat sink in summer. While geothermal heat pumps are an emissions-free and reliable source of energy, the biggest disadvantage is that such systems are expensive to install.
Solar energy has come a long way from the clunky boxes of the 1970s. Today, solar energy is commonly collected by sleek and efficient photovoltaic (PV) panels. The photovoltaic cells convert sunlight directly into electricity and are made of semiconductors such as crystalline silicon or other thin-film materials. The benefits of solar power vary according to how much exposure a given building has to the sun. However, one does not need to live in the desert to take advantage of solar power. Cloudy Germany is the worldwide leader in the use of solar power.
Solar power is not as pricey as geothermal power, but having a panel professionally installed can still be costly. Some enterprising home-owners reduce the initial costs by purchasing inexpensive kits and setting up the system on their own. The biggest disadvantage of a solar power system is its dependence on the amount of sunlight collected, but some cutting-edge panels can generate energy even in the rain.
Wind power is created when wind is used to generate mechanical power or electricity. Most wind turbines convert the wind’s kinetic energy into mechanical power. The wind turns the blades, which spin a shaft connected to a generator. A generator then converts this mechanical power into electricity. A group of wind turbines can produce electricity and feed it into the utility grid, where it is sent through transmission lines to homes and businesses. Like solar and geothermal energy, wind is a renewable resource that produces no emissions.
Small wind energy systems can be used by homes, farms, or communities. Such systems can be connected to the larger electrical grid or used for stand-alone energy generation—a particularly attractive option for anyone living far from power company lines. A grid-connected wind turbine can reduce one’s reliance on the power company for electricity. If the turbine cannot deliver the needed energy, the power company then makes up the difference. However, in order to take advantage of wind energy, a turbine must be in an area with average wind speed of at least 10 miles an hour, and such systems can be very expensive.
Whether a given home or business uses wind, solar, or geothermal power depends on a variety of economic and environmental factors. However, experts agree that investing in alternative energy now—whether by individuals or power companies—will pay dividends in the future.