Read the information below and answer Questions 1–14.
Fundraising Ideas 3: Car Boot Sale
A Car boot sales are a great way to raise money. Even if you don't have a lot of things you don't need, you can ask your friends and family to do a clear-out and give you their unwanted items to help you raise money. Spring is a great time to hold a car boot sale, before everyone goes on holiday and the days get too hot.
B Many people have found this a great way to start their fundraising; it doesn't take a lot of preparation and can raise quite a lot of money in one day. In the past volunteers have raised between £50 and £100 from one car boot sale; you could easily make £200–300 by doing two or three car boot sales if you have a lot of stuff to sell.
C Lots of websites advertise dates for car boot sales. Look at Your Car Booty and Car Boot Junction – websites that list boot sales across the UK. Otherwise, you can pick up your local newspaper or search for 'car boot sales' near you on the internet.
D Look in your garage, shed or attic. If you are not much of a collector, then contact your family and friends to see if they can give you anything to sell. Tell people about the sale through Facebook and Twitter. You could also put up an advert in your local shop asking people to donate their unwanted goods. Tell them it's for a good cause.
E Have a clear-out of all of your stuff, from clothes to furniture. In my house, the garage, shed and loft are normally great places to start! If you're not much of a hoarder, then it's a great idea to contact your friends and family members and see if they have anything you could sell. You can sell pretty much anything at boot sales, including clothing, books, jewellery, CDs, DVDs, games, furniture and kitchen items. Some car boot sales will also let you sell cakes or other food items (but make sure you check first); this can be a great boost to your fundraising and may attract people to your stall too!
F First of all, tell the place holding the car boot sale that you are selling for a good cause – they may offer a lower pitch price for stalls raising money for charity. Next, work out the prices for your items in advance, and either put stickers on them or put a sign up, for example 'All CDs £2'. Advertise that you are raising money for charity, and if people try to bargain you down on your prices, remind them you are raising money for a good cause. They may want to go with the higher price. Finally, check whether tables are provided. If not, you will need to remember to pack one.
G Tip 1: Put your alarm clock on! Car boot sales often start early. Take some hot coffee/tea/chocolate and dress up warm; you will probably be standing outside for a couple of hours!
Tip 2: Early in the car boot sale, you will have people wanting to buy your items at a cheap price. They will then put them on their own stall to sell at a higher price so don't sell all your items too early. Try to have a friend help you in the first couple of hours of the sale.
Tip 3: Say no when people haggle with you if you think the price they are offering is too low.
Read the information below and answer Questions 15–25.
Staff training events
A Efficiency training
A better understanding of time management and time management techniques can make you more effective in your work, enabling you to achieve more in fewer hours and giving you time to relax properly. This course is a blend of online materials that will let you try things out before you have a short face-to-face session.
B Performance review for reviewees
As an employee, it is your responsibility to get the best out of your work so that your team functions at its full potential. This course will develop the skills you need to understand your performance review and focuses on the company policies which must guide you in your work. Presentation, DVD and group discussion will be used to give you an opportunity to practise in a supportive environment.
C Health and safety
This online course provides basic information about health and safety in the company and helps you to understand your responsibility to keep yourself safe, look out for the safety of others, and co-operate with other departments in the company in an emergency.
D Diversity and equality training
The company aims to provide a work environment free from unfairness. The course focuses on the law and people's rights, and looks at how we can accept and celebrate our differences. Improving our workplace culture can often be challenging, so the first step is to increase our knowledge, understanding and skills in this area.
E IT systems and remote working
Managing an effective team can be difficult even when the team is based in the same office, but when team members are working in different locations sometimes even based abroad, management becomes a real challenge. Remote working is on the increase and managers need all the help they can get to make it work. This course will enable you to deal with remote working, ensuring that your team feels motivated and integrated.
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Read the text below and answer questions 20–25.
Applying for staff development funds
The company sees staff development as a priority and is committed to developing the experience, knowledge and ability of all staff regardless of position within the organisation.
The company has an annual budget for staff development, and staff are encouraged to apply for funds for training relevant to their job or any training identified in their yearly performance review. While it may be appropriate for some staff members to attend more than one training session, there is a limit of three sessions per year per staff member.
Funding should always be approved prior to incurring costs. This is to ensure that we are able to monitor the staff development budget. It also ensures that staff can be reimbursed for expenses. Without approval, there is a risk that a staff member will personally have to bear the cost of any training he or she has had.
The approval process:
1 Speak to your line manager about the training for which you would like to apply for funding. Afterwards, please make sure you have the agreement in writing so that the Staff Development Manager and Financial Officer are able to find evidence of the agreement in case any problems occur.
2 On agreement, you will need to complete a staff development form and submit it to the Staff Development Manager. He/She will review your application and reply within one week of receiving it. It is important to wait for signed approval before proceeding further. You will receive a staff development cost code on approval. You will need this for the next stage.
3 After approval, and in advance of any expenditure, you may need to complete a purchase request order. Send the purchase request to the finance office, and remember to include your staff development cost code. The finance office will then book travel tickets and/or make any payments so that staff members do not need to spend their own money. It is important to make sure you have allowed enough time for the finance office to process the purchase request.
4 Expense claims: In a situation where the time between applying for funding and sending in a purchase order and the date of the training or event is very short, a staff member may pay for the event themselves and then claim back the cost through an expense claim. Please note: you will still need to present a staff development form and have it approved before submitting an expense claim. You will also need a staff development cost code from your approved staff development form to complete a claim.
Read the article below and answer Questions 26–40.
Fracking
Fracking refers to a technique for extracting natural gas from shale deep within the earth. Fracking is shorthand for 'hydraulic fracturing' and refers to how shale rock is fractured apart by injecting a mixture of water and chemicals into it at very high pressure. Fracking for shale gas has become big business in the United States, where the search for energy is one of the country's main concerns. However, the procedure is controversial and has as many opponents as supporters.
Fracking is not a new technique. It was first used in the 1860s, and then used industrially in 1949. However, as the oil reserves in America decreased and energy sources from abroad became more expensive, gas trapped in shale became an attractive commercial proposition. Shale gas is natural gas, or methane, trapped in tiny pockets in shale rock formations. Shale rock is a form of mudstone formed between 252 and 66 million years ago. It is distinguishable because it is laminated (made up of thin layers) and fissile (it can be split into thin layers). For the energy industry, black shale is important because it is the source rock for many of the world's most important oil and gas reserves. Black shale gets its colour from organic matter that was deposited along with the mud from which the shale formed. As the mud was compressed and warmed within the earth, the organic material was transformed into oil and natural gas.
In order to extract shale gas, a shaft, or well, is drilled to over one mile deep into the earth and then horizontally into the shale rock. The vertical well is then encased in steel and/or cement. After that, water needs to be delivered to the site: this can be up to 200 tanker trucks. The water is mixed with sand and chemicals and a pumper truck injects this hydraulic fluid into the shaft at high pressure, causing the shale to crack, or fracture. The sand in the mixture keeps the cracks open, allowing gas to flow to the surface into storage tanks. The gas is then piped to users. Meanwhile, water recovered from the shaft is stored in open pits before being taken to a treatment plant for recycling and eventual reuse. After all the gas has been collected, the shaft is sealed off with concrete to make sure that the injected hydraulic fluid cannot escape into water supplies.
An estimated 250 billion cubic metres of natural gas were brought to the surface using this method in the US in 2013. Since the US government gave out licenses to companies, its carbon emissions have gone down. Indeed, fracking has quite a few things going for it. This is because natural gas is far cleaner to burn than oil or coal in power stations. Furthermore, the area occupied by a fracking well is much smaller than a conventional oil well. So the question is, if fracking is so simple, clean and efficient, why are people concerned about it?
The problem is in the method used to get the gas out. The chemicals in the hydraulic fluid are toxic, consisting of a mixture of lubricants, poisons to stop bacteria growing in the pipes, and hydrochloric acid to dissolve unwanted cement in the pipes. This chemical mix finds its way to the surface through accidents at well-heads, fluids flowing back to the surface and leaks in the system. There is also the economical and environmental cost of transporting and using water – between three and five million gallons of water are needed to fracture a seam.
Furthermore, some experts think that fracking may be linked to the occurrence of earthquakes – earthquakes of magnitude 2.7 on the Richter scale have been increasing near Oklahoma City, an area where gas has been extracted using the technique. But perhaps the most persuasive argument is that fracking simply prolongs our over-reliance on carbon-based fuels, when we should be moving to technologies that do not produce carbon emissions or that are not harmful to the environment, such as solar energy, wind or wave power. In effect, fracking does not deal with the real issue of how we can produce energy without harming the environment. However, many people think fracking could be America's bridge between the carbon-based energy systems of the past and a cleaner way of producing energy in the future.