General Training Reading

SECTION 1 — Questions 1–14

Read the text below and answer Questions 1–7.

Fenwick Adult Education Centre: Evening and Weekend Courses

A Introduction to Digital Photography
Learn how to take better pictures, whatever equipment you have. Over ten weekly sessions, you'll cover composition, lighting and basic editing. Any camera is suitable, including the one on your mobile phone. No previous experience is needed. Tuesdays, 7–9 p.m., main building. £120.

B Conversational Spanish (Level 2)
Build your confidence in everyday conversation. This course follows on from our Level 1 course, so you should already be able to introduce yourself and talk about familiar topics. If you have learnt Spanish elsewhere, please contact us before enrolling. The course book is included in the fee. Mondays, 6.30–8.30 p.m., Northgate Library (not at the main building). £95.

C Furniture Upcycling
Give an old chair, table or cabinet a new life. Our tutor will guide you through repairing, sanding and painting a piece of furniture that you bring along yourself. All tools, paint and other materials are included. Because of the size of the workshop, the course is limited to eight people, so early booking is recommended. Saturdays, 10 a.m.–1 p.m., six weeks, main building. £150.

D Creative Writing
Develop your skills in writing short stories and poetry, with feedback from a published author. Sessions take place by video call, so you can join from wherever you are. At the end of the twelve weeks, a certificate of completion is available for an extra £15. Wednesdays, 7–8.30 p.m., online. £110.

E Bookkeeping for Small Businesses
Learn to keep accurate financial records for a small business or a self-employed role. The course prepares you for a nationally recognised Level 1 qualification, and the examination fee is included in the price. A basic calculator is required. Thursdays, 6–9 p.m., eight weeks, main building. £135.

Questions 1–7

Look at the five courses, A–E, above.

For which course are the following statements true?

Write the correct letter, A–E. You may use any letter more than once.

Read the text below and answer Questions 8–14.

Riverside Leisure Centre: Membership Terms and Conditions

Types of membership
We offer two types of membership. Full members may use all facilities at any time the centre is open. Off-Peak members may use the facilities from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays, and after 2 p.m. at weekends.

Minimum term and cancellation
All memberships have a minimum term of three months. After this, your membership continues from month to month. To cancel, you must give one month's notice in writing. A letter or an email to the membership office is acceptable, but we cannot accept cancellations made by phone or in person at reception.

Freezing your membership
If you are unable to use the centre for medical reasons, you may freeze your membership for up to three months. You will need to provide a letter from your doctor. Memberships cannot be frozen for holidays or for work commitments.

Guests
Full members may bring a guest up to four times a year. Guests pay a reduced entry fee of £6 and must be signed in at reception by the member. This benefit is not available to Off-Peak members.

Children
Members' children aged under 16 may use the gym only when accompanied by an adult. Children under 8 must be accompanied by an adult in the swimming pool at all times.

Membership cards
Your card must be shown each time you visit. A replacement for a lost card costs £5.

Questions 8–14

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

Write

• TRUE if the statement agrees with the information
• FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
• NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this

SECTION 2 — Questions 15–27

Read the text below and answer Questions 15–20.

Dalton & Pryce: A Guide to Flexible Working

A Every employee of Dalton & Pryce may ask to change their working pattern, and you can do so from your first day with the company. There is no need to have a particular reason, such as caring responsibilities, although you may mention any reason you wish. You may make up to two requests in any twelve-month period.

B Flexible working can take many forms. You might ask to work part-time, or to work your usual hours over fewer days. You might prefer flexitime, where you choose your start and finish times around a set of core hours, or hybrid working, which combines time in the office with working from home. Job sharing, where two people divide one role between them, is also possible. Please note that any reduction in your hours will mean a reduction in your salary.

C Before you apply, it is worth thinking carefully about how the change might affect your team and the people you work with. We strongly recommend that you have an informal conversation with your manager first. Many requests are agreed more quickly when a manager has had time to consider them in advance.

D Requests must be made in writing using form FW1, which is available on the staff intranet. On the form, you should state the change you would like, the date on which you would like it to start, and how you think any effect on the business could be dealt with. Incomplete forms will be returned to you, which may delay a decision.

E Once your manager receives your form, they will arrange to meet you within two weeks to discuss it. You may bring a colleague to this meeting if you wish. You will be told the decision in writing within two months of your request. In some cases, your manager may suggest that a change is agreed for a trial period, usually of three months, before it is made permanent.

F A request can only be refused for one of a limited number of business reasons, which will be explained to you in writing. If you are not satisfied with the decision, you have the right to appeal. Appeals must be sent to the Human Resources department within fourteen days of receiving the decision, and they will be considered by a senior manager who was not involved in the original decision.

Questions 15–20

The text has six sections, A–F.

Choose the correct heading for each section from the list of headings below.

Write the correct number, i–viii, next to Questions 15–20.

List of Headings

• i Thinking ahead
• ii Putting it in writing
• iii Not necessarily the final word
• iv Open to all
• v A range of possibilities
• vi Meetings and timescales
• vii The effect on your pension
• viii Arrangements that end automatically

Read the text below and answer Questions 21–27.

Dalton & Pryce: Business Travel Expenses

Before you travel
All business travel must be approved in advance by your line manager. Train tickets and hotels should be booked through TravelDesk, the company's online booking system, which will automatically find the lowest available fares. Bookings made in other ways will only be refunded in exceptional circumstances.

Rail travel
Standard-class tickets should be booked for all journeys. First-class travel may be approved for journeys of more than three hours, or where you need to work on the train and your manager has agreed to this in advance.

Using your own car
If you use your own car for business travel, you can claim 45p per mile. Before making your first claim, you must provide evidence that your car insurance includes business use; ordinary personal insurance is not sufficient. Car parking charges will be refunded, but fines will not.

Hotels and meals
The maximum hotel rate is £120 per night outside London and £160 per night in London. Wherever possible, choose a rate that includes breakfast. When you stay away overnight, you may claim up to £30 for an evening meal. The company does not pay for alcohol, so please make sure that any drinks of this kind are paid for separately.

Making a claim
Claims should be submitted through the Expenses app within 30 days of your journey, with a photograph of each receipt. Small amounts of under £10, such as bus fares, may be claimed without a receipt.

Questions 21–27

Complete the sentences below.

Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER from the text for each answer.

SECTION 3 — Questions 28–40

Read the text below and answer Questions 28–40.

The return of the night train

A For much of the twentieth century, overnight trains were an ordinary part of travel in Europe. Business people boarded a sleeper in the evening and arrived in another capital city in time for a morning meeting, and families travelled to the coast or the mountains while their children slept. Yet by the early 2010s, many of these services had disappeared. Routes that had operated for decades were cut altogether, and in December 2016, Germany's national railway company stopped running its own night trains entirely.

B The reasons for this decline were largely economic. The arrival of low-cost airlines meant that a flight between two major cities was often cheaper than a bed on a train, and far quicker. At the same time, new high-speed lines allowed daytime trains to cover distances in a few hours that had once required an overnight journey. Night trains were left with a shrinking number of passengers, and they are expensive to run. A sleeping car carries far fewer people than an ordinary carriage, it needs staff throughout the night, and because each journey takes the whole night, it can usually make only one trip a day, whereas a carriage on a daytime train can make several.

C Over the past decade, however, there has been a remarkable change of direction. When the German operator withdrew, the Austrian national railway decided to take over several of its routes, running them under a new brand name. Many observers expected the venture to fail. Instead, passenger numbers grew steadily, and the company began adding new routes, including connections to Brussels, Amsterdam and Paris. Other countries followed. Sweden introduced new overnight connections to the rest of Europe, and in 2023, a small new company based in the Netherlands and Belgium began running a service between Brussels and Berlin, which had been partly paid for by selling shares to members of the public.

D Much of this revival has been driven by concern about climate change. A journey by train typically produces only a small fraction of the carbon emissions of the same journey by air, and for some travellers this has become the deciding factor. In Sweden, where the idea of feeling ashamed of flying received a great deal of attention, the number of rail passengers increased noticeably. Governments have also played a part. Several have provided money to support new night services, and France has banned some short domestic flights on routes where a train journey of less than two and a half hours is available.

E Not everyone who chooses a night train does so for environmental reasons, though. Many passengers say that they simply enjoy the experience: watching the countryside pass as the sun goes down, and waking up in a different country. Others value the practical advantages. A night train usually leaves from and arrives at a station in the city centre, so there is no need to travel out to an airport or arrive hours before departure, and passengers can take as much luggage as they can carry. And because the journey takes place overnight, it saves the cost of a hotel room.

F Despite the enthusiasm, operators face serious difficulties. The most immediate is a shortage of suitable carriages. Many sleeping cars were scrapped during the years of decline, and new ones take years to design and build. When one operator ordered a new fleet, problems at the factory meant that the first carriages entered service later than planned. Running a train across several countries is also complicated. Each country has its own railway rules, its own charges for using the track and, in some cases, its own electrical system, so locomotives and drivers may have to be changed at the border. Night trains must also share the tracks with freight trains, many of which run at night, and with maintenance work, which is usually carried out when there are fewer passenger trains.

G These problems mean that tickets are often more expensive than travellers expect, and services are sometimes cancelled at short notice. Some critics argue that, given their high costs, night trains will only ever carry a small proportion of travellers, and that the money would be better spent on improving daytime services. Supporters respond that the comparison with air travel is unfair, because airlines pay no tax on the fuel they use for international flights. Whatever the outcome of this debate, the night train is no longer simply a reminder of the past. For a growing number of travellers, it has come to represent a different way of travelling.

Questions 28–33

The text has seven paragraphs, A–G.

Which paragraph contains the following information?

Write the correct letter, A–G, next to Questions 28–33.

NB You may use any letter more than once.

Questions 34–37

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

Write

• TRUE if the statement agrees with the information
• FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
• NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this

Questions 38–40

Complete the summary using the list of words, A–H, below.

Write the correct letter, A–H, next to Questions 38–40.

The debate about night trains

Critics believe that night trains will only ever carry a small 38Choose…ABCDEFGHSelect an answer of travellers, and that it would be better to invest in 39Choose…ABCDEFGHSelect an answer services. Supporters argue that comparing night trains with air travel is 40Choose…ABCDEFGHSelect an answer because of the way airlines are taxed.

• A proportion
• B unfair
• C daytime
• D cheaper
• E freight
• F expensive
• G accurate
• H international