PROVA DE INGLÊS JUNHO 2011

PARA AJUDAR...

DIRECTIONS: In questions 1 to 15 you will be asked about the overall meaning and organization of TEXT 1 as well as specific details or facts stated in it. Read TEXT 1 and all the answer alternatives carefully. Choose the best possible answer on the basis of what is written in TEXT 1.

TEXT 1

Dusk for the patriarchs
As ageing tycoons die, their heirs are feuding and their empires are at risk
Companies can survive for hundreds of years. Their founders cannot. Hence the problem that eventually faces all family-owned firms: how to hand over from one generation to the next. In Stanley Ho´s case, the transition is proving stormy.
Mr Ho is the gambling king of Macau: the founder of an empire that includes casinos, ferries, an airline, hotels and commercial property. He is also 89 years old, in poor health and less lucid than he once was. His four families are fighting like harpies over his assets, which are held within an array of complex structures.
It is messy: Mr Ho had four concurrent “wives” in a territory that does not recognise polygamy. Three are still alive, plus at least 16 children. Mr Ho apparently had a stroke in 2009, prompting his relatives to start struggling for control.
Their feud has become a YouTube sensation. Every few days, a wheelchair-bound Mr Ho issues a statement that contradicts his previous one: either accusing his relatives of robbery or exonerating them. Throngs of Hong Kongers have joined the journalists outside the family´s many opulent residences, straining for the latest whispers. Two photographers have had their feet run over by limousines.
The Ho saga has prompted fresh scrutiny of other firms that will soon face succession tussles. A major investor in two of Mr Ho’s Macau companies (one controlling casinos, the other ferries) is Cheng Yu-tung, 85, who runs his own swelling conglomerate, New World Development, with unresolved sucession issues.
At Sun Hung Kai, Hong Kong´s largest property owner, the succession seemed settled in 1990 with the death of the founder and management passing to his three sons. But turmoil erupted in 2008 when the founder´s then 79-year-old widow, Kwong Siu-hing, emerged as the true power, pushing out her eldest son, Walter, who had been chief executive. On Sun Hung Kai’s board sits Lee Shau-kee, 82, who runs another property company, Henderson Land, with its own succession issues.
Any talk in Hong Kong about succession soon touches upon Li Ka-shing, 82, the territory’s richest resident, whose empire encompasses utilities and property. Much of his wealth has been pledged to charity, but no one knows who will run his firms when Mr Li dies. When he was abruptly hospitalized in 2006, shares in his listed companies immediately sank.
Many Hong Kong tycoons are getting old. Typically, their fortunes date back to the early post-war years, when Hong Kong was a desolate rock, Macau was in decline and Singapore was a swamp. They built empires while keeping tight personal control, often using bewildering interlinked corporate structures.
Within a few years, dozens of publicly listed (but family-controlled) Asian companies will change hands. If history is any guide, the process will hurt, says Joseph Fan, a professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. A study he jointly conducted of 250 companies in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore controlled by Chinese families found that successions tended to coincide with tremendous destruction of value.
There are exceptions. Sir Run Run Shaw, a 103-year-old media mogul, appears to be retiring in peace. On January 26th he announced that he would sell his controlling stake in TVB, Hong Kong’s largest television network, for more than $ 1 billion. It was the last public link to an empire that once included the largest private film studio in the world. Mr Shaw retired from active management on his 100th birthday, in favour of a much younger manager, his then 77-year-old second wife, Mona Fong.
Many patriarchs built their fortunes with risky bets: movies, the first casino, manufacturing. But many have shifted into merely collecting rents from property and related businesses (ports, hotels, retail) or from government concessions (electricity, telecommunications, gas, casino licences).
The simplicity of the underlying businesses may account for the ferocity of the family battles – it is not hard to make money if you own a casino near mainland China these days. However, in areas that are genuinely competitive, such as banking, Hong Kong’s family firms have been largely elbowed aside by multinationals.
Patriarchs add value in two ways that do not appear on balance-sheets, says Mr Fan. Their reputation ensures that banks will lend money to their companies. And their relationships with government are often lucrative. Alas, these strengths are hard to bequeath to one´s children. Which is why some Asian empires will struggle to outlive their founders.
Source: The Economist, 3 Feb. 2011.


1. According to the text, succession in family-owned firms is complex because of
a) the way those firms were built by their founders.
b) the destruction of value when their founders get old.
c) the tendency to polygamy and robbery in the families.
d) the lack of lucidity and poor health on the part of the heirs.
e) the scrutiny of family feuds in the media and on the internet.


2. Like Stanley Ho, Cheng Yu-tung
a) has seen his corporations swell in the media.
b) runs an expansive business conglomerate.
c) faces succession problems in his family.
d) is a major investor in Hong Kong firms.
e) is in his late eighties and in poor health.


3. Both Sun Hung Kai and Henderson Land
a) emerged as true powers after 2008.
b) had widows as chief executive officers.
c) faced problems when their founders died.
d) settled succession issues within the family.
e) are property companies with succession problems.


4. The limousine´s incident is mentioned in the text as an example of
a) Hong Kongers straining to get information to upload in YouTube.
b) relatives in Ho’s case justifiably being accused of ferocious family battles.
c) ageing tycoons’ opulent residences being among the richest in Hong Kong.
d) journalists fighting like harpies to photograph wheelchair-bound Stanley Ho.
e) photographers taking all risks to try to get the latest news on succession scandals.


5. According to text, in the early post-war years
a) corporations had still very poorly interlinked structures.
b) there was a tight control on utilities and property empires.
c) companies were not family controlled and publicly listed.
d) Macau, Hong Kong and Singapore were not very affluent.
e) tycoons began to get old and their fortunes where in decline.


6. Sir Run Run Shaw is mentioned as an exception because he
a) did not run a family-owned media empire.
b) became a mogul when he was 103 years old.
c) seems not to have faced a succession turmoil when he retired.
d) sold his empire before he quit from active management.
e) chose a younger manager to succeed him in his TV network.


7. All of the following business sectors are mentioned in the text as run by one or more of the cited family-controlled companies EXCEPT FOR:
a) Airlines and commercial property.
b) Universities and charities.
c) Film and television.
d) Gambling and hotels.
e) Ports and ferries.


8. One of the problems that the empires discussed in the text face today is that they
a) engage in illegal practices.
b) do not have balance-sheets.
c) collect rents from risky activities.
d) cannot obtain government licenses.
e) are not competitive in certain areas.


9. Joseph Fan is mentioned in the text as someone who
a) analyzed successions in family-controlled companies.
b) studied publicly listed companies that are not family-owned.
c) conducted his research at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
d) was hurt by the destruction of value when companies changed hands.
e) specialized in the history of post-war Hong Kong, Macau and Singapore.



10. According to Joseph Fan, the change from company founders to their heirs may be problematic because
a) banking is affected by ferocious family battles.
b) gambling is not prosperous near mainland China.
c) personal reputation is not easily transferred to successors.
d) government concessions are no longer lucrative in Asia.
e) lending money is not a genuinely competitive endeavor.


11. All of the following behaviors are used in the text to characterize companies’ founders and their family and heirs EXCEPT FOR:
a) Pushing out.
b) Fighting like harpies.
c) Struggling for control.
d) Straining for the latest whispers.
e) Keeping tight personal control.

DIRECTIONS: In question 12 you will be asked to examine sets of words retrieved from the text and then decide which sets have analogous meaning in the text and which ones do not.


12. Which set of words is NOT analogous in meaning as they are used in text?
a) Survive [line 1] – Outlive [line 52].
b) Tussles [line 15] – Battles [line 45].
c) Unresolved [line 17] – Settled [line 19].
d) Encompasses [line 25] – Includes [line 4].
e) Patriarchs [line 49] – Founders [line 1].

DIRECTIONS: In question 13 you will be asked to determine the meaning of a word on the basis of both the context of TEXT 1 and your knowledge of word-formation in English.

13. STORMY (line 3)
a) Unintelligible. c) Unpeaceful. e) Unparalleled.
b) Unimpressive. d) Uninteresting.
DIRECTIONS: In questions 14 and 15 you will be asked to determine cohesive relations and references for particular words in TEXT 1. Choose the best possible word to replace the word in the stated line of TEXT 1.

14. IT (line 8)
a) Mr Ho’s family situation.
b) Mr Ho’s commercial property.
c) Mr Ho’s control over his assets.
d) Mr Ho’s gambling empire.
e) Mr Ho’s transition to polygamy.


15. WHICH (line 51)
a) Patriarchs’ assets not appearing on balance-sheets.
b) Patriarchs’ struggles not adding value to their empires.
c) Patriarchs’ relationships with their children being hard.
d) Patriarchs’ lending money to companies being lucrative.
e) Patriarchs’ values not being easily transferable to their heirs.

DIRECTIONS: In questions 16 to 20 you will be asked about the overall meaning and organization of TEXT 2 as well as specific details or facts stated in it. Read TEXT 2 and all the answer alternatives carefully. Choose the best possible answer on the basis of what is written in TEXT 2.

TEXT 2

How to replace an irreplaceable CEO?
In about 10 years, Masayoshi Son, the founder and CEO of Japanese telecommunication’s company Soft-Bank, wants to retire and pass the torch to a younger version of himself. There’s only one problem: nobody is quite like Masayoshi Son.
The 52-years-old entrepreneur famously lost an estimated $77 billion – perhaps the greatest personal fortune ever to vanish in a two-years period – when the dot-com bubble collapsed. But since then, SoftBank has grown to became japan’s 15th-most-valuable company. Now Son, who grew up in poverty, has a 30-years plan to turn Soft-Bank into one of the world’s top 10 firms – all he needs is a successor to follow the blueprint.
To find him or her, Son has created his very own school: SoftBank Academia. Three hundred industrious students will study for as long as it takes for Son to hand-pick an heir to his throne. Son was frank with shareholders about his plan, saying “the purpose of this is only one thing: to make Masayoshi Son 2.0”.
On SoftBank’s website, the application to Son’s highlights the key criteria to be met by candidates. They must be between age 20 and 50, deeply tuner into the “Information Revolution”, and have “proud experiences and achievements”. Son will accept only 30 applicants from outside company for the six-month application and interview process.
Excerpt from: How to replace an irreplaceable CEO. Canadian Business, 13 Sep. 2010.


16. According to the text, Masayoshi Son’s problem is that he
a) has no blueprint to be one of the world’s top ten firms.
b) wants to be a younger version of himself before he retires.
c) grew up in poverty but then became a famous entrepreneur.
d) lost all his fortune two years ago when the dot-com collapsed.
e) needs to find a successor to follow his plan for SoftBank’s growth.


17. SoftBank Academia is a
a) Masayoshi Son 2.0 version.
b) blueprint for heirs to follow.
c) plan to expose to shareholders.
d) strategy to recruit a successor.
e) school for industrial students.


18. Son’s school will
a) accept no students older than Son himself.
b) have applicants from outside the company only.
c) teach students about the Information Revolution.
d) interview only 30 applicants during the application process.
e) be six months long and end with an heir to Son’s throne.

DIRECTIONS: In questions 19 and 20 you will be asked about connections that can be established by reading TEXT 1 and TEXT 2. Choose the best possible answer on the basis of what is written in TEXT 1 and TEXT 2.

19. Considering the names of firm founders mentioned in TEXT 1 and the succession proposal described in TEXT 2, we can say that the only case in TEXT 1 that can be related in part to the proposal reported in TEXT 2 is that of
a) Stanley Ho. c) Li Ka-shing. e) Cheng Yu-tung.
b) Sir Run Run Shaw. d) Lee Shau-kee.

20. Connecting the ideas explicitly stated in TEXT 1 and TEXT 2, we can conclude that
a) business involving gambling activities prompt successors to struggle for control and fight for the companies’ assets.
b) family-owned enterprises are in a messy situation because heirs belong to the same family and behave like children.
c) introducing educational practices makes succession issues less problematic and family feuds less ferocious.
d) succession issues in enterprises can potentially be less complicated if there is advanced planning and strategy.
e) successors can be trained to follow the blueprint of patriarchs if they begin when they are twenty years old.

GABARITO


1-A
2-B
3-E
4-E
5-D
6-C
7-B
8-E
9-A
10-C
11-D
12-C
13-C
14-A
15-E
16-E
17-D
18-A
19-B
20-D