Reuters News Agency

Reuters is one of the world’s biggest news agencies. It (11) _______________ (supply) news and stock market prices to media and financial institutions all over the world. It (12) ______________ (start) by Paul Reuter in 1849 – with pigeons! Reuter (13) ______________(be born) in 1816 in Germany. During the 1840s he (14) ____________ (employ) as a bank clerk in Berlin. German bankers (15) _____________ (need) to know the prices on the Paris stock exchange, but the French telegraph system only went as far as Belgium. From there the information (16) ______________ (send) to Germany by train. The journey (17) _____________ (take) nine hours. The same information was carried by Paul Reuter’s pigeons in only two hours!

Reuters (18) ______________ (change) a lot since those days. Over the past fifty years it’s opened offices in many different countries – and it (19) _____ still _____________ (expand). Now news and stock market prices (20) _______ (send) all over the world within seconds.

III. Vocabulary (20)

A. Read the text below, choose the word from the box that best suits and write it in each gap. One word is extra. Use each word only once.

health disturbingly warning money wasting hand silly stand criticizing public risks up

Although doctors have been (0) warning about the danger of cigarettes for over 50 years, a number of people who smoke is still (1) ______________ high. These people are not (2) _____________; they do worry about their (3) _____________; they know the (4)______________they are taking with their lives. They also realize how much (5) _______________ they are (6) ____________ on cigarettes, yet they still find it almost impossible to give them (7) ___________.

Smoking is also much more socially unacceptable now. A lot of people object to others smoking in public places – I personally can’t (8) _____________ sitting next to a smoker in a restaurant, I just don’t go into crowded bars anymore because I know what the air will be like. But we have to remember that most smokers do want to stop. Instead of (9) __________ them perhaps we should give them a (10) __________.

B. Match a requirement from column A with a suitable phrase from column B.

Column a Column b

_____ 11. Tell a person that you can’t connect him	a. I think you are right.
_____ 12. Tell a person not to hang up	b. Sorry, I don’t quite understand.
_____ 13. Introduce a product	c. Would anyone like to ask a question?
_____ 14. Give your opinion	d. I’m in favour of launching this product in a month.
_____ 15. Agree with your partner	e. I’m sorry. The line is busy.
_____ 16. Interrupt your partner during a conversation	f. Can I say something?
_____ 17. Clarify some points in a discussion	g. Can you hold?
_____ 18. Summarize the meeting	h. It’s designed to be used with any type of material.
_____ 19. Invite questions	i. Right, let’s recap.
_____ 20. State the product’s use	j. I’m going to tell you about our new product.