Test your basic knowledge |

Business English Vocab Test

Instructions:
  • Answer 50 questions in 15 minutes.
  • If you are not ready to take this test, you can study here.
  • Match each statement with the correct term.
  • Don't refresh. All questions and answers are randomly picked and ordered every time you load a test.

This is a study tool. The 3 wrong answers for each question are randomly chosen from answers to other questions. So, you might find at times the answers obvious, but you will see it re-enforces your understanding as you take the test each time.
1. The rare situation when budget spending is smaller than revenue.






2. The percentage of a household's income that is saved.






3. Things that reduce stock levels like shoplifting - employee theft or vendor fraud.






4. The difference between merchandise costs and retail selling price.






5. A product which sells less often than other products (thus staying on the shelf longer and keeping it warm).






6. Top rating for bonds of the highest quality. Awarded by the main rating agencies: Standard & Poor's - Moody's and Fitch.






7. 1. The sum of the balance of trade plus net factor income (interest dividends) plus net transfer payments (foreign aid).2. Low or no-interest bank account used for daily transactions e.g. using an ATM - with a cheque book or debit card.






8. Obstacles to international trade other than tariffs.






9. When one company controls a certain market - e.g. British Telecom had a monopoly in the UK telephone market.






10. Focusing on a more specific line of products or services in comparison to competitors.






11. Volunteer organization for young - disadvantaged Americans.






12. The increasing capacity of an economy to satisfy the material wants of its members; period of expansion.






13. A person who works for someone else in exchange for payment.






14. The right to live in a home on a long-term tenancy.






15. The money a state earns via taxation.






16. A system where a company allows someone to run a specific business using the company's products or brand in exchange for a fee or share of the profits - McDonalds is a famous franchise.






17. Electronic Data Interchange - a computerised system to allow retailers and suppliers to exchange information about stock levels - delivery times - unit prices etc.






18. Consumer goods that have a short life span - e.g. food or paper tissues.






19. Value of the entire company as expressed by its market capitalization.






20. A retailing format that involves the coin- or card-operated dispensing of goods and services. It eliminates the use of sales personnel and allows around-the-clock sales.






21. Government policies to cool down an economy and prevent inflation during boom periods.






22. A period of economic expansion.






23. Distribution of anything for use - including time or money.






24. When the imports into a country exceed the exports going out of a country.






25. A person or company from whom goods or services are bought.






26. Not in my backyard - someone who doesn't want something (like a prison or nuclear reactor) to be built near their home.






27. When a small number of companies control a certain market.






28. The legal right of the owner of a work over its control and distribution.






29. When a manager or politician only looks at the short term and does not consider the long term impact or benefits of a plan.






30. Protection of local industries through tariffs - quotas and regulations that discriminate against foreign businesses.






31. Something which is a copy or imitation.






32. The area of the economy that produces goods and provides services.






33. A shop or store.






34. Regular fluctuations in overall economic activity over time.






35. The violation of a law or right.






36. The total sum of goods and services in demand.






37. A retail store that handles a wide variety of inexpensive and cheaply priced goods.






38. The way in which a company is controlled.






39. The purchase of a financial product or other item of value with the hope that it will become more valuable.






40. Buying Power Index - a measure of a geographic area's market characteristics in terms of percentage of the US population - percentage of US retail sales and percentage of US effective buying income.






41. A country's exports minus its imports.






42. The Federal Reserve - the US central banking system.






43. When the exports a country makes exceed the imports.






44. The process of turning raw materials and parts into finished products.






45. Refers to the number of distinct goods or services a retailer offers.






46. Economic policies that use money e.g. interest rates or money supply as the major instruments.






47. An official statement of the aims of a company or an organization - e.g. We aim to be the number one supplier of quality wooden furniture.






48. Someone who does something without being paid for it - e.g. working for a charity.






49. A reduction in price offered when buying an item in higher quantities.






50. The rate of interest at which US banks lend money to their best corporate customers.