BEST IELTS General Reading Test 584

Table of Contents

IELTS GENERAL READING TEST 584 – READING PASSAGE – 2

IELTS GENERAL READING TEST 584

READING PASSAGE – 2

Running a Food Business

First of all, contact the council to register your business if you want to carry out any ‘food operations’. Food operations include selling food, cooking food, storing or handling food, preparing food and distributing food. You must register all premises where you carry out food operations, including your home, and mobile or short-term premises such as stalls and vans.

If you make, prepare or handle food that comes from animals, for example meat or dairy products, other than for direct sale to the consumer, your premises may need to be approved by the council before you can undertake the activity. If you want to make changes to your premises, remember that you should tell the environmental health service at your local authority and you might need planning permission. Your local council can provide you with full details of these requirements.

When you choose the premises for your business, it is very important to make sure that they comply with the necessary regulations, are suitable for the purpose of your business and allow you to prepare food safely. You must keep your premises clean and maintained in good repair and condition. In addition, your premises must allow you to follow a high standard of food hygiene practices, including adequate protection against adulteration and, in particular, vermin control.

IELTS GENERAL READING TEST

You must have enough washbasins for staff to wash their hands, with hot and cold running water, and materials for cleaning hands and drying them hygienically. Separate sinks must be provided, where necessary, for washing food and cleaning equipment. There must also be enough toilets and these must not lead directly into food areas. You must provide adequate facilities for staff to change their clothes, where necessary.

Your premises must also have adequate ventilation, lighting and drainage. Windows and any other openings must be constructed in a way that prevents grime from building up. Windows and any other openings (such as doors) that can be opened to the outside must be fitted, where necessary, with insect-proof screens that can be easily removed for cleaning.

You must carry out a fire risk assessment at your premises and take fire safety precautions to help protect you, your staff and customers. The type of precautions you must have will depend on a number of things, such as the size of your premises. For advice, contact your local fire authority. You must make sure that any member of staff who handles food is supervised and instructed and/or trained in food hygiene in a way that is appropriate for the work they do.

The person (or people) responsible for developing and maintaining your business’s food safety management procedures must have received adequate training to enable them to do this. There is no legal requirement to attend a formal training course or get a qualification, although many businesses may want their staff to do so. It is also acceptable that the necessary skills be obtained in other ways, such as through on-the-job training or previous similar work.

You can be inspected by your local council at any point in the food production and distribution process. Usually, you won’t be told that an inspection is going to happen. How often you’re inspected depends on the risk your business poses to public health. You might not be inspected as often if you’re a member of a recognised assurance scheme. If you’re a food retailer or caterer, you will be inspected on a more regular basis to make sure you comply with food safety laws. Your premises, food, records and procedures can be inspected, and food can be taken as well as photographed.

IELTS GENERAL READING TEST

Questions 15-21

Complete the summary using the words in the box below.

Running a Food Business

Food businesses must register their locations of business, even if a place is

(15)…………………….. and these premises may require council approval. (16)…………………….. might be required for changes in the premises’ original state. The premises must be suitable for all areas of your business and must be hygienic and free from contamination, especially from (17)…………………….. Washbasins and sinks must be provided for staff and food preparation, along with toilets (away from food areas). Changing areas must be provided and premises must have ventilation, lighting and drainage.

(18)…………………….. must be prevented from accumulating at windows, which must also have bug-proof screens. Fire assessment and precautions must be in place. All staff and responsible people must have adequate hygiene training, though there are alternatives to formal qualifications, such as in-house training or relevant (19)…………………….. Supplier records and relevant paperwork with appropriate details must be kept. (20)…………………….. inspections may happen (more frequently for a food retailer or caterer) with (21)…………………….. possibly removed.

certificates	pests	consent
bacteria	temporary	rigorous
unannounced	rented	experience
samples	dirt	recipes

IELTS GENERAL READING TEST

Read the text below and answer questions 23-27.

Recruiting an Employee: a Step-by-Step Guide

You may have been running your business on your own, but now need some help, so you’re looking to take on your first employee. Or maybe you’ve hired before, but they ended up leaving. You may have heard that employing someone involves too much red tape – and that they can take you to an employment tribunal if things go wrong. Perhaps, it’s better to just struggle on alone? But then again, you do need that help – and is it really that tricky to take on someone so you are both happy? No, it isn’t, but there are guidelines you will need to follow.

The first step is to plan ahead to anticipate future staffing needs. How long-term is the post likely to be? Is your workflow seasonal or fairly constant? Think about the way work is organised in your business. For example, could flexible working, such as staggered hours or overtime, help manage any peaks and troughs? Look around the market place. Can you recruit the right people in your area? Decide how much you will pay – but pay the going rate for the job if you want the best person. Imagine the new employee starting work – will you have the time to give them the training they will need to become an effective employee?

Once you’ve decided that you need someone, pinpoint the key tasks and aims of the role in a job description. This should include the main purpose of the job. Try and do this in just a few sentences. Outline the job’s main tasks. Try to be precise. Give the scope of the job. Say a little more about how important the job is and how it fits into the overall purpose of your business, and briefly explain other duties and responsibilities.

Describe the person who would be best suited to it in the specification. This will be the ideal person you would like. In order not to discriminate against anyone, focus on skills and knowledge, experience, aptitudes and personal qualities. You should spell out which attributes are essential for the job and which are desirable.

When it comes to advertising, you will want to get the best person for the least cost, but you don’t want to choose from too narrow a pool. Pick at least two recruitment methods from local schools or colleges, job centres, employment agencies, local newspapers and online recruitment, including job websites and social media. Use an application form to get the information you need and sift out unsuitable candidates.

You can also use this as a basis for the interview. The form should only ask for information relevant to the job. Sift the candidates who best match what you want. Ideally, this should be done by two or more people to avoid bias. But, of course, that is not always feasible in a small business, so you may have to do it on your own.

IELTS GENERAL READING TEST

When the time for interviews comes, you should, where possible, make sure again that they are conducted by more than one person. However, again in a small business, you may have to do the interviews on your own. It is also advisable to have set questions to probe candidates’ skills, and help you measure their answers. When carrying out interviews, you should make sure that you are not interrupted by visitors or telephone calls, that you ask open-ended questions that cannot be answered by a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’, and that you do not ask questions which may be considered discriminatory. Once you’ve decided who you want, send out a job offer letter.

Remember, you are now on the verge of entering into an employment contract, which is a legal arrangement. You should set out the job title and offer of the job, any conditions applying to the offer and the terms, including salary, hours, benefits, pension arrangements, holiday entitlement and place of employment, start date and any probationary period.

You should also include what the candidate needs to do to accept the offer, including providing satisfactory references, or to decline it. If the letter, or part of it, is to be the work contract, it should say so and include the main terms and conditions. A Statement of Employment must still be given to the employee within two months of them starting work.

Questions 22-27

Complete the flow chart below.

Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the text for each answer.

Recruiting an Employee

1. Planning

Decide how permanent the job will need to be (i.e. Will it be (22)……………… or year round?) and how working hours might fit your situation. Ensure too that you can get the right person for the right cost. Predict whether new staff will get the right (23)………………

2. Outline the Job

Write the job description, which will say what’s to be done, the scope and other duties. Then write a (24)……………… which will profile the skills and qualities required and preferred.

3. Advertising

There are a variety of places to recruit from – choose at least two. The returned application form will help you reject applicants and prepare for the interview. If possible, (25)……………… can be prevented by getting someone to help you with all this.

IELTS GENERAL READING TEST

4. The Interview

Use more than one interviewer and try and conduct the interview where you won’t be interrupted. Ask questions that are open-ended and avoid being (26)……………… . The successful applicant should get a job offer letter that gives the relevant details; however, this should not replace the (27)………………

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