Correct Answer: attract more customers to clients’ companies
Passage Reference: strive for expanding markets, growing sales, and greater productivity
Why this is correct: Look at the first paragraph. For ten years, the company’s aim was “expanding markets, growing sales.” Growing sales means bringing more customers to clients’ businesses.
Tips: Words like “established” or “for the past decade” point to the old situation. Read that part before the text says “however.”
Why the other options are wrong:
- focus on the lifestyle of business leaders: A better lifestyle is the newer goal of some clients. It was not the company’s usual focus.
- reduce clients’ operational costs by outsourcing: Outsourcing and cutting costs are never mentioned. The old focus was growth.
- develop new products for clients’ companies: The feature never says Barrow helps design new products. The focus was markets and sales.
Correct Answer: They avoid having their personal life consumed by work
Passage Reference: They want to be able to pay the bills, but also have the time to pursue other passions.
Why this is correct: In the second paragraph, Barrow says these clients want to pay the bills “but also have the time to pursue other passions.” So they do not want work to take over their lives.
Tips: When a question asks what someone noticed, look for “recently” or “has started to.” The new idea usually follows those words.
Why the other options are wrong:
- They favour hiring workers passionate about their jobs: The passions Barrow talks about are the owners’ own interests outside work. Workers are not part of this point.
- They more often rely on international market expansion: These clients want to avoid endless growth, so bigger international markets are not their aim.
- They are less committed to daily business operations: Barrow says these people still want to be “committed entrepreneurs.”
Correct Answer: develop balanced, profitable and stable companies
Passage Reference: planning to support clients whose focus is stability
Why this is correct: The fourth paragraph says Barrow is “planning to support clients whose focus is stability.” These clients still want to pay the bills, so the business must stay stable and make money.
Tips: The right option often uses different words from the text. Look for the same meaning, not the same words.
Why the other options are wrong:
- downsize their companies and reduce costs: Barrow never talks about making a business smaller. Her clients simply do not want endless growth.
- expand export markets and boost profits: More exports and bigger profits were the old focus, not the new service.
- open branches in new cities: New branches would mean growth, and these clients want to avoid that.
Correct Answer: companies that don’t expand may go bust in a downturn
Passage Reference: When fluctuations happen, small businesses are often the first to go under.
Why this is correct: Read the end of the third paragraph. Larkin says that when the economy changes, “small businesses are often the first to go under.” So Larkin thinks firms that do not grow are at risk.
Tips: For a “because” question, look for the reason the person gives. Words like “in case” or “when” often come just before it.
Why the other options are wrong:
- companies often over-extend themselves and perish: Growing too much is closer to Barrow’s worry. Larkin fears the opposite.
- companies need internal stability for success: Stability is what Barrow’s new clients want. Larkin argues for more growth.
- entrepreneurs can become too stressed to cope with the challenges: Stress from growth is Barrow’s point, not Larkin’s reason for doubt.
Correct Answer: businesses must continually expand to survive
Passage Reference: that doesn't mean that businesses have to engage in inexorable expansion just to stay afloat
Why this is correct: Near the end, Barrow says a competitive world “doesn’t mean that businesses have to engage in inexorable expansion just to stay afloat.” “Stay afloat” means survive.
Tips: In a “disagrees with” question, find the part that begins “but” or “that doesn’t mean.” Those words often show where two people differ.
Why the other options are wrong:
- the growth leads to more pressure and responsibilities: Barrow herself says growth brings obligations and extra responsibilities.
- small businesses are prone to bankruptcy in recessions: Barrow says Larkin’s point about small businesses going under “is true.”
- access to more markets leads to stronger growth: Barrow never argues against wider markets bringing growth. Barrow asks whether growth is always needed.
Correct Answer: lifestyle augmentation
Passage Reference: lifestyle augmentation
Why this is correct: The second paragraph says Barrow’s clients are moving towards a goal of “lifestyle augmentation.” That is the name the comment makes fun of.
Tips: When the blank is a name or label someone “calls” something, look for words in quotation marks in the text.
Why the other options are wrong:
- passion-first planning: Barrow says clients want time for other passions, but this label is never used.
- corporate minimalism: Nobody in the feature uses the words “corporate minimalism.”
- mindful entrepreneurship: The word “mindful” never appears in the feature.
Correct Answer: renting more office space
Passage Reference: Usually it also means renting more office space, which is another financial stress.
Why this is correct: In the fourth paragraph, Barrow says growth “usually also means renting more office space.” The comment uses the same word, “usually.”
Tips: Look for a word the comment and the text share, like “usually” or “also.” It can lead you to the right sentence.
Why the other options are wrong:
- paying higher corporate taxes: Taxes are never mentioned in the feature.
- travelling to meet foreign clients: Barrow’s company is international, but travel is never named as a cost of growth.
- buying out smaller rivals: Buying other companies is never discussed.
Correct Answer: a low-stress lifestyle
Passage Reference: Some people just don't want the additional hassle.
Why this is correct: Barrow says, “Some people just don’t want the additional hassle.” So these people want a life with less stress.
Tips: The comment may say the same idea in simpler words. Match the meaning of the text, not its exact phrase.
Why the other options are wrong:
- overseas branches and partners: Barrow’s clients want less growth, not new offices abroad.
- as much profit as possible: Barrow says making as much profit as possible “isn’t their primary goal.”
- a tougher business environment: Nobody in the feature wants a harder business world. Barrow’s clients want less hassle.
Correct Answer: make business the priority
Passage Reference: Being an entrepreneur needn’t consume your entire life.
Why this is correct: The last sentence of the feature says being an entrepreneur “needn’t consume your entire life.” The comment rejects that idea, so owners must put business first.
Tips: When the comment says it “rejects” an idea, first find that idea in the text. Then pick the option that says the opposite.
Why the other options are wrong:
- avoid unnecessary risks: Barrow’s last idea is not about risk, so this would not go against it.
- advance personal goals: Personal goals fit Barrow’s last idea. They do not reject it.
- consider their employees: Employees come up only as a cost of growth. This does not answer Barrow’s last point.
Correct Answer: a competitive world
Passage Reference: Larkin is right that it's a competitive world
Why this is correct: In the fourth paragraph, Barrow says, “Larkin is right that it’s a competitive world.” The comment repeats that Barrow agrees with Larkin on this.
Tips: Look for a phrase like “is right that” in the text. It often shows the one point where two people agree.
Why the other options are wrong:
- a slow-moving market: Larkin talks about a “volatile economy,” which is not slow at all.
- a young person’s game: Age is never mentioned in the feature.
- a friendly marketplace: Barrow calls it a competitive world, which is the opposite of friendly.
