Management Control: Purpose and Strategies

Management Control: Purpose and Strategies Controlling is one of the four main functions in management. It is important to managers in order to ensure all planning, organising and leading run as smoothly as desired. If managers are able to ensure that each plan made and every task given to the employees are carried out perfectly, and the results expected is what had been planned, control is not required. Unfortunately, managers are not able to ensure these conditions will run smoothly without the occurrence of any problems since most planning is done by humans and humans are known to be diverse in terms of abilities, motivation and others. In a rapidly changing business environment, not only the expected results must be controlled, planning must also be monitored and controlled. 11.1.1 Definition of Control Management control is a systematic effort to fix or establish the standard of performance through planning objectives, designing information feedback systems, comparing true performance with the fixed standard, determining whether there are any disadvantages or weaknesses and taking suitable actions to ensure all resources within the organisation can be used in the most effective and efficient way in achieving the objective of the organisation. Control is the process of ensuring that organisational activities are running according to plan. This process can be carried out by comparing the true performance with the standard that has been established and taking corrective actions in order to rectify any distortion that does not comply with the standard. The main purpose of control in management is to prepare managers to face future or existing problems before they turn critical. In general, an organisation with a good control mechanism will have the advantage of competing strength compared to organisations without a good control system. The following are several examples of the importance of control for organisations: 11.1.2 Quality Assurance The smooth running of a particular process can be monitored and problems can be avoided by having control. Control is able to stimulate the organisation to monitor and increase the quality of products and services offered. Through the activities related to the control process, members of the organisation will always be driven to act according to the plans that have been established. 11.1.3 Preparation to Face Changes Change cannot be avoided. Change in environmental factors such as markets, competitors, technology and legislation makes the control process important for managers in responding towards opportunities and threats. Control helps the organisation to suit its products to the needs and wants of consumers in the market. 11.1.4 Steps in the Control Process A control process has three basic needs: fixing of standards to be used in measuring the level of growth; monitoring decisions and comparing it to the standards, that is, the comparison of the organisationà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s true performance with the planned performance; and finally, taking corrective actions in rectifying any disadvantages and weaknesses that occurred in achieving the performance that has already been set. Establishing Standards Standard is the base for comparison to measure the level of performance of a company in order to find out whether the company is compliant. Standard is the point of reference in making comparisons to another value. Standard can be defined as what is required out of a particular job or an individual. In management control, standards are usually derived from the objectives. Standards should be easy to be measured and interpreted. A specific objective that can be measured makes it more suitable to be used as a standard. If this standard is not clearly and specifically stated, it may be interpreted in a different way and will then raise various difficulties that can affect the goals of the organisation. In general, there are three types of standards: physical standard such as quantity of products and services, number of customers and quality of products and services; financial standard which is stated in the form of money, and this includes labour cost, sales cost, material cost, sales revenue, profit margin and others; and lastly, time standard which includes the performance rate of a particular task or the time period required to complete a particular task. Measuring Performance and Making Comparisons Performance measurement is a type of control. Actual results need to be monitored to ensure that output produced is according to the specific standard. The main purpose of performance monitoring is to gather data and detect deviation and problem areas. Measurement has no meaning if it is not compared to the standard. The next step is performing the comparison of standards. Comparison of standard is a process where comparison is made between the true performances with the standard set. This step is important because it allows any deviation or distortion to be detected and corrective actions can be taken in order to achieve the goals that have been set. Corrective Actions It is often found that managers establish standards and monitor decisions but do not take suitable actions. The first and second steps in control will be meaningless if corrective actions are not taken. Before taking any steps in correcting, detailed analysis must be carried out in order to find out the factors that caused the particular deviation. This corrective action may involve change in one or more operation activities of the organisation such as modification, repairing of machines, preparation of certain courses and others, or it might also involve a change in the fixed standard. Corrective action is a process of identifying the distorted performance, analysing the distortion and developing and implementing programmes in order to rectify it. 11.2 THE CONTROL PROCESS The running of a control process is a continuous act. This process cannot be done only once in order to gain the achievement expected. This is considered as a dynamic process. This dynamic process begins with looking at the true performance and measuring the achievement level of that particular performance. Managers will then compare the performance achieved with the performance that has been fixed. If there happens to be any difference, it must be analysed in order to identify the cause of the differences and this is followed by the correcting act. This process must be done repeatedly and must be given full attention by the manager in order to achive the performance goals set. 11.2.1 Basic Methods of Control According to Williams (2000), a control process consists of three basic methods which are identified as future control, concurrent control and feedback control. 11.2.2 Future Control This type of control is also known as prevention control. This involves the use of information, including information from the latest results, is to forecast what will happen in the future so that preventive measures can be taken. It is implemented to prevent the occurrence of deviation between what had really happened with what is expected to happen. Prevention is carried out through detailed analysis on the input before it is accepted into the process of organisation transformation. Input is ensured to comply with the quality standards established so that the results obtained are as expected. One example of the use of this control is when a manager ensures that the sample of raw material that is going to be used complies with the standard established by the organisation or based on certain specifications to avoid damage towards the product in the future. 11.2.3 Concurrent Control Concurrent control is carried out during the process of transformation. When this control is carried out, restoration actions, corrective actions or modifications are done after distortion is detected. For a production-oriented organisation, this controlling action is taken while input is being processed while for service-oriented organisations, it is taken while service is being provided. Through this method of control, organisations will monitor their operations and simultaneously take the necessary corrective actions before the transformation process is completed. This will help to reduce mistakes in the outputs being produced. Examples of this method of control are mid-term examinations, control of accounts, control of inventories and others. 11.2.4 Feedback Control Feedback control involves gathering information related to the weaknesses of controlling measures after an incident takes place. This type of control is implemented after the transformation process has been completed with the purpose of finding out whether the whole activity ran properly with results as expected. This control is also able to determine whether the plan that is going to be carried out has the continuity with the previous programme. It is also able to evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of the involved parties in performing the activities of the organisation. An example of this method of control is the use of low-quality raw materials that resulted in the production of low-quality products. The act of changing the raw materials used is one of the examples of feedback control. 11.2.5 Types of Control According to Williams (2000), there are five forms of control that can be used by managers in implementing the process of control à ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ bureaucratic, objective, normative, concertive and self. Figure 9.3 illustrates these five forms of control. Bureaucratic Control This method uses hierarchy authority to influence employees. Rewards are given to employees who obey and punishment is meted out to employees who do not obey the policies, regulations and procedure of the organisation. Objective Control This method uses the measurement of observation towards the behaviour of employees or output produced to evaluate work performance. Managers are more focused on the observation or measurement towards the behaviour of employees or outputs rather than the policies or rules. Objective control consists of two forms of control; behaviour control and output control. Behaviour control Behaviour control is the rule of behaviour and actions that controls the behaviour of employees in their tasks. Output control Output control is the form of control that controls the output of employees by granting rewards and incentives. Important features in the implementation of output control are reliability, fairness and accuracy, convincing employees and managers to achieve the expected results while rewards and incentives depend on the performance standard that has been established. Normative Control Normative control is a method that arranges the behaviour of employees and results through norms and beliefs shared together among all the members within the organisation. There are two main substances in this type of control which are, sensitivity towards selection of employees based on their attitude and norms, and obtaining inspiration based on experience and observation of employees. Concertive Control This is a method that uses the norms and behaviour discussed, formed and agreed by the work group. This form of control plays a role in an autonomous work group. An autonomous work group is a work group that operates without the presence of a manager and is fully responsible for the control of process, task group, output and behaviour. Autonomous work groups gradually grow through two stages of concertive control. First, members work and learn from each other, supervising the work of each member and develop norms and beliefs that guide and control them. Secondly, the appearance and acceptance of objectives as guide and control of behaviour. Self Control It is a system where managers and employees control their own behaviour by establishing their own goals; monitor their own progress and their own achievements of goals, and reward themselves when goals have been achieved. EXERCISE 9.2 11.3 FACTORS THAT NEED TO BE CONTROLLED Determining the matters to be controlled is as important as making decisions on whether to control or in what method should control be done. There are several perspectives that need to be controlled by a manager in order for the organisation to be able to achieve the goals expected. 11.3.1 Financial Perspective One of the important areas that need to be controlled is finance. There are times when the financial performance does not reach the expected standard. If this condition remains undetected and relevant actions are not taken, the existence of the company might be in jeopardy. Financial perspective is generally related to activities such as sales, purchases and others. Financial statements are important sources of financial information for an organisation. A balance sheet shows how strong the financial position, assets, liabilities and the position of the equity holder for a certain financial period. A profit-loss statement or income statement shows the summary of the operational activities and the relationship between expenditure and revenue for a particular financial year. There is a new approach in the financial perspective known as economic value added. Economic value added is the total profit of a company which exceeds the capital cost in a particular year. In this perspective, a manager must impose control so that the total profit of a company always exceeds the capital cost for the company to continuously gain economic value added. 11.3.2 Human Resource Perspective The control towards human resources is vital for organisations. If an organisation is unable to control its human resources properly such as losing expert workforce hence it will jeopardise the performance and achievement of the company. Organisations need to have planning that is able to motivate the employees. For example, organisations need to be concerned regarding the problems faced by the employees by creating harmonious discussions between the management and the employees union. 11.3.3 Quality Perspective Internal operations of organisations are usually measured through quality. Operations control is very important for every organisation especially for manufacturing firms. This is because efficiency and effectiveness of operations control will determine the level of production and organisational performance as fixed by the standard. The quality value of products and services produced based on the standard will be able to strengthen the perception of the customers towards the quality of goods that they had purchased. For example, the control of product quality is able to reduce waste and product defects and this will further save cost. Inventory control is also effective in reducing the costs of investments related to inventory 11.3.4 Consumer Perspective In order to measure the performance of customers, an organisation needs to impose control on customers who leave the organisation and not based on the survey of customer satisfaction. In this perspective, the manager will make evaluation by measuring the percentage rate of customers who left the organisation. By controlling customers from leaving the organisation, a company will be able to increase profits. For example, the cost in obtaining a new customer is five times more compared to the cost of retaining an existing customer. SUMMARY The main purpose of management control is to prepare managers to face existing or future problems before it becomes critical. Management control has three basic needs: establishing standards; monitoring decision and comparing it to the standard; and making corrections on any distortion that occurred between the true decision and the standard. Control is a dynamic process because it is a continuous process. Control process consists of three basic methods: future control which is also known as prevention control; concurrent or present control; and feedback control. There are five forms of control that can be used by managers in implementing the control process: bureaucratic, objective, normative, concertive and self. In order to ensure that the organisation can achieve its goals, several important perspectives must be controlled à ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ finance, human resource, quality and customers.

Analysis of Superior Manufacturing

Table of Contents Introduction The objective of this report is to provide Mr.. Paul Harvey, president with the detailed reasoning for the decisions recommended and also to figure out which products are losing money. As the company is operating in an oligopoly and has somewhat medium market share, setting our own prices is not an option. The giant Samara announces the prices for the products annually, and the other eight companies in the industry follow the price. Problem The organization underwent management change in early 2004.The company lost $690,000 (Refer to appendix 1) in that year, which resulted in a low morale of the employees. They have lost faith in the management and have low motivation level. So, a decision has to be made regarding the production of three products I. E. 101, 102 and 103. Recently the giant in the industry Samara decided to lower the selling price for the product 101 and a final decision has to be made, if the organization should lower the selling price or not? Key Success Factors Looking at the share of industry sales rate, for product 101 its 12%, for 102 its 8% and for 103 its 10%.The company has to increase its market share to be able to generate positive income. The second most important aspect is costs. As all the products are manufactured in separate factories and they operate below capacity, it's hard to control the costs especially the fixed costs. Even though all the factories are horizontally integrated with shared production process facilities, it doesn't help keeping the costs in check. The employees seem to be disappointed with the new management and have a low morale. They are not exactly motivated to try harder to make a positive impact.Operating in an oligopoly, where prices are controlled by another firm, Superior has no control over the selling prices so, the company should Ochs on keeping costs minimum and increasing their industry sales rate. There is no compensation and reward system to Judge the performance o f employees. Situation Analysis I started off with analyzing income statement for 2004 to get a better understanding of the situation and to figure out which products are generating profit and which ones are responsible for the loss.After reviewing the data from 2004 it was found that only the product 101 is generating income and the other two products 102 and 103 are losing money (Refer to appendix 1 . 1). As I wanted to be ere that the information provided was accurate I took the liberty of following contribution margin income statement. Also I found a couple of additions errors in the 2004 and 2005 income statement. I have highlighted the mistakes in red in appendix 1. 1 and appendix 2.Decision Regarding Dropping Products After categorizing all the costs into fixed and variable costs based on the information provided by the accounting department, I came to find out the fixed costs for factory 101 ,102 and 103 are $1 and respectively (Refer to appendix 1 . 1). The respective facto ries will have to incur these costs even if they continue the production. The contribution margins for factories 101, 102 and 103 are and respectively. So, even if products 102 and 103 are losing money they are still contributing to fixed costs by the same amount as their contribution.This suggests that if the production is discontinued the company would be incurring an extra loss of Thus, I tend to agree with Mr.. Harvey decision of continuing production of product 103 and the other two products. For further details please refer to appendix 1. 1 . Appendix 1. 2 shows that if 113,766 additional units are sold for product 102 and 162,41 5 units of product 103. The company would of have made a profit of $2,999,000. The reason for not meeting the targets could be because of low morale of the employees. If we compare the predicted income statement for 2005 and the actual performance (Refer to appendixes 1. And 2). The Variances of rent, indirect labor and depreciation are $259,000 $213, 000 and $642,000 respectively are all favorable. It's safe to say that these three costs, which are all fixed costs, are the main factors for the improvement in profitability during the period January 1 to June 30, 2005. In a nutshell if fixed costs are controlled the company can do really well (Refer o appendix 1. 3 and appendix 2). Decision Regarding the Price for Product 101 The decision regarding the price of product 101 is based on the income statement of 2005 from January 1st to June 30th (Refer to appendix 3. ). The appendix has both income statement with selling price set as $24. 5 and $22. 5. It has been forecasted that if the price is dropped to $22. 5, the organization would be able to sell 1 million units. On the other hand if the organization decides to continue with the same that they are following at the moment, 750,000 units can be sold for first six months of year 2006. Here I would like to point out that these forecasts are not accurate and there may be a differenc e between what is predicted and the actual sales but for now I think that's an appropriate estimation as any.The forecasted income statements are based on the unit price per 100 lbs from first half of 2005 income statement. It is noted that the income statement with the price $22. 5 gives a higher contribution margin (10,468,490. 86) compared to the one with price $24. 5 (11,979,587. 82). These figures include the 5 percent reduction in the prices of materials and supplies and the discount on selling prices. The income statement shows that a higher operating income can be generated if the selling price set by Samara is followed (Refer to appendix 3. 2). The reason for that is the fixed costs will remain constant within the relevant range.So, I have decided to take the fixed costs from the 2005 Unary I-June 30) income statement. Since with the selling price $22. 5 gives a higher contribution margin, the company will lose less money (- $334,043. 07) to be exact (Refer to appendix 3. 2 ). Also if 31,803 additional units are sold, the company can breakable for product 101 . On the other hand 135,459 additional units would be required to breakable if the current price is kept. Also it doesn't seem a good idea keeping the prices higher than the rest of the seven firms, costumer might not appreciate and it's of utmost important the company maintains its market share if not improve.Conclusion & Recommendation Since it has been established that dropping any of the products doesn't benefit the company in any way, I would like to suggest keeping all the products. The company could do really well if the sales target are met and for that the motivation level of the employees needs to be high. So, my recommendation to motivate employees would be to set up a performance based reward and compensation system, which would keep the employees motivated, especially the sales force to do better.Another thing that can be done is rather than paying the sales force a fixed salary, they should be paid a commission based salary which would give rise to a sense of competition for sales people to do better and based on their sales they could be properly rewarded. For product 101, my analysis suggests that, the price set by Samara should be follow not Just because the organization will save itself from heavy losses but also its essential for the company to maintain its current industry sales share and having a higher price than the other firms could draw the customer away and then the organization would have bigger problems.Fixed costs need to be controlled and monitor strictly. All the factories are operating under capacity which doesn't help the organization in achieving its goals. One way to keep the costs in control in my opinion would be to assign specific tasks to specific factories so that they can operate efficiently rather than dedicating a whole factory to a product line. As the three reduces have somewhat similar manufacturing procedures. Analysis of Superior Manufacturing Table of Contents Introduction The objective of this report is to provide Mr.. Paul Harvey, president with the detailed reasoning for the decisions recommended and also to figure out which products are losing money. As the company is operating in an oligopoly and has somewhat medium market share, setting our own prices is not an option. The giant Samara announces the prices for the products annually, and the other eight companies in the industry follow the price. Problem The organization underwent management change in early 2004.The company lost $690,000 (Refer to appendix 1) in that year, which resulted in a low morale of the employees. They have lost faith in the management and have low motivation level. So, a decision has to be made regarding the production of three products I. E. 101, 102 and 103. Recently the giant in the industry Samara decided to lower the selling price for the product 101 and a final decision has to be made, if the organization should lower the selling price or not? Key Success Factors Looking at the share of industry sales rate, for product 101 its 12%, for 102 its 8% and for 103 its 10%.The company has to increase its market share to be able to generate positive income. The second most important aspect is costs. As all the products are manufactured in separate factories and they operate below capacity, it's hard to control the costs especially the fixed costs. Even though all the factories are horizontally integrated with shared production process facilities, it doesn't help keeping the costs in check. The employees seem to be disappointed with the new management and have a low morale. They are not exactly motivated to try harder to make a positive impact.Operating in an oligopoly, where prices are controlled by another firm, Superior has no control over the selling prices so, the company should Ochs on keeping costs minimum and increasing their industry sales rate. There is no compensation and reward system to Judge the performance o f employees. Situation Analysis I started off with analyzing income statement for 2004 to get a better understanding of the situation and to figure out which products are generating profit and which ones are responsible for the loss.After reviewing the data from 2004 it was found that only the product 101 is generating income and the other two products 102 and 103 are losing money (Refer to appendix 1 . 1). As I wanted to be ere that the information provided was accurate I took the liberty of following contribution margin income statement. Also I found a couple of additions errors in the 2004 and 2005 income statement. I have highlighted the mistakes in red in appendix 1. 1 and appendix 2.Decision Regarding Dropping Products After categorizing all the costs into fixed and variable costs based on the information provided by the accounting department, I came to find out the fixed costs for factory 101 ,102 and 103 are $1 and respectively (Refer to appendix 1 . 1). The respective facto ries will have to incur these costs even if they continue the production. The contribution margins for factories 101, 102 and 103 are and respectively. So, even if products 102 and 103 are losing money they are still contributing to fixed costs by the same amount as their contribution.This suggests that if the production is discontinued the company would be incurring an extra loss of Thus, I tend to agree with Mr.. Harvey decision of continuing production of product 103 and the other two products. For further details please refer to appendix 1. 1 . Appendix 1. 2 shows that if 113,766 additional units are sold for product 102 and 162,41 5 units of product 103. The company would of have made a profit of $2,999,000. The reason for not meeting the targets could be because of low morale of the employees. If we compare the predicted income statement for 2005 and the actual performance (Refer to appendixes 1. And 2). The Variances of rent, indirect labor and depreciation are $259,000 $213, 000 and $642,000 respectively are all favorable. It's safe to say that these three costs, which are all fixed costs, are the main factors for the improvement in profitability during the period January 1 to June 30, 2005. In a nutshell if fixed costs are controlled the company can do really well (Refer o appendix 1. 3 and appendix 2). Decision Regarding the Price for Product 101 The decision regarding the price of product 101 is based on the income statement of 2005 from January 1st to June 30th (Refer to appendix 3. ). The appendix has both income statement with selling price set as $24. 5 and $22. 5. It has been forecasted that if the price is dropped to $22. 5, the organization would be able to sell 1 million units. On the other hand if the organization decides to continue with the same that they are following at the moment, 750,000 units can be sold for first six months of year 2006. Here I would like to point out that these forecasts are not accurate and there may be a differenc e between what is predicted and the actual sales but for now I think that's an appropriate estimation as any.The forecasted income statements are based on the unit price per 100 lbs from first half of 2005 income statement. It is noted that the income statement with the price $22. 5 gives a higher contribution margin (10,468,490. 86) compared to the one with price $24. 5 (11,979,587. 82). These figures include the 5 percent reduction in the prices of materials and supplies and the discount on selling prices. The income statement shows that a higher operating income can be generated if the selling price set by Samara is followed (Refer to appendix 3. 2). The reason for that is the fixed costs will remain constant within the relevant range.So, I have decided to take the fixed costs from the 2005 Unary I-June 30) income statement. Since with the selling price $22. 5 gives a higher contribution margin, the company will lose less money (- $334,043. 07) to be exact (Refer to appendix 3. 2 ). Also if 31,803 additional units are sold, the company can breakable for product 101 . On the other hand 135,459 additional units would be required to breakable if the current price is kept. Also it doesn't seem a good idea keeping the prices higher than the rest of the seven firms, costumer might not appreciate and it's of utmost important the company maintains its market share if not improve.Conclusion & Recommendation Since it has been established that dropping any of the products doesn't benefit the company in any way, I would like to suggest keeping all the products. The company could do really well if the sales target are met and for that the motivation level of the employees needs to be high. So, my recommendation to motivate employees would be to set up a performance based reward and compensation system, which would keep the employees motivated, especially the sales force to do better.Another thing that can be done is rather than paying the sales force a fixed salary, they should be paid a commission based salary which would give rise to a sense of competition for sales people to do better and based on their sales they could be properly rewarded. For product 101, my analysis suggests that, the price set by Samara should be follow not Just because the organization will save itself from heavy losses but also its essential for the company to maintain its current industry sales share and having a higher price than the other firms could draw the customer away and then the organization would have bigger problems.Fixed costs need to be controlled and monitor strictly. All the factories are operating under capacity which doesn't help the organization in achieving its goals. One way to keep the costs in control in my opinion would be to assign specific tasks to specific factories so that they can operate efficiently rather than dedicating a whole factory to a product line. As the three reduces have somewhat similar manufacturing procedures.

Religious belief and organizations Essay

Gender issues are a great importance in contemporary society and culture. Although they concern both men and women at present, gender studies are still mainly focused on women because women have been voiceless for so long. Feminism see religion as a product of patriarchy as it only serves the interest of men. Jean holm argues that all religion preaches equality but they do not practice it. This argument derived from her study of cotemporary religions which showed that women are subordinated to the role of men as they do not have a part to play in many religions. For example, in Japanese religions, the women arrange and organize public rituals, but only the men can take part in it. Thus showing devalued and important women are within religious organizations. A Marxist feminist DeBeauvoir believes that there must be a religion for women because if women have their own religion, they cannot be oppressed. So therefore, they have created a feminine bible, where everything is equal between both sexes. Sociologists such as Stark believe that women are physically deprived as they suffer more life crisis than men; so therefore, women are more likely to turn to God as someone that can help them. DeBeauvoir reinforces this statement by saying that religion gives a divine guardian that they long for and gives them hope for a better future in a sexless heaven. Meaning that religion gives women false consciousnesses by making them believe that women would be rewarded in heaven for their sufferings on earth and a heaven where there’s equality. However, Saadawi disagrees with the statement that religious teachings are the cause of the oppression and exploitation that women suffer, but blames the patriarchal system. She states that men have literally distorted religion especially in Islam, to socially control women and to serve their own interest, so religion isn’t the cause but the interpretation of it by men. Leila Badawi also sees Islam as positive as women have a choice over the three types of Islam and they get to keep their own names. Therefore Islam is not as strict and controlling as members of society put it out to be. Helen Watson justifies this by stating that wearing the veil is a political choice and wearing a veil can be seen as a positive thing to some women. This is because after interviewing some muslin women, Badawi came to a conclusion that muslin women are trying to take a stand against western culture. This is revealed when the women said that wearing the veil makes her proud of her religion and that it felt â€Å"liberating to have freedom of movement† as they can communicate with members of society without being on show. Sociologist Said, says that the west the west have created an orientalist discourse, justifying domination. So therefore, not all religions oppress and exploit women because some women do have a choice on certain things. An example would be Judaism as some women are now allowed to become rabbis and seikheism is now into equality and argues that women have choices.

TOEFL Grammar and Structure Practice Quiz

This quiz is for in-class use and does not have the answers provided. Take the interactive version of the TOEFL Grammar Practice Quiz for correct answers and results. Fill In The Blank 1. _____ his illness, John continued to play rugby. DespiteAlthoughEven though 2. After many peace corps teachers return to the States, ___________ professional English teachers. often they becomethey often becomeand often become 3. _______ that the American Indian crossed a land bridge into North America from what is now Russia. It is consideredIt is thoughtIt was thought 4. None of the students _____ a car. hashavehave got 5. _______ the Depression, individual stock ownership was common in the United States. It was duringBy the time ofBecause 6. Never before _____ as rapidly, as during the last three decades. communications have developedhave communications developedhave developed communications 7. It is not yet clearly understood _________ cause obesity. why eating too many hamburgers canwhy can eating too many hamburgerseating too many hamburgers can 8. The Eiffel Tower is ________ the Leaning Tower of Pisa. as popular a tourist attraction thanas popular a tourist attraction asas more popular a tourist attraction as 9. While most New Yorkers believe in ghosts, ______ do not. are a few whothere are a few whichthere are a few that 10. With his first painting Le Temple du Mordu, George Lesereaux _______ to establish himself as a master of pointillism. couldwith abilitywas able 11. ______ Chinese is more difficult to learn than English. It is certain thatCertain it is thatCertainly is 12. Thinker and poet, ___________ the Brinker prize for his poem Alexander in 1976. Claude Pinocchio was awardedwas awarded Claude Pinocchiowas awarded to Claude Pinocchio 13. Research now proves that eating fish and chips is healthier than _______ when eating hamburgers.eating hamburgers.to eat hamburgers. 14. It was ______ Johnny finally gave up. such difficult thatso difficult thatso a difficult test that 15. __________, I would have returned it immediately. If I knew that you wanted to read itI had known that you wanted to read itHad I known that you wanted to read it 16. In the 1990s, _________ its premium position in the world economy. the USA returnedthe USA returned tothe USA returning 17. ___________ in a home where two parents work is a difficult task indeed. Children brought upTo bring up childrenBringing up children 18. There has not yet been any decision made _______ will represent the country at the Olympics concerned athletes chosenas to which athletesthose athletes 19. _____________, Shakespeare was also a prolific writer of sonnets. Noting for his playsFamous playsNoted for his plays 20. The Concorde, which is ______________ jet, can reach New York from London is approximately 2 and 1/2 hours. fastest in the worldthe fastest of the worldthe worlds fastest 21. Scientists _____________ the existence of nano-technology capable of computation at the atomic level. newly have developedhave recently developedhave still developed 22. ___________ is portrayed in Hermann Hesses Steppenwolf. Man searching his soulA man searched his soulA man in search of his soul 23. Despite ____________, Jack continued to lose weight. he increased his food intakeincreasing food intakeincreased food intake 24. Singer and entertainer, ____________ for his beautiful and expressive voice. was Frank Sinatra famousfamous was Frank SinatraFrank Sinatra was famous 25. It is not only important to be on time, __________ courteous when replying to colleagues. but also is it important beingbut is it also important to bebut it is also important to be 26. __________ was this check written? To whoWhomTo whom 27. Children attending private schools ____________ being slightly spoiled. are often accused ofoften accusedare often accused from 28. Diets based on only one basic food element ____________ no diet at all. can be as ineffective thancan be as ineffective ascan be so ineffective than 29. ________________ that James Franklin made his stunning debut. It was LionsIt was in LionsLions it was 30. Considering human history, it ______________ using mass communications. has recently been that manis only recently that man has begunonly recently is that man has begun 31. That test was _________________ . such difficult that I almost failedas difficult that I almost failedso difficult that I almost failed 32. Within Tuscany ___________ Matthew Spender. is written fromwas written fromwas written by More Resources Free Online TOEFL Study GuidesTOEFL Vocabulary Practice QuizTOEFL Grammar Practice Quiz