IELTS General Training Reading Test 11: Free, with Answers

The way our staff dress affects the impression that customers form of the bank. This policy explains what we expect, while recognising that different roles have different needs.

Branch staff

Staff who work in our branches and meet customers face to face are provided with a uniform, which must be worn at all times while on duty. Two complete sets are supplied each year, and replacements for items that become worn or damaged can be ordered through your branch manager. Name badges must be worn so that they are clearly visible.

Office staff

Staff in our offices do not wear a uniform but are expected to dress in a smart business style from Monday to Thursday. On Fridays, smart casual clothing is acceptable, unless you are meeting customers or attending an external event, in which case business dress should be worn. Jeans, sportswear and flip-flops are not acceptable on any day.

Personal appearance

We do not wish to restrict personal expression unnecessarily. Visible tattoos are acceptable, provided they are not likely to cause offence, and jewellery may be worn in moderation. Staff may wear clothing or head coverings for religious reasons, and the uniform can be adapted where necessary; please speak to your manager, who will make the arrangements in confidence.

Footwear and passes

Shoes should be clean and smart. Staff whose duties involve lifting, such as those who work in the post room, should wear the safety shoes that the bank provides. Security passes must be worn on a lanyard in all bank buildings, but they should be removed or hidden when you leave, so that you cannot be identified as a bank employee in public.

Hot weather

During periods of very hot weather, managers may allow office staff to remove their jackets and ties. Branch staff should continue to wear their uniform, although lightweight summer versions of some items are available.

Concerns

If a manager considers that a member of staff is not following this policy, they should first discuss the matter with them privately. Repeated failure to follow the policy may lead to disciplinary action.

Cyber attacks are a growing threat to organisations of every size, and many of them begin with a simple mistake by a member of staff. Following the advice below will help to protect the bank, our customers and you.

Passwords

Choose a password that is long and hard to guess. A good method is to combine three random words, which creates a password that is easy to remember but difficult for anyone else to work out. Never use the same password for your work account as for any personal account, and never write it down or share it with anyone, including colleagues from the IT department, who will never ask for it.

Signing in

All staff must use two-step verification when signing in from outside the office. After entering your password, you will be asked to approve the request using an app on your phone. If you receive an approval request that you did not make, decline it and report it immediately, as it may mean that someone else knows your password.

Suspicious emails

Criminals often send emails that appear to come from colleagues, suppliers or well-known companies. Be particularly careful with any message that asks you to act urgently, to make a payment or to open an attachment you were not expecting. If you are unsure, do not click on any links; instead, use the 'report' button in your email program, which sends the message to the IT security team.

Working in public places

Take care when working on trains or in cafés, as other people may be able to see your screen. Avoid connecting to public wi-fi networks for bank business; use the connection from your work phone instead.

Your equipment

Always lock your screen when you leave your desk, even for a few minutes. Do not connect personal devices, such as memory sticks, to bank computers, as they can carry harmful software. If a laptop or phone is lost or stolen, contact the IT helpdesk without delay, at any time of the day or night.

APercy Shaw was born in Halifax, in the north of England, in 1890, into a large and far from wealthy family; his father was a labourer at a local dyehouse. After attending the local board school, he left at the age of thirteen to work in a cloth mill, and although he later began an apprenticeship as a wire drawer, the wages were so poor that he soon moved on to a series of unskilled jobs in local engineering works. During the First World War, he and his father repaired machine tools used in the production of weapons, and after his father's death in 1929, he set up his own small business as a road contractor, repairing the surfaces of local roads.

BExactly how Shaw arrived at his famous idea is uncertain, as he gave different accounts at different times. The best-known version is that he was driving home on a dark, winding road with a steep drop to one side, when the eyes of a cat sitting on a fence reflected the light of his headlamps and showed him that he was heading towards the edge; it is this story that gave the device its popular name, the 'cat's eye'. In a television interview, however, he said that he had been inspired on a foggy night to think of a way of moving the reflectors used on road signs down to the surface of the road. Yet another story, told to schoolchildren who visited his factory many years later, connects the idea with tram lines: Shaw is said to have realised, when the rails near his home were removed, that he had been relying on the light reflected by the polished steel to find his way.

CWhatever its origin, the invention depended on an earlier one. In 1927, an accountant named Richard Hollins Murray had patented a lens that reflected light directly back towards its source, which he intended for use in advertising signs, and Shaw acknowledged that Murray's work had contributed to his idea. Shaw patented his road stud in 1934, and on 15 March 1935 he founded a company, Reflecting Roadstuds Limited, to manufacture it in Halifax, registering the name 'Catseye' as a trademark. At first, however, sales were slow.

DThe design was ingenious in its simplicity. Each stud consisted of two pairs of glass reflectors set into a white rubber dome, which was held in a cast-iron base; one pair faced each direction, so that a single row of studs along the centre of the road could guide traffic travelling both ways. When a vehicle drove over the stud, the rubber dome was pressed down into the base, and as the reflectors sank below the surface of the road, they were wiped clean by a fixed rubber strip. Rainwater that collected in the base made this cleaning even more effective. The iron edges of the base protected the dome from damage and produced a noise and a vibration that warned drivers who had begun to drift out of their lane. Cat's eyes proved particularly valuable in fog, and they were robust enough to survive being scraped by snow ploughs.

EIt was the Second World War that transformed the company's fortunes. During the blackout, when street lights were switched off and car headlamps had to be partly covered to avoid attracting enemy aircraft, drivers depended on whatever guidance they could find, and the value of Shaw's studs became obvious. After the war, a committee of the Ministry of Transport gave them its firm support, and they were installed on roads throughout Britain. Shaw's factory was soon producing more than a million studs a year, which were exported all over the world, and in 1965 he was awarded an OBE for his services to exports. In the decades that followed, road studs based on his design were adopted in country after country.

FSuccess did little to change Shaw's habits. He never married, and he spent all but two of his 86 years in the same part of Halifax. In later life he became known for his eccentricity: he removed the carpets and curtains from his house and kept four televisions running at once with the sound turned down, so that visiting friends could watch whichever channel they liked without arguing. His one luxury was a Rolls-Royce. Today a pub in Halifax bears his name, a blue plaque commemorates him in the town, and in 2005 he was included in a book about the fifty greatest people from Yorkshire. Although he was rumoured to have made a vast fortune, the estate he left when he died in 1976 was valued at a little under £200,000. His invention, meanwhile, has continued to develop. In Britain, cat's eyes now come in several colours: white marks the centre of the road, amber and red mark lines that should not normally be crossed, and green shows where vehicles may cross, for example at a lay-by. Some roads now have solar-powered studs that shine with their own light.