Here you have a test to read and answer the questions.
The key is below the test.
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DESK-TOP PUBLISHING
Laser printers, combined with personal computers and
document-generating software, are part of that growing
phenomenon, desk-top publishing, known as DTP. Today such
systems allow anyone to produce almost typeset-quality
manuscripts. Where early printers left quite a lot to be desired,
the latest inexpensive ones are very impressive. As with a good
video recorder, it is possible to tell that the output isn't 'real',
but casual glancers will be fooled.
Within an how of unpacking a new printer in the
office, we'd persuaded it to generate a page of our
documentation laid out and typeset in the same way as IBM's
technical references. Not just close - the characters, tables,
graphics and page numbering were spot-on. Fancy that, we
thought. And most users will probably leave it there, content to
use the new technology as the makers intend.
But like most innovative products, there are uncharted
byways where the over-creative can over-indulge. Most office
workers will have experienced mock memos which, ranging
from the obviously fake to the subtly mischievous, inform the
workforce of new unisex toilets or the company electric chair
scheme.
These are common because all the bits needed to
make them up -corporate letterhead, typewriter and
photocopier- are readily to hand. A good DTP system with a
laser printer offers the prankster much more: the equivalent of
a design studio and professional printing press in two small
boxes.
For starters, take the unloved but perennially popular
Metropolitan Police parking ticket. For some time these have
been officially produced with a laser printer on plain white
paper - which makes them the ideal first-time target for a joker.
In one lunchtime, he (it's usually a he) could produce enough
dodgy parking tickets to panic a boardroom full of Porsche
owners.
False disc labels, misleading pages for ring-bound
manuals, or even completely concocted instruction leaflets are
all tempting targets for the office fool with a warped sense of
humour and a mouse.
A friend has produced a lapel badge identifying him
as a prominent member of a major European research
organisation that doesn't quite exist. But it looks the part. If
enough people were to turn up at an establishment wearing
such insignia, it would need a very brave doorman to turn them
away. All it takes to produce cartloads of this sort of thing is an
eye for current corporate style and a desktop publishing
system.
There are even more devious and culpable uses for
DTP. Buying departments the world over know of the telex
directory fraud. An enterprising fellow got a load of fake
invoices printed up at considerable expense, purporting to be
bills for inclusion in an international telex listing. He mailed
these to a selection of large companies, most of whose
overworked secretaries sent a cheque by return. With access to
an office laser printer, the “considerable expense” aspect of
cons like that goes away, and almost anyone can play.
Choose the correct option for these questions about the test:
1. The early printers
A could not produce high-quality manuscripts.
B were unpopular in some offices.
C tended to leave gaps on the pages.
D made people wish they could afford them.
2. When the writer and his colleagues saw how
good the printer was, they
A wanted one each.
B were surprised.
C thought someone had played a trick on them.
D began to think of tricks to play on other people.
3. DTP in the office may lead to.
A the majority of staff misusing the system.
B some people finding new ways of misusing the system
C staff producing far too much material.
D changes in the facilities for office workers.
4. DTP enables anyone to
A forge documents.
B pose as a policeman.
C take control of companies.
D type efficiently.
5. The false lapel badge
A could be worn with a fashionable business suit.
B did not fool the doorman.
C is a near-perfect imitation of the original.
D should give the wearer certain privileges.
6. The story of the telex directory fraud is included to show
A the new spirit of individual initiative in present-day
society.
B the potential for crime using desk-top publishing,
C the incompetence of secretaries everywhere.
D that DTP can be a source of inexpensive amusement.
KEY
1. A
2. B
3. B
4. A
5. D
6. B
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