Part 5+7 · Original Practice: Formal Business Prepositions, Subjunctive Inversion, and an Annual Vendor Certification Notice

01 Questions & answer area

Part 5 + 7 · 2 sections

Part 5 · Vocabulary & Grammar Fill-in

This section is standalone sentences with no shared passage — each question is listed directly in the answer area below.

Part 5 Answer area

0 / 5 answered

1. The product launch was postponed ______ concerns raised during the final quality inspection.

2. ______ the additional funding, the research team would have had to suspend the project.

3. Employees who have completed six months of service are ______ for the company's professional-development allowance.

4. The purchasing manager has not yet determined ______ the current supplier can meet the revised delivery schedule.

5. Please submit the signed agreement by Friday; ______, your reservation may be released to another applicant.

Part 7 · Annual Vendor Certification Notice

Procurement OfficeAnnual Vendor Certification

Questions 6-8 refer to the following e-mail.

To: Approved Equipment Vendors From: Procurement Office Subject: Annual Vendor Certification

All companies currently authorized to supply laboratory equipment to Hartwell Research must renew their vendor certification by October 30. The renewal form is now available through the supplier portal and should be completed by an employee authorized to sign contracts on behalf of the company.

Vendors must also upload their latest insurance certificate. Companies whose policies expire before March 31 of next year should submit proof that renewal arrangements have already been made. Documents sent by regular e-mail will not be reviewed.

The Procurement Office expects to process applications within seven business days. Vendors that have not received confirmation after that period should contact Ms. Lee through the portal's support page. Orders cannot be placed with companies whose certification has expired.

Part 7 Answer area

0 / 3 answered

6. Who should complete the renewal form?

7. What must some vendors provide in addition to their current insurance certificate?

8. Why are vendors advised to renew by October 30?

03 Answers & explanations

Answers appear after you submit

No.	Correct answer	Point tested	Explanation
1	A · in light of	Preposition-phrase discrimination	"in light of" (in view of, considering) expresses a reason and fits the context of postponing the launch because of concerns raised in the quality inspection. "in place of" (instead of), "by means of" (using), and "on behalf of" (representing) all fail to fit.
2	B · Had it not been for	Past-subjunctive inversion	"Had it not been for" is the inverted form of "If it had not been for...," meaning "if it were not the case that...," and its tense matches the past modal "would have had to" in the second half. "If it were not for" / "Were it not" are present subjunctive (contrary to present fact) and don't match the past tense; "Unless there had been" is awkward word order and not idiomatic.
3	A · eligible	Fixed adjective collocation	"eligible for" (qualified to receive) is a high-frequency fixed collocation. "capable of" (able to do), "applicable to" (relevant to), and "preferable to" (better than) have both the wrong preposition and the wrong meaning.
4	C · whether	Noun-clause connector	"determine" followed by a "whether" clause means "whether or not," fitting the uncertainty of "has not yet determined." "that" normally introduces a confirmed fact, contradicting "not yet determined"; "despite" and "whereas" cannot introduce an object clause.
5	D · otherwise	Conjunctive-adverb discrimination	"otherwise" (if not) means "if the preceding condition isn't met, then...," fitting the logic of "submit by Friday; otherwise, your reservation may be given to someone else." "accordingly" (therefore), "likewise" (similarly), and "nevertheless" (however) all fail to match the condition-consequence relationship.
6	B · An authorized representative of the vendor	Detail question	Corresponds to "...should be completed by an employee authorized to sign contracts on behalf of the company."
7	A · Evidence that the policy renewal is being arranged	Detail question	Corresponds to "Companies whose policies expire before March 31 of next year should submit proof that renewal arrangements have already been made." Note this applies only to the subset of vendors whose policies are about to expire, not to all vendors.
8	C · Expired certification prevents new orders.	Inference question	The passage doesn't state directly why October 30 matters, but combined with the final line "Orders cannot be placed with companies whose certification has expired," you can infer that expired certification blocks new orders — which is the pressing reason to renew on time.

04 High-frequency vocabulary

Browse all vocabulary →

English	IPA	Part of speech	Chinese	Japanese	Example
in light of	/ɪn ˈlaɪt əv/	phr.	鉴于，考虑到	〜を考慮して	postponed in light of concerns raised
inspection	/ɪnˈspɛkʃən/	n.	检查	検査	the final quality inspection
suspend	/səˈspɛnd/	vt.	暂停	一時停止する	would have had to suspend the project
eligible	/ˈɛlɪdʒəbəl/	adj.	有资格的	資格がある	eligible for the allowance
allowance	/əˈlaʊəns/	n.	补贴，津贴	手当	professional-development allowance
determine	/dɪˈtɜːrmɪn/	vt.	确定，判断	判断する	has not yet determined whether…
delivery schedule	/dɪˈlɪvəri ˈskɛdʒuːl/	n.	交货时间表	納品スケジュール	meet the revised delivery schedule
otherwise	/ˈʌðərˌwaɪz/	adv.	否则	さもなければ	otherwise, your reservation may be released
release	/rɪˈliːs/	vt.	让渡，转给他人	譲渡する	released to another applicant
postpone	/poʊstˈpoʊn/	vt.	推迟	延期する	the launch was postponed
certification	/ˌsɜːrtɪfɪˈkeɪʃən/	n.	认证	認証	renew their vendor certification
authorized	/ˈɔːθəraɪzd/	adj.	经授权的	権限を与えられた	an employee authorized to sign contracts
insurance certificate	/ɪnˈʃʊrəns sərˈtɪfɪkət/	n.	保险凭证	保険証明書	upload their latest insurance certificate

05 Common phrases

Learn as a whole chunk — don’t break it apart

in light of…鉴于，考虑到……〜を考慮して

Had it not been for…要不是……（过去虚拟语气倒装）〜がなかったら（仮定法過去完了の倒置）

eligible for…有资格获得……〜の資格がある

determine whether…确定是否……〜かどうかを判断する

on behalf of…代表……〜を代表して

submit proof that…提交……的证明〜ことを証明する書類を提出する

06 Answer techniques

Part 5 + 7 · 6 tips

01
Discriminate preposition phrases by their core meaning
"in light of" (given, expressing a reason), "in place of" (instead of), "by means of" (using), and "on behalf of" (representing) mean completely different things, so decide by the sentence's meaning.
02
Past-subjunctive inversion: Had it not been for...
"Had it not been for + noun, S would have done" is the inversion of "If it had not been for...," meaning "if not for (some past thing), ... would have happened." It differs from the present subjunctive "If it were not for / Were it not for" (contrary to present fact) — tell them apart by the main clause's tense.
03
Don't mix up the prepositions in fixed adjective collocations
"eligible for," "capable of," "applicable to," and "preferable to" each take a different fixed preposition — memorize them as whole units, not just the adjective.
04
"whether" vs. "that" when a verb takes a clause
Verbs of uncertainty like "determine/decide/wonder" are often followed by "whether." A "that" clause states a settled fact, which contradicts a "not yet determined" context.
05
Discriminate conjunctive adverbs by the logical relationship
"otherwise" (if the condition isn't met, the consequence), "accordingly" (therefore, follow-on), "likewise" (similarly, parallel), and "nevertheless" (however, contrast) have different logical relationships — check whether the two sides of the semicolon are "condition-consequence" or something else.
06
Reading questions: locate the responsible party, watch for qualifying conditions, infer urgency from deadlines
For "Who should do sth" questions, find a sentence that names the responsible party, e.g. "should be completed by..." "Companies whose policies expire before..." is a qualifying condition that applies only to some vendors, not all. The necessity of a deadline can be inferred backward from a stated consequence of expiry.

07 Business English

Standard formal business-letter phrasing

The launch was postponed in light of concerns raised during the inspection.由于检查中提出的担忧，发布会被推迟了。検査で指摘された懸念を考慮し、発売は延期されました。

Employees are eligible for the allowance after six months of service.员工在任职六个月后有资格获得该补贴。従業員は6か月間の勤務後、その手当の受給資格を得ます。

The manager has not yet determined whether the schedule can be met.经理尚未确定能否满足该时间表。マネージャーはそのスケジュールを守れるかどうか、まだ判断していません。

Please renew your certification by the deadline; otherwise, your account will be suspended.请在截止日期前更新您的认证；否则，您的账户将被暂停。期限までに認証を更新してください。さもなければ、アカウントは停止されます。

08 Today's reflection

Why you got it wrong matters more than the right answer

When you’re done, note why you got it wrong in one line.

Ten minutes a day — no rush, just no stopping.

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