Communication and English: cross-topic question bank¶
How to use this page
Part 1 has 64 graded questions (L1 recall, L2 correct/produce, L3 judge nuance, L4 real-world decisions). Part 2 has 16 scenarios where you write or say your response before opening the model. Part 3 has 40 rapid-fire items for spaced review. Answer aloud first, then open the answer. Log misses in your error log and re-test them after 3 and 10 days. For topic depth see the track overview.
Part 1: Graded questions¶
L1 — Recall and recognise¶
Q1. Which article: 'We need to fix ___ bug that caused ___ outage on Monday'? (the bug is known to both speakers; the outage is one specific incident)
Answer
"the bug ... the outage". Both are specific and identifiable to the listener, so the definite article is used. See articles.
Q2. Correct: 'We discussed about the migration plan.'
Answer
"We discussed the migration plan." "Discuss" is transitive and takes no preposition; "talk about" and "have a discussion about" need "about". Common error for speakers of Indian and many other languages.
Q3. Countable or uncountable: information, advice, feedback, equipment, software, evidence? What is the fix for 'an advice'?
Answer
All uncountable. Use "a piece of advice", "some advice", "a piece of feedback" (or "some feedback"). No plural: "informations", "feedbacks", "softwares" are errors.
Q4. When do you use the present perfect rather than the past simple?
Answer
Present perfect for a past event with a connection to now, an unfinished period (this week, so far, since) or an experience without a stated time: "We have shipped three releases this quarter." Past simple for a finished time: "We shipped it last Tuesday." You cannot pair the present perfect with a finished-time expression ("*have shipped yesterday").
Q5. Which are used with 'on', 'in', 'at': (a) the weekend / Monday / 9 a.m. / March / the morning?
Answer
On Monday; in March; in the morning; at 9 a.m.; at the weekend (UK) / on the weekend (US). Days and dates take "on", months, years and parts of the day take "in", clock times and points take "at".
Q6. Name the four Conditionals, one line each.
Answer
Zero: if + present, present (general truth): "If the queue fills, alerts fire." First: if + present, will (real future). Second: if + past, would (unreal or unlikely present/future): "If we had more time, we would refactor." Third: if + past perfect, would have (unreal past): "If we had load-tested, we would have caught it." Mixed combines third and second.
Q7. What is the difference between 'affect' and 'effect' (in normal business use)?
Answer
"Affect" is usually a verb: "The outage affected 300 customers." "Effect" is usually a noun: "The effect was severe." "Effect" as a verb means to bring about ("effect a change"), formal. "Impact" as a verb is common and accepted in business English.
Q8. What does the acronym BLUF stand for and what does it ask you to do?
Answer
Bottom Line Up Front. State the conclusion, decision or ask in the first line, then the supporting detail.
Q9. Explain 'ballpark figure' and label the register.
Answer
A rough estimate: "A ballpark figure is two million." Informal, originally American (from baseball); understood in UK business English too.
Q10. What are the three parts of a well-formed SBI statement?
Answer
Situation, Behavior (observable), Impact. Add an invitation for the other person's view.
Q11. Give the meaning of 'to escalate' vs 'to flag up' vs 'to loop in'.
Answer
Escalate: take a problem to a more senior person. Flag up: draw attention to an issue. Loop in: add someone to a conversation or email so they have context.
Q12. Which is the standard preposition: 'responsible ___', 'dependent ___', 'different ___', 'interested ___', 'capable ___'?
Answer
responsible for; dependent on; different from (US also "than", UK also "to"); interested in; capable of.
Q13. What does 'BATNA' mean?
Answer
Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement: what you will do if no deal is reached. It sets your walk-away point.
Q14. Give the stress pattern of: photograph, photographer, photographic.
Answer
PHO-to-graph, pho-TOG-ra-pher, pho-to-GRAPH-ic. Stress moves with the suffix: -er/-y words like photographer and photography take stress on -tog-, and -ic puts stress on the syllable just before it.
Q15. What does 'disagree and commit' mean?
Answer
After the decision maker decides, you state disagreement once, then support the decision fully.
Q16. Rank 'must', 'should' and 'might' by strength.
Answer
Strength decreases: must (near certain or obligation), should (recommendation or probability), might (possibility). Choose the modal that matches your actual confidence. Note "must" for obligation is strong and can sound rude to a peer; prefer "we need to" or "I recommend".
L2 — Correct and produce¶
Q17. Correct all errors: 'I am working in this project since two years and I have done the migration yesterday.'
Answer
"I have been working on this project for two years, and I did the migration yesterday." Errors: "on" a project; present perfect continuous with "for + duration"; "since" needs a starting point (since 2024) whereas "for" a duration; "have done ... yesterday" mixes present perfect with a finished time.
Q18. Rewrite with a hedge but keep the message: 'This design is wrong.'
Answer
"I think this design may not handle partial failures; could we walk through what happens when the second call times out?" Concern plus reason plus a question. Do not hedge to the point of vagueness.
Q19. Combine into one sentence with a participle clause: 'The team analysed the logs. The team found the root cause.'
Answer
"Analysing the logs, the team found the root cause." Or "After analysing...". The subject of the participle must be the subject of the main clause (avoid dangling participles: "Analysing the logs, the root cause was found" is wrong).
Q20. Fix the parallelism: 'The role involves designing systems, to mentor engineers, and leadership of migrations.'
Answer
"The role involves designing systems, mentoring engineers, and leading migrations." Keep the same form (gerunds) in the list.
Q21. Passive to active with a named agent, and say why you might choose the active: 'Mistakes were made and the release was delayed.'
Answer
"We made mistakes, and that delayed the release." Active voice names responsibility, is shorter and more credible in an incident summary. Passive is right when the agent is unknown or unimportant: "The database was migrated over the weekend."
Q22. Choose: 'fewer / less' bugs; 'fewer / less' downtime; 'fewer / less' than 50 ms.
Answer
fewer bugs (countable); less downtime (uncountable); less than 50 ms (a measurement treated as an amount; also "under 50 ms"). Standard formal usage.
Q23. Replace with a stronger word: 'We need to make the process better and get more people to use it.'
Answer
"We need to improve the process and increase adoption." Or "streamline the process and drive adoption". Choose precise verbs and noun phrases; avoid "make/get + adjective" chains.
Q24. Correct: 'The datas are showing that the trafic increase with 20% in last quarter.'
Answer
"The data shows (or show) that traffic increased by 20 percent last quarter." "Data" is normally treated as uncountable in business English (singular verb); the plural "data show" is acceptable in formal science; "traffic" has one f; "increase by" for the amount; "last quarter" needs no preposition.
Q25. Turn this rambling into two sentences with the recommendation first: 'So we looked at a few things and there are pros and cons, and Redis is fast but expensive and Postgres is cheaper but slower, so I was thinking maybe Redis.'
Answer
"I recommend Redis for the session cache. It is about ten times faster than Postgres for our access pattern, and the extra cost, roughly 2,000 dollars a month, is acceptable." Recommendation first, reasons, quantified trade-off. (Numbers illustrative.)
Q26. Write a conditional trade: your PM asks for two extra features by the same date.
Answer
"We can add the two features if we move the release by two weeks, or keep the date if we defer the audit log. Which do you prefer?"
Q27. Rephrase without 'I will try': 'I will try to finish the review today.'
Answer
"I will finish the review by 5 p.m. today." or, if unsure: "I can review the first half today and the rest tomorrow morning."
Q28. Give a polite way to ask someone to repeat a number you missed.
Answer
"Sorry, did you say fifteen or fifty?" or "Could you repeat the number, please? I want to be sure I have it right."
Q29. Make it a professional refusal: 'No, I can't do that, I'm too busy.'
Answer
"I am not able to take that on this quarter; my time is committed to the migration and the resilience work. I can review your plan and connect you with Kavya." No, a short reason, an alternative.
Q30. Fix the tense narrative: 'Last year we are migrating the billing system and I find a race condition, which I was fix by adding a lock.'
Answer
"Last year we were migrating the billing system, and I found a race condition, which I fixed by adding a lock." Past continuous for the background activity, past simple for the completed events. Also "fixed by" (past simple + by + gerund).
Q31. Replace the idiom with plain language for a global audience: 'Let's not boil the ocean; we need low-hanging fruit before we move the needle.'
Answer
"Let's not try to solve everything; first do the easy changes with the highest value so we can show measurable progress."
Q32. Write a SCQA opening in four sentences for a proposal to add caching in front of a slow pricing API.
Answer
"Our pricing API serves every booking quote (S). Its p95 latency has doubled to 1.2 seconds since we added carrier rates, and quote abandonment is up (C). How can we cut latency without changing the pricing rules? (Q) I recommend a two-minute cache keyed on lane and weight, which should cut p95 to about 300 ms (A)."
L3 — Judge nuance and choose¶
Q33. 'Should' vs 'must' vs 'need to' in a review comment to a peer: choose and defend for a missing input validation on a public endpoint.
Answer
"We need to validate this input before it reaches the database" (or "This must be validated because it is public and exposed to injection"). For a security issue "must" is justified; give the reason. For a style preference use "I suggest" or "could". "Should" is a moderate recommendation, and to some ears sounds like a criticism ("you should have"); use it forward-looking.
Q34. Compare 'I think we should delay' with 'I recommend we delay' and 'We might want to consider delaying'. When each?
Answer
"I think..." opinion; fine among peers, weak for decision requests. "I recommend..." fits a decision-maker audience: confident and owned. "We might want to consider..." is a tentative suggestion for when you are uncertain or the authority is not yours; overused it sounds evasive. Match the phrase to your certainty and the audience's need for a clear position.
Q35. 'Impact' as a verb: acceptable? Decide for (a) an internal Slack message (b) a formal executive report © a customer email.
Answer
(a) Fine. (b) Prefer "affect" or "have an impact on" in formal writing; some readers still dislike "impact" as a verb. © Use plain "affect": "This may affect your delivery date." The safer choice for mixed audiences is "affect".
Q36. Is 'as per my last email' appropriate? Give alternatives and their tone.
Answer
It often reads as passive-aggressive in English. Alternatives: "As mentioned in my email of Tuesday..." (neutral); "Following up on my earlier note, could you confirm..." (polite); "To recap: ..." (helpful). Choose according to whether you are reminding or blaming.
Q37. Compare 'make a decision' and 'take a decision'. Which to use and why?
Answer
Both are used; "make a decision" is standard American (and widely British); "take a decision" is more British/Commonwealth and international English. Be consistent with the spelling and idiom variety of your document. Indian and British English use "take"; American English prefers "make".
Q38. Which is better in an incident summary: 'The deployment failed' or 'We failed to deploy correctly'? Why?
Answer
Depends on purpose. "The deployment failed" focuses on the event and system; in a blameless review that is appropriate, followed by the causes. "We failed..." accepts collective responsibility and can be good in a customer apology, but vague. The strongest text names the cause: "The deployment failed because the migration script locked the orders table for 12 minutes."
Q39. Choose the better opening for an email to a VP: (a) 'I hope you are doing well. I wanted to touch base about...' (b) 'Decision needed by Friday: approve two engineers for the routing migration.' Explain.
Answer
(b). The subject/first line carries the ask and date. (a) delays the point; the small talk is fine to a colleague you know but wastes a VP's first read. Add a courteous greeting, then the point.
Q40. A colleague says 'That's an interesting idea' in a UK meeting. Is that agreement?
Answer
Not necessarily. In British usage it can be polite doubt. Watch for follow-up questions, hedges ("but", "however") and lack of commitments; ask: "Do you think it would work for us, or do you see problems?"
Q41. When is hedging harmful? Give an example and fix.
Answer
When you are confident but stack qualifiers: "I sort of think this might possibly be a problem." Fix: "This will fail at 5,000 requests per second." Hedge to show real uncertainty ("I am 70 percent sure") and give the reason, not to avoid ownership.
Q42. Persuade: give a reason to use 'we' or 'I' in a STAR story's Action section.
Answer
Use "I" for your own decisions and actions, "we" for team activity that you did not lead. Interviewers score your contribution; constant "we" hides it. Constant "I" for team efforts sounds arrogant and inaccurate. Balance and credit others explicitly.
Q43. Choose 'compared to', 'compared with' or 'than' for: 'The new service is fast ___ the old one.'
Answer
"faster than the old one". "Compared with/to" introduces a comparison phrase: "Compared with the old one, the new service is faster." Do not write "faster compared to the old one" as a replacement for "than" in formal writing (it is common but wordy).
Q44. Is it 'less than 3 incidents' or 'fewer than 3 incidents'? Do native speakers follow the rule?
Answer
Formally "fewer than 3 incidents" (countable). Many native speakers say "less than" informally; supermarkets famously use "10 items or less". In professional writing use "fewer" for countable nouns; either is understood, but "fewer" signals care.
Q45. Which is more diplomatic: 'Why did you do it this way?' or 'What led to this approach?' Explain.
Answer
The second. "Why" can sound accusatory in a critique context. "What led to..." and "Help me understand..." invite explanation. Tone (curious, calm) matters as much as the words.
Q46. Compare 'I am agree with you' / 'I agree with you' / 'I am in agreement with you'.
Answer
"I am agree" is wrong ("agree" is a verb, no "am"). "I agree with you" is standard. "I am in agreement with you" is correct but formal and wordy. Also: "I agree with the proposal / with you; I agree that...; I agree to a request."
Q47. In a global call, when is 'Let us take this offline' helpful and when is it harmful?
Answer
Helpful to park a detail that does not concern most people while keeping the agenda; harmful if it is used to dismiss or to avoid a real disagreement. State when and how: "Let us take this offline: I will set up 20 minutes tomorrow with you and Sam." Without follow-up it becomes a blocked topic.
Q48. Should a Staff engineer use 'Dear' or 'Hi' in an email to a VP whom they know?
Answer
"Hi Maria," is standard in most tech companies (US, UK, India, Europe), even for VPs you work with. "Dear" is formal (external, legal, customer notices, first contact in some cultures). Follow the VP's own style in replies. In some cultures (Japan, parts of Germany, formal Indian settings) titles and "Dear" may be expected.
L4 — Real-world communication decisions¶
Q49. You must tell a VP that a launch promised to a customer will slip four weeks. Write the message (under 120 words) and justify your choices.
Answer
"Subject: Launch date: moving from June 10 to July 8. Maria, the partner API change added three weeks of rework, and load testing found a fixable bottleneck that adds another week. I recommend we tell the customer this week. Options: (1) July 8 with the full scope; (2) June 24 with the core booking flow, reporting on July 8. I recommend option 2, which protects the customer's peak. I need your decision by Thursday and can join the customer call. I take responsibility for the estimate we gave in April; it did not include the partner dependency." The headline in the subject, cause in one sentence, options, recommendation, ask and deadline, ownership without groveling.
Q50. An engineer on your team writes very short, blunt review comments and a junior from another culture has stopped submitting PRs. You want to help both. What do you say to each?
Answer
To the reviewer (SBI): "In the last three reviews, your comments were 'wrong' and 'no' (B). Anna stopped opening PRs this week (I). Could you add the reason and a suggestion to each comment? How do you see it?" To the junior: "I noticed you have not opened a PR recently. Reviews can feel blunt; the comments are about the code. Would it help if we pair on the first review, and I ask Ben to add more context?" Check facts in private, protect face on both sides, change the process (review guidelines) so it is not personal.
Q51. You are asked in a promotion committee to speak for a report whose English fluency is weaker than peers, although technically strong. How do you present the evidence and avoid bias?
Answer
Focus on outcomes and documented artefacts: designs, incidents led, teams influenced; use their written work and colleagues' testimonials. Address communication directly and specifically ("in a global call he sometimes needs time to find words; his written design docs are clear and precise, and he has led three cross-region reviews successfully"). Challenge the assumption that fluency equals competence, and note the level's actual requirements (clarity, not accent). Propose support (coaching, speaking opportunities) as development, not a barrier.
Q52. Your director opens a review with 'I am disappointed with the delays.' Write your first two sentences.
Answer
"I understand, and I share the concern. Here is what caused the delay, what we have changed, and the date I now believe: ..." Acknowledge, don't grovel or blame, then structure. Avoid "but", avoid detailed excuses at first, and pause before speaking.
Q53. You disagree with a decision by your VP and your peers are silent. How do you raise it in the meeting?
Answer
"I would like to raise a concern before we commit. The plan assumes the vendor will deliver by June; last quarter they were late twice. Could we agree a fallback date, or would you like me to bring options tomorrow?" Concern with evidence, constructive next step, a way for the VP to keep face. If still overridden: "Understood. I will record my concern in the decision log, and I will support the plan."
Q54. A non-native colleague apologises repeatedly for their English and stops speaking in meetings. What do you do as the Staff engineer?
Answer
Change the environment: send agendas and pre-reads, invite them by name with a specific question ("Ravi, you led the failover test; what did you find?"), leave silence, do not correct their language in public, summarise their point in clear words, and offer written contribution channels. Privately tell them their content is valuable and offer to practise. Share your own journey if applicable. Make errors normal in the team.
Q55. You need to say no to a peer director's request for two engineers, and the CTO likes the peer's project. Draft your approach.
Answer
Prepare: the capacity data, your commitments, the cost of moving people. Open with the shared goal and the constraint: "I want to help. Right now my team has 30 engineer-weeks committed to X and Y, both agreed with Maria." Offer options: loan one engineer for four weeks if the CTO re-prioritises Y; or delay to Q4; or advisory support. Ask the CTO for prioritisation jointly with the peer. This makes the no a trade-off, on the record, not a refusal.
Q56. You have a 5-minute slot to present a design to exec and 40 slides. What do you cut and how do you present?
Answer
Aim for one slide with the recommendation, a second with two options and trade-offs, a third with risks and asks; the rest in an appendix. Open with the ask; 3 key numbers; a single diagram. Speak at a steady pace with pauses; rehearse with a timer; prepare answers to the top five questions. State the decision needed and the date. Send the detailed doc beforehand.
Q57. During a video call, your audio fails while you are giving the key update. What do you do, and what do you write?
Answer
Switch to chat quickly: "My audio has dropped. The headline: the migration is on track for Friday; one risk: the certificate renewal. I will rejoin from my phone or post a summary within 10 minutes." Then either rejoin or send a summary. Stay calm; give the priority message first.
Q58. A stakeholder always answers 'yes, no problem' and then misses commitments. How do you change the conversation?
Answer
Ask questions that need content, not yes/no: "What are the first two steps you will take, and when?" "What could get in the way?" Agree a specific deliverable and a check-in date in writing. Make it safe to say "at risk" early. Do not accuse; explain that early warning is valued. Over time track predictability and discuss with the person's manager if needed, with evidence.
Q59. In a design review your English is slower than the quick discussion; the meeting moves on before you can make your point. Plan for the next review.
Answer
Send comments in writing beforehand; state at the start: "I have two points I would like to make after the data-model discussion"; use signposts to hold the floor ("There are two issues: first..."); ask the chair to help; use chat to queue the point; prepare 2-3 sentences of your key points. Slow, deliberate speech is more powerful than fast and unclear.
Q60. Feedback says you are 'too detailed and hard to follow'. What changes do you make in the next month?
Answer
Adopt answer-first (BLUF/pyramid), limit to three points, put detail in an appendix, use signposts, check length (60-90 s for most answers), ask "Shall I go deeper on any part?", and record two meetings to test. Track: length of first answers, the number of follow-up clarifying questions. Ask a colleague to flag when you start to drift with an agreed signal.
Q61. You must write a 150-word message to your team explaining why a beloved internal tool will be shut down in six months. What must it include?
Answer
The decision and date first; the reason in one or two sentences (cost, security, maintenance); what replaces it and how migration will be supported; who to contact; acknowledgement of the work and impact; a channel for concerns. Avoid corporate euphemism ("sunsetting" is fine but explain), avoid blame, and set a date for a Q&A.
Q62. A senior colleague from another culture says 'That is not a problem' about a risk you raised, and then does nothing. What might be happening and what do you do?
Answer
Possibilities: it really is not a problem; they are reassuring you; they do not want to lose face by admitting they have no plan; or different priorities. Ask concretely: "Which mitigation would you use if it did happen?" Suggest a small check: "Could we test that next sprint to be sure?" Document the risk and the owner. Avoid "you are ignoring it".
Q63. Your manager gives feedback: 'You come across as arrogant.' You believe you are being direct. Respond.
Answer
"Thank you for telling me. Could you give me one or two examples so I can see what it looks like from the outside?" Listen, do not defend. Then: "I tend to state my views directly and I do not always add the reasoning. I will try to ask questions first and acknowledge others' views before I challenge. Could you tell me in a month if it has changed?" Adjust behaviour, not identity; ask colleagues for a reading.
Q64. You are the only non-native speaker in an interview panel for a Staff role and the candidate has a strong accent. How do you assess communication fairly?
Answer
Assess the criteria: structure, clarity, checking understanding, the substance of trade-offs, ability to explain to different audiences. Do not penalise accent or minor grammar errors; do note when errors cause misunderstanding. Use a scored rubric agreed before the interview, ask clarifying questions (to test whether communication repairs work), and compare notes with the panel.
Part 2: Scenarios (write or say your response, then compare)¶
For each scenario, write 60-150 words or record 60-90 seconds first. Then open the model and compare structure, tone and phrasing. Do not memorise the model; borrow patterns.
S1. Design review: a peer says your retry design is 'over-engineered' in front of 20 people.
Model response
"Thanks, that is a fair question about complexity. The retries exist because the partner API times out about twice a day at peak, and each timeout costs us a manual reconciliation. If there is a simpler way that handles that, I would like to hear it. Could we spend five minutes after this looking at the failure data together?" Pattern: acknowledge, reason with a number, invite alternatives, move the detail to a smaller forum. No defensiveness, no counter-attack.
S2. Incident bridge: you are the incident lead; the CEO joins and asks 'What is going on?' You have 20 seconds.
Model response
"Since 14:10 UTC, bookings in Europe are failing for about a third of customers. We have identified a bad configuration change and are rolling it back; recovery expected within 20 minutes. Next update at 14:50, or sooner if it changes. I will send a written summary after." Impact, cause status, ETA, update cadence. No speculation, no jargon.
S3. A partner engineer says 'yes' to your Friday deadline but sounds hesitant. What do you say?
Model response
"Thanks. Just to be sure: is Friday comfortable, or would it be tight? I would rather know today. If it is tight, what would make it possible: more time, or reduced scope?" Gives an easy route to disclose a problem and offers options; frames it as planning, not doubt.
S4. You must decline a Friday-evening request from your VP to review a 40-page document by Monday morning.
Model response
"I want to give it proper attention. I can send you the three biggest concerns by Monday 9 a.m., and full comments by Wednesday. Would that work? If Monday is essential for the whole document, I would need to drop the design review prep; do you want me to do that?" Partial yes, trade, the VP decides.
S5. Interview: 'Tell me about a time you disagreed with a senior leader.' Give a 90-second STAR answer outline.
Model response
S/T: Director wanted to skip load testing for a launch; I owned reliability. A: I asked what drove the date, prepared a 1-page risk with two failure scenarios, proposed a one-day targeted test instead of two weeks, and offered to run it myself. I asked for a decision in the planning meeting. R: The test found a connection-pool limit that would have failed at 30 percent of peak; we fixed it in a day, launched on time. Reflection: I should have brought data at the start; I now share the risk summary with the plan. Notes: "I" for actions, specific numbers, stayed collaborative.
S6. Email: a customer's engineer complains the API is unreliable; the cause is their own misconfiguration. Write the first two sentences.
Model response
"Thank you for raising this; I understand how disruptive intermittent errors are. We looked at your requests from Tuesday, and found that the errors are caused by connections being closed after 30 seconds of inactivity, which our documentation recommends configuring for. Here are two steps that should fix it." Empathy, evidence, no blame, actionable. (Avoid "you did not follow the docs".)
S7. Peer negotiation: two teams both want your platform team's Q3. Write your opening for the joint call.
Model response
"We cannot fully serve both requests in Q3. I would like us to agree how to choose, then I will publish the decision. Could each of you tell me the impact of getting half? I will then propose options and we will decide by Friday." Frames the problem, process, asks for interests, deadline.
S8. All-hands: you need to explain a security incident to 300 engineers without alarm or spin.
Model response
"On Tuesday we detected unauthorised access to a build server. No customer data was affected, and we have rotated all credentials. What happened: ... What we learned: ... What changes: ... If you see anything unusual, contact security. Thank you to the team that found it in 40 minutes." Facts first, calm, specific, actions and thanks.
S9. Slack: a junior engineer posts a design with a serious flaw in a public channel. Reply.
Model response
Thread reply: "Nice work putting this together, Ana. One thing I would like to look at before we go further: what happens if the payment call succeeds and the ledger write fails? Could we walk through it in a call after lunch? Happy to pair." Public: a question, not a verdict; private detail. Do not pile on in public.
S10. A director says: 'Just make it work, I don't want to hear about the risks.' Reply.
Model response
"I will make it work, and I want to be sure that you are not surprised. There is one risk that I think you would want to know: the audit deadline. I will send a two-line summary, and will only escalate if it moves from amber to red." Accepts the intent, gives minimal risk info, sets a threshold.
S11. An escalation email to your manager about a blocked dependency owned by another team. Write it in 80 words.
Model response
"Subject: Blocked: schema approval from Data Platform (needed by Wed). Hi Maria, our release on the 20th depends on the Data Platform team approving the schema change, which has been open for nine days. I have raised it twice with Tom. If it is not approved by Wednesday, the release moves a week. Could you raise it with Kim in your sync tomorrow? I can send a one-paragraph summary. Thanks, Rahul." Subject with ask and date, fact, actions taken, impact, specific request.
S12. You realise mid-presentation that a number on your slide is wrong.
Model response
"I need to correct a number: this shows 14 percent, and the right figure is 41. That changes my next point: the risk is higher than this slide suggests. Let me continue and I will send the corrected slide today." Clean correction, consequence, follow-up.
S13. A remote colleague repeatedly speaks over a quieter colleague in calls. You are the meeting chair. What do you say in the meeting and after?
Model response
In the meeting: "Sam, I want to hear the rest of Priya's point first. Priya, please continue." After (SBI, private): "In the last two calls, you started answering before Priya had finished (B). She stopped contributing to the design discussion (I). Could you wait for the end of a point? How do you see it?" Protect the quieter person in the moment; address the behaviour privately.
S14. Give a 45-second answer to 'Why should we choose your proposal over the vendor's?'
Model response
"Three reasons. First, cost: 1.1 million over three years versus 1.9 million. Second, control: we keep our routing logic, where the vendor would own it. Third, risk: we have done two similar builds, and the vendor's product has not been tested at our volume. The trade-off is that we take on maintenance; I propose a team of three. If speed is more important than control, the vendor is a fair choice, and I would recommend a two-year term." Answer, three reasons, honest trade-off, conditions.
S15. Onboarding: a new hire from another country asks, 'How direct should I be with senior people here?' Advise.
Model response
"Here it is welcome to disagree with data and a reason, including with senior people. Ask questions, state concerns early and in private if you prefer, and use written comments before meetings. For big disagreements, tell your manager first. If you are unsure how something landed, ask 'Was that helpful?' We do not expect you to change your style; we ask you to make risks visible." Norms explained, safety, options.
S16. Write a two-sentence status for an amber project to an exec.
Model response
"Status: amber. Migration is on track for the core flow but the reporting module is at risk of a two-week slip because the partner data contract is unsigned. I need you to unblock the contract by Friday; next update Thursday." Status, cause, ask, next update.
Part 3: Rapid-fire review (40 items)¶
Cover the answers, say each aloud in a full sentence, then check. Re-run in 3 and 10 days.
| # | Prompt |
|---|---|
| 1 | Plural of "criterion"; "phenomenon" |
| 2 | "an" or "a": ___ MVP, ___ hour, ___ user, ___ SQL query |
| 3 | "I look forward ___ hearing from you" |
| 4 | Correct: "She explained me the problem" |
| 5 | Correct: "The informations are useful" |
| 6 | Meaning: "to de-risk" |
| 7 | Meaning: "to be on the same page" |
| 8 | "Since" or "for": ___ 2023; ___ three years |
| 9 | Correct: "I have seen him yesterday" |
| 10 | Word: to make something smaller or less severe (starts with "mit") |
| 11 | Difference: "assure / ensure / insure" |
| 12 | Meaning: "the ball is in your court" |
| 13 | Correct: "According to me, we should wait" |
| 14 | "Different from", "different than", "different to": which is the safest in international business English? |
| 15 | "I am agree" or "I agree"? |
| 16 | Meaning: "to move the needle" |
| 17 | Stress: "develop", "development", "developer" |
| 18 | Meaning: "to push back" (in a meeting) |
| 19 | Correct: "We should discuss about the roadmap" |
| 20 | "Less" or "fewer": ___ incidents; ___ traffic |
| 21 | Meaning: "on the back burner" |
| 22 | Formal synonym for "get": "We ___ approval" (start with "ob") |
| 23 | Correct: "I am having a doubt" (asking a question) |
| 24 | Meaning: "a moving target" |
| 25 | "Advice" vs "advise": which is the verb? Pronounce both |
| 26 | Correct: "He is knowing the answer" |
| 27 | Word: "to make more efficient" (starts "streaml") |
| 28 | Meaning: "to loop someone in" |
| 29 | Correct: "The team is comprised of five engineers" (preferred form?) |
| 30 | "Whom" or "who": "___ did you ask?" (formal) |
| 31 | Meaning: "the tip of the iceberg" |
| 32 | Correct: "Please revert back to me" |
| 33 | Meaning: "to be blocked on" vs "to be blocked by" |
| 34 | Third conditional: complete "If we had monitored the queue, ___" |
| 35 | Meaning: "trade-off" (define in one sentence) |
| 36 | "Economic" vs "economical" |
| 37 | "Principal" vs "principle": which fits "a Staff ___ engineer"? |
| 38 | Pronounce: "schedule" (US vs UK), "data" (two ways) |
| 39 | Hedge stronger to weaker: "will", "should", "might" |
| 40 | Meaning: "to take (something) offline" |
Answers
- criteria; phenomena. 2. an MVP (vowel sound "em"), an hour (silent h), a user (y sound), an SQL query ("ess-cue-el") or "a SQL" ("sequel"), both are used; be consistent. 3. "to hearing" (to is a preposition here, so a gerund follows). 4. "She explained the problem to me." (explain takes "to" for the person). 5. "The information is useful." 6. Reduce the risk of a project, for example by testing an assumption early. 7. Have the same understanding. 8. since 2023; for three years. 9. "I saw him yesterday." 10. mitigate. 11. Assure: promise to a person ("I assure you"); ensure: make certain ("ensure the job runs"); insure: cover with insurance. (US also uses "insure" for the insurance sense only.) 12. It is your turn to act or respond. 13. "In my opinion / I think..." ("According to" is used for sources). 14. "different from" is the safest and universal. 15. "I agree." 16. To make a noticeable difference to a measure or progress. 17. de-VEL-op; de-VEL-op-ment; de-VEL-op-er (stress on the second syllable). 18. To object or resist a proposal. 19. "discuss the roadmap." 20. fewer incidents; less traffic. 21. Postponed; low priority for now. 22. obtain. 23. "I have a question" (a "doubt" in Indian English is often a question; in international English "doubt" means uncertainty). 24. A goal or situation that keeps changing. 25. "advise" (verb, /z/ ending); "advice" (noun, /s/ ending). 26. "He knows the answer." (stative verbs are not used in continuous). 27. streamline. 28. To add someone to a conversation so they have the information. 29. "The team comprises five engineers" or "is composed of five engineers"; "is comprised of" is common but disliked by some careful writers. 30. "Whom did you ask?" (formal, object); "Who did you ask?" is normal in speech. 31. A small visible part of a much larger problem. 32. "Please reply" ("revert" in the sense of "reply" is Indian English usage; "revert back" is redundant; in other varieties "revert" means return to a former state). 33. Blocked on: waiting for a task or a person to finish ("blocked on the schema approval"); blocked by: the thing that prevents you ("blocked by a missing permission"). Both are used; "on" is more common for dependencies. 34. "we would have caught the backlog earlier." 35. Giving up something to get something else; you cannot have both. 36. economic: relating to the economy; economical: saving money or resources. 37. principal (main or senior); principle is a rule or belief. 38. schedule: US "SKED-jool", UK "SHED-jool"; data: "DAY-ta" or "DAH-ta". 39. will (strongest), should, might (weakest). 40. Discuss it separately from the current meeting or in a different channel.