Hi Jake -

You wanted to know what things were like at my new job. Well, for a start let me tell you about the office. It's open plan, but that does not mean a lot because there are only three of us in it!

Our workstations are arranged in a sort of island in the middle of the room, and there is a computer with an ASDL connection in the corner. This is really useful because it gives us real time information on the stocks we are following. Unfortunately there is only the one, so we are hot-desking on it. The chairs are swivel and tilt. I never realised how important it is to have ergonomic chairs until I started doing my nine to fives in one. The main perk for me is that I have my own parking bay in the underground garage, so I don't have to worry where to put my wheels during the day.

We work flexitime, though there is a core time of ten to two, when we all have to be there. The hierarchy is pretty flat - we report directly to Magnus Blake, who is the head honcho here. I don't know what sort of package the others have. I got a small golden hello, and there is a good basic salary, though anything extra is EWYK.

Anyway, I am researching a new portfolio for a single client. He wants a higher return than I am going to get from blue stock chips, so I am looking for some promising IPOs that can give over 8%. Can you put the word out with some of the venture capitalists you play golf with every Wednesday?

We'll exchange notes at the gym on Friday.

Ivan

1. c
Ivan is writing to give his friend Jake information about his new job, because Jake has asked him to do this. But Ivan also wants Jake to give him some information about companies to invest in. Ivan does say hello to Jake, but that is not his main reason for writing. It is possible that his main reason is that he wants information, but he is careful not to make that obvious.

2. b
The email is informal. Ivan uses casual salutations and colloquial language ("my wheels", "head honcho"). There is no reason to say that it is restrained, and it is certainly not businesslike; nor is it particularly detailed.

3. c
Ivan spends all his day in front of a computer screen. Therefore it is very important to him that the chairs he sits in are comfortable, and that they support his spine correctly. Ivan says he only realised this after he got a job where he spends a lot of time sitting.

4. a
We know that Ivan gets to work by car, because having a place to park is very important to him, and he says that is where his car is parked during the day. ("Somewhere safe")

5. b
Ivan does not directly give any opinion about his salary, but he says that the basic salary is "good". Because it is bad manners in England to boast about your salary - though you are allowed to complain - we can infer that Ivan is satisfied. We know he does not know the salaries ("(renumeration) package") of the others. He does get extra money from commission.

6. a
Blue chip stocks are usually safe, but Ivan does not mention this. What he does say is that he needs something that is more profitable. There is no mention that these are Jake's speciality, and no reason to infer this.

7. c
Ivan does not want to meet a venture capitalist. What he wants is Jake to talk to some, and get some useful information ("tips") that will help Ivan to decide what stocks he wants to buy. Venture capitalists often promote new companies.

8. a
It is very probably that Ivan and Jake go regularly to the same gym, because Ivan does not need to say which gym, and he does not need to ask whether Jake will be there.