A ______ is a report in a newspaper or magazine in which a writer gives his opinion of a book, a film, or a play.

(391)________

Read the reading below carefully, and then complete it with the best option A, B, C or D given below:
World Wide Web (WWW), computer-based (1) _______ of information resources that combines text and multimedia. The information on the World Wide Web can be accessed and searched through the (2) _______, a global computer network. The World Wide Web is often (3) _______ to simply as “the Web.” The Web started to become a (4) _______ resource after 1993 when the first widely distributed browser provided a convenient way to (5) _______ a variety of information on the Internet

Read the passage below carefully, and then choose the best answer:
The Advancing Development of Artificial Limbs
It wasn’t very long ago that losing a limb automatically meant a drastic drop in the quality of a person’s life. Thanks to the wonders of modern science, people now are recovering from all sorts of horrendous injuries that let them disabled. The reason they are able to do so is remarkable advances made in the field of artificial limbs. Doctors have been creating prosthetic limbs for their patients dating back to ancient Greece. For most of history, however, these replacements were mainly for cosmetic purposes. Pirates, knights, loot soldiers that lost their limbs in battle would get them, so they wouldn’t lose face when returning to society. It wasn’t until the mid-19th century that doctors were able to perform surgeries to reliably attach limbs to people’s bodies and amputate limbs without causing serious infection. Modern artificial limbs represent a tremendous leap forward in terms of form and function. Today’s limbs are far more durable and can withstand a lot more wear and tear. An amazing example of how far artificial limbs have progressed is the Flex-Foot Cheetah. Made from carbon fiber, it is able to store energy as the person moves, which enables the wearer to run and jump. The technology is so good that approximately 90 percent of all Special Olympic amputees use them in competition. Meanwhile, the Bebionic3 has emerged as the most advanced prosthetic arm available. It has been nicknamed “The Terminator” because it is similar to Arnold Schwarzenegger’s mechanical limbs in the famous blockbuster film. The Bebionic3 can perform a multitude of tasks including writing, tying a shoelace, lifting heavy objects, and even pouring a beer. Wearers simply push a button on the base of the arm and the Bebionic3 will work its magic. In September 2013, scientists took another giant leap forward when they successfully fitted a patient with an artificial leg that can be controlled by thought. Two of the patient’s nerves were attached to his hamstring muscle. These nerves then interact with sensors inside the artificial leg. Sensors will then transmit these messages to a computer which will follow through on his instructions. Therefore, if the patient wants to stretch out his leg, the computer will understand this command and send a message to the limb and instruct it to do so. If artificial limb technology keeps advancing like this, losing a limb may not be such a big deal.
7. What can be inferred from the passage?

A _____ is a spacecraft that is designed to travel into space and back to earth several times.

(312)_______

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions:
People are increasingly (1) _______ alternative medicine, such as homeopathy, acupuncture and herbal medicine. Alternative medicine is useful as it can help millions of people with illnesses which conventional medicine cannot (2) _______ . Alternative medicine is ‘holistic’ since it deals with the whole person, (3) _______  conventional medicine just focuses on the illness. While many conventional doctors rely on quickly prescribing drugs for most problems, alternative therapists tend to have more time to treat their patients. Treatments like acupuncture have proved (4) _______ , for problems like back pain, chronic fatigue and asthma when conventional treatment does not work. Critics say that there is no scientific proof that alternative therapies actually work; some (5) _______ even claim that they are dangerous due to their side effects and because patients delay proper treatment for serious conditions. However, alternative medicine actually has fewer side effects than most conventional treatments.

Read the passage below carefully, and then choose the best answer:
An Amazing Invention
Look at your hand, and it might not seem very interesting at first, but it is an amazing tool. In fact, the human hand is as complex and as useful as a high tech machine. This might sound strange to you, but the development of the human hand changed the world. For example, the thumb helped human beings become the smartest and most powerful animals on the Earth. Your thumb is important because it faces your other fingers. This allows you to hold things, like tools. Being able to hold tools allowed our ancient ancestors to build things and become more advanced. It is also possible that when we developed thumbs and started to use tools, our brains developed faster as well. And how about this? Your fingers are the only parts of your body that are moved by a “remote control”. A remote control is the small device that you use to change the channel on your television. Your fingers are controlled by remote because they don’t have any muscles. You control your fingers with the muscles in your palms. The palms are connected to the fingers by tendons. The palms pull the tendons, and move them the same way a string moves a puppet. Every part of the human body is complicated, but the hand is especially complicated. It has a total of 29 bones. There are 34 different muscles that move the fingers and the thumb. Seventeen of those muscles are in the palm, and 18 are in the forearm. The human hand also has 48 nerves and 30 arteries. An artery is like a vein, but it carries blood away from the heart. Human beings are not as strong or as fast as other animals. However, our ancient ancestors were able to rule the world for two reasons.  First, they were intelligent. Second, they had these amazing instruments called hands. There is no other invention like them in the world. 
2. Which statement is true?

Trees are among the biggest and longest-living things on Earth, some dating back longer than the oldest buildings. But (1)_______ being nice to look at, trees also play an important role in improving the quality of our lives. On a world-wide (2)_______, forests help to slow down the effects of global warming by using up the gas known as carbon dioxide and giving (3)_______ the oxygen we need to breathe. At local neighborhood level, trees also (4)_______ important environment benefits. They offer shade and shelter, which in (5)_______ reduces the amount of energy needed to heat and cool nearby buildings; at the same time, they also remove other impurities from the air we breathe.

(75)__________

Read the passage below carefully, and then choose the best answer:
Hooray for Hip Hop
It is amazing how far hip hop music has come in its relatively short history. You can trace the roots of this urban art form to New York City in the 1970s. Hip hop began as a spontaneous way of entertaining crowds. DJs discovered that people loved dancing to the drum breaks in popular funk and soul records. These breaks were typically brief, so DJs would move or “scratch” records back to extend them. In addition, a master of ceremonies (MC) would sometimes grab the microphone and say a few words to get the crowd more excited. At first, the words of MCs were simple chants but they later became a more complex form of poetry. Still, for several years rap remained an underground art. Then, in the early 1980s, artists like LL Cool J, KRS-One, and Run DMC helped it reach a wider audience. Nevertheless, hip hop didn’t have an easy road to mainstream success. Many people dismissed rap music because no “real musicians” were involved in creating it. Critics blamed the beats were repetitive and stolen from other artists. Others claimed the lyrics were too negative and violent. Yet they were overlooking several things. The lyrics were often from the perspective of underprivileged youths growing up in the big city. Although these words were often dark, they painted a clear picture that allowed outsiders to understand their joys and pain. Not all hip hop songs had a heavy message, though. Others were quite humorous and showed a lighter side of street life. The influence of hip hop would spread far beyond music itself. In fact, a collection of other art forms, would develop out of it. Since hip hop music had a beat like no other music before it, new dance styles had to emerge. B-boying, more commonly called break dancing, was one of these styles. Break dancers featured lots of spinning and fancy moves that took speed, agility, and lots practice to perfect. Hip hop also helped to inspire waves of modern street graffiti. Urban artists would spray-paint their names on walls and subway cars a rebellious way of expressing themselves. After nearly three decades of popularity, hip hop has spread from New York to every continent on the earth and it is still going strong as it continues to evolve.
4. The word “chants” in paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to __________

Choose the best answer:
She suggested ___________ the night away from home.

A book may be studied by students as the ____ of a writing and analysis exercise in the form of a book report.

(389)______

Read the passage below carefully, and then choose the best answer:
The life of a Professional Gamer
Gordon Hayward has a pretty cool job – he plays basketball for the team Utah Jazz in the American National Basketball Association (NBA). But in his free time, he also works as a professional gamer, competing in StarCraft 2 tournaments. Even as a top – level athletes, Gordon is impressed with the amount of commitment needed for these competitions. “These guys are professionals”, he says. “They play this game for their job, so they take this as seriously as I take playing basketball for a living.” Competitive gaming has been around for almost as long as video games themselves, but it’s only recently that people have started earning money from it. This is because companies sponsor gamers, and tournaments. The gaming industry is now worth about $6 billion, and it is growing every year. Michel Masquelier, President of IMG Media (one of the world’s largest entertainment companies), called gaming the number one activity in the world for men aged 18 to 24. Just as young people aspire to play in the NBA, many also dream of becoming professional gamer. There are now big global tournaments like World Cyber Games and Major League Gaming Championships, where hundreds of gamers come to compete in popular game like StarCraft, WarCraft, Counterstrike, and the football game FIFA in front of an audience. The prize money in a tournament can reach a few million dollars. One thing gamer, and athletes have in common is that they often play in teams. These “clans”, as gamers call them, usually play tournaments together and practise against one another. Professional gamers and their clans earn money through sponsorships, winning tournament, and teaching and training people to play video games better. Like athletes, gamers must train long and hard to become the best at the game that they play. Most gamers only compete in one game, the same way that most professional athletes only play one sport. Adrian Kwong, a professional gamer, says that he usually practises StarCraft 2 for more than three hours a day. Some days he even plays for more than five hours. “To become a pro player, it takes determination, skill, and extensive practice,” says Katie Goldberg, who is vice – president of communications at Major’s League Gaming. Gordon Hayward isn’t going to give up his basketball career anytime soon, but he says that athletes and gamers are not that different: “You have to train hard if you want to be the best, and that goes for everything, not just basketball. That also goes for video games like StarCraft”.
8. The purpose of the final paragraph is to show________

 Choose the best answer:
I love learning about _________ life under the sea.

Choose the best answer
If he ________ hard today, can he have a holiday tomorrow?

Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
Although he created the game of basketball at the YMCA in Springfield, Massachusetts, Dr. James A. Naismith was a Canadian. Working as a physical education instructor at the International YMCA, now Springfield College, Dr. Naismith noticed a lack of interest in exercise among students during the wintertime. The New England winters were fierce, and the students balked at participating in outdoor activities. Naismith determined that a fast-moving game that could be played indoors would fill a void after the baseball and football seasons had ended. First he attempted to adapt outdoor games such as soccer and rugby to indoor play, but he soon found them unsuitable for confined areas. Finally, he determined that he would have to invent a game. In December of 1891, Dr. Naismith hung two old peach baskets as either end of the gymnasium at the school, and, using a soccer ball and nine players on each side, organized the first basketball game. The early rules allowed three points for each basket and made running with the ball a violation. Every time a goal was made, someone had to climb a ladder to retrieve the ball. Nevertheless, the game became popular. In less than a year, basketball was being played in both the United States and Canada. Five years later, a championship tournament was staged in New York City, which was won by the Brooklyn Central YMCA. The teams had already been reduced to seven players, and five became standard in the 1897 season. When basketball was introduced as a demonstration sport in the 1904 Olympic Games in St. Louis, it quickly spread throughout the world. In 1906, a metal hoop was used for the first time to replace the basket, but the name basketball has remained.
2. When was the first demonstration game of basketball held during the Olympics?

Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
Poor Pluto! Once the ninth planet in our solar system, Pluto has now been demoted to the status of a "dwarf planet". It is no longer even part of our solar system, but rather of a separate area called the Kuiper Belt. The decision came about after the International Astronomical Union (IAU) tried to shed some light on Pluto's status. It came up with a new definition for planets that Pluto did not fit. Many in the astronomical disagreed with it, especially since the Earth, Mars, Jupiter and Neptune would not be planets either according to this definition! Only five percent of the astronomical community voted on this issue, and critics say this decision was not based on the community as a whole. In the state of New Mexico, a resolution has been passed that Pluto will always be a planet. This was done in honor of Clyde Tombaugh who discovered Pluto and lived most of his life in New Mexico. Pluto's demotion was also influenced by its size - it's only half the size of our moon! It consists of rock and ice. Pluto has one big moon (Charon) an two smaller ones (Nix and Hydra). Lowell realized that there must be a ninth planet as the gravitational pull of a large body was influencing the orbit of Uranus. He called it "Planet X". He spent his whole life searching for "Planet X" but to no avail. It was until 1930 that it was discovered by Clyde Tombaugh. Now that "Planet X" has finally been discovered, it needed a name. Suggestions poured in from all over the world, but it was an 11 -year-old girl. Venetia Burnet, who came up with the name "Pluto". Venetia was interested in Greek history, and "Pluto", was another name for Hades, god of the Underworld (Hell). As she imagined it to be a cold and dark place, she felt that "Pluto" would be an appropriate name. The Lowe Observatory (where Clyde Tombaugh worked) agreed and Pluto was born! Pluto is so far away from Earth that it is difficult to study. That will change in 2015 when the "New Horizons" spacecraft arrives on Pluto. It was launched on January 19.2006. It carries with it the ashes of Clyde Tombaugh Pluto's discover who died in 1997. It is hoped that the mission will give scientists more information about Pluto. Even though Pluto has lost its place in the sun, it is still important enough for scientists to study!
4. What can be inferred from Venetia Burnet's choice of "Pluto" as a name?

Last year thieves broke into a Scottish stately home and stole only one thing: a rhino horn trophy, which at 1.5 meters was the longest in the world. Meanwhile, in China, pharmaceutical factories have been building up (1)___________ of antiques made from rhino horn, for the sole purpose of smashing them to powder to make the (2)___________ ingredient of many of their medicines. And in Zimbabwe, 34 poachers died in 1990 in the search for the black rhino. Recently, conservationists met to (3)___________a campaign to persuade countries where rhino horn is still part of the traditional medicine to switch to substitutes. The biggest threat to the survival of the rhinoceros is the refusal of certain countries to enforce a ban on domestic trading in rhino horn. The rhino horn is included in many doses for disorders raging from fevers to nosebleeds. Horn, like fingernails, is made of keratin and has no proven medicinal (4)___________. Traditional substitutes, such as horn from buffalo or antelope, are regarded as second best. The battle is thought to be winnable. But it may be harder than the battle against the trade in ivory, for there is a (5)___________between the two commodities. Ivory is a luxury; rhino horn, people believe, could save the life of their child.

(59)______

Choose the best answer:
Do you like ________? – No, I don’t.

Choose the word or phrase among A, B, C or D that best fits the blank space in the following passage.

The Emergence of Megacities

The urban shift over time has led to the emergence of the megacity – a city with a population of 10 million or more. New York City and Tokyo were the first (21)______megacities, both (22)________an urban population of over 10 million by the 1950s. But today they are (23)_________alone in their size. In 2014, there were 28 megacties across the planet – from Sao Paulo, Brazil to Lagos, Nigeria and London, England to Shanghai, China – and all major global regions except Oceania are (24)_______with megacities.

Most of the megacities in recent years are located in Asia and Africa. In fact, it is where seven of wight newest megacities can be found and where 10 of the 12 (25)_________megacities in 2030 will be located. From 2010 to 2015, Kinshasa’s population grew (26)________   over 23 percent, and today over half of 11.6 million residents are under 22 years old. A (27)________of factors has led to this growth including migration from rural areas, high fertility rates, and widening of the city’s boundaries. The population is (28)________almost all support structure in the city (29)_______the threat of food shortages, traffic (30)__________, and insufficient education facilities have become an obvious reality.

Question 23: .............

Choose the best answer:
Playing sports is _________ good way to stay away from stress.

Mark the letter A, B, C, or D to indicate the sentence that best combines each pair of sentences in the following questions.
You will never eat there at the weekend unless you have made a reservation.

Of course you can come to the party. _____.

(449)_____