A pioneering study by Donald Appleyard made the astounding discovery that a sudden increase in the volume of traffic through an area affects people in the way that a sudden increase in crime does. Appleyard observed this by finding three blocks of houses in San Francisco that looked much alike and had the same kind of middle-class and working-class residents, with approximately the same ethnic mix. The difference was that only 2,000 cars a day ran down Octavia Street (LIGHT street, in Appleyard’s terminology) while Gough Street (MEDIUM street) was used by 8,000 cars daily, and Franklin Street (HEAVY street) had around 16,000 cars a day. Franklin Street often had as many cars in an hour as Octavia had in a day.
Heavy traffic brought with it danger, noise, fumes and soot, directly, and trash secondarily. That is, the cars didn’t bring in much trash, but when trash accumulated, residents seldom picked it up. The cars, Appleyard determined, reduced the amount of territory residents felt responsible for. Noise was a constant intrusion into their homes. Many Franklin Street residents covered their doors and windows and spent most of their time in the rear of their houses. Most families with children had already left.
Conditions on Octavia Street were much different. Residents picked up trash. They sat on their front steps and chatted with neighbors. They had three times as many friends and twice as many acquaintances as the people on Franklin.
On Gough Street, residents said that the old feeling of community was disappearing as traffic increaseD. People were becoming more and more preoccupied with their own lives. A number of families had recently moved and more were considering. Those who were staying expressed deep regret at the destruction of their community.

All of the following are direct results of heavy traffic EXCEPT

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct word or phrase that best fits each of the numbered blanks from 31 to 35:
It is relatively easy for computers to speak. A computer that says 'please' and 'thank you' in the right places is (31)_________miracle of science ,but recognizing the words that make up normal, human speech is another (32)_________ .
Not until now have computer been programmed to (33)_________to a range of spoken commands. Until recently it was thought that computers would have tobe programmed to the accent and speech hahits of each user,and only then would be able to respond (34)_________to their master's or mistress's voice.Now rapid progress is being made (35)_________systems programmed to adapt easily to each new speaker.
(35)...........................

Since water is the basis of life, composing the greater part of the tissues of all living things, the crucial problem of desert animals is to survive in a world where sources of flowing water are rare. And since man’s inexorable necessity is to absorb large quantities of water at frequent intervals, he can scarcely comprehend that many creatures of the desert pass their entire lives without a single drop.
Uncompromising as it is, the desert has not eliminated life but only those forms unable to withstand its desiccating effects. No moist- skinned, water-loving animals can exist there. Few large animals are found. The giants of the North American desert are the deer, the coyote, and the bobcat. Since desert country is open, it holds more swift-footed running and leaping creatures than the tangled forest. Its population is largely nocturnal, silent, filled with reticence, and ruled by stealth. Yet they are not emaciated.
Having adapted to their austere environment, they are as healthy as animals anywhere else in the word. The secret of their adjustment lies in the combination of behavior and physiology. None could survive if, like mad dogs and Englishmen, they went out in the midday sun; many would die in a matter of minutes. So most of them pass the burning hours asleep in cool, humid burrows underneath the ground, emerging to hunt only by night. The surface of the sun- baked desert averages around 150 degrees, but 18 inches down the temperature is only 60 degrees.

According to the passage, creatures in the desert________.

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 ‌from‌ ‌42‌ ‌to‌ ‌48.‌ ‌
Nepal‌ ‌has‌ ‌made‌ ‌important‌ ‌progress‌ ‌over‌ ‌the‌ ‌past‌ ‌few‌ ‌years‌ ‌to‌ ‌promote‌ ‌equality,‌ ‌but‌ ‌the‌ ‌country‌ ‌still‌ ‌has‌ ‌one‌ ‌of‌ ‌the‌ ‌highest‌ ‌rates‌ ‌of‌ ‌child‌ ‌marriage‌ ‌in‌ ‌the‌ ‌world.‌ ‌41%‌ ‌of‌ ‌Nepalese‌ ‌girls‌ ‌are‌ ‌married‌ ‌before‌ ‌the‌ ‌age‌ ‌of‌ ‌18.‌ ‌
Poverty‌ ‌is‌ ‌both‌ ‌a‌ ‌cause‌ ‌and‌ ‌consequence‌ ‌of‌ ‌child‌ ‌marriage‌ ‌in‌ ‌Nepal.‌ ‌Girls‌ ‌from‌ ‌the‌ ‌wealthiest‌ ‌families‌ ‌marry‌ ‌2‌ ‌years‌ ‌later‌ ‌than‌ ‌‌those‌ ‌from‌ ‌the‌ ‌poorest,‌ ‌who‌ ‌are‌ ‌seen‌ ‌as‌ ‌an‌ ‌economic‌ ‌burden,‌ ‌and‌ ‌who‌ ‌drop‌ ‌out‌ ‌of‌ ‌school‌ ‌and‌ ‌earn‌ ‌little‌ ‌money.‌ ‌
Food‌ ‌insecurity‌ ‌plays‌ ‌an‌ ‌important‌ ‌role‌ ‌too.‌ ‌Nepalese‌ ‌families‌ ‌that‌ ‌do‌ ‌not‌ ‌have‌ ‌enough‌ ‌food‌ ‌to‌ ‌eat‌ ‌are‌ ‌more‌ ‌likely‌ ‌to‌ ‌marry‌ ‌their‌ ‌daughters‌ ‌at‌ ‌a‌ ‌young‌ ‌age‌ ‌to‌ ‌decrease‌ ‌the‌ ‌financial‌ ‌‌burden‌.‌ ‌One‌ ‌study‌ ‌shows‌ ‌that‌ ‌91%‌ ‌of‌ ‌people‌ ‌who‌ ‌had‌ ‌secure‌ ‌access‌ ‌to‌ ‌food‌ ‌married‌ ‌over‌ ‌the‌ ‌age‌ ‌of‌ ‌19.‌ ‌
Dowry‌ ‌is‌ ‌also‌ ‌a‌ ‌common‌ ‌practice‌ ‌in‌ ‌many‌ ‌communities.‌ ‌Parents‌ ‌marry‌ ‌their‌ ‌daughters‌ ‌as‌ ‌soon‌ ‌as‌ ‌possible‌ ‌because‌ ‌the‌ ‌money‌ ‌they‌ ‌have‌ ‌to‌ ‌pay‌ ‌for‌ ‌the‌ ‌groom's‌ ‌family‌ ‌is‌ ‌higher‌ ‌if‌ ‌their‌ ‌daughter‌ ‌is‌ ‌older.‌ ‌Since‌ ‌2010,‌ ‌the‌ ‌legal‌ ‌age‌ ‌of‌ ‌marriage‌ ‌is‌ ‌20‌ ‌for‌ ‌both‌ ‌men‌ ‌and‌ ‌women,‌ ‌or‌ ‌18‌ ‌with‌ ‌parental‌ ‌consent,‌ ‌according‌ ‌to‌ ‌the‌ ‌Nepalese‌ ‌Country‌ ‌Code.‌ ‌
The‌ ‌law‌ ‌states‌ ‌that‌ ‌punishment‌ ‌for‌ ‌child‌ ‌marriage‌ ‌is‌ ‌‌imprisonment‌ ‌for‌ ‌up‌ ‌to‌ ‌three‌ ‌years‌ ‌and‌ ‌a‌ ‌fine‌ ‌of‌ ‌up‌ ‌to‌ ‌10,000‌ ‌rupees‌ ‌(£102).‌ ‌But‌ ‌reports‌ ‌suggest‌ ‌that‌ ‌this‌ ‌law‌ ‌is‌ ‌rarely‌ ‌applied.‌ ‌There‌ ‌has‌ ‌been‌ ‌quite‌ ‌a‌ ‌lot‌ ‌of‌ ‌progress‌ ‌in‌ ‌Nepal‌ ‌over‌ ‌the‌ ‌past‌ ‌3‌ ‌years‌ ‌with‌ ‌a‌ ‌clear‌ ‌government‌ ‌commitment‌ ‌to‌ ‌ending‌ ‌child‌ ‌marriage‌ ‌and‌ ‌civil‌ ‌society‌ ‌cooperation.‌ ‌The‌ ‌Ministry‌ ‌of‌ ‌Women,‌ ‌Children‌ ‌and‌ ‌Social‌ ‌Welfare‌ ‌is‌ ‌currently‌ ‌developing‌ ‌Nepal's‌ ‌first‌ ‌national‌ ‌strategy‌ ‌on‌ ‌child‌ ‌marriage‌ ‌in‌ ‌collaboration‌ ‌with‌ ‌UNICEF‌ ‌Nepal‌ ‌and‌ ‌Girls‌ ‌Not‌ ‌Brides‌ ‌Nepal.‌ ‌However,‌ ‌the‌ ‌post-earthquake‌ ‌and‌ ‌post-fuel‌ ‌crisis‌ ‌environment‌ ‌has‌ ‌meant‌ ‌progress‌ ‌is‌ ‌slow‌ ‌and‌ ‌the‌ ‌national‌ ‌strategy‌ ‌has‌ ‌been‌ ‌delayed.‌ ‌

The‌ ‌word‌ ‌“‌those‌”‌ ‌in‌ ‌paragraph‌ ‌2‌ ‌refers‌ ‌to‌ ‌_______.‌ ‌ ‌

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: 
The growth of cities, the construction of hundreds of new factories, and the spread of railroads in the United Stases before 1850 had increased the need for better illumination. But the lighting in  American homes had improved very little over that of ancient times. Through the colonial period,  homes were lit with tallow candles or with a lamp of the kind used in ancient Rome- a dish of fish oil or  other animal or vegetable oil in which a twisted rag served as a wick. Some people used lard, but they  had to heat charcoal underneath to keep it soft and burnable. The sperm whale provided superior  burning oil, but this was expensive. In 1830 a new substance called "camphene" was patented, and  it proved to be an remained expensive, had an unpleasant odor, and also was dangerously explosive.
Between 1830 and 1850 it seemed that the only hope for cheaper illumination in the United  States was the wider use of gas. In the 1840s American gas manufacturers adopted improved British  techniques for producing illuminating gas from coal. But the expense of piping gas to the consumer  remained so high that until mid- century gas lighting was feasible only in urban areas, and only for  public buildings for the wealthy. In 1854 a Canadian doctor, Abraham Gesner, patented a process for  distilling a pitch like mineral found in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia that produced illuminating  gas and an oil that he called "kerosene" (from "keros", the Greek word for wax, and "ene" because  it resembled camphene). Kerosene, though cheaper than camphene, had an unpleasant odor, and  Gesner never made his fortune from it. But Gesner had aroused a new hope for making illuminating oil from a product coming out of North American mines.

The word "this" refers to________.

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:

The goal of Internet-based encyclopedia Wikipedia (www.wikipedia.org) is to give everyone on the planet access to information. Like other encyclopedias, Wikipedia contains lots of information: more than 2.5 million articles in 200 different languages covering just about every subject. Unlike other encyclopedias, however, Wikipedia is not written by experts, but by ordinary people. These writers are not paid and their names are not published. They contribute to Wikipedia simply because they want to share their knowledge.

Encyclopedias began in ancient times as collections of writings about all aspects of human knowledge. The word itself comes from ancient Greek, and means "a complete general education". Real popularity for encyclopedias came in the nineteenth century in Europe and the United States, with the publication of encyclopedias written for ordinary readers. With the invention of the CD- ROM, the same amount of information could be put on a few computer discs. Then with the Internet, it became possible to create an online encyclopedia that could be constantly updated, like Microsoft's Encarta. However, even Internet-based encyclopedias like Encarta were written by paid experts. At first, Wikipedia, the brainchild of Jimmy Wales, a businessman in Chicago, was not so different from these. In 2001, he had the idea for an Internet-based encyclopedia that would provide information quickly and easily to everyone. Furthermore, that information would be available free, unlike other Internet encyclopedias at that time.

But Wales, like everyone else, believed that people with special knowledge were needed to write the articles, and so he began by hiring experts. He soon changed his approach, however, as it took them a long time to finish their work. He decided to open up the encyclopedia in a radical new way, so that everyone would have access not only to the information, but also to the process of putting this information online. To do this, he used what is known as "Wiki" software (from the Hawaiian word for "fast"), which allows users to create or alter content on web page. The system is very simple: When you open the web site, you can simply search for information or you can log on to become a writer or editor of articles. If you find an article that interests you - about your hometown, for example - you can correct it or expand it. This process goes on until no one is interested in making any more changes.

Wikipedia is a(n)________.

Even before the turn of the century, movies began to develop in two major directions: the realistic and the formalistic Realism and formalism are merely general, rather than absolute, terms. When used to suggest a tendency toward either polarity, such labels can be helpful, but in the end they are still just labels. Few films are exclusively formalist in style, and fewer yet are completely realist. There is also an important difference between realism and reality, although this distinction is often forgotten. Realism is a particular style, whereas physical reality is the source of all the raw materials of film, both realistic and formalistic. Virtually all movie directors go to the photographable world for their subject matter, but what they do with this material - how they shape and manipulate it - determines their stylistic emphasis.
Generally speaking, realistic films attempt to reproduce the surface of concrete reality with a minimum of distortion. In photographing objects and events, the filmmaker tries to suggest the copiousness of life itself. Both realist and formalist film directors must select (and hence emphasize) certain details from the chaotic sprawl of reality. But the element of selectivity in realistic films is less obvious. Realists, in short, try to preserve the illusion that their film world is unmanipulated, an objective mirror of the actual world. Formalists, on the other hand, make no such pretense. They deliberately stylize and distort their raw materials so that only the very naive would mistake a manipulated image of an object or event for the real thing.
We rarely notice the style in a realistic movie; the artist tends to be self-effacing. Some filmmakers are more concerned with what is being shown than how it is manipulated. The camera is used conservatively. It is essentially a recording mechanism that reproduces the surface of tangible objects with as little commentary as possible. A high premium is placed on simplicity, spontaneity, and directness. This is not to suggest that these movies lack artistry, however, for at its best the realistic cinema specializes in art that conceals art

How can one recognize the formalist style?

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: 
Leonardo da Vinci was born on April 15,1452, in the small Tuscan town ofVinci, near Florence. He was the son of a wealthy Florentine public official and a peasant woman. In the mid-1460s, the family settled in Florence, where Leonardo was given the best education that Florence could offer. He rapidly advanced socially and intellectually. He was handsome, persuasive in conversation, and a fine musician and improviser. About in 1466 he apprenticed as a studio boy to Andrea Del Verrocchio. In Verrocchio's workshop, Leonardo was introduced to many activities, from the painting of altarpieces and panel pictures to the creation of large sculptural projects. In 1472, he was entered in the painter's guild of Florence, and in 1476, he was still mentioned as Verrocchio's assistant. In Verrocchio's Baptism of Christ, the kneeling angel at the left of the painting is by Leonardo.
In 1478, Leonardo became an independent master. His first commission, to paint an altarpiece for the chapel of the Palazzo Vecchino, the Florentine town hall, was never executed. His first large painting, The Adoration of the Magi, left unfinished, was ordered in 1481 for the Monastery of San Donato a Scopeto, Florence. Other works ascribed to his youth are the so-called Benois Madonna, the portrait Ginerva de' Bend, and the unfinished Saint Jerome.
In 1482, Leonardo's career moved into high gear when he entered the service of the duke of Milan, Ludovico Sforza, having written the duke an astonishing letter in which he stated that he could build portable bridges; that he knew the techniques of constructing bombardments and of making cannons; that he could build ships as well as armored vehicles, catapults, and other war machines; and that he could execute sculpture in marble, bronze, and clay. He served as a principal engineer in the duke’s numerous military enterprises and was so active also as an architect. In addition, he assisted the Italian mathematician Luca Pacioli in the celebrated work Divina Proportione.

How old was Leonardo da Vinci when he became an independent master?

Many ants forage across the countryside in large numbers and undertake mass migrations; these activities proceed because one ant lays a trail on the ground for the others to follow. As a worker ant returns home after finding a source of food, it marks the route by intermittently touching its stinger to the ground and depositing a tiny amount of trail pheromone – a mixture of chemicals that delivers diverse messages as the context changes. These trails incorporate no directional information and may be followed by other ants in either direction. 
Unlike some other messages, such as the one arising from a dead ant, a food trail has to be kept secret from members of other species. It is not surprising then that ant species use a wide variety of compounds as trail pheromones. Ants can be extremely sensitive to these signals. Investigators working with the trail pheromone of the leafcutter ant Atta texana calculated that one milligram of this substance would suffice to lead a column of ants three times around Earth. 
The vapor of the evaporating pheromone over the trail guides an ant along the way, and the ant detects this signal with receptors in its antennae. A trail pheromone will evaporate to furnish the highest concentration of vapor right over the trail, in what is called a vapor space. In following the trail, the ant moves to the right and left, oscillating from side to side across the line of the trail itself, bringing first one and then the other antenna into the vapor space. As the ant moves to the right, its left antenna arrives in the vapor space. The signal it receives causes it to swing to the left, and the ant then pursues this new course until its right antenna reaches the vapor space. It then swings back to the right, and so weaves back and forth down the trail.

According to the passage, how are ants guided by trail pheromones?' 

Read‌ ‌the‌ ‌following‌ ‌passage‌ ‌and‌ ‌mark‌ ‌the‌ ‌letter‌ ‌A,‌ ‌B,‌ ‌C,‌ ‌or‌ ‌D‌ ‌on‌ ‌your‌ ‌answer‌ ‌sheet‌ ‌to‌ ‌indicate‌ ‌the‌ ‌correct‌ ‌word‌ ‌or‌ ‌phrase‌ ‌that‌ ‌best‌ ‌fits‌ ‌each‌ ‌of‌ ‌the‌ ‌numbered‌ ‌blanks‌ ‌from‌ ‌16‌ ‌to‌ ‌20.‌ ‌
Dressing‌ ‌up‌ ‌in‌ ‌costumes‌ ‌and‌ ‌trick-or-treating‌ ‌are‌ ‌popular‌ ‌Halloween‌ ‌activities,‌ ‌but‌ ‌few‌ ‌probably‌ ‌(‌16‌)‌ ‌______‌ ‌these‌ ‌lighthearted‌ ‌fall‌ ‌traditions‌ ‌with‌ ‌their‌ ‌origins‌ ‌in‌ ‌Samhain,‌ ‌a‌ ‌three-day‌ ‌ancient‌ ‌Celtic‌ ‌pagan‌ ‌festival.‌ ‌
For‌ ‌the‌ ‌Celts,‌ ‌who‌ ‌lived‌ ‌during‌ ‌the‌ ‌Iron‌ ‌Age‌ ‌in‌ ‌what‌ ‌is‌ ‌now‌ ‌Ireland,‌ ‌Scotland,‌ ‌the‌ ‌U.K.‌ ‌and‌ ‌(‌17‌)‌ ‌______‌ ‌parts‌ ‌of‌ ‌Northern‌ ‌Europe,‌ ‌Samhain‌ ‌(meaning‌ ‌literally,‌ ‌in‌ ‌modern‌ ‌Irish,‌ ‌“summer's‌ ‌end”)‌ ‌marked‌ ‌the‌ ‌end‌ ‌of‌ ‌summer‌ ‌and‌ ‌kicked‌ ‌off‌ ‌the‌ ‌Celtic‌ ‌new‌ ‌year.‌ ‌Ushering‌ ‌in‌ ‌a‌ ‌new‌ ‌year‌ ‌signaled‌ ‌a‌ ‌time‌ ‌of‌ ‌both‌ ‌death‌ ‌and‌ ‌rebirth,‌ ‌something‌ ‌that‌ ‌was‌ ‌doubly‌ ‌symbolic‌ ‌because‌ ‌it‌ ‌(‌18‌)‌ ‌______‌ ‌with‌ ‌the‌ ‌end‌ ‌of‌ ‌a‌ ‌bountiful‌ ‌harvest‌ ‌season‌ ‌and‌ ‌the‌ ‌beginning‌ ‌of‌ ‌a‌ ‌cold‌ ‌and‌ ‌dark‌ ‌winter‌ ‌season‌ ‌that‌ ‌would‌ ‌present‌ ‌plenty‌ ‌of‌ ‌challenges.‌ ‌
Eventually,‌ ‌Halloween‌ ‌became‌ ‌more‌ ‌popular‌ ‌in‌ ‌secular‌ ‌culture‌ ‌than‌ ‌All‌ ‌Saints'‌ ‌Day.‌ ‌The‌ ‌pagan-turned-‌ ‌Christian‌ ‌practices‌ ‌of‌ ‌dressing‌ ‌up‌ ‌in‌ ‌costumes,‌ ‌playing‌ ‌pranks‌ ‌and‌ ‌handing‌ ‌out‌ ‌offerings‌ ‌have‌ ‌evolved‌ ‌into‌ ‌popular‌ ‌traditions‌ ‌even‌ ‌for‌ ‌those‌ ‌(‌19‌)‌ ‌______‌ ‌may‌ ‌not‌ ‌believe‌ ‌in‌ ‌otherworldly‌ ‌spirits‌ ‌or‌ ‌saints.‌ ‌(‌20‌)‌ ‌______,‌ ‌whether‌ ‌Halloween‌ ‌celebrants‌ ‌know‌ ‌it‌ ‌or‌ ‌not,‌ ‌they’re‌ ‌following‌ ‌the‌ ‌legacy‌ ‌of‌ ‌the‌ ‌ancient‌ ‌Celts‌ ‌who,‌ ‌with‌ ‌the‌ ‌festival‌ ‌of‌ ‌Samhain,‌ ‌celebrated‌ ‌the‌ ‌inevitability‌ ‌of‌ ‌death‌ ‌and‌ ‌rebirth.‌ ‌

Question‌ ‌16‌‌ ‌‌(VD):‌................

As many as one thousand years ago in the Southwest, the Hopi and Zuni Indians of North America were building with adobe-sun-baked brick plastered with mud.  Their homes looked remarkably like modern apartment houses. Some were four stories high and contained quarters for perhaps a thousand people, along with storerooms for grain and other goods. These buildings were usually put up against cliffs, both to make construction easier and for defense against enemies. They were really villages in themselves, as later Spanish explorers must have realised since they called them "pueblos", which is Spanish for towns. The people of the pueblos raised what are called "the three sisters" - corn,  beans, and squash. They made excellent pottery and wove marvelous baskets, some so fine that they could hold water. The Southwest has always been a dry country, where water is scarce. The Hopi and Zuni brought water from streams to their fields and gardens through irrigation ditches. Water was so important that it played a major role in their religion. They developed elaborate ceremonies and religious rituals to bring rain. The way of life of less - settled groups was simpler and more strongly influenced by nature.

Small tribes such as the Shoshone and Ute wandered the dry and mountainous lands between the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific Ocean. They gathered seeds and hunted small animals such as rabbits and snakes.

In the Far North, the ancestors of today's Inuit hunted seals, walruses, and the great whales. They lived right on the frozen season shelters called igloos built of blocks of packed snow. When summer came, they fished for salmon and hunted the lordly caribou.

The Cheyenne, Pawnee and Sioux tribes, known as the Plains Indians, lived on the grasslands between the Rocky Mountains and the Mississippi River. They hunted bison, commonly called the buffalo. Its meat was the chief food of these tribes, and its hide was used to make their clothing and the covering of their tents and tepees

What does the passage mainly discuss?

The handling and delivery of mail has always been a serious business, underpinned by the trust of the public in requiring timeliness, safety, and confidentiality. After early beginnings using horseback and stagecoach, and although cars and trucks later replaced stagecoaches and wagons, the Railway Mail Service still stands as one of America’s most resourceful and exciting postal innovations. This service began in 1832, but grew slowly until the Civil War. Then from 1862, by sorting the mail on board moving trains, the Post Office Department was able to decentralize its operations as railroads began to crisscross the nation on a regular basis, and speed up mail delivery. This service lasted until 1974. During peak decades of service, railway mail clerks handled 93% of all non-local mail and by 1905 the service had over 12,000 employees. 
Railway Post Office trains used a system of mail cranes to exchange mail at stations without stopping. As a train approached the crane, a clerk prepared the catcher arm which would then snatch the incoming mailbag in the blink of an eye. The clerk then booted out the outgoing mailbag. Experienced clerks were considered the elite of the Postal Service’s employees, and spoke with pride of making the switch at night with nothing but the curves and feel of the track to warn them of an upcoming catch. They also worked under the greatest pressure and their jobs were considered to be exhausting and dangerous. In addition to regular demands of their jobs they could find themselves the victims of train wrecks and robberies. 
As successful as it was, “mail-on-the-fly” still had its share of glitches. If they hoisted the train’s catcher arm too soon, they risked hitting switch targets, telegraph poles or semaphores, which would rip the catcher arm off the train. Too late, and they would miss an exchange. 

The public expects the following three services in handling and delivery of mail except___________.

Choose the option among A, B, C or D that best fits the blank space in the following passage: 

"The status of women’s rights today (1)….. dramatically in different countries and, in some cases, am ong groups within the same country, such as ethnic groups or economic classes.
 In recent decades women around the world have made strides in political participation. (2)….. the 1980s women could vote virtually everywhere in the world, except for a few Muslim countries. As of mid-2005, when women in Kuwait won suffrage, women could vote in all countries (3)…. Men could vote except Saudi Arabia. The right to vote usually included the right to (4)….. for elected office. In 2005 there were 12 female national leaders in the world, including 8 heads of (5)…… (3 monarchs and 5 presidents) and 4 heads of government (prime ministers). In 2005 women made (6)….. almost 16 percent of legislative bodies worldwide, compared to 11 percent in 1999 and 9 percent in 1987. Despite these advancements, women’s role in governmental decision-making remains (7) …...
 Many disparities persist between women’s legal rights and their economic status. Women today constitute nearly 70 percent of the world’s poor, (8) …..  international efforts to compensate women and men (9)…..  in the workplace. While women made up about 32 percent of the world’s labor force in 1990, the percentage of women in positions to make important decisions was far lower. In 2002 women held only 15.7 percent of corporate (10)…… positions in the 500 largest companies in the United States - an increase of 7 percentage points since 1995. In the mid-1990s women comprised only 1 percent of executives in the 1,000 largest corporations outside the United States."

4. The right to vote usually included the right to (4)….. for elected office.

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.

   Many people believe that watching television has resulted in lower reading standards in schools. However, the link between television and printed books is not as simple as that. In many cases, television actually encourages people to read; for example, when a book is turned into a TV series, its sales often go up. One study of this link examined six-year-old children who were viewing a special series of 15-minute programs at school. The series was designed to encourage love of books, as well as to develop the basic mechanical skills of reading. Each program is an animated film of a children's book. The story is read aloud and certain key phrases from the book appear on the screen, beneath the picture. Whenever a word is read, it is also highlighted on the TV screen.

   One finding was that watching these programs was very important to the children. If anything prevented them from seeing a program, they were very disappointed. What's more, they wanted to read the books which the different parts of the series were based on.

   The programs also gave the children more confidence when looking at these books. As a result of their familiarity with the stories, they would sit in pairs and read the stories aloud to each other. On each occasion, the children showed great sympathy when discussing a character in a book because they themselves had been moved when watching the character on television.

Who were the subjects of the study?

In an age when technology is developing faster than ever before, many people are being attracted to the idea of looking back into the past. One way they can do this is by investigating their own family history. They can try to  (37)..........out more about where their family came from and what they did. This is now a fast-growing hobby, especial in countries with a  (38) .......... short history, like Australia and the United States.
It is one thing to spend some time going through a book on family history and to take the  (39) ..........  to investigate your own family's past. It is quite another to carry out the research work successfully. It is easy to set about it in a disorganised way and  (40)............ yourself many problems which could have been avoided with a little forward planning.
If your own family stories tell you that you are connected with a famous character, whether hero or criminal, do not let this idea take over your research. Just treat  it as an interesting possibility. A simple system for collecting and storing your track. The most important thing, (41)..............  find?
(41)................................

DISAPPEARING ALASKAN SEALS
On a winter afternoon, a dozen male Northern fur seals are on an island off south-western Alaska. To look at them, fighting for territory on the rocks, it’s hard to imagine that they are at the (27)____________of a baffling scientific mystery: why is this species beginning to disappear? These seals- which can weigh up to 270 kilograms-have an important and symbolic (28)_________in Alaska’s history. Their soft and luxurious fur, the coveted prize during the huge commercial sea harvests that were legal here in the Bering Sea through the early 20th century, was once so valuable it (29)_________Alaska’s economy. Starting in the 1950s, for reasons that are (30)_______because the harvests by then tended to be fairly small, the seal population began a slow decline . But lately it has been falling drastically, declining at an alarming (31)________of 6 per cent a year since 1998. From a (32)_________ of more than 2 million in Alaska in 1948, their numbers have fallen to about 1 million.
So (33)________, no one has been able to establish a precise cause for this, although theories (34)___________. The seals' food supply may be (35)________, or another species may be (36)________on the seals- perhaps killer whales, which no longer have as many great whales to eat because of harvesting of those mammals. Some people have suggested that the decline can be (37)______to entanglement in fishing nets ,but scientists say they doubt that this alone could (38)_________the recent population decline.
(29)....................................

Read‌ ‌the‌ ‌following‌ ‌passage‌ ‌and‌ ‌mark‌ ‌the‌ ‌letter‌ ‌A,‌ ‌B,‌ ‌C,‌ ‌or‌ ‌D‌ ‌on‌ ‌your‌ ‌answer‌ ‌sheer‌ ‌to‌ ‌indicate‌ ‌the‌ ‌correct‌ ‌answer‌ ‌to‌ ‌each‌ ‌of‌ ‌the‌ ‌questions‌ ‌from‌ ‌35‌ ‌to‌ ‌39.‌ ‌
As‌ ‌customers‌ ‌choose‌ ‌brands‌ ‌based‌ ‌on‌ ‌how‌ ‌they‌ ‌make‌ ‌‌them‌ ‌feel,‌ ‌rather‌ ‌than‌ ‌their‌ ‌actual‌ ‌products‌ ‌or‌ ‌services,‌ ‌there‌ ‌is‌ ‌an‌ ‌intrinsic‌ ‌advantage‌ ‌to‌ ‌those‌ ‌organizations‌ ‌who‌ ‌use‌ ‌designed‌ ‌experiences‌ ‌as‌ ‌a‌ ‌weapon‌ ‌to‌ ‌cut‌ ‌through‌ ‌the‌ ‌most‌ ‌competitive‌ ‌of‌ ‌markets.‌ ‌Those‌ ‌that‌ ‌don't,‌ ‌operate‌ ‌in‌ ‌what‌ ‌we‌ ‌call‌ ‌the‌ ‌“experience‌ ‌gap”,‌ ‌the‌ ‌space‌ ‌between‌ ‌them‌ ‌and‌ ‌their‌ ‌customer's‌ ‌expectation‌ ‌of‌ ‌them.‌ ‌Make‌ ‌no‌ ‌mistake,‌ ‌in‌ ‌our‌ ‌high‌ ‌paced‌ ‌and‌ ‌digitally‌ ‌connected‌ ‌economies,‌ ‌the‌ ‌experience‌ ‌gap‌ ‌is‌ ‌driving‌ ‌markets,‌ ‌fast.‌ ‌
For‌ ‌example,‌ ‌take‌ ‌Instagram‌ ‌and‌ ‌Twitter.‌ ‌These‌ ‌brands‌ ‌filled‌ ‌the‌ ‌demand‌ ‌for‌ ‌a‌ ‌whole‌ ‌new‌ ‌human‌ ‌experience‌ ‌that‌ ‌did‌ ‌not‌ ‌exist‌ ‌before‌ ‌the‌ ‌evolution‌ ‌of‌ ‌digital‌ ‌technologies‌ ‌enabled‌ ‌that.‌ ‌They‌ ‌were‌ ‌pioneers,‌ ‌and‌ ‌there‌ ‌were‌ ‌no‌ ‌established‌ ‌players‌ ‌to‌ ‌unseat.‌ ‌But‌ ‌we‌ ‌are‌ ‌also‌ ‌seeing‌ ‌a‌ ‌similar‌ ‌dynamic‌ ‌in‌ ‌existing‌ ‌industries.‌ ‌New‌ ‌entrants‌ ‌are‌ ‌coming‌ ‌in‌ ‌and‌ ‌taking‌ ‌the‌ ‌space,‌ ‌also‌ ‌using‌ ‌whole‌ ‌new‌ ‌experiences,‌ ‌purely‌ ‌because‌ ‌the‌ ‌incumbents‌ ‌left‌ ‌the‌ ‌door‌ ‌open.‌ ‌
Closer‌ ‌to‌ ‌home,‌ ‌this‌ ‌can‌ ‌be‌ ‌seen‌ ‌with‌ ‌Australian‌ ‌neobanks‌ ‌who‌ ‌are‌ ‌giving‌ ‌customers‌ ‌a‌ ‌better‌ ‌experience‌ ‌than‌ ‌the‌ ‌incumbents.‌ ‌Robert‌ ‌Bell‌ ‌is‌ ‌the‌ ‌CEO‌ ‌at‌ ‌neobank‌ ‌86400.‌ ‌He‌ ‌says‌ ‌banking‌ ‌has‌ ‌already‌ ‌become‌ ‌quite‌ ‌complicated‌ ‌and‌ ‌he‌ ‌wanted‌ ‌to‌ ‌make‌ ‌a‌ ‌change.‌ ‌His‌ ‌neobank‌ ‌is‌ ‌working‌ ‌to‌ ‌solve‌ ‌customers’‌ ‌problems‌ ‌more‌ ‌holistically.‌ ‌Bell‌ ‌said,‌ ‌“It's‌ ‌significantly‌ ‌harder‌ ‌work‌ ‌and‌ ‌takes‌ ‌more‌ ‌time‌ ‌to‌ ‌become‌ ‌a‌ ‌bank,‌ ‌but‌ ‌having‌ ‌done‌ ‌that‌ ‌we‌ ‌can‌ ‌have‌ ‌a‌ ‌much‌ ‌better‌ ‌relationship‌ ‌with‌ ‌our‌ ‌customers‌ ‌and‌ ‌we‌ ‌can‌ ‌offer‌ ‌them‌ ‌a‌ ‌lot‌ ‌more‌ ‌products‌ ‌and‌ ‌services.”‌ ‌
Think‌ ‌about‌ ‌that‌ ‌for‌ ‌a‌ ‌moment.‌ ‌Do‌ ‌you‌ ‌notice‌ ‌how‌ ‌better‌ ‌experiences,‌ ‌leads‌ ‌to‌ ‌better‌ ‌relationships,‌ ‌which‌ ‌is‌ ‌then‌ ‌the‌ ‌‌stepping‌ ‌stone‌ ‌for‌ ‌more‌ ‌offerings?‌ ‌Many‌ ‌brands‌ ‌still‌ ‌jump‌ ‌straight‌ ‌to‌ ‌modified‌ ‌offerings,‌ ‌without‌ ‌gaining‌ ‌that‌ ‌customer‌ ‌connection‌ ‌and‌ ‌the‌ ‌necessary‌ ‌foundation‌ ‌of‌ ‌trust‌ ‌first.‌ ‌

According‌ ‌to‌ ‌paragraph‌ ‌2,‌ ‌what‌ ‌is‌ ‌true‌ ‌about‌ ‌Instagram‌ ‌and‌ ‌Twitter‌ ‌in‌ ‌the‌ ‌stated‌ ‌instance?‌ ‌

Read the following passage and choose the letter A, B, C or D to indicate the best answer to each of the following question.

Music can move the soul. It can be a very strong influence. Some music can calm us down but other music can make us wild! How does music affect us? Music is used in a variety of ways. It is used in the medical field as a source of research and as a sort of treatments as well. Music has been used as treatment to lower blood pressure, help ill children recover quickly, treat mental illness, treat depression, aid in healing, and reduce stress and insomnia and premature infants. Julius Portnoy, a musicolo­gist, found that it can change heart rates, increase or decrease blood pressure, effect energy levels, and digestion, positively or negatively, depending on the type of music. Calming music, such as classical musk, was found to have a very calming effect on the body, and cause the increase of endorphins, thirty minutes of such music was equal to the effect of a dose of valium. Both hemispheres of the brain are involved in processing music. The music in these studies is not the lyrics, but the music itself, the melody, the tones, the tunes, the rhythm, and the chords. Conversely music has also been documented to cause sickness. The right, or wrong music, can be like a poison to the body. Studies had been done on plants and the results were that loud hard rock music killed plants and soft classical music made the plants grow faster. Music is very pow­erful, like a drug and can even be an addiction. According to Patty Hearst, a researcher on music, it was documented that music was used in the aid of brainwashing some people. In the book, "Elevator Music" by Joseph Lanza, it is stated that certain types of strong music over prolonged periods in certain conditions were shown to cause seizures.

The word “it” refers to______.

Read the passage carefully and choose the correct answer

It has been thought that women are the second class in citizen, and men are the first. There is not a real equality of opportunity for men and women. Years ago, people were living in a man-dominated society. Women had to obey their husbands and fathers absolutely. Women's place was in the kitchen and women's work was housework. In many places, women were not even' allowed to go to school. Women had no rights, even the right to choose husband for themselves. Men usually occupied high positions in society so they thought they were more intelligent than women. Men often considered women as their property. Sometimes, they were mistreated by their husbands and suffered the problem as a fate. Many parents did not even want to daughters.

Despite the progress, there remain outdated beliefs about women's roles, traditionally passed down from generation to generation. Men are commonly seen as the strong bodies, bread-winners in the family and key leaders in society, while women are restricted to being housewives and child bearing and care, and housework such as washing and cooking.

According to social surveys, many women in the 21^st century still have to work over 12 hours a day including working in offices and doing countless household chores without any help from their husbands. In some regions, the labor of women is not recognized despite the hardships they endure to support the whole family. Moreover, women are the direct victims of family violence, especially in rural areas.

Thanks to the women's liberation movement, nowadays women have proved that they are equal to men in every aspect. An average woman has weaker muscles than an average man but she may be as intelligent as he is. Women can do everything that men can, and women can do one thing that no man can: they produce children.

Years ago, women are not allowed ________.

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: 
Any list of the greatest thinkers in history contains the name of the brilliant German physicist Albert Einstein. His theories of relativity led to entirely new ways of thinking about time, space, matter, energy, and gravity. Einstein's work led to such scientific advances as the control of atomic energy, even television as a practical application of Einstein's work. In 1902 Einstein became an examiner in the Swiss patent office at Bern. In 1905, at age 26, he published the first of five major research papers. The first one provided a theory explaining Brownian movement, the zig-zag motion of microscopic particles in suspension. The second paper laid the foundation for the photon, or quantum, theory of light. In it he proposed that light is composed of separate packets of energy, called quanta or photons, that have some of the properties of particles and some of the properties of waves. A third paper contained the "special theory of relativity" which showed that time and motion are relative to the observer, if the speed of light is constant and the natural laws are the same everywhere in the universe. The fourth paper was a mathematical addition to the special theory of relativity. Here Einstein presented his famous formula, E = m(cc), known as the energy mass equivalence. In 1916, Einstein published his general theory of relativity. In it he proposed that gravity is not a force, but a curve in the space-time continuum, created by the presence of mass. Einstein spoke out frequently against nationalism, the exalting of one nation above all others. He opposed war and violence and supported Zionism, the movement to establish a Jewish homeland in Palestine. When the Nazis came to power in 1933, they denounced his ideas. He then moved to the United States. In 1939 Einstein learned that two German chemists had split the uranium atom. Einstein wrote to President Franklin D. Roosevelt warning him that this scientific knowledge could lead to Germany developing an atomic bomb. He suggested the United States begin its own atomic bomb research.

Which of the following inventions is mentioned in the passage as a practical application of Einstein's discoveries?

Fill in each numbered blank with one suitable word or phrase. In  the  1960s  the  women's  liberation  movement  (1)  _____  suddenly  into  the  public  consciousness  and  quickly  grew  into  (2)  _____ largest  social movement  in the history  of  the  United  States.  Women's  liberation movement  was  a  continuation  of  the  19-century  women's rights movement. The movement's major (3) _____ has included not only legal, economic, and political gains (4) _____ also has changed the  ways  in  which  people  live,  dress,  dream  of  their  future,  and  (5)  ___  a  living.  About  health,  for  example,  many  male  physicians and hospital  have  made  major  improvements  in  the  (6)  _____  of  women;  more  and  more  women  have  become  doctors  and  succeeded  (7) _____  their  medical  research;  and  diseases  such  as  breast  cancer,  which  affects  many  women,  now  receive  better funding  and  treatment, thanks to women's (8) ___. Feminists have insisted that violence against women become a political issue. The women's liberation movement has also made changes in education: curricula and (9) _____ have been written to promote equal opportunity for girls and women; more and more female students are admitted to universities and professional schools.The  women's  liberation  movement  brought  about  a  radical  change  in  society  (10)  _____  it  took  a  decade  for  the  movement  to  reach women's awareness.

(10)  _____