Anne says that she reads about half _____ hour a day, at least.

(385)_______

Can music exist without (1) _______? Some philosophers argue that music should be defined as a kind of “mental (2) _______” and that the physical aspects of sound are simply by-products of this image. If you (3) _______ you can have a musical experience by imagining the sound of a piece of music, then you think (4) _______ can exist without sound. But most musical experiences involve producing or (5) _______ to physical characteristics of sound such as pitch and timbre (quality comparable to texture or color in sight).

(50)_______

He was the only ____ that was offered the job.

(236)_____

Choose the best answer:
I_______ in the lounge for ten minutes.

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That girl tried to avoid _______ some of my questions.

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John was reading a book when I ____ him.

Read the passage below carefully, and then choose the best answer:
Tantalizing Teas from around the Globe
There are few things in life as refreshing as a cup of hot tea. However, few people realize the wide variety of teas available. Here are some more options to try the next time you are in the mood for a cup of tea. The most famous tea in the West is Earl Grey. Although it is classified as a black tea, Earl Grey contains some citrus qualities as well. The tea gets its name from a 19th century prime minister of England, Charles Grey. According to the legend, Grey saved the life of a drowning man in China. The man he rescued was reportedly a tea blender, so as a reward he instructed Grey how to flavour black tea with a special type of oil. Many tea historians doubt this tale and insist that the only reason the tea is named after Grey is that he was a famous politician. Another famous black tea is Assam tea. It comes from the mountains of India and it is named after the region where it is produced. Assam tea is known for its strong and bitter flavour. It is sometimes called the breakfast tea, because it is an invigorating brew to enjoy in the morning. Although Assam tea is cultivated in the East, it immediately became a big hit once it was introduced to the West. Some people enjoy drinking Assam tea straight, but others feel it is best with a little bit of milk and sugar added. It has been known to go perfectly with sweets as well as more pungent foods like cheese. Chamomile tea has a light, pleasant taste that some people have described as a mix between flowers, herbs, and apples. Yet, it is the potent health benefits of the tea that cause most people to buy it. For starters, it is the best tea to have at the end of a long day when you are looking to relax. In fact, it has been used as a cure for insomnia for hundreds of years. In ancient times, it was also used by the Romans, Greeks, and Egyptians to help wounds heal faster. Chamomile has anti-­inflammation properties, so it can also help to clear up skin issues such as allergies and acne as well. So the next time you are sitting down for afternoon tea, be sure to have a close look at the menu. You may even discover a new variety that becomes your favourite.
1. What is the passage mainly about?

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:
On the fourth Thursday in November, in houses around the United States, families get together for a feast, or a large meal. Almost all families eat turkey and cranberry sauce for this meal, and have pumpkin pie for dessert. This feast is part of a very special day, the holiday of Thanksgiving.
In 1620 the Pilgrims made a difficult trip across the ocean from England. They landed in what is now Massachusetts. In England the Pilgrims had not been allowed to freely practice their religion. So they went to the New World in search of religious freedom.
The Pilgrims' first winter was very hard. Almost half the group died of cold, hunger and disease. But the Indians of Massachusetts taught the Pilgrims to plant corn, to hunt and to fish. When the next fall came, the Pilgrims had plenty of food. They were thankful to God and the Indians and had a feast to give thanks. They invited the Indians to join them. This was the first Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving became a national holiday many years later because of the effort of a woman named Sarah Hale. For forty years Sarah Hale wrote to each president and asked for a holiday of Thanksgiving. At last she was successful. In 1863 President Lincoln declared Thanksgiving a holiday.
How much is Thanksgiving today like the Pilgrims’ Thanksgiving? In many ways they are different. For example, historians think that the Pilgrims ate deer, not turkey. The idea of Thanksgiving, though, is very much the same: Thanksgiving is a day on which we celebrate and give thanks.

The word “they” in paragraph 3 refer to     .

As many of you are aware, Jacob Wu, our long-standing Chief Executive Officer, ---139--- on 1 October. Twenty years ago, Mr. Wu set out to create a Hong Kong-based services firm with an international scope. ---140---. Wu Investment Services currently serves clients in seventeen countries, 95 percent of whom have chosen to invest with us for the long term. Mr. Wu will be ---141--- by Thomas Wu, his son, who has served as Vice President of Wu Investment Services for the past four years. A gathering will be held on 28 September to celebrate Mr. Wu's ---142--- career. I will send further information about the event closer to the date. Thank you.

140..................

Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
Some technological developments are the results of years of diligent work. Others are stumbled upon by accident. The discovery of X-rays is in the second category. In 1895, X-ray radiation was accidentally discovered by a physicist named Wilhelm Rontgen, while he was working in his lab. Rontgen discovery greatly advanced medical science. One night in 1895, Wilhelm Rontgen was working with an electric device called a Crookes tube. A Crookes tube is a glass tube with metal components inside it. When turned on, the tube produces a stream of electrons. Rontgen and other scientists observed a new form of energy escaping from the front end of the Crookes tube. Rontgen wanted to be the first to discover this new mysterious energy. To do this, he needed to make sure the tube was covered with black cardboard. This would make the room completely dark and allow him to better see this new form of energy. Rontgen was hoping to observe this new energy on a special screen that would be placed right in front of the Crookes tube. Amazingly, before the screen was placed near the Crookes tube, Rontgen already noticed the screen was glowing. He bought the screen closer, and the glow became brighter. (1) He then placed a book between the end of the tube and the screen-the glow was still there. (2) Rontgen realized that a new and different form of radiation must be causing the screen to glow. (3) As he didn't know what kind of radiation it was, he named it "X". (4) Rontgen soon started studying the new type of radiation. He designed experiments which allowed him to test how far X- rays could penetrate. He also had the bright idea of trying to take photographs with X-rays. One day, he tested his theories by asking his wife to put her hand between a photographic plate and a Crookes Tube. Sure enough, the resulting image of the bones in his wife's hand was the first ever X-ray photograph of the human body. After taking that first photograph, Rontgen understood how X-rays could benefit doctors and patients. He shared his discovery, and soon X-ray machines were appearing in hospitals. X-rays were very useful for medicine because they let doctors see a patient's bones. If a patient had a broken bone, it was made visible by the X-ray image. This let doctors know the right way to repair the fracture. Wilhelm Rontgen's accidental discovery has now been helping people for over one hundred years. Thanks to X-rays, broken bones can be repaired reliably and effectively. We should be grateful to Wilhelm Rontgen for making his discovery freely available and greatly advancing medical science. Because of this, we humans are able to live longer, healthier lives.
2. In paragraph 3, why was the special screen already glowing?

Choose the best answer:
The cartoon has ____________ characters.

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:
One of the major problems in the art world is how to distinguish and promote an artist. In effect, a market must be created for an artist to be successful. The practice of signing and numbering individual prints was introduced by James Abbott McNeill Whistler, the nineteenth- century artist best known for the painting of his mother, called “Arrangement in Grey and Black”, but known to most of us as “Whistler’s Mother”. Whistler’s brother-in-law, Sir Francis Seymour Haden, a less well-known artist, had speculated that collectors might find prints more attractive if they knew that there were only a limited number of copies produced. By signing the work in pencil, an artist could guarantee and personalize each print.
As soon as Whistler and Haden began the practice of signing and numbering their prints, their work began to increase in value. When other artists noticed that the signed prints commanded higher prices, they began copying the procedure.
Although most prints are signed on the right-hand side in the margin below the image, the placement of the signature is a matter of personal choice. Indeed, prints have been signed within image, in any of the margins, or even on the reverse side of the’print. Wherever the artist elects to sign it, a signed print is still valued above an unsigned one, even in the same edition.

What was true about the painting of Whistler’s mother?

Read the reading below carefully, and then complete it with the best option A, B, C or D given below:
These features were discovered and explored (1) _______ in the late 1940s. The Lomonosov Ridge, the major ridge, cuts the Arctic Basin (2) _______ in half, extending as a submarine bridge 1,800 km (1,100 mi) (3) _______ Siberia to the northwestern tip of Greenland. Parallel (4) _______ it are two shorter ridges: the Alpha Ridge on the North American (5) _______, defining the Canada and Makarov basins, (6) _______ the Arctic Mid-Ocean Ridge on the Eurasian side, (7) _______ the Nansen and Amundsen basins. The average (8) _______ of the Arctic Ocean is only 1,300 m (4,300 ft) (9) _______ the vast shallow expanses on the continental shelves. The deepest (10) _______ in the Arctic Ocean is 5,450 m (17,880 ft).

Choose the best answer:
We must start a …………. for illiteracy eradication immediately

Choose the best answer:
How much is a washing machine?

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Despite _________ burden, the single mother tried to raise her son by herself.

The growth of population has its problems as we shall see. As there are more and more mouths (1)_____, there comes a great strain (2)_____ the resources of a country; this is real in the case of developing countries with the result they are unable to push ahead economically. As food is not sufficient there is chronic malnutrition in these countries especially in women and children resulting in weaker population (3)_____ would only economically be a drain on the country as their productive years will be short. As health and education are the State's (4)_____, they affect the country's finances. So in developing countries health and illiteracy continue to be the problem. The unwieldy growth of population leads to the problem of housing and sanitation. In many countries the slums are a (5)_____ to the eyes. Slums grow round big cities and are found with all the drawbacks. These are the areas of disease, filth and crime.

(10) _________

Read the passage below carefully, and then choose the best answer:
Fighting Back against Bullying
It is often said that childhood is the most joyful period in a person’s life. This is supposed to be a time when children can focus on their studies and enjoy their free time with friends. However, these days more and more children are experiencing a stressful and miserable adolescence due to bullying. Bullying occurs when one student, or a group of students, uses aggression to harm another child and try to make them feel bad. This abuse can either be physical, such as pushing or beating another student, or it could take the form of mental abuse, such as taunting and teasing the student. Although it may seem harmless to some, studies show that bullying can greatly impact a child’s life and have long-lasting negative effects. People who have been bullied may experience self-esteem issues and start to lack confidence in almost everything they do. These traits can make it difficult to manage relationships and even cause them to have trouble holding down a steady job. One of the most harmful types of bullying that is on the rise is cyberbullying. The bullied student is targeted in cruel or threatening e-mails, instant messages, or hateful public posts about them. In many cases, bullies will post embarrassing pictures of the victim or spread nasty rumors about them through social media. In some tragic cases, children have even turned to suicide, feeling that they can’t deal with the humiliation. If you are being bullied by another student, you don’t have to accept it or suffer. There are some steps you can take to deal with the problem. At first, you may try to ignore the bully, as they will often lose interest in bothering you if you don’t react. If the bullying persists, however, you should tell a trusted adult as soon as possible. This could be a parent, a family friend, a teacher, a school guidance counselor, or even the school principal. Until recently, many teachers and school officials turned a blind eye to bullying, believing that the students would eventually sort it out by themselves. But this mindset has changed in recent years in light of some of the tragedies that have occurred. If for any reason you feel that your complaints are not being taken seriously, there are other groups available online who will help you deal with bullying. By dealing with bullying at an early stage, you can stop it before it gets much worse.
7. Nowadays, the community has ________

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 rules of etiquette in American restaurants depend upon a number of factors the physical location of the restaurant, eg., rural or urban; the type of restaurant, eg., informal or formal; and certain standards that are more universal. In other words, some standards of etiquette vary significantly while other standards apply almost anywhere. Learning the proper etiquette in a particular type of restaurant in a particular area may sometimes require instruction, but more commonly it simply requires sensitivity and experience. For example, while it is acceptable to read a magazine in a coffee shop, it is inappropriate to do the same in a more luxurious setting. And, if you are eating in a very rustic setting it may be fine to tuck your napkin into your shirt, but if you are in a sophisticated urban restaurant this behavior would demonstrate a lack of manners. It is safe to say, however, that in virtually every restaurant it is unacceptable to indiscriminately throw your food on the floor. The conclusion we can most likely draw from the above is that while the types and locations of restaurant determine etiquette appropriate to them, some rules apply to all restaurant.

Which of the following words is most similar to the meaning of “rustic” in line 7?

To help reduce ---143---, the officers have voted to change the company's travel policy. The revised policy will be ---144--- on June 15. From that point forward, employees traveling within the country will be required to submit their travel requests to the accounting office no later than three weeks before the date of departure. ---145---.---146--- exceptions to this policy will be decided on a case-by-case basis and must first be approved by the individual employee's supervisor.

146................

Choose the best answer:
When did you have it? → How long