Choose the best answer:
A ____________ is a short funny film with drawn characters.

 

Mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the undelined part that needs correction in each of the following questions:
Who talks more - men or women? Most people believe that women talk more. However, linguist Deborah Tannen, who has the studied the communication style of men and women, says that this is a stereotype. According to Tannen, women are more verbal - talk more - in private situations, where they use conversation as the “glue’ to hold relationships together. But, she says, men talk more in public situations, where they use conversation to exchange information and gain status. Tannen points out that we can see these difference even in children. Little girls often play with one ‘best friend’ and their play includes a lot of conversation. Little boys often play games in groups, their play usually involves more doing than talking. In school, girls are often better at verbal skills, while boys are often better at mathematics.
A recent study at Emory University helps to shed light on the roots of this difference. Researchers studied conversation between children aged 3-6 and their parents. They found evidence that parents talk very differently to their sons than they do to their daughters. The startling conclusion was that parents use more language with their girls. Specifically, when parents talk with their daughters, they use more descriptive language and more details. There is also far more talk about emotions, especially with daughters than with sons.

Which sentence best expresses the main idea of the first paragraph?

Rewrite the sentence:
Hundreds of students in Can Tho crafted 800 paper lanterns for poor children in the last Mid-Autumn Festival.

Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
Would you believe that your diet can make a big difference in keeping a youthful appearance? It seems strange to think that the food we take in could result in fewer wrinkles. Wouldn’t it be better to put things on our skin rather than in our mouths? Well, according to one scientific theory, our bodies start aging because of oxidation. This is caused by certain oxygen-containing molecules in our cells, called free radicals. Free radicals have the capability to attach to and damage parts of our cells, including our DNA. Our bodies have the ability to repair this damage. However, as we get older, these repair mechanisms start to break down, resulting in signs of aging, such as wrinkles. Free radicals are actually produced by our bodies, but their numbers can also increase because of the food we eat. Besides avoiding foods that could potentially produce more free radicals, eating foods that contain certain vitamins and micro-nutrients can also keep us looking young. These vitamins help produce molecules called antioxidants, which actually help reduce the production of free radicals. Even better, foods containing antioxidants are not rare. Common antioxidants, like vitamins A and E, can be found in many dark-colored vegetables. For example, carrots, seaweed, spinach, and broccoli are all excellent sources of these helpful vitamins. Also, you can eat orange-colored fruits like apricots and peaches. Vitamins A and E are particularly good for helping your skin remain young-looking. These nutrients strengthen your skin and make it soft. However, if you really want to stock up quickly on nutrients that benefit your skin, you should eat cow’s liver. One small piece of cooked cow’s liver contains twice as much vitamin A as half a cup of cooked carrots.  More recently, green tea has also been tentatively added to the list of youthpromoting substances. Research on green tea’s effects on our bodies is still in the early stages. Scientists certainly believe that it is good for us, but they are cautious about predicting its ability to keep us looking youthful. However, recent experiments seem to show that green tea’s antioxidant properties can repair cell damage already sustained as well as prevent damage in the future. In fact, green tea works even better if you apply it directly to your skin as an ingredient in facial cream. “You are what you eat.” The more we find out about how our bodies work, the more this old proverb seems to be true. Think about that the next time you sit down at the table.  
5. The phrase “stock up” in paragraph 3 could be best replaced by ____________

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The year was 1810, the place was southern Germany, Bavaria, and life was hard. It was the month of October and all of the countryside had been working day and night to finish their fall harvest and prepare for the onset of winter. While the plow horses were working and the farmers’ days were filled from sun up to sun down, there were some other preparations being made as well. Prince Ludwig I and his entire court were preparing for his upcoming marriage to Princess Therese of Sachsen-Hildurghausen. The grand wedding was to take place on the 12th, right in the middle of the harvest. As you know any wedding can be difficult to plan, but when you’re a prince it can be even more stressful. The invitations had gone out, the garments had been made and the location had been selected. The big event was to be held in a magnificent “Weise” (meadow) just outside the gates of Munich. As the big day approached, the countryside and town, in fact all of Bavaria was a buzz with talk of the big day. Everyone was planning on attending as they were all exhausted from the harvest and it was really the last chance before the long, cold days of winter to get out and blow off some steam. On the 12th, the ceremony went off without a hitch. The weather was perfect, the bride looked beautiful and about 40,000 guests were in attendance. The reception, as you can imagine, was one of the biggest parties history had ever seen with copious amounts of beer and massive quantities of food being devoured. It was a reception fit for a prince. And this prince was absolutely ecstatic. Ludwig I was so taken with all of his guests that he planned a special treat for them. The prince knew that all of his subjects were huge fans of horseracing so he planned to conclude the event with a somewhat impromptu horse race across the great meadow. When the townspeople heard of this they erupted in a jubilant cry Zicke Zacka, Zicke Zacka, Hoy, Hoy, Hoy. This is still chanted in the beer tents of today’s Oktoberfest celebrations. It was then and there that they decided unanimously to rename the wiese Theresiewiese (Therese Meadow) in honor of the Prince’s new bride. This was their humble way of welcoming her to town. To this day that very meadow still bears her name. After a spectacular day and night — and probably more than a couple of hangovers — the great event came to an end. It was the following fall as the townspeople began to reminisce about the great time they had had the previous year (as do many of our Oktoberfest guests tend to do around the fall) that they decided to honor their prince and celebrate his wedding anniversary in much the same way. King Maximillian agreed, but this party was to be even bigger, better and longer than the first. The event became an annual celebration. And that my friends is how the Oktoberfest tradition began and continues today. As a side note, the beer that was poured all those years ago and that has been continually served at every Oktoberfest in Munich since will now be served at the Big Bear Lake Oktoberfest. The very same beer flowing from the taps in Munich, Germany will be the beer flowing from our taps in humble Big Bear Lake. And like the beer, our Burgermeister just happens to be a true German original as well. 
1. What does the passage mainly discuss?

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NASA continues to plan a flight to Mars. The technological challenge is immense, first  of all, because it will be very difficult to carry tons of material for the construction of a habitat. This is why NASA is looking for alternative solutions, such as the possibility of growing structures out of fungi to become our future homes in the stars. The concept of these “houses” is based on three distinct layers. The first is made of ice. It must protect people from radiation, but also provide the resources necessary for the second layer. This is made of photosynthesizing microbes or cyanobacteria, which produce oxygen for astronauts and nutrients for the final layer of mycelia. That last layer of mycelia is what organically grows into a sturdy home, first activated to grow in a contained environment and then baked to kill the lifeforms.  Researchers have already experimented with creating objects using mycelia. A team from Stanford and Brown universities grew a stool as part of a myco-architecture project at NASA’s Ames research center in 2018. After two weeks of growth, the stool looked like something that would have been long forgotten in a refrigerator. It was then baked that leads to a clean and functional piece of furniture. From the point of view of space conquest, mushrooms could also be used to filter water for future explorers and extract minerals. Once these prototypes are designed for other worlds, we can bring them back to ours. Building this kind of housing could reduce the huge carbon footprint of the construction industry. This research project is still in its infancy, but it shows us how scientists are able to broaden horizons, and it’s exciting.
5. According to paragraph 2, what is correct about the developing materials project?

Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
Learning shouldn’t end when you reach a certain point in your career; it should be something you continuously pursue across your lifetime. As you mature, your areas of interest may change. Perhaps your personal and career goals may morph into something altogether different than what you originally intended. In some cases, life happens and you might find it necessary to take a break from your career or your education. But for people with a strong desire for lifelong learning, this pause is only temporary. Even though you may have begun an educational program and needed to take a pause later, it’s never too late to go back and finish what you started. People in modern age have more options to gain the knowledge they want and need. From a higher education standpoint, universities and colleges are working hard to transform themselves in different ways. For example, there has been a transition from traditional Ph.D.-style doctorates to applied doctorates like the Doctorate in Strategic Intelligence or Doctorate in Global Security. These academic programs have their students work to address real-world problems of practice. In this manner, they take the education they receive in their classes and work to apply it within the fields in which they are currently employed or hope to work in. In addition, some universities now offer dual degree programs, such as the dual master’s degree in emergency and disaster management and homeland security. Some institutions are also starting to provide accelerated degrees to allow their students to rapidly advance from a B.A. to an M.A., saving those students time and money on their educational pursuits. However, lifelong learning doesn’t just encompass full degree programs. With employers focusing on skillset development, there is an increasing desire for short program offerings as well. “Short programming” includes sets of courses that lead to a specific credential or badge. For instance, ASIS International offers a series of certifications, related to security and global studies, which can be used to add value to your professional portfolio. Another relevant certification is the Certified Threat Manager (CTM) certification offered by the Association of Threat Assessment Professionals. Short programming involves learning tracks, competency-based micro-credentials or stackable credentials. In some cases, certificates are perceived to be more valuable as they signal that their owner has current knowledge of a particular area; however, this perception differs from field to field
7. Which of the following statements is TRUE, according to the passage?

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In 1903 the members of the governing board of the University of Washington in  Seattle engaged a firm of landscape architects, specialists in the design of outdoor environments - Olmsted Brothers of Brookline, Massachusetts - to advise them on an appropriate layout for the university grounds. The plan impressed the university officials, and in time many of its recommendations were implemented. City officials in Seattle, the largest city in the northwestern United States, were also impressed, for they employed the same organization to study Seattle’s public park needs. John Olmsted did the investigation and subsequent report on Seattle’s parks. He and his brothers believed that parks should be adapted to the local topography, utilize the area’s trees and shrubs, and be available to the entire community. They especially emphasized the need for natural, serene settings where hurried urban dwellers could periodically escape from the city. The essence of the Olmsted park plan was to develop a continuous driveway, twenty miles long, that would tie together a whole series of parks, playgrounds, and parkways. There would be local parks and squares too, but all of this was meant to supplement the major driveway, which was to remain the unifying factor for the entire system. In November of 1903 the city council of Seattle adopted the Olmsted Report, and it automatically became the master plan for the city’s park system. Prior to this report, Seattle’s park development was very limited and funding meager. All this changed after the report. Between 1907 and 1913, city voters approved special funding measures amounting to $4,000,000. With such unparalleled sums at their disposal, with the Olmsted guidelines to follow, and with the added incentive of wanting to have the city at its best for the AlaskaYukon-Pacific Exposition of 1909, the Parks Board bought aggressively. By 1913 Seattle had 25 parks amounting to 1,400 acres, as well as 400 acres in playgrounds, pathways, boulevards, and triangles. More lands would be added in the future, but for all practical purposes it was the great land surge of 1907-1913 that established Seattle’s park system
2. The word "engaged” in paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to ____

Choose the best answer:
They/ talk/ about/ young/ pop star/ now.

Choose the best answer:
Sound symbolism means that we often _________ the meaning of a word from its sound.

Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
This French expansion can be traced back to Isle of France, or Ile-de-France, the  administrative region for Metropolitan Paris. It is often referred to as “the city of love” or “the city of lights”, now it can officially be called “Paris, the city of incredibly talented soccer players”.  In order to preserve the integrity of the international competition, FIFA tightened the rules on nationality and representation in 2004. The decision arrived amid a growing trend of so called “lesser” footballing nations naturalising players from a greater talent pool, typically from Brazil, to play for their national team. For example, Qatar offered citizenship to three Brazilians within a week having never lived or played football in the country, while Togo managed to naturalise five Brazilians for their national team. To prevent this, FIFA declared that any player wishing to represent a “new” nation must have a “clear connection” to it. A “clear connection”, according to FIFA, means that a player must have at least one parent or grandparent who were born in their newly chosen country.  The diversity of France, and Paris in particular, lends a hand to the range of national teams its citizens can represent. Along with many European migrants residing in Paris, France’s colonial history also means that a large proportion of African and Caribbean immigrants call Paris home. Famed French nationals Claude Makalele and Lilian Thuram both migrated with their families to Paris from Zaire and Guadeloupe respectively. By law, the French INSEE census does not collect data on religion or ethnicity so it is difficult to estimate the extent of diversity in the Ile-de-France region, but approximately 20% of its inhabitants were born abroad. One might conclude that an even larger percentage have at least one parent or grandparent who were part of the sizeable waves of immigrants arriving to Paris since WWI. These waves of migrations chiefly occurred in the late 19th century and up until WWI. It is unlikely that the current crop of footballers would have many feelings of nationalism toward the faraway countries of their grandparents. The advantage Paris has is that a vast majority of professional footballers may feel that their best opportunity to play for a national team would be with the country of their heritage. 
2. The word “traced” in paragraph is closest in meaning to _______

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NASA is developing the capabilities needed to send humans to an asteroid by 2025 and Mars in the 2030s – goals outlined in the bipartisan NASA Authorization Act of 2010 and in the U.S. National Space Policy, also issued in 2010. Mars is a rich destination for scientific discovery and robotic and human exploration as we expand our presence into the solar system. Its formation and evolution are comparable to Earth, helping us learn more about our own planet’s history and future. Mars had conditions suitable for life in its past. Future exploration could uncover evidence of life, answering one of the fundamental mysteries of the cosmos: Does life exist beyond Earth? While robotic explorers have studied Mars for more than 40 years, NASA’s path for the human exploration of Mars begins in low-Earth orbit aboard the International Space Station. Astronauts on the orbiting laboratory are helping us prove many of the technologies and communications systems needed for human missions to deep space, including Mars. The space station also advances our understanding of how the body changes in space and how to protect astronaut health. Our next step is deep space, where NASA will send a robotic mission to capture and redirect an asteroid to orbit the moon. Astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft will explore the asteroid in the 2020s, returning to Earth with samples. This experience in human spaceflight beyond low-Earth orbit will help NASA test new systems and capabilities, such as Solar Electric Propulsion, which we’ll need to send cargo as part of human missions to Mars. Beginning in FY 2018, NASA’s powerful Space Launch System rocket will enable these “proving ground” missions to test new capabilities. Human missions to Mars will rely on Orion and an evolved version of SLS that will be the most powerful launch vehicle ever flown. A fleet of robotic spacecraft and rovers already are on and around Mars, dramatically increasing our knowledge about the Red Planet and paving the way for future human explorers. The Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity Rover measured radiation on the way to Mars and is sending back radiation data from the surface. This data will help us plan how to protect the astronauts who will explore Mars. Future missions like the Mars 2020 rover, seeking signs of past life, also will demonstrate new technologies that could help astronauts survive on Mars. Engineers and scientists around the U.S. are working hard to develop the technologies astronauts will use to one day live and work on Mars, and safely return home from the next giant leap for humanity. NASA also is a leader in a Global Exploration Roadmap, working with international partners and the U.S. commercial space industry on a coordinated expansion of human presence into the solar system, with human missions to the surface of Mars as the driving goal.  
7. According to paragraph 5, what will help us plan how to protect the astronauts who will explore Mars?

Choose the best answer:
Many young people are fond of ............... football and other kinds of sports.

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Green-space facilities are contributing to an important extent to the quality of the urban environment. Fortunately it is no longer necessary that every lecture or every book about this subject has to start with the proof of this idea. At present, it is generally accepted, although more as a self-evident statement than on the base of a closely-reasoned scientific proof. The recognition of the importance of green-spaces in the urban environment is a first step on the right way; this does not mean, however, that sufficient details are known about the functions of green-space in towns and about the way in which the inhabitants are using these spaces. As to this rather complex subject I shall, within the scope of this lecture, enter into one aspect only, namely the recreative function of green-space facilities. The theoretical separation of living, working, traffic and recreation which for many years has been used in town-and-country planning, has in my opinion resulted in disproportionate attention for forms of recreation far from home, whereas there was relatively little attention for improvement of recreative possibilities in the direct neighbourhood of the home. We have come to the conclusion that this is not right, because an important part of the time which we do not pass in sleeping or working, is used for activities as possible, and the design of these has to be such that more obligatory activities can also have a recreative aspect. The very best standard of living is nothing if it is not possible to take a pleasant walk in the district, if the children cannot be allowed to play in the streets, because the risks of traffic are too great, if during shopping you can nowhere find a spot for enjoying for a moment the nice weather, in short, if you only feel yourself at home after the street-door of you house is closed after you.  
4. The underlined word “disproportionate“ in the passage probably means __________

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That’s all well and good, but if a potential new friend doesn’t see the same joyous  charms in you, it’s (1)_________that anything deep and lasting will come of it. That said, there’s no telling when and where a friendship will develop. Often, they arise from a shared interest or hobby, and people are typically drawn together (2)________ they’re in the same stage of life, like new parents or retirees. People of similar backgrounds and cultures also tend to come together by bonding (3)______ shared lifelong experiences. Although most of these relationships take time to get really deep, occasionally friendship is more like a lightning (4) __________. “Sometimes you can be in a big group of new people and you catch someone’s eye and it’s like ‘boom!’ – instant friendship,” Degges-White says about an experience she’s termed the “clicking phenomenon.” “It’s kind of like that burst of ‘love at first sight,’ but it’s a friendship, not (5)_________ .”

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There are many types of family systems around the world. In North America and  northern Europe, the nuclear family (with two generations - a father, a mother and one or more children) is often seen as the most typical. In contrast, in most other parts of the world, extended families, which include other family members such as grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins, are seen as the norm.  The common view is that the nuclear family has become the norm in many Western societies as a result of industrialization and urbanization. This trend began in the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, when people were forced to move to cities to find work in the factories that sprang up during the Industrial Revolution. In the twentieth century, greater industrialization resulted in even more people leaving their large extended families. Urbanization also meant that people lived in much smaller houses, which were not big enough for an extended family.  The trend towards nuclear families meant that many of the duties and responsibilities of a family, such as providing food and shelter, cleaning the home, preparing the food, caring for children and their education, and caring for the sick and elderly are no longer shared among the members of the extended family. The parents (or parent) now have to do this, with some help from the state. However, this is the price that people pay for the higher standard of living that may come from living in a city.  We may think we know what we mean by a ‘nuclear’ family and an extended family, but reality is more complicated than most people believe. Most nuclear families are part of extended families: children have grandparents and, in many cases, aunts, uncles and cousins as well. Part of what makes them ‘nuclear’ is that they live in their own separate household, but it is not the whole story. In Greece or Italy, for example, a nuclear family may live in its own flat, but the extended family may live in the same apartment block or in the same street and family members see each other and even eat together every day. There is at least one more factor to consider. Family members may be separated from each other by geographical distance, but they may have close emotional ties. Even in North America and northern Europe, grandparents usually have close bonds with their grandchildren, and families often travel long distances so that they can see each other. Grandparents often help their adult children, for example, by cooking and looking after their children in emergencies. In the same way, when their parents become too old to live on their own, adult children may take them into their own homes. As a result, they turn their nuclear family into an extended family.  The structure of families changes over time. The effects of urbanization and industrialization are enormous, but they are not the only reasons for the changes. People marry, have children, become widowed, divorce and die. Children grow up and adults grow old. Nuclear families become extended families and extended families become nuclear families. Family ties stay strong or become weak. One thing is certain: in a changing world, the family will continue to change, but ultimately, it is likely to continue to be the basic unit of society

4. According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true about nuclear families?

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The original Olympics were always held in Olympia, Greece but now, each modern Olympiad is held in or near a different city of the world. The earlier games were open only to Greek citizens and athletes from Mediterranean countries. The modern games (1)________all nations to compete. Another big difference is that events for women have become a major part of the modern games. And female winners receive the same (2)________as the men who win In the ancient games, there were honors for cultural achievements. Modern competition is almost entirely athletic. Many of the contests held in modern Olympics were (3)________in early times. These include bicycle, canoe and yacht racing; soccer, basketball; judo, rifle shooting and swimming. One of the most popular events of the modern Olympic is the marathon. This very tiring 26-mile foot race over an open course is the supreme test of the runners’ (4)_______. The marathon was not part of the ancient Olympics although it originates in Greece. And finally, a more recent development in the Olympics are the winter games, (5)_______were started in 1924. They are held separately from the summer games but in the same year

Choose the best answer:
The cellphone/ be/ portable/ so/ I/ can/ bring/ everywhere.

Choose the best answer:
The new invention may receive a lot of __________ from the public.

Rewrite the sentence:
They wanted to provide clarity and publicity. Therefore, they listed all donors' names along with their amount of contribution and their photos.

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Why has Holmes continued to (1) _________________ generation after generation when other fictional detectives of the Victorian period are forgotten? One can break the answers down into a mix of elements. But first it will be useful to summarize the life of Holmes’s (2)____________. Doyle was born in Edinburgh in 1859, one of nine children of an alcoholic Irish artist who was consigned, in later life, to a lunatic asylum. Young Arthur Doyle was educated at the fee-paying Jesuit college, Stony Hurst. (3)___________ 16 he spent a year in Austria before enrolling at Edinburgh University’s medical school. In 1880 he spent seven months in the Arctic as ship’s doctor on a whaler. The following year he graduated with a (4)__________ degree, and made another trip to Africa before setting up, less adventurously, in medical practice near Portsmouth, in July 1882. His income had reached £300 a year by 1885, enabling him to marry the sister of one of his patients. Doyle had long written on the side and in 1886 he played around with stories (5)____________ on an ‘amateur private detec-tive’, called ‘J. Sherrinford Holmes’. The outcome was the Sherlock Holmes novella, A Study in Scarlet (1887). No top-drawer publisher would take it and it was eventually serialized as a Christmas giveaway in a magazine and then as what was called a ‘shilling shocker’ – pulp fiction for the masses