Choose the best answer:
Banh Chung is made ............. sticky rice, green beans and fatty pork.

 

Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
During the nineteenth century, women in the United States organized and participated in a large number of reform movements, including movements to reorganize the prison system, improve education, ban the sale of alcohol, and, most importantly, free the slaves. Some women saw similarities in the social status of women and slaves. Women like Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucy Stone were feminists and abolitionists who supported the rights of both women and blacks. A number of male abolitionists, including William Lloyd Garrison and Wendell Philips, also supported the rights of women to speak and participate equally with men in antislavery activities. Probably more than any other movement, abolitionism offered women a previously denied entry into politics. They became involved primarily in 20 order to better their living conditions and the conditions of others. When the Civil War ended in 1865, the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution adopted in 1868 and 25 1870 granted citizenship and suffrage to blacks but not to women. Discouraged but resolved, feminists influenced more and more women to demand the right to vote. In 1869, the Wyoming Territory had yielded 30to demands by feminists, but eastern states resisted more stubbornly than before. A women's suffrage bill had been presented to every Congress since 1878 but it continually failed to pass until 1920, 35 when the Nineteenth Amendment granted women the right to vote.
2. The word "ban" in line 6 most closely means to: 

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D to indicate the correct word or phrase that best fits each of the numbered blanks.
The philosopher Aristotle said, “In poverty and other misfortunes of life, true friends are a sure refuge. They keep the young out of mischief; they comfort and aid the old in their weakness, and they incite those in the prime of life to noble deeds. “Growing up”, my mother always used to tell me “your friends are a reflection of you”. I did not quite understand this (1).................. I started meeting individuals who kept, not so healthy friends in their lives and suddenly, as a young teenager, I learned to understand that the friends I keep in my life (2)............... who I am and desire to be as a person and therefore I have learned to choose my friends wisely over the years. I do not care about the superficial (3)................such as looks, money, success or status but rather I emulate those (4)................ bring laughter, joy, honesty and  who can be there for me and also give me a firm kick in the butt when I need it. I always find it intriguing to meet friends of people I know because I can really get a sense of that person by the company they choose to (5)................... in their life.

(2).......................

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:
Animals have an intuitive awareness of quantities. They know without analysis the difference between a number of objects and a smaller number. In his book "The Natural History of Selboure" (1786), the naturalist Gilbert White tells how he surreptitiously removed one egg a day from a plover's nest, and how the mother laid another egg each day to make up for the missing one. He noted that other species of birds ignore the absence of a single egg but abandon their nest if more than one egg has been removed. It has also been noted by naturalists that a certain type of wasp always provides five - never four, never six - caterpillars for each of their eggs so that their young have something to eat when the eggs hatch. Research has also shown that both mice and pigeons can be taught to distinguish between odd and even numbers of food pieces.
These and similar accounts have led some people to infer that creatures other than humans can actually count. They also point to dogs that have been taught to respond to numerical questions with the correct number of banks, or to horses that seem to solve arithmetic problems by stomping their hooves the proper number of times.
Animals respond to quantities only when they are connected to survival as a species - as in the case of the eggs - or survival as individuals - as in the case of food. There is no transfer to other situations of from concrete reality to the abstract notion of numbers. Animals can "count" only when the objects are present and only when the numbers involved are small - not more than seven or eight. In lab experiments, animals trained to "count" one kind of object were unable to count any other type. The object, not the numbers, are what interest them. Animals' admittedly remarkable achievements simply do not amount to evidence of counting, nor do they reveal more than innate instincts, refined by the genes of successive generations, or the results of clever, careful conditioning by trainers.

What is the main idea of this passage?

Choose the best answer:
Express Money Transfer is one of the quickest ways ……..help us to send money.

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:
Composers today use a wider variety of sounds than ever before, including many that were once considered undesirable noises. Composer Edgard Varese (1883-1965) called thus the “liberation of sound…the right to make music with any and all sounds.” Electronic music, for example – made with the aid of computers, synthesizers, and electronic instruments – may include sounds that in the past would not have been considered musical.
Enviromental sounds, such as thunder, and electronically generated hisses and blips can be recorded, manipulated, and then incorporated into a musical composition. But composers also draw novel sounds from voices and non-electronic instruments. Singers may be asked to scream, laugh, groan, sneeze, or to sing phonetic sounds rather than words. Wind and string players may lap or scrape their instruments. A brass or woodwind player may hum while playing, to produce two pitches at once; a pianist may reach inside the piano to pluck a string and then run a metal blade along it. In the music of the Western world, the greatest expansion and experimentation have involved percussion instruments, which outnumber strings and winds in many recent compositions. Traditional persussion instruments are struck with new types of beaters; and instruments that used to be couriered unconventional in Western music – tom-toms, bongos, slapsticks, maracas – are widely used.
In the search for novel sounds, increased use has been made in Western music of Microtones. Non-Western music typically divides and intervals between two pitches more finely than Western music does, thereby producing a greater number of distinct tones or micro tones, within the same interval. Composers such as Krzysztof Penderecki create sound that borders on electronic noise through tone clusters – closely spaced tones played together and heard as a mass, block, or band of sound. The directional aspect of sound has taken on new importance as well Loudspeakers or groups of instruments may be placed at opposite ends of the stage, in the balcony, or at the back and sides of the auditorium. Because standard music notation makes no provision for many of these innovations, recent music scores may contain graph like diagrams, new note shapes and symbols, and novel ways of arranging notation on the page.

The word “wider” in line 1 is closet in meaning to     _.

Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
There are three valid arguments to support the preservation of endangered species. Aesthetic justification contends that biodiversity contributes to the quality of life because many of the endangered plants and animals are particularly appreciated for their unique physical beauty. The aesthetic role of nature in all its diverse forms is reflected in the art and literature of every culture attaining symbolic status in the spiritual life of many groups. According to the proponents of the aesthetic argument, people need nature in all its diverse and beautiful forms as part of the experience of the world. Another argument that has been put forward, especially by groups in the medical and pharmacological fields, is that of ecological self-interest. By preserving all species, we retain a balance of nature that is ultimately beneficial to humankind. Recent research on global ecosystems has been cited as evidence that every species contributes important or even essential functions that may be necessary to the survival of our own species. Some advocates of the ecological argument contend that important chemical compounds derived from rare plants may contain the key to a cure for one of the diseases currently threatening human beings. If we do not protect other species, then they cannot protect us. Apart from human advantage in both the aesthetic and ecological arguments, the proponents of a moral justification contend that all species have the right to exist, a viewpoint stated in the United Nations World Charter for Nature, created in 1982. Furthermore, if humankind views itself as the stewards of all the creatures on Earth, then it is incumbent upon human beings to protect them, and to ensure the continued existence of all species. Moral justification has been extended by a movement called “deep ecology,” the members of which rank the biosphere higher than people because the continuation of life depends on this larger perspective. To carry their argument to its logical conclusion, all choices must be made for the biosphere, not for people.
9. The word " unique" in the first paragraph is closest in meaning to: 

Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
Harvard University, today recognized as part of the top echelon of the world's universities, came from very inauspicious and humble beginning. This oldest of American universities was founded in 1636, just sixteen years after the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth. Included in the Puritan emigrants to the Massachusetts colony during this period were more than 100 graduates of England's prestigious Oxford and Cambridge universities, and these universities graduates in the New Word were determined that their sons would have the same educational opportunities that they themselves had had. Because of this support in the colony for an institution of higher learning, the General Court of Massachusetts appropriated 400 pounds for a college in October of 1636 and early the following year decided on a parcel of land for the school; this land was in an area called Newetowne, which was later renamed Cambridge after its English cousin and is the site of the present-day university. When a young minister named John Harvard, who came from the neighboring town of Charlestown, died from tuberculosis in 1638, he willed half of his estate of 1,700 pounds to the fledgling college. In spite of the fact that only half of the bequest was actually paid, the General Court named the college after the minister in appreciation for what he had done. The amount of the bequest may not have been large, particularly by today's standard, but it was more than the General Court had found it necessary to appropriate in order to open the college. Henry Dunster was appointed the first president of Harvard in 1640, and it should be noted that in addition to serving as president, he was also the entire faculty, with an entering freshmen class of four students. Although the staff did expand somewhat, for the first century of its existence the entire teaching staff consisted of the president and three or four tutors.
2. The passage indicates that Harvard is .

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

"In the home a dad is very important. He is the (1)……who provides us with money to feed and (2)….. ourselves. He can decorate your bedroom, mend your radio, make (3)….. for your pets, repair a puncture your bicycle tyre and help you with maths homework. A dad can be very useful for (4)…. you in the car to and from parties, music and dancing lessons.
 A dad is the person whom you ask for (5)…. money. He is the one who (6)…. about the time you spend talking on the phone, as he has to pay for the bills. Dad is someone who will support you in an (7)…. , if he believes you to be right. He is someone who reads your school (8) …. And treats if it is good. A dad likes to come into a nice happy home evening, and settle (9)…. in his chair with a newspaper. He likes to (10) ….  his National Service days."

7. Dad is someone who will support you in an (7)…. , if he believes you to be right.

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.
The fictitious androids written about in the mid-1900s are becoming a reality with advances in the field of robotics. Japan and Korea have been pioneers in this field. They regularly compete to be the first. The focus on most reseachers is in (1)............. life-like, attractive female androids. A Japanese research group led by Hiroshi Ishiguro created ther world’s first female android, which is called Actroid in 2003. The early model was limited so upgrades were made and the dramatic entertainment model was released in 2006. Actroids are covered with a silicone skin and have built-in sensors making them (2)................ of reacting  to  humans,  and  they  can  also  mimic  many  human behaviors. (3)................... , they can be programmed to speak in any language. The Korean android, EveR-2, released in 2006, was designed by a team from Kitech. They claim that she is more life-like than Actroids, and she can mimic emtions. She can also speak and move her lips to match  her (4)..................... . Future models are expected to have higher mobility and even be proficient in dancing. Research teams have also created male androids. One in particular is the Germinoid HI-I.
Regardless of the competition, it’s clear that this technology will one day present us (5)..................the dilemma of determining human from machine.

(1)....................................

Read the passage below carefully, and then choose the best answer:
The Great Debate over GM Foods
One of the hottest topic in agriculture today is genetically modified (GM) foods. GM foods are foods that come from plants that have had their DNA altered using biotechnology. GM foods have been on the market since 1994, when a company called Calgene started selling GM tomatoes. Since then, other GM foods including papaya, corn, and plums to name a few have been developed. The main benefit of GM foods is that they can be a more economical solution than non GM foods. Scientists found a way to modify many plants to make them more resistant to weeds, diseases, and pests. This allows the plants to grow in tougher climates and conditions, which should lead to lower food prices and increase the overall food supply. However, many consumers still have their doubts about GM foods. For one they feel that by eating GM foods people are messing with nature. Until now humans have survived on food that was produced without any interference from science. Even though many lab studies show that GM foods are safe in the short term, opponents feel that not enough long-term testing has been done yet. Another major issue in the GM foods debate is its labelling. Current US laws do not require producers to label their foods as GM. This has upset many consumers who feel they have the right to clearly know how the food they are buying is produced. On the other hand, producers are afraid to label their foods as GM because they feel it will result in less product sales, as people may assume that there is something wrong with GM foods. This controversy is not just on the level of consumers and producers. The issue of non GM foods has also become a block to a major free trade agreement between the US and Europe. GM foods are banned throughout most of Europe, while they are quite common throughout the US. Since many American GM food producers would like to sell their foods overseas in Europe, the US is requesting that European nations eliminate laws banning GM foods. However, many European nations are not fully convinced that these products are safe.
2. According to the passage, why did scientists invent GM foods?

Read the passage below carefully, and then choose the best answer:
The Particle that Started the Big Bang
In 2013, the Nobel Prize for Physics was awarded to Francois Englert and Peter W. Higgs for their discovery of a particle that is vital to our understanding of the universe. Although its official name is the Higgs boson, many refer to it as the God particle, because it’s considered to be the building block of the universe. Many believe that the Higgs boson may be the cause for the Big Bang explosion which led to the creation of the universe. In the 1960s, Higgs came up with the concept that particles had no mass when the universe started. In a split-second, however, it came into contact with something that gave it mass. This, Higgs theorized, was the Higgs boson. Many scientists initially laughed at the idea, but in the upcoming years, Higgs along with Englert and several of their peers continued to work on these concepts. Their ideas would eventually help lead the way to the discovery of the Higgs boson decades later. The search for the Higgs boson certainly didn’t come up cheap, as it cost nearly $10 billion to build the machinery necessary to perform the tests to find it. Yet nearly every physicist would agree that it was worth it, as the Higgs boson has already been labeled as one of the most important discoveries in particle physics. The finding is also a huge boost for physics in general because it proves that the Standard Model of Physics which researchers have been using for years is correct. The Higgs was the last remaining question mark as all of the other particles and elements had been found. Still, many ordinary people may question how such a discovery affects their lives at all. Although quantum mechanics may seem weird, it has actually led to several important technological breakthroughs over the past century. These findings have led to laser and X-ray technologies that work in the real world. There is still much to be learned with further observation of the Higgs boson in action. Scientists hope to learn more about dark matter, a strange substance that constitutes 25 percent of the mass of the universe. The research could also lead to some other technologies as well.
5. How might everyone benefit from the discovery of Higgs boson?

Read the reading below carefully, and then complete it with the best option A, B, C or D given below:
Throughout the world there are different ways for people to greet each other. In much of the world, a handshake is the (1) __________ form of welcoming and greeting someone. In many countries around the Mediterranean Sea a (2) ___________ kiss on the cheek is the appropriate way to welcome friends and family. It can be a very (3) __________ surprise if you expect to shake hands and get a kiss or a hug instead. At times, it is difficult to tell what sort of greeting (4) ___________ is followed. People may bow, grab another‟s arm or even slap the other person on the back. In some places people just smile, look at the other‟s face and say nothing. Most people in the world are tolerant of visitors and don‟t mind what travellers do that seems wrong as long as the visitors are (5)__________. A big part of the delightfulness of world travel is experiencing different customs.

Read the passage below carefully, and then choose the best answer:
It’s in Your Genes
Every human being has about 25,000 genes. Your genes are part of your DNA. They give your body instructions on how to develop. For example, if your genes tell your body to build long, thin fingers, then you will have long, thin fingers. Your genes come from your parents, and they decide everything about you. They decide your hair colour, your eye colour, your height, and so on. Genes are still a bit of a mystery to scientists, but they are learning new things about them all the time. One issue that people often debate is this: Do our genes influence our personalities? These days, most people agree that the answer to this question is yes. Recent studies have shown that genes especially influence our self-control and our sense of purpose. Your sense of purpose is your desire to have goals in your life. If a person really wants to accomplish something and do well in life, he or she has a sense of purpose. A person who does not care about goals has no sense of purpose. Although scientists agree that our genes influence our personalities, there is another question. How much do they influence us? Can we control ourselves, or do our genes control us? People everywhere are still debating this issue. So far, we don’t really have an answer. Genes also affect your health. If a gene has a problem, it is called a mutated gene. Some mutated genes can cause diseases. That is why if a person has a certain health problem, his or her child is more likely to have that same problem. The child also has the mutated gene. As scientists and doctors learn more about genes, they are also developing a new kind of medicine: gene therapy. Therapy is help for a mental or a physical problem. Gene therapy means fixing or replacing mutated genes. Scientists are still experimenting on gene therapy. It is possible that in the future, gene therapy will help doctors prevent and cure diseases that are caused by mutated genes.
7. The word “mutated” in paragraph 5 is closest in meaning to _________

Read the passage below carefully, and then choose the best answer:
The Magical Mind of Leonardo Da Vinci
When someone shows great skills in a certain field, we call them a genius. In particular, the term is most associated with two people. One is the famed scientist Albert Einstein, and the other is Leonardo Da Vinci. However, unlike Einstein, whose achievements were essentially all related to science, Leonardo Da Vinci was a master at art, architecture, invention, and several other areas. Da Vinci was bom in Italy in 1452. He took to art at an early age and at age 14, he went to study as an apprentice in Florence under the artist Verrocchio. For the next six years. Da Vinci picked up drawing, carpentry, sculpting, and many other techniques from his master and his talent was evident. In fact, Da Vinci was such a good painter that his talent frustrated his master. Eventually, Verrocchio was so frustrated by his student’s genius that he stopped painting altogether. By the age of 20, Da Vinci was considered a master artist and set up his own workshop. It was there that Da Vinci was approached to create a painting for the Duke of Milan. The Duke was so impressed by his work that he would bring him under his service. In addition to creating paintings and sculptures, the Duke also had him design innovative buildings, machines, and weapons. Da Vinci would draw up plans for several futuristic inventions including tanks, submarines, and flying machines. He also mastered the art of drawing every muscle and detail of the human body. The only criticism one could make of Da Vinci is that his brilliant mind jumped so quickly from subject to subject that he rarely completed the works he started. The ones he did finish were often spectacular masterpieces, such as his paintings The Last Supper and the timeless Mona Lisa. The latter, which is on display at the Louvre in Paris, is arguably the most famous painting of all times because of its incredible detail and realism. Although Da Vinci died in 1519, his effect on the art world has never waned. He helped coin the term “Renaissance man” which refers to someone who excels in many different areas. Perhaps the greatest present Da Vinci left behind was his journals. Admirers and students of his work can examine 13,000 pages of his notes, drawings, and ideas to better understand what made this genius tick.
1. How is Einstein different from Da Vinci?

Read the reading below carefully, and then complete it with the best option A, B, C or D given below:
Tax Service Representative wanted
Heartfiled Financial Inc, a leading financial services firm (1)------- Tax Service Representatives for the tax reporting department, who will be (2)------- for reclassifying income payments to ensure accurate formal tax reporting. Other duties include reviewing, interpreting   and validating tax related information, mathematically determining  reclassification  amounts. (3)-------  candidates  must  have  a  college degree and previous tax or brokerage experience as well as strong analytical skills. They must be able to work overtime and weekends as needed. To apply, please send your resume to
Gabriel Hill
Heartfiled Financial Inc.
132 Woodland Street
Irvine, CA 92612

Mark the letter A, B, C, or D to indicate the sentence that best combines each pair of sentences in the following questions.
He became successful as a professional writer at the age of 20.

Choose the best answer:
The reporter is talking about the ____________ for the fire.

Choose the best answer:
mountain/ amazed/ Are/ seeing/ at/ the/ you?

Choose the best answer:
Peter’s uncle ____________ to Hue next month.

Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
Exobiology is the study of life that originates from outside of Earth. As yet, of course, no such life forms have been found. Exobiologists, however, have done important work in the theoretical study of where life is most likely to evolve, and what those extrateưestrial life forms might be like. What sorts of planets are most likely to develop life? Most scientists agree that a habitable planet must be terrestrial, or rock-based, with liquid surface water and biogeochemical cycles that somewhat resemble Earth’s. Water is an important solvent involved in many biological processes. Biogeochemical cycles are the continuous movement and transformation of materials in the environment. These cycles include the circulation of elements and nutrients upon which life and the Earth’s climate depend. Since (as far as we know) all life is carbon-based, a stable carbon cycle is especially important. The habitable zone is the region around a star in which planets can develop life. Assuming the need for liquid surface water, it follows that most stars around the size of our sun will be able to sustain habitable zones for billions of years. Stars that are larger than the sun are much hotter and bum out more quickly; life there may not have enough time to evolve. Stars that are smaller than the sun have different problem. First of all, planets in their habitable zones will be so close to the star that they will be “tidally locked” – that is one side of the planet will always face the star in perpetual daylight with the other side in the perpetual night. Another possible obstacle to life on smaller stars is that they tend to vary in their luminosity, or brightness, due to flares and “star spots”. The variation can be large enough to have harmful effects on the ecosystem. Of course, not all stars of the right size will give rise to life; they also must have terrestrial planets with the right kind of orbits. Most solar systems have more than one planet, which influence each other’s orbits with their own gravity. Therefore, in order to have a stable system with no planets flying out into space, the orbits must be a good distance from one another. Interestingly, the amount of space needed is roughly the width of a star’s habitable zone. This means that for life to evolve, the largest possible number of life-supporting planets in any star’s habitable zone is two. Finally, not all planets meeting the above conditions will necessarily develop life. One major threat is large, frequent asteroid and comet impacts, which will wipe out life each time it tries to evolve. The case of Earth teaches that having large gas giants, such as Saturn and Jupiter,.in the outer part of the solar system can help keep a planet safe for life. Due to their strong gravitation, they tend to catch or deflect large objects before they can reach Earth.
3. The word “which” in paragraph 3 refers to