Choose the best answer:

How long did you spend ...... this letter?

Choose the letter A, B, C or D to complete the passage below

An allergy is an immune system response __________ (1) a foreign substance that’s not typically harmful to your body. These foreign substances are called allergens. They can __________ (2) certain foods, pollen, or pet dander.

Your immune system’s job is to keep you healthy by fighting harmful pathogens. It does this by attacking anything it thinks could put your body in danger. Depending on the allergen, this response may involve inflammation, sneezing, or a host of __________ (3) symptoms.

Your immune __________ (4) normally adjusts to your environment. For __________ (5), when your body encounters something like pet dander, it should realize it’s harmless. In people with dander allergies, the immune system perceives it as an outside invader threatening the body and attacks it. Allergies are common. Several treatments can help you avoid your symptoms.

Read the passage and answer the questions that follow by circling the corresponding letter A, B, C or D of the correct answers.
London is the place where the historic past and the present come alive. A blend of history, architecture and culture has created an amazingly and constantly developing city.
Not surprisingly the capital has become a wonderful place for visitors and a great place to live with countless museums, galleries and entertainment places throughout the city. Whatever you want to buy, you can surely find out in London.
London has a population of 7.2 million people and it is one of Europe's most densely populated areas.
Throughout history, a lot of immigrants and refugees have been arriving in London. London has more women than men and its population is younger when compared to the rest of the country. The capital is housing over 306,000 students in higher education.

London is one of the most______city in Europe.

Choose the letter A, B, C or D to complete the passage below

"A composer is someone who ________ (1) and directs original music used to produce various types of media entertainment. The scores written need ________ (2) technically correct in order to create flawless performances by choruses, musicians or instrumental ensembles. Sound recordings produced from the score vary ________ (3) style and may reflect the classical, country, folk, jazz, techno or pop genres. A composer's job is to help ________ (4) a story in a film, television story, play or video game without ________ (5) the viewer. The soundtrack they create must suit the project ________ (6) convey the appropriate mood and tone.

Successful composers are versatile with ________ (7) collaboration skills, allowing them ________ (8) on a variety of projects with producers and musicians from various backgrounds. They have extensive knowledge of the industry and a passion and talent ________ (9) creating sound recordings. Most composers are often skilled in playing one or multiple instruments and ________ (10) a good ear for music.

7. Successful composers are versatile with ________ (7) collaboration skills,

Read the following passage and do the tasks below.

The traditional American family

The nuclear family, consisting of a mother, father, and their children, may be more an American ideal than an American reality. Of course, the so called traditional American family was always more varied than we had been led to believe, reflecting the very different racial, ethnic, class, and religious customs among different American groups, but today diversity is even more obvious.

The most recent government census statistics reveal that only about one third of all current American families fits the traditional mold of two parents and their children, and another third consists of married couples who either have children or have none still living at home. An analysis of the remaining one third of the population reveals that about 20 percent of the total number of American households are single people, the most common descriptor being women over sixty-five years of age. A small percentage, about 3 percent of the total, consists of unmarried people who choose to live together; the rest, about 7 percent, are single parents, with at least one child.

There are several easily identifiable reasons for the growing number of single-parent households. First, the sociological phenomenon of single-parent households reflects changes in cultural attitudes toward divorce and also toward unmarried mothers. A substantial number of adults become single parents as a result of divorce. In addition, the number of children born to unmarried women who choose to keep their children and rear them by themselves has increased dramatically. Finally, there is a small percentage of single-parent families that have resulted from untimely death. Today, these varied family types are typical and, therefore, normal.

In addition, because many families live far from relatives, close friends have become a more important part of family life than ever before. The vast majority of Americans claim that they have people in their lives whom they regard as family although they are not related. A view of family that only accepts the traditional nuclear arrangement not only ignores the reality of modern American family life, but also undervalues the familial bonds created in alternatives family arrangements. Apparently, many Americans are achieving supportive relationships in family forms other than the traditional one.

With which of the following statements would the author most probably agree?

Technology, such as tablets, isn't only useful for ________ (8) knowledge; it helps with communication as well. Teachers and administrators use such devices to send materials and information ________ (9) students and parents. Students ________ (10) in homework and term papers online and can access educational applications and programs to further assist with learning.

Read the following passage, then choose the correct answer.

       Music can move the soul. It can be a very strong influence. Some music can calm us down, but some 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 therapy as well. Music has been used as therapy for seizures, to lower blood pressure,  treat mental illness, treat depression, aid in healing, treat stress and insomnia, and premature infants. Musicologist Julius Portnoy found that it can change heart rates, increase or decrease blood pressure, affect energy levels, and digestion, positively or negatively, depending on the type of music. 
Calming music, such as classical music 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, the chords. Conversely, music has also been documented to cause sickness. The right, or wrong music, rather, can be like poison to the body. Studies have been done on plants where loud hard rock music, for instance, killed plants and soft classical music, make 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 was stated that certain types of music over prolonged periods in certain conditions were shown to cause seizures.

The word “it” refers to…………………

Read the following passage and choose A, B, C, or D to fill in the gaps:
Five thousand (41) ………….. gathered in a demonstration in front of Parliament House to (42) ………….. the increase in the price of wheat export.
Most of them were (43) ………….. the North-Eastern part of the country (44) ………….. has just been hit heavily by the snowfall.
Mr. Naruan, Head of the Wheat Growers' Union of the area (45) ………….. our reporter that if the government had agreed to increase the price of wheat export and lowered the price of machine import, the farmers' life (46) ………….. not have been so hard. (47) ………….. also said due to the government's policy, hundreds of farmers were prepared to (48) ………….. the country - farming area in the country (49) …………..  abandoned. Dairy farming would (50) ………….. the same problem.

42_________

Read the passage and choose the correct answer:

The history of rock music has been volatile and unpredictable as the genre has constantly redefined and reinvented itself since its emergence in the late 1940s. Not surprisingly, then, it can be difficult to apply a straightforward definition to such a restless musical format.

But while people might quibble over specifics, rock music can generally be described as hard-edged music performed with electric guitars, bass, and drums and usually accompanied by lyrics sung by a vocalist. That sounds simple enough, but a closer look at the evolution of rock suggests how different styles and influences have shaped its development over the years.

Rock’s origins can be traced to the late 1940s, when the popular styles of the day, country music and blues, morphed into a new sound aided by electric guitars and a steady drumbeat. Pioneering rock artists of the 1950s such as Chuck Berry leaned heavily on classic blues structures while demonstrating a flair as natural-born entertainers. In contrast to the safe pop music of the era, rock’s aggressive attack suggested a sexual freedom that was shocking during that conservative age.

By the early '60s, Berry’s followers, most notably the Rolling Stones, expanded rock’s scope by transitioning from singles artists into musicians capable of producing cohesive albums of songs. Embracing sex and youthful rebellion in their music, the Stones courted controversy but also elevated rock to new cultural heights.

Sexual freedom is unpopular during that conservative age.

Choose the letter A, B, C or D to complete the sentences

 Would you mind _______ more clearly, please?

Read the passage below carefully, and then choose the best answer:

"Background, in relation to computers, on the screen, the color on which characters are displayed. (1) _______, a white background may be used for black characters. In a windowing environment in which more than one program or document can be available to the user, open but currently inactive (2) _______ are said to be in the background.
In the context of operating systems and program execution, background refers to a process, or task, assigned a lower priority in the microprocessor's share of time to tasks other than the task running in the (3) _______. A background process thus often performs its work, such as printing or checking for arriving messages on an electronic mail network, invisibly unless the user requests an update or brings the task to the foreground. (4) _______, only multitasking operating systems are able to support background processing. However, some operating systems that do not support multitasking may be able to perform one or more types of background tasks. For example, in the Apple Macintosh operating system running in Single-Launch Mode (with multitasking (5) _______), the Background Printing option can be used to print documents while the user is doing other work."

3. In the context of operating systems and program execution, background refers to a process, or task, assigned a lower priority in the microprocessor's share of time to tasks other than the task running in the (3) _______.

Read the following passage and do the tasks below.

The traditional American family

The nuclear family, consisting of a mother, father, and their children, may be more an American ideal than an American reality. Of course, the so called traditional American family was always more varied than we had been led to believe, reflecting the very different racial, ethnic, class, and religious customs among different American groups, but today diversity is even more obvious.

The most recent government census statistics reveal that only about one third of all current American families fits the traditional mold of two parents and their children, and another third consists of married couples who either have no children or have none still living at home. An analysis of the remaining one third of the population reveals that about 20 percent of the total number of American households are single people, the most common descriptor being women over sixty-five years of age. A small percentage, about 3 percent of the total, consists of unmarried people who choose to live together; the rest, about 7 percent, are single parents, with at least one child.

There are several easily identifiable reasons for the growing number of single-parent households. First, the sociological phenomenon of single-parent households reflects changes in cultural attitudes toward divorce and also toward unmarried mothers. A substantial number of adults become single parents as a result of divorce. In addition, the number of children born to unmarried women who choose to keep their children and rear them by themselves has increased dramatically. Finally, there is a small percentage of single-parent families that have resulted from untimely death. Today, these varied family types are typical and, therefore, normal.

In addition, because many families live far from relatives, close friends have become a more important part of family life than ever before. The vast majority of Americans claim that they have people in their lives whom they regard as family although they are not related. A view of family that only accepts the traditional nuclear arrangement not only ignores the reality of modern American family life, but also undervalues the familial bonds created in alternatives family arrangements. Apparently, many Americans are achieving supportive relationships in family forms other than the traditional one.

Which of the following is the main topic of the passage?

Choose the letter A, B, C or D to complete the passage below

Education plays a vital role ____________ (1) shaping successful people. It gives us the opportunity to become a productive member of a civilized society by acquiring all the necessary skills. We learn ____________ (2) to meet challenges and overcome obstacles. We learn how to become an integrated personality and maintain the perpetuation of our culture. People learn basic norms, rules, regulations, ____________ (3) values of society through education. Moreover, high quality education enables us to ____________ (4) a successful life, enhances our intelligence, skills, knowledge, and brings positive changes in our life.

Education lays the foundation stone for our future. An illiterate person can find ____________ (5) very difficult to cope ____________ (6) some aspects of life. Education expands our vision and creates awareness. It helps us develop a disciplined life and provides us with better earning opportunities. It enables us ____________ (7) the world beyond our own surroundings. Education ____________ (8) also a prerequisite of the prosperity and modernization of any country.

Modern education is liberal, open, and exoteric. It is the premise of progress, in every family and in every society. It teaches people to reason. It is based ____________ (9) the humanism, freedom, equality, democracy, and human rights. The content of education keeps pace with the needs of modern society and is a mirror of its goals, values, and priorities. So, education is a necessary means of eradicating the unemployment problem. It is able to reduce poverty in a number of ____________ (10). But we have to remember that there is a great need for the growth of the vocational education so that every person could pursue a fulfilling career that ensures a satisfied life.

(7).......................

It’s essential to provide women and girls with equal access to social issues.

Read the reading below carefully, and then complete it with the best option A, B, C or D:

"ADULT EDUCATION: HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
Early formal adult education activities focused (1) _______ single needs such as reading and writing. Many early programs were (2) _______ by churches to teach people to read the Bible. When the original purpose was (3) _______, programs were often adjusted to meet more general educational needs of the (4) _______. Libraries, lecture series, and discussion societies began in various countries during the (5) _______. As more people experienced the benefits of (6) _______, they began to participate increasingly in social, political, and occupational (7) _______. By the 19th century, adult education was developing as a formal, organized movement in the (8) _______ world.
The largest early program in the U.S., the Lyceum, (9) _______ (1826) in Massachusetts by Josiah Holbrook, was a local (10) _______ of men and women with some schooling who wanted to expand their own education (11) _______ working to establish a public school system. The Lyceum (12) _______ encouraged the development of other adult education institutions (13) _______ libraries, evening schools, and gifted lecture series. By mid-century, employers and philanthropists began to endow (14) _______ such as the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art (1859) in New York City (15) _______ the Peabody Institute (1857) in Baltimore, Maryland, for adult education. Large audiences were (16) _______ to the Chautauqua movement, which began (1874) in New York State (17) _______ a summer training program for Sunday school teachers and evolved into a traveling lecture series and (18) _______ school. Chautauqua was the prototype of institutions established to further (19) _______ education in the U.S. By 1876, universities started offering extension programs that (20) _______ education directly to the public..."

7. they began to participate increasingly in social, political, and occupational (7) _______. 

Read the following passage carefully, and then select the best option A, B, C or D to complete it:

"Music, artful arrangement of sounds (1) _______ time. This definition is obviously very broad, but a narrower one would exclude (2) _______ much. Music is part of virtually every culture on (3) _______, but it varies widely among cultures in style and structure. Definitions of music can (4) _______ dramatically over a short time, as they have across the world during the 20th (5)_________. Can music exist without (6) _______? Some philosophers argue that music should be defined as a kind of “mental(7) _______” and that the physical aspects of sound are simply by-products of this image. If you (8) _______ you can have a musical experience by imagining the sound of a piece of music, then you think (9) _______ can exist without sound. But most musical experiences involve producing or (10) _______ to physical characteristics of sound such as pitch and timbre (quality comparable to texture or color in sight).
Is the tape-recorded sound of a large metal-stamping machine music? Are 4 minutes (11) _______ 33 seconds of silence music? Is the activity of reading a (12) _______ of hundreds of seemingly unrelated objects, activities, and states of mind music? Each of these “(13) _______”, as well as many other sounds (or nonsounds), has been copyrighted (14) _______ a musical composition, performed, and recorded in the 20th century. One of the legacies of 20th century music is to have blurred the definition of music as (15) _______ before."

13. Each of these “(13) _______”, as well as many other sounds 

Read the following passage and choose A, B, C, or D to fill in the gaps:
The leading causes of (41) ………….. in many developing countries are now heart disease, cancer, accident, flu, pneumonia, etc. Moreover, cigarettes, alcohol, physical inactivity, and overeating also add to the causes of several of these killing diseases. Medicine has little help to offer, however, to persons (42) ………….. can not get rid (43) ………….. habits harmful to their health. Surgery is the only (44) …………..to offer any chance of survival for people (45) …………..lung cancer.
Although psychiatrists tried to stop people (46) …………..drinking, they haven't been very (47) …………... Neither have doctors. How then (48) ………….. our health be improved? The answer is simple, though perhaps not very pleasing. Ordinary persons can do it (49) …………... They (50) …………..able to make good advances in the prevention of diseases.

46_______

Rewrite sentences without changing the meaning

I’m going to stay with my uncle for about 3 weeks.

The following passage has some blanks. Find ONE suitable word to fill in each blank. Circle A, B, C, or D to identify your answer.

Exercise is one of the best ways of keeping fit. It improves your (24)_______ and mind and enables you to perform better in the workplace and at home. Proper breathing is essential if you want to get the most from exercise and you should also take into account your heart rate. It can be (25) __________ to do too much at one time. That is why all good fitness instructors emphasize the importance of “listening to your body”. When you first start, you should use good judgment. It is easy to make mistakes of using the equipment incorrectly or doing too much at one time. (26) __________ slowly and build up gradually. To increase your fitness (27) __________ you should exercise for 20 minutes a day, 4 to 6 times a week. Then you will see a difference both in your body and your mind in only a few weeks.

Question 27.......................

Read the passage and answer the questions that follow by circling the corresponding letter A, B, C or D of the correct answers. 
Ragtime, developed primarily by black pianists, is a style of composed piano music that was popular from the 1890s to about 1915. It is a style of jazz characterized by an elaborately syncopated rhythm in the melody and a steadily accented accompaniment. Ragtime quickly gained popularity after its first appearances, reaching millions on a national scale through sheet music, player pianos, ragtime songs, and arrangements for dance and marching bands. The leading ragtime composer was Scott Joplin, known as the "King of Ragtime," whose most famous piano piece, "Maple Leaf Rag," was published in 1899.
Ragtime piano music has a generally standard form, duple meter (2/4, or two beats per measure) performed at a moderate march tempo. The pianist's right hand plays a highly syncopated melody, while the left hand steadily maintains the beat with an "oom-pah" accompanishment. A ragtime piece usually consists of several similar melodies that take such forms as AA BB A CC DD or Introduction AA BB CC DD EE, where each letter represents a melodic phrase. "Maple Leaf Rag" is a classic example of ragtime.
The forms of ragtime derive from European marches and dances, but the rhythms are rooted in African-American folk music.

Which of the following is NOT characteristic of ragtime?

Read the following passage and choose A, B, C, or D to fill in the gaps:
Five thousand (41) ………….. gathered in a demonstration in front of Parliament House to (42) ………….. the increase in the price of wheat export.
Most of them were (43) ………….. the North-Eastern part of the country (44) ………….. has just been hit heavily by the snowfall.
Mr. Naruan, Head of the Wheat Growers' Union of the area (45) ………….. our reporter that if the government had agreed to increase the price of wheat export and lowered the price of machine import, the farmers' life (46) ………….. not have been so hard. (47) ………….. also said due to the government's policy, hundreds of farmers were prepared to (48) ………….. the country - farming area in the country (49) …………..  abandoned. Dairy farming would (50) ………….. the same problem.

49__________