Choose the best answer:
I find cooking in my free time relaxing.

 

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Yesterday afternoon while my mother _______ for the taxi, the shower _______.

Choose the best answer:
The manageress/ told/ Lucy/ she/ had/ finish/ work/ by 5 o’clock.

Read the passage below carefully, and then choose the best answer:
Strengthening Your Core
If there is one indication that someone is fit, it is a tight and lean stomach. Men and women alike hope that eating right and putting in hard work at the gym will earn them a perfect six-patch. Unfortunately, the opposite is also true. The rising popularity of fast food has led to an increase of obesity rates and waistlines around the globe. If someone is out of shape, you will notice the extra weight around their midsection. In both cases, a person’s core muscles seem to tell a lot about their fitness and eating habits. Many people associate the core with just the stomach area, but science actually defines it as our body without arms and legs. Although many people want a solid core to look good, the development of these muscles affects many areas of our lives. In athletics and general life for that matter, we all rely on our core muscles heavily to get things done. Studies have shown that athletes who build a powerful core foundation aren’t injured as much. Meanwhile, the benefits of your average Joe may be even greater. Ordinary people use their core muscles for nearly every task they do. This includes picking things up, sitting in a chair, or tying your shoes. Our core muscles provide stability, so we can keep our balance and easily move in any direction. If we neglect them, life can become much more difficult. As a result, we should always consider our core muscles when designing our workouts. However, if you have been sedentary for years, performing thousands of repetitions will probably get you injured. Instead, start off slowly and gradually build up your numbers. An excellent exercise for both beginners and advanced exercisers is the plank. You simply get in an extended pushup position as if you have just finished a rep. Maintain this position, but place the weight on your forearms instead of your hands. Then, hold the position as long as you can. You should feel your core muscles working hard to help your hands and support the weight of your body. In the beginning, you may only be able to hold it for a few seconds, but keep at it. The Guinness World Record for abdominal planking is three hours and seven minutes.
8.  All of the following are good tips to strengthen our core muscles EXCEPT that __________

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Ms. Jackson was assigned the fifth-grade science class ...... she has the best qualification among the available faculty.

Read the passage below carefully, and then choose the best answer:
Culture and Nature
If you ever get the chance to visit Japan in the spring, be sure to attend a cherry blossom festival. This is an annual event that happens all over the country. Cherry blossoms are a very important part of traditional Japanese culture. One old Japanese custom is something called “hanami”. This means having picnics under cherry blossom trees. People started doing this about 1,200 years ago. At first, only powerful members of the Japanese government had the picnics. Later on samurai joined the custom, and finally common people started to do it as well. Cherry blossoms are an important symbol in Japan. People see the blossoms being similar to life. The blossoms bloom in the spring and they are very beautiful, but only for a short time. After that, the blossoms die. This is similar to the lives of people. Today there are still cherry blossom festivals all over Japan. Some people prefer to just walk through the parks and look at the trees, but the most popular activity is still having picnics under the trees. There is one problem that comes with attending a cherry blossom festival: the crowds. Because this is such a popular event, huge numbers of people come to the spots that have cherry blossoms. However, the trees are so beautiful that when you are there, the crowds might not seem so bad. When most people think of cherry blossoms, they think of Japan. However Japan is not the only country that has these beautiful trees. Brazil has many Japanese immigrants. Years ago, many of those immigrants planted cherry trees there. Those trees are still there today. Korea also has many cherry trees because when Japan ruled Korea, Japanese people planted the trees there. Other countries have cherry trees, usually because Japan gave them as presents. Cherry blossoms are a traditional part of Japanese culture, but people still love them today. Everyone should try to see them at least once. It is a chance to learn about traditional Japanese culture and enjoy some beautiful scenery at the same time.
2. Who were the last people to do “hanami”?

Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
Television has transformed politics in the United States by changing the way in which information is disseminated, by altering political campaigns, and by changing citizen's patterns of response to politics. By giving citizens independent access to the candidates, television diminished the role of the political party in the selection of the major party candidates. By centering politics on the person of the candidates, television accelerated the citizen's focus on character rather than issues. Television has altered the forms of political communication as well. The messages on which most of US reply are briefer than they once were. The stump speech, a political speech given by travelling politicians and lasting 1/2 to 2 hours, which characterized nineteenth-century political discourse, has given way to the 30-second advertisement and the 10 second "sound bite" in broadcast news. Increasingly the audience for speeches is not that standing in front of the politician but rather the viewing audience tvho will hear and see a snippet of the speech on the news. In these abbreviated forms, much of what constituted the traditional political discourse of earlier ages has been lost. In 15 or 30 seconds, a peaker cannot establish the historical context that shaped the issue in question, cannot detail the probable causes of the problem, and cannot examine alternative proposals to argue that one is preferable to others. In snippets, politicians assert but do not argue. Because television is an intimate medium, speaking through it require a changed political style that was more conversational, personal, and visual than that of the old-style stump speech. Reliance on television means that increasingly our political world contains memorable pictures rather than memorable words. Schools teach US to analyze words and print. However, in a word in which politics is increasingly visual, informed citizenship requires a new set of skills. Recognizing the power of television's pictures, politicians craft televisual, staged events, called pseudo-event, designed to attract media coverage. Much of the political activity we see on television news has been crafted by politicians, their speechwriters, and their public relations advisers for televised consumption. Sound bites in news and answers to questions in debates increasingly sound like advertisements.
1. What is the main point of the passage?

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We have never had such a cold winter. → It is

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:
Students working for their first degree at university are called undergraduates. Then they take their degree we say they graduate, and then they are called graduates. If they continue studying at university after they have graduated, they are called post-graduates. Full-time university students spend all their free time studying. They have no other employment. Their course usually lasts for three or four years. Medical students have to follow a course lasting for six or seven years. Then they graduate as doctors. In Britain, full-time university students have three terms of about ten weeks in each year. During these terms they go to lectures or they study by themselves. Many students become members of academic societies and sports clubs and take part in their activities. Between the university terms they have vacations (or holiday periods). Their vacations are long, but of course they can use them to study at home.

Medical students have to follow a course lasting for     .

John rarely sees Paul _____ they live in the same town.

(305)______

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct word for each of the numbered blanks.
                       THE LIFE OF COUNTRY VET
Don Strange, who works as a vet in northern England, leads a busy life. As well as having to treat pets which are unwell, he often visits farms where problems of (1).......... kinds await him. He has lost (2)..........of the number of times he has been called out at midnight to give advice to a farmer with sick sheep or cows.
Recently, a television company chose Don as the subject of a documentary program it was making about the life of a country vet. The program showed the difficult situations Don faces every day such as helping a cow to give birth or winning the trust of an aggressive dog (3)..............needs an injection. Not all of Don’s patients are domestic animals, (4)................. , and in the program people saw him helping an owl which had a damaged wing. It also showed Don holding a meeting with villagers concerned about the damage a new road might do to their (5)......................... environment.

(3)....................................

Read the passage below carefully, and then choose the best answer:
A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words
In 1826, a man named Joseph Nicephore Niepce went to the upstairs window of his home in France. He used a new invention called a camera to take the world’s first photograph of nature. Niepce’s photograph shows us the view from his window. However, it is very difficult to know that when you look at the picture. The image is not very clear at all. That doesn’t matter. On that day, Niepce changed the world forever. Photography first became very popular in the 1850s and 1860s. People liked it because it showed more details than other kinds of art. A painting or a statue might be more beautiful than a photograph, but a photograph can tell you a much clearer story. Many people believe that colour photographs didn’t exist until the 1920s, but that’s not true. The first colour photograph was taken in 1855. It shows a colourful ribbon. Before the 1920s, people didn’t often use colour photography because it was very complicated and expensive. Even after colour photography became easier and cheaper, many people still preferred black and white pictures. They felt that black and white had a more “classic photo” feeling. In the 1940s, colour photography finally replaced black and white. When we think of the history of photography, it is amazing to think of how easy it is to take pictures today. Many years ago, only professionals had cameras. These days, just about everybody has one. One of the biggest reasons for this change is the popularity of smartphones. Almost every modern smartphones. Almost every modern smartphone has a camera. These smartphone cameras are very easy to use and they also take very clear pictures. Most of them have a video function.  One thing that hasn’t changed is the importance of photography. These days, a picture can still create all kinds of feelings and emotions inside of us. There is a saying. “A picture is worth a thousand words.”
2. What does the passage NOT say about smartphones?

He is unreliable. What he says_____.be believed? 

(367)_____

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.

Rapid urbanization can hold long-term economic, social and environmental promise for developing countries (23) ____ investments made now in infrastructure, housing and public services are efficient and sustainable, the World Bank says in a new report.

In the next two decades, cities are (24) ____ to expand by another two billion residents, as people move in unprecedented numbers from rural areas to pursue hopes and aspirations in cities. More than 90% of this urban population growth is expected to occur in the developing world, (25) ____ many cities are already struggling to provide basic needs such as water, electricity, transport, health services and education.

Report authors note that most new urban growth will not take (26) ____ in the “megacities” of the world e.g. Rio de Janeiro, Jakarta or New Delhi but rather in less commonly recognized “secondary” cities - places like Fushun in China, and Surat in India.

To help policymakers prepare for and manage growth, the report distills lessons learned from 12 countries across all geographic regions and stages of urbanization. It then translates these global lessons (27) ____ practical policy advice.

23...................

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For several years his ambition...............to be a pilot.

Read the passage below carefully, and then choose the best answer:
In 1971, Sue Coppard worked as a secretary in London. While she enjoyed city life, Sue also missed the countryside where she spent most of her time as a child. So she offered to help out on a farm, or more specifically, an organic farming programme organized by a nearby college. She got a few people to volunteer as well, and they spent the weekend doing “housework,” which involved clearing bushes and cleaning drains. Afterwards, the farm managers said they could come back anytime to help out. Sue put a small ad in a magazine, offering people the chance to volunteer at the organic farm. The volunteer programme grew quickly, and soon other organic farmers joined in, asking for people to help out. With so many people and farms involved, someone needed to organize the different groups. A few of the original volunteers started WWOOF (World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms) to help volunteers and farmers find one another. Today, at least 50 different countries have WWOOF organizations, and many other countries have individual farms that participate in the movement. While WWOOF is still a weekend activity for some, it now welcomes travellers and people who visit to live and work on farms for longer periods of time. WWOOF volunteers can stay on a farm for weeks or even months at a time in exchange for hands-on farming and gardening experience. The work can be exhausting, but volunteers think it’s worth it. By working on farms, the volunteers interact with farmers and develop a love for the outdoors and organic farming. Many travellers now use WWOOFing as a way to visit new countries and experience new cultures. As travellers will discover, every WWOOF opportunity is a bit different. In Serbia, you can find Misa and Olja, a couple whose farm is known for its hard cheeses and for its bread made from homegrown grains. Finca Amiruca, a farm in Ecuador, teaches volunteers how to grow peanuts, plantains, and yucca. When volunteering in Japan, you may get to learn about growing rice. WWOOF is only one of the many unique volunteer opportunities available. Volunteering is something that anyone can do, and a wide variety of organizations accept or even welcome volunteers. So the next time you get the itch to be active on the weekend or on vacation, why not look for a good cause to spend your energy on?
6. The word “_it_” in paragraph 3 refers to _________

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

Choose the best answer:
The valley is so dangerous to live in.

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Katherine_____ at Bob's house every night this week.

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 :
If you are like most students, you probably started this new academic year with a resolution to study harder. Now, science can you help you keep your resolution. Recent discoveries in brain research (1) _______ to better ways to learn. How does the brain (2) _______ new information? Think of the last time someone told you their phone number. Could you remember that number five minutes later? Probably not! That’s because it was in your short-term memory. Our memory actually has three components. Sensory memory takes (3) _______  information from our five senses and is stored for just a few seconds while our brain processes it. Short-term memory works like a “holding area” for new information – that’s where you keep the phone number while you dial it. but if you can put the phone number into long-term memory, you’ll remember that same phone number next week. This part of your memory (4) _______ everything from irregular verbs to the names of all your cousins. When you study, you transfer new information into long-term memory. Every time we learn something new, the structure of the brain actually changes as we build new connections to information that we (5) _______ know. When there are more connections to the new information, it’s easier to find it again

Choose the best answer:
The Imperial Citadel of Thang Long is recognized as one of the World’s _______ by the UNESCO.