Choose the best answer:
I live in a small village called Northville. There are about 2000 people here. I love the village (34)__________ it is very quiet and life is slowly and easy. The village is always clean; people look (35)_____________ it with great care. The air is always clean, too. People are much more friendly here than in city because everyone (36)_________ the others, and if someone has a problem, there are always people who can help.
There are only a few things that I don’t like about Northville. One thing is that we have  not  got  many  things  to  do  in  the  evening;  we  haven’t  got  (37)___________ cinemas or theaters. The other thing is that people always talk about (38)___________, and everyone knows what everyone is doing. But I still prefer village life to life in a big city

Choose the best answer:
Around 200 million people are employed in tourism worldwide, making it the largest industry in the modern global (25) _____. It is estimated that three-quarters of a billion people go on holiday each year, and industry planners expect this figure to double by 2020. Some of the biggest beneficiaries are less developed countries, where it is often their main source of income. (26) _____, along with the economic benefits, this mass movement of people has resulted in threats to the environment. People often forget the damage caused by carbon dioxide emissions from aircraft, (27) _____ contribute directly to global warming. Deforestation has cleared land in order to build hotels, airport and roads, and this has destroyed wildlife. In some areas, water shortages are now common because of the need to fill swimming pools and water golf courses for tourists. By pushing up prices for goods and services, tourism can also be (28) _____ to the people who live in tourist destinations. In response to these concerns, some travel operators now offer environmental friendly holidays. Many of these aim to reduce the negative effect of tourism by (29) _____ only hotels that have invested equipment to recycle waste and use energy and water efficiently. Increasingly, tourists are also being reminded to show respect for the customs of the people whose countries they are going to visit, and to support local businesses, such as restaurants and shops, which depend on tourism for their main income

Choose the best answer:
Forget global terrorism - for most of the world's population, ticking time bombs like earthquakes, supervolcanoes and hurricanes pose a far greater threat. Natural disaster expert Bill McGuire reveals a few of the top catastrophes waiting to happen. With NASA's eminent climate scientist, Jim Hansen, concerned that collapsing polar ice sheets could result in sea levels rising 1-2m this century and several more in the next, prospects for the Earth's coastal zones are bleak. A 1m rise would threaten one third of the world's agricultural land, while a 4m rise would maroon Miami 60km offshore. Rising sea levels is not the only threat to coastal regions. The Cumbre Vieja volcano on the Canary Island of La Palma is slowly creeping seawards. During a future eruption, this gigantic landslide will plunge into the ocean, pushing up a bulge of water close to a kilometre high, spawning a mega-tsunami capable of devastating all the coastal areas surrounding the North Atlantic. Coastal regions also face the menace of desertification. By 2030, over half a billion people living around the shores of the Mediterranean will be viewing the encroaching desert with increasing panic. An area bigger than the UK, and home to 16 million people, is threatened - by the end of the century- with transformation from a green and pleasant land to a baking wilderness of sand and rock. However, these disasters seem pale in comparison to the mega-catastrophes waiting to happen like supervolcanoes, for instance. Every 50 millennia or so, a colossal volcanic blast expels sufficient ash and gas to cover a continent and block the Sun's rays for years on end, heralding a bitter volcanic winter. At Yellowstone in Wyoming, US, two such super-eruptions have shattered the crust in the last 2.1 million years and the volcano there remains restless. An asteroid attack is another threat which would have devastating consequences. A total of 713 asteroids with diameters of 1km or more, and the potential to clobber the Earth at some future date, have been identified. A 2km asteroid would load the atmosphere with dust and trigger a sustained global freeze. Harvests would fail and billions would die. Fortunately, such collisions only happen every couple of million years.
2. According to Jim Hansen, what is an outcome of polar ice caps melting?

Read the following dialogue and then choose the best answer A, B, C, D:

"Teacher: Good morning. Minh. Do you (1).....................      in town?
Minh : Yes, I live in (2).....................        apartment.
Teacher: Is (3)...................... a supermarket near the apartmenr?
Minh : Yes, there’s also a bank, a clinic (4)       ........... a hotel.
Teacher: Are there any (5).............. near it?
Minh Yes, there (6)............... a toy store, a bakery, a drugstore and two bookstores.                   
Teacher: Is it (7) ....... there? 
Minh No, it’s very (8) ................"

1. Do you (1).....................      in town?

Choose the best answer:
In Africa a famous food company tried to sell its baby food by advertising it with the picture of a baby on the label. They did not know that this particular country used labels only to (31) _________ a picture of the food inside. When Pepsico used the slogan ‘Come alive with Pepsi’ in Taiwan, they had no idea that it would be translated into Chinese as ‘Pepsi (32) _________ your ancestors back from the dead’. Misunderstandings such as these about language or about culture are sometimes comical but can also cause genuine hurt or anger. Business styles (33) _________ widely in different countries and what is normal in one culture can be completely unacceptable in another. Socialising in different countries can be tricky. In Arabic countries, for example, people do not discuss business (34) _________ meals. Giving gifts is another potential problem: in the UK most people take presents to a dinner party, but in many countries this is not polite because it (35) _________ you think the host is poor.

Choose the best answer:
Stephen Hawking was 21 years old and just embarking upon his career as a researcher in cosmology at the University of Cambridge when his father noticed he was tripping and falling frequently. After a series of tests, Hawking was (26) _______ with 50 ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) and doctors estimated he had two and a half years left to live. The news was, of course, devastating, but Hawking avoided an emotional (27) _______ by taking new interest in his studies and his research. His disease continued to progress, (28) _______, and by the mid-1970s he needed more care and his speech was so slurred only his family could understand him. In 1985, Hawking came down with pneumonia and needed a tracheotomy, (29) _______ left him without the ability to speak at 60 all. He did make a full recovery, however, allowing him to finish writing A Brief History of Time, which sold 10 million copies around the world. Although it would be easy to dwell on what ALS has cost him, Hawking has chosen to focus on (30) _______ that he still has in life. His brilliant mind remains unaffected by the disease and as a result Hawking has 65 made significant breakthroughs in his field and has received twelve honorary degrees, as well as multiple awards, medals and prizes

Choose the best answer:
A team of social psychologists from California has spent six years studying the reactions of people in cities around the world to different situations. The results show that cities where people have less money generally have friendlier populations. Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, which is often known for its crime, comes out top, and the capital of Malawi, Lilongwe, comes third. But what makes one city friendlier than another? The psychologists from California State University say it has got more to do with the environment than culture or nationality. They carried out a study into the way locals treated strangers in 23 cities around the world. The team conducted their research through a series of tests, where they dropped pens or pretended, they were blind and needed help crossing the street. The study concludes that people are more helpful in cities with a more relaxed way of life such as Rio. While they were there, researchers received help in 93 percent of cases, and the percentage in Lilongwe was only a little lower. However, richer cities such as Amsterdam and New York are considered the least friendly. Inhabitants of Amsterdam helped the researchers in 53 percent of cases and in New York just 44 percent. The psychologists found that, in these cities, people tend to be short of time, so they hurry and often ignore strangers.
4. The word “relaxed” in paragraph 4 mostly means ________

Choose the best answer:
Throughout the nineteenth century and into the twentieth, citizens of the United States maintained a bias against big cities. Most lived on farms and in small towns and believed cities to be centers of corruption, crime, poverty, and moral degradation. Their distrust was caused, in part, by a notional ideology that proclaimed farming the greatest Occupation and rural living superior to urban living. This attitude prevailed even as the number of urban dwellers increased and cities became an essential feature of the notional landscape. Gradually, economic reality overcame ideology. Thousands abandoned the precarious life on the farm for more secure and better paying jobs in the city. But when these people migrated from the countryside, they carried their fears and suspicions with them. These new urban population, already convinced that cities were overwhelmed with great problems, eagerly embraced the progressive reforms that promised to bring order out of the chaos of the city.  One of many reforms came in the area of public utilities. Water and sewerage systems were usually operated by municipal governments, but the gas and electric networks were privately owned. Reformers feared that the privately owned utility companies would charge exorbitant rates for these essential services and deliver them only to people who would afford them, some city and state governments responded by regulating the utility companies, but a number of cities began to supply these services themselves. Proponents of these reforms argued that public ownership and regulation would insure widespread access to these utilities and guarantee a fair price.  While some reforms focused on government and public behavior, others looked at the cities as a whole. Civic leaders, convinced that physical environment influenced human behavior, argued that cities should develop master plans to guide their future growth and development. City planning was nothing new, but the rapid industrialization and urban growth of the late nineteenth century took place without any consideration for order. Urban renewal in the twentieth century followed several courses. Some cities introduced plans to completely rebuild the city core. Most other cities contented themselves with zoning plans for regulating future growth. Certain parts of town were restricted to residential use, while others were set aside for industrial or commercial development. 
10. Why does the author mention "industrialization"?

Read the passage below and answer the question

My country has four seasons. They are spring, summer, fall and winter. In the spring, the spring is usually warm. Sometimes, it is cold, but not very cold. There are many flowers in the spring. In the summer, the day is long and the night is short. We often go swimming in this season. This fall is the season of fruits. In the winter, it's usually very cold. The day is short and the night is long.

How many season in your country?

Choose the best answer:
I grew up with precious little choice about anything. You ate what you were given, went to school where you were told, wore your sister's hand-me-downs. And twice a year - birthday, Christmas - you got a present. We weren't poor at all but that was entirely normal and I don't remember feeling remotely deprived. Today, as we can see all around us, children seem to have everything - designer clothes, computer games, fussy eating habits and the attention span of itchy gnats. A report yesterday from the Children's Society found that one in ten kids now has mental illness diagnosed and it concluded that materialistic consumer pressure may be partly to blame, with children from poor backgrounds the main victims. Where is it coming from, this consumer pressure? First, from television, and the false dreams on offer there. Children from poor backgrounds, as well as having less money to buy the latest clothes or electronic games, are more likely to have parents without time to spend with them, and homes without access to outside space, so are far more likely to end up spending hours in front of the telly soaking up adverts alongside the easy gratification offered by cartoon; fantasy or drama. You cannot just blame the parents for this; many will be working hard, with no choice, just to put food on the table; after all, how many can afford a house with a garden in a city or suburb these days? Of course parents can correct bouts of consumerism in their children by teaching them what is and is not affordable, but why subject them to the clever traps of marketing people in the first place? Pressure is bad enough as it is, from schoolfriends and celebrity excess, without allowing some of the cleverest adult minds in the sharpest advertising agencies in the world to manipulate them as well. But why is it in a child's interests to be treated like a consumer? It has yet to be proven that giving even adults a wide range of choices improves their lives. In many instances, from too many yoghurts in the supermarket all the way up to a supposed choice of doctor or school, it is just confusing and stressful. I think the fewer, carefully selected, choices we can give young children, the more we help them. Watch the exhausted face of a six-year-old confronted by all this year's Christmas presents, without the time to play with any of them for more than a few minutes, and see what I mean. We are spoilt, and we are spoiling our children. They need to be taught to look down as well as up; to choose to feel fortunate, and not envious -and to recognise that gratification isn't as easy as buying a new toy or switching on a dream. And, as my mother would have been delighted to hear, it will not cost a thing.
1. Which best serves as the title for the passage?

Choose the best answer:
One of my favorite movies is When Harry Met Sally. I can watch it again and again and love it every single time - maybe even more than I did before. There’s a scene that will be familiar to any of the movie’s fans: Harry and Sally have just set off on their drive to New York City and Harry starts telling Sally about his dark side. He mentions one thing in particular: whenever he starts a new book, he reads the last page first. That way, in case he dies while reading it, he’ll know how it ends. Harry will know how it ends, true, but doesn’t that also ruin the book? If you know the ending, how can you enjoy the story? As it turns out, easily. A study in this month’s issue of Psychological Science comes to a surprising conclusion: spoilers don’t actually spoil anything. In fact, they may even serve to enhance the experience of reading. Over 800 students from the University of California San Diego took part in a series of three experiments, where they read one of three types of short story: a story with an ironic twist (such as Roald Dahl), a mystery (such as Agatha Christie), and a literary story (such as Raymond Carver). For each story, there was a spoiler paragraph that revealed the outcome. The students read the stories either with or without the spoiler. Time to reconsider, it seems, what we call a spoiler. The so-called “spoiled” stories were actually rated as more enjoyable than those that were “unspoiled,” no matter what type of story was being read. Knowing the ending, even when suspense was part of the story’s goal, made the process of reading more, not less, pleasurable. Why would this be the case? Perhaps, freed from following the plot, we can pay more attention to the quality of the writing and to the subtleties of the story as a whole. Perhaps we can be more attuned to those signs that foreshadow the unfolding of the action and take pleasure in our ability to identify them. Whatever the case may be, it may not be as urgent as we think it is to avoid spoilers. Indeed, it might be just fine to embrace them openly. Harry might have the right idea after all. In fact, he might be getting at the very thing that lets me watch him meet Sally over and over and over again, and enjoy the process every single time.
3. According to paragraphs 1, what is stated regarding “When Harry Met Sally”?

Choose the best answer:
Polar bears are being increasingly threatened by the effects of climate change, but their disappearance could have (26) _______ consequences. They are uniquely adapted to the extreme conditions of the Arctic Circle, (27) _______ temperatures can reach -40°C. One reason for this is that they have up to 11 centimetres of fat underneath their skin. Humans with comparative levels of adipose tissue would be considered obese and would be likely to suffer from diabetes and heart disease. (28) _______ the polar bear experiences no such consequences. A 2014 study by Shi Ping Liu and colleagues sheds light on this mystery. They compared the genetic structure of polar bears with (29) _______ of their closest relatives from a warmer climate, the brown bears. This allowed them to determine the genes that have allowed polar bears to survive in one of the toughest environments on Earth. Liu and his colleagues found the polar bears had a gene known as APOB, which reduces levels of low-density lipoproteins (LDLs) - a form of 'bad' cholesterol. In humans, mutations of this gene are (30) _______ with increased risk of heart disease. Polar bears may therefore be an important study model to understand heart disease in humans

Choose the best answer:
Planet earth is part of a system of planets and their moons, as well as numerous asteroids and comets which (26)_________around a huge star we call the Sun. The Sun itself (27)_________of gas. Nuclear reactions inside its core (28)_______the heat and light that make life on the Earth (29)________. The Earth is the third of four small terrestrial (Earth like) planets that orbit close to the (30)_________. Further out in our Solar System are four huge gas planets, while distant Pluto, (31)_________planet, is made (32)_________rock and ice. Our Earth is one of the ten planets that orbit the Sun- a huge, burning-hot star in the center of our Solar System. The Solar System and all the stars in the (33)_________are part of our galaxy-the Milky Way, which (34)________as many as 200 billions stars. Beyond our galaxy (35)_________millions more galaxies. They all add together to make up the Universe

Read the reading below carefully, and then complete it with the best option A, B, C or D given below:
Jane’s family decided to go to London last week because they want to __(1)__ a tour. The sight in London was so __(2)__ that she’s been there a few days but it __(3)__ to her only to be yesterday. It means __(4)__ she enjoyed the trip so much. She and her father stayed __(5)__ a very big hotel __(6)__ two hundred rooms. From there, they can __(7)__ reach Hyde Park, __(8)__ very big park in London. In here, people can buy from a needle __(9)__ an elephant in two best__(10)__ streets, Regent Street and Oxford Street

Choose the best answer:
I grew up with precious little choice about anything. You ate what you were given, went to school where you were told, wore your sister's hand-me-downs. And twice a year - birthday, Christmas - you got a present. We weren't poor at all but that was entirely normal and I don't remember feeling remotely deprived. Today, as we can see all around us, children seem to have everything - designer clothes, computer games, fussy eating habits and the attention span of itchy gnats. A report yesterday from the Children's Society found that one in ten kids now has mental illness diagnosed and it concluded that materialistic consumer pressure may be partly to blame, with children from poor backgrounds the main victims. Where is it coming from, this consumer pressure? First, from television, and the false dreams on offer there. Children from poor backgrounds, as well as having less money to buy the latest clothes or electronic games, are more likely to have parents without time to spend with them, and homes without access to outside space, so are far more likely to end up spending hours in front of the telly soaking up adverts alongside the easy gratification offered by cartoon; fantasy or drama. You cannot just blame the parents for this; many will be working hard, with no choice, just to put food on the table; after all, how many can afford a house with a garden in a city or suburb these days? Of course parents can correct bouts of consumerism in their children by teaching them what is and is not affordable, but why subject them to the clever traps of marketing people in the first place? Pressure is bad enough as it is, from schoolfriends and celebrity excess, without allowing some of the cleverest adult minds in the sharpest advertising agencies in the world to manipulate them as well. But why is it in a child's interests to be treated like a consumer? It has yet to be proven that giving even adults a wide range of choices improves their lives. In many instances, from too many yoghurts in the supermarket all the way up to a supposed choice of doctor or school, it is just confusing and stressful. I think the fewer, carefully selected, choices we can give young children, the more we help them. Watch the exhausted face of a six-year-old confronted by all this year's Christmas presents, without the time to play with any of them for more than a few minutes, and see what I mean. We are spoilt, and we are spoiling our children. They need to be taught to look down as well as up; to choose to feel fortunate, and not envious -and to recognise that gratification isn't as easy as buying a new toy or switching on a dream. And, as my mother would have been delighted to hear, it will not cost a thing.
2. The word “deprived” in paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to _______

Choose the best answer:
I spend my days fighting poverty in New York City, so this time of year I get asked a lot at holiday parties what people can do to help the poor. I like the question. At the Robin Hood Foundation, we've spent 27 years trying to answer it.  As with any complex social issue, there are myriad reasons that people are poor. So we break down the problem to create short and long-term change. We aim to make life better for people who are poor while at the same time attacking the root causes of poverty. Once we've identified the various needs, we use empirical data to identify and support programs that create real results.  It's a process that works for our organization, and it can work for charity-minded individuals too. Getting smart about the underlying causes of poverty will allow you to connect on a deeper level, which matters: Donors are more likely to commit to a cause when it resonates emotionally. From there, you can then do a little digging to determine which organization is worthy of your support.  So, in case we don't see each other at a party this season, there are six key barriers poor people regularly face: homelessness, hunger, health, unemployment, immigration, and education. And while they are often interconnected, eliminating just one leads to an improved living standard. Whichever tugs at your heart, there's a group in your area ready to use your time or money effectively.   
6. Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage? 

Choose the best answer:
Love is very different from friendship. If you've got a crush on someone you can't wait to see them.  If it's just an acquaintance you (1) ____ probably wait until tomorrow, or the day after. One thing is for sure: You'll probably see your blood relatives every day! Luckily, you don't need to see your (2) ____ relatives quite as often, though. When (3) ____ comes to business, you'll probably see your business partner daily, but you'll stay away from nemesis as often as you can.  Let's face it: love is complicated. I've heard from a number of people (4) ____ have experienced unrequited love, and they're never the same! There are also all kinds of (5) ____. For example, if you've had a casual date, do you want to go out again? Are you tired of your steady date? Well, maybe it's time for a new love-interest!

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

Hoa is going on (1) ...................... this summer. First, she is going (2) ......................Ha Long Bay, Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum (3) ...................... Hoi An Ancient town (4) ...................... five days. She is going to stay (5) ...................... her uncle in Ha Noi. (6) ......................, she is going to stay in a hotel in Hue for two days. She is going to see the (7) ...................... and Thien Mu (8) ......................

Read the reading below carefully, and then complete it with the best option A, B, C or D given below:
Some years ago, my daughter was studying English at a university on the south coast. One evening, she  phoned to (1)_____ me that what she really wanted to do was a travel round the world, (2)___she was looking into the possibility of working in another country. She had seen several advertisements in the paper for student teachers of English abroad, and she was interested in one in Italy, (3)____she was desperate to visit. She decided that this would be a good way to achieve her ambition, so she was writing to apply for the job. The reply (4)_______a long time to arrive, but eventually she received a letter asking if she would go for an interview in London the following week. She was so excited that she immediately got in touch with the school owner and agree to attend the interview . She was determined that nothing would prevent her (5) ______ doing what she had set out to do

Choose the best answer:
Time management: two words that have me breaking out in a cold sweat. Why should I suddenly have to learn how to manage my time? Surely time had got on perfectly well for several millennia without requiring management, let alone by me. But my university tutor was adamant: time needed some managing and apparently it was up to me to do it.  First of all, let's be clear. I do have plenty of time to manage. As an arts student, I generally have 23 hours in the day that aren't given over to going to lectures. But I generally need somebody to tell me what I should be writing, so I go to lectures.  Perhaps I had "taken on too much"? I'd been elected to four committees, produced a play, applied for a part time job, hung around the college bar with my friends, and written the odd essay. But I thought I was coping well. Sure, there was the day when I did the research for an essay on the morning of deadline day and wrote it that afternoon, but that was a one off.  On second thoughts, maybe my tutor is right. It's difficult to give up what you're involved in but perhaps it's a good idea to sit back and have a breather once in a while. Even an arts student has to get down to some real work!
1. What was the writer's initial reaction to his tutor's ultimatum?

Choose the best answer:
Banana fiber is used in the production of banana paper. Banana paper is used in two different senses: to (23) _____ to a paper made from the bark of the banana tree, mainly used for artistic purposes, or paper made from banana’s fiber, (24) _____ from an industrialized process, from the stem and the non–usable fruits. The paper can be either hand–made or made by machine. The volume of raw (25) _____ for making banana paper around the world on plantations is vast and largely unutilized. The market for banana paper is seen as a growth industry. (26) _____ 1988, in Costa Rica, companies like EcoPaper.com and Costa Rica Natural Paper have been producing 100% industrialized fine environmental and ecological paper derived from natural banana fibers, for the writing and stationery market. This industry (27) _____ numerous waste products such as: the plastic that wraps the bananas, plastic cords to tie the wrapping, damaged bananas and the pinzote (stems). An alarming quantity of over of 92% of water, 3% of resins and 2% glucose; the rest is vegetal fiber. This particular composition makes it decompose without the solid component being destroyed. This causes a severe impact on the surrounding ecosystems – much to the detriment of rivers and underground waters