Choose the best answer:
Nowadays, the divorce rate is higher than it used to be________ young people are allowed to decide on their marriage.

 

Mark the letter A, B, C, or D to indicate the sentence that best combines each pair of sentences in the following questions.:
You can see Velazquez in this painting. He is standing in the background.

Choose the best answer:
The musical club “Heartstrings” is definitely for the students who ________ .

Read the reading below carefully, and then complete it with the best option A, B, C or D given below:
The story of gold is an adventure involving kings, queens, pirates, explores, conquerors, and the native peoples they conquered. Throughout history, gold had (1)_____a magic spell over those it touch. Gold is beautiful and rare; a soft shiny metal that can be moulded into many (2)_____.It has been used for money, jewellery, and to decorate special buildings such as palaces and places of worship. (3)_____the precious metal was discovered, prospectors rushed to mine it, starting new cities and countries as they went. Gold and the people who love it have helped shape the world we live in today. Gold is one of many elements, or substances that cannot be changed by normal chemical (4)_____, that are found in the Earth’s crust. Gold has a warm, sunny colour and (5)_____it does not react (6)_____air, water, and most chemicals, its shine never fades. In its natural (7) _____, gold is soft and easily shaped. When heated to 1,062 Celsius it melts and can be poured(8)_____ moulds to form coins, gold bars, and other objects. Stories have been told, movies (9)_____and legends born about the (10)_____of the world’s great gold deposits. It is a saga of dreams, greed, ambition and exploration

MANCHESTER (10 April) – Sparkle Pro Enterprises, a leading Belgium-based ---143--- of cleaning products, is expanding its territory. The company has just opened its first plant in the United States, in Indianapolis. For more than forty years, Sparkle Pro has been making and distributing household and industrial cleaners to a wide range of vendors, including retail outlets and hotel chains, throughout Europe. ---144---.
The Indianapolis facility will require the company to hire 300 additional employees ---145--- the end of this year in order for it to achieve full capacity. According to Egan Bretz, the new director of North American operations, Sparkle Pro is confident that it will be able to train a large number of personnel quickly. Mr. Bretz expects no significant ---146--- in meeting these needs.

143....................

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.
Everyone wants to reduce pollution. But the  pollution (1)........... is as complicated as it is serious. It is complicated because much pollution is caused by things that benefit people. (2)............. , exhaust from automobiles causes a large percentage of air pollution. But the automobile provides transportation for millions of people. Factories discharge much of the material that pollutes the air and water but factories give (3).......... to a large number of people.
Thus, to end or greatly reduce pollution immediately, people would have to (4)............. using many things that benefit them. Most of the people do not want to do that, of course. But pollution can be gradually reduced in several ways. Scientists and engineers can work to find ways to lessen the amount of pollution that such things as automobiles and factories cause. Governments can pass and enforce laws (5).............require businesses and traffic to stop, or to cut down on certain polluting activities.

(4)........................

Choose the best answer:
He has been selling motorcycles.................

Choose the best answer:
who/ Could/ invented/ tell/ the/ you/ me/ light/ bulb?

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 :

The beautiful white bears found in the Arctic are in grave danger, and human beings are very (1) _______ the cause of this danger. As we bum fossil fuels to generate electricity or get us around town in our cars and trucks. We create a massive amount of carbon dioxide. This gas has increased in (2) _______. so much over the past few centuries that it is causing global warming. Polar bears need sea ice in order to live because this ice is their hunting (3) _______, The bears’ main source of food is the meat and blubber of seals. These animals come to the surface holes in the ice to breathe. It is there that the polar bears have (4) _______to ambush the seals. Without any ice, there is nowhere for the bears to stalk their prey. The seals rarely venture onto land and spend their time out on the sea ice. In recent years, the sea ice has disappeared in the Arctic during the late summer. This is dangerous for the polar bears, as they rely almost exclusively on seals for food. (5) _______ brown and black bears, polar bears do not hibernate during the winter.

Choose the best answer:
I’m going to see the movie Dream City at 6.45 this evening. Would you like ___________?

Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
Cities develop as a result of functions that they can perform. Some functions result directly from the a great city regardless of the disadvantageous ingenuity of the citizenry, but most functions activity. result from the needs of the local area and of the surrounding hinterland (the region that supplies goods to the city and to which the city furnishes services and other goods). Geographers often make a distinction between the situation and the site of a city. Situation refers to the general position in relation to the surrounding region, whereas site involves in physical characteristics of the specific location. Situation is normally much more important to the continuing prosperity of a city. If a city is well situated in regard to its hinterland, its development is much more likely to continue. Chicago, for example, possesses an almost unparalleled situation: it is located at the southern end of a huge lake that forces East-West transportation lines to be compressed into its vicinity, and at a meeting of significant land and water transport routes. It also overlooks what is one of the world's fiest large farming regions. These factors ensured that Chicago would become characteristics of the available site, such as being prone to floding during thunderstorm Similarly, it can be argued that much of New York City's importance stems from its early and continuing advantage of situation. Philadelphia and Boston both originated at about the same time as New York and shared New York's location at the Western end of one of the world's most important oceanic trade routes, but only New York possesses an easy-access functional connection (the Hudson-Mohawk lowland) to the vast Midwestern hinterland. This account does not alone explain New York's primacy, but it does include several important factors. Among the many aspects of situation that help to explain why some cities grow and others do not, original location on a navigable waterway seems particularly applicable. Of course, such characteristics as slope, drainage, power resources, river crossings, coastal shapes, and other physical characteristics help to determine city location, but such factors are normally more signifiant in early stages of city development than later.
2. The word "ingenuity" in the first paragraph is closest in meaning to: 

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.
(1)...................... in technology have made a lot of changes to our everyday lifestyles, but one of the biggest has got to be how we read books. Since the invention of the e–book, there has been a significant change to our reading habits. Given the choice between taking a couple of heavy paperbacks on holiday or an e–book device like a Kindle, most of us, including our parents and grandparents, would unsurprisingly opt (2)................... the Kindle.
But  what  would  our  lives  be  like  with  no  books  at  all?  It’s  a  (3).......... question. Some educational specialists are making predictions that in the future we won’t even see books in classrooms – everything will be done online! (4).................. of the idea of getting rid of books say that there will always be a need for paper–based versions of materials. However, to be realistic, we have to accept that there is a (5)..............chance that in a decade’s time schools and classrooms will be book–free! What do you think of that?

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

Choose the best answer:
It is ______ that English is ______ by many people in the world.

Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
One of the most important social developments that helped to make possible a shift in thinking about the role of public education was the effect of the baby boom of the 1950’s and 1960’s on the schools. In the 1920’s, but especially in the Depression conditions of the 1930’s, the United States experienced a declining birth rate – every thousand women aged fifteen to forty-four gave birth to about 118 live children in 1920, 89.2 in 1930, 75.8 in 1936, and 80 in 1940. With the growing prosperity brought on by the Second World War and the economic boom that followed it, young people married and established households earlier and began to raise larger families than had their predecessors during the Depression. Birth rates rose to 102 per thousand in 1946, 106.2 in 1950, and 118 in 1955. Although economics was probably the most important determinant, it is not the only explanation for the baby boom. The increased value placed on the idea of the family also helps to explain this rise in birth rates. The baby boomers began streaming into the first grade by the mid-1940’s and became a flood by 1950. The public school system suddenly found itself overtaxed. While the number of schoolchildren rose because of wartime and postwar conditions, these same conditions made the schools even less prepared to cope with the flood. The wartime economy meant that few new schools were built between 1940 and 1945. Moreover, during the war and in the boom times that followed large numbers of teachers left their profession for better-paying jobs elsewhere in the economy. Therefore, in the 1950’s and 1960’s, the baby boom hit an antiquated and inadequate school system. Consequently, the “custodial rhetoric” of the 1930’s and early 1940’s no longer made sense; that is, keeping youths aged sixteen and older out of the labor market by keeping them in school could no longer be a high priority for an institution unable to find space and staff to teach younger children aged five to sixteen. With the baby boom, the focus of educators and of laymen interested in education inevitably turned toward the lower grades and back to basic academic skills and discipline. The system no longer had much interest in offering nontraditional, new, and extra services to older youths
7. Which of the following best characterizes the organization of the passage?

Choose the best answer:
My mother told me __________ hard.

Read the passage below carefully, and then choose the best answer:
Is It Safe?
Fracking is a way of getting energy from the ground. First, a special liquid is put into the ground. This liquid cracks rocks under the ground. After the rocks are cracked, oil moves through the cracks. Then it is much easier to take the oil from the ground. Fracking was started in 1947. These days, we are doing more and more fracking. That is why everyone is suddenly talking about it. A lot of people say that fracking is a good way to get energy. There is some gas that is very difficult to take from the ground. If we didn’t use fracking, we would not be able to get this oil. They say that because the world need more energy, we have to use fracking. Also, it is said that fracking creates a lot of jobs. However, many people are against fracking. They say that fracking’s “special liquid” pollutes the ground, the water, and the air. People who live near fracking areas could have health problems. Moreover, fracking is very loud. In some countries, fracking is now illegal. The first country to make fracking illegal was France. They did that in 2011. In other countries like England, fracking is legal, but there are many rules that control it. Other countries are waiting to learn more about fracking before they decide whether or not to allow it. However, fracking is very big in the United States. The US is number one fracking country in the world. People who support fracking say that it can be very safe. They say that first, we need strong laws to make sure that fracking is always done safely. Second, they say that fracking needs safe methods and good technology. It is said by many that after we develop these things, fracking will be great for the whole world. However, other people want fracking to be illegal everywhere. They say that it will never be safe. We still don’t know enough about fracking. After we learn more about it, we can decide whether it is really a safe way to get energy or not.
3. All of the following are true about fracking EXCEPT that __________

 A ______ is a report in a newspaper or magazine in which a writer gives his opinion of a book, a film, or a play.

(391)________

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 :
Fossil fuels are used to generate the majority of the world’s energy, and they come in different forms. For example, coal may be burned in a power (1)_________ to generate electricity, but gasoline is burned in a car’s engine to make it run. Neither of these two sources is considered green energy because they produce a lot of pollution when they are burned. In addition, they come from a source that is inevitably going to (2)__________. Green energy can be defined as any energy source that is to some degree non­polluting. When it is called (3)__________, this means that a person can replace the same amount of energy that was consumed by that person (4)__________ that person’s lifetime. Since it took millions and millions of years to create the fossil fuels that we now burn, we know that they cannot be replaced by us. Wind power and solar power, (5)__________ harnessed properly, are two excellent sources of green energy. Once the necessary parts such as wind turbines to generate wind power and solar panels to create solar power have been produced, only the pollution from the production is left.

Read the reading below carefully, and then complete it with the best option A, B, C or D given below:
Nowadays people are more aware that wildlife all over the world is in danger. Many (1)________of animals are threatened, and could easily become (2)______ if we do not make an effort to protect them. There are many (3)_______ for this. In some cases, animals are hunted for their fur or for othervaluable parts of their bodies. Some birds, such as parrots, are caught (4)________and sold as pets. For many animals and birds, the problem is that their habitat - the (5)________where they live - is disappearing. More (6)________is used for farms, for houses or industry, and there are fewer open (7)________than there once were. Farmers use powerful chemicals to help them grow better (8)________, but these chemicals pollute the environment and (9)________wildlife. The most successful animals on earth - human beings - will soon be the only Ones left, unless we can (10)________this problem

Read the passage below carefully, and then choose the best answer:
Clean, Convenient, and Cheap
Big cities like New York and London have a lot of great things. They have museums, parks, shopping centres, and a huge variety of restaurants. However, there are a lot of annoying things in big cities. The most common problems are air pollution and noise. Traffic is the main cause of air pollution and noise. For example, drivers in New York are famous for honking their horns and shouting. That noise drives many visitors crazy – it even drives a lot of the locals crazy, too. Other big cities have similar problems with their traffic. City governments have a lot of pressure to solve these problems. The most common solution is public transportation. Public transportation is a form of travel provided by the government. For example, New York’s biggest form of public transportation is the subway. Public transportation helps reduce these problems, but it is not enough. Another solution is bicycle sharing. This is a system that provides cheap bicycles. In cities that have bicycle sharing programmes, there are spots that have parked public bikes. People borrow the bikes and use them. They can _drop off_ the bike at the same spot where they borrowed it, or they can drop it off at another spot. Bicycle sharing programmes are different in each city. In some cities, the bikes are completely free. They are not even locked. In other cities, you have to pay a small deposit. You get the deposit back when you return the bike. In still other cities, you need to have a membership with the bicycle sharing programme. Once you have a membership with the bicycle sharing programme, you can use a bike at any time you want. Bicycle sharing is hugely popular all over the world. People love this system because it is cheap, clean, and easy to use. There are bicycle sharing systems in dozens of countries and hundreds of cities. In total, there are more than 530 bicycle sharing systems around the world, and that number is going up all the time.
7. What is the main idea of the passage?

Read the reading below carefully, and then complete it with the best option A, B, C or D given below:
You should come visit the Jungle Cafe, Macau's newest spot for family (1)-------. You (2)------- a true jungle adventure, the cafe is designed to look and sound as if you are inside a tropical rainforest: vines hang from the ceilings, monkeys screech, and gorgeous tropical fish swim in huge aquariums placed on almost every wall surface. Children will love the "jungle thunderstorms" that take place periodically   The overhead "sky" darkens, thunder roars, and lightning flashes across the ceiling, just like a genuine thunderstorm, And, (3)------ the realistic special effects, no one gets wet!