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Polar bears are in danger of dying out. (45) _________ some other endangered animals, it‘s not hunters that are the problem, it‘s climate change. Since 1979, the ice cap at the Arctic Circle where the polar bears live has (46) _________ in size by about 30 percent. The temperature in the Arctic has slowly been (47) _________ and this is (48) _________ the sea ice to melt, endangering the polar bears‘ home. The polar bears‘ main (49) _________ of food are the different types of seal found in the Arctic. They catch them by waiting next to the air holes the seals have (50) _________in the ice. (51) _________ the bears are very strong swimmers, they could never catch seals in the water. This means that the bears (52) _________ do rely on the ice to hunt. Polar bears also need sea ice to travel. They can (53) _________ a huge territory and often swim from one part of the ice to another. They have been known to swim up to 100km, but when there is less ice, they may have to swim further and this can (54) _________ fatal to the bears. A number of bears have drowned in the last few years and scientists believe that it is because they were not able to reach more sea ice before they became too tired and couldn‘t swim any further.

Mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the undelined part that needs correction in each of the following questions:
A folk culture is small, isolated, cohesive, conservative, nearly self-sufficient group that is homogeneous in custom and race, with a strong family or clan structure and highly developed rituals.
Order is maintained through sanctions based in the religion or family, and interpersonal relationships are strong. Tradition is paramount, and change comes infrequently and slowly. There is relatively little division of labor into specialized duties. Rather, each person is expected to perform a great variety of tasks, though duties may differ between the sexes. Most goods are handmade, and a subsistence economy prevails. Individualism is weakly developed in folk cultures, as are social classes. Unaltered folk cultures no longer exist in industrialized countries such as the United States and Canada. Perhaps the nearest modern equivalent in Anglo-America is the Amish, a German American farming sect that largely renounces the products and labor saving devices of the industrial age. In Amish areas, horse-drawn buggies till serve as a local transportation device, and the faithful are not permitted to own automobiles.
The Amish’s central religious concept of Demut, “humility”, clearly reflects the weakness of individualism and social class so typical of folk cultures, and there is a corresponding strength of Amish group identity. Rarely do the Amish marry outside their sect. The religion, a variety of the Mennonite faith, provides the principal mechanism for maintaining order.
By contrast, a popular culture is a large heterogeneous group, often highly individualistic and constantly changing. Relationships tend to be impersonal, and a pronounced division of labor exists, leading to the establishment of many specialized professions. Secular institutions, of control such as the police and army take the place of religion and family in maintaining order, and a money-based economy prevails. Because of these contrasts, “popular” may be viewed as clearly different from “folk”.
The popular is replacing the folk in industrialized countries and in many developing nations, Folk- made objects give way to their popular equivalent, usually because the popular item is more quickly or cheaply produced, is easier or time saving to use, or lends more prestige to the owner.

 What does the author imply about the United States and Canada?

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Centuries ago, man discovered that removing moisture from food helped to preserve it, and that the easiest way to do this was to expose the food to sun and wind. In this way the North American Indians produced pemmican (dried meat ground into powder and made into cakes), the Scandinavians made stock fish and the Arabs dried dates and apricots.
All foods contain water - cabbage and other leaf vegetables contain as much as 93% water, potatoes and other root vegetables 80%, lean meat 75% and fish anything from 80% to 60% depending on how fatty it is. If this water is removed, the activity of the bacteria which cause food to go bad is checked.

Fruit is sun-dried in Asia Minor, Greece, Spain and other Mediterranean countries, and also in California, South Africa and Australia. The methods used vary, but in general the fruit is spread out on trays in drying yards in the hot sun. In order to prevent darkening, pears, peaches and apricots are exposed to the fumes of burning sulphur before drying. Plums for making prunes, and certain varieties of grapes for making raisins and currants, are dipped in an alkaline solution in order to crack the skins of the fruit slightly and remove their wax coating, so increasing the rate of drying.
Nowadays most foods are dried mechanically; the conventional method of such dehydration is to put food in chambers through which hot air is blown at temperatures of about 110°C at entry to about 45°C at exit. This is the usual method for drying such things as vegetables, minced meat, and fish.
Liquids such as milk, coffee, tea, soups and eggs may be dried by pouring them over a heated horizontal steel cylinder or by spraying them into a chamber through which a current of hot air passes. In the first case, the dried material is scraped off the roller as a thin film which is then broken up into small, though still relatively coarse flakes. In the second process it falls to the bottom of the chamber as a fine powder.
Where recognizable pieces of meat and vegetables are required, as in soup, the ingredients are dried separately and then mixed.
Dried foods take up less room and weigh less than the same food packed in cans or frozen, and they do not need to be stored in special conditions. For these reasons they are invaluable to climbers, explorers and soldiers in battle, who have little storage space. They are also popular with housewives because it takes so little time to cook them.

The airport taxes are included in the ticket price.

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The ability to weep is a uniquely human form of emotional response. Some scientists have suggested that human tears are (1) _____ of an aquatic past, but this does not seem very likely. We cry from the moment we enter this world, for a number of reasons. Helpless babies cry to persuade their parents that they are ill, hungry or uncomfortable. As they (2) _____, they will also cry just to attract parental attention and will often stop when they get it. The idea that having a good cry do you (3) _____ is a very old one and now it has scientific validity since recent research into tears has shown that they (4) _____ a natural painkiller called enkaphalin. By fighting sorrow and pain, this chemical helps you feel better. Weeping can increase the quantities of enkaphalin you (5) _____.  Unfortunately, in our society, we impose restrictions upon this naturally (6) _____ activity. Because some people still regard it as a (7) _____ of weakness in men, boys in particular are admonished when they cry. This kind of repression can only increase stress, both emotionally and physically. Tears of emotion also help the body (8) _____ itself of toxic chemical waste, for there is more protein in them than in tears resulting from cold winds or other irritants. Crying comforts and calms can be very enjoyable - (9) _____ the popularity of highly emotional films which are commonly (10) _____ ―weepies‖. It seems that people enjoy crying together almost as much as laughing together

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Interpreting the feelings of other people is not always easy, as we all know, and we (1) __ _ as much on what they seem to be telling us, as on the actual words they say. Facial (2) _ _ and tone of voice are obvious ways of showing our (3) _ _ to something, and it may well be that we unconsciously express views that we are trying to hide. The art of being (4) __ _ lies in picking up these signals, realizing what the other person is trying to say, and acting so that they are not embarrassed in any way. For example, we may understand that they are in fact (5) __ __ to answer our question, and so we stop pressing them. Body movements in general may also indicate feelings, and interviewers often pay particular attention to the way a candidate for a job walks into the room and sits down. However it is not difficult to present the right kind of appearance while what many employers want to know relates to the candidate‘s character traits, and (6) __ __ stability. This raises the awkward question of whether job candidates should be asked to complete psychological tests, and the further problem of whether such tests actually produce (7) __ __ results. For many people, being asked to take part in such a test would be an objectionable (8) __ _ into their private lives. After all, a prospective employer would hardly ask a candidate to run a hundred meters, or expect his or her family doctor to provide (9) _ _ medical information. Quite apart from this problem, can such tests predict whether a person is likely to be a (10) __ __ employee or a valued colleague?

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Why is it that many teenagers have the energy to play computer games until late at night but can‘t find the energy to get out of bed (35) ________ for school? According to a new report, today‘s generation of children are in danger of getting so (36)_______ sleep that they are putting their mental and physical health at (37)_______. Adults can easily survive on seven to eight hours‘ sleep a night, (38)_______ teenagers require nine or ten hours. According to medical experts, one in five youngsters (39)________ anything between two and five hours‘ sleep a night less than their parents did at their age. This (40) _____ serious questions about whether lack of sleep is affecting children‘s ability to concentrate at school. The connection between sleep deprivation and lapses in memory, impaired reaction time and poor concentration is well (41) _______. Research has shown that losing as little as half an hour‘s sleep a night can have profound effects (42) ______how children perform the next day. A good night‘s sleep is also crucial for teenagers because it is while they are asleep (43)______ they release a hormone that is essential for their ‗growth spurt‘ (the period during teenage years when the body grows at a rapid rate). It‘s true that they can, to some (44) ______, catch up on sleep at weekends, but that won‘t help them when they are dropping off to sleep in class on a Friday afternoon

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We are using up the world‘s petroleum. We use (1)_________ in our cars and to heat our building in winter.Farmers use petrochemicals to (2) _________ the soil rich. They use them to kill insects (3) _________ eat plants. These chemicals go (4) _________ rivers and lakes and kill the fish there. Thousands of pollutants also go into the air and pollute it. Winds carry this (5) _________ air to other countries and other continents. Poor farmers use the same land over and (6) _________ . The land needs a rest so it will be better next year. However, the farmers must have food this year. Poor people cut down forests (7) _________ firewood. In some areas when the trees are gone, the land (8) _________ desert. Poor people can‘t save the environment for the (9) _________ . This is not a problem for one country or one area of the world. It is a problem for allhumans. The people and the nations of the world must work together to (10) _________ the world‘s resources.

Read the following passage and choose the best answer for each blank.

Most Americans eat three meals (26) ______ the day: breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Breakfast begins between 7:00 and 8:00am, lunch between 11:00 am and noon, and dinner between 6:00 and 8:00 pm. On Sundays "brunch" is a (27) ______ of breakfast and lunch, typically beginning at 11:00 am. Students often enjoy a "study break" or evening snack around 10:00 or 11:00 pm. Breakfast and lunch tend to be light meals, with only one (28) ______. Dinner is the main meal. (29) ______ breakfast Americans will eat cereal with milk which are often mixed (30) ______ in a bowl, a glass of orange juice, and toasted bread or muffin with jam, butter, or margarine. Another common breakfast meal is scrambled eggs or (31) ______ omelet with potatoes and breakfast meat (bacon or sausage). People who are on (32) ______ eat just a cup of yogurt. Lunch and dinner are more (33) ______. When eating at a formal dinner, you may be overwhelmed by the number of utensils. How do you (34) ______ the difference between a salad fork, a butter fork, and a dessert fork? Most Americans do not know the answer (35) ______. But knowing which fork or spoon to use first is simple: use the outermost utensils first and the utensils closest to the plate last.

(29) ______

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Nearly 200 of the 1500 native plant species in Hawaii are at risk of going extinct in the near future because they have been (1) ____ to such low numbers. Approximately 90 percent of Hawaii's plants are found nowhere else in the world but they are (2) ____ by alien invasive species such as feral goats, pigs, rodents and (3) ____ plants. The Hawaii Rare Plant Restoration Group is striving to (4) ____ the extinction of the 182 rare Hawaiian plants with fewer than 50 individuals remaining in the (5) ____ . Since 1990, (6) ____ a result of their "Plant Extinction Prevention Program", sixteen species have been brought into (7) ____ and three species have been reintroduced. Invasive weeds have been removed in key areas and fencing put up in order to (8) ____ plants in the wild. In the future the Hawaii Rare Plant Restoration Program aims (9) ____ collecting genetic material from the remaining plants in the wild for storage as a safety net for the future. They also aim to manage wild populations and where possible reintroduce species into (10) _____

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However objective we believe ourselves to be, most of us do not judge a product solely on its merits, considering quality, value and style before making a decision. (1)________, we are easily influenced by the people around us. There is nothing (2)___________ with this. It is probably a smarter way to make decisions than (3)________ on only our own opinions. But it does make life hard for companies. They have long understood that groups of friends and relatives tend to buy the same products, but understanding the reasons has been tricky. It is because they are so similar with (4)_______ to how much money they make and what television ads they watch that they independently (5)________ at the same decision? Or do they copy one another, perhaps (6)______ envy or perhaps because they have shared information about the products? Research in Finland recently found overwhelming evidence that neighbours have a big influence on buying decisions. When one of a person‘s ten nearest neighbours bought a car, the chances that that person would buy a car of the same brand during the next week and a half (7)__________ by 86 per cent. The researchers argued that it was not just a (8)_________ of envy. Used cars seemed to attract neighbours even more than new cars. This suggested that people were not trying to (9)_______ up with their neighbours, they were keen to learn from them. Since used cars are less reliable, a recommendation of one can (10)________influence a buying decision

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For the last few years, my children have been going to a summer camp in northern Greece called Skouras Camp. They always seem to have a good time, so if you’ re wondering what to do with the kids for three weeks this summer, you could do worse than send them to this beautiful camp on the shores of the Aegean Sea. If your children, like mine, are keen on adventure, sports and good company, the Skouras Camp will keep them busy all day doing the things they most enjoy. Skouras is an international camp with children from all over the world. My children have made friends with children of their own age from Poland, China, Demark and the United States. Naturally, they get lots of opportunities to practise their English as this is the only language spoken. The camp is located in one of the most beautiful parts of Chalkidiki. It is huge (120.000 square meters) and is just a stone’s throw away from clear, blue Aegean Sea. It takes the children just five minutes to walk to the golden sandy beach on foot. The programme is packed with exciting activities such as horse riding and table tennis. Other sports in clude baseball, volleyball and athletics. The Camp ends with a sports contest in the last week which all parents are invited to attend.

The word contest in the last sentence could be replaced by_     .

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In the past, British children were frequently encouraged to try out their performing skills for the benefit of adults. They did this by reading aloud, acting or ___(1)___ a musical instrument. As they ____ (2)_____ up they were taken to public places of entertainment – the theatre, opera, circus or ballet. They looked forward to these _____(3)_____ with great ____(4)_____ and would remember and discuss what they had seen for many weeks afterwards. But nowadays television and computers ____(5)_____ an endless stream of easily _____( 6)_____ entertainment, and children quickly accept these marvelous _____(7)_____ as a very ordinary part of their everyday lives. For many children, the sense of witnessing a very special live performance is gone forever. But all is not lost. The ____(8)_____presence presence  of a TV set may have encouraged a very lazy response from ____( 9)_____ in their own homes, but the ____(10)____ of those with ambitions to become performing artists themselves does not seem to have been at all diminished. And live performances in public are still relatively popular, albeit with an older, more specialist audience.

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It takes a long time to raise a family of owlets, so the great horned owl begins early in the year. In January and February, or as late as March in the North, the male calls to the female with a resonant hoot. The female is larger than the male. She sometimes reaches a body length of twenty-two to twenty-four inches, with a wingspread up to fifty inches. To impress her, the male does a strange courtship dance. He bobs. He bows. He ruffles his feathers and hops around with an important air. He flutters from limb to limb and makes flying sorties into the air. Sometimes he returns with an offering of food. They share the repast, after which she joins the dance, hopping and bobbing about as though keeping time to the beat of an inner drum. Owls are poor home builders. They prefer to nest in a large hollow in a tree or even to occupy the deserted nest of a hawk or crow. These structures are large and rough, built of sticks and bark and lined with leaves and feathers. Sometimes owls nest on a rocky ledge, or even on the bare ground. even to occupy the deserted nest of a hawk or crow. These structures are large and rough, built of sticks and bark and lined with leaves and feathers. Sometimes owls nest on a rocky ledge, or even on the bare ground. The mother lays two or three round, dull white eggs. Then she stoically settles herself on the nest and spreads her feather skirts about her to protect her precious charges from snow and cold. It is five weeks before the first downy white owlet pecks its way out of the shell. As the young birds feather out, they look like wise old men with their wide eyes and quizzical expressions. They clamor for food and keep the parents busy supplying mice, squirrels, rabbits, crayfish, and beetles. Later in the season baby crows are taken. Migrating songsters, waterfowl, and game birds all fall prey to the hungry family. It is nearly ten weeks before fledglings leave the nest to search for their own food. The parent birds weary of family life by November and drive the young owls away to establish hunting ranges of their own.

The phrase "precious charges" refers to

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All plants rely on nutrients taken from the soil in order to survive. However, in areas where the soil does not contain enough (1)_____ nutrients, some plants have adapted to (2) _____ their diets from another source: living organisms. Though they are few in number, carnivorous plants are (3)_____ fascinating beings that ―eat‖ anything from onecelled organisms to insects in order to survive. They are commonly found in marshlands. Carnivorous plants feature one of several types of ―traps‖ to ensnare prey, which they consume to make up for nutrients that may be missing from the soil. While there are over 400 species of carnivorous plants in the world today, some are more (4)_____ than others. The most well-known of these plants are the snap traps, which include the Venus flytrap. Snap traps are easily identified by their leaves, which are separated into two lobes that have the ability to fold together. Inside the lobes, the surface is covered with tiny hairs that are (5) _____ to movement. When the plant‘s prey brushes against the hairs, it triggers a closing mechanism that rapidly brings the two lobes together, trapping the prey (6)_____ inside. The response of the traps is phenomenal (7)_____ speed: the time between triggering the hairs and snapping shut is less than a second. As the prey struggles inside the trap, it only triggers more hairs, causing the leaves to tighten their (8) _____. The plant then secrets liquid chemicals from special glands into the trap to dissolve the prey and absorb all of its nutrients. Besides the Venus flytrap, only one other type of snap trap exists today, (9)_____ to as the waterwheel plant. The two share a common ancestor and differ only in a few ways. For instance, the waterwheel is an aquatic plant, while the flytrap is exclusively terrestrial. In addition, the flytrap feeds primarily on arthropods like spiders, while the waterwheel lives (10)_____ simple invertebrates, like certain types of plankton

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People commonly complain that they never have enough time to accomplish tasks. The hours and minutes seem to slip away before many planned chores get done. According to time management experts, the main reason for this is that most people fail to set priorities about what to do first. They get tied down by trivial, time consuming matters and never complete the important ones.
One simple solution often used by those at the top is to keep lists of tasks to be accomplished daily. These lists order jobs from most essential to least essential and are checked regularly through the day to assess progress. Not only is this an effective way to manage time, but also it serves to give individuals a much deserved sense of satisfaction over their achievements. People who do not keep lists often face the end of the word day with uncertainly over the significance of their accomplishments, which over time can contribute to serious problem in mental and physical health.

According to the passage, why do many people never seem to have enough time to accomplish things?

Read the passage carefully and choose the correct answer.

In the past, both men and women were expected to be married at quite young ages. Marriages were generally arranged by parents and family, with their children having little chance to say no in the matter. In the past it was not surprising to find that a bride and groom had only just met on the day of their engagement or marriage.

In modern Vietnam, this has changed completely as people choose their own marriage-partners based on love, and in consideration primarily to their own needs and wants. Moreover early marriage is quite illegal.

The traditional Vietnamese wedding is one of the most important of traditional Vietnamese occasions. Regardless of westernization, many of the age-old customs practiced in a traditional Vietnamese wedding continue to be celebrated by both Vietnamese in Vietnam and overseas, often combining both western and eastern elements. Besides the wedding ceremony, there is also an engagement ceremony which takes place usually half a year or so before the wedding. Due to the spiritual nature of the occasion, the date and time of the marriage ceremony are decided in advance by a fortune teller. The traditional Vietnamese wedding consists of an extensive array of ceremonies: the first is the ceremony to ask permission to receive the bride, the second is the procession to receive the bride (along with the ancestor ceremony at her house), the third is to bring the bride to the groom's house for another ancestor ceremony and to welcome her into the family, then the last is a wedding banquet. The number of guests in attendance at these banquets is huge, usually in the hundreds. Several special dishes are served. Guests are expected to bring gifts, often money, which the groom and bride at one point in the banquet will go from table to table collecting.

Which sentence is referred Vietnamese modern marriage?

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The joys and tribulations of being a pet owner! During our lifetime most of us have some experience of either owning a pet or being in (1) ________contact with someone who does. Is there such a things as ―the ideal pet‖? If so what characterizes the ideal pet? Various (2) ________influence one‘s choice of pet, from your reasons for getting a pet to your lifestyle. For example, although quite a few pets are relatively cheap to buy, the cost of (3) ________can be considerable. Everything must be (4) ________into account, from food and bedding, to vaccinations and veterinary bills. You must be prepared to (5) ________ time on your pet, which involves shopping for it, cleaning and feeling it. Pets can be demanding and a big responsibility. Are you prepared to exercise and (6) ________an animal or do you prefer a more independent pet? How much spare room do you have? Is it right to lock an energetic animal into a (7) ________space? Do you live near a busy road which may threaten the life of your pet? Pets (8) ________ as turtles and goldfish can be cheap and convenient, but if you prefer affectionate pets, a friendly cat or dog would be more (9) ________ . People get pets for a number of reasons, for company, security or to teach responsibility to children. Pets can be affectionate and loyal and an excellent source of company as long as you know what pet (10) ________ you and your lifestyle

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According to a recent TV program, noise pollution is becoming an increasingly serious problem. Background noise such as (18)_____, police sirens and aeroplanes is growing year by year, and complaints to the police are becoming more and more (19)_____. However, for people like Mary Norman, who lives close to London Heathrow airport, the situation is particularly bad. ―It‘s becoming very difficult to (20)_____ a normal family life,‘ she told an interviewer, ‗because the planes start first thing in the morning. They make a terrible noise, as you can imagine, and it (21)_____ on all day long. Of course I have complained about it but nobody takes any notice. I‘m fed (22)_____ with living here, but unfortunately I can‘t afford to move. Researchers believe that the problem is getting worse. They have found that people who are exposed to high levels of noise become (23)_____ aggressive. Take the case of Henry Wilson, who was (24)_____ mad by a neighbor who insisted on playing his music at full volume. One night, he finally lost his (25)_____. After being forced to listen to heavy metal songs for hours, he burst into his neighbor‘s house, poured petrol all over the carpets and (26)_____ to set fire to the place. When he finally appeared in court, the judge was surprisingly understanding. He (27)_____ to send him to jail, saying that he had suffered enough

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 warming of the Pacific Ocean has created weather patterns (1)..........strongly affect the world. When the water is warm, the amount of rainfall in Indonesia and the surrounding regions decreases.  Australia could (2)..................experience a drought in many parts. On the other hand, Chile  (which borders the Pacific Ocean) is preparing  for (3)............ rainstorms. In Pakistan and northwestern India, the weather pattern makes the rainy season weaker and makes the area much drier.
This happening is called El Nino and is used by weather forecasters to make long-range weather predictions. They also know that El Nino will unusually bring heavy rains to the southwestern part of the United States and make the central part of the country drier at the same time.
According to research, weather forecasters used to know about the coming weather with certainty. Now everything has become completely different.
El Nino itself used to be (4)............. It would occur every two to seven years. But now, this weather pattern is becoming more frequent. We cannot say when and how often tornadoes or cyclones occur. Scientists are unsure of the reason for this (5)...............on a global scale either.

(5)..............................

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.
In many countries of Northern Europe, including Scandinavia, Finland, Northern Russia, and the Baltic states, ice swimming is closely connected with the tradition of sauna, (1)......... has led to the creation of a new activity where stays in the sauna are (2)......... with quick 'pauses' in ice water. In Russia, ice swimmers are called what can be literally translated as 'walruses '. The north of Europe, (3)............, is not the only place where winter swimming is practised regularly. A large ice swimming movement exists in the UK, based in a famous location: the Serpentine Lake in Hyde Park in London. In Harbin, Northern China, about 200,000 people ice-swim in the Songhua River every winter. The oldest ice swimming club in the United States, the Coney Island Polar Bear Club of New York, organises an annual (4)....... on New Year's Day. In Canada, 'Polar Bear Swims; 'Plunges' or 'Dips' are a New Year's Day tradition in (5)........ communities as well, the biggest one taking place in Vancouver since 1920.

(5)...........................

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.
In many countries of Northern Europe, including Scandinavia, Finland, Northern Russia, and the Baltic states, ice swimming is closely connected with the tradition of sauna, (1)......... has led to the creation of a new activity where stays in the sauna are (2)......... with quick 'pauses' in ice water. In Russia, ice swimmers are called what can be literally translated as 'walruses '. The north of Europe, (3)............, is not the only place where winter swimming is practised regularly. A large ice swimming movement exists in the UK, based in a famous location: the Serpentine Lake in Hyde Park in London. In Harbin, Northern China, about 200,000 people ice-swim in the Songhua River every winter. The oldest ice swimming club in the United States, the Coney Island Polar Bear Club of New York, organises an annual (4)....... on New Year's Day. In Canada, 'Polar Bear Swims; 'Plunges' or 'Dips' are a New Year's Day tradition in (5)........ communities as well, the biggest one taking place in Vancouver since 1920.

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