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The reporter is talking about the ____________ of the fire.

 

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Myriad occupational schools in the central coastal city of Da Nang have received just a small number of applications over the past few years. “Last year we only had 142 new students, but the number of new enrollees is 50 this school year,” Truong Van Hung, rector of the Duc Tri Da Nang Vocational College, said, adding the school has set a target of recruiting 1,200 students for the 2014-2015 academic year. “Closing the school is just a matter of time,” he said. Similarly, the Viet A Vocational School in Hai Chau District in Da Nang has not recruited any new enrollee for over one year given the absence of job opportunities for its graduates. “We do not want to enroll because we cannot help students land jobs after they graduate,” a leader of Viet A said. “We will only admit new students when we can have a partnership with companies who can employ our students after they finish their studies.” Elsewhere, vocational schools in the southern province of Dong Nai are ‘frozen’. The Dong Nai Information Technology-Telecommunications Vocational School in the academic year of 2013-2014 enrolled only 82 students compared with a target of 1,000; the Nhon Trach Industrial Engineering Vocational School only had 200 out of its goal of 600 students for the school year; the 26-3 Vocational School received 150 students while they set a target of 250; and the South-Eastern Electromechanical Vocational School only recruited 300 out of the 500 students they planned to admit. The situation means that equipment for training programs at those schools has been left unused and covered with rust. Local experts have commented that if the lack of students persists, vocational schools are at high risk of being closed, sooner or later. 
4. According to paragraph 3, what is the reason for “the vocational schools in the southern province of Dong Nai being ‘frozen’”?

What is 'extreme' weather? Why are people talking about it these days? 'Extreme' weather is an unusual weather event such as rainfall, a drought or a heat wave in the wrong place or at the wrong time. In theory, they are very rare. But these days, our TV screens are constantly showing such extreme weather events.Take just three news stories from 2010: 28 centimetres of rain fell on Riode Janeiro in 24 hours, Nashville, USA, had 33 centimetres of rain in two days and there was record  rainfall in Pakistan.

The effects of this kind of rainfall are dramatic and lethal. In Rio de Janeiro, landslides followed,  burying hundreds of people. In Pakistan, the floods affected 20 million people. Meanwhile, other parts of the world suffer devastating droughts. Australia, Russia and East Africa have been hit in the last ten years. And then there are unexpected heat waves, such as in 2003 in Europe. That summer, 35,000 deaths were said to be heat-related.

So, what is happening to our weather? Are these extreme events part of a natural cycle? Or are they caused by human activity and its effects on the Earth's climate? Peter Miller says it's probably a mixture of both of these things. On the one hand, the most important influences on weather events are natural cycles in the climate. Two of the most famous weather cycles, El Niño and La Niña, originate in the Pacific Ocean. The heat from the warm ocean rises high into the atmosphere and affects weather all around the world. On the other hand, the temperature of the Earth's oceans is slowly but steadily going up. And this is a result of human activity. We are producing greenhouse gases that trap heat in the Earth's atmosphere. This heat warms up the atmosphere, land and oceans. Warmer oceans produce more water vapour - think of heating a pan of water in your kitchen. Turn up the heat, it produces steam more quickly. Satellite data tells US that the water vapour in the atmosphere has gone up by four percent in 25 years. This warm, wet air turns into the rain, storms, hurricanes and typhoons that we are increasingly experiencing. Climate scientist, Michael Oppenheimer, says that we need to face the reality of climate change. And we also need to act now to save lives and money in the future.

(Source: © 2015 National Geographic Learning, www.ngllife.com/wild-weather)

According to the passage, extreme weather is a problem because _.

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After years of hype and false starts, the shift to clean power has begun to accelerate at a pace that has taken the most experienced experts by surprise. Even leaders in the oil and gas sector have been forced to confront an existential question: will the 21st century be the last one for fossil fuels? It is early, but the evidence is mounting. Wind and solar parks are being built at unprecedented rates, threatening the business models of established power companies. Electric cars that were hard to even buy eight years ago are selling at an exponential rate, in the process driving down the price of batteries that hold the key to unleashing new levels of green growth. “This clean energy disruption has just started and what is striking is how much of a financial impact it is already having on some companies,” says Per Lekander, a portfolio manager at London’s Lansdowne Partners hedge fund, who has tracked global energy markets for more than 25 years. “It hit the electricity sector first, in Europe in 2013 and then the US two years later. Now it has spread to the auto sector and I think the oil industry is next.” The shift has come as increased government efforts to curb climate change and smog have driven down costs and spurred technical advances, creating a green energy industry that looks nothing like it did a decade ago: expensive and sluggish. Today, China and India have picked up the baton and are driving a sector that has spread to every continent. The result was a banner year for green energy in 2016  
1. It is stated in the passage that in the past, green energy ____

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The year was 1810, the place was southern Germany, Bavaria, and life was hard. It was the month of October and all of the countryside had been working day and night to finish their fall harvest and prepare for the onset of winter. While the plow horses were working and the farmers’ days were filled from sun up to sun down, there were some other preparations being made as well. Prince Ludwig I and his entire court were preparing for his upcoming marriage to Princess Therese of Sachsen-Hildurghausen. The grand wedding was to take place on the 12th, right in the middle of the harvest. As you know any wedding can be difficult to plan, but when you’re a prince it can be even more stressful. The invitations had gone out, the garments had been made and the location had been selected. The big event was to be held in a magnificent “Weise” (meadow) just outside the gates of Munich. As the big day approached, the countryside and town, in fact all of Bavaria was a buzz with talk of the big day. Everyone was planning on attending as they were all exhausted from the harvest and it was really the last chance before the long, cold days of winter to get out and blow off some steam. On the 12th, the ceremony went off without a hitch. The weather was perfect, the bride looked beautiful and about 40,000 guests were in attendance. The reception, as you can imagine, was one of the biggest parties history had ever seen with copious amounts of beer and massive quantities of food being devoured. It was a reception fit for a prince. And this prince was absolutely ecstatic. Ludwig I was so taken with all of his guests that he planned a special treat for them. The prince knew that all of his subjects were huge fans of horseracing so he planned to conclude the event with a somewhat impromptu horse race across the great meadow. When the townspeople heard of this they erupted in a jubilant cry Zicke Zacka, Zicke Zacka, Hoy, Hoy, Hoy. This is still chanted in the beer tents of today’s Oktoberfest celebrations. It was then and there that they decided unanimously to rename the wiese Theresiewiese (Therese Meadow) in honor of the Prince’s new bride. This was their humble way of welcoming her to town. To this day that very meadow still bears her name. After a spectacular day and night — and probably more than a couple of hangovers — the great event came to an end. It was the following fall as the townspeople began to reminisce about the great time they had had the previous year (as do many of our Oktoberfest guests tend to do around the fall) that they decided to honor their prince and celebrate his wedding anniversary in much the same way. King Maximillian agreed, but this party was to be even bigger, better and longer than the first. The event became an annual celebration. And that my friends is how the Oktoberfest tradition began and continues today. As a side note, the beer that was poured all those years ago and that has been continually served at every Oktoberfest in Munich since will now be served at the Big Bear Lake Oktoberfest. The very same beer flowing from the taps in Munich, Germany will be the beer flowing from our taps in humble Big Bear Lake. And like the beer, our Burgermeister just happens to be a true German original as well. 
5. According to paragraph 3, what is the reason for an impromptu horse race across the great meadow?

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Hardly a week goes by without some advance in technology that would have seemed  incredible 50 years ago. And we can expect the rate of change to accelerate rather than slow down within our lifetime. The developments in technology are bound to have a dramatic effect on the future of work. By 2010, new technology will have revolutionized communications. People will be transmitting messages down telephone lines that previously would have been sent by post. Not only postmen but also clerks and secretaries will vanish in a paper-free society. All the routine tasks they perform. will be carried on a tiny silicon chip so that they will be as obsolete as the horse and cart after the invention of the motor car. one change will make thousands, if not millions, redundant.  Even people in traditional professions, where expert knowledge has been the key, are unlikely to escape the effects of new technology. Instead of going to a solicitor, you might go to a computer which is programmed with all the most up-to-date legal information. Doctors, too, will find that an electronic competitor will be able to carry out a much quicker and more accurate diagnosis and recommend more efficient courses of treatment. In education, teachers will be largely replaced by teaching machines far more knowledgeable than any human being. Most learning will take place in the home via video conferencing. Children will still go to school though, until another place is created where they can make friends and develop social skills.  What can we do to avoid the threat of unemployment? We shouldn’t hide our heads in the sand. Unions will try to stop change but they will be fighting a losing battle. People should get computer literate as this just might save them from professional extinction. After all, there will be a few jobs left in law, education and medicine for those few individuals who are capable of writing and programming the software of the future. Strangely enough, there will still be jobs like rubbish collection and cleaning as it is tough to programme tasks which are largely unpredictable.
7. The phrase “hide our heads in the sand” in the passage probably means ______

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Seeing the glass as half full may mean a longer life, according to research suggesting that optimists not only live longer in general, but have a better chance of reaching 85 or older. People of an upbeat disposition have previously been found to have a lower risk of heart conditions and premature death. Researchers now say it could also play a role in living a long life. “A lot of evidence suggests that exceptional longevity is usually accompanied by a longer span of good health and living without disability, so our findings raise an exciting possibility that we may be able to promote healthy and resilient ageing by cultivating psychosocial assets such as optimism,” said Lewina Lee, the lead author of the study at Boston University School of Medicine. Writing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Lee and colleagues report how they analysed data from two previous long-term research projects, one involving female nurses and the other focused on a cohort of men. The former team compared lifespan for the most optimistic with the least, taking into account factors including age, sex, race, education, depression and other health conditions present at the outset. The results show the most optimistic group of women had a lifespan almost 15% longer than the least. As for the other project, when the team compared the fifth of men boasting the highest optimism scores with the least optimistic, they found the most positive men had lifespans almost 11% longer. But being optimistic was not only linked to a longer lifespan. For men and women it was also linked more specifically to living to 85 or older when health behaviours were taken into account, with the most optimistic group of women having 20% better odds of reaching age 85 than the least. Lee said it was not yet clear why optimism is linked to longevity. “In our study, healthier behaviours, fewer depressive symptoms, and more social ties only partially accounted for the association from optimism to exceptional longevity,” Lee said, adding there are likely to be other mechanisms at play, such as optimistic people coping better with stress. Dr Catherine Hurt, an expert in health psychology at City, University of London, said the study highlighted the importance of psychological wellbeing alongside physical wellbeing for living a long and healthy life.
7. Which of the following statements is TRUE, according to the passage?

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In the past, technology and progress was very slow. People “invented” farming 12,000 years ago but it took 8,000 years for the idea to go around the world. Then, about 3,500 years ago, people called “potters” used round wheels to turn and make plates. But it took hundreds of years before some clever person thought, if we join two wheels together and make them bigger, we can use them to move things. In the last few centuries, things have begun to move faster. Take a 20th-century invention like the aeroplane, for example. The first aeroplane flight on 17 December 1903 only lasted 12 seconds, and the plane only went 37 metres. It can’t have been very exciting to watch, but that flight changed the world. Sixteen years later, the first plane flew across the Atlantic, and only fifty years after that, men walked on the moon. Technology is now changing our world faster and faster. So what will the future bring? One of the first changes will be the materials we use. Scientists have just invented an amazing new material called grapheme, and soon we will use it to do lots of things. With grapheme batteries in your mobile, it will take a few seconds to charge your phone or download a thousand gigabytes of information! Today, we make most products in factories, but in the future, scientists will invent living materials. Then we won’t make things like cars and furniture in factories - we will grow them! Thirty years ago, people couldn’t have imagined social media like Twitter and Facebook. Now we can’t live without them. But this is only the start. Right now, scientists are putting microchips in some disabled people’s brains, to help them see, hear and communicate better. In the future, we may all use these technologies. We won’t need smartphones to use social media or search the internet because the internet will be in our heads! More people will go into space in the future, too. Space tourism has already begun, and a hundred years from now, there may be many hotels in space. One day, we may get most of our energy from space too. In 1941, the writer Isaac Asimov wrote about a solar power station in space. People laughed at his idea then, but we should have listened to him. Today, many people are trying to develop a space solar power station. After all, the sun always shines above the clouds!  
2. Why does the writer use the example of the aeroplane?

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:
The weather is a national obsession in Britain, perhaps because it is so changeable. It's the national talking point, and most people watch at least one daily weather forecast. Most of the viewers imagine that the presenter does little more than arrive at the studio a few minutes before the broadcast, read the weather, and then go home.
In fact, this image is far from the truth. The two-minute bulletin which we all rely on when we need to know tomorrow's weather is the result of a hard day's work by the presenter, who is actually a highly-qualified meteorologist.
Every morning, after a weather forecaster arrives at the TV studios, his/her first task of the day is to collect the latest data from the National Meteorological Office. The information is very detailed and includes predictions, satellite and radar pictures, as well as more technical data. After gathering all the relevant material from this office, the forecaster has to translate the scientific terminology and maps into images and words which viewers can easily understand. The final broadcast is then carefully planned. The presenter decides what to say and in what order to say it. Next a “story board” is drawn up which lays out the script word for word.
The time allocated for each broadcast can also alter. This is because the weather report is screened after the news, which can vary in length. The weather forecaster doesn't always know how much time is available, which means that he/she has to be thoroughly prepared so that the material can be adapted to the time available.
What makes weather forecasting more complicated is that it has to be a live broadcast and cannot be pre-recorded. Live shows are very nerve-racking for the presenter because almost anything can go wrong. Perhaps the most worrying aspect for every weather forecaster is getting the following day's predictions wrong. Unfortunately for them, this is not an unusual occurrence; the weather is not always possible to predict accurately.
These days, a weather forecaster's job is even more complicated because they are relied upon to predict other environmental conditions. For example, in the summer the weather forecast has to include the pollen count for hay fever sufferers. Some also include reports on ultraviolet radiation intensity to help people avoid sunburn. The job of a weather forecaster is certainly far more sophisticated than just pointing at a map and describing weather conditions. It's a job for professionals who can cope with stressful and challenging conditions.

The word “bulletin” in paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to _ .

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Music can bring us to tears or to our feet, drive us into battle or lull us to sleep. Music is indeed remarkable in its power over all humankind, and perhaps for that very reason, no human culture on earth has ever lived without it. From discoveries made in France and Slovenia, even Neanderthal man, as long as 53,000 years ago, had developed surprisingly sophisticated, sweet- sounding flutes carved from animal bones. It is perhaps then, no accident that music should strike such a chord with the limbic system – an ancient part of our brain, evolutionarily speaking, and one that we share with much of the animal kingdom. Some researchers even propose that music came into this world long before the human race ever did. For example, the fact that whale and human music have so much in common even though our evolutionary paths have not intersected for nearly 60 million years suggests that music may predate humans. They assert that rather than being the inventors of music, we are latecomers to the musical scene.
Humpback whale composers employ many of the same tricks that human songwriters do. In addition to using similar rhythms, humpbacks keep musical phrases to a few seconds, creating themes out of several phrases before singing the next one. Whale songs in general are no longer than symphony movements, perhaps because they have a similar attention span. Even though they can sing over a range of seven octaves, the whales typically sing in key, spreading adjacent notes no farther apart than a scale. They mix percussive and pure tones in pretty much the same ratios as human composers – and follow their ABA form, in which a theme is presented, elaborated on and then revisited in a slightly modified form. Perhaps most amazing, humpback whale songs include repeating refrains that rhyme. It has been suggested that whales might use rhymes for exactly the same reasons that we do: as devices to help them remember. Whale songs can also be

rather catchy. When a few humpbacks from the Indian Ocean strayed into the Pacific, some of the whales they met there quickly changed their tunes – singing the new whales’ songs within three short years. Some scientists are even tempted to speculate that a universal music awaits discovery.

According to the passage, which of the following is true of humpback whales?

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The Greenbox emerged as Ireland’s first and most successful integrated ecotourism destination with a set of standards based on sound environmental practices highlighting all (1) ____ the region and its people had to offer. The Greenbox aimed to deliver environmentally sustainable tourism products, accommodation and attractions. Such tourism activity would have minimal impact (2) ____ the ecology of the area, be of maximum benefit to the local communities and (3) ____ the needs of the environmentally conscious visitor. The Greenbox encompassed an area covering all of Leitrim and Fermanagh and parts of Donegal, Sligo and Cavan. The Greenbox promoted travel which is small scale, low impact, culturally sensitive and community orientated, and provided a marketing tool for businesses that were grounded in sustainable principles and (4) ____ within the Greenbox area. The concept was broader than (5) ____ established definition of tourism, embracing activities such as organic food production, rural transport, energy and waste management. 

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There is still no consensus about how the Neanderthals were driven to extinction,  leaving our Homo sapien ancestors without any competition. The disappearance of the native European Neanderthals is odd partly because their shorter, stockier bodies must have made them better able to withstand the colder temperatures that prevailed when their cousins from Africa entered Europe. With a smaller surface area the Neanderthal body would have been able to retain more heat. The once common assumption that the key was the inferior vocal abilities of the Neanderthal has since been disproved by research on the Neanderthal hyoid bone, located in the throat. The larger skull capacity and brain is another respect in which they do not seem to have been inferior.  It was once thought that proof of a superior intellect was to be found in the narrower Homo sapien stone tools known as “blades”, which were assumed to be more efficient than the broader “flakes” used by the Neanderthals. In a number of important respects, including durability, this idea has proved to be unfounded. However, the blades would have been more effective as tips for throwing spears whereas the stone flakes would have been limited to the kind of thrusting spears the Neanderthals are believed to have used. This could have combined with the greater agility of the Homo sapiens to give them a distinct advantage in hunting on open terrain. Crucial in this respect were the larger canals in the Homo sapien inner ear, providing a more acute sense of balance, in addition to the longer limbs and lighter build. The Neanderthal technique of hiding and lying in wait for passing animals ceased to be viable when the dense forests of Europe began to recede. After a period of co-existence with their cousins, the Neanderthals were slowly eradicated.
4. The Neanderthals were wiped out ________________

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In the early twentieth century, an American woman named Emily Post wrote a book on etiquette. This book explained the proper behavior Americans should follow in many different social (1)______, from birthday parties to funerals. But in modern society, it is not simply to know the proper rules for behavior in your own country. It is necessary for people (2)______ work or travel abroad to understand the rules of etiquette in other cultures as well. Cultural (3)______ can be found in such simple processes as giving or receiving a gift. In Western cultures, a gift can be given to the receiver with relatively little ceremony. When a gift is offered, the receiver usually takes the gift and expresses his or her thanks. (4)______, in some Asian countries, the act of gift–giving may appear confusing to Westerners. In Chinese culture, both the giver and receiver understand that the receiver will typically refuse to take the gift several times before he or she finally accepts it. In addition, to (5)______ respect for the receiver, it is common in several Asian cultures to use both hands when offering a gift to another person.

Find synonym:
We should consume healthy food and exercise regularly.

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OPEC was established at a conference held in Baghdad Sept. 10–14, 1960, and was  formally constituted in January 1961 by five countries: Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, and Venezuela. Members admitted afterward include Qatar (1961), Indonesia and Libya (1962), Abū Ẓabī (1967), Algeria (1969), Nigeria (1971), Ecuador (1973), and Angola (2007). The United Arab Emirates assumed Abū Ẓabī’s membership in the 1970s. Gabon, which had joined in 1975, withdrew in January 1995, but it had relatively insignificant oil reserves. Ecuador suspended its membership from OPEC from December 1992 until October 2007, while Indonesia suspended its membership beginning in January 2009.  OPEC’s headquarters, first located in Geneva, was moved to Vienna in 1965. OPEC members coordinate policies on oil prices, production, and related matters at semiannual and special meetings of the OPEC Conference. The Board of Governors, which is responsible for managing the organization, convening the Conference, and drawing up the annual budget, contains representatives appointed by each member country; its chair is elected to a one-year term by the Conference. OPEC also possesses a Secretariat, headed by a secretary – general appointed by the Conference for a three-year term; the Secretariat includes research and energy-studies divisions.  OPEC members collectively own about two-thirds of the world’s proven petroleum reserves and account for two-fifths of world oil production. Members differ in a variety of ways, including the size of oil reserves, geography, religion, and economic and political interests. Four members – Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates – have very large per capita oil reserves; they also are relatively strong financially and thus have considerable flexibility in adjusting their production. Saudi Arabia, which has the largest reserves and a relatively small (but fast-growing) population, has traditionally played a dominant role in determining overall production and prices Because OPEC has been beset by numerous conflicts throughout its history, some experts have concluded that it is not a cartel – or at least not an effective one – and that it has little, if any, influence over the amount of oil produced or its price. Other experts believe that OPEC is an effective cartel, though it has not been equally effective at all times. The debate largely centers on semantics and the definition of what constitutes a cartel. Those who argue that OPEC is not a cartel emphasize the sovereignty of each member country, the inherent problems of coordinating price and production policies, and the tendency of countries to renege on prior agreements at ministerial meetings. Those who claim that OPEC is a cartel argue that production costs in the Persian Gulf are generally less than 10 percent of the price charged and that prices would decline toward those costs in the absence of coordination by OPEC.  The influence of individual OPEC members on the organization and on the oil market usually depends on their levels of reserves and production. Saudi Arabia, which controls about one-third of OPEC’s total oil reserves, plays a leading role in the organization. Other important members are Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates, whose combined reserves are significantly greater than those of Saudi Arabia. Kuwait, which has a very small population, has shown a willingness to cut production relative to the size of its reserves, whereas Iran and Iraq, both with large and growing populations, have generally produced at high levels relative to reserves. Revolutions and wars have impaired the ability of some OPEC members to maintain high levels of production. 
2. According to paragraph 1, what are founding members of OPEC?

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The national teachers union and an activist group have welcomed Human Resources  Minister M Kula Segaran’s announcement that schools will be supplied with a list of endangered jobs, saying it will be a useful aid in career guidance. Kula said on Wednesday that the list would help pupils decide what courses to avoid in pursuing further studies. Kula spoke of the looming fourth industrial revolution, saying it could result in the irrelevance of 30% of existing jobs. Harry Tan, the secretary-general of the National Union of the Teaching Profession, said the list would be a good additional tool for schools in their work to prepare students for the job market, and Parent Action Group for Education chairman Noor Azimah Rahim said its use could result in an easing of the problem of youth unemployment.  Tan told FMT he hoped the education and human resources ministries would also consult the private sector since they were familiar with market forces. He said teachers would always try to help students pursue their dreams, but he added that schools were facing what he called “logistical issues” that could prevent them from effectively preparing students for future jobs. One of these problems, he said, was a shortage of English teachers and another was a lack of computer numerical control machines in vocational colleges.  Azimah warned against using the list as more than just a guide, saying the job market would keep changing with the times. What would remain a constant, she said, was the need for students to be bilingual, to master the foundations of mathematics and science and to balance these with involvement in sports and the arts. She urged teachers to promote creative thinking and problem solving skills among their students, saying these were sought after by employers. 
2. According to paragraph 1, what is the possible result of the 4th industrial revolution?

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Bacteria are the smallest known living things with a cellular structure. These colorless, one-celled micro-organisms exist (1) ______ organic matter is found: in soil, in water and in the air. Since most of them have no chlorophyll, they cannot use light energy to synthesize their food, (2) ________ green plants do. They must get their food in other ways. In this, bacteria resemble animals. However, since/as they are enclosed in a cell wall, they can only (3) _______ dissolved food like plants do. Although most bacteria do not contain chlorophyll, some of them can make their own organic food from simple inorganic (4)________. They do not, however, use light energy for this purpose. Others get ready-made food from dead plants and animals. Still others are parasites. Parasites are (5)______ to enter other living organisms and take food from them. In doing so, they often cause diseases or the death of their hosts

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world/ the/ longest/ is/ The/ Thai name/ in/ the/ of/ Bangkok.

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The concept of exotic holidays is not new. Cruises and other travel packages to tropical locations have long been popular and are more (1) ____ now than ever. The wealthy have gone on trips to exotic places since the 19th century, but now ordinary people have enough money for this kind of holiday. Holidaymakers are increasingly interested in doing something different and want more exciting (2) ____. A number of tour companies have responded with a new range of options, including African safaris. Going on a safari is a totally (3) ____ form of holiday. Accompanied by a safari guide, groups travel into the African wilderness to experience close up the thrill of the wild. Being so close to the animals is an once-in-a-lifetime experience. (4) ____ species, which are rarely seen outside the zoo, provide a great (5) ____

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Every summer, when the results of university entrance exam come out, many newspaper stories are published about students who are top-scorers across the country. Most portray students as hard-working, studious, smart and, generally, from low-income families. They are often considered heroes or heroines by their families, communes, villages and communities. And they symbolise the efforts made to lift them, and their relatives, out of poverty. The students are often too poor to attend any extra-classes, which make their achievements more illustrious and more newsworthy. While everyone should applaud the students for their admirable efforts, putting too much emphasis on success generates some difficult questions. If other students look up to them as models, of course it’s great. However, in a way, it contributes to society’s attitude that getting into university is the only way to succeed. For those who fail, their lives are over. It should be noted that about 1.3 million high school students take part in the annual university entrance exams and only about 300,000 of them pass. What’s about the hundreds of thousands who fail? Should we demand more stories about those who fail the exam but succeed in life or about those who quit university education at some level and do something else unconventional? “I personally think that it’s not about you scoring top in an entrance exam or get even into Harvard. It’s about what you do for the rest of your life,” said Tran Nguyen Le Van, 29. He is the founder of a website, vexere.com, that passengers can use to book bus tickets online and receive tickets via SMS. His business also arranges online tickets via mobile phones and email. Van dropped out of his MBA at the Thunderbird School of Global Management in Arizona in the United States. His story has caught the attention of many newspapers and he believes more coverage should be given to the youngsters who can be role-models in the start-up community. Getting into university, even with honours, is just the beginning. "We applaud them and their efforts and obviously that can give them motivation to do better in life. However, success requires more than just scores," Van said. Van once told a newspaper that his inspiration also came from among the world’s most famous drop-outs, such as Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook or Bill Gates who also dropped out of Harvard University. Alarming statistics about unemployment continues to plague us. As many as 162,000 people with some kind of degree cannot find work, according to Labour Ministry’s statistics this month. An emphasis on getting into university does not inspire students who want to try alternative options. At the same time, the Ministry of Education and Training is still pondering on how to reform our exam system, which emphasises theories, but offers little to develop critical thinking or practice. Vu Thi Phuong Anh, former head of the Centre for Education Testing and Quality Assessment at Viet Nam National University in HCM City said the media should also monitor student successes after graduation. She agreed there were many success stories about young people, but added that it was imbalanced if students taking unconventional paths were not also encouraged. Viet Nam is, more than ever, in desperate need of those who think outside the box. Time for us to recognise talent, no matter where it comes from or how.
8. What can be inferred from the passage?

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Our eyes are the window to our soul, so the saying goes, but they’re also a window into our health. Picking up eye problems early can significantly (1) ____ the chance of sight loss.  Several programs are looking at how to combine existing medical knowledge about our eyes with AI (Artificial Intelligence) tools.  Google DeepMind has teamed up with Moorfields Eye Hospital in London to work on (2) ____ two major conditions that cause sight loss: diabetic retinopathy and age-related macular (3) ____ (AMD). Together, these eye diseases affect more than 625,000 people in the UK and over 100 million people worldwide.  Algorithms have been trained using thousands of eye scans, then set to work detecting potential issues, allowing doctors (4) ____ the right course of action in a fraction of the time it would normally take and with a greater degree of certainty. DeepMind says that 300,000 UK patients a year could be helped (5) ____ the system is given the go ahead for general use following the completion of clinical trials