Choose the word or phrase among A, B, C or D that best fits the blank space in the following passage:

"The big issue for plane-makers for the future is size, not speed. With the skies already full of air traffic, and with worse to come, the important questions for the designers are how many passengers they can (1)….. into the new super- planes and who will be able to build them first. (2) ……yourself ten years from now in a packed airport departure lounge. Eight hundred passengers are waiting with you for their first flight on one of a remarkable range of super-planes, and the check-in time (3)…… have been as much as four hours before take-off to (4)…… for the extra people. Impossible? Far from it. Designs for these planes are already stored on Computer at the world’s top aircraft manufacturers, waiting to be turned (5)…. reality. The airlines badly need the new jets to (6)…. with future increases in passenger numbers. A billion passengers a year are currently carried by plane, but that figure is (7)….. to double by the year 2010. The only practical way of avoiding making the skies even busier is to build much bigger planes. The (8)…. to build the new jets is the hottest contest in the airliner business. Manufacturers are working (9) ........ with the major airlines to produce designs I that will please airlines and passengers (10) …..."

6. The airlines badly need the new jets to (6)…. with future increases in passenger numbers. 

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.
One of the seven wonders of the ancient world, the Great Pyramid of Giza was a monument of wisdom and prophecy built as a tomb for Pharaoh Cheops in 2720 B.C. Despite its antiquity, certain aspects of its construction makes it one of the truly wonders of the world. The thirteen acre structure near the Nile river is a solid mass of stone blocks covered with limestone. Inside are the number of hidden passageways and the burial chamber of the Pharaoh. It is the largest single structure in the world. The  four sides of the pyramid are aligned almost exactly on true north, south, east and west-an incredible engineering feat. The ancient Egyptians were sun worshippers and great astronomers, so computations for the Great Pyramid were based on astronomical observations. Explorations and detailed examinations of the base of the structure reveal many intersecting lines.
Further scientific study indicates that these represent a type of timeline of events – past, present and future. Many of the events have been interpreted and found to coincide with known facts of the past. Others are prophesied for future generations and are currently under investigation. Many believe that pyramids have supernatural powers and this one is no exception. Some researchers even associate it with extraterrestrial beings of ancient past. Was this superstructure made by ordinary beings, or one built by a race far superior to any known today?

Why is the Great Pyramid of Giza considered one of the seven wonders of the world?

Choose the word or phrase among A, B, C or D that best fits the blank spare in the following passage.

Most people need some preparation before they are (1) ____ for the workforce, and planning should begin long before it is time to start a career. 

Many high school students don't yet know what they want to do. High school is a great time to start thinking about careers. Setting on just one (2) ____ in high school isn't necessary, but they should know how to explore careers and put time into investigating them and learning about their skills and interests.

Understanding what you enjoy and what you are good at is the first step in (3) ____ careers. It is important to think about what you like to do because work will eventually be a big part of the life. Once you have thought about the subjects and activities you like best, the next step is to look for careers that put those interests to use. If you love sports, for example, you might (4) ____ a career as a gym teacher, or a coach.

Another approach to identifying potential career interests is to consider local employers and the types of jobs they have. There are many jobs in manufacturing and healthcare near the high school. Talking directly to workers can help you get (5) ____ about what they do. If you don't know workers in occupations (6) ____ interest you, ask people such as parents, friends, or teachers for their (7) ____.

If job (8) ____ gives you a taste of what an occupation is like, imagine how helpful getting experience could be. Students can begin getting career-related experiences in high school through internships, employment, and other activities. Completing an internship is an excellent (9) ____ get experience. Internships are temporary, supervised (10) ____ designed to give students practical job training.

(3) ______

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 elementary means of communicating with other people is (41).......... messages by voice. This fact is widely acknowledged and we recognize the voice as a feature characterizing the identity of a person. The array of voices is immeasurable as no two are exactly similar. They can be nasal, resonant or shrill produced in accordance with the individual physical (42) .........   of the throat
One possible implementation of the art of voice recognition is voice profiling used by police analysts as a method of (43).......  court evidence in  trials.  Every year thousands of  audiotapes with recorded interviews or casual utterances are put to the purpose to help identity the probable culprit. Specialists dealing with the voice investigation claim that people can give themselves away by their accents, infections or other voice attributes like pitch, intensity and loudness. A recorded sample is usually (44)....... into electric impulses and later transformed    into a pictorial recording which is processed by a computer program. Very frequently voice analysts have a stab at deciphering the relevant information which may be mingled with background noise or other interfering sounds until they attain the desired results.
Thankfully, these efforts help the police detect individuals who threaten their victim by phone or inform about bomb planting or those who make offensive calls (45).....  the peace  of decent citizens.
(43)...........................
 

Read the passage carefully and choose the correct answer A, B, C or D

Diwali is a main Hindu festival. It is known as the “Festival of Lights”. It makes the victory of good over evil. In other words, lights are symbols of victory of brightness over darkness. People in India turn on lamps in every house and watch firecrackers in the night sky. These lights are a way showing honor to the gods of India for giving the people health, knowledge, riches and peace.

On the day of Diwali, children get up at 3:00 a.m and take a bath. They dress up in festival clothes, light up the candles and share sweets. There is competition among the children to light the first firecracker and to make the loudest noise. Soon, the whole sky is bright. Children seem to have the most fun during this festival.

Why does the author mention children in paragraph 2?

Choose the correct answer to complete the following passage by writing the corresponding letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet.
Of the myriad of Japanese ceremonies introduced to the West, the Japanese tea ceremony would have to be the least accessible. (1)__________ many other aspects of Japanese culture, the practice of drinking tea was (2) __________ from China well over a thousand years ago. In Japan, green tea developed its own character, and the Japanese tea ceremony has evolved (3) __________ a peculiarly Japanese phenomenon.
The modern tea ceremony can be (4) ____traced______back to the 17th century when it developed alongside another singular Japanese adaption of Chinese culture: the philosophy of Zen. The tea ceremony eventually became established as a recognized form of high art, where it was practiced in (5) __________ locations, from a Zen temple to an ordinary home. Even today, the simplest and most secular tea ceremony still embraces the Zen aesthetics of (6) __________, austerity and devotion. During the ceremony strictly prescribed words of invitation and gratitude are murmured quietly; tea maker and guests (7) __________ their roles with humility and respect. A brief moment of (8) __________ tranquility has been communally created and shared. It is simultaneously an aesthetic, social and spiritual moment. Significantly it is a Japanese moment, fleeting and poignant with its own peacefulness (9) __________ the noise and confusion of the everyday world is temporarily suspended as a vague, indefinable (10) __________ of the eternal pervades.
9.

Read the following passage and choose among A, B, C or D the correct answer to each of the questions.

INTERNET JOBS

Contrary to popular belief, one does not have to be a trained programmer to work online.

Of course, there are plenty of jobs available for people with high-tech computer skills, but the growth of new media has opened up a wide range of Internet career opportunities requiring only a minimal level of technical expertise. Probably one of the most well-known online job opportunities is the job of Webmaster. However, it is hard to define one basic job description for this position. The qualifications and responsibilities depend on what tasks a particular organization needs a Webmaster to perform.

To specify the job description of a Webmaster, one needs to identify the hardware and software the website the Webmaster will manage is running on. Different types of hardware and software require different skill sets to manage them. Another key factor is whether the website will be running internally or externally (renting shared space on the company servers). Finally, the responsibilities of a webmaster also depend on whether he or she will be working independently, or whether the firm will provide people to help. All of these factors need to be considered before one can create an accurate webmaster job description.

Webmaster is one type of Internet career requiring in-depth knowledge of the latest computer applications. However, there are also online jobs available for which traditional skills remain in high demand. Content jobs require excellent writing skills and a good sense of the web as a "new media'.

The term "new media" is difficult to define because it compasses a constantly growing set of new technologies and skills. Specifically, it includes websites, email internet technology, CD- ROM, DVD, streaming audio and video, interactive multimedia presentations, e-books, digital music, computer illustration, video games, virtual reality, and computer artistry.

Additionally, many of today's Internet careers are becoming paid-by-the-job professions. With many companies having to downsize in tough economic items, the outsourcing and contracting of freelance workers online has become common business practice. The Internet provides an infinite pool of buyers from around the world with whom freelancers can contract their services. An added benefit to such their own country. online jobs is that freelancers are able to work on projects with companies outside

How much can a person make in these kinds of careers? As with many questions related to today's evolving technology, there is no simple answer. There are many companies willing to pay people with Internet skills salaries well over 70,000 a year. Generally, web masters start at about 70,000 30,000 per year, but salaries can vary greatly. Freelance writers working online have been known to make between 40,000 to 70,000 a year. 

According to the passage, which of the following is TRUE of webmasters?

Read the passage below and choose the best answer (A, B, C or D ) to each question.

The movement of people towards cities has accelerated in the past 40 years, particularly in the less developed regions, and the share of the global population living in urban areas has increased from one third in 1960 to 47% (2.8 billion people) in 1999. The world's urban population is now growing by 60 million persons per year, about three times the increase in the rural population.

Increasing urbanisation results about equally from births in urban areas and from the continued movement of people from the rural surround. These forces are also feeding the sprawl of urban areas as formerly rural peri-urban settlements become incorporated into nearby cities and as secondary cities, linked by commerce to larger urban centres, grow larger.

The proportion of people in developing countries who live in cities has almost doubled since 1960 (from less than 22% to more than 40%), while in more-developed regions the urban share has grown from 61% to 76%. There is a significant association between this population movement from rural to urban areas and declines in average family size.

Asia and Africa remain the least urbanised of the developing regions (less than 38% each). Latin America and the Caribbean is more than 75% urban, a level almost equal to those in Europe, Northern America and Japan (all are between 75 and 79%).

Urbanisation is projected to continue well into the next century. By 2030, it is expected that nearly 5 billion (61%) of the world's 8.1 billion people will live in cities. The less-developed regions will be more than 57% urban. Latin America and the Caribbean will actually have a greater percentage of inhabitants living in cities than Europe will.

Globally, the number of cities with 10 million or more inhabitants is increasing rapidly, and most of these new 'megacities' are in the less-developed regions. In 1960, only New York and Tokyo had more than 10 million people. By 1999, there were 17 cities of more than 10 million people around the world, 13 of these were in less-developed regions. It is projected that there will be 26 megacities by 2015, 22 in less-developed regions (18 will be in Asia); more than 10% of the world's population will live in these cities, up from just 1.7% in megacities in 1950.

How many cities in less developed regions had more than 10 million inhabitants in 1999?

Read the following passage and choose among A, B, C or D the correct answer to each of the questions.

Telecommuting is some form of computer communication between employees' homes and offices. For employees whose job involves sitting at a terminal or word processor entering data or typing reports, the location of the computer is of no consequence. If the machine can communicate over telephone lines, when the work is completed, employees can dial the office computer and transmit the material to their employers. A recent survey in USA Today estimates that there are approximately 8.7 million telecommuters. But although the numbers are rising annually, the trend does not appear to be as significant as predicted when Business Week published "The Portable Executive" as its cover story a few years ago. Why hasn't telecommuting become more popular?

Clearly, change simply takes time. But in addition, there has been active resistance on the part of many managers. These executives claim that supervising the telecommuters in a large workforce scattered across the country would be too difficult, or at least systems for managing them are not yet developed, thereby complicating the manager's responsibilities.

It is also true that employees who are given the option of telecommuting are reluctant to accept the opportunity. Most people feel that they need regular interaction with a group, and many are concerned that they will not have the same consideration for advancement if they are not more visible in the office setting. Some people feel that even when a space in their homes is set aside as a work area, they never really get away from the office.

With which of the following topics is the passage primarily concerned?

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 has got two personalities - the one that is shown to the world and the other that is secret and real. You don’t show your secret personality when you are (51)...... because you can control yourself. But when you are asleep, your feeling position shows the real you. In a normal(52)..... , of course, people often change their positions. The important position is the one you go to sleep in.
If you go to sleep on your back, you are a very open person. You usually believe people and you accept new things or new ideas easily. You don’t like to make people sad, so you never express your (53)........ feeling. You are quite shy.
If you sleep on your stomach, you are a rather secretive person. You worry a lot and you always easily become sad. You usually live for today not tomorrow. This means that you (54)....having a good time.
If you sleep curled up, you are probably a very nervous person. You have a low opinion of yourself. You are shy and don’t like meeting people. You (55)..........  to be on your own. You are  easily hurt.
(51)..............................

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.
I live on the first floor of a house that has been (1).......... into three flats. Five months ago, a couple moved into the flat above and since then my life has been a nightmare. They get up at 6 a.m and make a terrible noise. They listen to the radio at top (2)......... , talk loudly and stamp on the floor. In the evening they play the same record on their stereo over and over again. It’s beginning to (3)......... me mad. I’ve tried turning my own stereo up to (4)............ out the noise but I like peace and quiet and find loud music stressful. I tried to talking to them but it hasn’t done any good. I realize I should live and (5)............. live , but I have begun to have quite irrational revenge fantasies about them – like switching off their electricity or deliberately making a lot of noise late at night when I know they are asleep. What on earth can I do?
(4).............................

Choose the best answer: 
The holiday season is a time for celebrating with friends and family. It is often called the “giving season” because during the holidays people give gifts and have celebrations. Unfortunately, this can all lead to a lot of waste. (1) _______, there are ways to reduce the amount of waste you create. Experts recently gave some ideas to the Associated Press.

The (2) _______ about paper waste have caused many people to look at other choices for wrapping a present. You can use reusable bags for gifts. Vaccariello recommends keeping gift bags and other decorations that you receive. You can reuse them the next time you give a gift. You can buy from companies (3) _______make environmentally-friendly gift wrap. Some companies make recyclable wrapping paper and do not use materials that are not recyclable. You can also wrap gifts in old maps, pages from magazines, and art paper. The person receiving the gift could use the wrapping for something else. Ozawa, editor at Martha Stewart Living, says she likes the Japanese tradition of furoshiki. This is where gifts are wrapped in cloth. The pretty and strong wrapping cloths can be used for (4) _______things, instead of just being thrown away. You could also wrap a gift in a colorful scarf or tablecloth. This makes the wrapping cloth part

of the gift itself. Instead of decorating a gift with something plastic, you can use something (5) _______such as pine cones, rosemary, or other evergreen.
4.

Choose the best answer:
Fans are generally taken (1)______ when a famous actor or actress suddenly (2)______the profession at the height of his or her career. Greta Garbo, who made her last film when she was not yet 40, was a notable (3)______ in point.

Sportsmen and women face this decision earliest. Though they generally have evidence that their powers are in (4)______, very few have the self-awareness to get out while the going is still (5)______.

Politicians are perhaps the last to realise that the game is up. As long as they can (6)______ on to power, they refuse to accept the advice of party members, no doubt suspecting it is prompted by their colleagues' own ambitions!
3.

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.
You can usually tell when your friends are happy or angry by the looks on their faces or by their actions. This is useful because reading their emotional expressions helps you to know how to respond to them. Emotions have evolved to help us respond to important situations and to convey our intentions to others. But does raising the eyebrows and rounding the mouth say the same thing in Minneapolis as it does in Madagascar? Much research on emotional expressions has centered on such questions.
According to Paul Ekman, the leading researcher in this area, people speak and understand substantially the same "facial language". Studies by Ekman's group have demonstrated that humans share a set of universal emotional expressions that testify to the common biological heritage of the human species. Smiles, for example, signal happiness and frowns indicate sadness on the faces of people in such far- flung places as Argentina, Japan, Spain, Hungary, Poland , Sumatra ,the United States, Vietnam, the jungles of New Guinea , and the Eskimo villages north of Artic Circle. Ekman and his colleagues claim that people everywhere can recognize at least seven basic emotions: sadness, fear, anger, disgust, contempt, happiness, and surprise. There are, however, huge differences across cultures in both the context and intensity of emotional displays - the so called display rules. In many Asian cultures, for example, children are taught to control emotional responses - especially negative ones- while many American children are encouraged to express their feelings more openly. Regardless of culture, however, emotions usually show themselves, to some degree, in people's behavior. From their first days of life, babies produce facial expressions that communicate their feelings.
The ability to read facial expressions develops early, too. Very young children pay close attention to facial expressions, and by age five, they nearly equal adults in their skill at reading emotions on people's faces. This evidence all points to a biological underpinning for our abilities to express and interpret a basic set of human emotions. Moreover, as Charles Darwin pointed out over a century ago, some emotional expressions seem to appear across species boundaries. Cross - cultural psychologists tell us that certain emotional responses carry different meanings in different cultures. For example, what emotion do you suppose might be conveyed by sticking out your tongue? For Americans, this might indicate disgust, while in China it can signify surprise. Likewise, a grin on an American face may indicate joy, while on a Japanese face it may just as easily mean embarrassment. Clearly, culture influences emotional expressions.

The word “evolved” 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.
Keeping fit and healthy may seem difficult, but there are a few easy-to-follow guidelines. Firstly, a balanced diet is absolutely essential. This (1)....... selecting food that is low in salt and sugar. Experts recommend reducing the amount of fat in your diet, as too much can lead to heart problems. They also suggest increasing the (2)......of high fiber food we eat. This comes in the form of fresh fruit, vegetables, whole meal bread and pasta. As well as being packed with vitamins and minerals, they are delicious too. Secondly, it’s important to fit exercise into your daily(3) ..... _This can be done by simply walking as much as possible and climbing stairs instead of taking the lift. Exercise is necessary to maintain a healthy body, as well as increasing energy levels and (4) ...... you feel generally fitter and happier. Finally, staying relaxed is important for good health. Too much stress can lead to a variety of illnesses, from headaches to high blood pressure. (5) ......... possible, do things you enjoy and treat yourself occasionally. So the message is simple- enjoy yourself but learn to respect your body too. It’s all a question of getting the balance right.
(1)............................

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.
One of the most beautiful parts of Britain is the Lake District. The Lake District is situated in the north-west of England and consists of high hills, mountains and, of course, lakes. In all, there are 16 lakes, of (16)... the largest is Lake Windermere. Over the years many writers have been (17).......   with this region but there can be no (18).....  that the most famous of all was   William Wordsworth (1770-1850), who was born and lived almost the whole of his life there. He had close connections with the village of Grasmere, where he lived for some thirteen years. He loved this particular part of England and many of his poems of the joy he felt when surrounded by beautiful countryside.
Every year more than 14 million people from Britain and abroad visit the Lake District to enjoy the fresh air and the scenery. Some go to walk in the mountains while others sail boats on the lakes or simply sit admiring the (19).......   views. Unfortunately, the  region is becoming a   victim of its own success in attracting visitors.  (20).....  come to the  Lake District that they  threaten to destroy the peace and quite which many are searching for there
(18).....................................

Read the passage below and decide whether the statements are TRUE or FALSE?

   Becoming a nurse practitioner requires a master’s degree in nursing and certification. With an aging population, the demand for healthcare is expected to double over the next decade. Physician assistants have climbed up to number 2 in the best jobs in America. They conduct physical exams, prescribe medicine, and treat illnesses. What does a physician assistant make? A physician assistant averages $92,000 per year and job growth is expected to rise a remarkable 39%.

Physician assistants have climbed up to number 3 in the best jobs in America.

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.
One rather unlike word that has recently entered the language is “blog”, a shortened form of “web log”. A blog is a diary on the Internet by the person writing it – the “blogger” – who presumably expect other people to read it. Modern technology is being used to (1)........ new life into such an old-fashioned form as the personal journal. And now, as the technology behind video camera is making them easier to use, we have the video log, or “vlog”. Vlogging does not require (2)....... sophisticated equipment: a digital video camera, a high-speed Internet connection and a host are all that is needed. Vloggers can put anything that takes their fancy onto their personal web site. Some vloggers have no ambition (3)........ than to show films they have shot while on holiday in exotic places. However, vlogs can also serve more ambitious purposes. For instance, amateur film-makers who want to make a (4).......... for themselves might publish their work on the Internet, eager to receive advice or criticism. And increasingly, vlogs are being used to publicize political and social issues that are not noteworthy enough to earn coverage by the mass media. It is still too early to predict whether vlogging will ever (5)...........off in a major way or if it is just a passing fad, but its potential is only now becoming apparent.
(5).............................

Read the passage below and decide whether the statements are TRUE or FALSE?

   Becoming a nurse practitioner requires a master’s degree in nursing and certification. With an aging population, the demand for healthcare is expected to double over the next decade. Physician assistants have climbed up to number 2 in the best jobs in America. They conduct physical exams, prescribe medicine, and treat illnesses. What does a physician assistant make? A physician assistant averages $92,000 per year and job growth is expected to rise a remarkable 39%.

A physician assistant averages $92,000 per year

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

Robots are already a part of our lives. Industrial robots widely used in manufacturing. Military and police organizations use robots to (26) _____ in dangerous situations. Robots can (27) _____ be found from vacuuming the floors in your home to exploring the surface of Mars.

Within a few more years a whole host of robotic adaptations will be running many aspects' of our lives. "I think in (28) _____ next thirty years, we are going to see a transformation between the industrial sorts of robots to personal robots," says Brooks from Brooks' company, IRobot, markets floor cleaning robots for homes.

"The advances in robotics make it clear that many household (29) ____ will be easily handled by a robot in the near future," says Bob Christopher, who works for a robotic technology company that is marketing a toy robot (30) _____ Pleo. "We have only one child but I could easily (31) _____ five or six robots in the home as well."

Within the next 10 years one will be able to (32) _____, to lease or purchase a domestic robot that not only does the household cleaning and prepare and serve his meals, (33) _____ also can carry him to the bathtub if he cannot walk.

Demographic changes, such as a rapidly aging population and a shrinking workforce, will drive forward the application of new (34) ___. There is going to be a real pull for increasing the productivity of working age people. So there is going to be a real push for robotics to help people. (35) _____ addition, it is likely that in the near future we will see robots- taking on some of the care functions elderly, or long-term ill people.

(30) _____

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 from 41 to 45.
Working as a novelist is not really a career like being a doctor or a scientist. Although a fewwell-known ones, like Harry Potter author J. K. Rowling, have become wealthy, most writers find it difficult even to make a living from their book sales. Novels take a long time towrite, and authors can get into financial (41)     if they don’t have money coming in regularly from another job. But for those determined to     write novels, it is without (42) one of the most enjoyable kinds of work to do. The writer has to be creative, thinking up completely new stories, and (43)      , meaning they put all their time and effort     into their work. They also need to be able to cope in a crisis, as nobody else can write their book for them. For this, a good sense of (44) often helps. Or the thought that maybe their novel might one day be turned into a film and become a Hollywood (45)          !
(41)........................