Probably the most famous film commenting on the twentieth-century technology is Modem Times, made in 1936. Charlie Chaplin was motivated to make the film by a reporter who, while interviewing him, happened to describe the working conditions in industrial Detroit. Chaplin was told that healthy young farm boys were lured to the city to work on automotive assembly lines. Within four or five years, these young men's health was destroyed by the stress of work in the factories.
The film opens with a shot of a mass of sheep making their way down a crowded ramp. Abruptly, the film shifts to a scene of factory workers jostling one another on their way to a factory. However, the rather bitter note of criticism in the implied comparison is not sustained. It is replaced by a gentle note of satire. Chaplin prefers to entertain rather than lecture.
Scenes of factory interiors account for only about one-third of Modern Times, but they contain some of the most pointed social commentary as well as the most comic situations. No one who has seen the film can ever forget Chaplin vainly trying to keep pace with the fast-moving conveyor belt, almost losing his mind in the process. Another popular scene involves an automatic feeding machine brought to the assembly line so that workers need not interrupt their labor to eat. The feeding machine malfunctions, hurling food at Chaplin, who is strapped in his position on the assembly line and cannot escape. This serves to illustrate people's utter helplessness in the face of machines that are meant to serve their basic needs.
Clearly, Modern Times has its faults, but it remains the best film treating technology within  a social context. It does not offer a radical social message, but it does accurately reflect the sentiment of many who feel they are victims of an over - mechanized world

According to the author, about two-thirds of Modern Times.......................

Read the passage below and choose one correct answer for each question.

Scientists believe they now have scientific evidence to prove that ecosystems work better when there is a greater variety of species within them. This biodiversity loss destroys natural mechanisms that could repair the damage caused by man.

Findings show that losing plants and animals is not only reducing our quality of life but actually endangering our very existence. We cut down rich rain-forests and replace them with one species plantations, such as pine and eucalyptus. We plough up meadows rich in different grasses and herbs and replace them with one grass, for instance, rye or wheat.

When a natural ecosystem is simplified the basic processes in the ecosystem are altered arid even damaged. Without their biodiversity, they are not able to serve as the natural cleaners of our planet. No longer are they able to absorb the carbon dioxide that is being produced in excess. The result is global warming, caused by the increase in the "greenhouse effect", and ultimately, or even sooner, there will be a change in the world's climate.

The word "them" in line 5 refers to _____

Exercise 1: Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions.

   The American type of football was developed in the 19th century from soccer and rugby football. Played by professionals, amateurs, college and high school students, or young children, football in American is one of the most popular sports besides basketball and baseball. It attracts millions of fans each fall and people are very supportive of their favourite teams. The football playing field of today is rectangular in shape and measures 100 yards long and 53.5 yards wide. White lines are painted on the playing field to mark off the distances to the end zone. The games is divided into four quarters, each fifteen minutes long. The first two quarters are known as the first half. There is a rest period between two halves which usually last about fifteen minutes. Each team has eleven players. Each team has offensive players who play when the team has possession of the ball and defensive players who play when the other team has the possession of the ball. Because of the body contact players have during the game, helmets are worn to protect their head and face area, whereas pads are worn to protect the shoulders, arms, and legs. Also, there are officials carrying whistles and flags to make certain that the rules of the game are followed during the game. The football is made of leather and is brown in colour. It is shaped much like an oval and has white rings near each end of the football. These rings help the players see the ball when it is thrown or someone is running with it. The eight stitches on the top of the football help the players to grip the ball when throwing or passing. The most famous game of the year is Super Bowl that is played in January or February. It is televised around the world and is watched by millions of people each year.

As mentioned in the text, who are the most active when their team has the ball?

Read the following passage and mark the letter A. B. C or D your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions.

CAN ANIMALS TALK?

In 1977, a young Harvard graduate named Irene Pepperberg brought a one-year-old African gray parrot into her lab, and attempted something very unusual. At a time when her fellow scientists thought that animals could only communicate on a very basic level, Irene set out to discover what was on a creature's mind by talking to it. The bird, named Alex, proved to be a very good pupil.

Scientists at the time believed that animals were incapable of any thought. They believed that animals only reacted to things because they were programmed by nature to react that way, not because they had the ability to think or feel. Any pet owner would probably disagree. Pepperberg disagreed, too, and started her work with Alex to prove them wrong.

Pepperberg bought Alex in a pet store. She let the store's assistant pick him out because she didn't want other scientists saying later that she'd deliberately chosen an especially smart bird for her work. Most researchers thought that Pepperberg's attempt to communicate with Alex would end in failure.

However, Pepperberg's experiment did not fail. In fact, over the next few years, Alex learned to imitate almost one hundred and fifty English words, and was even able to reason and use those words on a basic level to communicate. For example, when Alex was shown an object and was asked about its shape, color, or material, he could label it correctly. He could understand that a key was a key no matter what its size or color, and could figure out how the key was different from others.

Pepperberg was careful not to exaggerate Alex's success and abilities. She did not claim that Alex could actually “use” language. Instead, she said that Alex had learned to use a two-way communication code. Alex seemed to understand the turn-taking pattern of communication.

In paragraph 3, "deliberately" 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 answer to each of the questions. 
     How might volunteering contribute to lower blood pressure? Performing volunteer work could increase physical activity among people who aren’t otherwise very active, says lead study author Rodlescia Sneed, a doctoral candidate in social and health psychology at Carnegie Mellon University. It may also reduce stress. “Many people find volunteer work to be helpful with respect to stress reduction, and we know that stress is very strongly linked to health outcomes,” she says.
     As with any activity thought to improve health, researchers are trying to identify the specific characteristics of volunteering that provide the greatest benefit. For example, how much time would you need to put into volunteer work to lower your blood pressure or live longer? In the Carnegie Mellon study, 200 hours of volunteering per year correlated to lower blood pressure. Other studies have found a health benefit from as little as 100 hours of volunteering a year. Which types of volunteer activities improve health the most? No one really knows. Sneed speculates that mentally stimulating activities, like tutoring or reading, might be helpful for maintaining memory and thinking skills, while “activities that promote physical activity would be helpful with respect to cardiovascular health, but no studies have really explored this.”
     One key for deriving health benefits from volunteering is to do it for the right reasons. A 2012 study in the journal Health Psychology found that participants who volunteered with some regularity lived longer, but only if their intentions were truly altruistic. In other words, they had to be volunteering to help others—not to make themselves feel better.
      The Greek philosopher Aristotle once surmised that the essence of life is “To serve others and do good.” If recent research is any indication, serving others might also be the essence of good health.

According to paragraph 4, what is the lesson from one of the greatest intellectual figures in history?

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. 
Despite the wealth of information campaigns telling people about global warming and its causes, most people have (23) _______to realize how severe the problem is. Coming climate changes could alter as much as one third of plant and animal habitats by the end of the 22nd century. These changes could in (24) ____ cause widespread extinctions among plant and animal species around the globe. 
Coastal and island habitats are perhaps in the greatest danger (25) _______ they face the combined threats of warming oceans and rising sea levels. As habitats change, many animals will come under intense pressure to find more suitable homes for themselves. Mass (26) ____ of at least some animals are certainly to be expected, but the fact remains that many animals will simply not be able to move fast enough. 
Such dire predictions may sound alarmist, but they are based on the rather moderate estimate that the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will double by 2100. Many scientists believe, however, that this figure is actually very conservative, and they claim that a tripling is far more realistic. If they are (27) ____, the effects on nature will be even more dramatic

Mass (26) ____ of at least some animals are certainly to be expected, but the fact remains that many animals will simply not be able to move fast enough.

The Sun today is a yellow dwarf star. It is fueled by thermonuclear reactions near its center that convert hydrogen to helium. The Sun has existed in its present state for about four billion six hundred million years and is thousands of times larger than the Earth.
By studying other stars, astronomers can predict what the rest of the Sun's life will be like.
About five billion years from now, the core of the Sun will shrink and become hotter. The surface temperature will fall. The higher temperature of the center will increase the rate of thermonuclear reactions. The outer regions of the Sun will expand approximately 35 million miles, about the distance to Mercury, which is the closest planet to the Sun. The Sun will then be a red giant star. Temperatures on the Earth will become too high for life to exist.
Once the Sun has used up its thermonuclear energy as a red giant, it will begin to shrink. After it shrinks to the size of the Earth, it will become a white dwarf star. The Sun may throw off huge amounts of gases in violent eruptions called nova explosions as it changes from a red giant to a white dwarf.
After billions of years as a white dwarf, the Sun will have used up all its fuel and will have lost its heat. Such a star is called a black dwarf. After the Sun has become a black dwarf, the Earth will be dark and cold. If any atmosphere remains there, it will have frozen over the Earth’s surface.

The word "there" in the last sentence of paragraph 4 refers to......................

Choose the best answer to complete the passage.

Most people (1) ____ learning with formal education at school, college, university etc. We are all told, from an early age, that we should get a good education'. Generally speaking, it is true that a formal education and the resulting qualifications are important. Education may (2) ____ our potential to find better, more satisfying jobs, earn more and perhaps, become more successful in our chosen career.

However, 'schooling' is only one type of learning. There are many other opportunities to further your (3) ____ and develop the skills you need throughout life. Knowledge can be acquired and skill sets developed anywhere - learning is unavoidable and happens all the (4) ____. However, lifelong learning is about creating and maintaining a positive attitude to learning both for personal and professional development.

Lifelong learners are self-motivated to learn and develop because they want to. (5) ____ learning can enhance our understanding of the world around us, provide us with more and better opportunities and improve our quality of life. People learn for personal development and for professional (6) ____. There are many reasons why people learn for personal development. You may want to increase your knowledge or (7) ____ around a particular hobby or pastime that you enjoy. Perhaps you want to develop some entirely new skill that will in some way enhance your life – take a pottery (8) ____ car mechanic course for example. Perhaps you want to research a medical condition or your ancestry.

If you do find yourself unemployed, then use the time wisely. Learning something new can pay off with new opportunities which might not otherwise have (9) ____. While you are employed, take advantage of training, coaching or mentoring opportunities and work on your continuous professional development as you will likely (10) ____ better at what you do and more indispensable to your current or future employer.

(7) ____

Chọn từ thích hợp điền vào chỗ trống:

THE THREAT TO THE ENVIRONMENT

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

(9)________

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. 
       A little while ago, the European Parliament recommended a list of 8 key competencies which they believe all (23) ____ institutions should provide their students with, to promote lifelong learning. These key competencies consist of knowledge, skills, and attitudes which are central to the development of (24) ____ children, young people and eventually adults.
       Finland isn't the first country to recognize the value of ‘lifelong learning’ but Finland is the first country to base their teaching curriculum (25) ____ the eight key competencies. Instead of focusing on classic academic subjects, like. History or English, Finnish schools will now structure lessons around broader, crosscutting and interdisciplinary "topics".
       Speaking on why Finland decided to make this shift towards lifelong learning. Pasi Sahlberg. Visiting Professor at the Graduate School of Education Harvard University, said: “educators in Finland think, quite correctly, that schools should teach what young people need in their lives... (26) ______Finnish youth need more than before are more integrated knowledge and skills about real world issues”.
       As Professor Sahlberg explains the key competencies don't focus on knowledge acquisition and test score results, (27) ____ on developing skills for longer term learning, with an emphasis on social and emotional development.

 Finland isn't the first country to recognize the value of ‘lifelong learning’ but Finland is the first country to base their teaching curriculum (25) ____ the eight key competencies.

Choose the letter A, B, C or D to complete the passage below

   Since China adopted its open-door (1) _____ approximately twenty-five years ago, Chinese higher education has begun once again to draw closer to the (2) _____ Western world. China's (3) _____ to send scholars and students to the United States at the end of the 1970s, after thirty years of hostility between the two countries, marked a dramatic turning (4) _____ in the nation's educational history. Today, about 50,000 Chinese students, are studying in the United States, accounting (5)_____ 10 percent of the total international students in the country.

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

Read the passage and choose the best answer to compete each of the statements that follow
The hippopotamus is the third largest land animal, smaller only than the elephant and the rhinoceros. Its name comes from two Greek words which mean "river horse". The long name of this animal is often shortened to the easier to handle term "hippo."
The hippo has a natural affinity for the water. It does not float on top of the water; instead, it can easily walk along the bottom of a body of water. The hippo commonly remains underwater for three to five minutes and has been known to stay under for up to half an hour before coming up for air.
In spite of its name, the hippo has relatively little in common with the horse and instead has a number of interesting similarities in common with the whale. When a hippo comes up after a stay at the bottom of a lake or river, it releases air through a blowhole, just like a whale. In addition, the hippo resembles the whale in that they both have thick layers of blubber for protection and they are almost completely hairless.

It can be inferred from the passage that the hippopotamus is commonly called a hippo because the word "hippo" is_____________

Probably the most famous film commenting on the twentieth-century technology is Modem Times, made in 1936. Charlie Chaplin was motivated to make the film by a reporter who, while interviewing him, happened to describe the working conditions in industrial Detroit. Chaplin was told that healthy young farm boys were lured to the city to work on automotive assembly lines. Within four or five years, these young men's health was destroyed by the stress of work in the factories.
The film opens with a shot of a mass of sheep making their way down a crowded ramp. Abruptly, the film shifts to a scene of factory workers jostling one another on their way to a factory. However, the rather bitter note of criticism in the implied comparison is not sustained. It is replaced by a gentle note of satire. Chaplin prefers to entertain rather than lecture.
Scenes of factory interiors account for only about one-third of Modern Times, but they contain some of the most pointed social commentary as well as the most comic situations. No one who has seen the film can ever forget Chaplin vainly trying to keep pace with the fast-moving conveyor belt, almost losing his mind in the process. Another popular scene involves an automatic feeding machine brought to the assembly line so that workers need not interrupt their labor to eat. The feeding machine malfunctions, hurling food at Chaplin, who is strapped in his position on the assembly line and cannot escape. This serves to illustrate people's utter helplessness in the face of machines that are meant to serve their basic needs.
Clearly, Modern Times has its faults, but it remains the best film treating technology within  a social context. It does not offer a radical social message, but it does accurately reflect the sentiment of many who feel they are victims of an over - mechanized world

The word "vainly" in the fourth paragraph is closest in meaning to .....................

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions:
    Animation traditionally is done by hand-drawing or painting successive frame of an object, each slightly different than the proceeding frame. In computer animation, although the computer may be the one to draw the different frames, in most cases the artist will draw the beginning and ending frames and the computer will produce the drawings between the first and the last drawing. This is generally referred to as computer-assisted animation, because the computer is more of a helper than an originator. 
    In full computer animation, complex mathematical formulas are used to produce the final sequences of pictures. These formulas operate on extensive databases of numbers that defines the objects in the pictures as they exist in mathematical space. The database consists of endpoints, and color and intensity information. Highly trained professionals are needed to produce such effects because animation that obtains high degrees of realism involves computer techniques from three-dimensional transformation, shading, and curvatures.
    High-tech computer animation for film involves very expensive computer systems along with special color terminals or frame buffers. The frame buffer is nothing more than a giant image memory for viewing a single frame. It temporarily holds the image for display on the screen.
    A camera can be used to film directly from the computer’s display screen, but for the highest quality images possible, expensive film recorders are used. The computer computers the positions and colors for the figures in the picture, and sends this information to the recorder, which captures it on film. Sometimes, however, the images are stored on a large magnetic disk before being sent to the recorder. Once this process is completed, it is replaced for the next frame. When the entire sequence has been recorded on the film, the film must be developed before the animation can be viewed. If the entire sequence does not seem right, the motions must be corrected, recomputed, redisplayed, and rerecorded. This approach can be very expensive and time – consuming. Often, computer-animation companies first do motion tests with simple computer-generated line drawings before selling their computers to the task of calculating the high-resolution, realistic-looking images.

The word “Once” in the fourth paragraph is closest in meaning to ______.

Choose the letter A, B, C or D to answer these following questions

   In developing countries, people are sometimes unaware of the importance of education, and there is economic pressure from those parents who prioritize their children's, making money in the short term over any long-term benefits of education. Recent studies on child labor and, poverty have suggested that when poor families reach a certain economic threshold where families are able to provide for their basic needs, parents return their children to school. This has been found to be true, once the threshold has been breached, even if the potential economic value of the children's work has increased since their return to school. Other problems are that teachers are often paid less than other professions; a lack of good universities and a low acceptance rate for good universities are evident in countries with a relatively high population density. India has launched EDUSAT, an education satellite that can reach remote parts of the country at a greatly reduced cost. There is also ail initiative supported by several major corporations to develop a $100 laptop. The laptops have been available since 2007. The laptops, sold at cost, will enable developing countries to give their children a digital education. In Africa, an "e-school program" has been launched to provide all 600,000 primary and high schools with computer equipment, learning materials and internet access within 10 years. Volunteer groups are working to give more individuals opportunity to receive education in developing countries through such programs as the Perpetual Education Fund. An International Development Agency project started with the support of American President Bill Clinton uses the Internet to allow co-operation by individuals on issues of social development.

According to recent studies, when parents are able to overcome their financial difficulty, ________.

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 was an MBA student in the USA and I lived in the university’s coed dormitory. In my culture, usually, if a woman talks to a man, it is a sign of romantic interest. (23)_______, in the first few days of school, I found it strange that so many women were talking to me and I was under the impression that some women on my dormitory floor were interested in me. To (24) _____ their politeness, I would buy them flowers or offer small gifts, as is done in my country. However, I was quite surprised to see that these same women now seemed (25) _______ around me. One was even quite offended and told me to leave her alone. Eventually I talked to the residence adviser on my floor to see what I was doing wrong, and he explained to me the way men and women usually interact in the USA. I was quite relieved to hear that (26) _____ was wrong with me, but rather with the way I was interpreting my conversations with women. Even though I did not find the love of my life while I was in the USA, I still made many good female friends afterwards (27) _______I still maintain contact.

(23)_______, in the first few days of school, I found it strange that so many women were talking to me and I was under the impression that some women on my dormitory floor were interested in me.

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. 
     How might volunteering contribute to lower blood pressure? Performing volunteer work could increase physical activity among people who aren’t otherwise very active, says lead study author Rodlescia Sneed, a doctoral candidate in social and health psychology at Carnegie Mellon University. It may also reduce stress. “Many people find volunteer work to be helpful with respect to stress reduction, and we know that stress is very strongly linked to health outcomes,” she says.
     As with any activity thought to improve health, researchers are trying to identify the specific characteristics of volunteering that provide the greatest benefit. For example, how much time would you need to put into volunteer work to lower your blood pressure or live longer? In the Carnegie Mellon study, 200 hours of volunteering per year correlated to lower blood pressure. Other studies have found a health benefit from as little as 100 hours of volunteering a year. Which types of volunteer activities improve health the most? No one really knows. Sneed speculates that mentally stimulating activities, like tutoring or reading, might be helpful for maintaining memory and thinking skills, while “activities that promote physical activity would be helpful with respect to cardiovascular health, but no studies have really explored this.”
     One key for deriving health benefits from volunteering is to do it for the right reasons. A 2012 study in the journal Health Psychology found that participants who volunteered with some regularity lived longer, but only if their intentions were truly altruistic. In other words, they had to be volunteering to help others—not to make themselves feel better.
      The Greek philosopher Aristotle once surmised that the essence of life is “To serve others and do good.” If recent research is any indication, serving others might also be the essence of good health.

What does the passage mainly discuss?

Very few people in the modern world obtain their food supply by hunting and gathering in the natural environment surrounding their homes. This method of harvesting from nature’s provision is the oldest known subsistence strategy and has been practised for at least the last two million years. It was, indeed, the only way to obtain food until rudimentary farming and the domestication of wild animals were introduced about 10,000 years ago.
Because hunter-gatherers have fared poorly in comparison with their agricultural cousins, their numbers have dwindled, and they have been forced to live in marginal environments, such as deserts and arctic wastelands. In higher latitudes, the shorter growing seasons have restricted the availability of plant life. Such conditions have caused a greater dependence on hunting, and on fishing along the coasts and waterways. The abundance of vegetation in the lower latitudes of the tropics, on the other hand, has provided a greater opportunity for gathering a variety of plants. In short, the environmental differences have restricted the diet and have limited possibilities for the development of subsistence societies.
Contemporary hunter-gatherers may help us understand our prehistoric ancestors. We know from the observation of modern hunter-gatherers in both Africa and Alaska that a society based on hunting and gathering must be very mobile. While the entire community camps in a central location, a smaller party harvests the food within a reasonable distancefrom the camp. When the food in the area has become exhausted, the community moves on to exploit another site. We also notice seasonal migration patterns evolving for most hunter-gatherers, along with a strict division of labor between the sexes. These patterns of behavior may be similar to those practised by mankind during the Paleolithic Period.

Which of the following would serve as the best title of the passage?

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. 
Times are tough. The nightly news is filled with stories of people who have lost their jobs due to the economic crisis, or lost their homes in a fire or natural disaster. Have you ever seen people who have just endured an awful situation? Some focus on what they have lost, and this is easy to understand. But other people focus on what they did not lose, and they start thinking about a better future.
One good piece of advice to remember is that you cannot always control situations or other people. The only thing you can control is your own personal reaction to bad situations. Sometimes a situation may really be overwhelming. However, in many cases, you really can influence our own moods by the way you think about negative situations.
Imagine two families: Both have lost their homes and all their belongings in a devastating storm. One family cannot mask their grief. They feel that everything they hold dear has been destroyed. They cannot imagine how they will ever be able to replace things and start over again. Their normal life seems to have been completely lost. In contrast, a second family is crying with joy. All of the people in their family are unharmed and safe. This family is just happy that everyone has survived. This family is already trying to figure out how they can recover. You can’t really blame the first family for experiencing a very normal reaction to a terrible situation. However, the second family certainly seems to be better off. They are thinking about making progress rather than focusing on the tragic events. 
Though this scenario is extreme, everyone experiences setbacks that seem just awful at the time. This could be a job loss, illness, or problems with family members. Nobody gets through life without having some bad things happen. In these situations, try to focus on the steps you can take to remedy the situation, instead of how awful the setback is. By doing this, you will be laying the foundation for a better tomorrow. And you will not suffer as much pain today.
Actually, controlling how you feel and trying to maintain a positive attitude can help you through many tough situations. The bottom line is, no matter what the problem is, you are more likely to fix it if you can stay positive and work out a plan. Also, never be afraid to seek help when you need it. The advice of a friend, family member, or even a professional may be all it takes to get back on track. 
It may sound like a cliché. While a positive attitude may not be the answer to every problem, it can certainly give you an advantage in surviving most of life’s minor setbacks.

He should have listened to your advice.

Choose the best answer:
After more than fifty years of television, it might seem only obvious to conclude that it is here to (1) ______ . There have been many objections to it during this time, of course, and (2) ______ a variety of grounds. Did it cause eye-strain? Was the (3) ______ bombarding us with radioactivity? Did the advertisements contain subliminal messages, persuading us to buy more? Did children turn to violence through watching it, either because so (4) ______ programmes taught them how to shoot, rob, and kill, or because they had to do something to counteract the hours they had spent glued to the tiny screen? Or did it simply create a vast passive (5) ______ drugged by glamorous serials and inane situation (6) ______ ? On the other hand did it increase anxiety by sensationalizing the news [or the news which was (7) ______ by suitable pictures] and filling our living rooms with war, famine and political unrest? (8) ______ in all, television proved to be the all-purpose scapegoat for the second half of the century, blamed for everything, but above all, eagerly watched. For no (9) ______ how much we despised it, feared it, were bored by it, or felt that it took us away from the old paradise of family conversation and hobbies such as collecting stamps, we never turned it off. We kept staring at the screen, aware that our own tiny (10) ______ was in if we looked carefully.
4.

Choose the best answer to complete the passage.

Most people (1) ____ learning with formal education at school, college, university etc. We are all told, from an early age, that we should get a good education'. Generally speaking, it is true that a formal education and the resulting qualifications are important. Education may (2) ____ our potential to find better, more satisfying jobs, earn more and perhaps, become more successful in our chosen career.

However, 'schooling' is only one type of learning. There are many other opportunities to further your (3) ____ and develop the skills you need throughout life. Knowledge can be acquired and skill sets developed anywhere - learning is unavoidable and happens all the (4) ____. However, lifelong learning is about creating and maintaining a positive attitude to learning both for personal and professional development.

Lifelong learners are self-motivated to learn and develop because they want to. (5) ____ learning can enhance our understanding of the world around us, provide us with more and better opportunities and improve our quality of life. People learn for personal development and for professional (6) ____. There are many reasons why people learn for personal development. You may want to increase your knowledge or (7) ____ around a particular hobby or pastime that you enjoy. Perhaps you want to develop some entirely new skill that will in some way enhance your life – take a pottery (8) ____ car mechanic course for example. Perhaps you want to research a medical condition or your ancestry.

If you do find yourself unemployed, then use the time wisely. Learning something new can pay off with new opportunities which might not otherwise have (9) ____. While you are employed, take advantage of training, coaching or mentoring opportunities and work on your continuous professional development as you will likely (10) ____ better at what you do and more indispensable to your current or future employer.

(3) ____