Read and complete the sentence. "The major source of early American folk songs was music from the British Isles, _____songs from Africa as songs of the American Indians have significant part in its heritage."
Hãy suy nghĩ và trả lời câu hỏi trước khi xem đáp án
Lời giải:
Báo saiĐáp án B
Dịch: Nguồn chính của các bài hát dân gian Mỹ thời kỳ đầu là âm nhạc từ quần đảo Anh, nhưng các bài hát từ châu Phi như các bài hát của thổ dân da đỏ châu Mỹ có một phần đáng kể trong di sản của nó.
Câu hỏi liên quan
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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
2. The fear of leaders from oil and gas sector company comes from ____ -
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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. -
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Deforestation is the clearing, destroying, or otherwise removal of trees through deliberate, natural or accidental means. It can occur in any area densely populated by trees and other plant life, but the majority of it is currently happening in the Amazon rainforest. The loss of trees and other vegetation can cause climate change, desertification, soil erosion, fewer crops, flooding, increased greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, and a host of problems for indigenous people. Deforestation occurs for a number of reasons, including: farming, mostly cattle due to its quick turn around; and logging for materials and development. It has been happening for thousands of years, arguably since man began converting from hunter/gatherer to agricultural based societies, and required larger, unobstructed tracks of land to accommodate cattle, crops, and housing. It was only after the onset of the modern era that it became an epidemic. One of the most dangerous and unsettling effects of deforestation is the loss of animal and plant species due to their loss of habitat; not only do we lose those known to us, but also those unknown, potentially an even greater loss. Seventy percent of Earth’s land animals and plants live in forests, and many cannot survive the deforestation that destroys their homes. The trees of the rainforest that provide shelter for some species also provide the canopy that regulates the temperature, a necessity for many others. Its removal through deforestation would allow a more drastic temperature variation from day to night, much like a desert, which could prove fatal for current inhabitants. In addition to the loss of habitat, the lack of trees also allows a greater amount of greenhouse gases to be released into the atmosphere. Presently, the tropical rainforests of South America are responsible for 20% of Earth’s oxygen and they are disappearing at a rate of 4 hectares a decade. If these rates are not stopped and reversed, the consequences will become even more severe. The trees also help control the level of water in the atmosphere by helping to regulate the water cycle. With fewer trees left, due to deforestation, there is less water in the air to be returned to the soil. In turn, this causes dryer soil and the inability to grow crops, an ironic twist when considered against the fact that 80% of deforestation comes from small-scale agriculture and cattle ranching. Further effects of deforestation include soil erosion and coastal flooding. In addition to their previously mentioned roles, trees also function to retain water and topsoil, which provides the rich nutrients to sustain additional forest life. Without them, the soil erodes and washes away, causing farmers to move on and perpetuate the cycle. The barren land which is left behind in the wake of these unsustainable agricultural practices is then more susceptible to flooding, specifically in coastal regions. Coastal vegetation lessens the impact of waves and winds associated with a storm surge. Without this vegetation, coastal villages are susceptible to damaging floods.
8. The paragraph following the last paragraph in the passage may probably discuss _______ -
Choose the best answer:
I have much homework that I ought ____. -
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You’ll be able to purchase high-quality emotions online. Emotion-sharing experiences are the latest fad in 2045. Imagine your friend at Glastonbury can post a photo on Instagram and with it comes bundled a faint twinkling of what she was feeling right there in that moment, so you too can share emotionally in her social experience. Recently, techniques for direct brain stimulation, like opt genetics, have made it possible to not only read but also write information into single neurons. At the moment data transfer rates are still very slow, the best we can do is a few bits per second, but this could well increase to kilobits or maybe reach broadband speeds by 2045. This means the range of human perception could expand beyond its current design limitations. One could foresee a new and extraordinary world where there is a virtual marketplace for trading high quality emotions – where artists looking for a particularly high strength brew of melancholy, or actors needing to channel regret or compassion for their next play, could purchase emotions online. Our cities will be made from living, dynamic materials that respond to the environment. In 30 years, tall buildings made of glass and twisted steel will be seen as relics from a bygone era, in the same way we think now of 1970s concrete tower blocks: ugly, outdated and unfit for contemporary purpose. The urban environment of 2045 blends architecture with living materials that are mouldable, adaptable, responsive and disposable. Entirely new synthetic life forms, or biological machines, made of engineered living cells from bacteria, fungi and algae will grow and evolve with the changing needs of a building’s inhabitants. They breathe in pollutants, clean wastewater, and use sunlight to make useful chemicals, energy, heat and vibrant vertical gardens. We will start to see a convergence between biology and technology, to the point where there is no longer a perceptible difference between the two. Today, synthetic biology labs are looking at the full diversity of what nature has to offer and using this to mix, match and edit genomes to design synthetic life forms. Right now, this field is just getting started and the science of synthetic biology is going to be tougher than most will admit. We will use invisibility cloaks to “disappear” ugly objects. Invisibility has forever been a tantalizing prospect. The key to cloaking lies in the way the electromagnetic spectrum (including visible light) interacts with objects. The human eye picks up electromagnetic radiation that falls and scatters from objects and we perceive this as light. In recent decades, scientists figured out using mathematics that it might just be possible to imagine a new class of artificial materials made of intricate tiny features with light bending properties. They named them metamaterials. Using nanotechnology engineering, scientists have since shown cloaking actually works – in principle at least, for a narrow range of colours and only from certain viewing angles. The future applications of cloaking are highly uncertain and will likely be determined by the fads and social contagion of the time. They may be used in everything from novelty gimmicks to making unsightly construction sites and power stations seemingly ‘disappear’.
2. The word “perception” in the second paragraph mostly means ____ -
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Do you find the American education system to be confusing and different from the education system in your own country? Do you want to attend a university or a school in the USA? The American education system offers international students the most diverse set of options in the world. In fact, an international student who elects to take advantage of the American education system can pursue anything from nuclear science to film and dance. The possibilities are almost endless! The American education system requires that students complete 12 years of primary and secondary education prior to attending university or college. This may be accomplished either at public (or government-operated) schools, or at private schools. These 12 years of schooling (or their equivalent) may also be completed outside the USA, thus giving foreign students the opportunity to pursue the benefits of the American education system and obtain a quality American education. Perhaps one of the most impressive facts is the large number of presidents, prime ministers and leaders from other countries who have experienced the American education system and graduated from a university or school in the USA. In many fields and industries, the American education system offers the most cutting-edge, soughtafter programs at the world’s best schools. That is why graduating from an accredited American school and being exposed to the rigors of the American education system is an investment in your future. Whether you want to study at a USA university, a top college, or at an ESL, vocational or high school, a thorough understanding of how the American education system works is essential. Without a clear grasp of the system, an international student will find it difficult to make the right academic choices. The information provided in the Overview of the American education system section will help you develop that understanding. You can also search our list of Universities, colleges, community colleges, graduate schools, and boys and girls boarding schools. It is no surprise that the United States hosts more international students than any other country in the world!
5. What is probably the best title for the passage? -
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Children should watch ____________ programs. -
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Paul Watson is an environmental activist. He is a man who believes that he must do something, not just talk about doing something. Paul believes in protecting endangered animals, and he protects them in controversial ways. Some people think that Watson is a hero and admire him very much. Other people think that he is a criminal. On July 16th, 1979, Paul Watson and his crew were on his ship, which is called the Sea Shepherd. Watson and the people who work on the Sea Shepherd were hunting on the Atlantic Ocean near Portugal. However, they had a strange prey, instead of hunting for animals, their prey was a ship, the Sierra. The Sea Shepherd found the Sierra, ran into it and sank it. As a result, the Sierra never returned to the sea. The Sea Shepherd, on the other hand, returned to its home in Canada. Paul Watson and his worked thought that they had been successful. The Sierra had been a whaling ship, which had operated illegally. The captain and the crew of the Sierra did not obey any of the international laws that restrict whaling. Instead, they killed as many whales as they could, quickly cut off the meat, and froze it. Later, they sold the whale meat in countries where it is eaten. Paul Watson tried to persuade the international whaling commission to stop the Sierra. However, the commission did very little, and Paul became impatient. He decided to stop the Sierra and whaling ships in any way that he could. He offered to pay $25,000 to an one who sank any illegal whaling ship, and he sank the Sierra. He acted because he believed that the whales must be protected. Still, he acted without the approval of the government; therefore, his action controversial. Paul Watson is not the only environmental activist. Other men and women are also fighting to protect the Earth. Like Paul Watson, they do not always have the approval of their governments, and like Watson, they have become impatient. Yet, because of their concern for the environment, they will act to protect it.
7. The captain and the crew of the Sierra were acting illegally because: -
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National parks protect the best of our natural heritage: stunning landscapes, extraordinary wildlife and majestic forests. Together with other protected areas they form the basis of our economic and social wellbeing, attract millions of visitors annually, and help to protect Australia’s unique wildlife by acting as a refuge for threatened species. Future generations deserve the right to see these natural values intact and protected as we do today. Our national parks form the cornerstone of biodiversity conservation in Australia, containing vital habitat that provides safe havens in which animals and plants can survive and thrive. Together with other protected areas, they provide a ‘backbone’ of core conservation areas that can be linked by conservation efforts across different tenures, supporting a diverse, healthy and resilient environment. A well-connected landscape is essential for saving NSW’s 1,000 threatened species, 70% of which occur in our national parks. In addition our protected areas provide life-sustaining services vital for the wellbeing of our environment and society, such as protection of urban water catchments and climate amelioration. National Parks provide a major boost to Australia’s economy, with nature-based tourism bringing $23 billion into the country every year. Regional communities in particular benefit from the 35.5 million people who visit NSW’s national parks each year, through job creation and money spent on accommodation, fuel and food. The Great Barrier Reef alone attracts more than $6 billion a year in tourist-spending and supports over 63,000 jobs. Furthermore, from ancient aboriginal rock-art sites, to the buildings left over from early European settlements, our national parks also serve as a natural history book dating back thousands of years. Our national parks protect these vital and fragile places; areas where the traces of a history extending back more than 22,000 years can remain undisturbed. Natural areas have a profound effect on our physical and emotional health and wellbeing. In our increasingly frenetic world, our national parks are important sanctuaries where people can take time out, enjoy nature, get fit, relax and revitalise, whilst nature’s inherent beauty serves as a source of artistic, creative and spiritual inspiration. Research on the benefits of contact with the natural environment show that it is likely to have a significant positive psychological effect, serving to reduce stress, anger, frustration and aggression, providing an opportunity for social bonding, and serving as a place for learning and mental stimulation. Children in particular display long-term benefits of playing outdoors.
2. The word “refuge” in paragraph 1 is best replaced by _______ -
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Next time your boss asks you to work late and miss your band rehearsal or board game night, point them to a new study in the Journal of Vocational Behavior. Researchers have found that spending more time on a hobby can boost people’s confidence in their ability to perform their job well. Ciara Kelly at Sheffield University and colleagues recruited 129 hobbyists — from amateur climbers to improv comedians — to look at how the time spent on their hobbies shaped their work life. To begin with, the team measured the seriousness of each participant’s hobby, asking them to rate their agreement with statements like “I regularly train for this activity”, and also assessed how similar the demands of their job and hobby were. Then, each month for seven months, participants recorded how many hours they had dedicated to their activity, and completed a scale measuring their belief in their ability to effectively do their job, or their “self-efficacy”, in which they rated themselves on statements like “At work I am able to successfully overcome many challenges”. The researchers found that when participants spent longer than normal doing their leisure activity, their belief in their ability to perform their job increased. But this was only the case when they had a serious hobby that was dissimilar to their job, or when their hobby was similar to their work but they only did it casually. When their hobby was both serious and similar to their job, then spending more time on it actually had a detrimental effect, decreasing their self-efficacy. Why might that be? To maintain a serious hobby, people need to invest significant psychological resources, so if the activity has the same kinds of demands as their work, they may be left drained and unable to perform as well at their job. But if their hobby is quite different from their career, it may not interfere in the same way but instead help them develop other knowledge and skills that can boost their confidence at work. Of course, the data don’t provide conclusive evidence about the direction of the effect. Still, the results suggest that companies may want to encourage employees to pursue interests outside of work, as long as those activities differ from their day-to-day tasks. And they also may give pause to those who dream of packing it all in and turning their hobby into a career.
3. According to paragraph 2, what is NOT mentioned about the project of Ciara Kelly? -
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Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh said over the past 50 years of co- operation and development, besides security, political, cultural and social cooperation, ASEAN has been focusing on economic co-operation through the establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community. ASEAN member states have carried out such activities as one-stop-shop custom procedure, mutual recognition arrangements (MRAs) on electricity, rubber, processed food, pharmaceuticals, etc. Statistics by the Ministry of Industry and Trade reveals when Vietnam joined AFTA in 1996, the country’s two-way trade turnover with other countries in the bloc was only some 5.9 billion USD. In 2018, this number increased by more than 9.5 times and reached about 56.3 billion USD. In the first six months of 2019, Vietnam’s exports to ASEAN reached 13.067 billion USD, up 6.7 percent year-on-year. Notably, the introduction of the AEC marked a new integration step of ASEAN economies with a goal of building a competitive, dynamic and innovative ASEAN. Tran Thanh Hai, deputy head of the Import-Export Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, said that entering the ASEAN market, many Vietnamese products have had positive changes and become more competitive. For example, Vietnam used to acquire shrimp cultivation methods from other countries, such as Thailand in the past. However, it has made it to the list of biggest shrimp exporters in the world. On the other hand, having joined the AEC, enterprises now pay more attention to product quality, including technical standards. Even when Vietnam enters a new era of integration with global-scale free trade agreements already put on the table for negotiation, the role of ASEAN Economic Community is still significant. AEC lays a firm foundation for Vietnam to continue its journey of global integration, insiders said.
1. Which best serves as the title for the passage? -
Each sentence has a mistake. Find it by chosing A B C or D
The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations, that acts as a coordinating authority on international public health
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A considerable body of research has demonstrated a correlation between birth order and aspects such as temperament and behavior, and some psychologists believe that birth order significantly affects the development of personality. Psychologist Alfred Adler was a pioneer in the study of the relationship between birth order and personality. A key point in his research and in the hypothesis that he developed based on it was that it was not the actual numerical birth position that affected personality; instead, it was the similar responses in large numbers of families to children in specific birth order positions that had an effect. For example, first-borns, who have their parents to themselves initially and do not have to deal with siblings in the first part of their lives, tend to have their first socialization experiences with adults and therefore tend to find the process of peer socialization more difficult. In contrast, later-born children have to deal with siblings from the first moment of their lives and therefore tend to have stronger socialization skills.
Numerous studies since Adler's have been conducted on the effect ofbirth order and personality. These studies have tended to classify birth order types into four different categories: first-born, second-born and/or middle, last, and only child.
Studies have consistently shown that first-born children tend to exhibit similar, positive and negative personality traits. First-borns have consistently been linked with academic achievement in various studies; in one study, the number of National Merit scholarship winners who are first- borns was found to be equal to the number of second-and third-borns combined. First-borns have been found to be more responsible and assertive than those born in other birth-order positions and tend to rise to positions of leadership more often than others; more first-borns have served in the u.s. Congress and as u.s. presidents than have those born in other birth-order positions. However, studies have shown that first-borns tend to be more subject to stress and were considered problem children more often than later-borns.
Second-born and/or middle children demonstrate markedly different tendencies from first- borns. They tend to feel inferior to the older child or children because it is difficult for them to comprehend that their lower level of achievement is a function of age rather than ability, and they often try to succeed in areas other than those in which their older sibling or siblings excel. They tend to be more trusting, accepting, and focused on others than the more self-centered first-borns, and they tend to have a comparatively higher level of success in team sports than do first-borns or only children, who more often excel in individual sports.
The last-born child is the one who tends to be the eternal baby of the family and thus often exhibits a strong sense of security. Last-borns collectively achieve the highest degree of social success and demonstrate the highest levels of self-esteem of all the birth-order positions. They often exhibit less competitiveness than older brothers and sisters and are more likely to take part in less competitive group games or in social organizations such as sororities and fraternities.
Only children tend to exhibit some of the main characteristics of first-borns and some of the characteristics of last-borns. Only children tend to exhibit the strong sense of security and self-esteem exhibited by last-borns while, like first-borns, they are more achievement oriented and more likely than middle-or last-borns to achieve academic success. However, only children tend to have the most problems establishing close relationships and exhibit a lower need for affiliation than other children.
The word key in paragraph 1 could best be replaced by ________ .
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Spend just a minute watching the world population counter tick up on Worldometers and you’ll see just how quickly we’re swelling in numbers. The current figure stands at around 7.7 billion, and this is projected to become 9.8 billion by 2050, according to the UN. More people means more carbon footprints - more cars, waste and emissions, more houses and infrastructure to be constructed using the world’s limited resources, more mouths to be fed using more water and energy in food production. Governments recognise the severity of the situation and have mostly come together over global policies like the UN’s Paris Agreement, to limit carbon emissions and their impact on climate change. In addition, new technologies are being developed to make our use of resources more efficient. As for controlling population growth, the education of women is one key factor. Research shows the higher level to which a woman is educated, the fewer children she is likely to have. In Ghana, for example, women who have been to high school, have a fertility rate of between two and three children, compared with six for those who have no education. This could be for several reasons including learning about desired family size and understanding child health better. This means that the mother is more confident her children will survive. She is also likely to hold more sway within the family, arguing for fewer children if that is what she wants. There is also plenty that individuals can do to reduce their personal footprint. Earth Overshoot Day is defined as the day when humanity has used up nature’s resource budget for the year. The Global Footprint Network calculates that moving Earth Overshoot day back by five days every year would mean that, by 2050, we’d be using the resources of less than one planet. Just eating 50% less meat and replacing it with vegetarian alternatives could save the planet five days. As David Attenborough says, if we want to save Earth, we can no longer afford to keep eating meat: “We are omnivores, so biologically, if you could have a biological morality, you can say, yes we evolved to eat pretty well everything. But now we’ve got to a stage in our own social evolution in which that is no longer practical.” Sir David says he himself now eats less meat and is bolstered by the knowledge that it’s helping the planet.
2. The word “swelling” in paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to _______ -
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Scientist and inventor George Washington Carver was born into slavery during the American Civil War. After the war, he worked diligently to get an education. He managed to get an advanced degree in Botany, which is the study of plants. After he finished his college degree, he worked in the South. He taught people about botany and about how it could be used to improve farming. Carver learned that there was a problem with cotton farming in the South. Cotton takes nutrients from the soil. If cotton is planted year after year, the quality of the soil decreases. Carver knew that plants like peanuts and sweet potatoes are different from cotton. They add nutrients to the soil rather than take nutrients from the soil. Carver told farmers that it was a bad idea to grow only cotton and no other crops each year. He told them that they should also grow plants like peanuts and sweet potatoes, which improve the quality of the soil. Many farmers followed the advice that Carver offered them. The result was that the production on their farms increased. This increased production of peanuts and sweet potatoes improved the quality of the soil. However, when production of peanuts and sweet potatoes increased, a new problem developed. The new problem was that there were too much peanuts and sweet potatoes. To solve this problem, Carver began working in a laboratory to find new uses for peanuts and sweet potatoes. He developed hundreds of products that could be made from peanuts and sweet potatoes. These hundreds of products included food products, medicines, plastics and fertilizer
4. The underlined word “them” in paragraph 2 refers to ______________ -
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The Colosseum was constructed over a short decade, between 70-80 AD, by up to 100,000 slaves. Its building was overseen by different emperors who ruled under the Imperial Flavian dynasty, lending the structure its original name. Emperor Vespasian began the construction of the Flavian Amphitheater and his son Titus oversaw the construction of an additional tier after his death in 79 AD. His youngest son Domitian constructed the underground tunnels and added an extra level to increase its seating capacity. The amphitheater takes its more commonly attributed name from the Colossus of Nero, an enormous bronze statue of the Emperor which was located beside the structure. The Colosseum was a recreational and gathering space that was used for gladiatorial contests, public spectacles, historical re-enactments, mythological theatrical performances and of course, executions. It could hold between 50,000 to 80,000 spectators and the seating arrangements reflect the stratification of Roman society: senators were seated closest to the stage while the poorest Roman citizens (and women) stood at the highest level. Its skilled architects developed an ingenious design which included 80 entrances and exits with a numbering system to allow access in and out of the structure. Unlike most ancient amphitheaters which were built into hillsides for support, the Colosseum is so impressive because it is a freestanding structure: it is made of travertine stone that was sourced from the nearby Tivoli area and held together with iron clamps. The Colosseum is most closely associated with its gladiatorial shows, although often the combatants were not skilled professionals but rather unlucky slaves and criminals pitted against each other for the enjoyment of the public. In fact the venatio, or animal hunt, was one of the most popular shows for its novelty and shock appeal. Always in pursuit of ostentatious displays of wealth and power, the Romans procured exotic animals such as elephants, giraffes, lions, bears and crocodiles from the far reaches of the empire and sent them out into the pit, often along with unfortunate souls who would be torn to pieces. During the inaugural games of the Colosseum, most likely held in 80 AD, over 9,000 animals are believed to have been killed. The Romans also constructed elaborate stage sets on the arena floor, simulating forests and other natural environments, as backdrops to the events taking place.
4. According to paragraph 2, what meaning does the positional arrangement for the Roman beholders communicate? -
In the mid - nineteenth century, the United States had tremendous natural resources that could be exploited in order to develop heavy industry. Most of the raw materials that are valuable in the manufacture of machinery, transportation facilities, and consumer goods lay ready to be worked into wealth. Iron, coal, and oil - the basic ingredients of industrial growth - were plentiful and needed only the application of technical expertise, organizational skill, and labor.
One crucial development in this movement toward industrialization was the growth of the railroads. The railway network expanded rapidly until the railroad map of the United States looked like a spider's web, with the steel filaments connecting all important sources of raw materials, their places of manufacture, and their centers of distribution. The railroads contributed to the industrial growth not only by connecting these major centers, but also by themselves consuming enormous amounts of fuel, iron, and coal.
Many factors influenced emerging modes of production. For example, machine tools, the tools used to make goods, were steadily improved in the latter part of the nineteenth century - always with an eye to speedier production and lower unit costs. The products of the factories were rapidly absorbed by the growing cities that sheltered the workers and the distributors. The increased urban population was nourished by the increased farm production that, in turn, was made more productive by the use of the new farm machinery. American agricultural production kept up with the urban demand and still had surpluses for sale to the industrial centers of Europe.
The labor that ran the factories and built the railways was recruited in part from American farm areas where people were being displaced by farm machinery, in part from Asia, and in part from Europe. Europe now began to send tides of immigrants from eastern and southern Europe - most of whom were originally poor farmers but who settled in American industrial cities. The money to finance this tremendous expansion of the American economy still came from European financiers for the most part, but the American were approaching the day when their expansion could be financed in their own " money market".
What does the passage mainly discuss?
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Christmas is around the corner, which means it’s about time you examined carefully your holiday gift list. “Choosing the wrong gift can be kind of risky for relationships because it implies that you and the receiver don’t have anything in common,” says Elizabeth Dunn, a psychology professor at the University of British Columbia in Canada. Her research has also showed that undesirable gifts can sometimes negatively impact the receiver’s perception of a relationship’s future potential. Since you don’t want your holiday gift to cause more harm than good, how can you be sure to choose a gift the receiver will love? Psychology may have the answer. Contrary to common belief, studies have actually shown that spending more does not always guarantee a well-received gift. “It seems quite self-evident to most of us that if you spend more, you’re going to get a better girl. But as it turns out, there’s no evidence that recipients associate the cost of a gift with how much they enjoy that gift,” says Jeff Galak, an associate professor of marketing at the Carnegie Mellon Tepper School of Business in the US city of Pittsburgh. Galak acknowledges that your gift may have to hit a certain price due to tradition or expectations. “But once you meet that cost, it doesn’t matter at all if you buy something even more valuable than that limit,” he says. Galak says the trick for giving a great and unforgettable gift is to think past the moment of handing it over. “When most givers give gifts, they try to make the moment they give the gift perfect and want to see the smile on recipient’s face right in that moment,” says Galak. “But in reality, what most recipients really love about a gift is how much value they’re going to derive from it over an extended time period.” In other words, it might be exciting to watch a friend open a gift of a concert ticket, but since it’s a gift that cannot be enjoyed over time, it may soon be forgotten. It is also suggested that if you can’t think of a good gift, just ask the recipient what they want. “People want to be creative and surprise the recipient,” says Dunn. “but the better gift will be whatever it is they say they like.” At the end of the day, don’t fret too much about giving a terrible gift. Unless something is wildly inappropriate, the recipient will fell some level of appreciation. Galak says that over the course of his research he has asked thousands of participants about gifts they have received, and he rarely hears someone talk about a bad girl. And even if you do give a sub-standard gift to someone you are close to you may be saved by your thoughtfulness. “When someone does something puzzling that needs to be explained – like give a bad gift – that’s when you think about what’s on the other person’s mind,” says Nicholas Epley, a professor at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. His research shows that if your recipient feels like you at least spent a lot of time making your selection, they’ll appreciate the effort that went into choosing a less desirable gift. In other words, the old saying ‘it’s the thought that counts’ really might be true.
6. In paragraph 3, Jeff Galak said that what recipients actually like about a gift is ________ -
Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
Sandwiches make a delicious snack any time. They are a common sight a picnics and teas. Interestingly enough, the sandwich is (1) _______ invention of an 18th -century English Earl called John Montagu. Montagu was addicted to card games. He would play these games with his friends for long stretches of time. Often, he even found it too (2) _______ to stop his games for meals. One day, in the middle of a game, Montagu was served a meal of sliced meat with bread. At the time, Montagu was playing the game that (3) _______ its players to cover cards one on top of another. As Montagu looked at both the game and his food, an idea came to his mind. “I can do the same with my food as well,” he thought. He took a slice of bread, placed a (4)______ of meat on it and covered that with another slice of bread. Montagu was very pleased with his invention because it allowed him to play cards with one hand and eat his meal with the other. Montagu’s friends quickly (5) _______ to his idea and they named the new invention after him. As Montagu’s full title was “the Earl of Sandwich”, the new invention became known as a “sandwich” -
Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
A satellite is best understood as a projectile, or an object that has only one force acting on it — gravity. Technically speaking, anything that crosses the Karman Line at an altitude of 100 kilometers (62 miles) is considered in space. However, a satellite needs to be going fast — at least 8 km (5 miles) a second — to stop from falling back down to Earth immediately. If a satellite is traveling fast enough, it will perpetually “fall” toward Earth, but the Earth’s curvature means that the satellite will fall around our planet instead of crashing back on the surface. Satellites that travel closer to Earth are at risk of falling because the drag of atmospheric molecules will slow the satellites down. Those that orbit farther away from Earth have fewer molecules to contend with. There are several accepted “zones” of orbits around the Earth. One is called lowEarth-orbit, which extends from about 160 to 2,000 km (about 100 to 1,250 miles). This is the zone where the ISS orbits and where the space shuttle used to do its work. In fact, all human missions except for the Apollo flights to the moon took place in this zone. Most satellites also work in this zone. Geostationary or geosynchronous orbit is the best spot for communications satellites to use, however. This is a zone above Earth’s equator at an altitude of 35,786 km (22,236 mi). At this altitude, the rate of “fall” around the Earth is about the same as Earth’s rotation, which allows the satellite to stay above the same spot on Earth almost constantly. The satellite thus keeps a perpetual connection with a fixed antenna on the ground, allowing for reliable communications. When geostationary satellites reach the end of their life, protocol dictates they’re moved out of the way for a new satellite to take their place. That’s because there is only so much room, or so many “slots” in that orbit, to allow the satellites to operate without interference. While some satellites are best used around the equator, others are better suited to more polar orbits — those that circle the Earth from pole to pole so that their coverage zones include the north and south poles. Examples of polar-orbiting satellites include weather satellites and reconnaissance satellites
4. The word “took place” in the third paragraph could be best replaced by __________.