Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
Even before the turn of the century, movies began to develop in two major directions: the realistic and the formalistic. Realism and formalism are merely general, rather than absolute terms. When used to suggest a tendency toward either polarity, such labels can be helpful, but in the end they are still just labels. Few films are exclusively formalist in style, and fewer yet are completely realist. There is also an important difference between realism and reality, although this distinction is often forgotten. Realism is a particular style, whereas physical reality is the source of all the raw materials of the film, both realistic and formalistic. Virtually all movie directors go to the photographable world for their subject matter, but what they do with this material, how they shape and manipulate it determines their stylistic emphasis. Generally speaking, realistic films attempt to reproduce the surface of concrete reality with a minimum of distortion. In photographing objects and events, the filmmaker tries to suggest the copiousness of life itself. Both realist and formalist film directors must select and hence emphasize certain details from chaotic sprawl of reality. But the element of selectivity in realistic films is less obvious. Realists, in short, try to preserve the illusion that their film world is not manipulated, an objective mirror of the actual world. Formalists, on the other hand, make no such pretense. They deliberately stylize and distort their raw materials so that only the very naive would mistake a manipulated image of an object or event for the real thing. We rarely notice the style in a realistic movie; the artist tends to be self-effacing. Some filmmakers are more concerned with what is being shown than how it is manipulated. The camera is used conservatively. It is essentially a recording mechanism that reproduces the surface of tangible objects with as little commentary as possible. A high premium is placed on simplicity, spontaneity, and directness. This is not to suggest that these movies lack artistry, however, at its best the realistic cinema specializes in art that conceals art.
4. Whom does the author say is primarily responsible for the style of a film?

Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
Chess, often (1)______ to as the Royal Game, is the oldest of all board games which do not contain an element of chance. The origins of chess are uncertain, (2)______ there are a number of legends regarding its invention. One story says that it was King Solomon who invented chess, another that it was the Greek god Hermes, and yet another that the Chinese mandarin Han-Sing was responsible for its creation. In fact, chess almost certainly originated in India in the sixth or seventh century AD. The game’s popularity then spread quickly through Persia (now known as Iran) and from there came to Europe. The first documented reference to chess in literature is in a Persian romance which was written about 600 AD. It is (3)_______ the word ‘chess’ comes from ‘shah’, the Persian word for ‘king’ and that ‘checkmate’, the game’s winning (4)_______, comes from the phrase ‘shah mat’, (5)______ ‘the king is dead’. The rules and pieces used in the game have undergone changes over the centuries. Modem chess owes much to the Spaniard Lopez de Segura, who in 1561 wrote the first book on how to play the game. In it, he introduced the concept of ‘castling’, which had not been part of the game until then.

Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
The principal difference between urban growth in Europe and in the North American colonies was the slow evolution of cities in the former and their rapid growth in the latter. In Europe they grew over a period of centuries from town economies to their present urban structure. In North America, they started as wilderness communities and developed to mature urbanism in little more than a century. In the early colonial days in North America, small cities sprang up along the Atlantic Coastline, mostly in what are now New England and the Middle Atlantic states in the United States and in the lower Saint Lawrence valley in Canada. This was natural because these areas were nearest England and France, particularly England, from which most capital goods were imported. Merchandising establishments were, accordingly, advantageously located in port cities from which goods could be readily distributed to interior settlements. Here, too, were the favored locations for processing raw materials prior to export. Boston, Philadelphia, New York, Montreal, and other cities flurished, and as the colonies grew, these cities increased in importance. This was less true in the colonial South, where life centered around large farms, known as plantations, rather than around towns, as was the case in the areas further north along the Atlantic coastline. The local isolation and the economic self-sufticiency of the plantations were antagonistic to the development of the towns. The plantations maintained their independence because they were located on navigable streams and each had a wharf accessible to the small shipping of that day. In fact, one of the strongest factors in the selection of plantation land was the desire to have it front on a water highway. When the United States became an independent nation in 1776, it did not have a single city as large as 50,000 inhabitants, but by 1820 it had a city of more than 100,000 people, and by 1880 it had recorded a city of over one million. It was not until after 1823, after the mechanization of the spinning and weaving industries, that cities started drawing young people away from farms. Such migration was particularly rapid following the Civil War (1861 -1865)
7. According to the passage, all of the following aspects of the plantation system influenced the growth of southern cities EXCEPT the .

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.
If you're an environmentalist, plastic is a word you tend to say with a sneer or a snarl. It has become a symbol of our wasteful, throw-away society. But there seems little doubt it is here to stay, and the truth is, of course, that plastic has brought enormous (1)............ , even environmental ones. It’s not really the plastics themselves that are the evil ─ it's the way society chooses to use and (2)................. them.
Almost all the 50 or so different kinds of modern plastic are made from oil, gas or coal ─ non-renewable natural (3)................... . We (4)......... well over three million tones of the stuff in Britain each year and, sooner or later, most of it is thrown away. A high (5)............ of our annual consumption is in the form of packaging, and this (6).................. about seven percent by weight of our domestic refuse.

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

Don’t make up your mind at once; ________it over with your lawyer first.    
(136)__________

Read the passage below carefully, and then choose the best answer:
The Power of Crowdsourcing
There is a famous old saying that when trying to solve a problem “two heads are better than one”. Yet until recently, businesses would often rely on one key person to get important tasks done. But thanks to a phenomenon called crowdsourcing, more and more companies are allowing their consumers to have their say when designing new products. The term “crowdsourcing” refers to the process of outsourcing jobs which were once done by a single person to a large group (or a crowd) of people. In the past, crowdsourcing wasn’t practical, as it was impossible to gather thousands of like-minded people together to share opinions. Now, thanks to the Internet, online forums, and social media, this isn’t a difficult task at all. There are many important applications for crowdsourcing in business. For example, if a small business was looking to develop a business logo, it might employ a single designer and hope for the best. However, with crowdsourcing, companies can specify some guidelines about their project, set a budget, and start a design contest online. Within hours, it will likely receive hundreds of designers sending them logos. In the end, they can choose the design they like best and the winner will get compensated. Crowdsourcing has other applications as well. A website called Duolingo is using crowdsourcing to translate documents into different languages. It offers free lessons to language learners. As part of their tests, users translate lines to test their knowledge. Then, a computer programme will analyze thousands of test results for consistency and arrange an accurate translation. Not everyone is sold on crowdsourcing, though. In many cases, it may be better to rely on the opinion of a few specialized professionals than information from a crowd. For instance, it makes more sense to trust the opinion of one top doctor than to take the advice of 1,000 random people regarding a health issue. Another criticism is the low wage that crowdworkers usually receive. Since crowdworkers are freelancers and not employees, they can be paid less than minimum wage. Whether you love or hate crowdsourcing, it appears to be here to stay. So before you make any financial judgements, consider following the crowd and give crowdsourcing a try.
1. The old saying “two heads are better than one” in paragraph 1 means that __________

A trend that has emerged recently is the sharing of childcare (1) __________ between husband and wife. Young couples will try to arrange their work schedules so that they work opposite hours or shifts in order that one parent is always home with the children. Since childcare is expensive, this saves money for the young couple trying to establish themselves and provide a secure environment for the family. Husband and wife may also share household chores. Some fathers are just as capable as mothers at cooking dinner, changing and bathing the baby, and doing the laundry. In some cases, the woman’s salary is for family (2)__________ and the father becomes the “househusband." These cases are still fairly rare. One positive trend, however, is that fathers seem to be spending more time with their children. In a recent survey, 41% of the children sampled said they spend equal time with their mothers and fathers. “This is one of our most significant cultural changes,” says Dr. Leon Hoffman, who co-directs the Parent Child Center at the New York Psychoanalytic Society. In practice, for over 30 years, Hoffman has found "a very dramatic difference in the involvement of the father in everything from care-taking to general decision (3)__________ around kids' lives.” Another factor has recently been added to the childcare formula. The number of people who work from home nearly full-time rose 23% from the last decade. The (4)_________ of technology - computers, faxes, teleconferencing - has made it easier for at-home workers to be constantly in touch. Will this new flexibility in the workforce bring a positive change for the (5)__________ of children? Only time will tell.

(80)__________

Choose the sentence A, B, C or D which in closest in meaning to the printed sentence.:
Cats is one of the longest-running musicals in Britain. It was written by Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
According to Vietnamese legend, (1) ____ giant turtle in Hanoi's Hoan Kiem Lake reclaimed a magic sword given to King Le Loi in the 15th century that he used to win independence (2) ____ China's Ming Dynasty. The lake was thereafter named 'Ho Hoan Kiem', or 'Lake of the Returned Sword', and Hanoi has been built up (3) ____ it. Margie Mason of Associated Press wrote: "(4) ____ once was a magic golden turtle that lived in Hanoi's most enchanted lake. The giant turtle was believed so powerful, it snatched a divine sword from a warrior king and returned it to the gods of the depths nearly six centuries (5) ____. That tale has long been a (6) ____ among young and old Vietnamese living in the capital city, but folklorists soon may have to rewrite the story to (7) ____ a very sad ending. In real life, the last giant soft-shell turtle (8) ____ in Hoan Kiem Lake probably will die alone, and at least one biologist says the species (9) ____ then be extinct. The elusive creature - with a shell as big as a desk - occasionally pokes its wrinkled head out of the murky waters of the downtown lake to (10) ____ a breath, but few Vietnamese are lucky enough to glimpse it. And certainly no one knows its age."

Choose the best answer:
It’s necessary __________ your listening and writing skills.

Rewrite sentences without changing the meaning
 Do you have a food processor at your house?

______ is the existence of a wide variety of plant and animal species living in their natural environment. 

(363)_______

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 :
For athletes who like to (1) _________ a variety of endurance sports in a single race, triathlons are a great fit. These competitions (2) _________ running, cycling, and swimming into one race, and they take place one after the other in a single continuous timed race. Athletes who participate must be in top physical form and have the skills needed to complete each portion of the race. Training for triathlons means the athletes have to become proficient not only in the sport required in each stage, but they also have to become familiar with what (3) _________ from one to the other does to their bodies. Many inexperienced triathletes are surprised to (4) _________ hard it can be to switch from swimming to cycling to running, and how tired their muscles can suddenly feel. One thing all triathletes can agree (5) _________ is that no one ever told them that running a triathlon would be easy

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 ‌from‌ ‌31‌ ‌to‌ ‌35.‌ ‌
 ‌
The‌ ‌relationship‌ ‌between‌ ‌Britain‌ ‌and‌ ‌the‌ ‌US‌ ‌has‌ ‌always‌ ‌been‌ ‌a‌ ‌close‌ ‌one.‌ ‌Like‌ ‌all‌ ‌close‌ ‌relationships‌ ‌it‌ ‌has‌ ‌had‌ ‌difficult‌ ‌times.‌ ‌The‌ ‌US‌ ‌was‌ ‌first‌ ‌a‌ ‌British‌ ‌colony,‌ ‌but‌ ‌between‌ ‌1775‌ ‌and‌ ‌1783‌ ‌the‌ ‌US‌ ‌fought‌ ‌a‌ ‌war‌ ‌to‌ ‌become‌ ‌independent.‌ ‌The‌ ‌US‌ ‌fought‌ ‌the‌ ‌British‌ ‌again‌ ‌in‌ ‌the‌ ‌War‌ ‌of‌ ‌1812.‌ ‌
In‌ ‌general,‌ ‌however,‌ ‌the‌ ‌two‌ ‌countries‌ ‌have‌ ‌felt‌ ‌closer‌ ‌to‌ ‌each‌ ‌other‌ ‌than‌ ‌to‌ ‌any‌ ‌other‌ ‌country,‌ ‌and‌ ‌their‌ ‌foreign‌ ‌policies‌ ‌have‌ ‌shown‌ ‌this.‌ ‌During‌ ‌World‌ ‌War‌ ‌I‌ ‌and‌ ‌World‌ ‌War‌ ‌II,‌ ‌Britain‌ ‌and‌ ‌the‌ ‌US‌ ‌supported‌ ‌
each‌ ‌other.‌ ‌When‌ ‌the‌ ‌US‌ ‌looks‌ ‌for‌ ‌foreign‌ ‌support,‌ ‌Britain‌ ‌is‌ ‌usually‌ ‌the‌ ‌first‌ ‌country‌ ‌to‌ ‌‌come‌ ‌forward‌‌ ‌and‌ ‌it‌ ‌is‌ ‌sometimes‌ ‌called‌ ‌“the‌ ‌51st‌ ‌state‌ ‌of‌ ‌the‌ ‌union”.‌ ‌
But‌ ‌the‌ ‌special‌ ‌relationship‌ ‌that‌ ‌developed‌ ‌after‌ ‌1945‌ ‌is‌ ‌not‌ ‌explained‌ ‌only‌ ‌by‌ ‌shared‌ ‌political‌ ‌interests.‌ ‌An‌ ‌important‌ ‌reason‌ ‌for‌ ‌the‌ ‌friendship‌ ‌is‌ ‌that‌ ‌the‌ ‌people‌ ‌of‌ ‌the‌ ‌two‌ ‌countries‌ ‌are‌ ‌very‌ ‌similar.‌ ‌
They‌‌ ‌share‌ ‌the‌ ‌same‌ ‌language‌ ‌and‌ ‌enjoy‌ ‌each‌ ‌other's‌ ‌literature,‌ ‌films‌ ‌and‌ ‌television.‌ ‌Many‌ ‌Americans‌ ‌have‌ ‌British‌ ‌ancestors,‌ ‌or‌ ‌relatives‌ ‌still‌ ‌living‌ ‌in‌ ‌Britain.‌ ‌The‌ ‌US‌ ‌government‌ ‌and‌ ‌political‌ ‌system‌ ‌is‌ ‌based‌ ‌on‌ ‌Britain's,‌ ‌and‌ ‌there‌ ‌are‌ ‌many‌ ‌Anglo-American‌ ‌businesses‌ ‌operating‌ ‌on‌ ‌both‌ ‌sides‌ ‌of‌ ‌the‌ ‌Atlantic.‌ ‌In‌ ‌Britain‌ ‌
some‌ ‌people‌ ‌are‌ ‌worried‌ ‌about‌ ‌the‌ ‌extent‌ ‌of‌ ‌US‌ ‌influence,‌ ‌and‌ ‌there‌ ‌is‌ ‌some‌ ‌jealousy‌ ‌of‌ ‌its‌ ‌current‌ ‌power.‌ ‌The‌ ‌special‌ ‌relationship‌ ‌was‌ ‌strong‌ ‌in‌ ‌the‌ ‌early‌ ‌1980s‌ ‌when‌ ‌Margaret‌ ‌Thatcher‌ ‌was‌ ‌Prime‌ ‌Minister‌ ‌in‌ ‌Britain‌ ‌and‌ ‌Ronald‌ ‌Reagan‌ ‌was‌ ‌President‌ ‌of‌ ‌the‌ ‌US.‌ ‌

The‌ ‌word‌ ‌“‌They‌”‌ ‌in‌ ‌paragraph‌ ‌3‌ ‌prefers‌ ‌to‌ ‌__________.‌ ‌ ‌

Rewrite sentences without changing the meaning:
It is earth's gravity that gives people their weight.

The concept of urban agriculture may conjure up images of rooftop, backyard or community gardens scattered among downtown city streets and surrounding neighborhoods. But in the Seattle area, and within and beyond the Puget Sound region, it means a great deal more. "Urban agriculture doesn't necessarily equate to production that occurs only in a metropolitan urban area, "says Jason Niebler, who directs the Sustainable Agriculture Education (SAgE) initiative at Seattle Central Community College. "It means we are providing for growing population food needs from surrounding rural landscapes, as well as from the core urban landscape."

Picture a series of concentric circles, with an urban core that produces some food at varying capacities, surrounded by a series of outlying rings of small farms that become increasingly more rural with distance. The hope is that such land use planning, from the inner core to the outer rings, will encourage local ecologically sound sustainable food production. This, in turn, will create local jobs and decrease reliance on distant food products that originate from petroleum-intensive large scale farms.

That's the idea behind SAgE, believed to be the nation's first metropolitan-based community college sustainable agriculture program that emphasizes farming practices across diverse landscape types from urban centers to surrounding rural environs. "It's small scale agriculture with an urban focus" Niebler says. "Any urban population, large or small, can practice sustainable agriculture, improve food security and protect the environment, which ultimately results in resilient food systems and communities."

SAgE is a part of National Science Foundation's Advanced Technological Education (ATE) Program, which is providing the project with $157,375 over two years. ATE's goal is to support projects that strengthen the skills of technicians who work in industries regarded as vital to the national's prosperity and security. The support largely goes to community colleges that work in partnership with universities, secondary schools, businesses and industries, as well as government agencies, which design and implement model workforce initiatives.

The SAgE project focuses on the environmental, socioeconomic, political and cultural issues related to sustainable food systems, within Puget Sound watersheds through student and community education and research, and technological innovation. The curriculum offers courses that cover such issues as agricultural ecology, urban food systems, food politics and ethics, soil science, sustainable food production and technology, the integration of food and forests, and career opportunities.

"We've created a curriculum that is fundamental in nature, addressing the principles of sustainable agriculture and what a food system is - how it functions both locally and globally," Niebler says. "These courses are challenging, robust and inspirational. One of the really wonderful things about them is that we offer service learning opportunities, where students volunteer a portion of their time to working with local partner organizations. They can do a research project, or a service learning option. The ideal would be to prompt students into careers that involve sustainable practices in an urban agriculture setting."

Adapted from "Promoting Sustainable Agriculture" by Mariene Cimons

It is stated in the passage that Jason Niebler________.

Choose the best answer:
I am having a math lesson but I forgot my ………….. I have some difficulty.

Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
Although noise, commonly defined as unwanted sound, is a widely recognized form of pollution, it is very difficult to measure because the discomfort experienced by different individuals is highly subjective and, therefore, variable. Exposure to lower levels of noise may be slightly irritating, whereas exposure to higher levels may actually cause hearing loss. Particularly in congested urban areas, the noise produced as a by-product of our advancing technology causes physical and psychological harm, and detracts from the quality of life for those who are exposed to it.Unlike the eyes, which can be covered by the eyelids against strong light, the ear has no lid, and is, therefore, always open and vulnerable; noise penetrates without protection.Noise causes effects that the hearer cannot control and to which the body never becomes accustomed. Loud noises instinctively signal danger to any organism with a hearing mechanism, including human beings. In response, heartbeat and respiration accelerate, blood vessels constrict, the skin pales, and muscles tense. In fact, there is a general increase in functioning brought about by the flow of adrenaline released in response to fear, and some of these responses persist even longer than the noise, occasionally as long as thirty minutes after the sound has ceased.Because noise is unavoidable in a complex, industrial society, we are constantly responding in the same way that we would respond to danger. Recently, researchers have concluded that noise and our response may be much more than an annoyance. It may be a serious threat to physical and psychological health and well-being, causing damage not only to the ear and brain but also to the heart and stomach. We have long known that hearing loss is America’s number one nonfatal health problem, but now we are learning that some of us with heart disease and ulcers may be victims of noise as well. Fetuses exposed to noise tend to be overactive, they cry easily, and they are more sensitive to gastrointestinal problems after birth. In addition, the psychic effect of noise is very important. Nervousness, irritability, tension, and anxiety increase affecting the quality of rest during sleep, and the efficiency of activities during waking hours, as well as the way that we interact with each other.
3. Why is noise difficult to measure?

 Many young people have objected to _____ marriage, which is decided by the parents of the bride and groom.
(169)_______

Choose the best answer:
VTV is a ………….. television channel in Viet Nam, and it attracts millions of TV viewers in Viet Nam.