Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
Preschool offers many benefits. It can be a great place for kids to interact with peers and learn valuable life lessons such as how to share, take turns, and follow rules. But going to preschool does come with some emotions, for both the parent and the child. For a child, entering a new preschool environment (1) ___________ with unfamiliar teachers and kids can cause both anxiety and excitement. Parents might have mixed emotions about (2) ___________ their child is ready for preschool. When you enter the classroom on the first day, calmly reintroduce the teacher to your child, then step back to allow the teacher to begin (3) __________ a relationship with your child. Your endorsement of the teacher will show your child that he or she will be happy and safe in the teacher’s care. If your child clings to you or refuses to participate in the class, don’t get upset — this may only upset your child more. Always say a loving goodbye to your child, but once you do, leave (4)________. Don’t sneak out. Leaving without saying goodbye can make kids feel abandoned. A long farewell, on the other hand, might only reinforce a child’s sense that preschool is a bad place. A consistent and predictable farewell routine can make leaving easier. Some parents wave from outside the classroom window or make a funny goodbye face, while others have a special handshake before parting. Transitional objects — a family picture, a special doll, or a favorite blanket — can also help comfort a child. Also, (5)___________ in mind that most kids do well after their parents leave.

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In the future, maybe all cars that run on petrol will be replaced by solar cars, which  have been around for a while, but with recent (1)__________ in solar car design and the measurement of photovoltaic cells becoming smaller, the dream of a truly efficient solar car is more reality than fantasy.  A solar car is a vehicle (2)__________ by photovoltaic cells, also called solar cells, which convert sunlight (light energy) into electrical energy.  As a source of energy on earth, there is nothing like the sun: in a mere one thousandth of one second (.001), the sun emits enough energy to fulfill our planet’s (3)_______ needs for the next 5,000 years. It is a staggering fact, and an exciting one. Since the energy from the sun is responsible for renewable resources such as wind, tides, and heat, solar energy seems to offer the brightest future for not only cars, but for the entire energy crisis. Despite the appearance that solar energy may be the least feasible among the current crop of (4)_________ fuel propositions, new solar powered devices and more specifically solar powered cars are beginning to be developed. How do solar cars work?  The photo-voltaic cells absorb photons from sunlight. This action generates heat, which the cells then convert into electrical energy and stores in an on-board battery. This process of conversion is called the photovoltaic effect. Not surprisingly, such a vehicle has zero emissions, and is very (5)________ friendly. Unfortunately, at the moment photovoltaic cells are extremely inefficient, yet as time progresses the efficiency of these cells will grow. This will make solar energy and solar cars the fuel and car of the future-a closer reality

Rewrite the sentence:
Everyone was all so afraid. Nobody dared to speak anything.

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

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What _________ computer a miraculous device?

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In 1903 the members of the governing board of the University of Washington in  Seattle engaged a firm of landscape architects, specialists in the design of outdoor environments - Olmsted Brothers of Brookline, Massachusetts - to advise them on an appropriate layout for the university grounds. The plan impressed the university officials, and in time many of its recommendations were implemented. City officials in Seattle, the largest city in the northwestern United States, were also impressed, for they employed the same organization to study Seattle’s public park needs. John Olmsted did the investigation and subsequent report on Seattle’s parks. He and his brothers believed that parks should be adapted to the local topography, utilize the area’s trees and shrubs, and be available to the entire community. They especially emphasized the need for natural, serene settings where hurried urban dwellers could periodically escape from the city. The essence of the Olmsted park plan was to develop a continuous driveway, twenty miles long, that would tie together a whole series of parks, playgrounds, and parkways. There would be local parks and squares too, but all of this was meant to supplement the major driveway, which was to remain the unifying factor for the entire system. In November of 1903 the city council of Seattle adopted the Olmsted Report, and it automatically became the master plan for the city’s park system. Prior to this report, Seattle’s park development was very limited and funding meager. All this changed after the report. Between 1907 and 1913, city voters approved special funding measures amounting to $4,000,000. With such unparalleled sums at their disposal, with the Olmsted guidelines to follow, and with the added incentive of wanting to have the city at its best for the AlaskaYukon-Pacific Exposition of 1909, the Parks Board bought aggressively. By 1913 Seattle had 25 parks amounting to 1,400 acres, as well as 400 acres in playgrounds, pathways, boulevards, and triangles. More lands would be added in the future, but for all practical purposes it was the great land surge of 1907-1913 that established Seattle’s park system
1. What does the passage mainly discuss?

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To really figure out what a CV is, we first have to talk about what CV means. The  letters CV stand (1) ____ curriculum vitae which is Latin for “course of life.” When used in a job seeking context, a CV (also sometimes referred to as just a vita) is a detailed accounting of not only a person’s past history of education, experiences and (2) ____ but also related accomplishments and is generally used when an individual is looking for a job. (3) ____, a CV is a thorough and comprehensive document, detailing not only your education and work history, but also your achievements, awards, any honors you’ve been conferred and any and all of your publications.  A resume, on the other hand, is not so long. Ideally a good solid resume is about one page in length and can be submitted for almost any type of job (4) ____ the market. When you type up a resume, you’re usually just covering your work and educational history. You might include certain professional affiliations and possibly highlight (5) ____ major awards that relate to the job you’re applying for, but it’s usually a concise document. Short and sweet

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:

When another old cave is discovered in the south of France, it is not usually news.

Rather, it is an ordinary event. Such discoveries are so frequent these days that hardly anybody pays heed to them. However, when the Lascaux cave complex was discovered in 1940, the world was amazed. Painted directly on its walls were hundreds of scenes showing how people lived thousands of years ago. The scenes show people hunting animals, such as bison or wild cats.

Other images depict birds and, most noticeably, horses, which appear in more than 300 wall images, by far outnumbering all other animals.
Early artists drawing these animals accomplished a monumental and difficult task. “They” did not limit themselves to the easily accessible walls but carried their painting materials to spaces that required climbing steep walls or crawling into narrow passages in the Lascaux complex.
Unfortunately, the paintings have been exposed to the destructive action of water and temperature changes, which easily wear the images away. Because the Lascaux caves have many entrances, air movement has also damaged the images inside. Although they are not out in the open air, where natural light would have destroyed them long ago, many of the images have deteriorated and are barely recognizable. To prevent further damage, the site was closed to tourists in 1963, 23 years after it was discovered.

Which title best summarizes the main idea of the passage?

Rewrite the sentence:
Mai: “Why don't we ask Mr Brown for help?”

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The era of “smart cities”, controlled by an ecosystem of sensors, cameras and  algorithms, is fast approaching. In China, state media claim 500 are under construction. In Canada, Alphabet has plans for turning parts of Toronto into a timber-framed tech town as a prototype. Incremental steps are also making cities smarter. Last week, Transport for London announced plans to track Tube passengers through WiFi to monitor congestion. In the US, fast-food drive-throughs will trial number plates scanners to make ordering faster. Individually these services can improve daily life. Integrating them will create something more powerful than the sum of its parts.  Though convenience and safety are the end goals, serious questions about how city authorities will both store and share vast bodies of data must be answered. The fact that surveillance is built into key transport infrastructure will also make it increasingly difficult to avoid without disrupting daily life. The smart city risks creating a panopticon in the name of an easier and better life. The risks of anonymity disappearing will be increased by the use of different data sets, making it more likely that identifiable characteristics may appear. Closely linked to this is the question of data storage and sharing. The treasure trove of personal information will be a tempting target for hackers. This information might also be used by law enforcement, feeding into the existing dangers of mass surveillance and profiling, as is already the case in China.  These concerns have long been levelled at social media and internet-enabled home appliances. Smart city surveillance can be even more insidious. Users can avoid Facebook or hardware such as Alexa. Avoiding basic infrastructure will be near impossible without seriously affecting day-to-day life. TfL has put up signs warning customers of the WiFi tracking, yet the only choice is between tracking and having no signal. Reports on the facial recognition at airports in America suggest that avoiding being automatically scanned will be tough as well. As these systems become more closely enmeshed, avoiding snooping will become increasingly tricky.  The inevitable rise of smart cities is not inherently negative. Harnessing the power of technology and data can potentially help urban environments adapt to challenges such as climate change and overcrowding. Politicians, programmers and academics must work to ensure that does not come at the cost of all-seeing, 24-hour surveillance. 
7. Which of the following statements is TRUE, according to the passage?

Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
An important point to remember if you like spending time out in the open air is that the human head doesn’t work very well outdoors if it becomes too hot, cold or wet. That’s why a hat is a good investment, whenever you are planning to go out and about. Surprisingly, a single waterproof hat with a brim will do the (34)______ adequately in most conditions. In cold climates, the problem is that the head is (35)______ heat all the time. As much as fifty to sixty per cent of your body’s heat is lost through the head and neck, (36)______ on which scientist you believe. Clearly this heat loss needs to be prevented, but it’s important to remember that hats don’t actually keep you warm, they simply stop heat escaping. Just as important is the need to protect your neck from the effects of bright sunlight, and the brim of your hat will do this. If you prefer a baseball cap, (37)______ buying one that has a drop down ‘tail’ at the back to stop your neck getting sunburnt. And in wet weather (38)______, hats are often more practical than pooling up the hood of your waterproof coat because when you turn your head, the hat goes with you, whereas the hood usually does not.

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Naval architects never claim that a ship is unsinkable, but the sinking of the passenger-and-car ferry Estonia in the Baltic surely (1) ____ have never happened. It was well designed and carefully maintained. It carried the proper number of lifeboats. It had been (2) ____ inspected the day of its fatal voyage. Yet hours later, the Estonia rolled over and sank in a cold, stormy night. It went down so quickly that most of those on board, caught in their dark, flooding cabins, had no chance to save themselves: Of those who (3) ____ scramble overboard, only 139 survived. The rest died of hypothermia before the rescuers could pluck them from the cold sea. The final death (4) ____ amounted to 912 souls. However, there were an unpleasant number of questions about why the Estonia sank and why so many (5) ____ were men in the prime of life, while most of the dead were women, children and the elderly.

Choose the best answer:
She _______ up some Spanish when she was living in Mexico.

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While family relationships can bring support, joy, and other wonderful benefits into  our lives, these relationships can also bring stress, particularly when there’s unresolved conflict. Because it’s more difficult to let go of conflicted relationships with family than it would be if these relationships were mere friendships, unresolved conflicts with family members can be particularly painful.  We have certain expectations of trust and closeness toward family members, and it can be more than merely disappointing to realize that this may not be possible with all family members. Unresolved family conflicts bring additional stress at family gatherings in particular. Past unresolved conflicts can become the elephant in the room, felt by everyone, but not directly addressed in the situation. This can be stressful for everyone before and during the family gatherings, sometimes leaving a lasting sense of stress afterward as well. Without a heartfelt discussion, an apology or another form of resolution, the trust on both sides is compromised, and may not know what to expect from this person in the future. For example, that one time your mother-in-law criticized your cooking may come up in your mind every time she comes for a visit, and others may sense your tension. This leads many people to assume the worst when they interpret each other’s behavior in the present and future interactions rather than giving the benefit of the doubt as most of us do with people we trust. Also, references or reminders of past conflicts can sting and create new pain.  Once a conflict has gone on a while, even if both parties move on and remain polite, the feelings of pain and mistrust are usually lingering under the surface, and are difficult to resolve: bringing up old hurts in an effort to resolve them can often backfire, as the other party may feel attacked; avoiding the issue altogether but holding onto resentment can poison feelings in the present.  So what do you do at a family gathering when there’s someone there with whom you’ve had an unresolved conflict? Just be polite. Contrary to how many people feel, a family gathering is not the time to rehash old conflicts, as such conversations often get messy before they get resolved — if they get resolved. Again, be polite, redirect conversations that get into areas that may cause conflict, and try to avoid the person as much as you politely can. 
7. The word “backfire” in paragraph 4 is closest in meaning to _______

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct word or phrase that best fits each of the numbered blanks.
It is terrible but we are not (1).................. against crime. The first step towards preventing crime is understanding its nature. Most crime is against property, not people, and most crime is not carried out by professionals; nor is it carefully planned. Property crimes (2).............. on the easy opportunity. They are often committed by adolescents and young men, the majority of whom stop offending as they grow older.(3)............ages for offending are 15 to 18. Also, and not surprisingly, the risk of being a victim of crime (4)...........greatly depending on where you live. This reliance by criminals on the easy opportunity is the key to much crime prevention. Motor cars, for example, are a sitting target for the criminal. Surveys have shown that approximately one in five drivers do not always bother to secure their cars by locking all the doors and shutting all the windows, and in 30 percent of domestic burglaries, the burglar simply walks in without having to use (5)...................... If opportunities like these did not exist, criminals would have a much harder time. The chances are that many crimes would not be committed, which would release more police time for tackling serious crimes.

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

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Parents usually decide on given names for their children before they are born. In some  families the oldest boy is given the same name as his father. In the US the word junior or senior, or a number, is added after the name and surname to make (1) ____ clear which persons is being referred to. For example, the son of William Jones Sr (Senior) (2) ____ be called William Jones Jr (Junior), and his son would be called William Jones III (“William Jones the third”).  Many popular names come from the Bible, e.g. Jacob, Joshua, Matthew, Mary, Rebecca and Sarah, (3) ____ this does not imply that the people who choose them are (4) ____. Other people give their children the name of somebody they admire, such as a famous sports personality, or a film or pop star. In Britain, the name William and Harry became common again after the sons of Prince Charles were given these names. In the US Chelsea was not a common name for a girl (5) _____President Bill Clinton’s daughter Chelsea came to public attention

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There are many thoughts on the origins of civilization. One of the major factors  involved was the increase in population. The development of techniques, primarily irrigation and food control, which permitted agriculture in special areas such as the flood plain of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, made possible the support of large population. Once populations reach a certain number, the older pattern of social organization breaks down and new ones develop. Specifically the older system whereby each individual participated in food production and maintained a similar standard of living, and whereby kinship served as the basic method of social organization, was replaced by the occupational division of labor, political and religious hierarchies, public works such as road and public building construction, class systems, codes of law, markets, new forms of warfare, and urban centres. Allied with these important sociological traits are material traits, such as monumental architecture and development of science and, in many cases, metallurgy and writing systems.  The earliest civilization, Sumer, developed in the Middle East. This was the Bronze Age of the Old World, during which people first developed the art of metallurgy, civilization also arose in other parts of the Old World first in Egypt, China and India, and later in Europe and Africa. At this time, civilization also developed independently in the New World, in the Mexican area and in Peru and its neighboring areas.  In the Old World the Bronze Age was followed by the Iron Age, which saw the rise and fall of great empires and the shift of power from the Middle East to Greece and Rome and then to Western Europe. In the 1700s the Industrial Age began, leading directly to the modern civilization of today. 
3. Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?

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A Tidal Stream Generation system reduces some of the environmental effects of tidal barrages by using turbine generators beneath the surface of the water. Major tidal flows and ocean currents, like the Gulf Stream, can be exploited to extract its tidal energy using underwater rotors and turbines. Tidal stream generation is very similar in principle to wind power generation. Water currents flow across a turbines rotor blades which rotates the turbine, much like how wind currents turn the blades for wind power turbines. In fact, tidal stream generation areas on the sea bed can look just like underwater wind farms. Unlike off-shore wind power which can suffer from storms or heavy sea damage, tidal stream turbines operate just below the sea surface or are fixed to the sea bed. Tidal streams are formed by the horizontal fast flowing volumes of water caused by the ebb and flow of the tide as the profile of the sea bed causes the water to speed up as it approaches the shoreline. As water is much more denser than air and has a much slower flow rate, tidal stream turbines have much smaller diameters and higher tip speed rates compared to an equivalent wind turbine. Tidal stream turbines generate tidal power on both the ebb and flow of the tide. One of the disadvantages of Tidal Stream Generation is that as the turbines are submerged under the surface of the water they can create hazards to navigation and shipping. Other forms of tidal energy include tidal fences which use individual vertical-axis turbines that are mounted within a fence structure, known as the caisson, which completely blocks a channel and force water through them. Another alternative way of harnessing tidal power is by using an “oscillating tidal turbine”. This is basically a fixed wing called a Hydroplane positioned on the sea bed. The hydroplane uses the energy of the tidal stream flowing past it to oscillate its giant wing, similar to a whales flipper, up and down with the movement of the tidal currents. This motion is then used to generate electricity. The angle of the hydroplane to the flow of the tide can be varied to increase efficiency. Tidal energy is another form of low-head hydro power that is completely carbon neutral like wind and hydro energy. Tidal power has many advantages compared to other forms of renewable energy with its main advantage being that it is predictable. However, like many other forms of renewable energy, tidal energy also has its disadvantages such as its inflexible generation times dependant upon the tides and the fact that it operates in the hostile conditions of the oceans and seas
7. The word “renewable” in the last paragraph mostly means ______

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It is natural for young people to be critical of their parents at times and to blame them for most of the misunderstandings between them. They have always complained, more or less justly, that their parents are out of touch with modern ways; that they are possessive and dominant; that they do not trust their children to deal with crises; that they talk too much about certain problems, and that they have no sense of humor, at least in parent-child relationships. I think it is true that parents often underestimate their teenage children and also forget how they themselves felt when they were young. Young people often irritate their parents with their choices in clothes and hairstyles, in entertainers and music. This is not their motive. They feel cut off from the adult world into which they have not yet been accepted. So they create a culture and society of their own. Then, if it turns out that their music or entertainers of vocabulary or clothes or hairstyles irritate their parents, this gives them additional enjoyment. They feel they are superior, at least in a small way, and that they are leaders in style and taste. Sometimes you are resistant and proud because you do not want your parents to approve of what you do. If they approve, it looks as if you are betraying your own age group. But in that case, you are assuming that you are the underdog; you cannot win; but at least you keep your honor. This is a passive way of looking at things. It is natural enough after long years of childhood, when you were completely under your parents’ control. But it ignores the fact that you are now beginning to be responsible for yourself. If you plan to control your life, cooperation can be part of that plan. You can charm others, especially your parents, into doing things the way you want. You can impress others with your sense of responsibility and initiative, so that they will give you the authority to do what you want to do.  
6. What does the phrase “the underdog” in the passage probably mean?

Read the passage and choose the best answer from 55 to 64.

Of the six outer planets, Mars, commonly called the red planet, is the closest to Earth. Mars, 4,200 miles in diameter and 55 percent of the size of Earth, is 34,600,000 miles from Earth, and 141,000,000 miles from the Sun. It takes this planet, along with its two moons, Phobos and Deimos, 1.88 years to circle the Sun, compared to 365 days for the Earth.

For many years, Mars had been thought of as the planet with the man-made canals, supposedly discovered by an Italian astronomer, Schiaparelli, in 1877. With the United States spacecraft Viking I's landing on Mars in 1976, the man-made canal theory was proven to be only a myth.

Viking I, after landing on the soil of Mars, performed many scientific experiments and took numerous pictures. The pictures showed that the red color of the planet is due to the reddish, rocky Martian soil. No biological life was found, though it had been speculated by many scientists. The Viking also monitored many weather changes including violent dust storms. Some water vapor, polar ice, and permafrost (frost below the surface) were found, indicating that at one time there were significant quantities of water on this distant planet. Evidence collected by the spacecraft shows some present volcanic action, though the volcanoes are believed to be dormant, if not extinct.

Mars has been nicknamed___________________ .

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 following questions:
The ruined temples of Angkor are perhaps one of the most impressive Seven Wonders of the World. Located in modern day Cambodia near Lake Tonle Sap, the largest freshwater lake in Asia, Angkor was the seat of power for the Khmer Empire for the ninth to the fifteenth century. The ruins of Angkor are documented as some of the most impressive ones in the world, rivaling the pyramids of Giza in Egypt. Why this mighty civilization died out is a question that archaeologists are now only beginning to ponder. The answer, it turns out, may be linked with the availability of fresh water.
One possible explanation for the downfall of the Khmer Empire has to do with the inhabitant’s irrigation system. The temples and palaces of Angkor were constructed around a series of artificial reservoirs and canals which were annually flooded to capacity by the Mekong River. Once filled, they were used to irrigate the surrounding paddies and farmland during the course of the year. Farmers were completely dependent on the water for their crucial rice crop. Without consistent irrigation, the farmers would have been unable to maintain functional crop production.
Scientists speculate that toward the end of the Khmer Empire the hydraulic system of the reservoirs and canals broke down. The construction of hundreds of sandstone temples and palaces required an enormous amount of physical labor. In addition, as the capital of Khmer Empire, Angkor contained upwards of one hundred thousand people who resided in and around Angkor. In order to feed so many people, the local farmers were driven to grow food more quickly and more efficiently. After centuries of continual use, the irrigation system was pushed beyond its capacity. Soil erosion, nutrient depletion, and loss of water led to decrease in the food supply. With the less food available, the people of Angkor slowly began to migrate to other parts of Cambodia, thus leaving the marvelous city of Angkor to be swallowed by the jungle. Therefore, it is speculated that the Khmer Empire may have fallen victim to its own decrepit infrastructure.

All of the following are mentioned as events that can affect food supply EXCEPT