Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D)
The greatest recent social changes have been in the lives of women. During the twentieth century there has been a remarkable shortening of the proportion of a woman’s life spent in caring for children. A woman marrying at the end of the nineteenth century would probably have been in her middle twenties, and would be likely to have seven or eight children, of whom four or five lived till they were five years old. By the time the youngest was fifteen, the mother would have been in her early fifties and would expect to live a further twenty years, during which custom, opportunity and health made it unusual for her to get paid work. Today women marry younger and have fewer children. Usually a woman’s youngest child will be fifteen when she is forty-five and can be expected to live another thirty-five years and is likely to take paid work until retirement at sixty. Even while she has the care of children, her work is lightened by household appliances and convenience food. This important change in women’s life-pattern has only recently begun to have its full effect on women’s economic position. Even a few years ago most girls left school at the first opportunity, and most of them took a full-time job. However, when they married, they usually left work at once and never returned to it. Today the school- leaving age is sixteen, many girls stay at school after that age, and though women tend to marry younger, more married women stay at work at least until shortly before their first child is born. Very many more afterwards return to full-time or part-time work. Such changes have led to a new relationship in marriage, with the husband accepting a greater share of the duties and satisfactions of family life, and with both husband and wife sharing more equally in providing the money, and running the home, according to their abilities and interests of each of them.  
3. What does the word "lightened" in the first paragraph probably means________

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Thousands of emergency service workers battling out of control fires across New South Wales, Australia are bracing for worsening conditions next week. Stopping the spread of fires around the state will be the top priority on Sunday, with weather conditions expected to deteriorate after that.  “Tuesday, particularly, will be a day of concern,” Rural Fire Service spokesman Greg Allan said. “There will be high temperatures, very strong winds, and low humidity.” While no fires reached emergency level on Saturday, Mr Allan stressed that people needed to remain alert. “It’s still a very dangerous situation,” he said.  More than 2 million hectares of bush land has been destroyed by flames this fire season. With RFS Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons warning the worst might still be ahead. Mr Fitzsimmons said there may not be much respite for tiring firefighters, with no signs of significant rainfall until late January or early February. Over 100 bushfires burned across the state on Saturday, and almost half of them were out of control, with a huge – larger than Sydney – having formed north-west of the city. Another fire at Green Wattle Creek, southwest of Sydney, is still burning uncontrollably, having already destroyed 5400 hectares of bush land. Efforts are being made to keep the situation from getting out of hand. More than 2100 personnel are fighting the fires across the state and a group of 21 specialty firefighters form the US has arrived in Australia, following 21of their Canadian counterparts. While the Canadians are being distributed to the north of the state, the Americans will be assigned to areas in the Sydney Basin or southern New South Wales. Additionally, a total fire ban was in place for eight regions across the state, including Sydney, Far North Coast, Greater Hunter, the Illawarra and Central Rangers. “Right across all fire grounds, our crews, although exhausted, are working extremely hard to slow the spread of fire,” said Mr. Allan. 
4. The word “them” in paragraph 3 refers to __________________

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Long life expectancy can be attributed to a person’s diet - a healthy, balanced diet has been proven to improve longevity. Experts recommend eating at least five portions of a variety of fruit and vegetables every day, basing meals on higher starchy foods like potatoes, bread and rice, having some dairy or dairy alternatives, eating some protein, choosing unsaturated oils and spreads, and drinking plenty of fluids. But new research, published this week, has found the times of day a person eats holds the most benefits. Dr Mark Mattson, a professor of neuroscience at John Hopkins University School of Medicine, in the US, has said “intermittent fasting could be part of a healthy lifestyle.” Intermittent fasting diets usually involve daily time-restricted feeding, which narrows eating times to six to eight hours per day and so-called 5:2 intermittent fasting, in which people limit themselves to one moderate-sized meal two days each week. A range of human and animal studies have shown that alternating between times of fasting and eating supports cellular health, probably by triggering an age-old adaptation to periods of food scarcity called metabolic switching. Such a switch occurs when cells use up their stores of rapidly accessible, sugar-based fuel, and begin converting fat into energy in a slower metabolic process. Dr Mattson says studies have shown that this switch improves blood sugar regulation, increases resistance to stress and suppresses inflammation. Because most Americans eat three meals plus snacks each day, they do not experience the switch, or the suggested benefits. In an article in the New England Journal of Medicine, Dr Mattson said four studies in both animals and people found intermittent fasting also decreased blood pressure, blood lipid levels and resting heart rates.  
1. Which best serves as the title for the passage? 

Choose the best answer:
_______ is your favourite subject at school?

It is often said that books are always good friends … (6)… reading is an active mental process. … (7)… TV, books make you use your brain. By reading, you think more and become smarter. Reading improves concentration and focus. Reading books takes brain power. It requires you to focus … (8)… what you are reading for long periods. Unlike magazines, Internet posts or e-Mails that might contain small …(9)… of information. Books tell the whole story". Since you must concentrate in order to read, you will get better at concentration. Many studies show if you do not use your memory; you lose it. Reading helps you …(10)… your memory muscles. Reading requires remembering details, facts and figures and in literature, plot lines, themes and characters.

(9)......

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.

The word “artificial” in paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to

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The blazes, which have been burning across Australia for months, have razed homes  and wiped out entire towns. Across Australia, nearly 18 million acres of land have been burned – much of it bushland, forests and national parks, home to the country’s beloved and unique wildlife. Nearly half a billion animals have been impacted by the fires in NSW alone, with millions potentially dead, according to ecologists at the University of Sydney. That figure includes birds, reptiles, and mammals, except bats. It also excludes insects and frogs. The total number of animals affected nationwide could be as high as a billion, according to Christopher Dickman, the University of Sydney ecologist who led the report.  "The scale of these fires is unprecedented," said Dieter Hochuli, an environmental sciences professor at the University of Sydney. “There are substantial concerns about the capacity of these (ecosystems) to rebound from the fires.”  Some animals, like koalas and kangaroos for instance, are primarily killed by being incinerated in flames or choking on smoke. Nearly a third of all koalas in NSW have died and about a third of their habitat has been destroyed. Photos from the ground show koalas with singed fur, raw patches of burnt flesh, and blistered paws. Even if they are rescued and treated, sometimes their injuries are simply too extensive to survive. Wombats have also been hit hard – they don’t cope well with heat or stress, and panic at the smell of smoke. The small, stubby-legged marsupials can’t run very fast or far, and are largely at the mercy of the flames. Smaller mammals and reptiles can escape the blazes by burrowing underground or hiding in rocks – but afterward, there is no food or shelter left, only certain predators that are drawn to fire because they know it brings easy prey. Koalas and kangaroos are spread out across the country, so they’re not in danger of going extinct due to the blazes. But other animals that live in niche environments and have smaller populations may have been wiped out entirely; these include the eastern bristlebird, the mountain pygmy possum and the corroboree frog.  These animals’ recovery depends not only on their population size, but also on the condition of their habitat. For instance, plants grow slower in high-altitude alpine regions, meaning it could be a very long time before species are able to return.
2. The word “razed” in paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to _______

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Aging is the process of growing old. It occurs eventually in every living thing provided, of course, that an illness or accident does not kill it prematurely. The most familiar outward signs of aging may be seen in old people, such as the graying of the hair and the wrinkling of the skin. Signs of aging in a pet dog or cat include loss of playfulness and energy, a decline in hearing and eyesight, or even a light graying of the coat. Plants are too, but the signs are much harder to detect. Most body parts grow bigger and stronger, and function more effiiently during childhood. They reach their peak at the time of maturity, or early adulthood. After that, they begin to decline. Bones, for example, gradually become lighter and more brittle. In the aged, the joints between the bones also become rigid and more inflxible. This can make moving very painful. All the major organs of the body show signs of aging. The brain, for example, works less effiiently, and even gets smaller in size. Thinking processes of all sorts are slowed down. Old people often have trouble in remembering recent events. One of the most serious changes of old age occurs in the arteries, the blood vessels that lead from the heart. They become thickened and constricted, allowing less blood to flw to the rest of body. This condition accounts, directly or indirectly, for many of the diseases of the aged. It may, for example, result in heart attack. Aging is not a uniform process. Different parts of the body wear out at the different rates. There are differences among people in their rate of aging. Even the cell of the body differ in the way they age. The majority of cells are capable of reproducing themselves many times during the course of a lifetime. Nerve cells and muscle fiers can never be replaced once they wear out. Gerontologists - scientists who study the process of aging - believe this wearing out of the body is controlled by a built-in biological time-clock. They are trying to discover how this clock works so that they can slow down the process. This could give man a longer life and a great number of productive years.
10. All of the followings may be the outward signs of aging EXCEPT....

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My children can’t live without media. At age 14, 15 and 18, my daughters Sussy and Anni and my son Bill don’t use media. They inhabit media. And they do so exactly as fish inhabit a pond. Gracefully, and without consciousness and curiosity as to how they got there. They don’t remember a time before email or instant messaging or Google. When my children laugh, they don’t say “Ha, ha”. They say “LOL”. These are children who shrug indifferently when they lose their iPods, with all 5000 tunes plus video clips, feature films, and TV shows (like who watches TV on a television anymore?). “There is plenty more where that came from”, their attitude says. And they seem right. The digital content that powers their world can never truly be destroyed. As a social scientist, journalist, and mother, I’ve always been an enthusiastic user of information technology. But I’d noticed that the more we seemed to communicate as individuals, the less we seemed to function together as a family. And on a broader scale, that the more facts we have at our fingertips, the less we seem to know. That the “convenience” of messaging media (email, SMS, IM) consumes ever larger amounts of our time. That as a culture we are practically swimming in entertainment, yet remain more depressed than any people who have ever lived. Our family’s self-imposed exile from the information age changed our lives infinitely for the better. I watched as my children became more focused. I watched as their attention spans increased, allowing them to read for hours at a time; to hold longer and more complex conversations with adults and among themselves. They probably did no more homework during The Experiment than they had done before, but they all completed it far more efficiently and far more quickly The Experiment also forced us to notice food more. Before, eating had been a side dish. Now it was the main course, or at least one of them. Our approach to cooking changed, too, especially for the girls. They’d started out as reasonably competent cooks, but by the end of The Experiment they were capable of turning out entire meals with ease The Experiment also confirmed my strong suspicion that media has been robbing Sussy of sleep for years. Unplugged, the changes to her sleep patterns were dramatic. The evidence strongly suggests she is no isolated case. One study found that children who spend more time online also drink more caffeinated beverages, with a resulting effect on their prospects of sleeping well  
1. The writer says her children “inhabit media… as fish inhabit a pond” to show that _______.

Rewrite the sentence:
He prefers siting at home to playing outside.

Choose the best answer:
In the future, men and women_____ equal roles in society.

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Every day, he _________ his buffalo to his plot of land.

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Hamams, or bath houses, are a traditional part of Turkish culture. They represent an important piece of Turkey’s long history and serve as a window into the past. However, these bath houses are quickly disappearing because of the changing habits of the Turkish people. Hamams hold a strong place in the history of Turkey and many date back hundreds of years. Traditionally, all kinds of people went to hamams because Islam has strict laws for cleanliness. Believers must wash themselves regularly, particularly before their daily prayers. As most people in Turkey didn’t have access to running water in their homes, the hamam was the perfect to get clean, relax, and catch up with friends. Today, however, the tradition of going to the humam is quickly dying out for many young people. Now almost everyone has running water in their bathrooms, so they prefer to bathe at home. As a result, Turkish people are not going to humans as often as they used to. These days, instead of relying on locals, many hamams are trying to attract foreign tourists. Some of the best hamams in Turkey are located in Istanbul, the country’s largest city. The Cagaloglu hamam is a great example. It was a gift to the people from the Sultan in 1741 and is one of the last old hamams to be built during the Ottoman Empire. Many visitors are impressed by the high domed ceilings, marble floors, and marble walls used throughout. A typical session at a hamam can last well over an hour. Visitors will be welcomed into camekan, or entrance hall. There they will be able to relax with friends and chat over a cup of tea. They will also be able to change into the customary pestemal, or Turkish towel, which wraps around the waist like a skirt. When ready, visitors will head into the hararet, or hot room. There they will lie on the hot floor and be scrubbed clean and massaged by one of the in-house masseurs or masseuses. Men and women always bathe separately, but their experience are very similar. Although many hamams are in danger of closing, they will always remain a part of Turkish culture. An experience in one of Istanbul’s famous bath houses is not to be misses on any visit to Turkey. It will certainly leave you refreshed, relaxed, and squeaky clean for your next adventure
5. The phrase “dying out” in paragraph 3 mostly means _________ 

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Climate change is caused by the (1) ______ high levels of dangerous chemicals in the  atmosphere, particularly carbon dioxide. It is estimated that average global temperatures will rise (2) _______ between two and six degrees by the end of this century. We all know the effects could be catastrophic, but are we (3) _______ of the possible solutions? Crazy as it sounds, a group of academics from British universities is making a plan to build a 12-mile pipe, held up by a huge balloon, that would pump (4) ____ quantities of toxic chemicals, such as sulphur dioxide, into the atmosphere. Surprisingly, there is good science behind the idea. The chemicals would form a (5) ____ layer around the Earth that would reflect sunlight and so cool the Earth, much like the effects of a volcanic eruption

Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
If you want to volunteer to help boost your career, think carefully about the skills and  experience you need. Don’t be afraid to be upfront about this when you apply (1)_________ opportunities – as long as you are willing to show commitment to your voluntary work, most organizations will welcome the fact that it could have benefits for you. Volunteering can give you a broad (2) ________ of learning opportunities:  • Many volunteer placements will allow you to study and develop your “key skills”, (3) _________ skills you need to get on in the workplace, in learning and in life.  • Some volunteers receive vocational training in (4) _________ areas such as social care, working with the elderly, or working with children.  • Some roles require specific training such as volunteering as a special constable with your local police force.  The organization you work for usually covers your training costs and expenses in (5) ________ for your time and commitment

Find synonym:
Land erosion is mainly caused by widespread deforestation.

Find synonym:
ASEAN organised different projects and activities to integrate its members

Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
Set aside time each day Most of us can find 15 minutes or half an hour each day for some specific regular activity. It may be a free period or a regular wait, stay in the queue for a bus or meal - even while eating breakfast. One famous surgeon always made it a rule to spend at least 15 minutes on general reading before he went to sleep each night. Whether he went to bed at 10:00 p.m or 2:30 a.m. made no difference. Even if you cannot keep to this kind of discipline, it is a good idea to make sure you always have a general interest book in your pocket. Don’t forget it should be a book which entertains you and the English must not be too difficult for you. Checking your progress through pacing Nearly all speed reading courses have a "pacing element - some timing device which lets the student know how many words a minute he is reading. You can do this simply by looking at your watch every 5 or 10 minutes and noting down the page number you have reached. How do you know when 5 minutes have passed on your watch if you are busy reading the book? Well, this is difficult at first. A friend can help by timing you over a set period. Pace yourself every three or four days, always with the same kind of easy, general interest book. You should soon notice your habitual w. p. m rate creeping up. Check comprehension Obviously there is little point in increasing your w. p. m rate if you do not understand what you are reading. When you are consciously trying to increase your reading speed, stop after every chapter (if you are reading a novel) or every section or group of ten or twelve pages (if it is a textbook) and ask yourself a few questions about what you have been reading. If you find you have lost the thread of the story, or you cannot remember clearly the details of what was said, re-read the section or chapter. “Lightening speed” exercise Take 4 or 5 pages in the general interest book you happen to be reading at the time. Read them as fast as you possibly can. Do not bother about whether you understand or not. Now go back and read them at what you feel to be your normal w. p. m rate, the rate at which you can comfortably understand. After a “lightening speed” read through (probably around 6 w. p. m) you will usually find that your normal speed has increased -  perhaps by as much as 50 -100 w. p. m.
5. Looking at your watch every 5 or 10 minutes ____

Most Americans still get married at some point in their lives, but even that group is shrinking. Among current generations of adult American - starting with those bom in 1920s - more than 90 percent have married or will marry at some point in their lives. However, based on recent patterns of marriage and mortality, demographers calculate that a growing share of the younger generations are postponing marriage for so long that an unprecedented number will never marry at all.

More Americans are living together outside of marriage. Divorced and widowed people are waiting longer to remarry. An increasing number of single women are raising children. Put these trends together with our increasing life expectancy, and the result is inevitable. Americans are spending a record low proportion of their adult lives married.

Married rates for unmarried men and women have dropped from their post-195Os high to record lows. Part of this fall is due to the change in the age at which people first marry. The median age at first marriage is the age by which half the men or women who will ever marry have done so. It fell almost continuously from the time it was first measured, in 1890, at 22.0 years for women and 26.1 for men, to a low of 20.3 for women and 22.6 for men between 1947 and 1962. Since then, it has risen at a rapid pace, to a record high for 23.8 for women and 26.2 for men in 1994.

The length of time between marriages is also increasing, and more divorced people are choosing not to remarry. In 1990, divorced men had waited an average of 3.8 years before remarrying, and divorced women had waited an average of 3.5 years, an increase of more than one year over the average interval in 1970.

Data on cohabitation and unmarried childbearing suggest that marriage is becoming less relevant to Americans. 2.8 million of the nation's households are unmarried couples, and one-third of them are caring for children, according to the Census Bureau

According to the passage, recent demographic patterns suggest that           

Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
The generation gap (1)_____ to the difference in attitudes or behavior between a  younger generation and the older one. In my opinion, different attitudes towards life, different views about certain problems, and a lack of communication can cause a generation gap in most societies.  The first factor is that parents and children generally see things from different (2)______. Choosing a career is a good example for this. Many parents try to impose certain careers they favor (3)_____ their children, based on their own perceptions. However, young people don’t always understand their parents’ points of views. Instead, they prefer to be free to make their own decisions on their future career. Another factor lies in differences in musical tastes, fashion, and political views between young people and their parents. (4)______, having a pierced nose might be viewed as fashionable by some teens, but for many parents, it is considered to be an act of rebellion against social norms.  The major factor (5)____ the generation gap is lack of communication between parents and their children. Parents tend to be dominant and not to trust their children to deal with crises. Also, they keep talking too much about certain problems. That is the reason why young people seldom reveal their feelings to their parents. When facing problems, young people prefer to seek help from their classmates or friends

Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
Set aside time each day Most of us can find 15 minutes or half an hour each day for some specific regular activity. It may be a free period or a regular wait, stay in the queue for a bus or meal - even while eating breakfast. One famous surgeon always made it a rule to spend at least 15 minutes on general reading before he went to sleep each night. Whether he went to bed at 10:00 p.m or 2:30 a.m. made no difference. Even if you cannot keep to this kind of discipline, it is a good idea to make sure you always have a general interest book in your pocket. Don’t forget it should be a book which entertains you and the English must not be too difficult for you. Checking your progress through pacing Nearly all speed reading courses have a "pacing element - some timing device which lets the student know how many words a minute he is reading. You can do this simply by looking at your watch every 5 or 10 minutes and noting down the page number you have reached. How do you know when 5 minutes have passed on your watch if you are busy reading the book? Well, this is difficult at first. A friend can help by timing you over a set period. Pace yourself every three or four days, always with the same kind of easy, general interest book. You should soon notice your habitual w. p. m rate creeping up. Check comprehension Obviously there is little point in increasing your w. p. m rate if you do not understand what you are reading. When you are consciously trying to increase your reading speed, stop after every chapter (if you are reading a novel) or every section or group of ten or twelve pages (if it is a textbook) and ask yourself a few questions about what you have been reading. If you find you have lost the thread of the story, or you cannot remember clearly the details of what was said, re-read the section or chapter. “Lightening speed” exercise Take 4 or 5 pages in the general interest book you happen to be reading at the time. Read them as fast as you possibly can. Do not bother about whether you understand or not. Now go back and read them at what you feel to be your normal w. p. m rate, the rate at which you can comfortably understand. After a “lightening speed” read through (probably around 6 w. p. m) you will usually find that your normal speed has increased -  perhaps by as much as 50 -100 w. p. m.
3. It is a good idea always to carry in your pocket ____