Read the following passage and choose the best answer for each blank.

(1) _____ history, women have always aimed for a recognized place in (2) _____. Guided by their own (3) _____ of knowledge and expertise,  women  like  Marie  Curie  in  science,  Mary  Wollstonecraft  in  literary  writing,  Simone  de  Beauvois  in  philosophical  existentialist debate, and Marie Stopes, in medicine, to name a few, have brought about (4) _____ awareness of the role of  women in any walks of life. These  women  have  helped  redefine  and  (5)  _____  the  nature  of  women's  place  in  society.  Today  the  (6)  _____  of  global  women's organizations and the impact of  women's contributions (7) _____ society  show that progress has been made and the progress in furthering the role of  women in society has been some benefit to the (8) _____ woman. It is true to say that not all women have the same need. The need of the woman who stays at home and (9) _____ children will differ  widely  from the woman who works outside. Nonetheless, in the extensive field of equal opportunities, it would be good to know that access is given to both with equal measure according to the true value of respective abilities. It also would be good to know that the woman at home is recognized as a valued (10) _____ of society just as much as the one who deals on business outside the home.

(10) _____

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: 
Any list of the greatest thinkers in history contains the name of the brilliant German physicist Albert Einstein. His theories of relativity led to entirely new ways of thinking about time, space, matter, energy, and gravity. Einstein's work led to such scientific advances as the control of atomic energy, even television as a practical application of Einstein's work. In 1902 Einstein became an examiner in the Swiss patent office at Bern. In 1905, at age 26, he published the first of five major research papers. The first one provided a theory explaining Brownian movement, the zig-zag motion of microscopic particles in suspension. The second paper laid the foundation for the photon, or quantum, theory of light. In it he proposed that light is composed of separate packets of energy, called quanta or photons, that have some of the properties of particles and some of the properties of waves. A third paper contained the "special theory of relativity" which showed that time and motion are relative to the observer, if the speed of light is constant and the natural laws are the same everywhere in the universe. The fourth paper was a mathematical addition to the special theory of relativity. Here Einstein presented his famous formula, E = m(cc), known as the energy mass equivalence. In 1916, Einstein published his general theory of relativity. In it he proposed that gravity is not a force, but a curve in the space-time continuum, created by the presence of mass. Einstein spoke out frequently against nationalism, the exalting of one nation above all others. He opposed war and violence and supported Zionism, the movement to establish a Jewish homeland in Palestine. When the Nazis came to power in 1933, they denounced his ideas. He then moved to the United States. In 1939 Einstein learned that two German chemists had split the uranium atom. Einstein wrote to President Franklin D. Roosevelt warning him that this scientific knowledge could lead to Germany developing an atomic bomb. He suggested the United States begin its own atomic bomb research.

It is clear from the tone of the passage that the author feels ....................

Read the following passage and Mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions: 
The growth of cities, the construction of hundreds of new factories, and the spread of railroads in the United Stases before 1850 had increased the need for better illumination. But the lighting in  American homes had improved very little over that of ancient times. Through the colonial period,  homes were lit with tallow candles or with a lamp of the kind used in ancient Rome- a dish of fish oil or  other animal or vegetable oil in which a twisted rag served as a wick. Some people used lard, but they  had to heat charcoal underneath to keep it soft and burnable. The sperm whale provided superior  burning oil, but this was expensive. In 1830 a new substance called "camphene" was patented, and  it proved to be an remained expensive, had an unpleasant odor, and also was dangerously explosive.
Between 1830 and 1850 it seemed that the only hope for cheaper illumination in the United  States was the wider use of gas. In the 1840s American gas manufacturers adopted improved British  techniques for producing illuminating gas from coal. But the expense of piping gas to the consumer  remained so high that until mid- century gas lighting was feasible only in urban areas, and only for  public buildings for the wealthy. In 1854 a Canadian doctor, Abraham Gesner, patented a process for  distilling a pitch like mineral found in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia that produced illuminating  gas and an oil that he called "kerosene" (from "keros", the Greek word for wax, and "ene" because  it resembled camphene). Kerosene, though cheaper than camphene, had an unpleasant odor, and  Gesner never made his fortune from it. But Gesner had aroused a new hope for making illuminating oil from a product coming out of North American mines.

According to the passage, what advantage did the kerosene patented by Gesner have over camphene?

Read the passage carefully and choose the correct answer

It has been thought that women are the second class in citizen, and men are the first. There is not a real equality of opportunity for men and women. Years ago, people were living in a man-dominated society. Women had to obey their husbands and fathers absolutely. Women's place was in the kitchen and women's work was housework. In many places, women were not even' allowed to go to school. Women had no rights, even the right to choose husband for themselves. Men usually occupied high positions in society so they thought they were more intelligent than women. Men often considered women as their property. Sometimes, they were mistreated by their husbands and suffered the problem as a fate. Many parents did not even want to daughters.

Despite the progress, there remain outdated beliefs about women's roles, traditionally passed down from generation to generation. Men are commonly seen as the strong bodies, bread-winners in the family and key leaders in society, while women are restricted to being housewives and child bearing and care, and housework such as washing and cooking.

According to social surveys, many women in the 21^st century still have to work over 12 hours a day including working in offices and doing countless household chores without any help from their husbands. In some regions, the labor of women is not recognized despite the hardships they endure to support the whole family. Moreover, women are the direct victims of family violence, especially in rural areas.

Thanks to the women's liberation movement, nowadays women have proved that they are equal to men in every aspect. An average woman has weaker muscles than an average man but she may be as intelligent as he is. Women can do everything that men can, and women can do one thing that no man can: they produce children.

What did women have to suffer?

Read the following passage and choose the best answer for each blank.

(1) _____ history, women have always aimed for a recognized place in (2) _____. Guided by their own (3) _____ of knowledge and expertise,  women  like  Marie  Curie  in  science,  Mary  Wollstonecraft  in  literary  writing,  Simone  de  Beauvois  in  philosophical  existentialist debate, and Marie Stopes, in medicine, to name a few, have brought about (4) _____ awareness of the role of  women in any walks of life. These  women  have  helped  redefine  and  (5)  _____  the  nature  of  women's  place  in  society.  Today  the  (6)  _____  of  global  women's organizations and the impact of  women's contributions (7) _____ society  show that progress has been made and the progress in furthering the role of  women in society has been some benefit to the (8) _____ woman. It is true to say that not all women have the same need. The need of the woman who stays at home and (9) _____ children will differ  widely  from the woman who works outside. Nonetheless, in the extensive field of equal opportunities, it would be good to know that access is given to both with equal measure according to the true value of respective abilities. It also would be good to know that the woman at home is recognized as a valued (10) _____ of society just as much as the one who deals on business outside the home.

(5) _____

Read the passage and choose the correct answer:

On the provincial level, some women in Canada could vote beginning in 1916. Suffrage expanded to the federal level over the next few years: In 1917 nurses and women in the armed forces could vote, then women whose fathers, husbands, or sons were serving overseas. In 1918 legislation passed expanding suffrage to female citizens excluding Asian-Canadian women and First Nation women, who did not win the right to vote until the 1940s and 1960s, respectively.

Non-indigenous women in Australia got the right to vote beginning in 1895, when the state of South Australia passed colony- and state-wide suffrage, in addition to the right to stand for parliament. In 1899, state suffrage expanded to Western Australia. In 1902, non-indigenous women won the right to vote on the federal level with the passing of the Commonwealth Franchise Act. Indigenous Australians didn't get the federal right to vote until 1962.

Asian-Canadian women acquired suffrage in 1918.

Choose the option among  A, B, C or D that best answers the question about the passage:

"Since the 1940s, most international women’s rights efforts have been organized by the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), an office established in 1947 by the United Nations (UN). The Commission is the only existing intergovernmental body that issues reports on and recommendations for the promotion of women’s political, social, economic, and cultural rights. The CSW also acts as an advocate for women’s rights and can urge immediate international action in cases of severe violations of women’s rights.
 The UN encouraged equality in the workplace for men and women when it sponsored the Convention Concerning Equal Remuneration for Men and Women Workers for Work of Equal Value in 1953 and the Convention Concerning Discrimination in Respect of Employment and Occupation in 1960. Over 100 countries ratified these measures. In 1975 the UN launched the Decade for Women, a ten-year effort to focus on women’s issues. From 1975 to 1985 international groups formed a series of conferences organized around the themes of equality, development, and peace. The conferences took place throughout the world and drew leaders and delegates from developing and industrialized nations alike. The Decade for Women culminated in the 1985 UN Nairobi Conference, held in Nairobi, Kenya, which was attended by 375 delegations of women from nations around the world.
 The United Nations’ Fourth World Conference on Women was held in Beijing, China, in 1995. Over 17,000 people registered for the event, including delegates from nearly 200 countries. The Platform for Action that emerged from the conference focused on the removal of obstacles to women’s equal participation in society. The most controversial sections of the platform concerned reproductive rights, particularly the right to have an abortion. The final document declared that “the ability of women to control their own fertility forms, an important basis for the enjoyment of other rights,” and asserted the right of women and men to have access to all legal methods of fertility regulation."

4. What did the Platform for Action in the World Conference on Women held in Beijing, China, in 1995 focus on?

A pioneering study by Donald Appleyard made the astounding discovery that a sudden increase in the volume of traffic through an area affects people in the way that a sudden increase in crime does. Appleyard observed this by finding three blocks of houses in San Francisco that looked much alike and had the same kind of middle-class and working-class residents, with approximately the same ethnic mix. The difference was that only 2,000 cars a day ran down Octavia Street (LIGHT street, in Appleyard’s terminology) while Gough Street (MEDIUM street) was used by 8,000 cars daily, and Franklin Street (HEAVY street) had around 16,000 cars a day. Franklin Street often had as many cars in an hour as Octavia had in a day.
Heavy traffic brought with it danger, noise, fumes and soot, directly, and trash secondarily. That is, the cars didn’t bring in much trash, but when trash accumulated, residents seldom picked it up. The cars, Appleyard determined, reduced the amount of territory residents felt responsible for. Noise was a constant intrusion into their homes. Many Franklin Street residents covered their doors and windows and spent most of their time in the rear of their houses. Most families with children had already left.
Conditions on Octavia Street were much different. Residents picked up trash. They sat on their front steps and chatted with neighbors. They had three times as many friends and twice as many acquaintances as the people on Franklin.
On Gough Street, residents said that the old feeling of community was disappearing as traffic increaseD. People were becoming more and more preoccupied with their own lives. A number of families had recently moved and more were considering. Those who were staying expressed deep regret at the destruction of their community.

In what order does the author present detailed discussions of the three streets?

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

It has been thought that women are the second class in citizen, and men are the first. There is not a real equality of opportunity for men and women. Years ago, people were living in a man-dominated society. Women had to obey their husbands and fathers absolutely. Women's place was in the kitchen and women's work was housework. In many places, women were not even allowed to go to school. Women had no rights, even the right to choose husband for themselves. Men usually occupied high positions in society so they thought they were more intelligent than women. Men often considered women as their property. Sometimes, they were mistreated by their husbands and suffered the problem as a fate. Many parents did not even want to daughters.

Despite the progress, there remain outdated beliefs about women's roles, traditionally passed down from generation to generation. Men are commonly seen as the strong bodies, bread-winners in the family and key leaders in society, while women are restricted to being housewives and child bearing and care, and housework such as washing and cooking.

According to social surveys, many women in the 21st century still have to work over 12 hours a day including working in offices and doing countless household chores without any help from their husbands. In some regions, the labor of women is not recognized despite the hardships they endure to support the whole family. Moreover, women are the direct victims of family violence, especially in rural areas.

Thanks to the women's liberation movement, nowadays women have proved that they are equal to men in every aspect. An average woman has weaker muscles than an average man but she may be as intelligent as he is. Women can do everything that men can, and women can do one thing that no man can: they produce children.

According to the next, women in the 21st century ______

Read the passage carefully and choose the correct answer:
Today, more and more women are actively participating in social activities both in urban and rural areas. Specifically, they have shined brightly in even many fields commonly regarded as the man's areas such as business, scientific research and social management. In some areas, women even show more overwhelming power than men. The image of contemporary Vietnamese women with creativeness, dynamism, success has become popular in Vietnam's society. The fact reveals that the gender gap has been remarkably narrowed and women enjoy many more opportunities to pursue their social careers and obtain success, contributing to national socio-economic development. 
According to Ms, Le Thi Quy, Director of the Gender/and Development Research Centre under the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Hanoi National University, gender equity in Vietnam has reached a high level over the past decade. The rate of Vietnamese women becoming National Assembly members from the 9th term to the 11th term increased 8.7%, bringing the proportion of Vietnamese women in authority to 27.3%, the highest rate in Southeast Asia. There is no big gap in the level of literacy and schooling between men and women. Women account for about 37% of university and college graduates, 19.9% of doctoral degree holders and 6.7% of professors and associate professors. 
The legitimate rights of women and children are ensured more than ever before with more complete legal documents including laws, conventions and national action plans, among which the laws on "gender equity" mark a turning-point in the empowerment of women. 
Mass media also highlights the continued success of women in every field and honors their great importance in modern society, helping to do away with outdated perceptions about traditional women's duties. Many projects on reproductive health care, children protection, and family income improvement jointly conducted by various mass organizations, state agencies and non-governmental organizations have created favorable conditions for women to become involved.

Which is not mentioned in the text as a project to create condition for Vietnamese women?

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.

   My family consists of four people. There's my father whose name is Jan, my mother whose name is Marie, my brother, Peter and of course, me. I have quite a large extended family as well but, only the four of us live together in our apartment in a block of flats. My father is fifty-two years old. He works as an accountant in an insurance company. He is tall and slim, has got short brown and gray hair and blue eyes. My father likes gardening very much as well as listening to music and reading books about political science. His special hobbies are bird watching and travelling.

   Now I’ll describe my mother and my brother. My mother is forty-seven and she works as a nurse in a hospital. She is small, and slim, has short brown hair and green eyes. She likes bird watching and travelling too, so whenever my parents are able to they go someplace interesting for nature watching. Since we have a cottage with a garden they both spend a lot of time there. My brother is sixteen. He is slim and has short brown hair and blue eyes. He also attends high school. He is interested in computers and sports like football and hockey. He also spends a lot of time with his friends.

   I have only one grandmother left still living. She is in pretty good health even at the age of seventyeight so she still lives in her own flat. I enjoy spending time with her when I can. Both my grandfathers died from cancer because they were smokers, which was really a great tragedy because I didn't get chance to know them. My other grandmother died just a few years ago. I also have a lot of aunts, uncles, and cousins. The cousin I’m closest to is my uncle’s daughter Pauline. We have a lot in common because we are both eighteen and so we are good friends.

   My parents have assigned me certain duties around the house. I don't mind helping out because everyone in a family should contribute in some way. I help with the washing up, the vacuuming and the shopping. Of course I also have to help keep my room tidy as well. My brother is responsible for the dusting and mopping. He also has to clean his own room. Even though my brother and I sometimes fight about who has to do what job, we are still very close. I am also very close to my parents and I can rely on them to help me. My parents work together to keep our home well maintained and it seem they always have a project or another that they are working on. They respect each other's opinions and even if they disagree they can always come to a compromise. I hope in the future that 1 have a family like ours.

The word "tragedy" in the third paragraph mostly means............

Choose the item among A, B, C or D that best answers the question about the passage:

"Until the 19thcentury, the denial of equal rights to women met with only occasional protest and drew little attention from most people. Because most women lacked the educational and economic resources that would enable them to challenge the prevailing social order, women generally accepted their inferior status as their only option. At this time, women shared these disadvantages with the majority of working class men, as many social, economic, and political rights were restricted to the wealthy elite. In the 19th century, as governments in Europe and North America began to draft new laws guaranteeing equality among men, significant numbers of women - and some men - began to demand that women be accorded equal rights as well.
 At the same time, the Industrial Revolution in Europe and North America further divided the roles of men and women. Before the Industrial Revolution most people worked in farming or crafts-making, both of which took place in or near the home. Men and women usually divided the numerous tasks among themselves and their children. Industrialization led male workers to seek employment outside of the home in factories and other large-scale enterprises. The growing split between home and work reinforced the idea that women’s “rightful place” was in the home, while men belonged in the public world of employment and politics.
 Organized efforts by women to achieve greater rights occurred in two major waves. The first wave began around the mid-19th century, when women in the United States and elsewhere campaigned to gain suffrage - that is, the right to vote. This wave lasted until the 1920s, when several countries granted women suffrage."

3.  When did the women’s movement start in Western countries?

Why is it that flying to New York from London will leave you feeling less tired than flying to London from New York? The answer may be a clear case of biology not being able to keep up with technology.
Deep inside the brain there is a "clock" that governs every aspect of the body's functioning: sleep and wake cycles, levels of alertness, performance, mood, hormone levels, digestion, body temperature and so on. It regulates all of these functions on a 24-hour basis and is called the circadian clock (from the Latin, circa "about" + dies "day"). This body clock programmes us to be sleepy twice a day, between 3-5 a.m and again between 3-5 p.m.
Afternoon tea and siesta times are all cultural responses to our natural biological sleepiness in the afternoon.
One of the major causes of the travelers' malady known as jet lag is the non-alignment of a person's internal body clock with clocks in the external world. Crossing different time zones confuses the circadian clock, which then has to adjust to the new time and patterns of light and activity. To make matters more complex, not all internal body functions adjust at the same rate. So your sleep/wake may adjust to a new time zone at one rate, while your temperature adjusts at a different pace. Your digestion may be on a different schedule altogether.
Though we live in a 24-hour day, the natural tendency of the body clock is to extend our day beyond 24 hours. It is contrary to our biological programming to shrink our day. That is why traveling in a westward direction is more body-clock friendly than flying east. NASA studies of long haul pilots showed that westward travel was associated with significantly better sleep quantity and quality than eastward flights.
When flying west, you are "extending" your day, thus traveling in the natural direction of your internal clock. Flying eastward will involve "shrinking" or reducing your day and is in direct opposition to your internal clock's natural tendency. One of the more common complaints of travelers is that their sleep becomes disrupted. There are many reasons for this: Changing time zones and schedules, changing light and activity levels, trying to sleep when your body clock is programmed to be awake, disruption of the internal circadian clock and working longer hours.
Sleep loss, jet lag and fatigue can seriously affect our ability to function well. Judgment and decision-making can be reduced by 50%, attention by 75 percent, memory by 20 percent and communication by 30 percent.
It is often suggested that you adjust your watch as soon as you board a plane, supposedly to try to help you adjust to your destination's schedule as soon as you arrive. But it can take the body clock several days to several weeks to fully adjust to a new time zone.

The word "malady" is closest in meaning to ......................

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions from 21 to 25.

Every four years people all over the world watch the Olympic Games. It is a time for all kinds of people to unite in peace. Some of them join together to compete for gold medals. Millions of other people watch them on television.

Why do we have the Olympic? How did they begin?

The first Olympic Games were in Greece in 776 B.C. There was only one event. People ran a nice the length of the stadium. The Games lasted one day.

Slowly people added more events. The Games were only for men, and women could not even watch them. Only Greeks competed. They came from all parts of the Greek world. The time of the Games way; a time of peace, and government let everyone travel safely. The winners became national heroes.

The first modem Games were in 1896 in Athens. The Greeks built a new stadium for the competition. Athletes from several countries competed. Then there were Olympics every four years in different cities in Europe and the United States until 1952. After that they were in Melbourne, Tokyo, Mexico City, and Montreal besides in European cities. Each year there were athletes from more nations. The first Winter Olympics were in 1924. The athletes compete in skiing and other winter sports.

How often do people all over the world watch the Olympic Games?

In addition to their military role, the forts of the nineteenth century provided numerous other benefits for the American West. The establishment of these posts opened new roads and provided for the protection of daring adventurers and expeditions as well as established settlers. Forts also served as bases where enterprising entrepreneurs could bring commerce to the West, providing supplies and refreshments to soldiers as well as to pioneers. Posts like Fort Laramie provided supplies for wagon trains traveling the natural highways toward new frontiers. Some posts became stations for the pony express; still others, such as Fort Davis, were stagecoach stops for weary travelers. All of these functions, of course, suggest that the contributions of the forts to the civilization and development of the West extended beyond patrol duty.
 Through the establishment of military posts, yet other contributions were made to the development of western culture. Many posts maintained libraries or reading rooms, and some – for example, Fort Davis – had schools. Post chapels provided a setting for religious services and weddings. Throughout the wilderness, post bands provided entertainment and boosted morale. During the last part of the nineteenth century, to reduce expenses, gardening was encouraged at the forts, thus making experimental agriculture another activity of the military. The military stationed at the various forts also played a role in civilian life by assisting in maintaining order, and civilian officials often called on the army for protection.
 Certainly, among other significant contributions the army made to the improvement of the conditions of life was the investigation of the relationships among health, climate, and architecture. From the earliest colonial times throughout the nineteenth century, disease ranked as the foremost problem in defense. It slowed construction of forts and inhibited their military functions. Official documents from many regions contained innumerable reports of sickness that virtually incapacitated entire garrisons. In response to the problems, detailed observations of architecture and climate and their relationships to the frequency of the occurrence of various diseases were recorded at various posts across the nation by military surgeons.

How did the military assist in the investigation of health problems?

Read the following passage and Mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions: 
The growth of cities, the construction of hundreds of new factories, and the spread of railroads in the United Stases before 1850 had increased the need for better illumination. But the lighting in  American homes had improved very little over that of ancient times. Through the colonial period,  homes were lit with tallow candles or with a lamp of the kind used in ancient Rome- a dish of fish oil or  other animal or vegetable oil in which a twisted rag served as a wick. Some people used lard, but they  had to heat charcoal underneath to keep it soft and burnable. The sperm whale provided superior  burning oil, but this was expensive. In 1830 a new substance called "camphene" was patented, and  it proved to be an remained expensive, had an unpleasant odor, and also was dangerously explosive.
Between 1830 and 1850 it seemed that the only hope for cheaper illumination in the United  States was the wider use of gas. In the 1840s American gas manufacturers adopted improved British  techniques for producing illuminating gas from coal. But the expense of piping gas to the consumer  remained so high that until mid- century gas lighting was feasible only in urban areas, and only for  public buildings for the wealthy. In 1854 a Canadian doctor, Abraham Gesner, patented a process for  distilling a pitch like mineral found in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia that produced illuminating  gas and an oil that he called "kerosene" (from "keros", the Greek word for wax, and "ene" because  it resembled camphene). Kerosene, though cheaper than camphene, had an unpleasant odor, and  Gesner never made his fortune from it. But Gesner had aroused a new hope for making illuminating oil from a product coming out of North American mines.

What can be inferred about the illuminating gas described in the paragraph?

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: 
Leonardo da Vinci was born on April 15,1452, in the small Tuscan town ofVinci, near Florence. He was the son of a wealthy Florentine public official and a peasant woman. In the mid-1460s, the family settled in Florence, where Leonardo was given the best education that Florence could offer. He rapidly advanced socially and intellectually. He was handsome, persuasive in conversation, and a fine musician and improviser. About in 1466 he apprenticed as a studio boy to Andrea Del Verrocchio. In Verrocchio's workshop, Leonardo was introduced to many activities, from the painting of altarpieces and panel pictures to the creation of large sculptural projects. In 1472, he was entered in the painter's guild of Florence, and in 1476, he was still mentioned as Verrocchio's assistant. In Verrocchio's Baptism of Christ, the kneeling angel at the left of the painting is by Leonardo.
In 1478, Leonardo became an independent master. His first commission, to paint an altarpiece for the chapel of the Palazzo Vecchino, the Florentine town hall, was never executed. His first large painting, The Adoration of the Magi, left unfinished, was ordered in 1481 for the Monastery of San Donato a Scopeto, Florence. Other works ascribed to his youth are the so-called Benois Madonna, the portrait Ginerva de' Bend, and the unfinished Saint Jerome.
In 1482, Leonardo's career moved into high gear when he entered the service of the duke of Milan, Ludovico Sforza, having written the duke an astonishing letter in which he stated that he could build portable bridges; that he knew the techniques of constructing bombardments and of making cannons; that he could build ships as well as armored vehicles, catapults, and other war machines; and that he could execute sculpture in marble, bronze, and clay. He served as a principal engineer in the duke’s numerous military enterprises and was so active also as an architect. In addition, he assisted the Italian mathematician Luca Pacioli in the celebrated work Divina Proportione.

How old was Leonardo da Vinci when he became an independent master?

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.

   Over the past 600 years, English has grown from a language of few speakers to become the dominant language of international communication. English as we know it today emerged around 1350, after having incorporated many elements of French that were introduced following the Norman invasion of 1066. Until the 1600s, English was, for the most part, spoken only in England and had not extended even as far as two centuries, English began to spread around the globe as a result of exploration, trade (including slave trade), colonization, and missionary work. Thus, small enclaves of English speakers became established and grew in various parts of the world. As these communities proliferated, English gradually became the primary language of international business, banking and diplomacy.

   Currently, about 80 percent of the information stored on computer systems worldwide is English. Two thirds of the world’s science writing is in English, and English is the main language of technology, advertising, media, international airports, and air traffic controllers. Today there are more than 700 million English users in the world, and over half of these are nonnative speakers, constituting the largest number of non-native users than any other language in the world..

Approximately when did English begin to be used beyond England?

Read the passage carefully and choose the correct answer

It has been thought that women are the second class in citizen, and men are the first. There is not a real equality of opportunity for men and women. Years ago, people were living in a man-dominated society. Women had to obey their husbands and fathers absolutely. Women's place was in the kitchen and women's work was housework. In many places, women were not even' allowed to go to school. Women had no rights, even the right to choose husband for themselves. Men usually occupied high positions in society so they thought they were more intelligent than women. Men often considered women as their property. Sometimes, they were mistreated by their husbands and suffered the problem as a fate. Many parents did not even want to daughters.

Despite the progress, there remain outdated beliefs about women's roles, traditionally passed down from generation to generation. Men are commonly seen as the strong bodies, bread-winners in the family and key leaders in society, while women are restricted to being housewives and child bearing and care, and housework such as washing and cooking.

According to social surveys, many women in the 21^st century still have to work over 12 hours a day including working in offices and doing countless household chores without any help from their husbands. In some regions, the labor of women is not recognized despite the hardships they endure to support the whole family. Moreover, women are the direct victims of family violence, especially in rural areas.

Thanks to the women's liberation movement, nowadays women have proved that they are equal to men in every aspect. An average woman has weaker muscles than an average man but she may be as intelligent as he is. Women can do everything that men can, and women can do one thing that no man can: they produce children.

The outdated 'beliefs about women's roles ________.

Read the passage and choose the correct answer:

On the provincial level, some women in Canada could vote beginning in 1916. Suffrage expanded to the federal level over the next few years: In 1917 nurses and women in the armed forces could vote, then women whose fathers, husbands, or sons were serving overseas. In 1918 legislation passed expanding suffrage to female citizens excluding Asian-Canadian women and First Nation women, who did not win the right to vote until the 1940s and 1960s, respectively.

Non-indigenous women in Australia got the right to vote beginning in 1895, when the state of South Australia passed colony- and state-wide suffrage, in addition to the right to stand for parliament. In 1899, state suffrage expanded to Western Australia. In 1902, non-indigenous women won the right to vote on the federal level with the passing of the Commonwealth Franchise Act. Indigenous Australians didn't get the federal right to vote until 1962.

Almost all the women in Canada could vote beginning in 1916.

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.

   My family consists of four people. There's my father whose name is Jan, my mother whose name is Marie, my brother, Peter and of course, me. I have quite a large extended family as well but, only the four of us live together in our apartment in a block of flats. My father is fifty-two years old. He works as an accountant in an insurance company. He is tall and slim, has got short brown and gray hair and blue eyes. My father likes gardening very much as well as listening to music and reading books about political science. His special hobbies are bird watching and travelling.

   Now I’ll describe my mother and my brother. My mother is forty-seven and she works as a nurse in a hospital. She is small, and slim, has short brown hair and green eyes. She likes bird watching and travelling too, so whenever my parents are able to they go someplace interesting for nature watching. Since we have a cottage with a garden they both spend a lot of time there. My brother is sixteen. He is slim and has short brown hair and blue eyes. He also attends high school. He is interested in computers and sports like football and hockey. He also spends a lot of time with his friends.

   I have only one grandmother left still living. She is in pretty good health even at the age of seventyeight so she still lives in her own flat. I enjoy spending time with her when I can. Both my grandfathers died from cancer because they were smokers, which was really a great tragedy because I didn't get chance to know them. My other grandmother died just a few years ago. I also have a lot of aunts, uncles, and cousins. The cousin I’m closest to is my uncle’s daughter Pauline. We have a lot in common because we are both eighteen and so we are good friends.

   My parents have assigned me certain duties around the house. I don't mind helping out because everyone in a family should contribute in some way. I help with the washing up, the vacuuming and the shopping. Of course I also have to help keep my room tidy as well. My brother is responsible for the dusting and mopping. He also has to clean his own room. Even though my brother and I sometimes fight about who has to do what job, we are still very close. I am also very close to my parents and I can rely on them to help me. My parents work together to keep our home well maintained and it seem they always have a project or another that they are working on. They respect each other's opinions and even if they disagree they can always come to a compromise. I hope in the future that 1 have a family like ours.

The word "assigned" in the fourth paragraph mostly means...................