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:

Upon the creation of the United States, one of the core concepts on which the hopes for the new democracy were pinned was the idea that its citizens would be enlightened individuals with clearly articulated rights and the opportunity for individual achievement and education. It was believed that in a free nation where the power belongs to the people, the commitment to education defines the progress of that democracy and is the catalyst for future progress. This core value has not only stood the test of time but has also grown in importance.

In this new Information Era and international economy, education is an increasingly vital commodity, a precursor of potential success, and a driving force of change. It is important to recognize, however, that we approach education today differently than in the past, partly because the kinds of jobs people had didn’t require the kind of basic education and specialized training that is often required in the workforce today. In the 1950s, for instance, only 20 percent of American jobs were classified as professional, 20 percent as skilled; and 60 percent as unskilled. Today, our world has changed. The proportion of unskilled jobs has fallen to 20 percent, while jobs now account for at least 60 percent of the workforce. Even more important, almost every job today increasingly requires a combination of academic knowledge and practical skills that require learning throughout a lifetime.

In order to become a good American citizen today, in the author’s point of view, any individual must ___________

Choose one option to fill each of the numbered gaps in the following passage.

Fish farming is only one of the many (31)_______ experiments man has begun in the endless battle to feed himself. It is not as easy as it (32)_______. One doesn’t simply find a pond, stock it with fish, and wait for them to (33)______. I knew one amateur who did just this. He (34)________ on his pond as a fishing hole for his friends. One morning he awoke to find its surface (35)__________ with dead fish. They had died quite naturally – (36)_______ suffocation. Commercially (37)______ freshwater fish need just that – and plenty of it. A good stream feeding the pond is one way to (38)_____________ that fish will stay healthy. (39)____ does it supply life-giving oxygen, it also helps to clear away the fish’s own (40)_______ matter. With the oceans being overfished in recent decades, fish farming may soon take over there too.

33_____________

Read the following passages and choose the correct answer to each question.

Researchers don’t think there’s any question that the discovery of a gene that appears to be linked to many types of cancer is really exciting and the best news for the public in a long time. The gene is involved in a high percentage of human cancers and its discovery might eventually lead to the development of a new anti-cancer treatment.

In normal cells, this gene, named MTS1, acts as a brake during the cell division process. But the researchers have found that the cell is missing in about half of the tumor cells they studied, allowing uncontrolled division of cells to take place and the resulting spread of cancer.

This discovery could be exploited in two ways, either by supplying the missing gene through gene therapy or by copying its function in a drug. Of course, this is not the first gene to be found that can suppress tumors; it’s the eleventh or twelfth. However, because of its seemingly wider presence, or absence, the knowledge of its existence could lead to a cure for some types of cancer.

What does MTS1 do?

Choose the best option for each numbered blank.

All five senses are important to us, but the two most important senses are (51)_____ the sense of sight and the sense of hearing. Blind and deaf people must(52)_____ life difficult because they are unable to do (53)______ that the rest of us can do naturally. People who (54)______ their sense of taste can not enjoy food as (55)_____ as they used to, whilst (56)______ who have no sense of smell can not realize, for example, when gas is (57)_______ or when food has gone (58)________.In addition to our physical senses, (59)______ is a great help in life to have a sense of humor, especially when things go wrong, and to have (60)_______ sense, something which can not be learned from books.

56____________

A UFO (Unidentified Flying Object) is any object flying in the sky which cannot be identified by the person who sees it. Sometimes the object is investigated. If people can still not figure out what the object is after an investigation, it is called a UFO. If they figure out what the object is, it can no longer be called a UFO because it has been identified.

Even though UFOs can be anything, people often use the word UFO when they are talking about alien spacecraft. Flying saucer is another word that is often used to describe an unidentified flying object.

Studies estimate that 50%-90% of all reported UFO sightings are identified later. Usually 10%-20% are never identified. Studies also show that very few UFO sightings are hoaxes (people trying to trick other people). Most UFOs are actually natural or man-made objects that looked strange. 80%-90% UFOs are identified as one of three different things: astronomical causes (for example: planets, stars, or meteors); aircraft; balloons 10%-20% of UFOs are other causes (such as birds, clouds, mirages, searchlights, etc.)

How many percents of all reported UFO sightings are not identified?

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D to indicate the correct answer for each of the blanks.
The big issue for plane-makers planning for the future is size, not speed. With the skies already full of air traffic, and with worse to (46)_________, the important questions for the designers are how many passengers they can fit into the new super-planes and who will be (47)_________to build them first. Imagine yourself ten years from now in a packed airport departure lounge. Eight hundred passengers are waiting with you for their first flight on one of a remarkable range of super-planes, and the check-in time (48)__________ have been as much as four hours before take-off to allow for the extra people. Impossible? Far from it. Designs for these planes are already (49)_________ on a computer at the world’s top aircraft manufacturers, waiting to be turned (50)_________ reality. The airlines badly need the new jets to (51)________ with future increases in passenger (52)________ . A billion passengers a year are currently carried by air, but that figure is (53)___________ to double by the year 2020. The only practical of avoiding making the skies even busier is to build much bigger planes. The race to build the new jets is the hottest contest in the airliner business. Manufacturers are working (55)______ with the major airlines to produce designs that will please airlines and passengers alike.

55______________

Bags of tomatoes from trucks were ……………… to the crowds, and they began throwing tomatoes at one another.

Read the following passage and choose the correct answer for each question.

Atmospheric pressure can support a column of water up to 10 meters high. But plants can move water much higher, the sequoia tree can pump water to its very top, more than 100 meters above the ground. Until the end of the nineteenth century, the movement of water in trees and other tall plants was a mystery. Some botanists hypothesized that the living cells of plants in which all the cells are killed can still move water to appreciable heights. Other explanations for the movement of water in plants have been based on root pressure, a push on the water from the roots at the bottom of the plant. But root pressure is not nearly great enough to push water to the tops of tall trees. Furthermore, the conifers, which are among the tallest trees, have unusually low root pressures.

If water is not pumped to the top of a tall tree, and if it is not pushed to the top of a tall tree, then we may ask: “How does it get there?” According to the currently accepted cohesion-tension theory, water is pulled there. The pull on a rising column of water in a plant results from the evaporation of water at the top of the plant. As water is lost from the surface of the leaves, a negative pressure, or tension, is created. The evaporated water is replaced by water moving from inside the plant in unbroken columns that extend from the top of a plant to its roots. The same forces that create surface tension in any sample of water are responsible for the maintenance of these unbroken columns of water. When water is confined in tubes of a very small bore, the forces of cohesion (the attraction between water molecules) are so great that the strength of a column of water compares with the strength of a steel wire of the same diameter. This cohesive strength permits columns of water to be pulled to great heights without being broken.

The passage answers which of the following questions?

Read the following passage and choose the item (A, B, C, or D) that best answers each of the questions about it

A shuttle is a vehicle that travels back and forth frequently. A space shuttle is a vehicle that travels into space and back again. It can be used again and again. On April 12, 1981, the United States launched the first space shuttle, Columbia. At 7.00 a.m., the engines were fired. The booster rockets and the Space Shuttle lifted off into the air. Two minutes later, the booster rockets and the Space Shuttle separated. Parachutes took the rockets safely down into the Pacific Ocean, where ships were waiting to pick them up. Columbia continued to climb on an orbit of 170 miles above the earth. The Space Shuttle circled the earth 36 times. During this time, the astronauts tested the equipment on the Shuttle. They also opened and closed the large cargo doors. Two days later, they fired the Shuttles engines. This slowed down the Shuttle. John Young, a top pilot, took the controls of Columbia. He entered the earth’s atmosphere and headed toward California. Then he made a perfect landing at Edwards Air Force base.

Since then, Columbia has traveled into space more than seven times. The second Shuttle, Challenger, is also operating. “NASA” is building two more space Shuttles. It is planning over 60 more Shuttle flights. Some will launch Satellites through the cargo doors. Some will try to manufacture drugs and chemicals in space. One will carry a large telescope into orbit which will send pictures back to earth. It is possible that some day in the future, Space Shuttles will carry passengers to the moon.

A Space Shuttle can ___.

Read the following two passages and choose the correct answer for each question.

In 1723 there arrived in Philadelphia a penniless young man, eager for work and knowledge. As the years passed, this man, Benjamin Franklin, contributed greatly to his city and his country. He became a printer and a publisher and a learned man in many subjects. He also helped to speed learning by establishing a public library and by founding the American Philosophical Society, which is an important academy of great scholars to this day.

Franklin initiated many improvements in the city of Philadelphia, making it one of the world’s first cities to have paved and lighted streets as well as a police force and a fire fighting company. He also made many practical inventions such as the Franklin stove, which was a very efficient heater, and the light rod the protected buildings in electric storms. His scientific work with electricity earned Franklin world fame.

Franklin played an important role in the early history of the United States. He took part in the drawing up of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. He was the first ambassador to France, and he helped negotiate the treaty of 1783, which ended the Revolutionary War.

As an active member and as president of the Abolitionist Society, Franklin devoted the last years of his life to the movement to end slavery.

In what was Franklin active during the last years of his life?

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D to indicate the correct answer for each of the blanks.
In the modem world, there is a wealth of leisure activities to choose from. Entertainment industries (46)______ for your leisure time. You can watch TV, listen to music, go to an art gallery or concert or, of course, read a book. Sometimes it seems that reading is (47)_________ because, even if you’re a fast reader, it can take a (48)_____ amount of time to finish a novel, for example. But in the modem world, time is something that can be in short supply. Book publishers haven’t been (49)________ to realize this and are now selling a product which needn’t (50)________ as much of your time but still tells you an excellent story. The new product is the audiobook – cassette recordings of shortened novels, often read by well-known personalities or the authors themselves. Audiobooks are (51)_____ new but people are becoming more aware of them and sales are increasing all the time. One of the attractions of audiobooks is that they’re (52)______ listening to the radio, only better. You can listen to what you want when you want, and you won’t even miss anything. Much of their appeal (53)_________ in their flexibility. They allow you to do other things while you’re listening, such as driving or (54)________ the housework. For some people, audiobooks can be a much more enjoyable way of (55)_______ knowledge than reading.

52___________

Choose the word or phrase (A, B, C, or D) that best fits the blank space in the following passage (1.5 pts)

The Director

L&P Transport Company

79B Nguyen Hue Boulevard

Ho Chi Minh City

I’m writing about the shortstop that your trucks (13) ______ around my house on their way to the north. When the trucks of your company have a short (14) ______ there, the drivers have left lots of garbage on the ground after their refreshment. When the trucks leave the place, the ground is (15) _________ of trash and a few minutes later there is a bad smell and flies all over the place. I myself, (16) ______ the people living around here, would urge that your company should tell your drivers to clean up all the trash on the ground before leaving. (17) _________ you do something about it and soon, we will have to report this to the local authority.

I am looking forward to hearing from you and (18) ______ positive response from your company.

14___________

Choose the correct word to complete the passage below.

It was the American sitcom (56)________ defined a generation and introduced one of the world’s most famous haircuts. The six stars of “Friends”, among the longest-running, most successful series ever to hit the small screen, went their separate ways in 237 (57)_______ and a decade together as flatmates, sharing the trials of their lives, loves, and careers (58)________ a trendy New York apartment. The last episode was seen by an estimated world audience of over 100 million(59)______.

“Friends had a huge (60)______ on American TV history,” said Steve Beverly, professor of communication arts. “This group of six reflected a microcosm of what people their age encountered in their daily lives. Viewers related to them. We all wanted a life (61)______ theirs – the cool New York flat with table football and easy chairs, and the social circle of beautiful, supportive (62)______ around.”

“Friends” is (63)______ more than just a sitcom, it’s a way of life. The characters were supposed to be in their mid-twenties, with lives (64)__________ by work and responsibility. They led a lazy and relaxed life altogether. With the cast approaching forty, the show had to (65)__________ to an end, but “Friends” will last forever.

57__________

Choose one option to fill each of the numbered gaps in the following passage.

Fish farming is only one of the many (31)_______ experiments man has begun in the endless battle to feed himself. It is not as easy as it (32)_______. One doesn’t simply find a pond, stock it with fish, and wait for them to (33)______. I knew one amateur who did just this. He (34)________ on his pond as a fishing hole for his friends. One morning he awoke to find its surface (35)__________ with dead fish. They had died quite naturally – (36)_______ suffocation. Commercially (37)______ freshwater fish need just that – and plenty of it. A good stream feeding the pond is one way to (38)_____________ that fish will stay healthy. (39)____ does it supply life-giving oxygen, it also helps to clear away the fish’s own (40)_______ matter. With the oceans being overfished in recent decades, fish farming may soon take over there too.

35________________

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D to indicate the correct option for each of the blanks.

The telephone was invented in 1876 by Alexander Graham Bell, a Scotsman who became a US citizen. The word ‘telephone’ had been (61)_________ existence since the 1830s and had been (62)_______ to several inventions designed to produce sound.

Bell had become interested in the possibility of long-distance speech in his work with the deaf. He was twenty-eight and his assistant, Thomas Watson, was (64)______twenty-one when they achieved their great success on 10 March 1876. Despite their long and close association, Bell’s first communication by telephone was not “Tom, come here, I want you”, (65)_________ “Mr. Watson, come here, I want you”.

Filled with excitement, Bell and Watson demonstrated their invention to a US telegram company. The company wrote to Bell, (66)_______ that his invention was interesting. However, after giving it careful consideration, they had (67)________ to the conclusion that it had “no future”. Fortunately for Bell, others could see the possibilities. (68)_____ four years of its invention, the US had 60,000 telephones. In the next twenty years that figure increased to over 6 million.

Today, ninety-three percent of US homes have a phone, a (69)______ of phone ownership no other nation comes near to equal. Each US household makes or receives (70)______ average 3,516 calls per year, an astonishing statistic.

66_______________

Choose the word A, B, C, or D for each gap to complete the following passage.

The most extraordinary dream I ever (31)_______ was one in which I fancied that, as I was going into a theater, the cloak-room attendant stopped me in the lobby and insisted on my (32)________ my legs behind. I was not surprised, but I was considerably annoyed. I said I had never heard of such a rule at any respectable theater (33)______, and that I considered it a most absurd regulation. The man replied that he was very (34)_______, but that those were his instructions. People complained that they could not get to and from their (35)_____comfortably because other people’s legs were always in the way; and it had, therefore, been decided that (36)______ should leave their legs outside. It seemed to me that the management, in making this order, had gone (37)________ their legal right; and, under ordinary circumstances, I should have disputed it. However, I didn’t want to (38)______ a disturbance; and so I sat down and meekly prepared to comply with the demand. I had never before (39)_________ that the human leg could be unscrewed. I had always thought it was more securely fixed. But the man showed me how to undo them, and I found that they came off quite easily. The discovery did not surprise (40)____________ any more than the original request that I should take them off. Nothing does surprise one in a dream.

35________________

Read the following two passages and choose the correct answer for each of the questions.

The invention of the phonograph happened quite a by accident. Thomas Edison moved to Menlo Park, New Jersey, in 1876, where he established an industrial research laboratory. There Edison worked on a carbon telephone transmitter to improve the existing Bell system. In that laboratory a year later Edison invented the phonograph while trying to improve a telegraph repeater. He attached a telephone diaphragm to the needle in the telegraph repeater to produce a recording that could be played back. After some improvements to the machine, he recited “Mary Had a Little Lamb” and played the recognizable reproduction of his voice back to an astonished audience.

According to the passage, how was the phonograph made?

Read the text then choose the best option to answer the question

Long ago a lot of people thought the moon was God. Other people thought it was just a light in the sky. And others thought it was a big ball cheese!

The telescopes were made. And men saw that the moon was really another world. They wondered what it was like. They dreamed of going there.

On July 20th, 1969, that dream came true. Two American men landed on the moon. Their names were Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin. The first thing the men found was that the moon is covered with dust. The dust is so thick that the men left footprints where they walked. Those were the first marks a living thing had ever made on the moon. And they could stay there for years and years. There is no wind or rain to wipe them off.

The two men walked on the moo for hours. They picked up rocks to bring back to earth for study. They dug up dirt to bring back. They set up machines to find out things people wanted to know. Then they climbed back into their moon landing craft.

Next day the landing craft roared as the men took off the moon. They joined Michael Collins in the spaceship that wait for them above the moon. Then they were off on their long trip back to earth.

Behind them they left the plains and tall mountains of the moon. They left the machines they had set up.

And they left footprints that may last forever.

The Americans’ machines will most likely stay on the moon until …………

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: 
Changes in caregiving roles

With the burden of financial support reduced, and with a changing concept of a father’s role, modern-day fathers tend to be more involved in children’s caregiving. They are now spending more time and energy on their children. Psychological research across families from all ethnic backgrounds suggests that the influence of a father’s love and attention is as great as that of a mother’s. Fatherly love helps children develop a sense of their place in the world, which helps their social and emotional development. Moreover, children who receive more love from their fathers are less likely to have behavioral problems.

This trend is still increasing and its effects will become clearer and clearer in the future, especially in traditionally male-dominated societies.

Social welfare programmes ___________.

Choose one option to fill each of the numbered gaps in the following passage.

Fish farming is only one of the many (31)_______ experiments man has begun in the endless battle to feed himself. It is not as easy as it (32)_______. One doesn’t simply find a pond, stock it with fish, and wait for them to (33)______. I knew one amateur who did just this. He (34)________ on his pond as a fishing hole for his friends. One morning he awoke to find its surface (35)__________ with dead fish. They had died quite naturally – (36)_______ suffocation. Commercially (37)______ freshwater fish need just that – and plenty of it. A good stream feeding the pond is one way to (38)_____________ that fish will stay healthy. (39)____ does it supply life-giving oxygen, it also helps to clear away the fish’s own (40)_______ matter. With the oceans being overfished in recent decades, fish farming may soon take over there too.

40________________

Read the text then choose the best option to answer the question

Long ago a lot of people thought the moon was God. Other people thought it was just a light in the sky. And others thought it was a big ball cheese!

The telescopes were made. And men saw that the moon was really another world. They wondered what it was like. They dreamed of going there.

On July 20th, 1969, that dream came true. Two American men landed on the moon. Their names were Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin. The first thing the men found was that the moon is covered with dust. The dust is so thick that the men left footprints where they walked. Those were the first marks a living thing had ever made on the moon. And they could stay there for years and years. There is no wind or rain to wipe them off.

The two men walked on the moo for hours. They picked up rocks to bring back to earth for study. They dug up dirt to bring back. They set up machines to find out things people wanted to know. Then they climbed back into their moon landing craft.
Next day the landing craft roared as the men took off the moon. They joined Michael Collins in the spaceship that wait for them above the moon. Then they were off on their long trip back to earth.
Behind them they left the plains and tall mountains of the moon. They left the machines they had set up.
And they left footprints that may last forever.

The Americans’ machines will most likely stay on the moon until …………