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 :
Tornadoes are known to have higher winds than tropical cyclones, (1)_________ tornadoes are much smaller. As a (2)_________, a tropical cyclone can be hundreds of kilometres wide, with destruction occurring in different degrees depending on which part of the cyclone hits the land. In contrast, tornadoes are usually less than a few hundred metres wide. These storms are (3)_________ destructive in the smaller areas in which they hit, but they are also short-lived. Tropical cyclones develop in areas where the seawater is warm and there is instability in the atmosphere. (4)_________ as tropical depressions, they begin to gather strength. As they are developing, they begin to rotate, with the differences in humidity and air temperature (5)_________ them until sufficient wind speeds are reached to be classified as a tropical cyclone

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"______," the boy admitted.

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Culture and Nature
If you ever get the chance to visit Japan in the spring, be sure to attend a cherry blossom festival. This is an annual event that happens all over the country. Cherry blossoms are a very important part of traditional Japanese culture. One old Japanese custom is something called “hanami”. This means having picnics under cherry blossom trees. People started doing this about 1,200 years ago. At first, only powerful members of the Japanese government had the picnics. Later on samurai joined the custom, and finally common people started to do it as well. Cherry blossoms are an important symbol in Japan. People see the blossoms being similar to life. The blossoms bloom in the spring and they are very beautiful, but only for a short time. After that, the blossoms die. This is similar to the lives of people. Today there are still cherry blossom festivals all over Japan. Some people prefer to just walk through the parks and look at the trees, but the most popular activity is still having picnics under the trees. There is one problem that comes with attending a cherry blossom festival: the crowds. Because this is such a popular event, huge numbers of people come to the spots that have cherry blossoms. However, the trees are so beautiful that when you are there, the crowds might not seem so bad. When most people think of cherry blossoms, they think of Japan. However Japan is not the only country that has these beautiful trees. Brazil has many Japanese immigrants. Years ago, many of those immigrants planted cherry trees there. Those trees are still there today. Korea also has many cherry trees because when Japan ruled Korea, Japanese people planted the trees there. Other countries have cherry trees, usually because Japan gave them as presents. Cherry blossoms are a traditional part of Japanese culture, but people still love them today. Everyone should try to see them at least once. It is a chance to learn about traditional Japanese culture and enjoy some beautiful scenery at the same time.
6. According to the passage, how do most other countries get cherry trees?

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The Rise of E-books
Over the past decade, e-books have revolutionized the way people consume written formation. It will probably come as no surprise the total global sales number continues to rise each year. There are several reasons why readers are buying more e-books. For starters, reading a lengths e-book in front of your computer isn't the most comfortable thing to do. But since tablet sales have exploded, readers can now relax and read their favourite e-books in bed from the beach. Many e-books are often sold at lower prices than traditional books. Since there is almost zero cost for producing e-books, some authors are offering their novels at lower prices. Another factor is convenience. In the past, keeping a large book collection meant setting aside a lot of extra space in one's home. With e-books, it is now possible for readers to carry a portable library, which contains thousands of books. To really understand e-book market though, it is important to keep up with national trends. Recent data suggests that the e-book market in the US and the UK have matured. In both of these countries, e-book sales account for roughly 20 percent of overall book sales. Although that percentage continues to increase, it is going up at a slower rate than in the past. The popularity of e-books has exploded in Russia. In one poll, 70 percent of Russians claim to have read at least one e-book. However, publishers are not too pleased with this new because approximately 92 percent of e-books in Russia are acquired illegally. In France, consumers don't appear to be loo keen on e-books at this time. Although in 2012, e-book sales comprised about 3 percent of the market, it is predicted that this number will increase at a very slow pace. Some French people believe that reading e-books on small screens is uncomfortable. Others say that the French are a cultural exception, as they like the feeling of holding a dusty old physical book. This demonstrates that no matter how popular e- books get, it is unlikely that traditional books will disappear any time soon.
5. The word "they" in paragraph 5 refers to _____

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Some/ people/ think/ buffalo-fighting/ Hai Phong/ violent.

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When the road __, go left.

Choose the best answer:
The/ program/ really/ interesting, not/ it?

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct word or phrase that best fits each of the numbered blanks.
Culture has a strong influence on non–verbal communication. Even the simple act of looking someone in the eye is not at all that simple. In the USA, Americans are (1).......... to look directly  at people when speaking to them. It shows interest in what they are saying and is thought to carry a (2).......of honesty. Meanwhile, in Japan and Korea, people avoid long periods of eye contact. It is considered more polite to look to the side during a conversation. The Lebanese, (3)............ , stand close together and look intensely into each other's eyes. The action shows sincerity and gives people a better sense of what their counterparts want. Given such differences with even the most common expressions, people (4)................. travel or work abroad have a real need to learn the other culture's body language. People tend to be unaware of the messages they are sending to others. So, it is (5).................. to consider your own body language before dealing with people from other cultures. Knowing about the body language of friends, clients, and colleagues can be very helpful in improving understanding and avoiding miscommunication.

(3).......................

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct word or phrase that best fits each of the numbered blanks.
In the past, people bought goods using (1).................. They rarely borrowed money from financial institutions and only when they had saved the money did they buy what they wanted.
Recently, however, there have been great changes in the way people purchase goods. To begin with, some people pay for things by  cheque, (2)................ others prefer monthly installments rather than paying the whole amount at once. Most consumers, though, prefer to buy things using their credit cards. (3)..............., it is thought that there are benefits to having a credit card. Apart from the fact that credit cards are handy, some stores offer bonus points to people making purchases, while others give discounts on certain products.
On the other hand, credit cards must be used wisely because they can prove disastrous. In the long run, consumers find that they can’t (4)............. without their credit cards and constantly rely on them, as they are “easy money”. As a result, some people lose control of their finances spending more than they should end up not being able to (5).................. So they end up in debt and have difficulty in paying it back.

(3)........................................

Mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the undelined part that needs correction in each of the following questions:
The mineral particles found in soil range in size from microscopic clay particles to large boulders. The most abundant particles - sand, silt, and clay - are the focus of examination in studies of soil texture. Texture is the term used to describe the line composite sizes of particles in a soil sample, typically several representative handfuls. To measure soil texture, the sand, silt, and clay particles are sorted out by size and weight. The weights of each size are then expressed as a percentage of the sample weight.
In the field, soil texture can be estimated by extracting a handful of sod and squeezing the damp soil into three basic shapes; cast, a lump formed by squeezing a sample in a clenched fist; thread, a pencil shape formed by rolling soil between the palms; and ribbon, a flatfish shape formed by squeezing a small sample between the thumb and index finger. The behavioral characteristics of the soil when molded into each of these shapes, if they can be formed at all, provides the basis for a general textural classification. The behavior of the soil in the hand test is determined by the amount of clay in the sample. Clay particles are highly cohesive, and when dampened, behave as a plastic. Therefore the higher the clay content in a sample, the more refined and durable the shapes into which it can be molded.
Another method of determining soil texture involves the use of devices called sediment sieves, screens built with a specified mesh size. When the soil is filtered through a group of sieves, each with a different mesh size, the particles become grouped in corresponding size categories. Each category can be weighed to make a textural determination. Although sieves work well for silt, sand, and larger particles, they are not appropriate for clay particles. Clay is far too small to sieve accurately; therefore, in soils with a high proportion of clay, the fine particles are measured on the basis of their settling velocity when suspended in water. Since clays settle so slowly, they
are easily segregated from sand and silt. The water can be drawn off and evaporated, leaving a residue of clay, which can be weighed.

The word “they” in the passage refers to     .

Read the reading below carefully, and then complete it with the best option A, B, C or D given below:
A computer keyboard is an input device (1) _______ allows a person to enter letters, numbers, and other (2) _______ into a computer. It is one of the most used input devices for computers. Using a keyboard to enter lots of data is called typing. Keyboard keys typically have a set of characters engraved on them. While the main use is for typing, keyboards are capable of executing commands by using a combination of keys to create (3) _______, such as copying and pasting, deleting, etc. When you enter the (4) _______ hole, you find that the world of keyboards is diverse. It can be a traditional keyboard for basic uses or a mechanical keyboard that provides very satisfying sounds and feelings whenever you type. A lot of keyboard (5) _______ customize their own keyboards that could cost an arm and a leg. Having said that, the reason behind the price comes down to the material, the switches and the keycaps. Next time when you see a keyboard, don’t judge the way it looks but judge the way it feels and the experience it provides to the users.

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:
Niagara Falls, one of the most famous North American natural wonders, has long been a popular tourist destination. Tourists today flock to see the two falls that actually constitute Niagara Falls: the 173-foot-high Horseshoe Falls on the Canadian side of the Niagara River in the Canadian province of Ontario and 182-foot-high American Falls on the U.S. side of the river in the state of New York. Approximately 85 percent of the water that goes over the falls actually goes over Horseshoe Falls, with the rest going over American Falls.
Most visitors come between April and October, and it is quite a popular activity to take a steamer out onto the river and right up to the base of the falls for a close-up view. It is also possible to get a spectacular view of the falls from the strategic locations along the Niagara River, such as Prospect Point of Table Rock, or from one of the four observation towers which have heights up to 500 feet.
Tourists have been visiting Niagara Falls in large numbers since the 1800’s; annual visitation now averages above 10 million visitors per year. Because of concern that all these tourists would inadvertently destroy the natural beauty of this scenic wonder, the State of New York in 1885 created Niagara Falls Park in order to protect the land surrounding American Falls.
A year later Canda created Queen Victoria Park on the Canadian side of the Niagara, around Horseshoe Falls. With the area surrounding the falls under the jurisdiction of government agencies, appropriate steps could be taken to preserve the pristine beauty of the area.

The paragraph following the passage most probably discusses     .

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Traveling in the Future
These days, if you want to travel from New York to Beijing, the flight takes about 16 hours. You also have to wait at the airport, and sometimes you have to transfer onto a different airplane. If you add all of that extra time, the trip takes at least 20 hours. But in the future, the trip from New York to Beijing might only take two hours. Right now, a private company is developing something called ET3. ET3 stands for “evacuated tube transport technology”. Here is how it works. A tube goes all the way from New York to Beijing. The tube is only a few meters wide. Capsules move through the tube. Six people can sit in one capsule. The capsules use electricity instead of gasoline. For international travel, the capsules can travel at about 6,500 kilometers per hour. That is much faster than airplane – most modern airplanes usually only fly at about 800 kilometers per hour. So how is this possible? How can these capsules travel so fast? The answer is that there is no air inside the tube. When airplanes fly, they have to move through the air. The air slows the airplanes down. Because there is no air in the ET3 tubes, the capsules are able to move at a very high speed. Besides, the capsules are quite light. They only weigh 183 kilograms. There are other advantages to ET3. Because it uses electricity, it is quite clean. In addition, it is much quieter than airplanes and cars. Finally, ET3 tubes and capsules don’t require very much building material. Of course, ET3 doesn’t exist yet. The technology is still being developed. Developers still have to solve a lot of problems. The biggest problem is that right now, ET3 would be far too expensive. In order to make ET3 cheaper, we will need much better technology. It is exciting to think of how ET3 will change travel in the future. Maybe someday, you will be able to have lunch in New York and dinner in Beijing.
1. Which of the following is NOT true about travelling at present?

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Hunting Down the Truth about Killer Whales
Hearing that killer whales are in the area is sure to strike fear in the heart of anyone at sea. The thought of coming across a creature with a menacing name like that is a surefire sign you are on a path to destruction. As it turns out, killer whales, orcas, are actually highly sophisticated creatures that are usually harmless to humans. The title “killer whale” may actually be a mistranslation of the Spanish term “ballena asesina”, which means assassin whale. Orcas were nicknamed this due to their well-coordinated attacks on marine life, not for the danger they pose to humans. At nearly five to seven metres in length and a weight of over six tons, orcas are one of the largest creatures on the Earth. There are about 50,000 orcas worldwide that are spread out in several oceans. Orcas are classified as an Apex predator, which means no other creature hunt them for food. Scientists believe that there are between three to five different types of orca and they are all quite distinctive. The most frequently seen of these are Residents. They live in close-knit family units called pods, which can contain over 50 members, and their diet consists mainly of fish. Transient whales, however, prefer to travel in smaller groups of two to six whales. Meanwhile, Offshore whales were only recently discovered in 1988. They prefer to swim farther away from land than the others and several pods may come together to form groups as large as 200 whales. Although these orca groups may seem similar to the naked eye, they are extremely different in many ways, and scientists believe they haven’t interbred in thousands of years. Researchers also acknowledge that their knowledge of orcas is limited, and even more groups may exist. Male orcas have an average lifespan of about 30 years, while the average age for females is 50. However, there have been cases of females living up to 90 years. Yet when kept in captivity at marine entertainment parks, their life expectancies drop dramatically. In fact, it seems that the biggest threat to orcas these days is humans. Between the practices of hunting orcas, polluting their environments, and capturing them for entertainment purposes, we are making it very difficult for them to survive. Perhaps the killer whales aren’t the real killer after all.
1. Where did the name “killer whale” come from?

 Although I did not totally agree _____ feminist’s policies, I certainly admired their audacity, dedication and courage.

(486)______

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The police warned me against coming near the barrier.

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My mother taught me how to _________ the transplanting when I was six.

Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
Glenbrook South (GBS) High School is in a suburb of Chicago, lllinois, in the United States. It is an award-winning school with a highly competent teaching staff. It has over 400 Asian Pacific American students-over 17 percent of the students in the school. Of these, the majority are Korean American. This is very unusual in a state where Korean Americans are less than 1 percent of the population. The interactions of the Korean American students at GBS were the subject of an article in Asian Week magazine. Different Korean American students react differently to being in a high school where most students are white. Professor Pyong Gap Min, an expert on Korean life in America, believes that Korean Americans in this situation can sometimes feel inhibited or ashamed of their Korean identity. Asian Week interviewed a number of GBS students, and each had a different attitude. Eighteen-year-old Alice said that she used to spend time only with Korean American friends. Although she felt secure with those friends, she found herself motivated to form closer relationships with non-Koreans, too. She said that she felt she was missing out on new experiences and challenges. Seventeen-year-old John moved in the opposite direction. In junior high school, most of John's friends were white. After coming to GBS, his sense of his Korean American identity was restored, and he decided to have mainly Korean American friends. He feels that he and his Korean American friends understand each other better. For example, they understand about severe parental pressures to succeed at school; John felt his white friends couldn't really understand. Sixteen-year-old Paul has some Korean American friends, but he says he spends most of his time with his white friends. He is often the only Asian American in the group, but he doesn't mind. What Paul likes about the white culture is that he can be more radical - he can be as loud and funny as he wants to be. He says he doesn't see as much of that among the Asian students. Without belittling the importance of what these students had to say, it's important to remember that their opinions at this phase of their lives are bound to change as they grow into adulthood. But these honest opinions can help US better understand issues of cultural relations, and their honesty might help Americans from different cultural groups to get along better in the future. 
3. The phrase "agent of education" in paragraph 2 can be replaced by:

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The Particle that Started the Big Bang
In 2013, the Nobel Prize for Physics was awarded to Francois Englert and Peter W. Higgs for their discovery of a particle that is vital to our understanding of the universe. Although its official name is the Higgs boson, many refer to it as the God particle, because it’s considered to be the building block of the universe. Many believe that the Higgs boson may be the cause for the Big Bang explosion which led to the creation of the universe. In the 1960s, Higgs came up with the concept that particles had no mass when the universe started. In a split-second, however, it came into contact with something that gave it mass. This, Higgs theorized, was the Higgs boson. Many scientists initially laughed at the idea, but in the upcoming years, Higgs along with Englert and several of their peers continued to work on these concepts. Their ideas would eventually help lead the way to the discovery of the Higgs boson decades later. The search for the Higgs boson certainly didn’t come up cheap, as it cost nearly $10 billion to build the machinery necessary to perform the tests to find it. Yet nearly every physicist would agree that it was worth it, as the Higgs boson has already been labeled as one of the most important discoveries in particle physics. The finding is also a huge boost for physics in general because it proves that the Standard Model of Physics which researchers have been using for years is correct. The Higgs was the last remaining question mark as all of the other particles and elements had been found. Still, many ordinary people may question how such a discovery affects their lives at all. Although quantum mechanics may seem weird, it has actually led to several important technological breakthroughs over the past century. These findings have led to laser and X-ray technologies that work in the real world. There is still much to be learned with further observation of the Higgs boson in action. Scientists hope to learn more about dark matter, a strange substance that constitutes 25 percent of the mass of the universe. The research could also lead to some other technologies as well.
7. It can be inferred from the sentence “The Higgs was the last remaining question mark” in paragraph 2 that ________

 Water polo balls _____ with a special texture so it will not slip from the hands of a player.

(419)________

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct word or phrase that best fits each of the numbered blanks.
It is true that digital manufacturing does cut out the middle-man. More and more routine, repetitive assembly tasks will be taken (1).......... by machines. But as certain jobs disappear, new ones open up in other parts of the factory. Germany in many ways exemplifies this trend. Today, German manufacturers (2)........... three times more robots than U.S. companies, but they also still employ more humans. Relative to the size of our economies, German's manufacturing workforce is twice the size of America's.
From its very beginning, the fourth Industrial revolution has never presented manufacturers with an either-or choice - robots or humans. It has always been about combining the talents of (3)........... (4)..........., it is the convergence of artificial and human intelligence that will enable manufacturers to achieve a new era of speed, flexibility, efficiency and connectivity in the 21st century. Machines have the ability to assemble things faster than any human ever could, but humans possess the analytics, domain expertise and valuable knowledge (5).......... to solve problems and optimize factory floor production.

(5)....................