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We tend to assume that people like Shakespeare or Darwin owe their success (1)__________ their genius. In his new book, Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell suggests that the truth may be more complex. Of course, all successful people are bound to have some natural (2)__________. But the true (3)__________ of success are most probably hard work, opportunity, and the environment you grow up in. You need about 10,000 hours of practice before you get really good at something. Mozart’s early work was certainly not great or (4)___________. By the time he composed his first true masterpieces, he must have spent about ten years imposing concertos. But hard work is not enough, you have to get your chance. Most Silicon Valley tycoons, like Bill Gates or Steve Jobs, were born around 1955. When the personal computer revolution came twenty years later, they were at a(n) (5)__________ age to lead it

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The life of a Professional Gamer
Gordon Hayward has a pretty cool job – he plays basketball for the team Utah Jazz in the American National Basketball Association (NBA). But in his free time, he also works as a professional gamer, competing in StarCraft 2 tournaments. Even as a top – level athletes, Gordon is impressed with the amount of commitment needed for these competitions. “These guys are professionals”, he says. “They play this game for their job, so they take this as seriously as I take playing basketball for a living.” Competitive gaming has been around for almost as long as video games themselves, but it’s only recently that people have started earning money from it. This is because companies sponsor gamers, and tournaments. The gaming industry is now worth about $6 billion, and it is growing every year. Michel Masquelier, President of IMG Media (one of the world’s largest entertainment companies), called gaming the number one activity in the world for men aged 18 to 24. Just as young people aspire to play in the NBA, many also dream of becoming professional gamer. There are now big global tournaments like World Cyber Games and Major League Gaming Championships, where hundreds of gamers come to compete in popular game like StarCraft, WarCraft, Counterstrike, and the football game FIFA in front of an audience. The prize money in a tournament can reach a few million dollars. One thing gamer, and athletes have in common is that they often play in teams. These “clans”, as gamers call them, usually play tournaments together and practise against one another. Professional gamers and their clans earn money through sponsorships, winning tournament, and teaching and training people to play video games better. Like athletes, gamers must train long and hard to become the best at the game that they play. Most gamers only compete in one game, the same way that most professional athletes only play one sport. Adrian Kwong, a professional gamer, says that he usually practises StarCraft 2 for more than three hours a day. Some days he even plays for more than five hours. “To become a pro player, it takes determination, skill, and extensive practice,” says Katie Goldberg, who is vice – president of communications at Major’s League Gaming. Gordon Hayward isn’t going to give up his basketball career anytime soon, but he says that athletes and gamers are not that different: “You have to train hard if you want to be the best, and that goes for everything, not just basketball. That also goes for video games like StarCraft”.

1. What best describes the main idea of the passage?

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"Who talks more - men or women? Most people believe that women talk more. However, linguist Deborah Tannen, who has the studied the communication style of men and women, says that this is a stereotype. According to Tannen, women are more verbal - talk more - in private situations, where they use conversation as the “glue’ to hold relationships together. But, she says, men talk more in public situations, where they use conversation to exchange information and gain status. Tannen points out that we can see these difference even in children. Little girls often play with one ‘best friend’ and their play includes a lot of conversation. Little boys often play games in groups, their play usually involves more doing than talking. In school, girls are often better at verbal skills, while boys are often better at mathematics. A recent study at Emory University helps to shed light on the roots of this difference. Researchers studied conversation between children aged 3-6 and their parents. They found evidence that parents talk very differently to their sons than they do to their daughters. The startling conclusion was that parents use more language with their girls. Specifically, when parents talk with their daughters, they use more descriptive language and more details. There is also far more talk about emotions, especially with daughters than with sons."

6: Which of the following statement is TRUE about the passage?

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The Finer Points of Fair Trade
Throughout the year, we buy foods and beverages from a variety of sources. However, few of us take the time to consider the lives of the people who make these things. In many cases, these goods are produced by poor workers who have trouble surviving on their salaries. A social movement called “Fair Trade” is trying to change this by ensuring that workers are paid decent wages for their efforts. The Fair Trade movement aims to create a membership between customers and producers that is based on respect and fairness. Consumers hope that by supporting fair trade goods they are empowering workers in developing countries to live better lives. Consumers also benefit because they receive high-quality products and have peace of mind that these workers aren’t mistreated. Fair Trade also benefits the environment, as Fair Trade goods are produced with minimal pesticides and pollutants. The first Fair Trade mark was introduced in 1988 by a Dutch group called Solidaridad, which focused on labeling fair trade coffee imported into Holland from Mexico. Shortly after, other groups in North America and Europe followed their lead. These groups started to seek Fair Trade benefits for workers producing wine, honey, bananas, flowers, and several other goods. Then, in 1997, the Fairtrade Labeling Organization International (FLO) was established to unite all of these independent groups into one organization and set unified standards worldwide. In 2002, the FLO launched the FAIRTRADE Certificate Mark, which became an international symbol that labeled goods met the environmental, economic, and social requirements set by FAIRTRADE International (FLO). If consumers spot this mark on goods, they are assured that the workers producing them are receiving a suitable payment for their services. Major corporations are also getting involving in the Fair Trade movement, deluding Starbucks. The multi-national coffee retailer now purchases over 93 percent of its coffee from ethical sources. Furthermore, it has pledged to increase that number to 100 percent by 2025. If you are willing to join Starbucks and millions of other consumers around the globe, keep your eyes out for the FAIRTRADE mark next time you go food shopping.
7. What is supposed to happen in 2025?

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“Tsunami” is a Japanese word. This word means “harbor wave”.

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He _________ that media company for five years.

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Cities develop as a result of functions that they can perform. Some functions result directly from the a great city regardless of the disadvantageous ingenuity of the citizenry, but most functions activity. result from the needs of the local area and of the surrounding hinterland (the region that supplies goods to the city and to which the city furnishes services and other goods). Geographers often make a distinction between the situation and the site of a city. Situation refers to the general position in relation to the surrounding region, whereas site involves in physical characteristics of the specific location. Situation is normally much more important to the continuing prosperity of a city. If a city is well situated in regard to its hinterland, its development is much more likely to continue. Chicago, for example, possesses an almost unparalleled situation: it is located at the southern end of a huge lake that forces East-West transportation lines to be compressed into its vicinity, and at a meeting of significant land and water transport routes. It also overlooks what is one of the world's fiest large farming regions. These factors ensured that Chicago would become characteristics of the available site, such as being prone to floding during thunderstorm Similarly, it can be argued that much of New York City's importance stems from its early and continuing advantage of situation. Philadelphia and Boston both originated at about the same time as New York and shared New York's location at the Western end of one of the world's most important oceanic trade routes, but only New York possesses an easy-access functional connection (the Hudson-Mohawk lowland) to the vast Midwestern hinterland. This account does not alone explain New York's primacy, but it does include several important factors. Among the many aspects of situation that help to explain why some cities grow and others do not, original location on a navigable waterway seems particularly applicable. Of course, such characteristics as slope, drainage, power resources, river crossings, coastal shapes, and other physical characteristics help to determine city location, but such factors are normally more signifiant in early stages of city development than later.
1. What does the passage mainly discuss?

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to/ Mary/ like/ buy/ English – Vietnamese/ an/ would/ dictionary.

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Flying Drones into Danger Zones
A plane is sent deep into the enemy territory with a deadly mission. It is assigned to eliminate several key targets with a precision bombing campaign. This mission won’t be easy, however, as to be successful, the plane will have to avoid enemy rockets and tank fire. There will be no risk to the life of the “pilot” of the plane because he will not be able to aboard the vessel. Instead, he will be thousands of miles away inside a control tower, as he is operating a drone. Drones, which are also called UVAs or unmanned aerial vehicles, marked a major step forward in technology. Inventors have been working on them since the early 1900s. Although some devices were designed back then, they weren’t able to do much more than a standard model airplane. In fact, it was not until a US plane was shot down in 1959 during the Cold War that the US military really got serious about drones. The aim was to save pilots’ lives while flying over hazardous territories. Drones usually fall into two categories. The first type of drones relies on human control from a remote location. The second type of drones is pre­programmed with computer instructions, and it then completes its mission operating autonomously. In addition to protecting pilots’ lives, drones also have several other advantages. They can stay in the air for longer periods of time because there is no concern for eating, sleeping, or rest breaks that pilots typically require. Drones can also be produced cheaper since manufacturers don’t need to value safety precautions as they would for aircraft flown by humans. Despite their usefulness, military drones have been the cause of great criticism over the past decade. There have been cases of British and American drones missing their targets and killing innocent civilians instead. The Brookings Institution released a statistic that for every military leader who is killed by a drone strike, ten civilians die. Some suggest that if human pilots were flying these planes, they wouldn’t have made these errors. Drones don’t always have targets that they must eliminate. The military also employs special surveillance drones that use long-range cameras to gather information about buildings, enemy soldier formations, and other vital information from the ground. In the end, whether people are for or against the use of drones, it appears that they are certain here to stay.
8. It can be inferred from the passage that one of the missions of the Brookings Institution may be ________

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Television has transformed politics in the United States by changing the way in which information is disseminated, by altering political campaigns, and by changing citizen's patterns of response to politics. By giving citizens independent access to the candidates, television diminished the role of the political party in the selection of the major party candidates. By centering politics on the person of the candidates, television accelerated the citizen's focus on character rather than issues. Television has altered the forms of political communication as well. The messages on which most of US reply are briefer than they once were. The stump speech, a political speech given by travelling politicians and lasting 1/2 to 2 hours, which characterized nineteenth-century political discourse, has given way to the 30-second advertisement and the 10 second "sound bite" in broadcast news. Increasingly the audience for speeches is not that standing in front of the politician but rather the viewing audience tvho will hear and see a snippet of the speech on the news. In these abbreviated forms, much of what constituted the traditional political discourse of earlier ages has been lost. In 15 or 30 seconds, a peaker cannot establish the historical context that shaped the issue in question, cannot detail the probable causes of the problem, and cannot examine alternative proposals to argue that one is preferable to others. In snippets, politicians assert but do not argue. Because television is an intimate medium, speaking through it require a changed political style that was more conversational, personal, and visual than that of the old-style stump speech. Reliance on television means that increasingly our political world contains memorable pictures rather than memorable words. Schools teach US to analyze words and print. However, in a word in which politics is increasingly visual, informed citizenship requires a new set of skills. Recognizing the power of television's pictures, politicians craft televisual, staged events, called pseudo-event, designed to attract media coverage. Much of the political activity we see on television news has been crafted by politicians, their speechwriters, and their public relations advisers for televised consumption. Sound bites in news and answers to questions in debates increasingly sound like advertisements.
10. The purpose of paragraph 4 is to suggest that: 

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I find going offshore the island __________.

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Together, the thousands of scientists and conservation organizations that contribute to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List and other systems of assessment provide the world's largest knowledge base on the global status of species. The aim of these systems is to provide the general public, conservationists, nongovernmental organizations, the media, decision makers, and policy makers with comprehensive and scientifically rigorous information on the conservation status of the world's species and the threats that drive the observed patterns of population decline. Scientists in conservation and protected area management agencies use data on species status in the development of conservation planning and prioritization, the identification of important sites and species for dedicated conservation action and recovery planning, and educational programs. Although the IUCN Red List and other similar species-assessment tools do not prescribe the action to be taken, the data within the list are often used to inform legislation and policy and to determine conservation priorities at regional, national, and international levels. In contrast, the listing criteria of other categorization systems (such as the United States Endangered Species Act, the CITES) are prescriptive; they often require that landowners and various governmental agencies take specific mandatory steps to protect species falling within particular categories of threat It is likely that many undescribed or unassessed species of plants, animals, and other organisms have become or are in the process of becoming extinct. To maintain healthy populations of both known and unknown species, assessments and reassessments are valuable tools. Such monitoring work must continue so that the most current knowledge can be applied to effective environmental monitoring and management efforts. For many threatened species, large well-protected conservation areas (biological reserves) often play major roles in curbing population declines. Such reserves are often cited by conservation biologists and other authorities as the best way to protect individual species as well as the ecosystems they inhabit. In addition, large biological reserves may harbor several undescribed and unassessed species. Despite the creation of several large reserves around the world, poaching and illegal trafficking plague many areas. Consequently, even species in those areas require continued monitored and periodic assessment.
7. The word "curbing" in paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to ____.

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Getting Focused and Flexible with Yoga
In a small room, men and women are getting a great workout. However, there are no weights in this gym. The only piece of equipment is a small rubber mat. On it, they strike unusual poses which are held for minutes at a time. An instructor goes from student to student urging them to relax and breathe deeply, while inspecting their posture. In the end, through the art of yoga they hope to balance their body, mind, and spirit. Yoga originated in India over 2,000 over years ago. The first yogis weren’t looking to lose weight or get themselves in great shape. Instead, they practise yoga to help them achieve liberation. Yoga became an important part of Hindu culture, and it is mentioned in nearly all of the religion’s ancient scriptures. It wasn’t until the 19th century, however, that Westerners took notice of yoga. In the 1890s, Swami Vievekananda became the first yoga teacher to take on Western students when he toured the US and Europe. His lessons focused primarily on the spiritual aspects, and his speeches intrigued many intellectuals, but it would take some time before yoga would catch on with the masses. That didn’t happen until the 1980s when many Americans and Europeans embraced yoga during a worldwide exercise boom. Yet once it took hold, yoga has increased popularity year by year. It is estimated that over 20 million Americans now practice yoga regularly. A main reason why contemporary people are hooked on yoga is that it helps to relieve work-related stress. Students are taught to breathe slowly and deeply while concentrating on the present moment and letting go of the past. The challenging postures help to balance the negative effects people experience from sitting in chairs all day. The poses also help people to regain flexibility and improve circulation, which is particularly useful to the elderly. As yoga became commercialized in the West, many new branches were formed. Ashtanga yoga moves at a fairly quick pace, flowing from pose to pose, power yoga, on the other hand, offers workouts that are designed to increase strength. Another popular style, hot yoga, has students practise in hot environments to help them burn more calories. If you are thinking of studying yoga, try them all and let your heart decide which one is best for you.
8. Who would be most interested in practising yoga?

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The Film and the Novel: Twilight
When a popular book gets made into a movie, there will always be a debate about whether the novel or film is better. The filmmakers always have to consider certain things: do they want to follow the book closely to please dedicated readers, or do they want to change parts of the book if they don’t translate well on-screen? No matter what they do, there will always be people who feel the movie will never be as good as the book, people who will love the movie without ever reading the book, and people who enjoy both. The vampire series Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer, became so popular that movie companies wanted to produce it for the big screen. Most Twilight fans were excited about seeing characters such as Edward and Bella “come to life,” but there were other fans who did not trust the movie script. They assumed the scriptwriters would change parts of the story to make it seem more interesting as a movie. By the time the first Twilight movie was released, millions of people had read the series. Many of these people went on to watch the film, which made $35.7 million just on its opening day. While many fans and critics liked it and said the movie more or less followed the book’s storyline, some fans were not impressed. One change that angered them was that certain sound effects were added to the movie, such as a “whooshing” sound when the vampires jumped. This was not mentioned in the book, and many fans felt that it was too distracting. Those who liked the movie said that they enjoyed the light mood and excitement. This was very different from the book. The writing in Twilight is dark and gloomy, like many vampire novels. The movie, however, added more energy to the story and more personality to the characters. For example, many characters in the book are portrayed as being quiet, and they spend most of their time at school. But in the movie, the characters are cooler and funnier – one scene even shows them going surfing together. The director of the first movie, Catherine Hardwicke, thought it was important for the characters to be believable. She wanted them to have a wide variety of emotions, since the series is for, and about, teenagers. In the end, the films were considered a success, even if there were both happy and unhappy fans. It’s a great accomplishment to make films that are watched by millions of people, and you can’t expect to be able to please everyone all of the time.
1. What is the main idea of the first paragraph?

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I think New York is ……………. than Pari.

I didnt get to see the end of that mystery movie on TV last night. How did it _____ out?

(489)_______

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British families started going on holiday to the seaside around the middle of the 19th century. The invention of the railways made this possible. The first holidaymakers were quite rich and went for their health and education. The seaside was a place to be (1)__________of illnesses, and doctors recommended bathing in the sea and drinking sea water. Also to increase their knowledge, families attended concerts and read books from libraries. At that time, ordinary working people had very little time (2)__________. However, in 1871, the government introduce four “Bank Holidays” – national holiday days. This allowed people to have a day or two out, which now and then gave them a taste for leisure and the seaside. At first they went on day-trips, taking (3)__________of special cheap tickets on the railways. By the 1880s, rising incomes meant many ordinary workers and their families could have a week’s holiday at the seaside. Rail fares were reduced and cheap hotels were built to (4)_________ them. Holidaymakers enjoyed being idle, sitting on the beach, bathing in the sea, and eating ice-cream. Cheap entertainment was (5)__________offer and holidaymakers went to have fun. Today, the English seaside remained popular, with more than 18 million holidays taken there each year

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Man and most animals need a _____________ supply of water to live.

It is necessary for you to finish this work today.

(141)________

SEATTLE (May 1 ) – Researchers at technology firm Nylobe, Inc., are working to develop a sensor capable of detecting corrosion caused by environmental exposure. Corrosion is a major contributor to ---143--- losses in the aircraft industry each year. "This will be a major ---144--- for commercial airline fleets," says Mel Laveau, Nylobe's CEO. "The sensor will decrease both labor and maintenance costs   without being too expensive."
According to Ms. Laveau, the sensor will work by detecting corrosion in its early stages, when the problem can be corrected simply by removing the corroded material. ---145---. In the structure of large aircraft, some critical joints can be particularly susceptible to corrosion. ---146---, the sensor can be used to inspect these areas and then target the most likely areas of concern.

144.....................

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Danger!
If you are walking through the woods and you see a bear, you know that you are in danger. The same is true if you see a snake or a beehive. However, these aren’t the only dangerous things in nature. When you are having a good time outside, you also need to be careful of plants. In some ways, plants are more dangerous than animals. This is because dangerous plants often look normal. Sometimes they even look pretty. If you try to touch one of these nice-looking plants, you could be in a lot of trouble. Take the angel’s trumpet flower, for example. This beautiful white flower is full of poison. A person who touches it can get headaches, confusion, and a very fast heartbeat. Very often, the poison can kill you. All parts of the angel’s trumpets are poisonous, but the most dangerous parts are the seeds and leaves. Here is another dangerous and somewhat creepy plant: doll’s eyes. This plant got its name because its berries look just like doll’s eyes. The berries from these plants can stop a person’s heart. In fact, most berries that you see in nature are poisonous. You should never eat wild berries that you find when you are outside. Some plants can sting you. Stinging needles don’t look dangerous, but they have many tiny hairs on them. If you touch a stinging needle, those hairs will put a weak poison onto your skin. The poison won’t kill you, but it will make your skin itch for a while and it might drive you crazy. One of the more common dangerous plants is poison ivy. This plant produces a clear liquid that will cause all kinds of problems to anyone who touches it. Most people who touch poison ivy get a red and very painful rash on their skin. The rash often itches very badly, and sometimes it creates large blisters. If you see a green plant that has three leaves growing from every branch, stay away from it. It could be poison ivy.
2. What does the passage say about wild berries?