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It is back-to-school time in much of the world. Calm, easy mornings are replaced with busy, hurried ones. Children wake up early and get ready for school. Many parents are also getting ready for work, helping their children and preparing food for lunches. But don't forget about breakfast! When things get wildly busy in the morning, some people (1)....... breakfast to save time. But that may be a big mistake for students.
That is the finding of a 2015 study from Cardiff University in Wales. Researchers there looked at 5000 9-11 year-olds from more than 100 primary schools in the U.K. They looked at what the students ate (2)............. breakfast and then their grades 6 to 18 months later. They found that the students who  ate  a  healthy  breakfast  (3)......... twice as likely to perform above average in educational activities. The researchers also found that unhealthy breakfasts - such as potato chips or a donut did not appear helpful to educational performance.
A good breakfast is not just helpful for school-aged children. We all may gain from eating something healthy first thing in the morning. A study from researchers at the University of Toronto in Canada found that a breakfast rich in protein and complex carbohydrates (4).............. performance on short- and long-term memory. Carbohydrates and protein are especially important because (5)................... a major effect on long-term memory.
(5)..........................

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Boots has reduced the price of "feminine" razors to bring them in line with men's.  The  chemist chain says it is just an isolated incident, but campaigners say it is part of a "pink tax" that discriminates against women. Who's right and what's the bigger story, ask Jessica McCallin and Claire Bates. Campaigners against what's been dubbed the "pink tax" - where retailers charge women more than men for similar products - are celebrating after Boots said it would change the price of some of     its goods.
Stevie Wise, who launched the petition, was driven by a Times investigation which claimed that women and girls are charged, on average, 37% more for clothes, beauty products and toys. The New  York Department of Consumer Affairs had compared the prices of 800 products with male and female versions and concluded that, after controlling for quality, women's versions were, on average, 7% more expensive than men's.
“This is a very exciting response,” says Wise. We are delighted with Boots' decision, but we now need to get them to look at all of their products, not just the ones highlighted in the petition. We  hope this decision is just the first of many and we may broaden our campaign to focus on other retailers  as well." Wise says that women have been getting in touch with examples of other price discrepancies from lots of companies and says there seems to be a particular problem with toys and clothes. Argos has been criticized for identical scooters that cost £5 more if they were pink rather than blue. Argos said it was an error that had already been rectified and that it would never indulge in differential pricing.
Among the examples sent to Wise was Boots selling identical child car seats that cost more in pink. Another retailer was selling children's balance bikes which cost more for a flowery print aimed at girls than a pirate print aimed at boys. But the latter example already appears to have been tweaked on the retailer's website, albeit by applying a £10 discount to the flowery version.
When challenged over sexist pricing, both Levi's and Tesco argued that different versions of things could have different production costs even if appearing fairly similar. Prof Nancy Puccinelli says her research suggests that women are much more careful shoppers than men, better able to scrutinise adverts and pricing gimmicks. She wonders if women are perceiving more value in the more expensive products. “If products are separated into male and female sections far away from each other it's harder to scrutinise prices.” Such a situation could either be deliberate or accidental but the campaigners are not convinced.
There is an opportunity for some companies, argues Olchawski. “The finding shows the power of marketing in our lives, how it shapes our perception of what it means to be a man or a woman. Some companies could choose not to play into this, not to play into the stereotypes and rip women off,  but  launch products more in tune with moves toward gender equality.”

What does pink-tax exactly mention in the passage?

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There are many mistakes that people make when writing their resume (CV) or completing a job application. Here are some of the most common and most serious.
The biggest problem is perhaps listing the duties for which you were responsible in a past position: all this tells your potential employers is what you were supposed to do. They do not necessarily know the specific skills you used in executing them, nor do they know what results you achieved - both of which are essential. In short, they won’t know if you were the best, the worst or just average in your position.
The more concrete information you can include, the better. As far as possible, provide measurements of what you accomplished. If any innovations you introduced saved the organization money, how much did they save? If you found a way of increasing productivity, by what percentage did you increase it?
Writing what you are trying to achieve in life - your objective - is a waste of space. It tells the employer what you are interested in. Do you really think that employers care what you want? No, they are interested in what they want! Instead, use that space for a career summary. A good one is brief - three to four sentences long. A good one will make the person reviewing your application want to read further.
Many resumes list ‘hard' job-specific skills, almost to the exclusion of transferable, or ‘soft’, skills. However, your ability to negotiate effectively, for example, can be just as important as your technical skills.
All information you give should be relevant, so carefully consider the job for which you are applying. If you are applying for a job that is somewhat different than your current job, it is up to you to draw a connection for the resume reviewer, so that they will understand how your skills will fit in their organization. The person who reviews your paperwork will not be a mind reader.
If you are modest about the skills you can offer, or the results you have achieved, a resume reader may take what you write literally, and be left with a low opinion of your ability: you need to say exactly how good you are. On the other hand, of course, never stretch the truth or lie.

According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true?

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Mark Zuckerberg was born in 1984, in New York, into a prosperous, professional family. He developed an interest in computers at an early age and when he was twelve, he created a messaging program which he named "Zucknet". His dentist father used it in his surgery so that his receptionist could inform him of the arrival of a patient without yelling across the room. Together with his  friends, Mark spent much of his spare time as a boy designing and making computer games just for fun.
In 2002, Mark enrolled at Harvard University. By his second year at the institution, he had acquired a reputation on the campus as a developer of software. It was at that time he invented "Facemash" which compared pictures of female students and allowed users to vote on which one   was the most attractive. The program became very popular on campus, but was later shut down by the university authorities who deemed it 'inappropriate'.
Based on the buzz of "Facemash", three of Mark's fellow students, Divya  Narendra, and  twins, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, asked him to work with them on an idea for a social networking site called "Harvard Connection". This site was designed to use information from Harvard's student networks to create a dating site for the university's elite. Mark was initially enthusiastic about the complex project but boredom soon set in
and he backed out of it to work on his own social networking site. He created a  site that allowed  users to produce their own profiles, upload photos, and communicate with other people beyond the confines of the university. He called the site "Facebook" and he operated from one small college room until June 2004 when he finally abandoned his studies to  devote himself fully to Facebook and  moved the company to California. By the end of 2004, Facebook had one million users and Mark was climbing high.

Which of the following best serves as the title for the passage?

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There are many theories about the beginning of drama in ancient Greece. The one most widely accepted today is based on the assumption that drama evolved from ritual. The argument for this view goes as follows. In the beginning, human beings viewed the natural forces of the world, even the seasonal changes, as unpredictable, and they sought, through various means, to control these unknown and feared powers. Those measures which appeared to bring the desired results were then retained and repeated until they hardened into fixed rituals. Eventually stories arose which explained or veiled the mysteries of the rites. As time passed some rituals were abandoned, but the stories, later called myths, persisted and provided material for art and drama.
Those who believed that drama evolved out of ritual also argue that those rites contained the seed of theater because music, dance, masks, and costumes were almost always used. Furthermore, a suitable site hard to be provided for the performances, and when the entire community did not participate, a clear division was usually made between the "acting area" and the "auditorium". In addition, there were performers, and since considerable importance was attached to avoiding mistakes in the enactment of rites, religious leaders usually assumed that task. Wearing masks and costumes, they often impersonated other people, animals, or supernatural beings, and mimed the desired effect- success in hunt or battle, the coming rain, the revival of the Sun as an actor might. Eventually such dramatic representations were separated from religious activities.
Another theory traces the theater's origin from the human interest in storytelling. According to this view, tales (about the hunt, war or other feats) are gradually elaborated, at first through the use of impersonation, action, and dialogue by a narrator and then through the assumption of each of the roles by a different person. A closely related theory traces theater to those dances that are primarily rhythmical  and gymnastic or that are imitation of animal movements and sounds.

What does the passage manly discuss?

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Asia is very rich in cultures, races and languages. Indians and most people in (1) ____ South Asian countries commonly speak more than one language daily, as a matter of routine. Their highly diverse expat, diaspora and migrant communities provide them not only with global access, but also with global sources of income.
India and other South Asian countries are (2) ____ the largest recipients of monthly transfers from their diaspora workers. Due to their religious, ethnic and social diversity, more than 30 million Indians access and transfer (3) ____ from countries as various as Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Malaysia, Singapore, the US, Canada, the UK and Australia.
Regional languages and minority religions have (4) ____ themselves as global community networks. This is as much true for the Tamils in Malaysia as for the Sikhs in Canada. Such connections provide them with (5) ____ to education and jobs, partly through professional visa arrangements, and despite the limitations and constraints of our current times. These communities have created their own formats, many of which have become international actors, such the Global Tamil Forum and the World Sikh Organization. 

(2).....................

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Human memory, formerly believed to be rather inefficient, is really more sophisticated than that of a computer. Researchers approaching the problem from a variety of points of view have all concluded that there is a great deal more stored in our minds than has been generally supposed. Dr. Wilder Penfield, a Canadian neurosurgeon, proved that by stimulating their brains electrically, he could elicit the total recall of specific events in his subjects’ lives. Even dreams and other minor events supposedly forgotten for many years suddenly emerged in detail.
The memory trace is the term for whatever is the internal representation of the specific information about the event stored in the memory. Assumed to have been made by structural changes in the brain, the memory trace is not subject to direct observation but is rather a theoretical construct that we use to speculate about how information presented at a particular time can cause performance at a later time. Most theories include the strength of the memory trace as a variable in the degree of learning, retention, and retrieval possible for a memory. One theory is that the fantastic capacity for storage in the brain is the result of an almost unlimited combination of interconnections between brain cells, stimulated by patterns of activity. Repeated references to the same information support recall. Or, to say that another way, improved performance is the result of strengthening the chemical bonds in the memory.

The word “elicit” is closest in meaning to...........................

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By mid-century, there will likely be 9 billion people on the planet, consuming ever more resources and leading ever more technologically complex lives. What will our cities be like? How much will artificial intelligence advance? Will global warming trigger catastrophic changes, or will we be able to engineer our way out of the climate change crisis?
Making predictions is, by nature, a dicey business, but to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Smithsonian magazine Big Think asked top minds from a variety of fields to weigh in on what the future holds 40 years from now. The result is our latest special series, Life in 20 50. Demographic changes in world population and population growth will certainly be dramatic. Rockefeller University mathematical biologist Joel Cohen says it's likely that by 2050 the majority of the people in the world will live in urban areas, and will have a significantly higher average age than people today. Cities theorist Richard Florida thinks urbanization trends will reinvent the education system of the United States, making our economy less real estate driven and erasing the divisions between home and work.
Large migrations from developing countries like Indonesia, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Mexico, and countries in the Middle East could disrupt western governments and harm the unity of France, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, Poland, and the United Kingdom under the umbrella of the European Union.
And rapidly advancing technology will continue ever more rapidly. According to Bill Mitchell, the late director of MIT's Smart Cities research group, cities of the future won't look like "some sort of science -fiction fantasy" or "Star Trek" but it's likely that "discreet, unobtrusive" technological advances and information overlays, i.e. virtual reality and augmented reality, will change how we live in significant ways. Self-driving cars will make the roads safer, driving more efficient, and provide faster transports. A larger version of driverless cars-driverless trucks-may make long haul drivers obsolete.
Meanwhile, the Internet will continue to radically transform media, destroying the traditional model of what a news organization is, says author and former New York Times Public Editor, Daniel Okrent, who believes the most common kinds of news organizations in the future will be "individuals and small alliances of individuals” reporting and publishing on niche topics.

What is the problem caused by advanced technology for future humans in paragraph 5?

In many ways, the increasingly rapid pace of climate change is a direct result of the growth of the human population. In the last 100 years, the world population has more than tripled, from just under 2 billion at the beginning of the century to nearly 7 billion today. In addition, the average person uses more energy and natural resources than the average person one hundred years ago, meaning that the rates of consumption are actually much higher than just the increase in population would imply. For example, it took the world 125 years to use the first one trillion barrels of oil. The next trillion barrels will be used in less than 30 years, which is almost 5 times as fast, not three.
All of these activities: food production, energy usage, and the use of natural resources, contribute to climate change in some way. The greater amounts of oil and other fuels burned to create energy release chemicals which add to global warming. In order to produce more food, farmers cut down trees to gain more land for their fields. In addition, we cut down trees to build the houses needed for a larger population. Those trees are an essential part of controlling global warming; others are too numerous to mention.
In addition to a growing population, the world also has a population that desires a higher standard of living than in the past, and a higher standard of living requires the use of even more natural resources. A look at one country will provide a clear example of this fact. China is the world’s most populous nation, with 1.3 billion people. Currently, the standard of living for most of those people is far below that of people in first world nations. Therefore, the average Chinese citizen uses far fewer natural resources and less energy than the average citizen of the US or Japan. But China is growing in power, and more of its citizens are beginning to expect a first world lifestyle. If every Chinese person attains a first world lifestyle, the amount of energy and natural resources needed in the world will double, even if the standard of living in every other nation on Earth remains the same as it is today.

How many years did it take the world years to use the first one trillion barrels of oil?

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Peru’s Inca Indians first grew potatoes in the Andes Mountains in about 200 BC. Spanish conquistadors brought potatoes to Europe, and colonists brought them to America. Potatoes are fourth on the list of the world’s food staples – after wheat, corn, and rice. Today, Americans consume about 140 pounds of potatoes per person every year, while Europeans eat twice as many.
One of our favourite ways to eat potatoes is in the form of potato chips. While Benjamin Franklin was the American ambassador to France, he went to a banquet where potatoes were prepared in 20 different ways. Thomas Jefferson, who succeeded Franklin as our French ambassador, brought the recipe for thick–cut, French fried potatoes to America. He served French fries to guests at the White House in 1802 and at his home, Monticello.
A native American chef named George Crum created the first potato chips on August 24, 1853, at Moon Lake Lodge in Saratoga, New York. He became angry when a diner complained that his French fries were too thick, so he sliced the potatoes as thinly as possible, making them too thin and crisp to eat with a fork. The diner loved them, and potato chips were born. In 1860, Chef Crum opened his own restaurant and offered a basket of potato chips on every table.
Joe “Spud” Murphy and Seamus Burke produced the world’s first seasoned crisps, cheese & onion and salt & vinegar chips, in the 1950s in Ireland. In the United Kingdom and Ireland, crisps are what we, in the United States, call potato chips, while their chips refer to our French fries. Ketchup–flavored chips are popular in the Middle East and Canada. Seaweed–flavored chips are popular in Asia, and chicken– flavored chips are popular in Mexico. Other flavors from around the world include: paprika, pickled onions, béarnaise, meat pie, chili crab, salmon teriyaki, borscht, Caesar salad, roasted sausage, firecracker lobster, roast ox, haggis and black pepper, olive, and spaghetti.

The word “them” in the passage refers to     .

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In Germany, it's important to be serious in a work situation. They don't mix work and play so you shouldn't make jokes (1) ............... you do in the UK and USA when you first meet people. They work in a very organized way and prefer to do one thing at a time. They don't like interruptions or (2)  ............... changes of schedule. Punctuality is very important so you should arrive on time for appointments. At meeting, it’s important to follow the agenda and not interrupt (3) ............... speaker. If you give a presentation, you should focus (4) ............... facts and technical information and the quality of your company's products. You should also prepare well, as they may ask a lot of questions. Colleagues normally use the family names, and title - for example 'Doctor' or 'Professor', so you shouldn't use first names (5) ............... a person asks you to.

At meeting, it’s important to follow the agenda and not interrupt (3) ............... speaker.

Choose the option that best completes each of the following sentences

Computer programmer David Jones earns £35,000 a year designing new computer games, yet he cannot find a bank prepared to let him have a cheque card. Instead, he has been told to wait another two years, until he is 18.

The 16-year-old works for a small firm in Liverpool, where the problem of most young people of his age is finding a job. David's firm releases two new games for the expanding home computer market each month.

But David's biggest headache is what to do with his money.

Despite his salary, earned by inventing new programs within tight schedules, with bonus payments and profit-sharing, he cannot drive a car, take out a mortgage, or obtain credit cards. He lives with his parents in their council house in Liverpool, where his father is a bus driver. His company has to pay £150 a month in taxi fares to get him the five miles to work and back every day because David cannot drive.

David got his job with the Liverpool-based company four months ago, a year after leaving school with six O-levels and working for a time in a computer shop. "I got the job because the people who run the firm knew I had already written some programs," he said.

"I suppose £35,000 sounds a lot but actually that's being pessimistic. I hope it will come to more than that this year." He spends some of his money on records and clothes, and gives his mother £20 a week. But most his spare time is spent working.

"Unfortunately, computing was not part of our studies at school," he said. "But I had been studying it in books and 'magazines for four years in my spare time. I knew what I wanted to do and never considered staying on at school. Most people in this business are fairly young, anyway."

David added: "I would like to earn a million and I suppose early retirement is a possibility. You never know when the market might disappear."

He left school after taking O-levels because ..............

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Around the year 1500, hunting people occupied the entire northern third of North America. They lived well from the animals with which they shared these lands. Hunters of sea mammals had colonized the Arctic coasts of Canada and Greenland between four and five thousand years before. Land-hunting people had lived throughout much of the northern interior for at least 12,000 years.
Northern North America is part of a larger circumpolar ecological domain that continues across the narrow Bering Strait into Siberia and northern Europe. The overall circumpolar environment in the 1500's was not very different from the environment of the present. This vast landmass had a continental climate and was dominated by cold arctic air throughout a long winter and spring season. Summer temperature ranged from near freezing to the mid-20's Celsius, while winter temperature were often as low as 40 degrees below zero Celsius.
Geographers divide the overall circumpolar domain into two zones, the Arctic and, below it, the Subarctic. They refer to the landforms of these areas as tundra and taiga, respectively.
Temperatures in the northern lands were below freezing for eight or nine months of the year. Subsurface soil in the Arctic's tundra remained permanently frozen. Even when summer temperatures were above freezing and the top inches of earth became saturated with water, the soil below remained frozen into a permafrost, as hard as rock. When water flowed upon the surface of permanently frozen tundra, it made overland travel extremely difficult. Summer travel in the boggy lands, or muskeg country, of the Sub Arctic’s taiga was also slow and arduous. Tracking animals was more difficult than it was during the winter when the swampy ground was frozen solid and covered with snow. In both tundra and taiga, hordes of mosquitoes and biting flies bred in the standing pools of water. Clothing lost its thermal efficiency when it became damp. Northern people looked forward to the turn of the season to bring the easier traveling conditions associated with cold weather. In the Arctic, they could haul food and supplies by dogsled while in the Subarctic; people could travel quickly and efficiently by snowshoes and toboggan.

The word “standing” in line 25 is closest in meaning to

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Archimedes’s Principle is a law of physics that states that when an object is totally or partially immersed in a fluid, it experiences an upthrust equal to the weight of the fluid displaced. The principle is most frequently applied to the behaviour of objects in water, and helps to explain floating and sinking, and why objects seem lighter in water. It also applies to balloons.
The key word in the principle is “upthrust”, which refers to the force acting upward to reduce the apparent weight of the object when it is under water. If, for example, a metal block with a volume of 100 cm3 is dipped in water, it displaces an equal volume of water, which has a weight of approximately 1 N (3.5 oz). The block therefore seems to weigh about 1 N less.
An object will float if its average density is less than that of water. If it is totally submerged, the weight of the water it displaces (and hence the upthrust on it) is greater than its own weight, and it is forced upward and out of water, until the weight if water displaced by submerged part is exactly equal to the weight of the floating object. Thus a block of wood with a density six tenths that of water will float with six tenths of its volume under water, since at that point the weight of fluid displaced is the same as the blocks’s own weight. If a dense material is made into a suitable shape, it will float because of Archimedes’s principle. A ship floats, whereas a block of iron of the same mass sinks.
It is also because of Archimedes’s principle that ships float lower in the water when they are heavily loaded (more water must be displaced to give the necessary upthrust). In addition, they cannot be so heavily loaded if they are to sail in fresh water as they can if they are to sail in the sea, since fresh water is less dense than sea water, and so more water must be displaced to give the necessary upthrust. This means the ship is lower in the water, which can be dangerous in rough weather.

The word “displaces” in the passage almost means “ ”.

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Educating children at home as an alternative to formal education is an option chosen by families in many parts of the world. The homeschooling movement is popular in the United States, where close to one million Children are educated at home. In Canada, 1 percent of school-age children are homeschooled, and the idea also enjoys growing popularity in Australia, where 20,000 families homeschool their children. The movement is not limited to these countries. Homeschooling families can be found all over the world, from Japan to Taiwan to Argentina to South Africa.
Homeschooling is not a novel idea. In fact, the idea of sending children to spend most of their day away from home at a formal school is a relatively new custom. In the United States, for example, it was not until the latter part of the nineteenth century that state governments began making school attendance compulsory. Before that, the concept of a formal education was not so widespread. Children learned the skills they would need for adult life at home from tutors or their parents, through formal instruction or by working side by side with the adults of the family.
In the modern developed world, where the vast majority of children attend school, families choose homeschooling for a variety of reasons. For people who live in remote areas, such as the Australian outback or the Alaskan Wilderness, homeschooling may be their only option. Children who have exceptional talents in the arts or other areas may be homeschooled so that they have more time to devote to their special interests. Much of the homeschooling movement is made up of families who, for various reasons, are dissatisfied with the schools available to them. They may have a differing educational philosophy, they may be concerned about the safety of the school environment, or they may feel that the local schools cannot adequately address their children's educational needs. Although most families continue to choose a traditional classroom education for their children, homeschooling as an alternative educational option is becoming more popular.

As mentioned in the last paragraph, children in rural areas     .

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The first Industrial Revolution was about harnessing steam power so that muscle could be replaced by machines. The second was driven by electricity and a cluster of  inventions from the late 19th century onwards - including the internal combustion engine, the aeroplane and moving pictures. A third revolution began in the 1960s and was based on digital technology, personal computing and the development of the internet. Industrial Revolution 4.0 will be shaped by  a  fresh wave of innovation in areas such as driverless cars, smart robotics, materials that are lighter and tougher, and a manufacturing process built around 3D printing.
There are some myths about Industrial Revolution 4.0. The first is that it won't really have as big an impact as the previous periods of change, most especially the breakthroughs associated with the second industrial revolution. In the past, it has always taken time to feel the full effects of technological change and many of today's advances are in their infancy. It is far too early to  say  that the car or air travel will prove to be less important than the sequencing of the human genome or synthetic biology. The second myth is that the process will be trouble free  provided  everything  is  left to the market. It is a fantasy to believe that the wealth created by the fourth  Industrial  Revolution will cascade down from rich to poor, and that those displaced will just walk into another job that pays just as well.
Indeed, all the evidence so far is that the benefits of the coming change will be concentrated among a relatively small elite, thus exacerbating the current trend towards greater levels of inequality. This was a point stressed by the Swiss bank UBS in a report launched in Davos. It notes that there will be a "polarisation of the labour force as low-skill jobs continue to  be automated and this trend increasingly spreads to middle class jobs,"

The word "it" in paragraph 2  refers to     ?

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Before the grass has thickened on the roadside verges and leaves have started growing on the trees is a perfect time to look around and see just how dirty Britain has become. The pavements are stained with chewing gum that has been spat out and the gutters are  full  of discarded fast food cartons. Years ago I remember travelling abroad and being saddened by the  plastic bags, discarded bottles and soiled nappies at the edge of every road. Nowadays, Britain seems to look at least as bad. What has gone wrong?
The problem is that the rubbish created by our increasingly mobile lives lasts a  lot  longer  than before. If it is not cleared up and properly thrown away, it stays in the undergrowth for years; a semi-permanent reminder of what a tatty little country we have now. Firstly, it is estimated that 10 billion plastic bags have been given to shoppers. These will take anything  from  100  to 1,000 years to rot. However, it is not as if there is no solution to this. A few years ago, the Irish government introduced a tax on non-recyclable carrier bags and in three months reduced their  use by 90%. When he was a minister, Michael Meacher attempted to introduce a  similar arrangement  in Britain. The plastics industry protested, of course. However, they need not have bothered; the  idea was killed before it could draw breath, leaving supermarkets free to give away plastic bags.
What is clearly necessary right now is some sort of combined initiative, both individual and collective, before it is too late. The  alternative is  to  continue sliding downhill until we  have a country that looks like a vast municipal rubbish tip. We may well be at  the  tipping  point.  Yet we know that people respond to their environment. If things around them are clean and tidy, people behave cleanly and tidily. If they are surrounded by squalor, they behave squalidly. No  much  of Britain looks pretty squalid. What will it look like in five years?

The word 'they in the last paragraph may refer to    _.

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        The tradition of gift giving is a worldwide (1)_________ that is said to have been around since the beginning of human beings. Over time, different cultures have developed their own gift giving customs and traditions.
         In France, the gift of wine for the hostess of a dinner party is not an appropriate gift as the hostess would prefer to choose the vintage for the night. In Sweden, a bottle of wine or flowers are an appropriate gift for the hostess. In Viet Nam, a gift of whisky is appropriate for the host, and some fruit or small gifts for the hostess, children or elders of the home. Besides, gifts should never be wrapped in black paper because this color is unlucky and associated with funerals in this country. Gifts (2)____________symbolize cutting such as scissors, knives and other sharp objects should be avoided because they mean the cutting of the relationship. Also, in some countries you should not open the gift in front of the giver and in (3)__________ it would be an insult if you did not open the gift.
       Beyond the gift itself, give careful consideration to the manner in which it is presented. Different cultures have different customs regarding how a gift should be offered - using only your right hand or using both hands, (4)_____. Others have strong traditions related to the appropriate way to accept a gift. In Singapore, for instance, it is the standard to graciously refuse a gift several times before finally accepting it. The recipient would never unwrap a gift in front of the giver for fear of appearing greedy.
       Understanding these traditions and customs, as well as taking time to choose an appropriate gift, will help you to avoid any awkwardness or (5)__________ as you seek to build a better cross-cultural relationship.

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

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:
Sometimes people add to what they say even when they don't talk. Gestures are the "silent language" of every culture. We point a finger or move another part of the body to show what we want to say. It is important to know the body language of every country or we may be misunderstood. In the United States, people greet each other with a handshake in a formal introduction. The handshake must be firm. If the handshake is weak, it is a sign of weakness or unfriendliness. Friends may place a hand on the other's arm or shoulder. Some people, usually women, greet a friend with a hug.
Space is important to Americans. When two people talk to each other, they usually stand about two and a half feet away and at an angle, so they are not facing each other directly. Americans get uncomfortable when a person stands too close. They will move back to have their space. If Americans touch another person by accident, they say, "Pardon me." or "Excuse me." Americans like to look the other person in the eyes when they are talking. If you don't do so, it means you are bored, hiding something, or are not interested. But when you are stare at someone, it is not polite. For Americans, thumbs-up means yes, very good, or well done. Thumbs down means the opposite. To call a waiter, raise one hand to head level or above. To show you want the check, make a movement with your hands as if you are signing a piece of paper. It is all right to point at things but not at people with the hand and index finger. Americans shake their index finger at children when they scold them and pat them on the head when they admire them. Learning a culture's body language is sometimes confusing. If you don't know what to do, the safest thing to do is to smile.

If you are introduced to a stranger from the USA, you should     .

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:
Dear Editor,
I read with interest the article on American families. In general I agree with it, but there are some important things it left out. It didn't tell the reader much about the life of a househusband. It's not an easy life. I know, because I'm now a househusband myself. A househusband has to change many of his ideas and his ways.
First of all, he has to change the way he thinks about time. Before I was a househusband, I worked full-time for the New York Times. I was a reporter, and time was always important. We had to finish our article quickly and give them to the editor. Everyone was always in a hurry. This is the way, many other men work, too. Businessmen, lawyers, bankers, and doctors all have to work quickly.
At home it's different. The househusband cannot be in a hurry all the time. If you rush around, you will make everyone unhappy! The children will be unhappy because they don't understand. For them, time is not important. Your wife will be unhappy because the children are unhappy. You will be unhappy, too, because they are all unhappy. So you have to learn to slow down. That is the first and most important rule for a househusband.
There is something else the househusband must learn. You must learn to show how you feel about things. At work, men usually do not talk about feelings. If they do, people think they are strange. So, many men are not used to telling anyone about their feelings. They do not know how to talk about their anger, worries, or love. But children need to know how you feel. They need to know how much you love them. If you are angry, they need to know why. Your wife also needs to know about your feelings. If you do not say anything, your family may get the wrong idea. Then there may be serious problems.
People talk a lot about househusbands these days. Usually they talk about men doing the housework, the cooking, cleaning, and shopping. But in my opinion, these are the easiest things to learn. It was much harder for me to change the way I think and the way I act with my family. I think, other men will also find this harder, but, like me, will find it necessary if they want to have a happy family!
Ted Diamond

According to the passage, children     .

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:
Most people need some preparation before they are ready for the workforce, and planning should begin long before it is time to start a career.
Many high school students don't yet know what they want to do. High school is a great time to start thinking about careers. Settling on just one occupation in high school isn't necessary, but they should know how to explore careers and put time into investigating them and learning about their skills and interests.
Understanding what you enjoy what you are good at is the first step in exploring careers. It is important to think about what you like to do because work will eventually be a big part of your life. Once you have thought about the subjects and activities you like best, the next step is to look for careers that put those interests to use. If you love sports, for example, you might consider a career as a gym teacher, or coach.
Another approach to identifying potential career interests is to consider local employers and the types of jobs they have. There are many jobs in manufacturing and healthcare near the high school. Talking directly to workers can help you get information about what they do. If you don't know workers in occupations that interest you, ask people such as your parents, friends, or teacher for their contacts.
If job shadowing give you taste of what an occupation is like, imagine how helpful getting experience could be. Students can begin getting career-related experiences in high school through internships, employment, and other activities. Completing an internship is an excellent way to get experience. Internships are temporary, supervised assignments designed to give student practical job training.

Which could be the best title for the passage?