Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D to indicate the word that best fits each of the blanks from 6 to 10.
HOLIDAYS
We've just come back exhausted after a two-week holiday in France. We were really stupid. On the last day we drove non-stop from Marseille to Calais- we should have (6)           our journey in Lyon or Paris.   As if that wasn't enough, the sea was so rough in the English Channel that the (7)         took three hours instead of one and a half. Next year we've decided we're going on a cheap (8)           holiday to Italy. It sounds marvellous- the cost of the flight, the hotel and all our meals are (9)             in the price. While we're in Rome we'll be going on a guided tour of the Coliseum. The last time I was in Italy, I was on a business trip - I can't say I saw many of the famous tourist (10)                 on that occasion.
(6)..............................

Fill in each numbered blank with one suitable word or phrase.

If you want to prepare yourself for great achievement and have more to (1) ______ to your education or your work, try reading more books. (2) ______ up some of the interestingly informative books and search for well-researched material that can help you grow. We should (3) ______ our children to read more books and (4) ______ less time watching TV. Some people have commented that this is inconsistent. "Why is the written word a superior way to get information than television?" That is (5) ______ interesting point of view worth further (6) ______. Reading is a skill that is in much greater demand than the demand for watching TV. There are no jobs that (7) ______ a person to be able to watch TV but reading is an integral part of many jobs. The written word is an incredibly flexible and efficient way of communication. You can write something down and, in no time, it can be (8) ______ to many different people. Not only that, we can (9) ______ vast amounts of information through reading in a very short time. A good reader can acquire more information in reading for two hours than someone watching TV can acquire in a full day. You are able to gain a lot of information quickly because you are a fast reader with good (10) ______ skills. It will save you massive amounts of time and you will be able to assimilate vast quantities of information.

(2) ______

Fill in each numbered blank with one suitable word or phrase.

If you want to prepare yourself for great achievement and have more to (1) ______ to your education or your work, try reading more books. (2) ______ up some of the interestingly informative books and search for well-researched material that can help you grow. We should (3) ______ our children to read more books and (4) ______ less time watching TV. Some people have commented that this is inconsistent. "Why is the written word a superior way to get information than television?" That is (5) ______ interesting point of view worth further (6) ______. Reading is a skill that is in much greater demand than the demand for watching TV. There are no jobs that (7) ______ a person to be able to watch TV but reading is an integral part of many jobs. The written word is an incredibly flexible and efficient way of communication. You can write something down and, in no time, it can be (8) ______ to many different people. Not only that, we can (9) ______ vast amounts of information through reading in a very short time. A good reader can acquire more information in reading for two hours than someone watching TV can acquire in a full day. You are able to gain a lot of information quickly because you are a fast reader with good (10) ______ skills. It will save you massive amounts of time and you will be able to assimilate vast quantities of information.

(5) ______

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 following questions.

Let children learn to judge their own work. A child learning to talk does not learn by being corrected all the time. If corrected too much, he will stop talking. He notices a thousand times a day the difference between the language he uses and the language those around him use. Bit by bit, he makes the necessary changes to make his language like other people's. In the same way, children learn all the other things they learn to do without being taught - to talk, run, climb, whistle, ride a bicycle - compare their own performances with those of more skilled people, and slowly make the needed changes. But in school we never give a child a chance to find out his mistakes for himself, let alone correct them. We do it all for him. We act as if we thought that he would never notice a mistake unless it was pointed out to him, or correct it unless he was made to. Soon he becomes dependent on the teacher. Let him do it himself. Let him work out, with the help of other children if he wants it, what this word says, what the answer is to that problem, whether this is a good way of saying or doing this or not.

If it is a matter of right answers, as it may be in mathematics or science, give him the answer book. Let him correct his own papers. Why should we teachers waste time on such routine work? Our job should be to help the child when he tells us that he can't find the way to get the right answer. Let's end all this nonsense of grades, exams, and marks. Let us throw them all out, and let the children learn what all educated persons must someday learn, how to measure their own understanding, how to know what they know or do not know.

Let them get on with this job in the way that seems most sensible to them, with our help as school teachers if they ask for it. The idea that there is a body of knowledge to be learnt at school and used for the rest of one's life is nonsense in a world as complicated and rapidly changing as ours. Anxious parents and teachers say, “But suppose they fail to learn something essential, something they will need to get on in the world?" Don't worry! If it is essential, they will go out into the world and learn it.

The word “those” in paragraph 1 refers to _____.

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 from 41 to 45.
SOCIAL NETWORK
A 16-year-old girl from Essex has been sacked after describing her job as boring on the social networking website, Facebook. The teenager, who had been working (41)      an administrative assistant at a    marketing company for just three weeks, didn‟t feel very enthusiastic about the duties she was asked to do. (42)       of moaning to her friends she decided to express her thoughts on her Facebook page to a colleague, who (43)       the boss‟s attention to it. He immediately fired her on the (44)       that her public display of dissatisfaction made it impossible for her to continue working for the company. She later told newspapers she had been treated totally unfairly, especially as she hadn‟t even mentioned the company‟s name. She claimed she‟s been perfectly happy with her job and that her light-hearted comments shouldn‟t (45)      taken seriously. A spokesperson from a workers‟ union said the incident demonstrated two things: firstly, that people need to protect their privacy online and secondly, that employers should be less sensitive to criticism.
(41).......................

There are books with fairy tails in many countries. Often the same stories are known and repeated in many languages. Some of the things that happens in these stories are remarkable, although not as remarkable as things that are truly happening in medicine and science today.
Most fairy tails begin with “Once upon a time” and end with “They lived happily ever after”, so we will begin in the same way.
Once upon a time there was a girl calls Cinderella who did all the work in the kitchen while her lazy sister did nothing.
One night, her sister went to a ball at the palace. Cinderella was left home, very sad. After a time her fairy godmother appeared and told Cinderella that she could go to the ball- but to return home by midnight.
So she went to the ball in a beautiful dress in a wonderful coach. She danced with the prince but at midnight she ran back home, leaving one of her shoes on the floor. The prince wanted to see her again and went to every house in the capital until he found that the shoe was the right size for Cinderella. She and the price were married and lived happily ever after.

At the end of the story ________________.

Read the text below and decide which answer (A,B,C, or D) best fits each space.
Statesmen define a family as ―a group of indivi duals having a commo n  dwelling andrelated by blood, adoption or marriage, (1) includes common law relationships.‖ Most people are born into one of these groups and (2) live their lives as a family in such a group.Although the definition of a  family may not change, (3).relationship of people to each other within the family  group changes as society changes. More and more wives are (4) paying jobs,  and, as a result, the roles of husband, wife and children are changing. Today,  men expect to(5) . for pay for about 40 years of their lives, and, in today‘s  marriages(6) . which both spouses have paying jobs, women can expect to  work for about 30 to 35 years of their lives. This mean that man must learn to do  their share of family tasks such as caring for the children and daily (7) chores.  Children, too, especially adolescents, have to (8) with the members od their  family in sharing household tasks. The widespread acceptance of contraception  has meant that having (9) is as matter of choice, not an automatic result of  marriage. Marriage itself has become a choice. As alternatives (10)  common-law relationships and single-parent families have become socially  acceptable, women will become more independent. 

3...........................

Many of the most damaging and life-threaling types of weather-torrential rains, severe thunderstorms, and tornadoes-begin quickly, strike suddenly, and dissipate rapidly, devastating small regions while leaving neighboring areas untouched. One such event, a tornado, struck the northeastern section of Edmonton, Alberta, in July 1987. Total damages from the tornado exceeded $250 million, the highest ever for any Canadian storm. Conventional computer models of the atmosphere have limited value in predicting short-live local storms like the Edmonton tornado, because the available weather data are generally not detailed enough to allow computers to discern the subtle atmospheric changes that precede these storms. In most nations, for example, weather balloon observations are taken just once every twelve hours at locations typically separated by hundreds of miles. With such limited data, conventional forecasting models do a much better job predicting general weather conditions over large regions than they do forecasting specific local events.
Until recently, the observation-intensive approach needed for accurate, very short range forecasts, or “Nowcasts”, was not feasible. The cost of equipping and operating many thousands of conventional weather stations was prohibitively high, and the difficulties involved in rapidly collecting and processing the raw weather data from such a network were insurmountable. Fortunately, scientific and technological advances have overcome most of these problems. Radar systems, automated weather instruments, and satellites are all capable of making detailed, nearly continuous observation over large regions at a relatively low cost. Communications satellites can transmit data around the world cheaply and instantaneously, and modern computers can quickly compile and analyzing this large volume of weather information. Meteorologists and computer scientists now work together to design computer programs and video equipment capable of transforming raw weather data into words, symbols, and vivid graphic displays that forecasters can interpret easily and quickly. As meteorologists have begun using these new technologies in weather forecasting offices, Nowcasting is becoming a reality.

Why does the author state that observations are taken “just once every twelve hours”?

Choose the word or phrase among A, B, C or D that best fits the blank space in the following passage: 

"Books are written to provide knowledge and good books enrich the mind. By putting (1)…. under the influence of superior mind, we (2) ….. our mental powers. (3)…. good books, we learn that people everywhere are the (4) ......., in ali ages, and in all (5)…. . This knowledge improves our love (6)…. others and helps us to live in peace with them.
 We also (7)…. that the world was made not only for man (8)…. but for every creature that can feel hunger and thirst, warmth and cold. Though it may be possible for us to travel (9)…. the world and see the things happening today, it is not possible for us to see the things that happened in the past. But good books (10) …..us to see not only into the most remote regions of the world today, but also into the world in which our ancestors lived."

6. This knowledge improves our love (6)…. others and helps us to live in peace with them.

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct word(s) for each of the blanks.

The relationship between students and teachers is less formal in the USA than in many other countries. American students do not stand up when their teachers (1) _______the room. Students are encouraged to ask questions during class, to stop in the teacher’s office for extra help, and to phone if they are absent. Most teachers (2) _________ students to enter class late or leave early if necessary. (3) ______the lack of formality, students are still expected to be polite to their teachers and classmates.

When students want to ask questions, they usually (4) _______ a hand and wait to be called on. When a test is being given, talking to a classmate is not only rude but also risky. Most American teachers consider that students who are talking to each other (5) _______ a test are cheating.

(1) _________

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 from 1 to 5.
BOOKS
Nearly all the discoveries that have been made through the ages can (1)________ in books. The invention of the book is one of humankind’s (2)________ achievements,  the importance of which can not be evaluated. Books are very useful, providing us with both entertainment and information. The production of books began in Ancient Egypt, though not in the form that is accessible to us today. The books read by Romans, (3)________ , have some similarities to the ones we read now. Until the middle of the 15th century, in Europe, all books were written by hand. They (4)________ often beautifully illustrated and always rare and expensive. With printing came the possibility of cheap, large publication and distribution of book making (5) ________ more widespread and reliable.
2()..........................

Read the text below and decide which answer (A,B,C, or D) best fits each space.
Tattooing is an old art. In ancient Greece, people who had tattoos were regarded  asmembers of the (16)____classes. On the other hand, tattooing was  (17)_____in Europe by the early Christians, who thought that it was a sinful  thing to(18) .It was not until the late 18th century, when Captain Cook  saw South Sea Islander decorating their bodies with tattoos that attitudes began  to change. Sailors came back from these islands with pictures of Christ on their  backs and from then on, tattooing (19)_____in popularity. A survey by the  French army in 1881 (20)_____that among the 387 men (21)_______ there were  1,333 designs. Nowadays, not everybody finds tattoos acceptable. Some people  thing that getting one is silly because tattoos are more or less permanent. There  is also some (22)_____about (23)_____ a blood disease from unsterilized needles. Even for those who do want a tattoo, the (24)_____of getting one is not  painless, but the final result, in their eyes, is (25)______the pain. 

20........................

In “Cerealizing America”, Scott Bruce and Bill Crawford remark that the cereal  industry uses 816 million pounds of sugar per year. Americans buy 2.7 billion  packages of breakfast cereal each year. If (1) _______ end to end, the empty  cereal boxes from one year's consumption would (2) _______ to the moon and back. One point three (1.3) million advertisements for cereal are broadcast on  American television every year at a(n) (3) _______ of $762 million for airtime.  Only automobile manufacturers spend more money on television advertising  than the makers of breakfast cereal. (4) _______ of the boxed cereals found in  supermarkets contain large amounts of sugar and some contain more than 50%  sugar. Cereal manufacturers are very clever in their marketing, making many  cereals appear much healthier than they really are by “fortifying” them with vitamins and minerals. Oh, (5) ______ – you now have vitamin-fortified sugar! Before you eat any cereal, read the ingredient list and see how (6) _______  sugar appears on the ingredient list. Then check the “Nutrition facts” panel. 
There are actually only a small handful of national commercially-branded cereals  that are made (7) _______ whole grains and are sugar-free. If you shop at a health  food store instead of your local supermarket, you (8) _______ to find a healthy,  whole grain, sugar-free (or very low sugar) cereal. But (9) _______! Some of the  health food store boxed cereals are sweetened with fruit juice or fructose.  Although this may be an improvement (10) _______ refined white sugar, this can  really skyrocket the calories. 

8.....................

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct word or phrase for each of the numbered blanks.
An ecosystem is a community of animals, plants and microbes that sustain themselves in the same area or environment by performing the activities of living, feeding, reproducing and interacting. Like many of Africas large mammals, giraffes have (21)________ in numbers and in range over the last century.   At one time, herds of over 100 animals were common in savanna regions across the continent, however, today concentrations like these exist only in East Africa particularly Tanzania Serengeti National Park. The decline of giraffe populations has largely been due to hunting. In Africa, the giraffe is a traditional source of hide and hair and also of tough  but (22) ________ meat. The hunting of giraffes has not yet  had a catastrophic effect, (23)________ on some of Africas big-game animals, but it is a cause for concern. The natural habitat of the giraffe is also being impacted more and more by human activities, (24)________ the animals range. The giraffe is currently a protected species throughout most of its range and is classed as conservation-dependent by the World Conservation Union. The giraffe’s prospects for survival are good for (25)________ living in national parks and game reserves, but for animals living outside these   areas the future is less secure.
(25).................

BASKETBALL
1. Although he created the game of basketball at the YMCA in Springfield, Massachusetts, Dr. James A Naismith was a Canadian. Working as a physical education instructor at the International YMCA, now Springfield College, Dr. Naismith noticed a lack of interest in exercise among students during the wintertime. The new England winters were fierce, and the students balked at participating in outdoor activities. Naismith determined a fast-moving game that could be played indoors would fill a void after the baseball and football seasons had ended.
2. First, he attempted to adapt outdoor games such as soccer and rugby to indoor play, but he soon found them unsuitable for confined areas. Finally, he determined that he would have to invent a game.
3. In December of 1891, Dr. Naismith hung two old peach baskets at either end of the gymnasium at the school, and, using a soccer ball and nine players on each side, organized the first basketball game. The early rules allowed three points for each basket and made running with the ball violation. Every time a goal was made, someone had to climb a ladder to retrieve the ball.
4. Nevertheless, the game became popular. In less than a year, basketball was being played in both the United States and Canada. Five years later, a championship tournament was staged in New York City, which was won by the Brooklyn Central YMCA.
5. The teams had already been reduced to seven players, and five became standard in  1897 season. When basketball was introduced as a demonstration sport in the 1904 Olympic Games in St. Luis, it quickly spread throughout the world. In 1906, a metal hoop was used for the first time to replace the basket, but the name basketball has remained.

The word "staged" in paragraph 4 is closest in meaning to ___________.

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct word or phrase that best fits each of the numbered blanks from 31 to 35.
On April 3, 1972, a man came out of the Hilton hotel in Manhattan and started walking down the street. He stopped, (31) his hand with a strange object in it, put it to his ear and started to talk into it. This was the beginning of mobile phone (32) , more than 30 years ago. That man was Motorola's project manager, Martin Cooper, who was (33) his 34th birthday that day. The strange object was the first mobile phone, which was nicknamed “the shoe” because of its  unusual (34)  .Mr. Cooper had gone to New York to introduce the new phone. The first call he made was to his rival, Joe Engel at AT&T's research centre. Engel was responsible for the development of the radiophones for cars. "I called him and said that I was talking on a real mobile phone (35)         I was holding in my hand," said Cooper. "I don't remember what he said in reply, but I'm sure he wasn't happy." The quality of the call was very good, because although New York had only one base station at that time, it was being used by only one user - Martin Cooper.
(35).....................

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions. 
     The generation gap that was so in evidence during the 60s has resurfaced, but it is not the disruptive force that it was during the Vietnam era, a 2009 study suggests. The Pew Research Center study found that 79% of Americans see major differences between younger and older adults in the way they look at the world. In 1969, a Gallup Poll found that a smaller percentage, 74%, perceived major differences.
     Today, however, although more Americans see generational differences, most do not see them as divisive. That is partly because of the areas of difference. The top areas of disagreement between young and old, according to the Pew Research Study, are the use of technology and taste in music. Grandparents are likely to have observed these differences in their grandchildren who are tweens, teens, and young adults.
     If large differences between the generations exist, why don't they spawn conflict? The answer is twofold.
     First, the two largest areas of difference—technology and music—are less emotionally charged than political issues. The older generation is likely to be proud of the younger generation's prowess in technology rather than to view it as a problem. As for the musical differences, each generation wants its own style of music, and the older generation generally can relate to that desire.
     Second, in the other areas of difference, the younger generation tends to regard the older generation as superior to their own generation—clearly a difference from the 1960s with its rallying cry of "Don't trust anyone over thirty." According to the Pew study, all generations regard older Americans as superior in moral values, work ethic and respect for others.

The word “divisive” in the second paragraph is closest in meaning to _________.

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

Machines already perform a lot of tasks that were usually done by humans, such as building cars, doing complex calculations, and even marking exam papers. But now it seems that ever more intelligent machines are straying into areas where we never envisaged they would go. We have always taken pride in having a unique kind of intelligence that machines could never match, one which allows us to think of new ideas and produce creative and artistic works. But it seems that even here, computers are lining up to compete with us.

Machines can easily be trained to do the physical work of producing art. About ten years ago, a painting robot known as e-David was created at a university in Germany. And recently in New York, the painting ‘Portrait of Edmond de Belamy' has been auctioned for nearly half a million dollars. What made it a bit unusual was that the idea, and the image itself, was produced entirely by a computer. A group of young French artists gave instructions to the computer, aiming simply to show that computers can be creative.

Some artists are now working with computers to produce a new kind of art. Computer-generated works of art are certainly interesting, and make us think about the limits of what machines can and cannot do. But not everyone would accept that they qualify as art. Some enthusiasts would argue they do, and the collectors willing to pay high prices for these works would suggest there is definitely a market for computer art. Others, however, would disagree.

Many 'real' artists would claim that art is an expression of human intelligence and human emotions. More importantly, it is about a desire to communicate with other people. These things, they argue, are part of being human and can never be produced by a machine.

(Adapted from Formula-Exam Trainer)

The word envisaged in paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to ______.

SHOPPING MALLS
Victor Gruen, an American architect, revolutionized shopping in the 1950s by creating the type of shopping centre that we now call a shopping mall.
Gruen's (31) _______ was to provide a pleasant, quiet and spacious shopping environment with large car parks, which usually meant building in the suburbs. He also wanted people to be able to shop in all kinds of weather. He (32) _______ on using building designs that he knew people would feel comfortable with, but placed them in landscaped ‘streets’ that were entirely enclosed and often covered with a curved glass roof. This was done to (33) _______ some of the older shopping arcades of city centres, but while these housed only small speciality shops, Gruen's shopping malls were on a much grander scale.
Access to the whole shopping mall was gained by using the main doors, which (34) _______ the shopping ‘streets’ from the parking areas outside. As there was no need to keep out bad weather, shops no longer needed windows and doors, and people could wander (35) _______ from shop to shop. In many cities, shopping malls now contain much more than just shops; cinemas, restaurants and other forms of entertainment are also growing in popularity.
(34)..............................................................

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 from 26 to 30.
The position of sport in today‟s society has changed out of all regconition. People no longer seem to think of sport as “just a game” – to be watched or played for the (21)_________ of enjoyment. Instead, it has become big business worldwide. It has become accepted practice for loading companies to provide sponsorship. TV companies pay large sums of money to screen important matches or competitions. The result has been huge financial rewards for athletes, some of (22)_________ are now very wealthy, particularly top footballers, golfers and tennis players. (23)_________ , it is not unusual for some athletes to receive large fees on top of their salary, for advertising products or making personal appearances.
A trend towards shorter working hours means that people generally tend to have more free time, both to watch and to take part in sporting activity; sport has become a significant part of the recreation industry that we now rely (24)_________ to fill our leisure hours. Professional sport is a vital part of that industry, providing pleasure for millions of (25)_________ people all over the world.
(22).................

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.

I’m standing on a sidewalk in the early morning. The great avenues of Paris are silent, and the shops are closed. Suddenly, a couple appeared from a hole in the sidewalk. Mud covers their boots. They place the iron cover over the hole and run down the street, smiling. The couple had been exploring the tunnels beneath the city.

When Romans occupied Paris, they cut down stone from deep within the earth to build their city. Later, the French used more stone to construct the Notre Dame Cathedral. This left huge underground tunnels upon which part of the city now. Once used for growing mushrooms and as a hiding place, today they are mostly forgotten, except by "cataphiles" - those who love to go down into the tunnels below Paris, even though it is actually not permitted.

In the 70s and 80s, it is easier to enter the tunnels because there were many more open entrances through forgotten doorways and into catacombs - rooms filled with bones. The bones had been moved into the tunnels to solve the problem crowded cemeteries. By the end of the 1980s, most of the entrances were shut and police regularly walked the tunnels. However, there are still cataphiles, like the couple I saw that morning, and for those who dare, the underground is an exciting place to meet, party, perform for each other or create art.

My own experience began beneath the old Paris opera house, where sewer workers showed me a 55-meter-long underground pond, a pond that actually had fish in it! Later, at France's national bank, officials guided me below to an amazing room filled with 2,600 tons of gold.

As cataphiles are the best guides, I then asked one of the cataphiles to give me a tour. Descending into the underground through a secret entrance beneath a bridge, we walked for hours through catacombs, and galleries of huge, bright paintings. The cataphile told me "Many people come down here to party, some to paint. Some people to destroy or to create or to explore. We do what we want, We don't have rules..."

(Adapted from Reading Explorer 2, Paul Macintyre&David Bohlke, 2015)

Which statement is NOT true about the tunnels under Paris?