Read the following passage carefully, and then select the best option A, B, C or D to complete it:

"Technology, general term for the processes by (1) _______ human beings fashion tools and machines to increase (2) _______ control and understanding of the material (3) _______. The term is derived from the Greek words tekhnē, which refers to an art or craft, and logia, (4) _______ an area of study; thus, technology means, literally, the study, or science, of crafting. Many historians of science argue not only that technology is an essential condition of advanced, industrial civilization (5) _______ also that the rate of technological change has developed its (6) _______ momentum in recent centuries. Innovations now (7) _______ to appear at a rate that increases geometrically, (8) _______ respect to geographical limits or political systems. These innovations tend to transform traditional cultural (9) _______, frequently with unexpected social consequences. Thus technology can be conceived as both a creative and a destructive (10) _______."

7. Innovations now (7) _______ to appear at a rate that increases geometrically,

Read the passage and choose the best answers to the questions that follow, (1 pts)

Television’s contribution to family life in the United States has been an equivocal one. For while it has, indeed, kept the members of the family from dispersing, it has not served to bring them together. By dominating the time families spend together, it destroys the special quality that distinguishes one family from another, a quality that depends to a great extent on what a family does, what special rituals, games, recurrent jokes, familiar songs, and shared activities it accumulates.

“Like the sorcerer of old,” writes Urie Bronfenbrenner, “the television set casts its magic spell, freezing speech and action, turning the living into silent statues so long as the enchantment lasts. The primary danger of the television screen lies not so much in the behavior it produces – although there is danger there – as in the behavior it prevents: the talks, games, the family festivities, and arguments through which much of the child’s learning takes place and through which character is formed. Turning on the television set can turn off the process that transforms children into people.”

Of course, families today still do special things together at times: go camping in the summer, go to the zoo on a nice Sunday, take various trips and expeditions. But the ordinary daily life together is diminished – that sitting around at the dinner table, that spontaneous taking up of activity, those little games invented by children on the spur of the moment when there is nothing else to do, the scribbling, the chatting, the quarreling, all the things that form the fabric of a family, that define childhood.

Instead, the children have their regular schedule of television programs and bedtime, and the parents have their peaceful dinner together. But surely the needs of adults are being better met than the needs of children, who are effectively shunted away and rendered untroublesome.

If the family does not accumulate its backlog of shared experiences, shared everyday experiences that occur and recur and change and develop, then it is not likely to survive as anything other than a caretaking institution.

Which of the following best represents the author’s argument in the passage?

Read the passage carefully and choose a suitale word to fill each blank

Camping holidays are always (1) ______ with students and young people-they are a cheap and (2) ______ way to see a country. People often travel by train, by coach or (3) ______ foot, so one thing is important (4) ______ before starting: you can only take with you what you can carry – usually in a backpack on your back.

If you travel with a friend, of course some items can be shared – a tent, a gas stove, food. Other things must (5) ______ by each person – clothes, footwear, a sleeping bag.

(2) _________

Read the passage and choose the correct answer to each of the questions. 

British teenagers sit up to 70 exams and tests before they reach their GCSEs (The General Certificate of Secondary Education). But there are ways to ease the stress at exam time.

What a student eats and drinks in the run-up to exams can influence how clearly they think and how happy they feel. A balanced diet with lots of fruit and vegetables, fish and complex carbohydrates will help them concentrate and think clearly. Too much high-fat, high-sugar and high-caffeine food and drink can make studying harder.

Sleeping well and for long enough to feel rested, around six to eight hours for most people, will help thinking and concentration. Students should allow half an hour or so to wind down between studying, watching TV or using a computer and going to bed to help them get a good night’s sleep. Regular exercise also helps them sleep better. Cramming all night before an exam is usually a bad idea.

Parents should be flexible around exam time. When a child is revising all day, don’t worry about household jobs that are left undone or untidy bedrooms. If they’re a bit moody they should stay calm. They can help a child to revise by making sure they have somewhere comfortable to study.

Students should remind themselves that feeling nervous is normal. Nervousness is a typical reaction to exams. All students will feel it. The key is to put these nerves to positive use. Being reminded of what they do know and the time they have put into a study can help them feel confident that they can reach their potential.

Which of the following is NOT true, according to the passage?

Choose the word or phrase that best fits each blank in the following passage. (1.5 pts)

On a yearly (1)______, the USA is afflicted by hurricanes on the east coast, flooding in the Midwest, forest fires, earthquakes, and any number of tornadoes, blizzards, and storms. Historically, the weather has (2)_________ as harsh a chord in people’s lives as any we feel today. Historians list the four major events to wreak devastation (3)________ the country as the Chicago fire in 1871, the Johnstown flood and the Galveston hurricane of 1900, and the San Francisco earthquake in 1906. These (4)_______ provide a flavor of the havoc that natures storms have wrecked on humanity and our reactions to them. Galveston, Texas, (5) _______ on the island of Galveston in the Gulf of New Mexico, (6)_________ on industry and exports. It's over 30,000 citizens in the early 1900s were generally economically successful and comfortable with existing conditions. (7)___________ the ill-fated morning of Sept. 7, 1900, the people of Galveston enjoyed their life on the remote island. (8)______ weather watchers had been following a (9)_______ storm* in the Atlantic for several days and were warning of the (10)_____________ danger of a hurricane. Unfortunately, people (11)_________ the warnings. A day after the hurricane had hit the island, all that (12)____________ of the beautiful city was, a mass of crumbled buildings, debris, and hopeless survivors (13)___________ aimlessly with the stench of rotting flesh all around. However, a few days later, that the city was beginning to heal became (14) ______________  everywhere – soon new buildings were (15) _______ the burned, and the lifeblood of the ravaged city was returning.

3.___________

 Read the following passage carefully, and then select the best option A, B, C or D to complete it:

"London is the capital of the United Kingdom and the home of its queen, Elizabeth II. It’s also the largest city in Europe. About 7 million people call London home.
LONDON LANDMARKS
Millions of people visit London every year from all (1) _______ the world. If you travel there, you’ll find many (2) _______ things to see and do.
During August and September, you can visit Buckingham (3) _______. That’s where the queen lives most of the year. It has about 600 (4) _______, but you’ll see only state rooms where the queen entertains guests. In the morning, a colorful ceremony (5) _______ “changing of the guard” takes place in the palace courtyard. One group of palace guards (6) _______ off duty, and another troop arrives to replace them.
You can (7) _______ the Tower of London, a historic fortress that was once a royal palace. It was also used as a (8) _______ for hundreds of years. Two of the wives of King Henry VIII—Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard—were put (9) _______ death here. The Crown Jewels are a popular attraction at the Tower. This (10) _______ of jeweled crowns, swords, scepters, and other royal objects is only used on (11) _______ occasions, such as the crowning of a new ruler.
Be (12) _______ to visit Westminster Abbey, one of Britain’s famous (13) _______. The nation’s kings and queens are crowned here. Many rulers and famous citizens are (14) _______ here.
There are also monuments to political figures and poets.
The (15) _______ of Parliament are along the Thames River, near Westminster Abbey. This is where the government meets. Look (16) _______ to see the clock tower with Big Ben, London’s famous (17) _______ that rings every hour. You can get on a boat (18) _______ for a ride on the Thames.
Other places you might want to see are Scotland Yard, Madame Tussaud’s, (19) _______ the British Museum. You can find out about London’s famous criminals in the (20) _______ Museum at Scotland Yard, the home of London’s Metropolitan Police. At Madame Tussaud’s, you’ll see eerily(21) _______, life-size wax figures of pop idols and historic figures. A great thing to see at the British Museum is the collection of mummies, tomb (22) _______, and gold jewelry from ancient Egypt. The museum’s Egyptian collection is (23) _______ of the largest in the world.
For a good (24) _______ of London, take a ride in the London Eye. This enormous wheel takes you 443 feet (135 meters) above the London skyline. Unlike a traditional Ferris wheel, the (25) _______ carries its passengers in enclosed compartments."

14. Many rulers and famous citizens are (14) _______ here.

New York City is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world, and with good reason. NYC is the mecca of business in the United States, and as a melting pot of American culture, there is something for every style, taste and budget in New York City. With so much to see and do in NYC, it's important for NYC tourists to do their research ahead of time before their vacation in New York City.

New York is America’s safest large city, but visitors should still use common sense to protect themselves and their property. Be aware of your surroundings, and make sure to always use licensed, reputable businesses for any services you need. For example, don’t hail livery cabs (as opposed to taxis) at the airport, and don’t rent bikes from companies that seem suspicious. If you’re not sure where to find legitimate businesses, the listings at nycgo.com are a good place to start, as are those published by the Better Business Bureau. Your hotel concierge should be able to answer questions on this topic and will be helpful if you need more information about neighborhoods in the five boroughs. Another useful resource is 311, the City’s official government services and information hotline.

Tourists don’t need to do research before visiting NYC.

Read the passage carefully and choose the correct answer

Hanoi, estimated population 3,083,800 (2004), is the capital of Vietnam. The city is located on the right bank of the Red River, 1,760 km north of Ho Chi Minh City. Through history, Hanoi was known by many names, such as Thang Long, Dong Do, Dong Quan, Bac Ha. In 1831 the Nguyen Dynasty renamed it Hanoi. Hanoi experiences the typical climate of northern Vietnam, where summers are hot and humid, and winters are cold and dry. The summer months from May to September receive the majority of rainfall in the year. The winter months from November to March are relatively dry, although spring then often brings light rains. The minimum winter temperature in Hanoi rarely goes lower than 6-7°C and summer can get as hot as 38-40°C. Hanoi experiences four full seasons in a year. Hanoi is often said to be the cultural center of Vietnam, where every dynasty has left behind their imprint. Even though some relics have not survived through wars and time, the city still has many interesting cultural and historic monuments for visitors and residents alike. Some of the prominent places are Ho Chi Minh mausoleum; Van Mieu, site of the oldest university in Vietnam; One Pillar Pagoda, and Flag Tower of Hanoi.

Hanoi is also the home of a number of museums, including Vietnamese National History Museum, the Revolution Museum and National Museum of Fine Arts. West Lake (Ho Tay) is a popular place for recreation, with small boats for hire.

Hanoi has many universities, colleges and institutes. Because many of the national universities are located in Hanoi, students from other provinces wishing to enter university often travel to Hanoi for the annual entrant examination. Such events often take place in June and July, when a large number of students and their families converge on the city a few weeks before and after the exam dates.

Trade is another strong sector of the city. The economic structure algo undergo important shifts, with tourism, finance and banking now playing an increasingly important role.

Which sentence is true?

Choose the best answer:
 The custom of paying a bride price before marriage is still a well-established part of many African cultures. In paying a bride price, the family of the groom must provide payment to the family of the bride before the marriage is allowed. The bride price can vary greatly from culture to culture in Africa. In the Zulu and Swazi tribes of southern Africa, the bride price often takes the form of cattle. In Western African, kola nuts, shells, and other goods are often used for the payment of the bride price. The actual payment of money sometimes takes place, but the payment of goods is more frequent. The amount of paid in a bride price can also vary. In modern times, the bride price is occasionally quite small and its value is mainly symbolic. However, the bride price can still be quite high, especially among prominent or highly traditional families.

There are a number of justifications used to explain the payment of bride price. The first is that the bride price represents an acknowledgement of the expense the bride’s family has gone in order to raise her and bring her up as a suitable bride for the groom. It also represents payment for the loss of a family member, since the bride will officially become a member of her husband’s family and will leave her own. On a deeper level the bride price represents payment for the fact that the bride will bring children into the family of the groom, thereby increasing the wealth of the family. This concept is reinforced by the fact that the bride price must often be returned if the bride fails to bear children.

The payment of the bride price has quite a number of effects on African society. First, the payment of bride price acts to increase the stability of African family structures. Sons are dependent on their fathers and older relatives to help them pay the bride price of their wives, and this generally leads to greater levels of obedience and respect. The negotiations between the two families concerning the bride price allow the parents and other family members to meet and get to know one another before the marriage. Finally, since the bride price must often be repaid in case of divorce, the bride’s family often works to make sure that any marital problems are solved quickly. Bride prices also work as a system of wealth distribution in African cultures. Wealthier families can afford to support the marriage of their son, and thus their wealth is transferred to other families.

6. The author uses the word “marital” to indicate that the problems are related to ________.

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

In the early 17th century, most of the southern region of Vietnam was nearly uninhabited and in the position of Ho Chi Minh City, there was a small village formed with a few residents. However, thanks to its advantage in location, the town grew both economically and politically. By the 19th century, this had become a cultural hub of the South as well as an important trading center of the country.

You might not know that there was a time Saigon was referred to as the Pearl of the Far East. Sadly, having been through various occurrences and two disastrous wars has stunted the city’s development. Only after the political instabilities had settled, Saigon recovered miraculously and maintained its leading position in terms of both economics and culture. Officially named Ho Chi Minh City, Saigon today has 22 districts in total and attracts hundreds of thousands of tourists annually.

The word “occurrences” is closest in meaning to _________

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

In the Mekong Delta, Long Dinh village of Tien Giang province is famous for its traditional craft of weaving flowered mats. The mat’s high quality makes them popular domestically, and they are also exported to markets worldwide including Korea, Japan, and America.

Despite its well-established reputation for this traditional craft, mat weaving only started here some 50 years ago. It was first introduced by immigrants from Kim Son, a famous mat weaving village in the northern province of Ninh Binh. However, the technique of weaving village sedge mats in Long Dinh, as compared with other places in the South, is somewhat different. Long Dinh branded mats are thicker and have more attractive colors and patterns.

Weaving sedge mats are similar to growing rice. Long Dinh mat production mainly occurs during the dry season, from January to April. Weavers have to work their hardest in May and June, otherwise, when the rainy season starts in July, they will have to put off finishing their products till the next dry season. No matter how much work it requires, Long Dinh mat producers stick with this occupation, as it brings a higher income than growing rice.

This trade employs thousands of local laborers. At present, nearly 1,000 households in Long Dinh village live on weaving mats. To better meet market demands, Long Dinh mat weavers have created more products in addition to the traditional sedge mats. Particularly, they are producing a new type of mat made from the dried stalks of water hyacinth, a common material in the Mekong Delta.

Thanks to the planning and further investment, the mat weaving occupation has indeed brought in more income for residents. Their living standards have improved considerably, resulting in better conditions for the whole village.

We can infer from the passage that ______________.

Read the passage and choose the correct answer to each of the questions. 

British teenagers sit up to 70 exams and tests before they reach their GCSEs (The General Certificate of Secondary Education). But there are ways to ease the stress at exam time.

What a student eats and drinks in the run-up to exams can influence how clearly they think and how happy they feel. A balanced diet with lots of fruit and vegetables, fish and complex carbohydrates will help them concentrate and think clearly. Too much high-fat, high-sugar and high-caffeine food and drink can make studying harder.

Sleeping well and for long enough to feel rested, around six to eight hours for most people, will help thinking and concentration. Students should allow half an hour or so to wind down between studying, watching TV or using a computer and going to bed to help them get a good night’s sleep. Regular exercise also helps them sleep better. Cramming all night before an exam is usually a bad idea.

Parents should be flexible around exam time. When a child is revising all day, don’t worry about household jobs that are left undone or untidy bedrooms. If they’re a bit moody they should stay calm. They can help a child to revise by making sure they have somewhere comfortable to study.

Students should remind themselves that feeling nervous is normal. Nervousness is a typical reaction to exams. All students will feel it. The key is to put these nerves to positive use. Being reminded of what they do know and the time they have put into a study can help them feel confident that they can reach their potential.

A comfortable place is good for students to ______.

Choose the letter A, B, C or D to complete the sentences

The new invention may receive a lot of __________ from the public.

Choose the best answer from A, B, C, or D to complete the following dialogue.
Jane:  Look. (31)………….  rain.
Mark: I’m not sure about that, but the sun (32)…………behind those black clouds. 
Jane:  And (33)…………..windy, too.
Mark: Yes, but I (34)………. the weather (35) ……….. too much. 
Jane:  (36)…………. the forecast?
Mark: They say(37) ……….. fine for the next few days.
Jane:  Oh, (38)…………usually wrong. I (39)……….. we can go sightseeing now.
Mark: Oh, let’s go. It (40) ……… so far this week.
Jane:  All right, but (41)…………. my raincoat and umbrella with me.
Mark: I think (42)……….. about nothing.

37________

Choose the letter A, B, C or D to complete the sentences

Nowadays, the divorce rate is higher than it used to be________ young people are allowed to decide on their marriage.

Read the passage and choose the best answers to the questions that follow, (1 pts)

Television’s contribution to family life in the United States has been an equivocal one. For while it has, indeed, kept the members of the family from dispersing, it has not served to bring them together. By dominating the time families spend together, it destroys the special quality that distinguishes one family from another, a quality that depends to a great extent on what a family does, what special rituals, games, recurrent jokes, familiar songs, and shared activities it accumulates.

“Like the sorcerer of old,” writes Urie Bronfenbrenner, “the television set casts its magic spell, freezing speech and action, turning the living into silent statues so long as the enchantment lasts. The primary danger of the television screen lies not so much in the behavior it produces – although there is danger there – as in the behavior it prevents: the talks, games, the family festivities, and arguments through which much of the child’s learning takes place and through which character is formed. Turning on the television set can turn off the process that transforms children into people.”

Of course, families today still do special things together at times: go camping in the summer, go to the zoo on a nice Sunday, take various trips and expeditions. But the ordinary daily life together is diminished – that sitting around at the dinner table, that spontaneous taking up of activity, those little games invented by children on the spur of the moment when there is nothing else to do, the scribbling, the chatting, the quarreling, all the things that form the fabric of a family, that define childhood.

Instead, the children have their regular schedule of television programs and bedtime, and the parents have their peaceful dinner together. But surely the needs of adults are being better met than the needs of children, who are effectively shunted away and rendered untroublesome.

If the family does not accumulate its backlog of shared experiences, shared everyday experiences that occur and recur and change and develop, then it is not likely to survive as anything other than a caretaking institution.

Urie Bronfenbrenner compares the television set to___________ .

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D to indicate the correct word or phrase that best fits each of the numbered blanks.

A job interview is a chance for you to (23) ______ that you can satisfy all the requirements of the job you are (24)____________for. That is why it is essential to be well-prepared for the job interview. Preparing means knowing about the industry, the employer, and yourself. It also means paying attention to details like personal appearance, (25)__________, and demeanor. Before the interview, you should gather(26) ________information about the industry and the employer as you can. Not only will you appear informed and intelligent but you will also make a decision if a job offer is eventually made. You might also want to prepare for answering questions by listing some of your attributes. Remember that appearance is very important. You should match your dress to employees in the workplace (27) ________you are applying. You should come on time for the interview.

26___________

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D to indicate the correct word or phrase that best fits each of the numbered blanks.

The Southeast Asian Games owes its origins to the Southeast Asian Peninsular Games or SEAP which was first (23) _____________ in Thailand in 1959. At the first time only six countries (24) _____________ in the games. Laung Sukhumnaioradit, the then Vice-President of the Thailand Olympic Committee. Proposed that a regional sports (25) _____________ would help promote cooperation, understanding, and relations among countries in the Southeast Asian region. At the 8th SEAP Games in 1975, the SEAP Federation considered the inclusion of Indonesia and the Philippines. The two countries were formally (26) _____________in 1977, the same year when SEAP Federation changed its (27) _____________ to Southeast Asian Games Federation (SEAGF), and the games were known as the Southeast Asian Games. Brunei was admitted at the 10th SEA Games in Jakarta, Indonesia, and East Timor at the 22nd SEA Games in Hanoi Vietnam.

25_____________

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

Unlike life in the countryside which is often considered to be simple and traditional, life in the city is modern and complicated.  People, from different regions, move to the cities in secretaries of having a better life for themselves and their children.  The inhabitants in the city work as office secretaries, merchants, teachers, government workers, factory workers, and even street vendors or construction workers.

The high cost of living requires city-dwellers, especially someone with low income to work harder or to take a part-time job.  For some people, every day starts as usual by getting up in the early morning to do exercise in public parks, preparing for a full day of working and studying, then immersing in crowed boulevards or narrow streets filled with motor scooters and returning home after a busy day.  They usually live in large houses, great mansions, and high-rise apartment blocks or even in a small rental equipped with modern amenities like the internet, telephone, television, satellite communication facilities, and so on.  Industrialization and modernization as well as global integration have a big impact on lifestyle in the cities.  The most noticeable impact is the Western style of clothes.  The “Ao Dai”- Vietnamese traditional clothes are no longer regularly worn in Vietnamese women's daily life.  Instead, jeans, T-shirts, and fashionable clothes are widely preferred.

The most important reason why people move to the city is that __________.

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

The system of USA education starts with twelve years of primary and secondary school education which the Americans have to follow. A secondary school (“high school“) diploma or certificate is a compulsory requirement for the student to be able to enter college, university, vocational, secretarial, or other professional and technical schools. American children who are around six years of age normally begin their learning at a primary school. It takes from five to six years to complete primary schooling. After finishing primary schooling, students will have to enter a secondary school where they may spend 6 or 7-year durations consisting of either two three-year programs, or a three-year and a four-year program. Schools at this level are known as Middle School or Junior High School and High or Senior High School Completion of this stage is called Twelfth Grade. International students are advised to find out which level of education in their country corresponding to the twelfth grade in the US.A.

After completing the twelfth grade, students are admitted to college or university for higher education. Study at a college or university leading to a Bachelor’s Degree is known as “undergraduate” education. Study beyond the Bachelor’s Degree is known as “graduate” school or “postgraduate” education. Advanced or graduate degrees include law, medicine, M.B.A. (Master), and Ph.D.(doctorate), etc.

The USA has the highest number of educational institutions providing higher education than any other country. There are more than 3800 colleges and universities imparting degree programs. The size of the US. higher educational institutions vary greatly, too, from colleges that enroll fewer than 1,000 students to large universities that enroll more than 50,000 students.

Schools at secondary level consist of ___________.

Read the following passage carefully, and then select the best option A, B, C or D to complete it:

"Technology, general term for the processes by (1) _______ human beings fashion tools and machines to increase (2) _______ control and understanding of the material (3) _______. The term is derived from the Greek words tekhnē, which refers to an art or craft, and logia, (4) _______ an area of study; thus, technology means, literally, the study, or science, of crafting. Many historians of science argue not only that technology is an essential condition of advanced, industrial civilization (5) _______ also that the rate of technological change has developed its (6) _______ momentum in recent centuries. Innovations now (7) _______ to appear at a rate that increases geometrically, (8) _______ respect to geographical limits or political systems. These innovations tend to transform traditional cultural (9) _______, frequently with unexpected social consequences. Thus technology can be conceived as both a creative and a destructive (10) _______."

9. These innovations tend to transform traditional cultural (9) _______, frequently with unexpected social consequences.