Read the passage below and choose the best answer (A, B, C or D ) to each question.

The movement of people towards cities has accelerated in the past 40 years, particularly in the less developed regions, and the share of the global population living in urban areas has increased from one third in 1960 to 47% (2.8 billion people) in 1999. The world's urban population is now growing by 60 million persons per year, about three times the increase in the rural population.

Increasing urbanisation results about equally from births in urban areas and from the continued movement of people from the rural surround. These forces are also feeding the sprawl of urban areas as formerly rural peri-urban settlements become incorporated into nearby cities and as secondary cities, linked by commerce to larger urban centres, grow larger.

The proportion of people in developing countries who live in cities has almost doubled since 1960 (from less than 22% to more than 40%), while in more-developed regions the urban share has grown from 61% to 76%. There is a significant association between this population movement from rural to urban areas and declines in average family size.

Asia and Africa remain the least urbanised of the developing regions (less than 38% each). Latin America and the Caribbean is more than 75% urban, a level almost equal to those in Europe, Northern America and Japan (all are between 75 and 79%).

Urbanisation is projected to continue well into the next century. By 2030, it is expected that nearly 5 billion (61%) of the world's 8.1 billion people will live in cities. The less-developed regions will be more than 57% urban. Latin America and the Caribbean will actually have a greater percentage of inhabitants living in cities than Europe will.

Globally, the number of cities with 10 million or more inhabitants is increasing rapidly, and most of these new 'megacities' are in the less-developed regions. In 1960, only New York and Tokyo had more than 10 million people. By 1999, there were 17 cities of more than 10 million people around the world, 13 of these were in less-developed regions. It is projected that there will be 26 megacities by 2015, 22 in less-developed regions (18 will be in Asia); more than 10% of the world's population will live in these cities, up from just 1.7% in megacities in 1950.

Which is NOT true about the projection of urbanisation by 2030?

Choose the letter A, B, C or D to complete the passage below

   How would you like (1) _______work in the fast-growing tech sector? Information technology is the #1 field in (2)_______ of expected job growth over the next decade,(3) _______makes systems engineers among the most highly sought after professionals today. The average salary for a systems engineer is $87,100, and the career field is expected to grow 45% over the next 10 years. To become a systems engineer, you need a bachelor’s (4)_______in engineering.

   Software architects have taken the title as the best job in the country with job growth of 34% and an average annual salary of $119,000 per year. These innovative engineering professionals are responsible for (5)_______ to analyze and store data.

(1)........................

Read the following passage and choose the best answer for each blank.

Robots are already a part of our lives. Industrial robots widely used in manufacturing. Military and police organizations use robots to (26) _____ in dangerous situations. Robots can (27) _____ be found from vacuuming the floors in your home to exploring the surface of Mars.

Within a few more years a whole host of robotic adaptations will be running many aspects' of our lives. "I think in (28) _____ next thirty years, we are going to see a transformation between the industrial sorts of robots to personal robots," says Brooks from Brooks' company, IRobot, markets floor cleaning robots for homes.

"The advances in robotics make it clear that many household (29) ____ will be easily handled by a robot in the near future," says Bob Christopher, who works for a robotic technology company that is marketing a toy robot (30) _____ Pleo. "We have only one child but I could easily (31) _____ five or six robots in the home as well."

Within the next 10 years one will be able to (32) _____, to lease or purchase a domestic robot that not only does the household cleaning and prepare and serve his meals, (33) _____ also can carry him to the bathtub if he cannot walk.

Demographic changes, such as a rapidly aging population and a shrinking workforce, will drive forward the application of new (34) ___. There is going to be a real pull for increasing the productivity of working age people. So there is going to be a real push for robotics to help people. (35) _____ addition, it is likely that in the near future we will see robots- taking on some of the care functions elderly, or long-term ill people.

(35) _____

Read the passage below and choose one correct answer for each question.

In the future, maybe all cars that run on petrol will be replaced by solar cars, which have been around for a while, but with recent developments in solar car design and the measurement of photovoltaic cells becoming smaller, the dream of a truly efficient solar car is more reality than fantasy. A solar car is a vehicle powered by photovoltaic cells, also called solar cells, which convert sunlight (light energy) into electrical energy. As a source of energy on earth, there is nothing like the sun: in a mere one thousandth of one second (.001) , the sun emits enough energy to fulfill our planet's energy needs for the next 5,000 years. It is a staggering fact, and an exciting one. Since the energy from the sun is responsible for renewable resources such as wind, tides, and heat, solar energy seems to offer the brightest future for not only cars, but for the entire energy crisis. Despite the appearance that solar energy may be the least, feasible among the current crop of alternative fuel propositions, new solar powered devices and more specifically solar powered cars are beginning to be developed. How do Solar Cars work?

The photovoltaic cells absorb photons from sunlight. This action generates heat, which the cells then convert into electrical energy and stores in an onboard battery. This process of conversion is called the photovoltaic effect. Not surprisingly, such a vehicle has zero emissions, and is very environmentally friendly. Unfortunately, at the moment photovoltaic cells are extremely inefficient, yet as time progresses the efficiency of these cells will grow. This will make solar energy and solar cars the fuel and car of the future - a closer reality.

The photovoltaic effect is _____________ 

Choose the letter A, B, C or D to answer these following questions

   Contrary to popular belief, one does not have to be a trained programmer to work online. Of course, there are plenty of jobs available for people with high-tech computer skills, but the growth of new media has opened up a wide range of Internet career opportunities requiring only a minimal level of technical expertise. Probably one of the most well-known online job opportunities is the job of webmaster. However, it is hard to define one basic job description for this position. The qualifications and responsibilities depend on what tasks a particular organization needs a webmaster to perform.

   To specify the job description of a webmaster, one needs to identify the hardware and software that the website the webmaster will manage is running on. Different types of hardware and software require different skill sets to manage them. Another key factor is whether the website will be running internally (at the firm itself) or externally (renting shared space on the company servers). Finally, the responsibilities of a webmaster also depend on whether he or she will be working independently, or whether the firm will provide people to help. All of these factors need to be considered before one can create an accurate webmaster job description.

   Webmaster is one type of Internet career requiring in-depth knowledge of the latest computer applications. However, there are also online jobs available for which traditional skills remain in high demand. Content jobs require excellent writing skills and a good sense of the web as a “new media”.

   The term “new media” is difficult to define because it encompasses a constantly growing set of new technologies and skills. Specifically, it includes websites, email, Internet technology, CD-ROM, DVD, streaming audio and video, interactive multimedia presentations, e-books, digital music, computer illustration, video games, virtually reality, and computer artistry.

   Additionally, many of today’s Internet careers are becoming paid-by-the-job professions. With many companies having to downsize in tough economic items, the outsourcing and contracting of freelance workers online has become common business practice. The Internet provides an infinite pool of buyers from around the world with whom freelancers are able to work on projects with companies outside their own country of residence.

   How much can a person make in these kinds of career? As with many questions related to today’s evolving technology, there is no simple answer. There are many companies willing to pay people with technical Internet skills salaries well above $70,000 a year. Generally, webmasters start at about $30,000 per year, but salaries can vary greatly. Freelance writers working online have been known to make between $40,000 and $70,000 per year.

According to the passage, all of the following are true EXCEPT _____.

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.
If you’re interested in having the trip of a lifetime, but also doing something useful at the same time, then why not try joining a Greenforce expedition as a volunteer. Greenforce, which was (1)...... _in 1997, is an international research agency that gathers information about the wildlife and natural habitats in various parts of the world. There is a qualified biologist in (2)....... of each team of volunteers and these carry out surveys all year round in some of the world’s remotest and most beautiful places. Volunteers come from all walks of life. The minimum age is 18 years, but there is no upper age limit. No previous experience is necessary as Greenforce provides location training in animal identification and survey methods. You’ll need to be somebody who enjoys the outdoor life, however, as working in remote (3)..........can be challenging. You’ll also need to be passionate about wildlife and prepared to learn a lot about the place you visit. Each expedition lasts for ten weeks, and training begins in the UK with a residential weekend where you can get a (4) .......... of expedition life and meet up with some of your team mates, as well as learning about first-aid and basic survival skills. Each volunteer (5 )..............£2,550 towards the cost of the expedition, but past volunteers say it is worth every penny.
(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 46 to 50.
We all want to live in a clean and green world and breathe pollution free air. For this kind of environment we desperately need a fossil fuel free world. Scientists are toiling hard to come up (46) alternative fuels which can replace conventional fuels. One such study was presented at the 237th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society. This study throws interesting light on the first economical, eco- friendly process to (47) algae oil into biodiesel fuel. The scientists are quite hopeful that one day America will become independent (48)  fossil fuels. Ben Wen is the (49)      researcher and vice president of United Environment and Energy LLC, Horseheads, N.Y. According to him, “This is the first economical way to produce biodiesel from algae oil. It costs much less than conventional processes because you would need a much smaller factory, there (50) no  water disposal costs, and the process is considerably faster.
(47)...............

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.
Everyone, old or young, should think about joining a sports club. There are many benefits of being a (1).........of a club. First of all, you have the opportunity not just to play your favorite sport on a regular basis, but also to improve. Most clubs have training sessions or even professionals who (2)..... lessons. Secondly, it’s a chance to meet people who enjoying doing the same things as you so you will probably get (3)....... with them and end up with a good network of friends. Also these clubs usually have an excellent social life as they arrange parties and special occasions at the club where you can meet to talk and eat together and generally have a good time. Many people (4)..........up sports in their early teens but it is good idea to continue as doing sport is a way of relieving stress and giving you more energy as well as being a good break from your studies. Best of all, a lot of clubs can arrange to get tickets for top sporting events that are hard to (5)................This means you can often get front row seats for matches and competitions in your favorite sport, or you may even be able to see your favorite team. Well worth joining!
(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.
Here is a wonderful opportunity at a small cost to visit the truly remarkable island of Cuba. We have (26).......rooms at some of the finest hotels for periods of 7 and 14 nights. You may divide your time between relaxing and exploring this beautiful country by taking advantage of our extensive excursion programme.
The diversity of such a small country is amazing and, as it is set in the warm waters of Caribbean, it is (27)............ to have one of the most pleasant climates in the world. Cuba, being so small, is not only an ideal country to tour, but it's also a place where visitors can relax and (28)...........in exotic surroundings. Not only has nature (29)......... Cuba with magnificent coast and some fine sandy beaches, but there are also extensive facilities near them. Most beaches are close to important sites such as international parks with their abundant wildlife, flora and fauna.
Because the south of the island is blessed with being the driest region in the country most hotels are situated here. Rain is however (30).......... in the north from December to July.
 (27)...............................

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.
The 15th Asian Games took place from December 1 through December 15, 2006, in Doha, Capital of Qatar. More than 10,000 athletes, who (1)...... 45 countries and regions, took part in 39 sports and 424 events of the Games, the most important event in Asia. Some new events such as chess and triathlon were also included in the Games.
The 15th Asian Games was organized at 34 sporting (2)........., including Khalifa Stadium, which hosted the opening and closing ceremonies. The Opening Ceremony of the 15th Asian Games, Doha 2006, at Khalifa Stadium, was the most (3)........ opening of any Games with 50,000 people to get into Khalifa Stadium and more than one billion television viewers. The Doha Asian Games Organizing Committee (DAGOC) wanted to ensure that everybody who saw the ceremony would have a memory for life  as  suggested  in the (4)...... "The Games of Your Life." The 15th Asian Games was a successful sporting event that all (5) ...............would never forget.
(4)....................................

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.
You can usually tell when your friends are happy or angry by the looks on their faces or by their actions. This is useful because reading their emotional expressions helps you to know how to respond to them. Emotions have evolved to help us respond to important situations and to convey our intentions to others. But does raising the eyebrows and rounding the mouth say the same thing in Minneapolis as it does in Madagascar? Much research on emotional expressions has centered on such questions.
According to Paul Ekman, the leading researcher in this area, people speak and understand substantially the same "facial language". Studies by Ekman's group have demonstrated that humans share a set of universal emotional expressions that testify to the common biological heritage of the human species. Smiles, for example, signal happiness and frowns indicate sadness on the faces of people in such far- flung places as Argentina, Japan, Spain, Hungary, Poland , Sumatra ,the United States, Vietnam, the jungles of New Guinea , and the Eskimo villages north of Artic Circle. Ekman and his colleagues claim that people everywhere can recognize at least seven basic emotions: sadness, fear, anger, disgust, contempt, happiness, and surprise. There are, however, huge differences across cultures in both the context and intensity of emotional displays - the so called display rules. In many Asian cultures, for example, children are taught to control emotional responses - especially negative ones- while many American children are encouraged to express their feelings more openly. Regardless of culture, however, emotions usually show themselves, to some degree, in people's behavior. From their first days of life, babies produce facial expressions that communicate their feelings.
The ability to read facial expressions develops early, too. Very young children pay close attention to facial expressions, and by age five, they nearly equal adults in their skill at reading emotions on people's faces. This evidence all points to a biological underpinning for our abilities to express and interpret a basic set of human emotions. Moreover, as Charles Darwin pointed out over a century ago, some emotional expressions seem to appear across species boundaries. Cross - cultural psychologists tell us that certain emotional responses carry different meanings in different cultures. For example, what emotion do you suppose might be conveyed by sticking out your tongue? For Americans, this might indicate disgust, while in China it can signify surprise. Likewise, a grin on an American face may indicate joy, while on a Japanese face it may just as easily mean embarrassment. Clearly, culture influences emotional expressions.

The biggest difference lies in   ..........

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

Bees, classified into over 10,000 species, are insects found in almost every part of the world except the northernmost and southernmost regions. One commonly known species is the honeybee, the only bee that produces honey and wax. Humans use wax in making candles, lipsticks, and other products, and they use honey as food. While gathering the nectar and pollen with which they make honey, bees are simultaneously helping to fertilize the flowers on which they land. Many fruits and vegetables would not survive if bees did not carry the pollen from blossom to blossom.

Bees live in a structured environment and social structure within a hive, which is a nest with storage space for the honey. The different types of bees each perform a unique function. The worker bee carries nectar to the hive in a special stomach called a honey stomach. Other workers make beeswax and shape it into a honeycomb, which is a waterproof mass of six-sided compartments, or cells. The queen lays eggs in completed cells. As the workers build more cells, the queen lays more eggs.

All workers, like the queen, are female, but the workers are smaller than the queen. The male honeybees are called drones; they do no work and cannot sting. They are developed from unfertilized eggs, and their only job is to impregnate a queen. The queen must be fertilized in order to lay worker eggs. During the season when less honey is available and the drones are of no further use, the workers block the drones from eating the honey so that they will starve to death.

Which of the following is the best title for this reading?

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.
You can usually tell when your friends are happy or angry by the looks on their faces or by their actions. This is useful because reading their emotional expressions helps you to know how to respond to them. Emotions have evolved to help us respond to important situations and to convey our intentions to others. But does raising the eyebrows and rounding the mouth say the same thing in Minneapolis as it does in Madagascar? Much research on emotional expressions has centered on such questions.
According to Paul Ekman, the leading researcher in this area, people speak and understand substantially the same "facial language". Studies by Ekman's group have demonstrated that humans share a set of universal emotional expressions that testify to the common biological heritage of the human species. Smiles, for example, signal happiness and frowns indicate sadness on the faces of people in such far- flung places as Argentina, Japan, Spain, Hungary, Poland , Sumatra ,the United States, Vietnam, the jungles of New Guinea , and the Eskimo villages north of Artic Circle. Ekman and his colleagues claim that people everywhere can recognize at least seven basic emotions: sadness, fear, anger, disgust, contempt, happiness, and surprise. There are, however, huge differences across cultures in both the context and intensity of emotional displays - the so called display rules. In many Asian cultures, for example, children are taught to control emotional responses - especially negative ones- while many American children are encouraged to express their feelings more openly. Regardless of culture, however, emotions usually show themselves, to some degree, in people's behavior. From their first days of life, babies produce facial expressions that communicate their feelings.
The ability to read facial expressions develops early, too. Very young children pay close attention to facial expressions, and by age five, they nearly equal adults in their skill at reading emotions on people's faces. This evidence all points to a biological underpinning for our abilities to express and interpret a basic set of human emotions. Moreover, as Charles Darwin pointed out over a century ago, some emotional expressions seem to appear across species boundaries. Cross - cultural psychologists tell us that certain emotional responses carry different meanings in different cultures. For example, what emotion do you suppose might be conveyed by sticking out your tongue? For Americans, this might indicate disgust, while in China it can signify surprise. Likewise, a grin on an American face may indicate joy, while on a Japanese face it may just as easily mean embarrassment. Clearly, culture influences emotional expressions.

According to the passage, we respond to others by  ...........

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct word or phrase that best fits each of the numbered blanks.
In the western customs (16)............ hands is the customary form of greeting, but in China a nod of the head or (17)............ bow is sufficient. Hugging and kissing when greeting are uncommon. Business cards are often (18)....... _ and yours should be printed in your own language and in Chinese. Also, it is more respectful to present your card or a gift or any other article using (19)......._ hands. The Chinese are (20)...........applauders. You may be greeted with group clapping, even by small children.
(19).......................

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.
Many people love boats. Going out on the water on a warm summer day is a lot of (1)......... (2).......... , different people like different kinds of boats. Two of the most popular kinds of boat are sailboats and speedboats. Sailboats use the (3)............ to give them power. They only have small engines. In contrast, speedboats have large engines and go very fast. Furthermore, speedboats are usually not as (4).......  as sailboats. Speedboats are small so that they can go fast. Sailboats, on the other hand, are big so that they are more comfortable. ( 5)....... , sailboats can travel into the ocean, but this would be very dangerous in a speedboat. You can only use speedboats on rivers or lakes.
(5)............................

Choose the letter A, B, C or D to complete the passage below

   How would you like (1) _______work in the fast-growing tech sector? Information technology is the #1 field in (2)_______ of expected job growth over the next decade,(3) _______makes systems engineers among the most highly sought after professionals today. The average salary for a systems engineer is $87,100, and the career field is expected to grow 45% over the next 10 years. To become a systems engineer, you need a bachelor’s (4)_______in engineering.

   Software architects have taken the title as the best job in the country with job growth of 34% and an average annual salary of $119,000 per year. These innovative engineering professionals are responsible for (5)_______ to analyze and store data.

(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 numbered blanks from 41 to 45.
Working as a novelist is not really a career like being a doctor or a scientist. Although a fewwell-known ones, like Harry Potter author J. K. Rowling, have become wealthy, most writers find it difficult even to make a living from their book sales. Novels take a long time towrite, and authors can get into financial (41)     if they don’t have money coming in regularly from another job. But for those determined to     write novels, it is without (42) one of the most enjoyable kinds of work to do. The writer has to be creative, thinking up completely new stories, and (43)      , meaning they put all their time and effort     into their work. They also need to be able to cope in a crisis, as nobody else can write their book for them. For this, a good sense of (44) often helps. Or the thought that maybe their novel might one day be turned into a film and become a Hollywood (45)          !
(44)........................

Read the passage below and choose the best answer (A, B, C or D ) to each question.

Higher education, also called tertiary, third stage or post secondary education, is the non-compulsory educational level following the completion of a school providing a secondary education, such as a high school, secondary school. Tertiary education is normally taken to include undergraduate and postgraduate education, as well as vocational education and training. Colleges and universities are the main institutions that provide tertiary institutions. Tertiary education generally results in the receipt of certificates, diplomas, or academic degrees.

Higher education includes teaching, research and social services activities of universities, and within the realm of teaching, it includes both the undergraduate level and the graduate level. Higher education in that country generally involves work towards a degree-level or foundation degree qualification. It is therefore very important to national economies, both as a significant industry in its own right, and as a source of trained and educated personnel for the rest of the economy.

What is ‘tertiary education’?

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.
The elementary means of communicating with other people is (41).......... messages by voice. This fact is widely acknowledged and we recognize the voice as a feature characterizing the identity of a person. The array of voices is immeasurable as no two are exactly similar. They can be nasal, resonant or shrill produced in accordance with the individual physical (42) .........   of the throat
One possible implementation of the art of voice recognition is voice profiling used by police analysts as a method of (43).......  court evidence in  trials.  Every year thousands of  audiotapes with recorded interviews or casual utterances are put to the purpose to help identity the probable culprit. Specialists dealing with the voice investigation claim that people can give themselves away by their accents, infections or other voice attributes like pitch, intensity and loudness. A recorded sample is usually (44)....... into electric impulses and later transformed    into a pictorial recording which is processed by a computer program. Very frequently voice analysts have a stab at deciphering the relevant information which may be mingled with background noise or other interfering sounds until they attain the desired results.
Thankfully, these efforts help the police detect individuals who threaten their victim by phone or inform about bomb planting or those who make offensive calls (45).....  the peace  of decent citizens.
(44)...........................
 

Curious about which digital camera is best for you? Where you can hear reggae music in  Toronto? Or what the distance is to Mars? Question-and-answer sites offer an alternative to the  ubiquitous search engine: a place to post a question – and then wait for another Internet user to  respond. 
The idea isn’t new: Usenet newsgroups have let us do this for years. But Q&A sites offer features that enhance and simplify the process. All offer eBay-like feedback, where users rate the  helpfulness of experts: over time, these scores become a benchmark score for determining how  trustworthy someone’s answers are. Question-and-answer sites also e-mail you when an expert has responded, and they offer personalized page where you can see the questions you’ve asked, the  people who have responded, and what they’ve had to say.

 The author’s purpose is writing this passage is 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.
All men should study, we have to study to (31)......    our knowledge and develop our intelligence. An uneducated man can only utilize his body strength to work and live. An educated man, without this strength, still has the faculty of his intelligent brain and good inflection. This intelligence and thought enable him to help his physical strength to act more quickly (32)......... cleverly.
In a same profession or work, the educated man differs from the uneducated considerably. Therefore, intellectual workers have to study, this is a matter of course but (33)......... workers must also (34)........ an education
In civilized countries compulsory education has been applied. Man must spend seven or eight years studying. From ploughmen to laborers in these nations, no one is (35).......  to read a   book or a paper fluently.
(31)...........................