Read the passage below carefully, and then choose the best answer:
Microtrends: It’s a Small World After All
In today’s world, it seems like everyone is focused on “the big picture”. However, coming up with large-scale solutions is not always what is needed. Sometimes it pays to think small – and that is exactly what many people are doing these days. By thinking small, lots of big minds have created some pretty amazing things. One example of this is microloans. Microloans are tiny loans, in some cases just a few dollars, which are available to people in developing countries. Although this may not seem like a lot of money, microloans can help workers to escape poverty and start their own businesses. The person behind the modern microloan movement is a Bangladeshi man named Muhammad Yunus. He started the project in the 1970s by offering villagers low-interest loans using his own money. Yunus wanted to offer poor people access to small loans so they wouldn’t be forced to turn to gangsters if they needed funds. In 1983, he founded the Grameen Bank and soon after, similar organizations started popping up around the globe. Although there are still some issues with microloans, at the very least they offer everyone the potential of becoming an entrepreneur. For most of the 20th century, companies required large sums of money and plenty of manpower to compete at the highest levels. In the late 1990s, the Internet changed this and many microenterprises came about. Microenterprises are smaller companies that employ less than 10 people and only require small sums of money to start. Being small offers lots of flexibility to these companies as they can react more quickly than corporate giants when a business opportunity arises. Many technology companies that produce mobile apps and websites fall into this category. Keep in mind that having a small staff doesn’t mean small profits, as microenterprises can earn hundreds of millions of dollars per year. Thinking small can also lead to a tremendous improvement in quality. One example of this is microbreweries, which are smaller-sized breweries that produce far less beer than traditional breweries. Since microbreweries don’t have to target large markets and make millions of sales to stay open, they can monitor the brewing process carefully to make sure everything is perfect. In addition, microbreweries can experiment with unique flavours that many traditional brewers would shy away from. So the next time you are asked to “think big”, remember that good things may also come in small packages.
6. What advantages do small companies have over larger corporations?

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In 1971, Sue Coppard worked as a secretary in London. While she enjoyed city life, Sue also missed the countryside where she spent most of her time as a child. So she offered to help out on a farm, or more specifically, an organic farming programme organized by a nearby college. She got a few people to volunteer as well, and they spent the weekend doing “housework,” which involved clearing bushes and cleaning drains. Afterwards, the farm managers said they could come back anytime to help out. Sue put a small ad in a magazine, offering people the chance to volunteer at the organic farm. The volunteer programme grew quickly, and soon other organic farmers joined in, asking for people to help out. With so many people and farms involved, someone needed to organize the different groups. A few of the original volunteers started WWOOF (World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms) to help volunteers and farmers find one another. Today, at least 50 different countries have WWOOF organizations, and many other countries have individual farms that participate in the movement. While WWOOF is still a weekend activity for some, it now welcomes travellers and people who visit to live and work on farms for longer periods of time. WWOOF volunteers can stay on a farm for weeks or even months at a time in exchange for hands-on farming and gardening experience. The work can be exhausting, but volunteers think it’s worth it. By working on farms, the volunteers interact with farmers and develop a love for the outdoors and organic farming. Many travellers now use WWOOFing as a way to visit new countries and experience new cultures. As travellers will discover, every WWOOF opportunity is a bit different. In Serbia, you can find Misa and Olja, a couple whose farm is known for its hard cheeses and for its bread made from homegrown grains. Finca Amiruca, a farm in Ecuador, teaches volunteers how to grow peanuts, plantains, and yucca. When volunteering in Japan, you may get to learn about growing rice. WWOOF is only one of the many unique volunteer opportunities available. Volunteering is something that anyone can do, and a wide variety of organizations accept or even welcome volunteers. So the next time you get the itch to be active on the weekend or on vacation, why not look for a good cause to spend your energy on?

3. When living on a WWOOF farm, volunteers _________.
 

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 economic expansion prompted by the Second World War triggered a spectacular population boom in the West. Of course, the region was no stranger to population booms. Throughout much of its history, western settlement had been characterized by spurts, rather than by a pattern of gradual and steady population growth, beginning with the gold and silver rushes of the 1850's and 1860's. The decade after the First World War - the 1920's - witnessed another major surge of people pouring into the West, particularly into urban areas. But the economic depression of the 1930's brought this expansion to a halt; some of the more sparsely settled parts of the region actually lost population as migrants sought work in more heavily industrialized areas. By 1941 when the United States entered the Second World War and began to mobilize, new job opportunities were created in the western part of the nation.

If the expansion of industries, such as shipbuilding and aircraft manufacturing, was most striking on the pacific coast, it also affected interior cities like Denver, Phoenix, and Salt Lake City. Equally dramatic were the effects of the establishment of aluminum plants in Oregon and Washington and the burgeoning steel industry in Utah and California. The flow of people into these areas provided an enormous impetus to the expansion of the service industries - banks, health care services and schools. Although strained to the limit by the influx of newcomers, western communities welcomed the vast reservoir of new job opportunities. At the same time, the unprecedented expansion of government installations in the West, such as military bases, created thousands of new civilian openings. As land had served as a magnet for western migrants in the late nineteenth century, so wartime mobilization set in motion another major expansion of population. Indeed, it could be said that the entire western United States became a giant boomtown during the Second World War. This was especially true of California. Of the more than eight million people who moved into the West in the decade after 1940, almost one-half went to the Pacific coast. In fact, between 1940 and 1950, California's population surged by more than three million people.

The word "triggered" in paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to     .

By the end of this month, Henry … for 1 year.

(113)______

Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
Not everybody recognizes the benefits of new developments in communications technology. Indeed, some people fear that text messaging may actually be having a negative (1)_____ on young people's communication and language skills, especially when we hear that primary school children may be at (2)______ of becoming addicted to the habit. So widespread has texting become, however, that even pigeons have started doing it. What’s more, in this case, it's difficult to view the results as anything but positive. Twenty of the birds are about to (3) ______ to the skies with the task of measuring air pollution, each (4) _____ with sensor equipment and a mobile phone. The (5) _____ made by the sensors will be automatically (6) _____ into text messages and beamed to the Internet - where they will appear on a dedicated 'pigeon blog'

Choose the best answer:
The number of injuries from automobile accidents ………. every year.

Read the reading below carefully, and then complete it with the best option A, B, C or D given below:
Nowadays people are more aware that wildlife all over the world is in danger. Many (1)________of animals are threatened, and could easily become (2)______ if we do not make an effort to protect them. There are many (3)_______ for this. In some cases, animals are hunted for their fur or for othervaluable parts of their bodies. Some birds, such as parrots, are caught (4)________and sold as pets. For many animals and birds, the problem is that their habitat - the (5)________where they live - is disappearing. More (6)________is used for farms, for houses or industry, and there are fewer open (7)________than there once were. Farmers use powerful chemicals to help them grow better (8)________, but these chemicals pollute the environment and (9)________wildlife. The most successful animals on earth - human beings - will soon be the only Ones left, unless we can (10)________this problem

Read the reading below carefully, and then complete it with the best option A, B, C or D given below:
Voluntary work helps foster independence and imparts the ability to deal with different situations, often simulaneously, thus teaching people how to (1)____ their way through different systems. It therefore brings people into touch with the real worls; and, hence, equips them for the future. Initially, young adults in their late teens might not seem to have the expertise or knowledge to impart to others that say a teacher or an agriculturalist or a nurse would have, (2)____ they do have many skills that can help others. And in the absence of any particular talent, their energy and enthusiasm can be harnessed for the benefit (3) ____ their fellow human beings, and ultimately themselves. From all this, the gain to any community no matter how many voluntees are involved is (4)_____ Employers will generally look favorably on people (5)_____ have shown an ability to work as part of a team. It demonstrates a willingness to learn and an independent spirit, which would be desirable qualities in any employee.

Choose the best answer:
Why is it that many teenagers have the energy to play computer games until late at night but can't find the energy to get out of bed (1) _____ time for school? According to a new report, today’s generation of children are in danger of getting so (2) _____  sleep that they are putting their mental and physical health at (3) ________. Adults can easily survive on seven to eight hours' sleep a night, (4)_____ teenagers require nine or ten hours. According to medical experts, one in five youngsters (5) ______ by on between two and five hours/ sleep a night, less than their parents did at their age

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 today would like the traditional two-parent family back, that is to say, they want a man and a  woman to (1)...................for life; they also think the man should support the family, and the woman should stay home with the children. However, few families now (2)................. in the this category. In fact, if more women decide to have children on their own, the single-parent household may become more typical than the traditional family in many countries. Also, couples may decide to have more children, or they might take in foster children or (3).............. . And because people are staying single and living longer, there may be more one-person households. (4).......... the otherhand, some people believe that similar events happen again and again in history. if this is true, people may go back to the traditional (5).................. or nuclear family of the past. Others think that the only certainty in history is change. in other words, the structure of the future family could begin to change faster and faster and in more and more ways.

(3)......................................

Rewrite the sentence:
If I had a smart phone, I would be able to read emails.

He was always coming up with new ideas, ______ were absolutely impracticable.

(278)_____

In the past, people ____ to the beach more often. 

(180)_____

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:
In ancient times, some of the first celebrities were Roman gladiators. Rather like today’s TV talent-show contestants, these men fought each other for the audience’s entertainment. Fast forward to the 18th century, it was politicians and preachers who were able to become celebrities through public (1)__________. George Whitefield, for example, a preacher from England, (2)___________ a crowd of 30,000 when he visited the US city of Boston. It’s no wonder he was called ‘Anglo-America’s first modern celebrity’. In the 19th century, the arrival of cheap newspapers created a sudden (3)___________ for exciting stories. All kinds of people began to get their 15 minutes of fame, including the legendary American outlaw and bank robber, Jesse James, and one of the world’s first media celebrities, Sam Patch. Patch became famous for jumping into rivers from high places, and he became a (4)___________ name by leaping into Niagara Falls. He survived every jump, except the last one into the Genesee River in New York. In the same way that the media is held (5)___________ for celebrity problems today, people blamed the pressure of the media for Patch’s sudden end.

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 :
A Healthy Way To Know A City
Maybe you are staying in a city, and there is no park nearby where you can take your morning job. One of the more recent trend is to go on a running tour, but you are not leading the way. Rather, a running (1)_________ who knows the best (2)_________ in the city acts as your guide. You are going out for a run, but you are also being shown highlights of the city while you are doing it. Guided running tours are a trend that seems to be catching (3)_________ in quite a few of the bigger cities in the United States. New York City, Chicago,  and San Francisco are just three of the major cities that have running tours in (4)_________. They offer these tours to individuals, groups, and even for corporate events. If you are going into a city with colleagues to attend a business meeting or a convention, what better way is there to see the city and network with others (5)_________ while taking a healthy run?

DAKAR (August 4) – Nentique Laboratories, Inc., announced today the development of a new variety of organic wheat that ---143--- heat. Dozens of plants were cross-pollinated over many years to produce this variety, known as GR-712. It joins a growing list of ---144--- that can withstand high temperatures during extended dry periods. "Some farmers in regions close to the equator focus---145--- on rice production because rice grows well in hot climates. But in the Sahara, it is too dry for much of the year," explains company spokesman Ahmad Niang. "But for a small investment in GR-712 seeds, farmers will now be able  to  grow  wheat  in  our  region."  146---.  This added income can, in turn, be reinvested in better machinery, which will encourage more environmentally friendly farming practices.

143. ...................

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Our children _______to school by bus every morning.

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The work of the charity is funded by voluntary ......................... .

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The/ volcanic eruption/ be/ so destructive/ that/ many lives/ be threatened.

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Laos and Cambodia have big plans for building up to 11 ___________ on the lower Mekong.

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His mother enjoys ____________ this drama series on television.