Read the passage below carefully, and then choose the best answer:
Raising a Child Athlete
In many countries, children with sporting potential are identified early and encouraged to achieve athletic greatness by training for hours every day. While some people see this as a great opportunity for kids to be healthy, others argue that too much focus on training can hurt young people. How parents should raise child athletes has become a big topic of their debate. People who are against such serious commitment to sport say that there are many negatives to training so intensively. Here are some of their arguments: The long hours spent training can distant the child from his or her family. thletes who spend too much time training miss out on education. The child may not be prepared for other real world activities, such as going to college and having a non-athletic job. Pressure from parents and coaches to win can be psychologically damaging for the child. Parents may also become too pushy and end up caring more about athletic achievements than the child. Dr. Christine Carr, a psychologist, suggests that parents take some important steps to make sure that their kids are getting the most out of sports. Carr says that the focus should be on the child’s happiness and about learning life lessons. Self-discipline, determination, and learning to deal with failure are some of the important life skills and lessons kids can learn from sports. Other experts point to the importance of letting children make their own decisions. Top athletes Tiger Woods and Michael Phelps have said that they appreciated their parents letting them decide how much or how little they wanted to train. In fact, according to Phelps’ mother, he had trouble focusing in the classroom until he found a sport that he was passionate about. By allowing Michael to focus on his sport, his mother also saw him improve as a student. Another thing that many parents and doctors agree on is the importance of developing a close relationship with the family. Dr. Carr suggests eating dinner together and says it is a simple way to remind children that family is important, and that support can always be found at home. Woods and Phelps both had supportive families and made it public, with parents attending their many competitions. Raising an athlete is not easy. By balancing life and training, parents can set their children up for success and help them become winners in sports and in life.
1. What is this passage mainly about?

Mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the undelined part that needs correction in each of the following questions:
Telecommunicating is a form of computer communication between employees’ homes and offices. For employees whose jobs involve sitting at a terminal or word processor entering data or typing reports, the location of the computer is of no consequence. If the machine can communicate over

telephone lines, when the work is completed, employees can dial the office computer from a distant site and transmit the material to their employers. A recent survey in USA Today estimates that there are approximately 8.7 million telecommuters. But although the numbers are rising annually, the trend does not appear to be as significant as predicted when Business Week published "The Portable Executive" as its cover story a few years ago. Why hasn't telecommuting become more popular?
Clearly, change simply takes time. But in addition, there has been active resistance on the part of many managers. These executives claim that supervising the telecommuters in a large work force scattered across the country would be too difficult, or, at least, systems for managing them are not yet developed, thereby complicating the manager's responsibilities.
It is also true that employees who are given the option of telecommuting are often reluctant to accept the opportunity. Most people feel that they need regular interaction with a group, and many are concerned that they will not have the same consideration for advancement if they are not more visible in the office setting. Some people feel that even when a space in their homes is set aside as a work area, they never really get away from the office.

The phrase “of no consequence” means     .

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When _______ is not known.

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.
Drone racing is an exciting new sport, that has become popular faster than (1).......... other sport before it. Pilots steer small and lightweight, but high-powered drones along courses with obstacles. They fly through gates and around flags at speeds of over a hundred miles an hour.
 They control the drones using VR-like headgear. Every drone has a camera (2)...........to it so that spectators can also view flights either on a big screen or with special headgear.
The races take place either outdoors - in big stadiums, or indoors in old warehouses and sports arenas. (3)................ are short because the battery time of drones is limited.
(4)..............drone racing started only a few years ago there are already international competitions that take place all over the world. In professional leagues, drone pilots compete for thousands of dollars. In March, the World Drone Prix was staged in Dubai. A 16-year old British teenager not only one the race but also received a prize money of 250 000 dollars.
Television and other media have become aware of drone racing. ESPN, an Amercian sports channel, will be broadcasting international drone races starting this August. Races are also recorded and uploaded to YouTube and other video platforms (5)............. they can be viewed over and over again.

(4).......................

Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
Hot springs are natural springs which produce warm water. Usually, these springs produce water that is at a temperature above the human body. The water is (1) __________ heated. The water comes from close to the center of the earth. There are hot springs in many places all over the world. Some of these are not so hot and people can bathe in them. However, other hot springs are dangerously hot. If a person tried to (2)___________ a bath, they would be seriously hurt, or they might die. Yangpachen Hot Springs in Tibet are famous example of hot springs. In particular, they are famous (3) _________ they are the highest hot springs in the world. These hot springs are 4,500 meters above sea (4)_______. From these hot springs people can see beautiful views of the Nyainqen Tanggula mountain range. There is a resort there that people can visit. At this resort, there are three hot spring pools that people can use. The natural water in these pools is cooled down so that people can bathe (5)_______ comfort. The original temperature of the water is 70 degrees Celsius or 158 degrees Fahrenheit.

John rarely sees Paul _____ they live in the same town.

(305)______

Choose the best answer:
Learn/ English/ help/ us/ get over/ the/ language barriers.

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:
Composers today use a wider variety of sounds than ever before, including many that were once considered undesirable noises. Composer Edgard Varese (1883-1965) called thus the “liberation of sound…the right to make music with any and all sounds.” Electronic music, for example – made with the aid of computers, synthesizers, and electronic instruments – may include sounds that in the past would not have been considered musical.
Enviromental sounds, such as thunder, and electronically generated hisses and blips can be recorded, manipulated, and then incorporated into a musical composition. But composers also draw novel sounds from voices and non-electronic instruments. Singers may be asked to scream, laugh, groan, sneeze, or to sing phonetic sounds rather than words. Wind and string players may lap or scrape their instruments. A brass or woodwind player may hum while playing, to produce two pitches at once; a pianist may reach inside the piano to pluck a string and then run a metal blade along it. In the music of the Western world, the greatest expansion and experimentation have involved percussion instruments, which outnumber strings and winds in many recent compositions. Traditional persussion instruments are struck with new types of beaters; and instruments that used to be couriered unconventional in Western music – tom-toms, bongos, slapsticks, maracas – are widely used.
In the search for novel sounds, increased use has been made in Western music of Microtones. Non-Western music typically divides and intervals between two pitches more finely than Western music does, thereby producing a greater number of distinct tones or micro tones, within the same interval. Composers such as Krzysztof Penderecki create sound that borders on electronic noise through tone clusters – closely spaced tones played together and heard as a mass, block, or band of sound. The directional aspect of sound has taken on new importance as well Loudspeakers or groups of instruments may be placed at opposite ends of the stage, in the balcony, or at the back and sides of the auditorium. Because standard music notation makes no provision for many of these innovations, recent music scores may contain graph like diagrams, new note shapes and symbols, and novel ways of arranging notation on the page.

According to the passage, which of the following types of instruments has played a role in much of the innovation in Western music?

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I’m very proud_________ my school.

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Today, the ao dai looks modern and very ____________

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Make Home a Little Nicer
Some people think that if they don’t have a yard, they can’t keep a garden. Fortunately, that’s not true. For people who live in apartment buildings, there is another option: rooftop gardens. A rooftop garden is just a garden that you keep on your roof. Rooftop gardens are very popular in cities. Most building roofs go to waste – people don’t use that space for anything. Putting a garden on your roof is a nice way to turn an empty space into something that is pretty and relaxing. Rooftop gardens are not a new idea. About 2,600 years ago, people in Ancient Mesopotamia planted rooftop gardens. There were similar gardens in Ancient Rome and Ancient Egypt. These gardens had a very important purpose. Many ancient cities had walls. The enemy army usually tried to destroy the city’s food, so the people in the city kept their gardens on top of their walls. That way, they could continue to grow food. Today’s rooftop gardens don’t keep us alive, but they still have nice benefits. Plants absorb heat, so if there are a lot of them on a rooftop, they make the whole building cooler. As a result, people in the building use the air conditioning less which means they use less electricity. One study said that if every roof in Tokyo had a garden, the city would save more than one million dollars a day on electricity. Rooftop gardening is harder than regular gardening. Here are some tips. First of all, be safe. Build a fence around your garden. You don’t want the wind to blow plants off your roof! Also, remember that rooftop gardens get more sun. If you have a plant that shouldn’t get too much sun, remember to put it in the shade sometimes. There are many other things that you need to know before you start a rooftop garden. Do some research and then give it a try. You’ll make your little part of the city much nicer.
3. What can be inferred for ancient cities?

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Many/ tourists/ visit/ Hanoi/ year.

Read the passage below carefully, and then choose the best answer:
Inside the Mind of a Sushi Legend
During our lives, it is likely we will have not one, but several careers. People change jobs due to boredom, to earn more money, or because they want to experience more from life. Although this certainly brings variety to life, it also prevents workers from achieving mastery in their craft. This is what makes Sukiyabashi Jiro so incredible. For the past 75 years, he was dedicated his life to one goal: perfecting his technique so that he can make the world’s best sushi. In the documentary Jiro: Dreams of Sushi, viewers get a peek inside the life of this genius. For Jiro, who owns a three-star Michelin restaurant, sushi is not simply taking raw fish, vinegar, and rice, and arranging them together. He insists that every detail must be perfect. Watching him at work is similar to seeing an artist in action. Yet, the true key to his success is not creative imagination: it’s his dedication and repetition. Jiro has kept the same daily schedule for decades. As he goes about his tasks, he always searches for small ways to improve his craft. Jiro won’t accept anything less than the best. He has committed to using only the freshest ingredients, and he’ll do whatever it takes to get them. This means heading down to the local fish market daily to purchase fish which has just been caught that day. Jiro only deals with the top fish dealer, who is also a master of his trade. This seller reserves only the best of the best for Jiro, which Jiro inspects closely before making his choices. Back at the shop, the sushi rice is also prepared with delicate care. If he senses something is not up to standards, he will have his employees trash it and start all over again. At the age of 85, Jiro is aware that he won’t be able to continue making sushi forever. Therefore, he has been training his two middle-aged sons for many years to learn his techniques and philosophies. His eldest son, Yamamoto, works side-by-side with Jiro to this day. His younger son, Takashi, has opened his own sushi restaurant elsewhere in Tokyo. In the film, both sons discuss how difficult it is to live up to their famous father’s expectations and match his rigorous work ethic. To learn more about Jiro and his methods, be sure to catch this fascinating film.
5. Which of the following best describes Jiro?

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 American type of football was developed in the 19th century from soccer and rugby football. Played by professionals, amateurs, college and high school students, or young children, football in American is one of the most popular sports besides basketball and baseball. It attracts millions of fans each fall and people are very supportive of their favourite teams. The football playing field of today is rectangular in shape and measures 100 yards long and 53.5 yards wide. White lines are painted on the playing field to mark off the distances to the end zone. The games is divided into four quarters, each fifteen minutes long. The first two quarters are known as the first half. There is a rest period between two halves which usually last about fifteen minutes. Each team has eleven players. Each team has offensive players who play when the team has possession of the ball and defensive players who play when the other team has the possession of the ball. Because of the body contact players have during the game, helmets are worn to protect their head and face area, whereas pads are worn to protect the shoulders, arms, and legs. Also, there are officials carrying whistles and flags to make certain that the rules of the game are followed during the game. The football is made of leather and is brown in colour. It is shaped much like an oval and has white rings near each end of the football. These rings help the players see the ball when it is thrown or someone is running with it. The eight stitches on the top of the football help the players to grip the ball when throwing or passing. The most famous game of the year is Super Bowl that is played in January or February. It is televised around the world and is watched by millions of people each year.

The word "grip" in the passage means to

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Two months ago my brother _______ elected headmaster of his school and he _______ a vacation since then.

Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
Even before the turn of the century, movies began to develop in two major directions: the realistic and the formalistic. Realism and formalism are merely general, rather than absolute terms. When used to suggest a tendency toward either polarity, such labels can be helpful, but in the end they are still just labels. Few films are exclusively formalist in style, and fewer yet are completely realist. There is also an important difference between realism and reality, although this distinction is often forgotten. Realism is a particular style, whereas physical reality is the source of all the raw materials of the film, both realistic and formalistic. Virtually all movie directors go to the photographable world for their subject matter, but what they do with this material, how they shape and manipulate it determines their stylistic emphasis. Generally speaking, realistic films attempt to reproduce the surface of concrete reality with a minimum of distortion. In photographing objects and events, the filmmaker tries to suggest the copiousness of life itself. Both realist and formalist film directors must select and hence emphasize certain details from chaotic sprawl of reality. But the element of selectivity in realistic films is less obvious. Realists, in short, try to preserve the illusion that their film world is not manipulated, an objective mirror of the actual world. Formalists, on the other hand, make no such pretense. They deliberately stylize and distort their raw materials so that only the very naive would mistake a manipulated image of an object or event for the real thing. We rarely notice the style in a realistic movie; the artist tends to be self-effacing. Some filmmakers are more concerned with what is being shown than how it is manipulated. The camera is used conservatively. It is essentially a recording mechanism that reproduces the surface of tangible objects with as little commentary as possible. A high premium is placed on simplicity, spontaneity, and directness. This is not to suggest that these movies lack artistry, however, at its best the realistic cinema specializes in art that conceals art.
4. Whom does the author say is primarily responsible for the style of a film?

Over the next 20 to 50 years, it will become harder to tell the (1) _____ between the human and the machine. All, body (2) will be replaceable. Computers will function like the human brain with the ability to recognize feelings and respond in a feeling way. They will then produce fake people. We will then be able to create a machine duplicate of ourselves so we will appear to be alive long after we are dead. Maybe a few decades later, a way will be found to transfer our spirit, including our (2) _____ and thoughts, to the new body. Then we can choose to live for as long as we want. It might be expensive. When it becomes possible to do a spirit transfer, they will figure out (3) _____ to do them automatically. So we will be able to reside within whichever duplicate we want, whenever we want. Miniature robots will be built to travel through your blood stream and repair damage. Also, larger robots will be used when you are sick. When you have an upset stomach, you will (4)_____ a very small cherry tasting robot which will travel through your stomach taking video of the mess. It will be set up like a video game, so you can control the exploring and the selection of images. Then you can replay the video to help a doctor (5) _____ your illness, or to prove to your employer that you really, were sick.

(85)______________

Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
Although only a small percentage of the electromagnetic radiation that is emitted by the Sun is ultraviolet (UV) radiation, the amount that is emitted would be enough to cause severe damage to most forms of life on Earth were it all to reach the surface of the Earth. Fortunately, all of the Sun’s ultraviolet radiation does not reach the Earth because of a layer of oxygen, called the ozone layer encircling the Earth in the stratosphere at an altitude of about 15 miles above the Earth. The ozone layer absorbs much of the Sun’s ultraviolet radiation and prevents it from reaching the Earth. Ozone is a form of oxygen in which each molecule consists of three atoms (O3) instead of the two atoms (O2) usually found in an oxygen molecule. Ozone forms in the stratosphere in a process that is initiated by ultraviolet radiation from the Sun. UV radiation from the Sun splits oxygen molecules with two atoms into free oxygen atoms, and each of these unattached oxygen atoms then joins up with an oxygen molecule to form ozone. UV radiation is also capable of splitting up ozone molecules; thus, ozone is constantly forming, splitting, and reforming in the stratosphere. When UV radiation is absorbed during the process of ozone formation and reformation, it is unable to reach Earth and cause damage there. Recently, however, the ozone layer over parts of the Earth has been diminishing. Chief among the culprits in the case of the disappearing ozone, those that are really responsible, are the chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). CFCs meander up from Earth into the stratosphere, where they break down and release chlorine. The released chlorine reacts with ozone in the stratosphere to form chlorine monoxide (ClO) and oxygen (O2). The chlorine then becomes free to go through the cycle over and over again. One chlorine atom can, in fact, destroy hundreds of thousands of ozone molecules in this repetitious cycle, and the effects of this destructive process are now becoming evident.
8. The word "culprits" in paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to which of the following?

Read the reading below carefully, and then complete it with the best option A, B, C or D given below:
To: Staff, Research and Development Dept. From: Jasmine Sparks, Manager
Date: October 20
Re: David Yang’s farewell party
I’m sure everyone in the department knows that David Yang will be leaving the company to work for Meyers and Goldman by now. A farewell party (1)------- for David from 5:30 to 8:30 P.M. on Friday, October 31, in the main conference room. I would like to ask each of you to contribute a small sum of money for a present that the department will purchase for David in appreciation for the excellent work he has done (2)------- the years. I have asked my secretary, Claudette, to receive your donations, so please drop by her desk before the end of next week. It is my hope that you will be able to join the entire department in honoring David’s ten years with the company. Please get in touch with Claudette by 5 P.M. on Monday, October 27 to let us know (3)------- you will be attending the commemoration

Read the reading below carefully, and then complete it with the best option A, B, C or D given below:
Beginning this year, Renaissance Strategy Inc. will provide financial aid to fulltime employees ith children in school. Financial aid is available to candidates from elementary school to college, but homeschooling is not included. There are also certain requirements that you must meet in order to be eligible for financial aid. Eligible candidates must be enrolled as full-time students and maintain passing grades. Candidates must also submit a copy of proof of enrollment along with application forms which you can find at the front of the administration division. How much aid your child receives will depend on your financial need and on the amount of other aid you receive. Aid will be paid directly to the school on a yearly basis. If you need more information or have any questions about the program, please call 123-5656.
1. What is the announcement intended for?

Read the reading below carefully, and then complete it with the best option A, B, C or D given below:The story of gold is an adventure involving kings, queens, pirates, explores, conquerors, and the native peoples they conquered. Throughout history, gold had (1)_____a magic spell over those it touch. Gold is beautiful and rare; a soft shiny metal that can be moulded into many (2)_____.It has been used for money, jewellery, and to decorate special buildings such as palaces and places of worship. (3)_____the precious metal was discovered, prospectors rushed to mine it, starting new cities and countries as they went. Gold and the people who love it have helped shape the world we live in today. Gold is one of many elements, or substances that cannot be changed by normal chemical (4)_____, that are found in the Earth’s crust. Gold has a warm, sunny colour and (5)_____it does not react (6)_____air, water, and most chemicals, its shine never fades. In its natural (7) _____, gold is soft and easily shaped. When heated to 1,062 Celsius it melts and can be poured(8)_____ moulds to form coins, gold bars, and other objects. Stories have been told, movies (9)_____and legends born about the (10)_____of the world’s great gold deposits. It is a saga of dreams, greed, ambition and exploration.