Read the passage carefully and choose the correct answer.

Today more and more women are actively participating in social activities both in urban and rural areas. Specifically, they have shined brightly  in  even  many  fields  commonly  regarded  as  the  man's  areas  such as  business,  scientific  research  and  social  management.  In  some areas,  women  even  show  more  overwhelming  power  than  men.  The  image  of  contemporary  Vietnamese  women  with  creativeness, dynamism, success has become popular in Vietnam's society. The fact reveals that the gender gap has been remarkably narrowed and women enjoy  many  more  opportunities  to  pursue  their  social  careers  and  obtain  success,  contributing  to  national  socio-economic  development.

According  to  Ms Le  Thi  Quy,  Director  of  the  Gender/and  Development  Research  Centre  under  the  University  of  Social  Sciences  and Humanities,  Hanoi National  University,  gender  equity  in  Vietnam  has  reached  a  high  level  over  the  past  decade.  The  rate  of  Vietnamese women  becoming  National  Assembly  members from the  9th  term  to  the  11th  term  increased  8.7%,  bringing  the  proportion  of  Vietnamese women in authority to 27.3%, the highest rate in Southeast Asia. There is no big gap in the level of literacy and schooling between men and women.  Women account for about  37%  of  university  and  college  graduates,  19.9%  of  doctoral  degree  holders  and 6.7%  of  professors  and associate professors.

The legitimate rights  of  women  and  children  are  ensured  more  than  ever  before  with more  complete  legal  documents  including laws, conventions and national action plans, among which the laws on "gender equity" mark a turning-point in the empowerment of women. Mass media also highlights the continued success of women in every field and honors their great importance in modern society, helping to do away  with outdated perceptions about traditional women's duties. Many projects on reproductive health care, children protection, and family  income  improvement  jointly  conducted  by  various  mass  organizations,  state  agencies  and  non-governmental  organizations  have created favorable conditions for women to become involved.

The text is about ________

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 ‌16‌ ‌to‌ ‌20.‌ ‌
Dressing‌ ‌up‌ ‌in‌ ‌costumes‌ ‌and‌ ‌trick-or-treating‌ ‌are‌ ‌popular‌ ‌Halloween‌ ‌activities,‌ ‌but‌ ‌few‌ ‌probably‌ ‌(‌16‌)‌ ‌______‌ ‌these‌ ‌lighthearted‌ ‌fall‌ ‌traditions‌ ‌with‌ ‌their‌ ‌origins‌ ‌in‌ ‌Samhain,‌ ‌a‌ ‌three-day‌ ‌ancient‌ ‌Celtic‌ ‌pagan‌ ‌festival.‌ ‌
For‌ ‌the‌ ‌Celts,‌ ‌who‌ ‌lived‌ ‌during‌ ‌the‌ ‌Iron‌ ‌Age‌ ‌in‌ ‌what‌ ‌is‌ ‌now‌ ‌Ireland,‌ ‌Scotland,‌ ‌the‌ ‌U.K.‌ ‌and‌ ‌(‌17‌)‌ ‌______‌ ‌parts‌ ‌of‌ ‌Northern‌ ‌Europe,‌ ‌Samhain‌ ‌(meaning‌ ‌literally,‌ ‌in‌ ‌modern‌ ‌Irish,‌ ‌“summer's‌ ‌end”)‌ ‌marked‌ ‌the‌ ‌end‌ ‌of‌ ‌summer‌ ‌and‌ ‌kicked‌ ‌off‌ ‌the‌ ‌Celtic‌ ‌new‌ ‌year.‌ ‌Ushering‌ ‌in‌ ‌a‌ ‌new‌ ‌year‌ ‌signaled‌ ‌a‌ ‌time‌ ‌of‌ ‌both‌ ‌death‌ ‌and‌ ‌rebirth,‌ ‌something‌ ‌that‌ ‌was‌ ‌doubly‌ ‌symbolic‌ ‌because‌ ‌it‌ ‌(‌18‌)‌ ‌______‌ ‌with‌ ‌the‌ ‌end‌ ‌of‌ ‌a‌ ‌bountiful‌ ‌harvest‌ ‌season‌ ‌and‌ ‌the‌ ‌beginning‌ ‌of‌ ‌a‌ ‌cold‌ ‌and‌ ‌dark‌ ‌winter‌ ‌season‌ ‌that‌ ‌would‌ ‌present‌ ‌plenty‌ ‌of‌ ‌challenges.‌ ‌
Eventually,‌ ‌Halloween‌ ‌became‌ ‌more‌ ‌popular‌ ‌in‌ ‌secular‌ ‌culture‌ ‌than‌ ‌All‌ ‌Saints'‌ ‌Day.‌ ‌The‌ ‌pagan-turned-‌ ‌Christian‌ ‌practices‌ ‌of‌ ‌dressing‌ ‌up‌ ‌in‌ ‌costumes,‌ ‌playing‌ ‌pranks‌ ‌and‌ ‌handing‌ ‌out‌ ‌offerings‌ ‌have‌ ‌evolved‌ ‌into‌ ‌popular‌ ‌traditions‌ ‌even‌ ‌for‌ ‌those‌ ‌(‌19‌)‌ ‌______‌ ‌may‌ ‌not‌ ‌believe‌ ‌in‌ ‌otherworldly‌ ‌spirits‌ ‌or‌ ‌saints.‌ ‌(‌20‌)‌ ‌______,‌ ‌whether‌ ‌Halloween‌ ‌celebrants‌ ‌know‌ ‌it‌ ‌or‌ ‌not,‌ ‌they’re‌ ‌following‌ ‌the‌ ‌legacy‌ ‌of‌ ‌the‌ ‌ancient‌ ‌Celts‌ ‌who,‌ ‌with‌ ‌the‌ ‌festival‌ ‌of‌ ‌Samhain,‌ ‌celebrated‌ ‌the‌ ‌inevitability‌ ‌of‌ ‌death‌ ‌and‌ ‌rebirth.‌ ‌

Question‌ ‌16‌‌ ‌‌(VD):‌................

Why is it that flying to New York from London will leave you feeling less tired than flying to London from New York? The answer may be a clear case of biology not being able to keep up with technology.
Deep inside the brain there is a "clock" that governs every aspect of the body's functioning: sleep and wake cycles, levels of alertness, performance, mood, hormone levels, digestion, body temperature and so on. It regulates all of these functions on a 24-hour basis and is called the circadian clock (from the Latin, circa "about" + dies "day"). This body clock programmes us to be sleepy twice a day, between 3-5 a.m and again between 3-5 p.m.
Afternoon tea and siesta times are all cultural responses to our natural biological sleepiness in the afternoon.
One of the major causes of the travelers' malady known as jet lag is the non-alignment of a person's internal body clock with clocks in the external world. Crossing different time zones confuses the circadian clock, which then has to adjust to the new time and patterns of light and activity. To make matters more complex, not all internal body functions adjust at the same rate. So your sleep/wake may adjust to a new time zone at one rate, while your temperature adjusts at a different pace. Your digestion may be on a different schedule altogether.
Though we live in a 24-hour day, the natural tendency of the body clock is to extend our day beyond 24 hours. It is contrary to our biological programming to shrink our day. That is why traveling in a westward direction is more body-clock friendly than flying east. NASA studies of long haul pilots showed that westward travel was associated with significantly better sleep quantity and quality than eastward flights.
When flying west, you are "extending" your day, thus traveling in the natural direction of your internal clock. Flying eastward will involve "shrinking" or reducing your day and is in direct opposition to your internal clock's natural tendency. One of the more common complaints of travelers is that their sleep becomes disrupted. There are many reasons for this: Changing time zones and schedules, changing light and activity levels, trying to sleep when your body clock is programmed to be awake, disruption of the internal circadian clock and working longer hours.
Sleep loss, jet lag and fatigue can seriously affect our ability to function well. Judgment and decision-making can be reduced by 50%, attention by 75 percent, memory by 20 percent and communication by 30 percent.
It is often suggested that you adjust your watch as soon as you board a plane, supposedly to try to help you adjust to your destination's schedule as soon as you arrive. But it can take the body clock several days to several weeks to fully adjust to a new time zone.

According to the article  ...............

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

When people think of domestic abuse, they often focus __________ (1) domestic violence. But domestic abuse includes any attempt by one person in __________ (2) intimate relationship or marriage to dominate and control the other. Domestic violence and abuse are used for one purpose and one purpose only: __________ (3) and maintain total control over you. An abuser doesn’t “play fair.” Abusers use fear, guilt, shame, and intimidation to wear you down and keep you under __________ (4) thumb.

__________ (5) violence and abuse can happen to anyone; it does not discriminate. Abuse happens within heterosexual relationships and in same-sex partnerships. It __________ (6) within all age ranges, ethnic backgrounds, and economic levels. And __________ (7) women are more often victimized, men also experience abuse—especially verbal and emotional. The bottom line is that abusive behavior is never __________ (8), whether from a man, woman, teenager, or an older adult. You deserve to feel valued, respected, and safe.

Domestic abuse often escalates __________ (9) threats and verbal assault to violence. And while physical injury may pose the most obvious danger, the emotional and psychological consequences of domestic abuse are also severe. Emotionally abusive relationships can destroy your self-worth, __________ (10) to anxiety and depression, and make you feel helpless and alone. No one should have to endure this kind of pain—and your first step to breaking free is recognizing that your relationship is abusive.

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

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

"Women’s Rights, rights that establish the same social, economic, and political (1)…. for women as for men. Women’s rights guarantee that women will not face (2)… on the basis of their sex. Until the second half of the 20th century, women in most societies were denied some of the legal and political rights accorded (3)… men. Although women in much of the world have gained significant legal rights, many people believe that women still do not have (4)….. political, economic, and social equality with men.
 Throughout much of the history of Western civilization, (5) ….. cultural beliefs allowed women only limited roles in society. Many people believed that women’s natural roles were as mothers and wives. These people (6)….. women to be better suited (7)……  childbearing and homemaking rather than for involvement (8)….. the public life of business or politics. Widespread belief that women were intellectually inferior to men led most societies to (9)….. women’s education to learning domestic (10)…. . Well-educated, upper-class men controlled most positions of employment and power in society."

2. Women’s rights guarantee that women will not face (2)… on the basis of their sex.

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.

   My family consists of four people. There's my father whose name is Jan, my mother whose name is Marie, my brother, Peter and of course, me. I have quite a large extended family as well but, only the four of us live together in our apartment in a block of flats. My father is fifty-two years old. He works as an accountant in an insurance company. He is tall and slim, has got short brown and gray hair and blue eyes. My father likes gardening very much as well as listening to music and reading books about political science. His special hobbies are bird watching and travelling.

   Now I’ll describe my mother and my brother. My mother is forty-seven and she works as a nurse in a hospital. She is small, and slim, has short brown hair and green eyes. She likes bird watching and travelling too, so whenever my parents are able to they go someplace interesting for nature watching. Since we have a cottage with a garden they both spend a lot of time there. My brother is sixteen. He is slim and has short brown hair and blue eyes. He also attends high school. He is interested in computers and sports like football and hockey. He also spends a lot of time with his friends.

   I have only one grandmother left still living. She is in pretty good health even at the age of seventyeight so she still lives in her own flat. I enjoy spending time with her when I can. Both my grandfathers died from cancer because they were smokers, which was really a great tragedy because I didn't get chance to know them. My other grandmother died just a few years ago. I also have a lot of aunts, uncles, and cousins. The cousin I’m closest to is my uncle’s daughter Pauline. We have a lot in common because we are both eighteen and so we are good friends.

   My parents have assigned me certain duties around the house. I don't mind helping out because everyone in a family should contribute in some way. I help with the washing up, the vacuuming and the shopping. Of course I also have to help keep my room tidy as well. My brother is responsible for the dusting and mopping. He also has to clean his own room. Even though my brother and I sometimes fight about who has to do what job, we are still very close. I am also very close to my parents and I can rely on them to help me. My parents work together to keep our home well maintained and it seem they always have a project or another that they are working on. They respect each other's opinions and even if they disagree they can always come to a compromise. I hope in the future that 1 have a family like ours.

The word "assigned" in the fourth paragraph mostly means...................

Just as optical fibers have transformed communication, they are also revolutionizing medicine. These ultrathin, flexible fibers have opened a window into the living tissues of the body. By inserting optical fibers through natural openings or small incisions and threading  them along the body's established pathways, physicians can look into the lungs, intestines,  heart and other areas that were formerly inaccessible to   them.
The basic fiber-optics system is called fiberscope, which consists of  two  bundles  of fibers. One, the illuminating bundle, carries light to the tissues. Is is coupled to  a  high- intensity light source. Light enters the cores of the high-purity silicon glass and travels along the fibers. A lens at the end of the bundle collects the light and  focuses  it into the other  bundle, the imaging bundle. Each fiber in the bundle transmits only a tiny fraction of the total image. The reconstructed image can be viewed through an eyepiece or displayed on a television screen.
During the last five years, improved methods of fabricating optical fibers have led to a reduction in fiberscope diameter and an increase in the number of fibers, which in turn has increased resolution. Optical fibers can also be used to deliver laser light. By use of laser beams, physicians can perform surgery inside the body, sometimes eliminating the need for invasive procedures in which healthy tissue must be cut through to reach the site of disease. Many of these procedures do not require anesthesia and can be performed in a physician's office. These techniques have reduced the risk and the cost of medical care.

According to the passage, how do the fiberscopes used today differ from those used in five years ago?

A pioneering study by Donald Appleyard made the astounding discovery that a sudden increase in the volume of traffic through an area affects people in the way that a sudden increase in crime does. Appleyard observed this by finding three blocks of houses in San Francisco that looked much alike and had the same kind of middle-class and working-class residents, with approximately the same ethnic mix. The difference was that only 2,000 cars a day ran down Octavia Street (LIGHT street, in Appleyard’s terminology) while Gough Street (MEDIUM street) was used by 8,000 cars daily, and Franklin Street (HEAVY street) had around 16,000 cars a day. Franklin Street often had as many cars in an hour as Octavia had in a day.
    Heavy traffic brought with it danger, noise, fumes and soot, directly, and trash secondarily. That is, the cars didn’t bring in much trash, but when trash accumulated, residents seldom picked it up. The cars, Appleyard determined, reduced the amount of territory residents felt responsible for. Noise was a constant intrusion into their homes. Many Franklin Street residents covered their doors and windows and spent most of their time in the rear of their houses. Most families with children had already left.
    Conditions on Octavia Street were much different. Residents picked up trash. They sat on their front steps and chatted with neighbors. They had three times as many friends and twice as many acquaintances as the people on Franklin.
    On Gough Street, residents said that the old feeling of community was disappearing as traffic increaseD. People were becoming more and more preoccupied with their own lives. A number of families had recently moved and more were considering. Those who were staying expressed deep regret at the destruction of their community.

The word “astounding” in line 1 is closest in meaning to

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

   Many people believe that watching television has resulted in lower reading standards in schools. However, the link between television and printed books is not as simple as that. In many cases, television actually encourages people to read; for example, when a book is turned into a TV series, its sales often go up. One study of this link examined six-year-old children who were viewing a special series of 15-minute programs at school. The series was designed to encourage love of books, as well as to develop the basic mechanical skills of reading. Each program is an animated film of a children's book. The story is read aloud and certain key phrases from the book appear on the screen, beneath the picture. Whenever a word is read, it is also highlighted on the TV screen.

   One finding was that watching these programs was very important to the children. If anything prevented them from seeing a program, they were very disappointed. What's more, they wanted to read the books which the different parts of the series were based on.

   The programs also gave the children more confidence when looking at these books. As a result of their familiarity with the stories, they would sit in pairs and read the stories aloud to each other. On each occasion, the children showed great sympathy when discussing a character in a book because they themselves had been moved when watching the character on television.

What is the main idea of the passage?

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

"Women’s Rights, rights that establish the same social, economic, and political (1)…. for women as for men. Women’s rights guarantee that women will not face (2)… on the basis of their sex. Until the second half of the 20th century, women in most societies were denied some of the legal and political rights accorded (3)… men. Although women in much of the world have gained significant legal rights, many people believe that women still do not have (4)….. political, economic, and social equality with men.
 Throughout much of the history of Western civilization, (5) ….. cultural beliefs allowed women only limited roles in society. Many people believed that women’s natural roles were as mothers and wives. These people (6)….. women to be better suited (7)……  childbearing and homemaking rather than for involvement (8)….. the public life of business or politics. Widespread belief that women were intellectually inferior to men led most societies to (9)….. women’s education to learning domestic (10)…. . Well-educated, upper-class men controlled most positions of employment and power in society."

6. These people (6)….. women to be better suited

DISAPPEARING ALASKAN SEALS
On a winter afternoon, a dozen male Northern fur seals are on an island off south-western Alaska. To look at them, fighting for territory on the rocks, it’s hard to imagine that they are at the (27)____________of a baffling scientific mystery: why is this species beginning to disappear? These seals- which can weigh up to 270 kilograms-have an important and symbolic (28)_________in Alaska’s history. Their soft and luxurious fur, the coveted prize during the huge commercial sea harvests that were legal here in the Bering Sea through the early 20th century, was once so valuable it (29)_________Alaska’s economy. Starting in the 1950s, for reasons that are (30)_______because the harvests by then tended to be fairly small, the seal population began a slow decline . But lately it has been falling drastically, declining at an alarming (31)________of 6 per cent a year since 1998. From a (32)_________ of more than 2 million in Alaska in 1948, their numbers have fallen to about 1 million.
So (33)________, no one has been able to establish a precise cause for this, although theories (34)___________. The seals' food supply may be (35)________, or another species may be (36)________on the seals- perhaps killer whales, which no longer have as many great whales to eat because of harvesting of those mammals. Some people have suggested that the decline can be (37)______to entanglement in fishing nets ,but scientists say they doubt that this alone could (38)_________the recent population decline.
(36)....................................

In the last third of the nineteenth century a new housing form was quietly being developed.   In 1869 the Stuyvesant, considered New York's first apartment house was built on East Eighteenth Street. The building was financed by the developer Rutherfurd Stuyvesant and designed by Richard Morris Hunt, the first American architect to graduate from the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris. Each man had lived in Paris, and each understood the economics and social potential of this Parisian housing form. But the Stuyvesant was at best a limited success.  In spite of  Hunt's  inviting façade, the living space was awkwardly arranged. Those who could afford them  were  quite  content  to remain in the more sumptuous, single-family homes, leaving the Stuyvesant to newly  married  couples and bachelors.
The fundamental problem with the Stuyvesant and the other early apartment buildings that quickly followed, in the 1870's and early 1880's was that they were confined to the typical New York building lot. That lot was a rectangular area 25 feet wide by 100 feet deep-a shape perfectly suited for a row house The lot could also accommodate a rectangular tenement, though it could not yield the square, well-lighted, and logically arranged rooms that great apartment buildings require. Put even with the awkward interior configurations of the early apartment buildings, the idea caught on. It met the needs of a large and growing population that wanted something better than tenements but could not afford or did not want row  houses.
So while the city's newly emerging social leadership  commissioned  their  mansions, apartment houses and hotels began to sprout in multiple lots, thus breaking the initial space  constraints. In the closing decades of the nineteenth century,  large apartment houses  began dotting  the developed portions of New York City, and by the opening decades of the twentieth century, spacious buildings, such as the Dakota and the Ansoniafinally transcended the tight confinement of row house building lots. From there it was only a small step to building luxury apartment houses on  the newly created Park Avenue, right next to the fashionable Fifth Avenue   shopping area.

The word 'sumptuous" Is closest in meaning to...............

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D to indicate the correct answer for each of the blanks from 6 to 15

 
Revising for exams is not as easy as it looks. You will need to work out which routine suits you best, and then stick to it. Some people like studying at night when it’s quiet, whereas others find the early morning is a good time to get things done. You might enjoy (6)…….. to music while you revise, but this can be (7)……... Can you really concentrate (8)……….. two things at once? So think (9)……… you turn your radio on. Your (10)…….. is also important while you are revising. This may be a more than usually (11)………. period of your life, when you should take extra care to eat properly. No missed meals, or junk food, or (12)…….cups of coffee! Get plenty of exercise as well. If you have got fed up with (13)……. you’re doing, or find it hard to concentrate, go for a walk to clear your head. (14)……. exercise will help to keep your body fit and your brain working (15)………… Finally, you also need to take time off. Go out occasionally, see your friends, and make time to relax. Then you will return to your studies fresh and full of enthusiasm.

10.................

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.

   Over the past 600 years, English has grown from a language of few speakers to become the dominant language of international communication. English as we know it today emerged around 1350, after having incorporated many elements of French that were introduced following the Norman invasion of 1066. Until the 1600s, English was, for the most part, spoken only in England and had not extended even as far as two centuries, English began to spread around the globe as a result of exploration, trade (including slave trade), colonization, and missionary work. Thus, small enclaves of English speakers became established and grew in various parts of the world. As these communities proliferated, English gradually became the primary language of international business, banking and diplomacy.

   Currently, about 80 percent of the information stored on computer systems worldwide is English. Two thirds of the world’s science writing is in English, and English is the main language of technology, advertising, media, international airports, and air traffic controllers. Today there are more than 700 million English users in the world, and over half of these are nonnative speakers, constituting the largest number of non-native users than any other language in the world..

What is the main topic of this passage?

Read the passage and choose the letter A, B, C or D to indicate the word that best fits each blank.
Nearly 450.000 businesses are started in Britain every year. One-third of these stops trading during the first three years. Starting a business is never easy (3)_______ so many things are outside your control. If you are thinking about working for yourself, you must start by thinking about the qualities you need to (4)______a business. Be hard with yourself. If you have a weakness, it is better to find out now rather than later (5)________ your business could be in danger. Ask yourself whether you are a good (6)______. Is your health good? Are you good at making decisions? Do you have any practical experience of the business you want to start? Are you prepared to work long hours for very (7)_______money? If you cannot answer 'yes' to most of these questions, perhaps you should think again about starting up in business on your own.

7. ................

Fill in each numbered blank with one suitable word or phrase. In  the  1960s  the  women's  liberation  movement  (1)  _____  suddenly  into  the  public  consciousness  and  quickly  grew  into  (2)  _____ largest  social movement  in the history  of  the  United  States.  Women's  liberation movement  was  a  continuation  of  the  19-century  women's rights movement. The movement's major (3) _____ has included not only legal, economic, and political gains (4) _____ also has changed the  ways  in  which  people  live,  dress,  dream  of  their  future,  and  (5)  ___  a  living.  About  health,  for  example,  many  male  physicians and hospital  have  made  major  improvements  in  the  (6)  _____  of  women;  more  and  more  women  have  become  doctors  and  succeeded  (7) _____  their  medical  research;  and  diseases  such  as  breast  cancer,  which  affects  many  women,  now  receive  better funding  and  treatment, thanks to women's (8) ___. Feminists have insisted that violence against women become a political issue. The women's liberation movement has also made changes in education: curricula and (9) _____ have been written to promote equal opportunity for girls and women; more and more female students are admitted to universities and professional schools.The  women's  liberation  movement  brought  about  a  radical  change  in  society  (10)  _____  it  took  a  decade  for  the  movement  to  reach women's awareness.

(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: 
Leonardo da Vinci was born on April 15,1452, in the small Tuscan town ofVinci, near Florence. He was the son of a wealthy Florentine public official and a peasant woman. In the mid-1460s, the family settled in Florence, where Leonardo was given the best education that Florence could offer. He rapidly advanced socially and intellectually. He was handsome, persuasive in conversation, and a fine musician and improviser. About in 1466 he apprenticed as a studio boy to Andrea Del Verrocchio. In Verrocchio's workshop, Leonardo was introduced to many activities, from the painting of altarpieces and panel pictures to the creation of large sculptural projects. In 1472, he was entered in the painter's guild of Florence, and in 1476, he was still mentioned as Verrocchio's assistant. In Verrocchio's Baptism of Christ, the kneeling angel at the left of the painting is by Leonardo.
In 1478, Leonardo became an independent master. His first commission, to paint an altarpiece for the chapel of the Palazzo Vecchino, the Florentine town hall, was never executed. His first large painting, The Adoration of the Magi, left unfinished, was ordered in 1481 for the Monastery of San Donato a Scopeto, Florence. Other works ascribed to his youth are the so-called Benois Madonna, the portrait Ginerva de' Bend, and the unfinished Saint Jerome.
In 1482, Leonardo's career moved into high gear when he entered the service of the duke of Milan, Ludovico Sforza, having written the duke an astonishing letter in which he stated that he could build portable bridges; that he knew the techniques of constructing bombardments and of making cannons; that he could build ships as well as armored vehicles, catapults, and other war machines; and that he could execute sculpture in marble, bronze, and clay. He served as a principal engineer in the duke’s numerous military enterprises and was so active also as an architect. In addition, he assisted the Italian mathematician Luca Pacioli in the celebrated work Divina Proportione.

What can be inferred about Andrea Del Verrocchio?

Read the passage carefully and choose the correct answer A, B, C or D
 Diwali is a main Hindu festival. It is known as the “Festival of Lights”. It makes the victory of good over evil. In other words, lights are symbols of victory of brightness over darkness. People in India turn on lamps in every house and watch firecrackers in the night sky. These lights are a way showing honor to the gods of India for giving the people health, knowledge, riches and peace.

 On the day of Diwali, children get up at 3:00 a.m and take a bath. They dress up in festival clothes, light up the candles and share sweets. There is competition among the children to light the first firecracker and to make the loudest noise. Soon, the whole sky is bright. Children seem to have the most fun during this festival.

Why does the author mention children in paragraph 2?

As many as one thousand years ago in the Southwest, the Hopi and Zuni Indians of North America were building with adobe-sun-baked brick plastered with mud.  Their homes looked remarkably like modern apartment houses. Some were four stories high and contained quarters for perhaps a thousand people, along with storerooms for grain and other goods. These buildings were usually put up against cliffs, both to make construction easier and for defense against enemies. They were really villages in themselves, as later Spanish explorers must have realised since they called them "pueblos", which is Spanish for towns. The people of the pueblos raised what are called "the three sisters" - corn,  beans, and squash. They made excellent pottery and wove marvelous baskets, some so fine that they could hold water. The Southwest has always been a dry country, where water is scarce. The Hopi and Zuni brought water from streams to their fields and gardens through irrigation ditches. Water was so important that it played a major role in their religion. They developed elaborate ceremonies and religious rituals to bring rain. The way of life of less - settled groups was simpler and more strongly influenced by nature.
Small tribes such as the Shoshone and Ute wandered the dry and mountainous lands between the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific Ocean. They gathered seeds and hunted small animals such as rabbits and snakes.
In the Far North, the ancestors of today's Inuit hunted seals, walruses, and the great whales. They lived right on the frozen season shelters called igloos built of blocks of packed snow. When summer came, they fished for salmon and hunted the lordly caribou.
The Cheyenne, Pawnee and Sioux tribes, known as the Plains Indians, lived on the grasslands between the Rocky Mountains and the Mississippi River. They hunted bison, commonly called the buffalo. Its meat was the chief food of these tribes, and its hide was used to make their clothing and the covering of their tents and tepees.

It can be inferred from the passage that the dwellings of the Hopi and Zuni were.....................

In addition to their military role, the forts of the nineteenth century provided numerous other benefits for the American West. The establishment of these posts opened new roads and provided for the protection of daring adventurers and expeditions as well as established settlers. Forts also served as bases where enterprising entrepreneurs could bring commerce to the West, providing supplies and refreshments to soldiers as well as to pioneers. Posts like Fort Laramie provided supplies for wagon trains traveling the natural highways toward new frontiers. Some posts became stations for the pony express; still others, such as Fort Davis, were stagecoach stops for weary travelers. All of these functions, of course, suggest that the contributions of the forts to the civilization and development of the West extended beyond patrol duty.
 Through the establishment of military posts, yet other contributions were made to the development of western culture. Many posts maintained libraries or reading rooms, and some – for example, Fort Davis – had schools. Post chapels provided a setting for religious services and weddings. Throughout the wilderness, post bands provided entertainment and boosted morale. During the last part of the nineteenth century, to reduce expenses, gardening was encouraged at the forts, thus making experimental agriculture another activity of the military. The military stationed at the various forts also played a role in civilian life by assisting in maintaining order, and civilian officials often called on the army for protection.
 Certainly, among other significant contributions the army made to the improvement of the conditions of life was the investigation of the relationships among health, climate, and architecture. From the earliest colonial times throughout the nineteenth century, disease ranked as the foremost problem in defense. It slowed construction of forts and inhibited their military functions. Official documents from many regions contained innumerable reports of sickness that virtually incapacitated entire garrisons. In response to the problems, detailed observations of architecture and climate and their relationships to the frequency of the occurrence of various diseases were recorded at various posts across the nation by military surgeons.

Which of the following would a traveler be LEAST likely to obtain at Fort Laramie?

Choose the option among  A, B, C or D that best answers the question about the passage:

"Since the 1940s, most international women’s rights efforts have been organized by the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), an office established in 1947 by the United Nations (UN). The Commission is the only existing intergovernmental body that issues reports on and recommendations for the promotion of women’s political, social, economic, and cultural rights. The CSW also acts as an advocate for women’s rights and can urge immediate international action in cases of severe violations of women’s rights.
 The UN encouraged equality in the workplace for men and women when it sponsored the Convention Concerning Equal Remuneration for Men and Women Workers for Work of Equal Value in 1953 and the Convention Concerning Discrimination in Respect of Employment and Occupation in 1960. Over 100 countries ratified these measures. In 1975 the UN launched the Decade for Women, a ten-year effort to focus on women’s issues. From 1975 to 1985 international groups formed a series of conferences organized around the themes of equality, development, and peace. The conferences took place throughout the world and drew leaders and delegates from developing and industrialized nations alike. The Decade for Women culminated in the 1985 UN Nairobi Conference, held in Nairobi, Kenya, which was attended by 375 delegations of women from nations around the world.
 The United Nations’ Fourth World Conference on Women was held in Beijing, China, in 1995. Over 17,000 people registered for the event, including delegates from nearly 200 countries. The Platform for Action that emerged from the conference focused on the removal of obstacles to women’s equal participation in society. The most controversial sections of the platform concerned reproductive rights, particularly the right to have an abortion. The final document declared that “the ability of women to control their own fertility forms, an important basis for the enjoyment of other rights,” and asserted the right of women and men to have access to all legal methods of fertility regulation."

1. What are the functions of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW)?