Rewrite the sentence:
Johnny is simply blind to his own shortcomings.

 

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The word noise is derived from the Latin word nausea, meaning “seasickness”. Noise is among the most pervasive pollutants today. Noise pollution can broadly be defined as unwanted or offensive sounds that unreasonably intrude into our daily activities. Noises from traffic, jet engines, barking dogs, garbage trucks, construction equipment, factories, lawn mowers, leaf blowers, televisions, boom boxes and car radios, to name a few, are among the audible litter that is routinely broadcast into the air. One measure of pollution is the danger it poses to health. Noise negatively affects human health and well-being. Problems related to noise include hearing loss, stress, high blood pressure, sleeplessness, fright, distraction, and lost productivity. Noise pollution also contributes to a general reduction in the quality of life and eliminates opportunities for tranquility. We experience noise in a number of ways. On some occasions, we can be both the cause and the victim of noise, such as when we are operating noisy appliances or equipment. There are also instances when we experience noise generated by others, just as people experience secondhand smoke. In both instances, noise is equally damaging physically. Secondhand noise is generally more troubling, however, because it is put into the environment by others, without our consent. The air into which secondhand noise is emitted and on which it travels is “a commons”. It belongs not to an individual person or a group, but to everyone. Please, businesses and organizations, therefore, do not have unlimited rights to broadcast noise the as they please, as if the effects of noise were limited only to their private property. Those that disregard the obligation to not interfere with other’ use and enjoyment of the commons by producing noise pollution are, in many ways, acting like a bully in a schoolyard. Although they may do so unknowingly, they disregard the rights of others and claim for themselves rights that are not theirs. The actual loudness of a sound is only one component of the negative effect noise pollution has on human beings. Other factors that have to be considered are the time and place, the duration, the source of the sound, and even the mood of the affected person. Most people would not be bothered by the sound of a 21-gun salute on a special occasion. On the other hand, the thump-thump of music coming from the apartment downstairs at 2a.m, even if barely audible, might be a major source of stress. The sound of neighbor’s lawn mower may be unobjectionable on a summer afternoon, but if someone is hoping to sleep late on a Saturday morning, the sound of a lawn mower starting up just after sunrise is an irritant  
3. The author of the passage implies that secondhand noise pollution ______

Environmental Concerns

Earth is the only place we know of in the universe that can support human life. (1) ........ human activities are making the planet less fit to live on. The western world (2) ........ on consuming two-thirds of the world's resources while half of the world's population do so (3) ........ to stay alive. We are rapidly destroying the very resource we have by which all people can survive and prosper. Everywhere fertile soil is (4) ........ built on or washed into the sea. Renewable resources are exploited so much that they will never be able to recover completely. We discharge pollutants into the atmosphere without any thought of the consequences. As a (5) ........ the planet's ability to support people is being reduced at the very time when rising human numbers and consumption are (6) ........ increasingly heavy demands on it. The Earth's natural resources are there for us to use. We need food, water, air, energy, medicines, warmth, shelter and minerals to keep us fed, comfortable, healthy and (7) ……... If we are sensible in how we use the resources they will (8) ........ indefinitely. But if we use them wastefully and excessively they will soon run out and everyone will suffer.

(6) ........

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An integral part of human life is the sports. As we all know, many competitive and  entertaining activities are engaged in sports. A sport is a way to stay fit and healthy. If we want to be physically fit we have to have an active life to stay healthy, so it is always a good idea to participate in sports and games.  The sport has inherent discipline and physical demands so that enthusiasts tend to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Weight loss, more energy, better mobility and a lot of things can come from the sport. All of this can describe a good person’s health. People are taught by sports and games to appreciate their health. The energy and vitality necessary to participate cannot be sustained without health. For professional athletes, their fitness and health depend on their livelihood. Sport also aims to keep individuals in good health and endurance.  Water is the most important nutrient that we cannot live without. If you do sports, you tend to sweat more thus increase your metabolic rate. If you do not replace these fluids, you can have very serious health problems or you can even die. To have a healthy and active body we need to eat essential nutrients. Participating in sports activities will encourage you to drink more water since we develop the urge to do so when we participate in physical activities.  When participating in sports activities we come to learn new things. It makes us learn how to tackle things the difficult situation. Sports develop a sense of unity and brotherliness. It develops team spirit in us. It helps in developing mental and physical toughness. It improves our efficiency. With our day-in-day-out activities, we tend to become exhausted the more reason we need sports in our lives to help us forget stressful things we go through. Everybody should always play a sport once a week to keep themselves fit and healthy. Sport is a fundamental phase for a child who is learning. In education, it helps the students keep their value in life, students are taught various games in the very early stage of life at school. Nurturing sports talents from school encourages a lot of talented children and it affirms the sportsmanship in them. Those students who perform well are promoted to play at the national and international level. Sports can be a carrier developing option for many students.  As we know, a physical activity governed by a set of rules or habits is called sport. Sport is often involved in the competition. The sport was originally developed for recreation. When people want to do the distraction or recovery, they usually do sports, sports games or skill tests. From this, we can conclude that sport has large and varied manifestations.  Sport can be played indoors or outdoors. It can be done by individual or team, with or without competition. And we know that sport requires skill and physical effort. The growth and development of sport and its related industries were witnessed by modern sport. Because we know that a healthy person is a wealthy person, the sport is the secret of both health and prosperity. 
2. The word “vitality” in paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to ______

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OPEC was established at a conference held in Baghdad Sept. 10–14, 1960, and was  formally constituted in January 1961 by five countries: Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, and Venezuela. Members admitted afterward include Qatar (1961), Indonesia and Libya (1962), Abū Ẓabī (1967), Algeria (1969), Nigeria (1971), Ecuador (1973), and Angola (2007). The United Arab Emirates assumed Abū Ẓabī’s membership in the 1970s. Gabon, which had joined in 1975, withdrew in January 1995, but it had relatively insignificant oil reserves. Ecuador suspended its membership from OPEC from December 1992 until October 2007, while Indonesia suspended its membership beginning in January 2009.  OPEC’s headquarters, first located in Geneva, was moved to Vienna in 1965. OPEC members coordinate policies on oil prices, production, and related matters at semiannual and special meetings of the OPEC Conference. The Board of Governors, which is responsible for managing the organization, convening the Conference, and drawing up the annual budget, contains representatives appointed by each member country; its chair is elected to a one-year term by the Conference. OPEC also possesses a Secretariat, headed by a secretary – general appointed by the Conference for a three-year term; the Secretariat includes research and energy-studies divisions.  OPEC members collectively own about two-thirds of the world’s proven petroleum reserves and account for two-fifths of world oil production. Members differ in a variety of ways, including the size of oil reserves, geography, religion, and economic and political interests. Four members – Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates – have very large per capita oil reserves; they also are relatively strong financially and thus have considerable flexibility in adjusting their production. Saudi Arabia, which has the largest reserves and a relatively small (but fast-growing) population, has traditionally played a dominant role in determining overall production and prices Because OPEC has been beset by numerous conflicts throughout its history, some experts have concluded that it is not a cartel – or at least not an effective one – and that it has little, if any, influence over the amount of oil produced or its price. Other experts believe that OPEC is an effective cartel, though it has not been equally effective at all times. The debate largely centers on semantics and the definition of what constitutes a cartel. Those who argue that OPEC is not a cartel emphasize the sovereignty of each member country, the inherent problems of coordinating price and production policies, and the tendency of countries to renege on prior agreements at ministerial meetings. Those who claim that OPEC is a cartel argue that production costs in the Persian Gulf are generally less than 10 percent of the price charged and that prices would decline toward those costs in the absence of coordination by OPEC.  The influence of individual OPEC members on the organization and on the oil market usually depends on their levels of reserves and production. Saudi Arabia, which controls about one-third of OPEC’s total oil reserves, plays a leading role in the organization. Other important members are Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates, whose combined reserves are significantly greater than those of Saudi Arabia. Kuwait, which has a very small population, has shown a willingness to cut production relative to the size of its reserves, whereas Iran and Iraq, both with large and growing populations, have generally produced at high levels relative to reserves. Revolutions and wars have impaired the ability of some OPEC members to maintain high levels of production. 
7. Which of the following is NOT true about OPEC according to the passage?

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In 1990, due to the change of the economic situation, many Dong Ho cooperatives had to ………….

Rewrite the sentence:
The Matrix was released in 1999. It stars Keanu Reeves.

Find synonym:
The beautiful sights in Sa Pa, Mui Ne and Ha Noi all contribute to the country's magic charm.

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Elephants need a large amount of habitat because they eat so much. Humans have become their direct competitors for living space. Human populations in Africa and Asia have quadrupled since the turn of the century, the fastest growth rate on the planet. Forest and savanna habitat has been converted to cropland, pastureland for livestock, and timber for housing and fuel. Humans do not regard elephants as good neighbors. When humans and elephants live close together, elephants raid crops, and rogue elephants rampage through villages. Local people shoot elephants because they fear them and regard them as pests. Some countries have established culling programs: park officials or hunters kill a predetermined number of elephants to keep herds manageable and minimize human-elephant conflicts. Hunting has been a major cause of the decline in elephant populations. Elephants became prized trophies for big-game hunters after Europeans arrived in Africa. More recently, and more devastatingly, hunters have slaughtered elephants for their ivory tusks. The ivory trade became a serious threat to elephants in the 1970s. A sudden oil shortage caused the world economy to collapse, and ivory became more valuable than gold. In fact, ivory has been called “white gold” because it is beautiful, easily carved, durable, and pleasing to the touch. Most of the world’s ivory is carved in Japan, Hong Kong, and other Asian countries, where skilled carvers depend on a supply of ivory for their livelihoods  Hunting elephants is no longer legal in many African countries, but poaching was widespread until very recently. For many the high price of ivory, about $100 a pound in the 1980s, was too tempting to resist. Local people often had few other ways to make a living, and subsistence farmers or herders could make more by selling the tusks of one elephant than they could make in a dozen years of farming or herding. As the price of ivory soared, poachers became more organized, using automatic weapons, motorized vehicles, and airplanes to chase and kill thousands of elephants. To governments and revolutionaries mired in civil wars and strapped for cash, poaching ivory became a way to pay for more firearms and supplies. Poaching has caused the collapse of elephants’ social structure as well as decimating their numbers. Poachers target the biggest elephants because their tusks are larger. They often kill all the adults in the group, leaving young elephants without any adults to teach them migration routes, dry-season water sources, and other learned behavior. Many of Africa’s remaining elephant groups are leaderless subadults and juveniles.
2. What does the word “them” in the second paragraph refer to?

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Pollutants in the air aren’t always visible and come from many different sources. Smog hanging over cities is the most familiar and obvious form of air pollution. But there are different kinds of pollution - some visible, some invisible - that contribute to global warming. Generally any substance that people introduce into the atmosphere that has damaging effects on living things and the environment is considered air pollution. Carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, is the main pollutant that is warming Earth. Though living things emit carbon dioxide when they breathe, carbon dioxide is widely considered to be a pollutant when associated with cars, planes, power plants, and other human activities that involve the burning of fossil fuels such as gasoline and natural gas. In the past 150 years, such activities have pumped enough carbon dioxide into the atmosphere to raise its levels higher than they have been for hundreds of thousands of years. Other greenhouse gases include methane - which comes from such sources as swamps and gas emitted by livestock - and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which were used in refrigerants and aerosol propellants until they were banned because of their deteriorating effect on Earth’s ozone layer. Another pollutant associated with climate change is sulfur dioxide, a component of smog. Sulfur dioxide and closely related chemicals are known primarily as a cause of acid rain. But they also reflect light when released in the atmosphere, which keeps sunlight out and causes Earth to cool. Volcanic eruptions can spew massive amounts of sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere, sometimes causing cooling that lasts for years. In fact, volcanoes used to be the main source of atmospheric sulfur dioxide; today people are. Industrialized countries have worked to reduce levels of sulfur dioxide, smog, and smoke in order to improve people’s health. But a result, not predicted until recently, is that the lower sulfur dioxide levels may actually make global warming worse. Just as sulfur dioxide from volcanoes can cool the planet by blocking sunlight, cutting the amount of the compound in the atmosphere lets more sunlight through, warming the Earth. This effect is exaggerated when elevated levels of other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere trap the additional heat.
1. According to the passage, some kind of air pollution ____

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When living and working in another country, there are numerous things to consider  apart from the more obvious ones of climate, language, religion, currency, etc. Some important considerations are less obvious. For example, do you have a pet or do you enjoy a hobby such as horse riding? Your animal or hobby may be perceived in a completely different light in another culture so it’s important to consider the significance given to specific animals in different parts of the world and general perceptions towards them.  One example which is often mentioned in popular press is the case of dogs. In some cultures, like the US or UK, dogs are loved and considered a great pet to have at home and with the family. In other cultures, such as those where Islam is the majority religion, dogs may be perceived as dirty or dangerous. Muslims’ treatment of dogs is still a matter of debate amongst Islamic scholars . While these animals are widely considered by many Western cultures to be ‘man’s best friend’, the Koran describes them as unhygienic. Muslims will therefore avoid touching a dog unless he can wash his hands immediately afterwards, and they will almost never keep a dog in their home.  In Iran, for instance, a cleric once denounced ‘the moral depravity’ of dog owners and even demanded their arrest. If you are an international assignee living and working in Saudi Arabia or another Arabic country, you should remember this when inviting Arab counterparts to your house in case you have a dog as a pet. This is just one example of how Islam and other cultural beliefs can impact on aspects of everyday life that someone else may not even question. A Middle Eastern man might be very surprised when going to Japan, for instance, and seeing dogs being dressed and pampered like humans and carried around in baby prams!  Dogs are not the only animals which are perceived quite differently from one culture to another. In India, for example, cows are sacred and are treated with the utmost respect. Conversely in Argentina, beef is a symbol of national pride because of its tradition and the high quality of its cuts. An Indian working in Argentina who has not done his research or participated in a cross cultural training programme such as Doing Business in Argentina may be surprised at his first welcome dinner with his Argentinean counterparts where a main dish of beef would be served.  It is therefore crucial to be aware of the specific values assigned to objects or animals in different cultures to avoid faux-pas or cultural misunderstandings, particularly when living and working in another culture. Learning how people value animals and other symbols around the world is one of the numerous cultural examples discussed in Communicaid’s intercultural training courses. Understanding how your international colleagues may perceive certain animals can help you ensure you aren’t insensitive and it may even provide you with a good topic for conversation. 
7. What does the author suggest in the last paragraph?

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Stonehenge, the prehistoric stone circle in southern England, is one of the most distinctive and mysterious monuments in the world. The monument, which attracted more than one and a half million visitors last year, is thought to be up to 5,000 years old, and the heaviest stone weighs 38 tons. No one really knows how the stones got there, or the reason they look the way they do – but a piece removed from one of the stones six decades ago could bring some answers. At first glance, the new “discovery” - a cylinder of rock - might look unremarkable. But for Lewis and Robin Phillips, it meant one thing: their dad, Robert. In 1958, Robert Phillips worked on a major restoration project commissioned by the British government. The goal was to make the monument safer, and help historians better understand what Stonehenge was and why it was there. The team drilled through the largest of the sarsen rocks, removing three stone cores. Robert Phillips was gifted one as a souvenir. At the time, the core sample was considered to be “waste material,” Lewis said. “I think that the standards of the day, in conservation, were a bit different to what they are now,” Robert added. Six decades later, Robert - who’s now in his 90s - asked his sons to return the “waste material.” But what had become a family heirloom for the Phillips’ was “the Holy Grail” of Stonehenge for geologists, according to Susan Greaney, an archaeologist at English Heritage. “When the Phillips family first got in touch with us, we had no idea that this existed,” Greaney said. “We’d just assumed that they’d been thrown away.” In 1958, samples like this couldn’t provide much information - but now, Greaney added, it can help archaeologists understand where the stones were from and how they were transported. It could even provide clues to one of the biggest questions: why move all these rocks to one location? Right now, “we don’t know” is the answer to that, Greaney said. "We think this is a prehistoric temple. It’s aligned with the movements of the sun, so we think it’s some kind of ceremonial space. But exactly what the stones mean, why they built them in this way and set them up in the way we see today, there are lots of mysteries about Stonehenge that we have yet to get to the bottom of. 
8. Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?

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Children’s behaviour has worsened over the past five years, according to a survey of  teachers which found that a fifth thought girls were more likely to cause trouble than boys. The survey, published after teachers at a Lancashire school went on strike over discipline, found low-level disruption, including chatting and “horsing around”, was the biggest problem. Boys were more likely to be physically aggressive while girls tended to ostracise other pupils. The behaviour of boys was more of a challenge than that of girls but the actions of each sex had deteriorated, according to 56.5% of staff surveyed by the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL).  Among male pupils the most challenging behaviour for teachers was physical aggression, such as pushing, spitting, kicking and hitting. A secondary teacher quoted in the survey said boys were usually aggressive with other pupils, while girls tended to call one another names. Teachers criticised a lack of role models in the home. A primary teacher said: “The boys are far more willing to be aggressive to adults, verbally and even physically. There don’t seem to be any parental boundaries set of what is an appropriate way to speak and deal with another adult.” Teachers at Darwen Vale high school, Lancashire, walked out over unruly pupil behaviour this month. They said children challenged them to fights and threatened to film lessons and post them online. The survey of more than 850 teachers, heads and other school staff found that more than 21% thought girls’ behaviour was more challenging than boys, compared with 68% who said male pupils caused more trouble. In schools that have excluded pupils, 57% said more boys and 5% said more girls had been excluded. A department head in a primary school told the survey, carried out in March, that “classes with a majority of boys tend to be louder, less co-operative and harder to teach”. Nearly half of the staff surveyed said boys’ bravado was behind their disruption. For girls, the most likely trigger was a break-up between friends. A primary school teacher from Bedfordshire said: "Boys are generally more physical and their behaviour is more noticeable. Girls often say nasty things, which end up disrupting the lesson just as much as the boys, as other children get upset and can’t focus on their work. They are usually the ones who refuse to comply with instructions." Some staff had noticed girls’ behaviour worsening.” A teaching assistant from Weston-super-Mare said: “Girls are definitely getting more violent, with gangs of girls in school who are getting worse than the gangs of boys.” The ATL annual conference in Liverpool on Monday is due to debate a motion expressing concern at increasing numbers of girls being excluded from secondary school.  Government figures for 2008-9 showed that boys represented 78% of the total number of permanent exclusions from schools in England. This proportion was unchanged from the year before. The ATL general secretary, Mary Bousted, said: "Staff get ground down daily by the chatting and messing around, which disrupts lessons for other pupils and takes the pleasure out of teaching. Even more worrying is the physical aggression, most often among boys but also among some girls, which puts other pupils and staff at risk. Schools need to have firm and consistent discipline policies and work with parents to keep schools and colleges safe places for pupils and staff alike." The education bill, now going through the Commons, will give teachers the right to search pupils for banned items and will remove the requirement to give parents a day’s notice of detention. The education secretary, Michael Gove, said the measures in the bill would “restore discipline” in the classroom.
7. Which of the following best reflects the suggestion of the author to reduce bad behavior of children in the last paragraph?

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Globalization can be seen as increased economic, cultural and technological exchange between countries. Examples might be McDonald's in Calcutta and Japanese motor technology in Britain. Many international organizations are pro-globalization, while many others are anti- ones. The main organizations against globalization are the environmental organizations, such as Friends of the Earth and reenpeace, who put forward the belief that globalization harms the environment. In general, these organizations blame global corporations for global warning and the depletion of natural resources. The most obvious is oil and gas, but there are others such as tropical rainforests, which are cut down for timber, and the resources of the sea, which may be affected by pollution. Organizations which represent developing countries, including international aid agencies such as Oxfam, are also against globalization. They are concerned that the global organizations, such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, are not doing enough to help the poor and indeed, may be adding to their problems. Some are critical of the World Trade Organization (WTO). They argue that the WTO is making difficult for poor countries to protect and build their own industries. On the contrary, many organizations are in favor of globalization. Perhaps the most important one is the WTO. This organization was set up in 1995 and has 123 member countries. It administers the rules of international trade agreed by its member countries. The WTO's rules make it difficult for a country to favor their own industry over imports from other countries. The WTO argues that the growth of trade between countries increases the wealth of everyone. Trade allows those who can produce goods most cheaply to do so, thus giving everyone the best possible price. Another pro-globalization organization is IMF. This was established after World War II in 1946. It aims to promote international cooperation on finance and provide temporary help for countries suffering financial problems. The IMF has 182 member countries. Finally, the United Nations, which was established after the Second World War, has become a promoter of globalization. It aims to  promote a shared set of values in the areas of labour standards, human rights and environmental practices between the UN and the business community.
10. The main purpose of the passage is that: 

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Business dealings are becoming more and more commonplace in Vietnam, as the  country’s economy is expanding at an unprecedented rate. In order to gain the respect and favour of any prospective business partners in the country, it is important to familiarise yourself with practices and etiquette that are integral to successful commerce. Doing so will communicate not only your familiarity with their way of life, but also your suitability as a partner and will underline your business acumen.  Regarding business meeting, the first meeting should not discuss business and should be seen only as an opportunity to get to know your counterpart and cultivate a good working relationship with them. While placing hands together and bowing your head is the traditional form of greeting in Vietnam, it has been all but eradicated by the westernisation of society. As a result, you should always shake the hand of a person you are meeting for the first time - especially if they are of the same sex. When meeting a female, you should wait for her to extend her hand first; if she does not, simply nod your head. Follow your new colleague’s lead in all matters. If they shake with both hands (left hand placed upon top of right), do the same.  The next important point is that the exchange of business cards is an important ritual in Vietnamese culture. Because of this, always make sure you bring a business card to exchange at any meeting, no matter how small or trivial it may seem. Ideally, this will be printed in both English and Vietnamese and you should always offer it using both hands. When receiving a card from someone else, accept it with both hands and study it thoroughly before putting it away to show respect. The translation of all documents into Vietnamese will demonstrate your regard for your prospective partners and your preparation in the business world.  
3. What can best replace the word trivial in the passage?

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The World Health Organization on Wednesday declared the rapidly spreading  coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that “We expect to see the number of cases, the number of deaths, and the number of affected countries climb even higher.”  WHO officials had said earlier they were hesitant to call the outbreak a pandemic in case it led governments and individuals to give up the fight. On Wednesday, they stressed that fundamental public health interventions can still limit the spread of the virus and drive down cases even where it was transmitting widely, as the work of authorities and communities in China, Singapore, and South Korea has shown.  The virus, which probably originated in bats but passed to people via an as yet unrecognized intermediary animal species, is believed to have started infecting people in Wuhan, China, in late November or early December. Since then the virus has raced around the globe. South Korea, which has reported nearly 8,000 cases, also appears poised to bring its outbreak under control with aggressive measures and widespread testing. But other countries have struggled to follow the leads of China and South Korea — a reality that has frustrated WHO officials who have exhorted the world to do everything possible to end transmission of the virus. Tedros used the fact that 90% of the cumulative cases have been reported in just four countries as evidence that the rest of the world still had time to prevent an explosion of cases with action.  WHO officials also stressed that countries should be implementing a strategic combination two types of measures. One involves trying to detect and stop known chains of transmission by isolating cases and following and potentially quarantining their contacts. The other involves community-level steps like social distancing and comes into play when the virus is spreading more broadly and transmission chains can’t be tracked. Mike Ryan, the head of the WHO’s emergency program, said that the public health interventions might not have straightforward effect, but to slow the spread of the virus. People with severe cases can require long periods of critical care and strain the resources of hospitals. He said he was worried about “the case load, the demand on the health workers, the dangers that come with fatigue, and potentially shortages of personal protective equipment.”
1. Which best serves as the title for the passage?

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His handicap prevented him ___________ swimming all lifelong.

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A Tidal Stream Generation system reduces some of the environmental effects of tidal barrages by using turbine generators beneath the surface of the water. Major tidal flows and ocean currents, like the Gulf Stream, can be exploited to extract its tidal energy using underwater rotors and turbines. Tidal stream generation is very similar in principle to wind power generation. Water currents flow across a turbines rotor blades which rotates the turbine, much like how wind currents turn the blades for wind power turbines. In fact, tidal stream generation areas on the sea bed can look just like underwater wind farms. Unlike off-shore wind power which can suffer from storms or heavy sea damage, tidal stream turbines operate just below the sea surface or are fixed to the sea bed. Tidal streams are formed by the horizontal fast flowing volumes of water caused by the ebb and flow of the tide as the profile of the sea bed causes the water to speed up as it approaches the shoreline. As water is much more denser than air and has a much slower flow rate, tidal stream turbines have much smaller diameters and higher tip speed rates compared to an equivalent wind turbine. Tidal stream turbines generate tidal power on both the ebb and flow of the tide. One of the disadvantages of Tidal Stream Generation is that as the turbines are submerged under the surface of the water they can create hazards to navigation and shipping. Other forms of tidal energy include tidal fences which use individual vertical-axis turbines that are mounted within a fence structure, known as the caisson, which completely blocks a channel and force water through them. Another alternative way of harnessing tidal power is by using an “oscillating tidal turbine”. This is basically a fixed wing called a Hydroplane positioned on the sea bed. The hydroplane uses the energy of the tidal stream flowing past it to oscillate its giant wing, similar to a whales flipper, up and down with the movement of the tidal currents. This motion is then used to generate electricity. The angle of the hydroplane to the flow of the tide can be varied to increase efficiency. Tidal energy is another form of low-head hydro power that is completely carbon neutral like wind and hydro energy. Tidal power has many advantages compared to other forms of renewable energy with its main advantage being that it is predictable. However, like many other forms of renewable energy, tidal energy also has its disadvantages such as its inflexible generation times dependant upon the tides and the fact that it operates in the hostile conditions of the oceans and seas
4. What is mentioned in the passage as a disadvantage of Tidal Stream Generation?

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Whether a species is endangered—meaning at risk of extinction—depends on which definition you use. The International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species classifies an animal as endangered when its numbers in the wild have dropped so low that it’s at “extremely high risk” of extinction. Meanwhile, the United States’ Endangered Species Act of 1973 takes into consideration any destruction to a species’ habitat, whether it has been over-consumed, any disease or predation that threaten it, whether any other man-made factors put it in danger, and what policies currently exist to protect it. When members of the public or a state agency propose to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service or the National Marine Fisheries Service that a species be listed as endangered under the law, research and management plans are formed to help those species survive. It is illegal under the Endangered Species Act to capture, hunt, shoot, or otherwise harm an animal that’s listed as endangered. Sometimes, federal agencies decide that although a species could be considered endangered, other species are higher priorities. In those cases, the animal or plant gets limited protections. One animal whose numbers have increased through conservation is the bald eagle. There were only about 500 bald eagles in the continental United States in the 1960s because of pesticides that damaged the shells of their eggs. Conservation efforts including captive breeding programs, habitat protection, and a ban on the insecticide DDT helped the bald eagle’s numbers soar back into the thousands. Another is the giant panda, which was declared no longer endangered in 2016 thanks to 50 years of efforts to save it. U.S. Rep. John Dingell, who wrote the Endangered Species Act, argued that “only natural extinction is part of natural order.” Scientists believe that 227 species - including the grizzly bear, the peregrine falcon and the gray wolf - were saved from extinction in the first 33 years of the law’s existence. Still, critics argue that the act is expensive and ineffective because it protects so many species. Several federal courts have heard and rejected arguments that the Endangered Species Act is unconstitutional, and members of Congress have tried to weaken the law in small ways.
1. Which best serves as the title for the passage?

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The good news is more money_____ on education in the next five years.

Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
In Africa, people celebrate with joy the birth of a new baby. The Pygmies would sing a birth-song to the child. In Kenya, the mother takes the baby strapped to her back into the thorn enclosure where the cattle is kept. There, her husband and the village elders wait to give the child his or her name. In West Africa, after the baby is eight days old, the mother takes the baby for it’s first walk in the big, wide world, and friends and family are invited to meet the new baby. In various African nations, they hold initiation ceremonies for groups of children instead of birthdays. When children reach a certain designated age, they learn the laws, beliefs, customs, songs and dances of their tribes. Some African tribes consider that children from nine to twelve are ready to be initiated into the grown up world. They may have to carry out several tests. Masai boys around thirteen years old to seventeen undergo a two stage initiation. The first stage lasts about three months. The boys leave their parents’ homes, paint their bodies white, and are taught how to become young warriors. At the end of this stage, they have their heads shaved and they are also circumcised. The second stage, the young warriors grow their hair long and live in a camp called a manyatta where they practice hunting the wild animals that might attack the Masai herds. This stage may last a few years. When they are ready, they will marry and become owners of large cattle herds like their fathers. The girls are initiated when they are fourteen or fifteen. They are taught by the older women about the duties of marriage and how to care for babies. Soon after that they are married and lead a life similar to that of their mothers  
4. The word “undergo” in the third paragraph is closest in meaning to _________