Chọn câu có nghĩa gần nhất với câu đã cho: It will not be long until he is at the meeting.

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

What is the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and what is its purpose? The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is a multilateral organization which was (26) _____ to give Southeast Asian states a forum to communicate (27) _____ each other. Since the region had a long colonial past and a history of endemic warfare, there has never been much peaceful and constructive (28) _____ between kings, presidents and other officials. A neutral forum was, (29) _____, a very useful development for all of those countries.ASEAN was formed as a result of the Bangkok (30) _____ of 1967 and initially had five members: Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, (31) _____ Philippines and Singapore. Brunei (32) _____ joined in 1984 after it had won independence from Britain. Vietnam became the seventh member of the group, officially joining in 1995. (33) _____ several years of negotiation, Myanmar and Laos joined in 1997 and the final member of the ten, Cambodia, joined in 1999. The only (34) _______state in Southeast Asia which is not a member of ASEAN is now East Timor. It is still (35) _____ vulnerable and fragile to be able to participate for the foreseeable future.

(34) _____

During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, almost nothing was written about    the contributions of women during the colonial period and the early history of the newly formed United States. Lacking the right to vote and absent from the seats of power, women were not considered an important force in history. Anne Bradstreet wrote some significant poetry in the seventeenth century, Mercy Otis Warren produced the host contemporary    history of the American Revolution, and Abigail Adams penned Important letters showing    she exercised great political Influence over her husband, John, tiie second President of the United States. But little or no notice was taken of these contributions. During those centuries, women remained Invisible In history  books.

Throughout the nineteenth century, this lack of visibility  continued,  despite  the  efforts of female authors writing about women, These writers, like most of their male counterparts, were amateur historians. Their writings were celebratory in  nature,  and  they were uncritical in their selection and use of  sources.

During the nineteenth century, however, certain feminists showed a keen sense of history by keeping records of activities in which women were engaged. National, regional,    and local women's organizations compiled accounts of  their  doings.  Personal  correspondence, newspaper clippings, and souvenirs were saved and stored. These sources  from the core of the two greatest collections of women’s history In the United States one at   the Elizabeth and Arthur Schleslnger Library at Radcliffe College, and the other the Sophia Smith Collection at Smith College. Such sources have provided valuable materials for later Generations of historians.

Despite the gathering of more information about ordinary women during  the  nineteenth Century, most of the writing about women conformed to  the  "great  women"  theory of History, just as much of mainstream American  history  concentrated  on  "great  men," To demonstrate that women were making significant contributions to American life, female authors singled out women leaders and wrote biographies, or else important women produced their autobiographies. Most of these leaders were Involved in public life  as  reformers, activists working for women's right to vote, or authors,  and  were  not  representative at all of the great of ordinary woman. The lives of ordinary people continued, generally, to be untold in the American histories being   published.

What does the passage mainly discuss?

A book has just been published to help parents to deal with their children's naughty behavior at home. The author, Dr James Bruno, says that the first positive discipline technique is for parents to remain (21)_____ because nervous parents don't get good results. Parents who often (22)____ their temper find that their children stop taking any notice of them. When parents yell at their children to make them (23)____ an order, children often act as if they did not hear them,The second challenge is to know how to correct bad behavior in an effective way. (24)_____ children by preventing them from watching their favorite TV program is not an ideal solution. Nor is telling them off when their friends are present. Dr Bruno believes parents should (25)____ clear rules for children to follow. If children refuse to follow these, they know they will be disciplined

(21)........................................

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

On 8 August 1967, five leaders - the Foreign Ministers of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand- sat down together in the main hall of the Department of Foreign Affairs building in Bangkok, Thailand and signed a document. By virtue of that document, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was born. The five Foreign Ministers who signed it have been considered as the founders of probably the most successful intergovernmental organization in the developing world today. The document that they signed would be known as the ASEAN Declaration.

It is a short, simply-worded document containing just five articles. It declares the establishment of an Association for Regional Cooperation among the Countries of Southeast Asia to be known as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and spells out the aims and purposes of that Association. These aims and purposes are about the cooperation in economy, society, culture, techniques, education and other fields, and in the promotion of regional peace and stability through abiding respect for justice and the principles of the United Nations Charter. It stipulates that the Association will be open for participation by all States in the Southeast Asian region subscribing to its aims, principles and purposes. It proclaims ASEAN as representing the collective will of the nations of Southeast Asia to bind themselves together in friendship and cooperation and, through joint efforts and sacrifices, secure for their peoples and for posterity the blessings of peace, freedom and prosperity. The goal of ASEAN, then, is to create, not to destroy. The original ASEAN logo presented five brown sheaves of rice stalks, one for each founding member. Beneath the sheaves is the legend "ASEAN" in blue. These are set on a field of yellow encircled by a blue border. Brown stands for strength and stability, yellow for prosperity and blue for the spirit of cordiality in which ASEAN affairs are conducted. When ASEAN celebrated its 30th Anniversary in 1997, the sheaves on the logo had increased to ten -representing all ten countries of Southeast Asia and reflecting the colors of the flags of all of them. In a very real sense, ASEAN and Southeast Asia will be one and the same, just as the founders had envisioned.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations ______

PANDEMIC DISEASES
Diseases are a natural part of life on earth. If there were  no diseases,  the population would grow too quickly, and there would not be enough food or other resources, so in a way, diseases are natural ways of keeping the Earth in balance. But sometimes  they  spread  very  quickly and kill large numbers of people. For example, in 1918, an outbreak of the flu spread  across the world, killing over 25 million people in only six months. Such terrible outbreaks of a disease are called pandemics.
Pandemics happen when a disease changes in a way that our bodies are not prepared to fight.  In 1918, a new type of flu virus appeared. Our bodies had no way to fight this new flu virus, and    so it spread very quickly and killed large numbers of people. While there have  been  many  different pandemic diseases throughout history, all of them have a new thing in    common.
First, all pandemic diseases spread from one person to another very   easily.
Second, while they may kill many people, they generally do not kill people very quickly. A good example of this would be the Marburg virus. The Marburg virus is an extremely infectious disease. In addition, it is deadly. About 70 -80% of all people who  get the Marburg virus  died  from the disease. However, the Marburg virus has not become  a pandemic  because most people die within three days of getting the disease. This means that the virus does not have enough time    to spread a large number of people. The flu virus of 1918, on the other hand, generally took about   a week to ten days to kill its victims, so it had more time to   spread.
While we may never be able to completely stop pandemics, we  can  make  them  less  common. Doctors carefully monitor new diseases that they fear could become pandemics. For example, in 2002, and 2003, doctors carefully watched SARS. Their health warnings may have prevented SARS from becoming a  pandemic.

This passage is mainly about   ................

Very few people, groups, or governments oppose globalization in its entirety. Instead,  critics of globalization believe aspects of the way globalization operates should be changed. The debate over globalization is about what the best rules are for governing the global economy so that its advantages can grow while its problems can be solved.
On one side of this debate are those who stress the benefits of removing barriers to international trade and investment, allowing capital to be allocated more efficiently and giving consumers greater freedom of choice. With free-market globalization, investment funds can move unimpeded from the rich countries to the developing countries. Consumers can benefit from cheaper products because reduced taxes make goods produced at low cost from faraway places cheaper to buy. Producers of goods gain by selling to a wider market. More competition keeps sellers on their toes and allows ideas and new technology to spread and benefit others.
On the other side of the debate are critics who see neo-liberal policies as producing greater poverty, inequality, social conflict, cultural destruction, and environmental damage. They say that the most developed nations - the United States, Germany, and Japan - succeeded not because of free trade but because of protectionism and subsidies. They argue that the more recently successful economies of South Korea, Taiwan, and China all had strong state-led development strategies that did not follow neo-liberalism. These critics think that government encouragement of "infant industries"' that is, industries that are just beginning to develop - enables a country to become internationally competitive.
Furthermore, those who criticize the Washington Consensus suggest that the inflow and outflow of money from speculative investors must be limited to prevent bubbles. These bubbles are characterized by the rapid inflow of foreign funds that bid up domestic stock markets and property values. When the economy cannot sustain such expectations, the bubbles burst as investors panic and pull their money out of the country.
Protests by what is called the anti-globalization movement are seldom directed against globalization itself but rather against abuses that harm the rights of workers and the environment. The question raised by nongovernmental organizations and protesters at WTO and IMF gatherings is whether globalization will result in a rise of living standards or a race to the bottom as competition takes the form of lowering living standards and undermining environmental regulations.
One of the key problems of the 21st century will be determining to what extent markets should be regulated to promote fair competition, honest dealing, and fair distribution of public goods on a global scale.

The phrase "keeps sellers on their toes" in the passage mostly means "     ".

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 31 to 35.
Graphic novels, as the name suggests, are books written and illustrated in the style of a comic book. Adults may feel that graphic novels do not help children become good readers. They believe that this  type of  reading material  somehow prevents  "real"   reading. (31) , many quality graphic novels are now being seen as a method of storytelling on the same level as novels, films or audiobooks. Many librarians and teachers are now accepting graphic novels as proper literature for children as they (32) young people and motivate them to read. This has been especially true with children who are not (33) to read, especially boys.
Language learners are also motivated by graphic novels because the pictures provide clues to the meaning of the words. Therefore, they   will (34) new vocabulary more quickly. Many teachers have reported great success when they used graphic novels with their students, especially in the areas of English, social studies and art. The idea that graphic novels are too simple to be regarded as serious reading is no longer valid. Reading them can, undoubtedly, help students develop the skills (35) are necessary to read more challenging works.
(31).................

Learning means acquiring knowledge or developing the ability to perform new behaviors. It is common to think of learning as something that takes place in school, but much of human learning occurs outside the classroom, and people continue to learn throughout their lives.

Even before they enter school, young children learn to walk, to talk, and to use their hands to manipulate toys, food, and other objects. They use all of their senses to learn about the sights, sounds, tastes, and smells in their environments. They learn how to interact with their parents, siblings, friends, and other people important to their world. When they enter school, children learn basic academic subjects such as reading, writing, and mathematics. They also continue to learn a great deal outside the classroom. They learn which behaviors are likely to be rewarded and which are likely to be punished. They learn social skills for interacting with other children. After they finish school, people must learn to adapt to the many major changes that affect their lives, such as getting married, raising children, and finding and keeping a job.

Because learning continues throughout our lives and affects almost everything we do, the study of learning is important in many different fields. Teachers need to understand the best ways to educate children. Psychologists, social workers, criminologists, and other human- service workers need to understand how certain experiences change people's behaviors.

Employers, politicians, and advertisers make use of the principles of teaming to influence the behavior of workers, voters, and consumers.

Learning is closely related to memory, which is the storage of information in the brain.

Psychologists who study memory are interested in how the brain stores knowledge, where this storage takes place, and how the brain later retrieves knowledge when we need it. In contrast, psychologists who study learning are more interested in behavior and how behavior changes as a result of a person's experiences.

There are many forms of learning, ranging from simple to complex. Simple forms of learning involve a single stimulus. A stimulus is anything perceptible to the senses, such as a sight, sound, smell, touch, or taste. In a form of learning known as classical conditioning, people learn to associate two stimuli that occur in sequence, such as lightning followed by thunder. In operant conditioning, people learn by forming an association between a behavior and its consequences (reward or punishment). People and animals can also learn by observation - that is, by watching others perform behaviors. More complex forms of learning include learning languages, concepts, and motor skills

According to the pasage, which of the following is learning in broad view comprised of?

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

"Cambodia, country in Southeast Asia, also known (1)…… Kâmpuchéa. More than a thousand years ago, Cambodia was the center of the Khmer (Cambodian) kingdom of Angkor, a great empire (2)……  dominated Southeast Asia for 600 years. A monarchy since ancient (3)…… , Cambodia was a French protectorate from 1863 to 1953. A republic replaced the monarchy in 1970, and in 1975 a Communist regime known as the Khmer Rouge (4)…. power, naming the country Democratic Kâmpuchéa. The Khmer Rouge’s brutal repression and radical socialist (5) ……  devastated Cambodia’s society and economy. In 1979 anti-Khmer Rouge Communist forces from Vietnam and Cambodia overthrew the Khmer Rouge and established a more moderate socialist State. In 1993 a new constitution restored the (6) …... Cambodia’s official name is the Kingdom of Cambodia.
 Cambodia is (7)….. . on the northeast by Laos, on the east and southeast by Vietnam, on the west and northwest by Thailand, and on the southwest by the Gulf of Thailand (Siam). The country’s Capital and largest city is Phnom Penh. Cambodia’s Principal lake, the Tônlé Sap (Great Lake), is the largest in Southeast Asia. From the northwest, the Tônlé Sap drains (8)…..  the Mekong via the Tônlé Sab River, (9)…… the Mekong at Phnom Penh. Each year during the monsoon season (approximately May to October), the waters of the Mekong (10)….. and reverse the flow of the Tônlé Sab. The lake then expands dramatically, flooding the provinces along its banks."

8. From the northwest, the Tônlé Sap drains (8)…..  the Mekong via the Tônlé Sab River,

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

What is the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and what is its purpose? The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is a multilateral organization which was (26) _____ to give Southeast Asian states a forum to communicate (27) _____ each other. Since the region had a long colonial past and a history of endemic warfare, there has never been much peaceful and constructive (28) _____ between kings, presidents and other officials. A neutral forum was, (29) _____, a very useful development for all of those countries.ASEAN was formed as a result of the Bangkok (30) _____ of 1967 and initially had five members: Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, (31) _____ Philippines and Singapore. Brunei (32) _____ joined in 1984 after it had won independence from Britain. Vietnam became the seventh member of the group, officially joining in 1995. (33) _____ several years of negotiation, Myanmar and Laos joined in 1997 and the final member of the ten, Cambodia, joined in 1999. The only (34) _______state in Southeast Asia which is not a member of ASEAN is now East Timor. It is still (35) _____ vulnerable and fragile to be able to participate for the foreseeable future.

(31) _____

Although they are an inexpensive supplier of vitamins, minerals, and high-quality protein, eggs also contain  a high  level of blood cholesterol, one of the major causes of heart diseases. One egg   yolk, in fact, contains a little more than two-thirds of the suggested daily cholesterol limit. This knowledge has caused egg sales to plummet in recent years, which in turn has brought about the development of several alternatives to eating regular eggs. One alternative is to eat substitute eggs. These egg substitutes are not really eggs, but they look somewhat like eggs when  they are  cooked. They have the advantage of having low cholesterol rates, and they can be  scrambled  or  used  in baking. One disadvantage, however, is that they are not good for frying, poaching,  or boiling.  A second alternative to regular eggs is a new type of egg, sometimes called 'designer' eggs. These eggs  are produced by hens that are fed low-fat diets consisting of Ingredients such as canola oil, flax, and rice bran. In spite of their diets, however, these hens produce eggs that contain the same amount of cholesterol as regular eggs. Yet, the producers of these eggs claim that eating their eggs will not raise the blood cholesterol in  humans.
Egg producers  claim  that their product has been  portrayed unfairly. They cite scientific studies  to back up their claim. And, in fact, studies on the relationship between eggs and human cholesterol levels have brought mixed results. It may be that it is not the type of egg that is the main determinant   of cholesterol but the person who is eating the eggs. Some people may be  more  sensitive  to  cholesterol derived from food than other people. In fact, there is evidence that certain dietary fats stimulate the body's production of blood cholesterol. Consequently, while it still makes sense to limit one's intake of eggs, even designer eggs, it seems that doing this without regulating dietary fat will probably not help reduce the blood cholesterol  level.

According to the passage, which of the following is a  cause of heart diseases?

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:
Humans are bringing about another global-scale change in the atmosphere: the increase in what are called greenhouse gases. Like glass in a greenhouse, these gases admit the Sun's light but tend to reflect back downward the heat that is radiated from the ground below, trapping heat in the Earth's atmosphere. This process is known as the greenhouse effect. Carbon dioxide is the most significant of these gases – there is 25 percent more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere today than there was a century ago, the result of our burning coal and fuels derived from oil. Methane, nitrous oxide, and CFCs are greenhouse gases as well.
Scientists predict that increases in these gases in the atmosphere will make the Earth a warmer place. They expect a global rise in average temperature somewhere between 1.0 and 3.5 degrees Celsius in the next century. Average temperatures have in fact been rising and the years from 1987 to 1997 were the warmest years on record. Some scientists are reluctant to say that global warming has actually begun because climate naturally varies from year to year and decade to decade, and it takes many years of records to be sure of a fundamental change. There is little disagreement, though, that global warming is looming.
Global warming will have different effects in different regions. A warmed world is expected to have more extreme weather, with more rain during wet periods, longer droughts, and more powerful storms. Although the effects of future climate changes are unknown, some predict that exaggerated weather conditions may translate into better agricultural yields in areas such as the western United States, where temperature and rainfall are expected to increase, while dramatic decreases in rainfall may lead to severe droughts and plunging agricultural yields in parts of Africa, for example.
Warmer temperatures are expected to partially melt the polar ice caps, leading to a projected sea level rise of 50 centimeters by the year 2050. A sea level rise of this magnitude would flood coastal cities, force people to abandon low-lying islands, and completely inundate coastal wetlands. Diseases like malaria, which at present are primarily found in the tropics, may become more common in the regions of the globe between the tropics and the polar regions, called the temperate zones. For many of the world's plant species, and for animal species that are not easily able to shift their territories as their habitat grows warmer, climate change may bring extinction.

What may be the benefit of exaggerated weather conditions for the western United States?

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

"The seven-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) met September 2, 1996, in Singapore, to discuss how to police the Internet. Although the group agreed on the need to control the explosion of information available on the Internet, it was unable to reach a common policy for regulating access to the global Computer network.
 At the end of the three-day meeting, ASEAN government officials and industry experts issued a statement emphasizing the need to block access to Web sites that run “counter to our cherished values, traditions and culture.” ASEAN comprises Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
 The meeting was the first time the Southeast Asian countries had tried to formulate a common approach to the Internet. Many of the ASEAN-member countries were concerned about the dissemination of pornography and antigovernment views over the Internet, the influence and perceived bias of the Western media, and the erosion of Asian values.
 The forum, which followed a meeting of ASEAN information ministers earlier in the year, concluded that each country should develop its own regulatory approach to cyberspace. The ASEAN delegates agreed to share information and their experiences with national regulations and “cyberlaws.”
 The forum was unable to agree on a regulatory framework for the region because of differing political views regarding censorship. Singapore, which has an estimated 150,000 Web users, is the first ASEAN country to impose regulations on access to the Internet. The city-state requires Internet providers to block access to pornographic sites and regulate political and religious discussion. On the other hand, the Philippines and Thailand support more liberal policies, calling for self- regulation by Internet access providers and minimal government intervention."

2. The greatest concern of many ASEAN-member countries was …….

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:
Most weddings in Japan start with a religious ceremony in which usually only family members attend. Afterwards, a banquet is customarily held to which many people, including friends and colleagues, are invited. To celebrate the happy occasion, guests give the bride and groom goshuugi – gift money in special envelopes. Goshuugi from friends is usually 20,000 yen or 30,000 yen.
A typical Japanese wedding party starts when the bride and groom enter the banquet hall together, and take their seats on a slightly raised platform facing their guests. Invited guests are seated closer to the bride and groom, with family and relatives seated further in back. The bride's and groom's bosses usually give congratulatory speeches then their friends sing in celebration. Other wedding highlights include a candle ceremony where the couple holds a candle while greeting their guests at each table, and the cutting of the wedding cake. Afterwards, the bride and groom thank their parents with a speech, then leave to end the party.
In the past, dishes that supposedly brought good fortune, such as prawns and sea breams, were served in abundance. So much of the food was ordered that guests ended up taking the surplus home. Today, the majority of the weddings serve just enough for everyone. Additionally, before leaving, guests would traditionally receive souvenir gifts called hikidemono.
Many wedding ceremonies take place at wedding halls or hotels. Rough estimates show that it costs about 3 million yen to host a wedding party for 80 guests. During Japan's economic bubble, overseas weddings and flamboyant receptions with special effects, such as smoke machines and having the bride and groom fly in on gondolas, were very popular. But these days, couples choose to tie the knot in various ways, from not having any ceremony to having a modest affair, or still going all out.

The word "fortune" in paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to _     .

The idea of life in outer space has been talked about for a long time. Some scientists say that life development on Earth was far too unlikely for it to have happened anywhere else. Things had to be perfect for us to make it on this planet. Other scientists say that space is too big. Stars and other planets are far too numerous for there to be no other life in the universe.
For many years, there have been reports of visitors from other planets. People all around the world have claimed to see alien spaceships or even aliens themselves. There have been glimpses of these so-called UFOs (unidentified flying objects) flying through the air and they have even been captured on video. Some Americans believe that the U.S. Army found an alien spaceship crashed in the desert and then lied to the press about it. Although these sightings may be true, scientists have not found significant evidence that aliens exist.
If you go out into the countryside on a clear night and look up, you can see thousands of stars. Those stars make up a tiny part of our unniverse. There are more stars, planets, and galaxies than we can count. Even the smartest scientists can’t even come close to defining how big space is. The number of possible stars and planets out there is bigger than our ability to count. If we are really on the only planet that can sustain life, then we are very special in a universe full of amazing things.

The word “they” in bold in paragraph 2 refers 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.

   Scientists do not yet thoroughly understand just how the body of an individual becomes sensitive to a substance that is harmless or even wholesome for the average person. Milk, wheat, and egg, for example, rank among the most healthful and widely used foods. Yet these foods can cause persons sensitive to them to suffer greatly. At first, the body of the individual is not harmed by coming into contact with the substance. After a varying interval of time, usually longer than a few weeks, the body becomes sensitive to it, and an allergy has begun to develop. Sometimes it's hard to figure out if you have a food allergy, since it can show up so many different ways. Your symptoms could be caused by many other problems. You may have rashes, hives, joint pains mimicking arthritis, headaches, irritability, or depression. The most common food allergies are to milk, eggs, seafood, wheat, nuts, seeds, chocolate, oranges, and tomatoes. Many of these allergies will not develop if these foods are not fed to an infant until her or his intestines mature at around seven months. Breast milk also tends to be protective. Migraines can be set off by foods containing tyramine, phenathylamine, monosodium glutamate, or sodium nitrate. Common foods which contain these are chocolate, aged cheeses, sour cream, red wine, pickled herring, chicken livers, avocados, ripe bananas, cured meats, many Oriental and prepared foods (read the labels!). Some people have been successful in treating their migraines with supplements of B-vitamins, particularly B6 and niacin. Children who are hyperactive may benefit from eliminating food additives, especially colorings, and foods high in salicylates from their diets. A few of these are almonds, green peppers, peaches, tea, grapes. This is the diet made popular by Benjamin Feingold, who has written the book “Why your Child is Hyperactive”. Other researchers have had mixed results when testing whether the diet is effective.

The topic of this passage is ___________.

Commuting is the practice of travelling a long distance to a town or city to work each day, and then travelling home again in the evening. The word commuting comes from commutation ticket, a US rail ticket for repeated journeys, called a season ticket in Britain. Regular travellers are called commuters.
The US has many commuters. A few, mostly on the East Coast commute by train or subway, but most depend on the car. Some leave home very early to avoid the traffic jams, and sleep in their cars until their office opens. Many people accept a long trip to work so that they can live in quiet "bedroom communities" away from the city, but another reason is 'white flight'. In the 1960s most cities began to desegregate their schools, so that there were no longer separate schools  for  white and black children. Many white families did not want to send their children to desegregated schools, so they moved to the suburbs, which have their own schools, and where, for various reasons, few black people live.
Millions of people in Britain commute by car or train. Some spend two or three hours a day travelling, so that they and their families can live in suburbia or in the countryside. Cities are surrounded by commuter belts. Part of the commuter belt around London is called the stock broker belt because it contains houses where rich business people live. Some places are becoming dormitory towns, because people sleep there but take little part in local activities.
Most commuters travel to and from work at the same time, causing the morning and evening rush hours, when buses and trains are crowded and there are traffic jams on the roads. Commuters on trains rarely talk to each other and spend their journey reading, sleeping or using their mobile phones, though this is not popular with other passengers. Increasing numbers of people now work at home some days of the week, linked to their offices by computer, a practice called telecommuting.
Cities in both Britain and the US are trying to reduce the number of cars conning into town each day. Some companies encourage car pooling (called car sharing in Britain), an arrangement for people who live and work near each other to travel together. Some Us cities have a public service that helps such people to contact each other, and traffic lanes are reserved for car-pool vehicles. But cars and petrol/gas are cheap in the US, and many people prefer to drive alone because it gives them more freedom. In Britain many cities have park-and-rids schemes, car parks on the edge of the city from which buses take drivers into the centre.

The phrase "linked to” in paragraph 4 is closest in meaning to.................

Ranked as the number one beverage consumed worldwide, tea takes the lead over coffee in both popularity and production with more than 5 million metric tons of tea produced annually. Although much of this tea is consumed in Asia, European and African countries, the United  States drinks it fair share. According to estimates by the Tea Council of the United States, tea is enjoyed by no less than half of the U.S population on any given day. Black tea or green tea - iced, spiced, or instant - tea drinking has spurred a billion - dollar business with major tea produces in Africa and South America and throughout Asia.
Tea is made from the leaves of an evergreen plant, Camellia sinensis, which grows tall and lush in tropical regions. On tea plantation, the plant is kept trimmed to approximately four feet high, and as new buds called flush appear, they are plucked off by hand. Even in today's world of modern agricultural machinery, hand harvesting continues to be preferred method. Ideally, only the top two leaves and bud should be picked. This new growth produces the highest quality tea.
After being harvested, tea leaves are laid out on long drying racks, called withering racks, for 18 to 20 hours. During this process, the tea softens and becomes limp. Next, depending on the type of the tea being produced, the leaves may be crushed or chopped to release flavor, and then steamed to retain their green color, and the fermentation process is skipped. Producing black teas requires fermentation during which the tea leaves begin to darken. After fermentation, black tea is dried in vats to produce its rich brown or black color.
No one knows when or how tea became popular, but legend has it that tea as a beverage was discovered in 2737 B.C. by Emperor Shen Nung of China when leaves from Camellia dropped into his drinking water as it was boiling over a fire. As the story goes, Emperor Shen Nung drank the resulting liquid and proclaimed that the drink to be most nourishing and refreshing. Though this account cannot be documented, it is thought that tea drinking probably originated in China and spread to other parts of Asia, then to Europe, and ultimately to America colonies around 1650.
With about half of the caffeine content as coffee, tea is often chosen by those who want to reduce, but not necessarily eliminate their caffeine intake. Some people find that tea is less acidic than coffee and therefore easier on the stomach. Others have become interested in tea drinking since the National Cancer Institute published its findings on the antioxidant properties of tea. But whether tea is enjoyed for its perceived health benefits, its flavor, or as a social drink, teacups continue to be filled daily with the world's most popular beverage.

Based on the passage, what is implied about tea harvesting?

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

"Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), regional alliance of ten independent countries that (1)……;  stability and economic growth in Southeast Asia. The organization also encourages cultural exchanges between its members. ASEAN was founded in August 1967 by Malaysia, Thailand, and the (2)….. of Indonesia, Singapore, and the Philippines. Brunei joined the alliance after (3)….. independence from the United Kingdom in 1984. Vietnam was admitted (4)….   its seventh member in 1995. Laos and Myanmar (formerly Burma) joined ASEAN in 1997, and Cambodia became (5)…… of the alliance in 1999. The ASEAN secretariat, a (6) ….. office that administers the organization's activities, is located in Jakarta, Indonesia.
 Its Principal objectives, outlined in the Bangkok Declaration (1967), were to (7)…… economic growth and promote regional peace and stability. A joint forum with Japan was established in 1977, and a (8)….. agreement with the European Community was signed in 1980. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, ASEAN (9)……  an important role in mediating the civil war in Cambodia. In January 1992 ASEAN members agreed to establish a free-trade area and to cut tariffs on nonagricultural goods over a 15-year period (10)______ in 1993."

6. The ASEAN secretariat, a (6) ….. office that administers the organization's activities, is located in Jakarta, Indonesia.

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.

   Experts in climatology and other scientists are becoming extremely concerned about the changes to our climate which are taking place. Admittedly, climate changes have occurred on our planet before. For example, there have been several ice ages or glacial periods. These climatic changes, however, were different from the modern ones in that they occurred gradually and, as far as we know, naturally. The changes currently being monitored are said to be the result not of natural causes, but of human activity. Furthermore, the rate of change is becoming alarmingly rapid.

   The major problem is that the planet appears to be warming up. According to some experts, this warming process, known as global warming, is occurring at a rate unprecedented in the last 10,000 years. The implications for the planet are very serious. Rising global temperatures could give rise to such ecological disasters as extremely high increases in the incidence of flooding and of droughts. These in turn could have a harmful effect on agriculture.

   It is thought that this unusual warming of the Earth has been caused by so-called greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, being emitted into the atmosphere by car engines and modern industrial processes, for example. Such gases not only add to the pollution of the atmosphere, but also create a greenhouse effect, by which the heat of the sun is trapped. This leads to the warming up of the planet.

   Politicians are also concerned about climate change and there are now regular summits on the subject, attended by representatives from around 180 of the world’s industrialized countries. Of these summits, the most important took place in Kyotoin Japanin 1997. There it was agreed that the most industrialized countries would try to reduce the volume of greenhouse gas emissions and were given targets for this reduction of emissions.

   It was also suggested that more forests should be planted to create so-called sinks to absorb greenhouse gases. At least part of the problem of rapid climate change has been caused by too drastic deforestation. Sadly, the targets are not being met. Even more sadly, global warnings about climate changes are often still being regarded as scaremongering.

It can be inferred from the passage that the countries which are mainly responsible for global warming are ____.