Choose the best answer: 
I am in favor of English-speaking contests in schools. Such contests encourage students to practice speaking English in their classes and help them improve their speaking skills. (1)..............
, while preparing themselves for the contests, students have a chance to review their lessons thoroughly. Contests among classes provide students (2).............. opportunities to work with team spirit, thus enabling them to learn how to cooperate with other people. (3).............. students may think that their preparations for the speaking contests are time-consuming. However, in my opinion, such preparations are (4)............ spending time on. My classmates and I have found that we speak English better after each contest. In sum, English-speaking contests in schools are useful to students.

3. 

Read the following passage and choose A, B, C, or D to indicate the correct word or phrase that best fits each of the following blanks.
For Nigel Portman, a love of travelling began with what’s called a ‘gap year’. In common with many other British teenagers, he chose to take a year out before (1)................. to study for his degree. After doing various jobs to raise some money, he left home to gain some experience of life in different cultures, visiting America and Asia. The more adventurous the young person, the (2)................. the challenge they are   likely to set themselves for the gap year, and for some, like Nigel, it can result in a thirst for adventure. Now that his university course  has (3)................. to an end, Nigel is just about to leave on a three-year trip that will take him all around the world. What’s more, he plans to make the whole journey using only means of transport which are powered by natural energy. In other words, he’ll be (4)................. mostly on bicycles and his own legs; and when there’s an ocean to cross, he won’t be taking a short cut by climbing aboard a plane, he’ll be joining the crew of a sailing ship instead. As well as doing some mountain climbing and other outdoor pursuits along the way, Nigel hopes to (5)................. on to the people he meets the environmental message that lies behind the whole idea.

The more adventurous the young person, the (2)................. the challenge they are   likely to set themselves for the gap year, and for some, like Nigel, it can result in a thirst for adventure

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Alaska is disappearing slowly, but surely. It is estimated that since the 19505, as much as fifteen percent of Alaska's land area has disappeared. How can a whole state be disappearing? The problem is that Alaska’s glaciers are melting. The state has more than 100,000 glaciers. These glaciers account for about 75,000 square kilometers, or five percent, of the state’s area. That is an area of land larger than Ireland!
According to a recent report by the US Geological Survey, ninety-nine percent of Alaska's glaciers are either retreating or diminishing. This diminishing seems mainly due to the increase in global temperatures. Since the 19605, the average year-round temperature has increased by almost 3°C. Additionally, the average winter temperature has increased by over 6°C. Presently, an estimated 100 cubic kilometers of ice is disappearing from Alaskan glaciers every year. It may be even more in the near future, as some scientists predict that the average world temperature could go up 4 to 7°C by the year 2100.
Another problem facing Alaska is its thawing permafrost. Much of the land in Alaska used to be permanently frozen or frozen for most of the year. Now, the thawing permafrost is causing a number of problems for people living in Alaska. Roads and utility poles are collapsing as the ground around and under them warms and soften. Also, the hard permafrost that originally prevented beaches from eroding during violent storms is now melting. People who live along Alaska's coasts are being forced to relocate. For villages on small low islands, one terrible storm could wipe out the entire community.
The melting permafrost and increasing temperatures are both affecting the forests of Alaska. As the permafrost under the forests melts, insects that normally do not turn up until the warmer seasons are appearing sooner. The spruce-bark beetle, for example, is increasing in numbers as a result of warmer winter temperatures. It usually takes about two years for these beetles to grow and reproduce in. very cold weather. However, due to the increase in temperatures, spruce-bark beetles are reproducing faster and damaging as many trees in one year as they previously damaged in two. If something cannot be done to change things, Alaska's forests will not survive the turn of the century.

Some scientists believe that human activity is linked to a global increase in weather temperature.
Whatever the cause of rising temperatures may be, the fact remains that temperatures are warming, affecting Alaska for the worse. Horribly, this could be a preview of what will happen to the rest of the world in the next century.

According to the report by the US Geological Survey, which of the following is NOT true about Alaska?

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. 
Called the ‘Red Planet,’ Mars is roughly half the size of Earth, and one of our closest neighboring planets. Though Mars is the most Earth-like of any other planet, the two are still worlds apart. Living on Mars has been the stuff of science fiction for decades. However, can humans really live on Mars? Will it ever be possible or safe? NASA (the National Aeronautics and Space Administration) hopes to find out. NASA researchers on Earth are conducting several experiments together with the International Space Station (ISS) to study the health and safety issues that may tell us if life on Mars is possible.
Food and oxygen would be the main necessities for travelers living extended periods on Mars. The need to grow plants, which provide both food and oxygen, would be a key. But the decreased gravity and low atmospheric pressure environment of the planet will stress the plants and make them hard to grow. However, space station crews are growing plants in controlled environments in two of the station’s greenhouses. They take care of the plants, photograph them, and collect samples to be sent back to Earth. Researchers then use the data to develop new techniques that will make it possible to grow plants successfully in space. 
Another concern for space travelers is the health hazards posed by the effect of space radiation on humans. A spacecraft traveling to Mars would be exposed to large amounts of radiation. Since human exposure to such intense radiation would mean certain death, the spacecraft used for such travel would have to protect the humans on the inside of the craft from exposure. Researchers are using special machines inside the crew areas of the International Space Station to carefully watch radiation levels. NASA scientists, who have maintained radiation data since the beginning of human space flight, continue to learn about the dangers it poses. Researchers use the station to test materials that could be used in making a spacecraft that could successfully travel to Mars.
Will it ever be safe for humans to live on Mars? It is still too early to say. But thanks to the dedicated researchers of NASA and the results of ISS experiments, we are getting closer to knowing every day. 
(Adapted from “Select Readings –Intermediate Tests” by Linda Lee and Erik Gundersen)

What does the word “they” in paragraph 2 refer to?

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From time immemorial, cities have been the central gathering places of human life, from where the great ideas and movements of the world have sprouted. In this country, the beginnings of our independence fomented with the Boston Tea Party, while Philadelphia served as the home of the Constitutional Convention. The seeds of economic and financial power were sowed on the streets of New York City. Around the world, the great thinkers of the Renaissance assembled in Florence, the impressionist painters flocked to Paris, and the industrial revolution sparked in Birmingham England.
Hundreds of years later, great ideas and innovations are still sprouting in cities – but this time accompanied by a growth in urbanized life over the last several decades never before seen. For the first time in history, more people are living in cities than rural areas. And, this way of living is only going to continue: by 2050, the urban share of global population is projected to surpass 66 percent (up from 30 percent in 1950). This trend to urbanization is even more dramatic beyond the borders of the United States. Take Nigeria's capital, Lagos, which had a population of approximately 7.2 million in 2000, and is expected to rise to 24 million by 2030. And, eight times more Nigerians live in cities today than in 1975. Moreover, the metro areas of Tokyo, New York and Mexico City were the only metro areas in 1975 with at least 10 million people. Today, that list would include 31 such megacities – with 10 more to join by 2030 – all of which are outside the United States.
Cities are undergoing what Brookings Institution author Bruce Katz terms the "metropolitan revolution." Financial capitals New York and London are transforming into major world tech hubs as new and innovative companies emerge within these cities. And, this shift is not exclusive to New York or London, as many cities are undergoing similar transformations driven by this global trend toward urbanization. This wave of urban growth stems, in large part, from the mass adoption of the internet and interconnected technologies. Interestingly, many sociologists predicted years ago that the advent of such interconnectivity would enable people to live and work anywhere. But the practical result has been the opposite.
Indeed, in this new 21st century economy, innovative workers seek one another to collaborate in building and developing new knowledge-based industries that are increasingly disrupting and dominating a rapidly evolving global economy. Bright, curious minds in the sciences and technology demand proximity in order to be more productive, more creative and further stimulated. This need for collaboration has propelled millennials to move to urban areas in droves. But once they get there, they desire new open physical environments – such as incubators and shared work places – to enhance their collaborative efforts. Beyond work, a growing single population – one that now outnumbers married people in the United States – seeks out other singles amid the myriad activities and diverse nightlife that only cities offer.

It can be inferred from the passage that ___________.

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Human memory, formerly believed to be rather inefficient, is really more sophisticated than that of a computer. Researchers approaching the problem from a variety of points of view have all concluded that there is a great deal more stored in our minds than has been generally supposed. Dr. Wilder Penfield, a Canadian neurosurgeon, proved that by stimulating their brains electrically, he could elicit the total recall of specific events in his subjects’ lives. Even dreams and other minor events supposedly forgotten for many years suddenly emerged in detail.
The memory trace is the term for whatever is the internal representation of the specific information about the event stored in the memory. Assumed to have been made by structural changes in the brain, the memory trace is not subject to direct observation but is rather a theoretical construct that we use to speculate about how information presented at a particular time can cause performance at a later time. Most theories include the strength of the memory trace as a variable in the degree of learning, retention, and retrieval possible for a memory. One theory is that the fantastic capacity for storage in the brain is the result of an almost unlimited combination of interconnections between brain cells, stimulated by patterns of activity. Repeated references to the same information support recall. Or, to say that another way, improved performance is the result of strengthening the chemical bonds in the memory.

How did Penfield stimulate dreams and other minor events from the past?

Choose the item among A, B, c or D that best answers the question about the passage:

"Computer programmer David Jones earns £35,000 a year designing new Computer games, yet he cannot find a bank prepared to let him have a cheque car. Instead he has been told to wait another two years, until he is 18.
 The 16-year-old boy works for a small firm in Liverpool, where the problem of most young people of age is finding a job. David’s firm releases two new games for the expanding home Computer market each month.
 But David’s biggest headache is what to do with his money. Despite his salary, earned by inventing new programmes within tight schedules with bonus payment and profit-sharing, he cannot drive a car, take out a mortgage, or obtain credit cards.
 David got his job with the Liverpool-based company four months ago, a year after leaving school with six O-levels and working for a time in a Computer shop. “I got the job because the people who run the firm knew I had already written some programmes,” he said.
 I suppose £35,000 sounds a lot but actually that’s being pessimistic. I hope it will come to records and clothes and he gives his mother £20 a week. But most of his spare time is spent working. “Unfortunately, computing was not part of our studies at school,” he said. “But I had been studying it in books and magazines for four years in my spare time. I knew what I wanted to do and never considered staying on at school. Most people in this business are fairly young anyway.”
 David added, “I would like to earn a million and I suppose early retirement is a possibility. You never knew when the market might disappear.”"

5. Why does David think he might retire early?

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. 
       The (1) _________over vending machines in schools is not new. For a long time, regional governments and public schools have been deliberating on whether or not it is a good idea to have vending machines in schools. In America, (2) ______, only one state has banned these machines in its public schools. Around the country, however, most state schools have different rules about how many and how often vending machines should be accessible to students. Although some people believe that having these drink and snack machines in schools is a good idea, others (3)_________ that there are many disadvantages, too.
      Doctors and other health workers, for instance, suggest that the main disadvantage of having vending machines in schools is based on health and (4)________. They cite statistics that show school – aged children have poorly balanced diets, often due to eating too much fast food. If vending machines are introduced to schools, children will have yet another option for eating unhealthy foods. In a survey of vending machines sales across the country, it was found that sweet drinks like colas and sugary snacks like candy bars were the biggest sellers. Sugary foods and drinks commonly cause obesity in consumers. Opponents of vending machines in schools worry that we are teaching children to be obese. (5)__________the problem of childhood obesity, it is plausible to say that children’s health problems will only get worse if vending machines are followed in schools.

(2)..............

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There are many different metaphors used to describe culture. My favorite one is the iceberg. I think, it demonstrates so vividly what can happen to us if we believe only in the visible and ignore or underestimate the invisible part. The hidden part of our culture is that part which we know instinctively because we absorbed it from childhood on. It's handed down to us from generation to generation. We could also say, it's the "thinking" and "feeling" part of culture: habits, assumptions, attitudes, desires, values, tastes, etc.
Now, if we are in a new culture, our customary evaluations and interpretations are likely not to be on target because we see everything through our own cultural glasses. Imagine yourself in a new city trying to get around with a map from your own hometown. It wouldn't take long for you to get lost and completely frustrated! When we experience an encounter in the new culture that puzzles us, the most common reaction is to judge it through our own cultural glasses. 
I want to propose an alternate approach to our initial gut reaction. Instead of immediately and instinctively judging a situation through our own glasses, we might first just pause and notice what is happening and then realize that this is a cultural learning situation. Remember the iceberg metaphor! The new culture becomes your mirror that shows you a hidden part of your own culture. What an opportunity for personal growth and new insight! You can compare two different approaches, that of the new culture and of your own culture. This gives you a choice. Now you can decide what fits best for you or even take the best from both sides. 

The word “embrace” in paragraph 5 is closest in meaning to _______.

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Most of the fastening devices used in clothing today, like the shoelace, the button, and the safely pin. have existed in some form in various cultures for thousands of years. But the zipper was the brainchild of one American inventor, namely Whitcomb Judson of Chicago. At the end of the 19th century. Judson was already a successful inventor, with a dozen patents to his credit for mechanical items such as improvements to motors and railroad braking system.
He then turned his mind to create a replacement for the lengthy shoelaces which were then used in both men’s and women's boots. On August 29th 1893, he won another patent, for what he called the case “locker”. Though the model was somewhat clumsy, and frequently jammed, it did work: in fact, Judson and his business associate Lewis Walker had sewn the device into their own boots. Although Judson displayed his clasp–locker at the World's Fair held in Chicago in 1893, the public largely ignored it. The company founded by Judson and Walker, Universal Fastener, despite further refinements, never really succeeded in marketing the device.
The earliest zip fasteners were being used in the clothing industry by 1905, but it was only in 1913, after a Swedish–American engineer, Gideon Sundbach, had remodeled Judson's fastener into a more streamlined and reliable form, that the zipper was a success. The US Army applied zippers to the clothing and equipment of the troops of World War I. By the late 1920s, zippers could be found in all kinds of clothing, footwear, and carrying cases; by the mid–1930s, zippers had even been embraced by the fashion industry.
The term “zipper" was coined as onomatopoeia (resembling the sound it makes) by B.F. Goodrich whose company started marketing rubber shoes featuring the fastener in 1923. Regrettably. Whitcomb Judson died in 1909, and never heard the term, or saw the success by which his invention would become popular.

According to the passage, zippers did not really become a success until     .

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. 
      Anthropogenic global warming is a theory explaining today's long-term increase in the average temperature of Earth's atmosphere as an effect of human industry and agriculture.
      Since the latter half of the 20th century, growing banks of data and improved climate models have convinced most climate scientists that rising trends in greenhouse gas emissions are directly responsible for a rising trend in atmospheric temperature. The source of these emissions vary, consisting of a mix of gases that include methane and carbon dioxide. While some sources - such as volcanoes - are natural, their overall emissions compared with those produced by human industries, transport, and livestock have been regarded as insignificant over recent centuries.
       Greenhouse gases are made of molecules that absorb electromagnetic radiation, such as  the light reflecting from the planet's surface, and re-emit it as heat. These gases include methane, carbon dioxide, water, and nitrous oxide. Despite making up only a small percentage of the atmosphere's mix of gases they are very important. If we had no naturally occurring greenhouse gases in the atmosphere at all, the average global temperature on Earth would be a much lower -18 degrees instead of the roughly 15 degrees Celsius we have enjoyed most of human history.
        Carbon dioxide levels have steadily risen over the past two centuries, thanks largely to the burning of fossil fuels for electricity general, transportation, and smelting. Current levels are approximately 415 parts per million (ppm), up from pre-industrial levels of around 280 ppm. Models vary in their predictions of further temperature increases, and depend heavily on future trends in greenhouse gas emissions. Conservative estimates by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predict an even chance of 4 degrees Celsius rise by the end of the century if current emissions trends continue.

Where is the passage possibly taken from?

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It is 2025. Your mobile is now much more than just a Communication device – more like a remote control for your life. You still call it a "mobile" from habit, but it is an organiser, entertainment device, payment device and security centre, all developed and manufactured by engineers.
On a typical day it will start work even before you wake. Because it knows your travel schedule it can check for problems on the roads or with the trains and adjust the time it wakes you up accordingly, giving you the best route into work. It can control your home, re-programming the central heating if you need to get up earlier and providing remote alerts if the home security system is triggered. It is your payment system - just by placing the phone near a sensor on a barrier, like the Oyster card readers in use on London transport, you can pay for tickets for journeys or buy items in shops. With its understanding of location, the mobile can also provide directions, or even alert the user to friends or family in the Vicinity.
It is your entertainment centre when away from home. As well as holding all your music files, as some phones today are able to do, it will work with your home entertainment system while you sleep to find programmes that will interest you and download them as a podcast to watch on the train or in other spare moments. It will intelligently work out what to do with incoming phone calls and messages.

The word “triggered” in paragraph 3 means     .

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The concept of being environmentally conscious, or “green”, has become more prevalent in twenty first-century U.S culture. It has begun to affect the manufacturing of everything from non-toxic household cleaning products to motor vehicles powered by alternative sources of energy. However, one way of being “green” that is perhaps not as apparent to the viewer but of equal importance in being environmentally conscious, is the construction of buildings that are considered “sustainable”. Sustainable buildings are those that do not impose on the environment or rely on the over-utilization of energy or natural resources. There are four main principles of sustainability, which includes consideration of the health and stability of all living things and their environmental diversity, as well as the economic opportunities of humanity.
Sustainable architecture consists of environmentally conscious design techniques. In the past, the demolition of an old building meant that all or most of the debris of the building would end up in a landfill or a waste disposal site. Today, architects can plan and design a building that uses recycled materials, such as wood, concrete, stone, or metal. These materials are salvaged from the demolition of an older building and can be appropriately incorporated into a new construction. Architects and construction supervisors may also choose to recycle more organic parts of demolished buildings, such as wooden doors, windows and other glass, ceramics, paper, and textiles.
A problem that has often arisen has been with how a site crew-whether it is demolition or construction crew determines and sorts what is “waste” and what is recyclable. Architects and environmental scientists have to decide whether or not a material is appropriate for use in new construction and how it will impact the environment. They must evaluate the materials from the demolition and determine what those materials contain, and if they meet the standards set by the U.S, government’s Environmental Protection Agency (the EPA). If the debris from the demolition contains hazardous materials that are harmful to the environment or to the consumer, such as asbestos, then the material is not salvageable. Use of the asbestos for insulation and as a form of fire retardation in buildings and fabrics was common in the nineteenth century. Asbestos was once used in shingles on the sides of buildings, as well as in the insulation in the interior walls of homes or other construction. In new “green” construction, insulation that once asbestos- based can be replaced with recycled denim or constructed with cellulose-a fibrous material found in paper products. The same-assessment applies to wood or wallboard painted with toxic lead-based paints. In addition, gas-flow regulators and meters on both water and gas heating systems constructed prior to 1961 must be carefully evaluated to determine that they do not contain dangerous substances such as mercury. Mercury can be harmful to humans and the environment if it is spilled during the removal of these devices.

In paragraph 1, the author implies that     .

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct word or phrase that best fits each of the numbered blanks.
Looking for an unforgettable way to celebrate that special occasion? Well, the (1)........... of options open today’s youngster - or even “oldster” for that matter, is a far cry from the traditional party or restaurant visit. No longer is it considered sufficient to invite your friends round, buy some food and get a barker to produce a cake. No, today’s birthday boy or girl is looking for something out of the ordinary, ranging from the outrageously expensive to the downright dangerous. Anything goes, as long as it is unusual and impressive.
Top  of  this  year’s  popular  (2)....... are as follows: taking some friends rally driving, helicopter lessons, plane trip and parachuting, and hot air ballooning. Then there is always group bungee jumping or taking your buddies on a stomach - churning, while water rafting ride down rapids.
The desire of adventurous celebration is not restricted to the young I recently met an octogenarian (3)... _ celebrated (4)..... the milestone of eighty by having a fly lesson.
Of course, if you have money the world is your oyster. A very rich relation of mine flew fifty of his friends to a Caribbean island to mark the passing of his half century. Unfortunately I was only a distant relation.
Undoubtedly, the more traditional  forms (5)...... celebration do continue to satisfy the less extravagant or less adventurous among us. However, with my own half century looming on the horizon I would not say no to a weekend in Paris and a meal at the Eiffel Tower. I can but dream. Perhaps by the time I’m eighty I’ll be able to afford it.
(5)..........................................................

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct word for each of the blanks.
If you want to prepare  yourself  for  great  achievement  and  have  more  to  (1).....  to  your  education or your work, try reading more books. (2)......... up some of the interestingly informative books and search for well - researched materials that can help you grow.
We should encourage our children to read more books and spend less time watching TV. Some people have commented that this is inconsistent. "Why is the written word a superior way to get information than television?" That is (3).......     interesting point of view worth further (4).......... .Reading is a skill that is in much greater demand than the demand for watching TV. There are no jobs that require a person to be able to watch TV but reading is an integral part of many jobs. The written word is an incredibly flexible and efficient way of communication. You can write something down and, in no time, it can be communicated to many different people. Not only that, we can (5)........ vast amounts of information through reading in a very short time. A good reader can acquire more information in reading for two hours than someone watching TV can acquire in a full day. You are able to gain a lot of information quickly because you are a fast reader with good comprehension skills. It will save you massive amounts of time and you will be able to assimilate vast quantities of information.
(4).........................

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Dear Editor,
I read with interest the article on American families. In general I agree with it, but there are some important things it left out. It didn't tell the reader much about the life of a househusband. It's not an easy life. I know, because I'm now a househusband myself. A househusband has to change many of his ideas and his ways.
First of all, he has to change the way he thinks about time. Before I was a househusband, I worked full-time for the New York Times. I was a reporter, and time was always important. We had to finish our article quickly and give them to the editor. Everyone was always in a hurry. This is the way, many other men work, too. Businessmen, lawyers, bankers, and doctors all have to work quickly.
At home it's different. The househusband cannot be in a hurry all the time. If you rush around, you will make everyone unhappy! The children will be unhappy because they don't understand. For them, time is not important. Your wife will be unhappy because the children are unhappy. You will be unhappy, too, because they are all unhappy. So you have to learn to slow down. That is the first and most important rule for a househusband.
There is something else the househusband must learn. You must learn to show how you feel about things. At work, men usually do not talk about feelings. If they do, people think they are strange. So, many men are not used to telling anyone about their feelings. They do not know how to talk about their anger, worries, or love. But children need to know how you feel. They need to know how much you love them. If you are angry, they need to know why. Your wife also needs to know about your feelings. If you do not say anything, your family may get the wrong idea. Then there may be serious problems.
People talk a lot about househusbands these days. Usually they talk about men doing the housework, the cooking, cleaning, and shopping. But in my opinion, these are the easiest things to learn. It was much harder for me to change the way I think and the way I act with my family. I think, other men will also find this harder, but, like me, will find it necessary if they want to have a happy family!
Ted Diamond

This article is about     .

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There are many mistakes that people make when writing their resume (CV) or completing a job application. Here are some of the most common and most serious.
The biggest problem is perhaps listing the duties for which you were responsible in a past position: all this tells your potential employers is what you were supposed to do. They do not necessarily know the specific skills you used in executing them, nor do they know what results you achieved - both of which are essential. In short, they won’t know if you were the best, the worst or just average in your position.
The more concrete information you can include, the better. As far as possible, provide measurements of what you accomplished. If any innovations you introduced saved the organization money, how much did they save? If you found a way of increasing productivity, by what percentage did you increase it?
Writing what you are trying to achieve in life - your objective - is a waste of space. It tells the employer what you are interested in. Do you really think that employers care what you want? No, they are interested in what they want! Instead, use that space for a career summary. A good one is brief - three to four sentences long. A good one will make the person reviewing your application want to read further.
Many resumes list ‘hard' job-specific skills, almost to the exclusion of transferable, or ‘soft’, skills. However, your ability to negotiate effectively, for example, can be just as important as your technical skills.
All information you give should be relevant, so carefully consider the job for which you are applying. If you are applying for a job that is somewhat different than your current job, it is up to you to draw a connection for the resume reviewer, so that they will understand how your skills will fit in their organization. The person who reviews your paperwork will not be a mind reader.
If you are modest about the skills you can offer, or the results you have achieved, a resume reader may take what you write literally, and be left with a low opinion of your ability: you need to say exactly how good you are. On the other hand, of course, never stretch the truth or lie.

It can be inferred from the last paragraph that     .

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Nature has always provided a stimulus for inventive minds. Early flying machines clearly were an attempt to emulate the freedom of birds. Architects and engineers have often consciously modeled buildings on forms found in nature. A more recent example of the inspiration given by nature is the invention of Velcro®. The inventor of this now common fastening device noticed that small burrs attached to his dog's coat grasped the hairs by means of tiny hooks. This led him to invent a synthetic fabric whose surfaces mimic the clasping properties of this natural seedpod.
Animals and plants have evolved solutions to the kinds of problems that often interest engineers  and designers. Much current research in material science is concerned with actively examining the natural world, especially at the molecular level, for inspiration to develop materials with novel properties. This relatively new field of study is sometimes known as biomimetics, since it consciously attempts to mimic nature.
Researchers have investigated several interesting areas. For example, they have studied how the molecular structure of antler bone contributes to its amazing toughness, how the skin structure of a worm contributes to its ability to crawl, how the sea cucumber softens its skeleton and changes shape so that it can squeeze through tiny gaps in rocks, or what gives wood its high resistance to impact. These investigations have led to several breakthroughs in the development of composite materials with remarkable properties.
Predictions for future inventions that may be developed from these lines of research include so- called smart structures that design and repair themselves in a similar way to a variety of processes in the natural world. For example, engineers have envisaged bridges that would detect areas heavily stressed by vehicle movement or wind. The bridge structure would then automatically add or move material to the weak areas until the stress is reduced. The same principle might be used to repair damaged buildings. Other new materials that have been imagined are substances that would copy photosynthesis in green plants in order to create new energy sources. The potential impact of biomimetic research is so great that the twenty-first century may come to be known as the "Age of Materials."

As inferred from the passage, what would be the advantage of a product that mimics photosynthesis?

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Robots are useful for exploring and working in space. In particular, many robots have been sent to explore Mars. Such robots have usually looked like a box with wheels. Though these robots are useful, by their very nature they are unreliable, extremely expensive, and they break easily. Also, they cannot do very many tasks. Because of these problems, scientists have been developing a new and unusual kind of robot. These new robots move like snakes, so they have been given the name "snakebots."
The way a snake is shaped lets it get into very small spaces, like cracks in rocks. It can also push its way below the ground or climb up different kinds of objects, like high rocks and trees. Such abilities account for the usefulness of a robot designed like a snake. A snakebot would be able to do these things, too, making it much more effective than regular robots with wheels, which easily get stuck or fall over. Since they can carry tools, snakebots would be able to work in space, as well. They could, for example, help repair the International Space Station.
But how can such a robot shape be made? A snakebot is built like a Chain made of about thirty parts, or modules. Each module is basically the same in that they all have a small computer and a wheel to aid movement. The large computer in the "head” of the snake makes all of the modules in a snakebot work together.
The modular design of the snakebot has many advantages. If one module fails, another can be added easily. Snakebot modules can also carry different kinds of tools, as well as cameras. Since each module is actually a robot in itself, one module can work apart from the rest if necessary. That is, all the modules can separate and move on their own, and then later, reconnect back into a larger robot.
Researchers are also trying to develop snakebots made of a special kind of plastic that can change its shape using electricity, almost like animal muscles. Snakebots made with this plastic will be very strong and hard to break.
Overall, the snakebot design is much simpler than that of common robots. Thus, snakebots will be much less expensive to build. For example, a robot recently sent to Mars cost over a hundred million dollars, whereas snakebots can cost as little as a few hundred dollars. With their versatility and affordability, snakebots seem to be the wave of the future, at least as far as space robots are concerned.

According to paragraph 1, the following are disadvantages of the common robots which have been on Mars, EXCEPT     .

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:
David Beckham is an English footballer who has played for Manchester United and Real Madrid, as well as representing his country 100 times. He moved to the Los Angeles Galaxy in 2007  to increase the profile of football in America. He married Spice Girl Victoria Beckham and has become a worldwide celebrity, an advertising brand and a fashion icon. Beckham was  born  in  London in 1975. His parents were fanatical Manchester United supporters. His talent  was  obvious from an early age and he signed with Manchester United on his fourteenth birthday. He helped the youth team win several trophies and made his first team debut in 1995. He helped his team achieve considerable success in his eleven seasons with them.
Beckham has been runner-up twice as world football's best player. He won many trophies with Manchester United, including the Champions League, and won a league title with Real Madrid. He also captained his club and country. He was famously sent off in a match against Argentina in the 1998 World Cup. In 2003, Beckham received an honour for services to football from Britain's Queen. Beckham has many interests off the soccer pitch and is rarely out of the headlines, especially concerning his marriage and children. He has established football academies in Los Angeles and London. In 2006 he was named a judge for the British Book Awards. He lives near Tom Cruise and the two are best buddies. Beckham is also a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador.

Which of the following is NOT mentioned about Beckham?

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:
As Hurricane Florence zeroes in on the southeastern US, scientists are warning that climate change is exacerbating the effect of tropical storms. The powerful Category 4 Atlantic weather- front is slow moving, an increasingly common phenomenon that poses a different  manner  of  threat to states in its path. In the event that Florence stalls or comes to a halt altogether over land, it has the potential to deposit catastrophic quantities of rainwater, posing a risk of severe flash flooding.
While the high winds and waves generated by faster storms moving inland from the ocean pose a significant danger to human life and property, the effect of heavy rain can be just as devastating, if not more so. When Hurricane Harvey hit in August 2017, it dropped 60 inches of rain over Houston, Texas, flooding the streets, leaving 93 dead and hundreds more having to be rescued by boat, causing millions of dollars-worth of damage.
James Kossin of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration published a study in  the journal Nature in June suggesting that slow-moving tropical cyclones, which would include those like Florence and Harvey, have become more common over the last 70 years,  dropping in  speed by  10 per cent in that time. According to Mr Kossin, global warming as a result of man-made air pollution is causing the poles to become warmer, which in turn reduces the difference in temperature between the Arctic and Antarctic and the equator, altering atmospheric pressure and slowing down the whipping currents of wind that pass between them and drive hurricanes

Which statement about Hurricane Harvey is probably TRUE according to the passage ?