Choose the best answer:
I ____ the latest Harry Potter book all day. I'm dying to know what happens in the end!

 

Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
Bacteria are the smallest known living things with a cellular structure. These colorless, one-celled micro-organisms exist (1) ______ organic matter is found: in soil, in water and in the air. Since most of them have no chlorophyll, they cannot use light energy to synthesize their food, (2) ________ green plants do. They must get their food in other ways. In this, bacteria resemble animals. However, since/as they are enclosed in a cell wall, they can only (3) _______ dissolved food like plants do. Although most bacteria do not contain chlorophyll, some of them can make their own organic food from simple inorganic (4)________. They do not, however, use light energy for this purpose. Others get ready-made food from dead plants and animals. Still others are parasites. Parasites are (5)______ to enter other living organisms and take food from them. In doing so, they often cause diseases or the death of their hosts

Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
The human desire for companionship may feel boundless, but research suggests that  our social capital is finite. Social scientists have used a number of ingenious approaches to gauge the size of people’s social networks; these have returned estimates ranging from about 250 to about 5,500 people. An undergraduate thesis from MIT focusing exclusively on Franklin D. Roosevelt, a friendly guy with an especially social job, suggested that he might have had as many as 22,500 acquaintances. Looking more specifically at friendship, a study using the exchange of Christmas cards as a proxy for closeness put the average person’s friend group at about 121 people.  However vast our networks may be, our inner circle tends to be much smaller. The average American trusts only 10 to 20 people. Moreover, that number may be shrinking: From 1985 to 2004, the average number of confidants that people reported having decreased from three to two. This is both sad and consequential, because whoever has strong social relationships tends to live longer than those who don’t. So what should you do if your social life is lacking? Just follow the research. To begin with, don’t dismiss the humble acquaintance. Even interacting with people with whom one has weak social ties has a meaningful influence on well-being. Beyond that, building deeper friendships may be largely a matter of putting in time. A recent study out of the University of Kansas found that it takes about 50 hours of socializing to go from acquaintance to casual friend, an additional 40 hours to become a “real” friend, and a total of 200 hours to become a close friend. If that sounds like too much effort, reviving dormant social ties can be especially rewarding. Reconnected friends can quickly recapture much of the trust they previously built, while offering each other a dash of novelty drawn from whatever they’ve been up to in the meantime. And if all else fails, you could start randomly confiding in people you don’t know that well in hopes of letting the tail wag the relational dog. The academic literature is clear: Longing for closeness and connection is pervasive. Which suggests that most of us are stumbling through the world pining for companionship that could be easily provided by the lonesome stumblers all around us.
2. According to paragraph 1, what is the purpose for mentioning an MIT thesis as an example? 

Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
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.
8. In the passage, which of the following is NOT mentioned about WTO?

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:
At the beginning of the nineteenth century, the American educational system was desperately in need of reform. Private schools existed, but only for the very rich. There were very
few public schools because of the strong sentiment that children who would grow up to be laborers should not “waste” their time on education but should instead prepare themselves for their life’s work. It was in the face of this public sentiment that educational reformers set about their task. Horace Mann, probably the most famous of the reformers, felt that there was no excuse in a republic for any citizen to be uneducated. As Manager of Education in the state of Massachusetts from 1837 to 1848, he initiated various changes, which were soon matched in other school districts around the country. He extended the school year from five to six months and improved the quality of teachers by instituting teacher education and raising teacher salaries. Although these changes did not bring about a sudden improvement in the educational system, they at least increased public awareness as to the need for a further strengthening of the system.

According to the passage, which sentence is NOT TRUE?

Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
On April 3, 1972, a man came out of the Hilton hotel in Manhattan and started walking down the street. He stopped, (1)______ his hand with a strange object in it, put it to his ear and started to talk into it. This was the beginning of mobile phone (2)_______, more than 30 years ago. That man was Motorola’s project manager, Martin Cooper, who was (3)______ his 34th birthday that day. The strange object was the first mobile phone, which was nicknamed “the shoe” because of its unusual (4)_______. Mr. Cooper had gone to New York to introduce the new phone. The first call he made was to his rival, Joe Engel at AT&T’s research centre. Engel was responsible for the development of the radiophones for cars. “I called him and said that I was talking on a real mobile phone (5)_____ I was holding in my hand,” said Cooper. “I don’t remember what he said in reply, but I’m sure he wasn’t happy.” The quality of the call was very good, because although New York had only one base station at that time, it was being used by only one user – Martin Cooper.

Mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the undelined part that needs correction in each of the following questions:
Four West Indian geckos, with human assistance, have recently entered the United States. The yellowheaded gecko, the ashy gecko, the reef gecko, and the ocellated gecko are presently inhabiting the tropical areas of the Keys and the tip of southern Florida. The Mediterranean gecko also arrived along the Gulf coast some time ago, via the West Indies. The only other geckos in the United States live in the Southwest. In extreme southern California, the leaf-gingered gecko lives

in dry, rocky country and scampers over boulders at night, hiding by day in crevices. It has a slender, tapered tail and stalks insects by raising itself high on its legs, cocking its head, and twitching its tail nervously before leaping on its prey. In courtship, the tail is also waved by the male as he approaches the female.
Although most lizards are excellent climbers, the geckos are able to walk on smooth surfaces with the help of unique clinging devices under the toes. Also, the undersides of most geckos have pads of large scales, each of which bear microscopic hairs with hundreds of branches having minute, blunt ends that press against the surface that the gecko is on, enabling the gecko to cling to almost any surface. Like other lizards, geckos have the ability to shed their tails if attacked by an enemy. They stump heels and a new tail is grown in approximately the same shape as the original. Unlike most lizards, most geckos have no moveable eyelids. The nocturnal geckos have vertical pupils, which contract in bright light. All geckos, except several New Zealand species, lay eggs. The eggs have a tough, white shell and are laid under stones, behind window shutters or under bark.

The word “minute” is closest in meaning to...

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions:
Because writing has become so important in our culture, we sometimes think of it as more real than speech. A little thought, however, will show why speech is primary and writing secondary to language. Human beings have been writing at least 5,000 years, but they have been talking for much longer, doubtless ever since there have been human beings. When writing developed, it was derived from and represented speech, although imperfectly. Even today, there are spoken languages that have no written form. Furthermore, we all learn to talk well before we learn to write; any child who is not severely handicapped physically or mentally will learn to talk: a normal man cannot be prevented from doing so. On the other hand, it takes a special effort to learn to write; in the past, many intelligent and useful members of society did not acquire the skill, and even today many who speak languages with writing systems never learn to read or write while some who learn the rudiments of those skills do so imperfectly.
To affirm the primacy of speech over writing is not to disparage the later. One advantage writing has over speech is that it is more permanent and makes possible the records that any civilization must have. Thus, if speaking makes us human, writing makes us civilized.

The word “disparage” in the passage mostly means     .

Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
Marriage is an ancient religious and legal practice celebrated around the world. However, wedding customs vary from country to country. The Wedding Dress: In many countries, it is customary for the bride to wear a white dress as a symbol of purity. The tradition of wearing a special white dress only for the wedding ceremony started around 150 years ago. Before that, most women could not afford to buy a dress that they would only wear once. Now, bridal dresses can be bought in a variety of styles. In some Asian countries and in the Middle East, colors of joy and happiness like red or orange other than white are worn by the bride or used as part of the wedding ceremony. The Wedding Rings: In many cultures, couples exchange rings, usually made of gold or silver and worn on the third finger of the left or right hand, during the marriage ceremony. The circular shape of the ring is symbolic of the couple’s eternal union. In Brazil, it is traditional to have the rings engraved with the bride’s name on the groom’s ring, an vice versa. Flowers: Flowers play an important role in most weddings. Roses are said to be the flowers of love, and because they usually bloom in June, this has become the most popular month for weddings in many countries. After the wedding ceremony, in many countries the bride throws her bouquet into a crowd of well-wishers – usually her single female friends. The person who catches this bouquet will be the next one to marry. Gifts: In Chinese cultures, wedding guests give gifts of money to the newly-weds in small red envelopes. Money is also an appropriate gift at Korean and Japanese wedding. In many Western countries, for example in the U.K, wedding guests give the bride and groom household items that they may need for their new home. In Russia, rather than receiving gifts, the bride and groom provide gifts to their guests instead. With the continued internationalization of the modern world, wedding customs that originated in one part of the world are crossing national boundaries and have been incorporated into marriage ceremonies in other countries. 
4. In some Asian and Middle Eastern countries, which colour is NOT considered to be suitable for a wedding?

Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
Technology continually disrupts almost every area of our lives, resulting in constant shifts across all segments of our society. The education sector is no exception. In fact, the nature of its target audience – mostly young and highly connected – means that the sector must adapt to accommodate their expectations. Most students have grown up online and will expect the same levels of technology in their learning environments as in their day-to-day lives Creating an effective digital learning environment is not just about offering convenience and familiarity to students, however. The consequences for their futures if we don’t keep pace are manifold and damaging. Lack of opportunity is one major threat, because limited or no access to technology will result in a greater divide between certain categories of student. Crucially, students’ potential success could be severely compromised by lack of technical proficiency. As a minimum, employers want graduates who are adept at using technology to connect, communicate, and collaborate with workplace technology. Yet with the right technology platform, solutions and industry partners, universities are starting to create next-generation learning environments that effectively prepare students for the future by offering access to the tools they need while also providing a fulfilling learning experience. Digital technology can supply the framework to support new learning approaches that engage students, bolster new revenue streams, cut operational costs and preserve highly valued school and university brands and reputations. For example, the ability to connect with outside experts or even lecturers with other schools and universities could increase the number of courses offered and attract more students.  For both students and teachers, ubiquitous connectivity facilitates greater collaboration, enabling people to develop increasingly connected communities in their chosen fields. Being more available to students can also empower teachers to deliver more innovative, exciting lectures, whether face-to-face or online, while offering more personalised feedback and mentoring. It’s now easier for students to engage on their own terms and no longer having to travel across campus for every single meeting makes it easier for leaders and faculty members to work together, too. Effective digital transformation isn’t just about technology, though. It requires a willingness to adopt technology in new ways, beyond administrative process. It must be continual and evolutionary in order to enhance teaching and learning and improve efficiency. It also necessitates collaborative working; vision and leadership; culture; process and methodology – and the technology itself.  
7. The following sentences are true, EXCEPT _________

Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
In all the debate about conservation of natural landscapes, we must not forget that the 19th century also saw the development of interest in the cultural past. Although archaeology was around 100 years old at this point, at least in the Old World, it was largely an exercise in treasure hunting - digging up the treasures of the past as curiosities for museums or for the private collections of those who funded the dig. Changes in attitudes and law throughout the 19th century meant that monuments and artefacts were becoming part of the study of the past, no longer merely trinkets and curiosities, but indicators of a culture’s development and identity. Modern archaeology would not arrive until the 20th century and the concept of an archaeological landscape is younger still. The first laws to protect and conserve cultural heritage came into place in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in the developed countries. In the US, the first such law was the Antiquities Act in 1906 which gave the office of president the power to set aside areas of land as protected cultural assets, known as “National Monuments”. This law was in place until 1979 when it was replaced with the Archaeological Resources Protection Act but several other laws came into place before then that  required archaeologists to label and give proper contexts to monuments and artefacts. There was also a global movement to protect by law and provide resources and funds for monuments that were nationally important, but also those deemed significant to human civilization as a whole. Founded in 1945, has many responsibilities, one of the most important as far as archaeological conservation is concerned is the World Heritage List. The list began in 1975 as a recognition of globally important sites. The first 12 added on that first day included: L’Anse Aux Meadows in Canada, The Galapagos Islands, Quito in Ecuador, Krakow, and Mesa Verde National Park in the US. Today, there are over 1,000 cultural monuments and natural landscapes on this list. In the 21st century, it is common for countries to have laws in place to protect monuments, sites, and landscapes of cultural or historical importance and governmentestablished charities or government departments assigned to their management, upkeep or conservation. The threats to them and their conservation go beyond the issues of the 19th century (plunder and theft)
1. What does the passage mainly discuss?

Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
Going to a restaurant shouldn’t be your excuse to eat unhealthy foods. Follow these tips and not only will you enjoy your meal more, you’ll feel satisfied and happy when you’re done. First, ask for it your way. Dining out is no time to be a meek consumer, notes Michael F. Jacobson, Ph.D., executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) and coauthor of the book Restaurant Confidential. “You need to be an assertive consumer by asking for changes on the menu,” he says. For instance, if an item is fried, ask for it grilled. If it comes with French fries, ask for a side of veggies instead. Ask for a smaller portion of the meat and a larger portion of the salad; for salad instead of coleslaw; baked potato instead of fried. “Just assume you can have the food prepared the way you want it,” says Dr. Jacobson. “Very often, the restaurant will cooperate.” Second, order A Salad before ordering anything else on the menu. Scientists at Pennsylvania State University found that volunteers who ate a big veggie salad before the main course ate fewer calories overall than those who didn’t have a first-course salad, notes Novick. However, remember: Salads Shouldn’t Be Fatty. This is a vegetable course-keep it tasty but healthy. That means avoiding anything in a creamy sauce (coleslaw, pasta salads, and potato salads), and skipping the bacon bits and fried noodles. Instead, load up on the raw vegetables, treat yourself to a few well-drained marinated vegetables (artichoke hearts, red peppers, or mushrooms), and for a change, add in some fruit or nuts. Indeed, fruits such as mango, kiwi, cantaloupe, and pear are often the secret ingredient in four-star salads.  
3. What does the word “those" in the third paragraph refer to?

Choose the best answer:
A class began seven years ___________ with a mix of children who are dumb, deaf and mentally retarded.

Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
When you first arrive in a foreign culture, often your first reaction is completely positive. Everything seems exciting, different and fascinating. It’s an (1) ______. If you are just on a short holiday, you will probably never leave this phase. (2) ______, if you stay longer, your attitude can start to change. As you start to realize (3) ______ little you really understand the new culture, life can get frustrating. People misunderstand what you are trying to say, or they may laugh at you when you say something incorrectly. Even simple things, like posting a letter, can seem very difficult to you. Thus, you are likely to get angry or upset when things go wrong. With time, though, you start to (4) ______ to become more comfortable with the differences and better able to handle frustrating situations. Your (5) ______ of humor reappears. Finally, you may feel enthusiastic about the culture once again, enjoy living in it, and even prefer certain aspects of the culture to your own.

Choose the best answer:
Tokyo/ most populous/ capital/ city/ world.

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 following questions:
Alfred Bernhard Nobel, a Swedish inventor and philanthropist, left most of his vast fortune in trust as a fund from which annual prize could be awarded to individuals and organizations that had achieved the greatest benefit to humanity in a particular year. Originally, there were six classifications for outstanding contributions designated in Nobel’s will including chemistry, physics or medicine, literature, and international peace.
The prizes are administered by the Nobel Foundation in Stockholm. In 1969, a prize for economics endowed by the Central Bank of Sweden was added. Candidates for the prizes must be nominated in writing by a qualified authority in the field of competition Recipients in physics, chemistry, and economics are selected by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences; in physiology or medicine by  the Caroline Institute; in literature by the Swedish Academy; and in peace by the Norwegian Nobel committee appointed by Norway’s parliament. The prizes are usually presented in Stockholm on December 10, with the King of Sweden officiating, an appropriate tribute to Alfred Nobel on the anniversary of his death. Each one includes a gold medal, a diploma, and a cash award of about one million dollars.

The word “one” in the second paragraph refers to     .

Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
Vietnam’s football team received a “rock-star” welcome in Hanoi yesterday, (1)_______ losing to Uzbekistan in the 2018 U23 Asian Championship Final. Thousands of supporters flocked to the streets from Noi Bai Airport to Hanoi’s city center to greet the team bus, (2)________the Vietnamese PM’s reception for the team by five hours. A home-coming celebration was also held at My Dinh National Stadium, where all 40,000 seats were filled with thousands more waiting outside to see the players. Their (3)______ at the U23 Asian Cup made the players “overnight celebrities in the football-crazy nation”, AFP wrote. Various Korean outlets, including Korea Times, Sportal Korea and Hani, have also expressed amazement at the way football fans have celebrated their national team’s achievement, and at the same time, hailed the team’s performance at the tournament (4)_____ “heroic” and “like a fairy tale”. According to Sportal Korea, the team made an “impressive achievement” at the Asian tournament. “The red flags were being waved everywhere on the streets, and the cheering went on until late,” Hani wrote. The Korea Times also added that Vietnam’s success at the Asian Cup had brought Vietnamese football and Korean football “closer”. More importantly, it is the success (5)_____unites the country on so many levels

Books which give instructions on how to do things are very popular in the United States today. Thousands of these How-to books are useful. In fact, there are about four thousand books with titles that begin with the words “How to”. One book may tell you how to earn more money. Another may tell you how to save or spend it and another may explain how to give your money away.

Many How-to books give advice on careers. They tell you how to choose a career and ‘now to succeed in it. If you fail, however, you can buy the book ” How to Turn Failure into Success”. If you would like to become very rich, you can buy the book “How to Make a Millionaire”. If you never make any money at all, you may need a book called “How to Live on Nothing”.

One of the most popular types of books is one that helps you with personal problems. If you want to have a better love of life, you can read “How to Succeed in Love every Minute of Your Life”. If you are tired of books on happiness, you may prefer books which give step-by-step instructions on how to redecorate or enlarge a house.

Why have How-to books become so popular? Probably because life has become so complex. Today people have far more free time to use, more choices to make, and more problems to solve. How-to books help people deal with modern life.

It can be inferred from the passage that

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

"Face-to-face conversation is a two-way process: you speak to me, I reply to you and so on. Two-way (1)….. depends on having a coding System that is understood by both (2)….. and receiver, and an agreed convention about (3)…. the beginning and end of the (4)… . In speech, the coding System is the language like English or Spanish; the convention that one person speaks at a time may seem too obvious to (5)…. . In fact, the (6)…..that people use in conversations and meetings are often non- verbal. For example, lowering the pitch of voice may mean the end of a sentence; a Sharp intake of breath may signal the desire to (7)….. , catching the chairman’s (8)…. may indicate the desire to speak in a formal setting like a (9)….. , a clenched fist may indicate anger. When these (10)….. signals are not possible, more formal signals may be needed."

3. and an agreed convention about (3)…. the beginning 

Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
Marriage is an ancient religious and legal practice celebrated around the world. However, wedding customs vary from country to country. The Wedding Dress: In many countries, it is customary for the bride to wear a white dress as a symbol of purity. The tradition of wearing a special white dress only for the wedding ceremony started around 150 years ago. Before that, most women could not afford to buy a dress that they would only wear once. Now, bridal dresses can be bought in a variety of styles. In some Asian countries and in the Middle East, colors of joy and happiness like red or orange other than white are worn by the bride or used as part of the wedding ceremony. The Wedding Rings: In many cultures, couples exchange rings, usually made of gold or silver and worn on the third finger of the left or right hand, during the marriage ceremony. The circular shape of the ring is symbolic of the couple’s eternal union. In Brazil, it is traditional to have the rings engraved with the bride’s name on the groom’s ring, an vice versa. Flowers: Flowers play an important role in most weddings. Roses are said to be the flowers of love, and because they usually bloom in June, this has become the most popular month for weddings in many countries. After the wedding ceremony, in many countries the bride throws her bouquet into a crowd of well-wishers – usually her single female friends. The person who catches this bouquet will be the next one to marry. Gifts: In Chinese cultures, wedding guests give gifts of money to the newly-weds in small red envelopes. Money is also an appropriate gift at Korean and Japanese wedding. In many Western countries, for example in the U.K, wedding guests give the bride and groom household items that they may need for their new home. In Russia, rather than receiving gifts, the bride and groom provide gifts to their guests instead. With the continued internationalization of the modern world, wedding customs that originated in one part of the world are crossing national boundaries and have been incorporated into marriage ceremonies in other countries. 
5. The phrase “eternal union” in paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to ____