Choose the best answer to complete the sentence.

Free _____ area is a designated group of countries that have agreed to eliminate tariffs, quotas, and preferences on most goods among them.

Birds that feed in flocks commonly retire together into roosts. The reasons for roosting communally are not always obvious, but there are some likely benefits, In winter especially, it is important for birds to keep warm at night and conserve precious food reserves. One way to do this is to find a sheltered roost. Solitary roosters shelter in dense vegetation or enter a cavity- horned, larks dig holes In the ground and ptarmigan burrow into snow banks- but the effect of sheltering is magnified by several birds huddling together in the roost, as wrens, swifts, brown creepers, bluebirds, and anis do. Body contact reduces the surface area exposed to the cold air, so the birds keep each other warm. Two kinglets huddling together were found to reduce their heat losses by a quarter and three together saved a third of their heat.

The second possible benefit of communal roosts is that they act as "information centers". During the day, parties of birds will have spread out to forage over a very large area. When they return in the evening some will have fed well, but others may have found little to eat. Some investigators have observed that when the birds set out again next morning, those birds that did not feed well on the previous day appear to follow those that did. The behavior of common and lesser kestrels may illustrate different feeding behaviors of similar birds with different roosting habits. The common kestrel hunts vertebrate animals in a small, familiar hunting ground, whereas the very similar lesser kestrel feeds on insects over a large area. The common kestrel roost and hunts alone, but the lesser kestrel roosts and hunts in flocks, possibly so one bird can learn from others where to find insect swarms. Finally, there is safety in numbers at communal roosts since there will always be a few birds awake at any given moment to give the alarm. But this increased protection is partially counteracted by the fact that mass roosts attract predators and are especially vulnerable if they are on the ground. Even those in trees can be attacked by birds of prey. The birds on the edge are at greatest risk since predators find it easier to catch small birds perching at the margins of the roost

Which of the following statements about lesser and common kestrels is true?

We live in a world of tired, sleep deprived people. In his book Counting Sheep, Paul Martin - a behavioural biologist - describes a society which is just too busy to sleep and which does not give sleeping the importance it deserves. Modern society has invented reasons not to sleep. We are now a 24/7 society where shops and services must be available all hours. We spend longer hours at work than we used to, and more time getting to work.
Mobile phones and email allow us to stay in touch round the clock and late-night TV and the Internet tempt us away from our beds. When we need more time for work or pleasure, the easy solution is to sleep less. The average adult sleeps only 6.2 hours a night during the week, whereas research shows that most people need eight or even eight and a half to feel at their best. Nowadays, many people have got used to sleeping less than they need and they live in an almost permanent state of'sleep debt'.
Until the invention of the electric light in 1879 our daily cycle of sleep used to depend on the hours of daylight. People would get up with the sun and go to bed at nightfall. But nowadays our hours of sleep are mainly determined by our working hours (or our social life) and most people are woken up artificially by an alarm clock. During the day caffeine, the world's most popular drug, helps to keep us awake. 75% of the world's population habitually consume caffeine, which up to a point masks the symptoms of sleep deprivation.
What does a chronic lack of sleep do to us? As well as making us irritable and unhappy as humans, it also reduces our motivation and ability to work. This has serious Implications for society in general. Doctors, for example, are often chronically sleep deprived, especially when they are on'night call',  and may got less than three hours'sleep. Lack of sleep can seriously  impair their mood, judgment, and ability to take decisions. Tired engineers, in the early hours of the morning, made a series of mistakes with catastrophic results. On our roads and motorways lack of sleep kills thousands of people every year. Tests show that a tired driver can be just as dangerous as a drunken driver. However, driving when drunk is against the law but driving when exhausted isn't As Paul Martin says, it is very ironic that we admire people who function on very little sleep instead of criticizing them for being irresponsible, Our world would be a much safer, happier place if everyone, whatever their job, slept eight hours a night

Which of the following could best serve as the title of the passage?

Sheffield Football Club was (1)_____ one-hundred-and-fifty years ago, and is the oldest in the world. As put of its anniversary celebrations, the club has joined forces with the world's largest express transportation company, FedEx Express, in a charitable scheme known as Boots for Africa. The (2) _____  of the scheme is to send more than two thousand pairs of used football boots to South Africa. The boots will be given to young people living in remote rural areas who are interested in taking up the sport and setting up local teams.
Sports organisations in Africa are giving their full support to the scheme which will help make the game more accessible to thousands of young people and could have a beneficial effect on the country's performance in future World Cup championships.
People in Sheffield are, (3) _____, being asked to donate any football boots, astro boots or football trainers of any size to the scheme. All the boots donated must be in good (4) _____, complete with laces and studs. Local businesses and schools who may be able to donate more than one pair of boots can receive a special 'group donation pack'. This pack contains posters and leaflets, which can be used to publicise the scheme, plus collection bags to encourage people to (5) _____ a donation. The club's website has further information about the scheme.

(4).........................................

Read the passage carefully and choose the correct answer. 
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations or ASEAN was established on 8 August 1967 in Bangkok by the five original Member Countries, namely, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand. Brunei joined on 8 January 1984, Vietnam on 28 July 1995, Lao PDR and Myanmar on 23 July 1997, and Cambodia on 30 April 1999. The ASEAN Declaration states that the aims and purposes of the Association are: to accelerate economic growth, social progress and cultural development in the region and to promote regional peace and stability through abiding respect for justice and the rule of law in the relationship among countries in the region and adherence to the principles of the United Nations Charter.
In 2003, the ASEAN Leaders resolved that an ASEAN Community shall be established comprising three pillars, namely, ASEAN Security Community, ASEAN Economic Community and ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community.
The ASEAN Vision 2020, adopted by the ASEAN Leaders on the 30th Anniversary of ASEAN, agreed on a shared vision of ASEAN as a concert of Southeast Asian nations, outward looking, living in peace, stability and prosperity, bonded together in partnership in dynamic development and in a community of caring societies. ASEAN Member Countries have adopted the following fundamental principles in their relations with one another, as contained in the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC):
• mutual respect for the independence, sovereignty, equality, territorial integrity, and national identity of all nations;
• the right of every State to lead its national existence free from external interference, subversion or coercion;
• non-interference in the internal affairs of one another;
• settlement of differences or disputes by peaceful manner;
• renunciation of the threat or use of force; and
• effective cooperation among themselves

The third paragraph is about _______.

Aging is the process of growing old. It occurs eventually in every living thing provided, of course, that an illness or accident does not kill it prematurely. The most familiar outward signs of aging may be seen in old people, such as the graying of the hair and the wrinkling of the skin. Signs of aging in a pot dog or cat include loss of playfulness and energy, a decline in hearing and eyesight, or even a slight graying of the coat. Plants age too, but the signs are much harder to detect.
Most body parts grow bigger and stronger, and function more efficiently during childhood. They reach their peak at the time of maturity, or early adulthood. After that, they begin to decline. Bones, for example, gradually become lighter and more brittle. In the aged, the joints between the bones also become rigid and more inflexible. This can make moving very painful.
All the major organs of the body show signs of aging. The brain, for example, works less efficiently, and even gets smaller in size. Thinking processes of all sorts are slowed  down. Old people often have trouble in remembering recent events.
One of the most serious changes of old ago occurs in the arteries, the blood vessels that lead from the heart. They become thickened and constricted, allowing less blood to flow to  the rest of body. This condition accounts, directly or indirectly, for many of the diseases of the aged. It may, for example, result In heart attack.
Aging is not a uniform process. Different parts of the body wear out at different rates. There are great differences among people in their rate of aging. Even the cells of the body differ in the way they age. The majority of cells are capable of reproducing themselves many times during the course of a lifetime. Nerve cells and muscle fibers can never be replaced  once they wear out.
Gerontologists - scientists who study the process of aging - believe this wearing out of the body is controlled by a built-in biological time-clock. They are trying to discover how this clock works so that they can slow down the process. This could give man a longer life and a great number of productive years.

All of the followings may be the outward signs of aging EXCEPT      ................

 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."

5 . The word “police” may probably mean ……

Read the passage carefully and choose the correct answer

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 30^th 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 ________.

Read the passage below and choose the best answer (A, B, C or D ) to each question.

Higher education, also called tertiary, third stage or post secondary education, is the non-compulsory educational level following the completion of a school providing a secondary education, such as a high school, secondary school. Tertiary education is normally taken to include undergraduate and postgraduate education, as well as vocational education and training. Colleges and universities are the main institutions that provide tertiary institutions. Tertiary education generally results in the receipt of certificates, diplomas, or academic degrees.

Higher education includes teaching, research and social services activities of universities, and within the realm of teaching, it includes both the undergraduate level and the graduate level. Higher education in that country generally involves work towards a degree-level or foundation degree qualification. It is therefore very important to national economies, both as a significant industry in its own right, and as a source of trained and educated personnel for the rest of the economy.

What is ‘tertiary education’? 

The issue of equality for women in British society first attracted national attention in the early 20th century, when the suffragettes won for women the right to vote. In the 1960s feminism became the subject of intense debate when the women's liberation movement encouraged women to reject their traditional supporting role and to demand equal status and equal rights with men in areas such as employment and pay.
Since then, the gender gap between the sexes has been reduced. The Equal Pay Act of 1970, for instance, made it illegal for women to be paid less than men for doing the same work, and in 1975 the Sex Discrimination Act aimed to prevent either sex having an unfair advantage when applying for jobs. In the same year the Equal Opportunities Commission was set up to help people claim their rights to equal treatment and to publish research and statistics to show where improvements in opportunities for women need to be made. Women now have much better employment opportunities, though they still tend to get less well-paid jobs than men, and very few are appointed to top jobs in industry.
In the US the movement that is often called the "first wave of feminism' began in the mid 1800s. Susan B. Anthony worked for the right to vote, Margaret Sanger wanted to provide women with the means of contraception so that they could decide whether or not to have children, and Elizabeth Blackwell, who had to fight for the chance to become a doctor, wanted women to have greater opportunities to study. Many feminists were interested in other social issues.
The second wave of feminism began in the 1960s. Women like Betty Friedan and Gloria Steinem became associated with the fight to get equal rights and opportunities for women under the law. An important issue was the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), which was intended to change the Constitution. Although the ERA was not passed, there was progress in other areas. It became illegal for employers, schools, clubs, etc. to discriminate against women. But women still find it hard to advance beyond a certain point in their careers, the so-called glass ceiling that prevents them from having high-level jobs. Many women also face the problem of the second shift, i.e. the household chores.
In the 1980s, feminism became less popular in the us and there was less interest in solving the remaining problems, such as the fact that most women still earn much less than men.
Although there is still discrimination, the principle that it should not exist is widely accepted.

Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?

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.

The word "it" in the passage  refers to ......................

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

The increase in urbanization causes different problems. Air and water pollution are amongst the major issue we have to tackle.

In the first place, cars, factories and burning waste emit dangerous gases that change the air quality in our cities and pose threats to our health. Dangerous gases such as carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxides cause respiratory diseases, for instant, bronchitis and asthma. Those are also proved to have long-term effects on the environment.

Furthermore, with the increased population, it becomes difficult to manage the waste generated in cities. Most of the waste is discharged or dumped into rivers or onto streets. The waste pollutes water and makes it unfit for human consumption. Subsequently, it becomes more and more difficult for city dwellers to get clean water. Some cities in Africa are unable to provide adequate water supply because most of the water is lost in pipe leakages. In fact, most city dwellers in developing countries are forced to boil their water or to buy bottled water, which is very expensive.

There are several actions that could be taken to eradicate the problems described above. Firstly, a simple solution would be joining community efforts to address problems affecting your city. Ask your parents, friends and relatives to join in as well. These efforts might include clean-up campaigns, recycling projects and a signature campaign to ask the government to do something about the situation. A second measure would be encouraging your teacher to talk about these problems and to discuss how young people can help to solve them. Finally, writing to local organizations working on these issues for ideas on how you can contribute to solve them.

Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?

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."

3. Brunei joined the alliance after (3)….. independence from the United Kingdom in 1984.

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.

(29) _____

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."

5. The Khmer Rouge’s brutal repression and radical socialist (5) ……  devastated Cambodia’s society and economy. 

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.
(34).................

Some animal behaviorists argue that certain animals can remember past events, anticipate future ones, make plans and choices, and coordinate activities within a group. These scientists, however, are cautious about the extent to which animals can be credited with conscious   processing.
Explanations of animal behavior that leave out any sort of consciousness at all and ascribe actions entirely to instinct leave many questions unanswered. One example of such unexplained behavior: Honeybees communicate the sources of nectar to one another by doing a dance in a figure-eight pattern. The orientation of the dance conveys the position of the food relative to the sun's position in the sky, and the speed of the dance tells how  far  the food source is from  the  hive. Most researchers assume that the ability to perform and  encode the dance is innate and  shows no special intelligence. But in one study, when experimenters kept changing the site of     the food source, each time moving the food 25 percent father from the previous site, foraging honeybees began to anticipate where the food source would appear next. When the researchers arrived at the new location, they would find the bees circling the spot, waiting for their food. No one has yet explained how bees, whose brains weigh four ten-thousandths of an  ounce,  could  have inferred the location of the new  site.
Other behaviors that may indicate some cognition include tool use. Many animals, like the otter who uses a stone to crack mussel shells, are capable of using objects in the natural environment as rudimentary tools. One researcher has found that mother  chimpanzees  occasionally show their young how to use tools to open hard nuts. In one study, chimpanzees compared two pairs of food wells containing chocolate chips. One pair might contain, say, five chips and three chips, the other four chips and three chips. Allowed to choose which pair they wanted, the  chimpanzees  almost always chose the  one with the higher total, showing some sort  of summing ability. Other chimpanzees have learned to use numerals to label quantities of items and do simple sums.

The word "yet" is closest in  meaning to  ...............

Although most universities in the United States are on a semester system, which offers classes in the fall and spring, some schools observe a quarter system comprised of fall, winter, spring, and summer quarters. The academic year, September to June, is divided into three quarters of eleven weeks each beginning in September, January, and March: the summer quarter, June to August, is composed of shorter sessions of vary length.There are several advantages and disadvantages to the quarter system. On the plus side, students who wish to complete their degrees in less than the customary four years may take advantage of the opportunity to study year round by enrolling in all four quarters. In addition, although most students begin their programs in the fall quarter, they may enter at the beginning of any other quarters. Finally, since the physical facilities are kept in operation year round, the resources are used effectively to serve the greatest number of students. But there are several disadvantages as well. Many faculty complain that eleven-week term is simply not enough for them to cover the material required by most college coursed. Students also find it difficult to complete the assignments in such a short period of time.In order to combine the advantages of the quarter system with those of the semester system some colleges and universities have instituted a three-term trimester system. In fourteen weeks, faculty and students have more time to cover material and finish course requirements, but the additional term provides options for admission during the year and accelerates the degree programs for those students who wish to graduate early

When may students begin studying in a school that uses a quarter system?

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.

According to the passage, 1997 witnessed ____.

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 passage, the study of learning is important in many fields due to     :

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

Born on June 30, 1985 in Baltimore, Maryland, to Fred and Debbie Phelps, the youngest of three children, Michael Phelps and his sisters grew up in the neighbourhood of Rodger Forge. His father, Fred, a former all-rounded athlete, was a state trooper and his mother Debbie was a middle-school principal. When Phelps's parents divorced in 1994, he and his siblings lived with their mother, with whom Michael grew very close. Even at the age of 7, Phelps was still a little scared to put his head under water, so his instructors allowed him to float around on his back. Not surprisingly, despite the fact that later he is very good at butterfly swimming, the first stroke he mastered was not the easily-practised breaststroke but the backstroke.

At the age of 15, Phelps became the youngest American male swimmer to compete at an Olympic Games in 68 years. While he didn't win any medals at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, he would soon become a major force in competitive swimming.

In the spring of 2001, Phelps set the world record in the 200-meter butterfly, becoming the youngest male swimmer in history at the age of 15 years and 9 months. At the 2001 World Championships in Japan, he then broke his own record with a time of 1:54:58, earning his first international medal. In 2002, Phelps continued to establish several records including the 100-meter butterfly and the 200-meter individual medley. The following year, at the same event, he broke his own world record in the 400-meter individual medley with a time of 4:09.09.

After the London Olympics in 2012, Phelps announced he was retiring from his sport. However, at the 2016 Olympic Games, he came out of retirement and returned to professional competition. This was also the event in which he won one silver and five gold medals, becoming the oldest individual gold medalist in Olympic swimming history, as well as the first swimmer to win four consecutive golds in the same event, the 200 meter individual medley.

The first style of swimming Phelps was good at is ____.