Choose the best answer to complete the sentence.Mary will have finished all her work _______

Choose the letter A, B, C or D to complete the passage below

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations or ASEAN _________ (6) on 8 August 1967 in Bangkok by the five original Member Countries, namely, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand. Brunei Darussalam joined ASEAN on 7 January 1984, Viet Nam joined _________ (7) 28 July 1995, Lao PDR and Myanmar on 23 July 1997, and Cambodia on 30 April 1999. Brunei Darussalam joined ASEAN _________ (8) its sixth member soon after assuming her full independence in January 1984. Present at the admission ceremony at the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta, Indonesia was His Royal Highness Prince Mohamed Bolkiah, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Brunei Darussalam. Since then, ASEAN became the cornerstone of Brunei's foreign policies. Through ASEAN, Brunei Darussalam participates in various other regional frameworks including ASEAN regional Forum, ASEAN Plus Three and East Asia Summit.

His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam _________ (9) other ASEAN leaders signed the ASEAN Charter on 20 November 2007 in Singapore. Brunei Darussalam was _________ (10) second member state after Singapore to ratify the Charter on 31 January 2008. Brunei officials who have served in the ASEAN secretariat included Dato Roderick Yong, ASEAN Secretary-General (July 1986 - July 1989), Dato Haji Mahadi Wasli, Deputy Secretary-general (1994 - 1997), and Pengiran Dato Mashor Pg. Ahmad (2003 - 2005).

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations or ASEAN _________ (6) on 8 August 1967 in Bangkok by the five original Member Countries, namely, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand. 

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.

When does the human body begin to lose vigor and the ability to function efficiently?

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

According to the passage, which of the following statements is TRUE about Paul Martin?

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

What is the meaning of 'back up'?

Choose the best answer to complete the sentence.

He says the government must introduce tax incentives to encourage ______

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

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

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

Up to 1997 how many countries there have been in ASEAN?

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

The phrase "tie the knot" in paragraph 4 could be best replaced by...................

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.

 According to paragraph 1, how are diseases a natural part of life on   Earth?

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.

   Traditional methods of teaching no longer suffice in this technological world. Currently there are more than 100,000 computers in schoolrooms in the United States. Students mediocre and bright alike, from the first stage through high school not only are not intimidated by my computers, but have become avid participants in the computer epoch.

   Kids operating computer implement their curriculum with great versatility. A music student can program musical notes so that the computer will play Beethoven or the Beatles. For a biology class, the computer can produce a picture of the intricate envisage human biology in a profound way. A nuclear reactor is no longer an enigma to students who can see its workings in minute detail on a computer. In Wisconsi, the Chippewa Indians are studying their ancient and almost forgotten language with the aid of a computer. More commonly, the computer is used for drilling math and language concepts so that youngsters may learn at their own speed without trying the patience of their human teachers. The simplest computers aid the handicapped, who learn more rapidly from the computer than from humans. Once irksome, remedial drills and exercises now on computer are conducive to learning because the machine responds to correct answers with praise and to incorrect answers with frowns and even an occasional tear.

   Adolescents have become so exhilarated by computers that they have developed their own jargon, easily understood by their peers but leaving their disconcerted parents in the dark. They have shown so much fervor for computer that they have formed computer clubs, beguile their leisure hours in computer stores, and even attend computer camps. A Boy Scout can get a computer merit badge. One ingenious young student devised a computer game for Atari will earn him $100,000 in royalties This is definitely the computer age. Manufacturers of computers are presently getting tax write – offs for donating equipment to colleges and universities and are pushing for legislation to obtain further deductions for contributions to elementary and high school. Furthermore, the price of computer for home or office is being sold for less than $100. At that price every class in the country will soon have computer kids.

According to the passage, one exceedingly clever student has __________

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."

9. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, ASEAN (9)……  an important role in mediating the civil war in Cambodia.

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.

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

Water scarcity is fast becoming one of the major limiting factors in world crop production.  In many areas, poor agricultural practices have led to increasing desertification and the loss of formerly arable lands. Consequently, those plants species that are well adapted to survival in dry climates are being looked at for an answer in developing more efficient crops to grow on marginally arable lands.
Plants uses several mechanisms to ensure their survival in desert environments. Some involve purely mechanical and physical adaptations, such as the shape of the plant's surface, smaller leaf size, and extensive root systems. Some of the adaptations are related to chemical mechanisms. Many plants, such as cacti, have internal gums and mucilages which give them water-retaining properties. Another chemical mechanism is that of the epicuticular wax layer. This wax layer acts as an impervious cover to protect the plant. It prevents excessive loss of internal moisture. It also protects the plant from external aggression, which can come from inorganic agents such as gases, or organic agents which include bacteria ant plant pets.
Researchers have proposed that synthetic waxes with similar protective abilities could be prepared based on knowledge of desert plants. If successfully developed, such a compound could be used to greatly increase a plant's ability to maintain health in such adverse situations as inadequate water supply, limited fertilizers availability, attacked by pets, and poor storage after harvesting

It can be inferred that synthetic simulated waxes.......................

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.

According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true?

Read the passage and choose the best answers. 
Brunei is one of the smallest countries in the world. Its population is only 25,000 and most of them live in Bandar Seri Begawan (the capital city with the longest name in the world. It is also the richest country in Asia and maybe the richest country in the world because it has a lot of oil and natural gas which it exports to Japan. Every week huge tankers carry oil and gas from the oil-fields of Brunei to Japan. The head of the state in Brunei is Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah. He is the richest man in the world. He has two wives and each lives in their own beautiful palace. The first wife lives in the biggest palace in the world which has 200 rooms. The Sultan has more than 200 cars and he also has hundreds of horses.

Which of the following is NOT true about Brunei?

Shyness may not seem to be a serious complaint, but for some who suffer from it, it can become unbearable. Even talking to a small group of people you know can seem like an ordeal- it can feel as if you’ve been asked to give a speech on a topic you know very little about to a number of experts. You start to feel hot and shaky, your heart beats faster, your knees feel weak, you begin to stutter and the whole experience seems to last forever.
The fact of the matter is that shyness is something we often recognize in others: “blushing” is one of the more visible signs, for example. Yet we don’t judge someone harshly because of this. But shyness does mean that you are harder to approach, so you become more  isolated. As one shy person put it, “It’s like being in a prison, and it’s very hard to break out.”
Experts on the subject have come up with various possible solutions, and one has been singled out as being the key to success- namely, finding an interest in common with the other people. Spending a lot of time on the sidelines watching other people and envying them because they are much more outgoing doesn’t help; remembering that some of those people you most envy are probably shy themselves, does. The secret is how you deal with it. And experts have come up with four things you can do today to help. Firstly, you can start by listening to other people. You will find yourself getting interested in what they’re talking about and asking questions- and before you know it, you’ll be having a conversation.
Secondly, you could try asking neighbors if you can walk their dog. Like children, pets can be excellent icebreakers for conversations with passers-by. Thirdly, try joining a class to learn something like tap-dancing or flamenco, where people are likely to laugh a lot. You’ll feel relaxed, and also you’ll be much too busy concentrating on what you are doing to feel shy. Lastly, try telling yourself that it doesn’t matter if you say or do something silly. Most people make a fool of themselves every so often- and it’s not the end of the world if you do!

The major aim of the author of the text is to________

The Influence of Advertising on Pricing
Advertising makes an immense difference in the popularity of a product. Studies have shown that consumers usually pay more for advertised products than non-advertised products. As a result, the marketing and advertising industry is a multibillion-dollar-a-year business. Local commercials can cost as little as several hundred dollars to produce, while national companies have been known to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on a single commercial. Interestingly, the source for these expensive commercials is the consumers who view the advertisements from the comfort of their living rooms. Companies influence the prices that consumers pay in two ways.
When consumers purchase any product, they are obviously paying for the cost of manufacturing the product. However, they are also paying for the advertising campaign devised to convince consumers to buy the product. The more costly the advertising campaign, the higher the price paid by consumers. Companies are allowed to set these high prices because consumers have shown that they will continue to pay them. For instance, a multinational chain of coffee shops significantly raised its prices a few years ago, due in no small part to an expensive national advertising campaign. While regular customers noticed and were not fond of the hike, one was quoted as saying, “I doubt it will make an impact [on consumers]. It won’t change my habit." Indeed, it did not; the company experienced record sales in spite of the fact its prices were higher than its competitors'.
Another way advertising tends to affect product pricing is seen in the arena of perceived value to the consumers. The perceived value is the worth that consumers assign to a product. Studies show that often the advertising for a product determines its value more than the quality or necessity of the product itself. One way a company may take advantage of this perceived value is by running commercials during prime time. These ads are usually much more expensive than others. For example, a national commercial that ran during a popular American show cost close to $745,000 to run for thirty seconds. If people watching the show perceive that the product is more valuable simply because it was advertised during prime time, they are often willing to pay higher prices. So, whether it is seen in the cost of the commercials or the advertiser-assigned value, it is obvious that advertising drives product pricing and directly affects consumers.

According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true about the coffee chain's price increase?

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 'monitor' in the passage 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.

   Many flowering plants woo insect pollinators and gently direct them to their most fertile blossoms by changing the color of individual flowers from day to day. Through color cues, the plant signals to the insect that it would be better off visiting one flower on its bush than another. The particular hue tells the pollinator that the flower is full of far more pollen than are neighboring blooms. That nectar-rich flower also happens to be fertile and ready to disperse its pollen or to receive pollen the insect has picked up from another flower. Plants do not have to spend precious resources maintaining reservoirs of nectar in all their flowers. Thus, the color-coded communication system benefits both plants and insects.

   For example, on the lantana plant, a flower starts out on the first day as yellow, when it is rich with pollen and nectar. Influenced by an as-yet-unidentified environmental signal, the flower changes color by triggering the production of the pigment anthromyacin. It turns orange on the second day and red on the third. By the third day, it has no pollen to offer insects and is no longer fertile. On any given lantana bush, only 10 to 15 per cent of the blossoms are likely to be yellow and fertile. But in tests measuring the responsiveness of butterflies, it was discovered that the insects visited the yellow flowers at least 100 times more than would be expected from haphazard visitation. Experiments with paper flowers and painted flowers demonstrated that the butterflies were responding to color cues rather than, say, the scent of the nectar.

   In other types of plants, blossoms change from white to red, others from yellow to red, and so on. These color changes have been observed in some 74 families of plants.

The word “woo” 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.

The word “ customary” in paragraph 2 could best be replaced by______.

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     :