Choose the letter A, B, C or D to answer these following questions:
The World Trade Organization came into being in 1995. One of the youngest of the international organizations, the WTO is the successor to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) established in the wake of the Second World War. So while the WTO is relatively young, the multilateral trading system that was originally set up under the GATT is over 70 years old.
The past 70 years have seen an exceptional growth in world trade. Merchandise exports have grown on average by 6% annually. This growth in trade has been a powerful engine for overall economic expansion and on average trade has grown by 1.5 times more than the global economy each year. Total exports in 2016 were 250 times the level of 1948. The GATT and the WTO have helped to create a strong and prosperous trading system contributing to unprecedented growth.
The system was developed through a series of trade negotiations, or rounds, held under the GATT. The first rounds dealt mainly with tariff reductions but later negotiations included other areas such as anti-dumping and non-tariff measures. The 1986-94 round – the Uruguay Round – led to the WTO’s creation.
What is the passage mainly about?
Suy nghĩ và trả lời câu hỏi trước khi xem đáp án
Lời giải:
Báo saikiến thức: reading
Giải thích: “The World Trade Organization came into being in 1995.”.
Dịch: Tổ chức thương mại quốc tế bắt đầu đi vào hoạt động vào năm 1995.
Câu hỏi liên quan
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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.
The American type of football was developed in the 19th century from soccer and rugby football. Played by professionals, amateurs, college and high school students, or young children, football in American is one of the most popular sports besides basketball and baseball. It attracts millions of fans each fall and people are very supportive of their favourite teams. The football playing field of today is rectangular in shape and measures 100 yards long and 53.5 yards wide. White lines are painted on the playing field to mark off the distances to the end zone. The games is divided into four quarters, each fifteen minutes long. The first two quarters are known as the first half. There is a rest period between two halves which usually last about fifteen minutes. Each team has eleven players. Each team has offensive players who play when the team has possession of the ball and defensive players who play when the other team has the possession of the ball. Because of the body contact players have during the game, helmets are worn to protect their head and face area, whereas pads are worn to protect the shoulders, arms, and legs. Also, there are officials carrying whistles and flags to make certain that the rules of the game are followed during the game. The football is made of leather and is brown in colour. It is shaped much like an oval and has white rings near each end of the football. These rings help the players see the ball when it is thrown or someone is running with it. The eight stitches on the top of the football help the players to grip the ball when throwing or passing. The most famous game of the year is Super Bowl that is played in January or February. It is televised around the world and is watched by millions of people each year.
As mentioned in the text, who are the most active when their team has the ball?
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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.
Nowadays, most people realize that it’s risky to use credit card numbers online. However, from time to time, we all use passwords and government ID numbers on the Internet. We think we are safe, but that may not be true! A new kind of attack is being used by dishonest people to steal IDs and credit card numbers from innocent web surfers. This new kind of attack is called “phishing.”
Phishing sounds the same as the word “fishing,” and it implies that a thief is trying to lure people into giving away valuable information. Like real fishermen, phishers use bait in the form of great online deals or
services. For example, phishers might use fake emails and false websites to con people into revealing credit card numbers, account usernames, and passwords. They imitate well-known banks, online sellers, and credit card companies. Successful phishers may convince as many as five percent of the people they contact to respond and give away their personal financial information.
Is this really a big problem? Actually, tricking five percent of the online population is huge! Currently, more than 350 million people have access to the Internet, and seventy-five percent of those Internet users live in the wealthiest countries on Earth. It has been estimated that phishers send more than three billion scam messages each year. Even by tricking only five percent of the people, phishers can make a lot of money.
Since there is so much money to make through this kind of scam, it has caught the interest of more than just small-time crooks. Recently, police tracked down members of an organized phishing group in Eastern Europe, who had stolen hundreds of thousands of dollars from people online. The group created official-looking email messages requesting people to update their personal information at an international bank’s website. However, the link to the bank in the message actually sent people to the phishers’ fake website. To make matters worse, further investigation revealed that this group had connections to a major crime gang in Russia.
How can innocent people protect themselves? Above all, they have to learn to recognize email that has been sent by a phisher. Always be wary of any email with urgent requests for personal financial information. Phishers typically write upsetting or exciting, but fake, statements in their emails so that people will reply right away.
Also, messages from phishers will not address recipients by name because they really don’t know who the recipients are yet. On the other hand, valid messages from your bank or other companies you normally deal with will typically include your personal name. According to paragraph 3, why are only 5% of online users tricked a big problem?
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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:
The brain of the average human weighs approximately 1.4 kilograms and consists of three main parts: the cerebrum, the cerebellum, and the brain stem. The cerebrum is by far the largest of the three parts, taking up 85% of the brain by weight. The outside layer of the cerebrum, the cerebral cortex, is a grooved and bumpy surface covering the nerve cells beneath. The various sections of the cerebrum are the sensory cortex, which is responsible for receiving and decoding sensory messages from throughout the body: the motor cortex, which sends action instructions to the skeletal muscles: and the association cortex, which receives, monitor and processes information. It is in the association cortex that the processes that allow humans to think take place. The cerebellum, located below the cerebrum in the back part of the skull, the section of the brain that controls balance and posture. The brain stem connects the cerebrum and the spinal cord. It control various body processes such as breathing and heartbeat.According to the passage, which part of the brain analyzes information?
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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.
The American type of football was developed in the 19th century from soccer and rugby football. Played by professionals, amateurs, college and high school students, or young children, football in American is one of the most popular sports besides basketball and baseball. It attracts millions of fans each fall and people are very supportive of their favourite teams. The football playing field of today is rectangular in shape and measures 100 yards long and 53.5 yards wide. White lines are painted on the playing field to mark off the distances to the end zone. The games is divided into four quarters, each fifteen minutes long. The first two quarters are known as the first half. There is a rest period between two halves which usually last about fifteen minutes. Each team has eleven players. Each team has offensive players who play when the team has possession of the ball and defensive players who play when the other team has the possession of the ball. Because of the body contact players have during the game, helmets are worn to protect their head and face area, whereas pads are worn to protect the shoulders, arms, and legs. Also, there are officials carrying whistles and flags to make certain that the rules of the game are followed during the game. The football is made of leather and is brown in colour. It is shaped much like an oval and has white rings near each end of the football. These rings help the players see the ball when it is thrown or someone is running with it. The eight stitches on the top of the football help the players to grip the ball when throwing or passing. The most famous game of the year is Super Bowl that is played in January or February. It is televised around the world and is watched by millions of people each year.
When is the most famous football game held annually?
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Choose the answer A, B, C or D that best fits the blank space in the following passage:
"The Security Council is the most powerful (1)….. in the UN. It is responsible for maintaining international peace, and for (2)…. Peace when conflicts arise. Its decisions are binding on all UN members and have the force of international law. The Security Council has the (3)… to define what is a threat to security, to determine how the UN should respond, and to enforce its decisions by ordering UN members to take certain (4)….. . For example, the Council may impose economic sanctions, such as halting trade with a country it considers an aggressor.
The Security Council has 15 members, 5 of which hold permanent seats. The General Assembly elects the other 10 members for (5)….. two-year terms. The 5 permanent members - the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Russia (formerly the Soviet Union), and China - have the most power. These nations were the winning (6)…. at the end of World War II, and they still represent the bulk of the world's military might.
Decisions of the Council require nine votes. But any one of the permanent members can veto an important decision. This authority is known (7) …. the veto right of the great powers. As a result, the Council is effective only when its permanent members can reach a consensus. Beginning in the 1990s, increased cooperation between the United States and Russia (8) …..the council to become more effective.
In recent years, there has been growing (9)….. over which countries should have permanent seats on the Council. Some nations believe that other countries besides the original five should be included. For example, Japan and Germany are powerful countries that pay large membership dues and make substantial contributions to the UN, (10)…. they do not have permanent seats. There is no easy solution to this problem."10. make substantial contributions to the UN, (10)…. they do not have permanent seats.
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Reading the following passage and mark the letter on your answer sheet to indicate the correct word that best fits each of the numbered blank from 34 to 38
Father's Day was created to complement Mother's Day. Like Mother's Day (34) ______ honors mothers and motherhood, Father's Day celebrates fatherhood and paternal bonds; it highlights the (35)_______ of fathers in society. Many countries celebrate it on the third Sunday of June, but it is also celebrated widely on other days. Historically, Sonora Smart Dodd was the woman behind the celebration of male parenting. Her father, the Civil War veteran William Jackson Smart, was a single parent who (36) _______ his six children there. After hearing a sermon about Jarvis' Mother's Day in 1909, she told her pastor that fathers should have a similar holiday honoring them. Although she initially suggested June 5, her father's birthday, the pastors did not have enough time to prepare their sermons, and the celebration was deferred to the third Sunday of June. The first celebration was in Spokane. Washington at the YMCA (Young Men's Christian Association) on June 19,1910. Since then it has become a traditional day (37) ________ year.
In recognition of what fathers do for their families, on this day people may have a party celebrating male parenting or simply make a phone call or send a greeting card. (38) _________, schools help children prepare handmade gifts for their fathers many days before the celebration.Question 37:......................
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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.
Although speech is the most advanced form of communication, there are many ways of communicating without using speech. Signals, signs, symbols, and gestures may be found in every known culture. The basic function of signal is to impinge upon the environment in such a way that it attracts attention, as, for example, the dots and dashes of a telegraph circuit. Coded to refer to speech, the potential for communication is very great. Less adaptable to the codification of words, signs also contain meaning in and of themselves. A stop sign or a barber pole conveys meaning quickly and conveniently.
Symbols are more difficult to describe than either signals or signs because of their intricate relationship with the receiver’s cultural perceptions. In some cultures, applauding in a theater provides performers with an auditory symbol of approval. Gestures such as waving and handshaking also communicate certain cultural messages.
Although signals, signs, symbols, and gestures are very useful, they do have a major disadvantage in communication. They usually do not allow ideas to be shared without the sender being directly adjacent to the receiver. Without an exchange of ideas, interaction comes to a halt. As a result, means of communication intended to be used for long distances and extended periods must be based upon speech. To radio, television, and the telephone, one must add fax, paging systems, electronic mail, and the Internet, and no one doubts but that there are more means of communication on the horizon.
Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?
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Read the passage and choose the correct answer:
For 70 years, UNICEF has been working on the ground in 190 countries and territories to promote children’s survival, protection and development. The world’s largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is the driving force that helps build a world where the rights of every child are realized. As a global authority UNICEF is able to influence decision makers at the global level and turn the most innovative ideas into reality.
In all of its work, UNICEF takes a life-cycle based approach, recognizing the particular importance of early childhood development and adolescence. UNICEF programmes focus on the most disadvantaged children, including those living in fragile contexts, those with disabilities, those who are affected by rapid urbanization and those affected by environmental degradation.
UNICEF was created with a distinct purpose in mind: to work with others to overcome the obstacles that poverty, violence, disease and discrimination place in a child’s path. We advocate for measures to give children the best start in life, because proper care at the youngest age forms the strongest foundation for a person’s future.
We promote girls’ education – ensuring that they complete primary education as a minimum – because it benefits all children, both girls and boys. Girls who are educated grow up to become better thinkers, better citizens, and better parents to their own children. We act so that all children are immunized against common childhood diseases, and are well nourished: no child should suffer or die from a preventable illness. We work to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS among young people because it is right to keep them from harm and enable them to protect others. We help children and families affected by HIV/AIDS to live their lives with dignity.
UNICEF is the world’s largest provider of vaccines.
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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:
The Winterthur Museum is a collection and a house. There are many museums devoted to the decorative arts and many house museums, but rarely in the United States is a great collection displayed in a great country house. Passing through successive generations of a single family, Winterthur has been a private estate for more than a century. Even after the extensive renovations made to it between 1929 and 1931, the house remained a family residence. This fact is of importance to the atmosphere and effect of the museum. The impression of a lived-in house is apparent to the visitor: the rooms look as if they were vacated only a short while ago whether by the original owners of the furniture or the most recent residents of the house can be a matter of personal interpretation. Winterthur remains, then, a house in which a collection of furniture and architectural elements has been assembled. Like an English country house, it is an organic structure; the house, as well as the collection and manner of displaying it to the visitor, has changed over the years. The changes have coincided with developing concepts of the American arts, increased knowledge on the part of collectors and students, and a progression toward the achievement of a historical effect in period-room displays. The rooms at Winterthur have followed this current, yet still retained the character of a private house.
The concept of a period room as a display technique has developed gradually over the years in an effort to present works of art in a context that would show them to greater effect and would give them more meaning for the viewer. Comparable to the habitat group in a natural history museum, the period room represents the decorative arts in a lively and interesting manner and provides an opportunity to assemble objects related by style, date, or place of manufacture.The word "it" in line 10 refers to...............
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Choosing a career may be one of the hardest jobs you ever have, and it must be done with care. View a career as an opportunity to do something you love, not simply as a way to earn a living. Investing the time and effort to thoroughly explore your options can mean the difference between finding a stimulating and rewarding career and move from job to unsatisfying job in an attempt to find the right one. Work influences virtually every aspect of your life, from your choice of friends to where you live. Here are just a few of the factors to consider.
Deciding what matters most to you is essential to making the right decision. You may want to begin by assessing your likes, dislikes, strengths, and weaknesses. Think about the classes, hobbies, and surroundings that you find most appealing. Ask yourself questions, such as “Would you like to travel? Do you want to work with children? Are you more suited to solitary or cooperative work?” There are no right or wrong answers; only you know what is important to you. Determine which job features you require, which ones you would prefer, and which ones you cannot accept. Then rank them in order of importance to you.
The setting of the job is one factor to take into account. You may not want to sit at a desk all day. If not, there are diversity occupation – building inspector, supervisor, real estate agent – that involve a great deal of time away from the office. Geographical location may be a concern, and employment in some fields in concentrated in certain regions. Advertising job can generally be found only in large cities. On the other hand, many industries such as hospitality, law education, and retail sales are found in all regions of the country.
If a high salary is important to you, do not judge a career by its starting wages. Many jobs, such as insurance sales, offers relatively low starting salaries; however, pay substantially increases along with your experience, additional training, promotions and commission.
Don’t rule out any occupation without learning more about it. Some industries evoke positive or negative associations. The traveling life of a flight attendant appears glamorous, while that of a plumber does not. Remember that many jobs are not what they appear to be at first, and may have merits or demerits that are less obvious. Flight attendants must work long, grueling hours without sleeps, whereas plumbers can be as highly paid as some doctors.
Another point to consider is that as you mature, you will likely develop new interests and skills that may point the way to new opportunities. The choice you make today need not be your final oneIn paragraph 6, the author suggests that ______ .
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Choose the word or phrase among A, B, c or D that best fits the blank space in the following passage:
"United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) organization was (1) ……. by the United Nations in 1946 to provide food, clothing, and rehabilitative programs (2)…. European children brutalized by World War II (1939- 1945). In 1950 the United Nations made UNICEF (3)…… for improving the welfare of all children worldwide. The organization’s mission is threefold: (I) to ensure that basic nutrition, health, and education needs of children are (4)….. , (II) to give children the opportunity to (5) ….. their potential, and (III) to create an international ethical Standard of behavior toward children.
Since 1950 UNICEF has focused primarily (6)…… promoting “sustainable development” in more than 150 (7)…… nations. By providing community-based Services to teach community leaders to build wells and sewage-disposal Systems, UNICEF has helped (8)….. millions of children with clean drinking water and sanitary living conditions. By training educators to develop effective school programs, the (9)….. has enabled children around the world to benefit (10)….. a primary school education. In recognition of its efforts, UNICEF received the 1965 Nobel Peace Prize."7. promoting “sustainable development” in more than 150 (7)…… nations.
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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:
AN UNWELCOME GUEST
Of the one in seven people in the UK who claim to have seen a ghost, the majority are women. This may be because women have far more association with the spirit world. Women trust their emotions and are generally better able than men to cope with the unexpected.
Housewife Fiona Blair describes herself as very practical and down-to-earth, and never believed in the idea that a house could be haunted. That all changed when she and her family moved into a manor house in the Midlands. Although the surveyor reckoned that the house required a lot of attention and was somewhat damp, they thought it was stunning. They could just afford it and it would be a good investment, so they took the plunge and decided to buy it.
Nonetheless, right from the start, Fiona had a strange sense that they were not alone in the house. One of her teenage daughters had left a towel over the back of a chair in the kitchen. Fiona was in the garden, and when she returned to the house, the towel was over the kitchen table like a tablecloth. On other occasions the family would find that objects such as glasses and vases had been turned upside-down.
This was only the start of the peculiar happenings. A particularly strange incident happened on Fiona's birthday. Fiona's husband, Mark, came home from work and went into the living room. He immediately came rushing out to ask who had bought her the beautiful flowers - but nobody had given Fiona flowers and her daughters had not put the flowers there. It remained a mystery how they had miraculously appeared.
Fiona was curious and decided to find out about the history of the house. What she discovered was rather alarming. Apparently a young girl, servant to a previous generation of owners, had been found dead in peculiar circumstances in the attic. Fiona and her family inevitably began to feel claustrophobic and trapped in the house, and eventually decided that they would have to move.
Unfortunately, things were not as simple as that. Each time they attempted to show the house to potential buyers, Fiona would of course ensure beforehand that everything was neat and tidy in order to make a good impression. But by the time anyone arrived, the entire house would be in a complete mess, and visitors complained of an unpleasant atmosphere. Eventually, after many months, an American couple viewed the house, and decided it had a certain attraction. For some reason, the ghost did not play its usual tricks, and Fiona was able to sell what had been her dream home.
Now living in a spacious modern apartment in London, Fiona wants to forget it all and move on with her life. 'At one point I thought I might be going out of my mind, it was all so frightening. We can almost laugh about it all now, but I hope we never experience anything like that again.According to the fifth paragraph, what had happened to the servant girl?
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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:
The brain of the average human weighs approximately 1.4 kilograms and consists of three main parts: the cerebrum, the cerebellum, and the brain stem. The cerebrum is by far the largest of the three parts, taking up 85% of the brain by weight. The outside layer of the cerebrum, the cerebral cortex, is a grooved and bumpy surface covering the nerve cells beneath. The various sections of the cerebrum are the sensory cortex, which is responsible for receiving and decoding sensory messages from throughout the body: the motor cortex, which sends action instructions to the skeletal muscles: and the association cortex, which receives, monitor and processes information. It is in the association cortex that the processes that allow humans to think take place. The cerebellum, located below the cerebrum in the back part of the skull, the section of the brain that controls balance and posture. The brain stem connects the cerebrum and the spinal cord. It control various body processes such as breathing and heartbeat.How does the passage describe the appearance of the cerebral cortex?
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1.Not so long ago almost any student who successfully completed a university degree or diploma course could find a good career quite easily. Companies toured the academic institutions, competing with each other to recruit graduates. However, those days are gone, even in Hong Kong, and nowadays graduates often face strong competition in the search for jobs.
2.Most careers organizations highlight three stages for graduates to follow in the process of securing a suitable career: recognizing abilities, matching these to available vacancies and presenting them well to prospective employers.
3.Job seekers have to make a careful assessment of their own abilities. One area of assessment should be of their academic qualifications, which would include special skills within their subject area. Graduates should also consider their own personal values and attitudes, or the relative importance to themselves of such matters as money, security, leadership and caring for others. An honest assessment of personal interests and abilities such as creative or scientific skills, or skills acquired from work experience, should also be given careful thought.
4.The second stage is to study the opportunities available for employment and to think about how the general employment situation is likely to develop in the future. To do this, graduates can study job vacancies and information in newspapers or they can visit a careers office, write to possible employers for information or contact friends or relatives who may already be involved in a particular profession. After studying all the various options, they should be in a position to make informed comparisons between various careers.
5.Good personal presentation is essential in the search for a good career. Job application forms and letters should, of course, be filled in carefully and correctly, without grammar or spelling errors. Where additional information is asked for, job seekers should describe their abilities and work experience in more depth, with examples if possible. They should try to balance their own abilities with the employer's needs, explain why they are interested in a career with the particular company and try to show that they already know something about the company and its activities.
6.When graduates are asked to attend for interview, they should prepare properly by finding out all they can about the prospective employer. Dressing suitably and arriving for the interview on time are also obviously important. Interviewees should try to give positive and helpful answers and should not be afraid to ask questions about anything they are unsure about. This is much better than pretending to understand a question and giving an unsuitable answer.
7.There will always be good career opportunities for people with ability, skills and determination; the secret to securing a good job is to be one of themAccording to paragraph 4, graduates should ________________.
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Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions.
The past fifty years or so have seen the gradual disappearance of animals from this earth, fishes from the sea, trees and plants from the land.
Many factors result in this unpleasant phenomenon. Among them, hunting is the main factor that endangers wildlife. Some people kill wildlife for sport. They take pleasure in collecting heads and hides. Yet others specialize in commercial hunting like killing whales.Apart from this, the rapidly growing human population threatens wildlife on land, too. Towns expand and roads have to be built, so forests are burnt and trees are chopped down. It seems that man needs every inch of land within his reach, so he moves on to the natural habitat of wildlife. Tigers, lions and leopards slowly die off without the food and shelter that the forests provide.
In addition, rapid urbanization means industrial expansion. Very often, poisonous chemicals, industrial wastes and oil are dumped into the rivers and seas. Fish and birds are threatened.
Many depend greatly on animals for survival. He needs their flesh, hides and furs. Thus, man cannot do without wildlife; or he himself would become extinct. The public should be made aware that it would be better to shoot the animals with a camera than with a gun. In this way, they can preserve and help wildlife to continue living rather than to move all signs of it.
Man must learn to farm the sea as he does the land. He should regulate the amount of frequency of his catch. He should allow fish to breed and multiply before netting them. A man also needs to build forest reserves, and to pass a law prohibiting the killing of animals, especially those that already rare. To retain the present animal kingdom, the least that man can do is to clean the seas and rivers to prevent pollution. The cycle of nature is such that it forms a vicious circle. The insecticides and pesticides that we spray on crops can kill the birds and animals that feed on them. When a man eats these poisoned animals, he himself can die. We must therefore test the chemicals to be used before they are sprayed or it might mean the death of man!According to the passage, what has happened to the wildlife in the past fifty years or so?
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Read the passage fully, then choose the correct answer.
UNICEF means? United Nations Children's Fund. It serves children in communities all the the world. It helps children of all races, nationalities, religions, and political systems in more than 140 developing countries.
UNICEF, created in 1946 to help bring food and medicine to children who suffered during World War II in Europe. It began as a temporary agency, but became a permanent part of the United Nations in 1953 due to the need for its services around the world. UNICEF's primary concern is to help governments of developing countries improve the quality of life for almost one billion children. UNICEF's main office is in the United Nations offices in New York City, but it. also has more than 40 offices and 100 programs worldwide. In 1965, UNICEF won the Nobel Peace Prize for its work helping children and building brighter futures.
UNICEF works with governments to provide three kinds of services. First, UNICEF plans and develops programs in developing countries. These programs serve the community by providing health care, information about nutrition, basic education, and safe water and sanitation. Then UNICEF trains people to work in these programs. UNICEF also provides supplies and equipment that enable the programs to work.
UNICEF's greatest concern is to improve the health of children. It does this in several ways. It improves water supplies in undeveloped countries where the water is not clean enough to drink. When children drink unclear water, they become very sick, and many die. UNICEF works hard to correct this. It also provides food and teaches people what to feed their children so they grow up to be healthy. UNICEF provides immunizations for children to prevent serious diseases. It gives important vitamins, such as vitamin A, to children who could go blind because of a lack of it . It also helps disabled children throughout the world. UNICEF helps train teachers and provides equipment and supplies for schools. By teaching people to read and write, UNICEF helps people to improve their lives.UNICEF's efforts were appreciated when it __________.
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When we moved to our new house near the sea, I was eight years old. Even before that I had spent every summer messing about on boats. My dad had taught me to sail before I learnt to ride a bike so I knew how I wanted to spend my time at the new house- I was going to get my own boat and sail it everyday. The house was only a few meters from the water's edge, and in rough weather the waves would come crashing into the front garden. I used to sit with my nose pressed to the glass, fascinated by the power of the ocean. I grew up watching the skies to see if it was going to rain; would I be going sailing that afternoon or not?
Of course I sometimes wished I could live in the town like my friends. I used to get angry with my parents, who had taken early retirement because they seemed incapable of getting anywhere on time. Dad drove me the eight miles to school everyday, but I was often late because he had been walking on the cliffs earlier in the morning and had lost track of time. When I was taking my university entrance exams, I used to stay over at a friend's in town, just in case. All in all, I was lucky to grow up by the sea and I still love to sail.According to the passage, all of the following are true EXCEPT___________.
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There is a strange paradox to the success of the Asian education model. On the one hand, class sizes are huge by Western standards with between 30 and 40 students per class, in countries like Japan and Korea. On the other hand, school children in developed Asian economies rank among the highest in the world for academic achievement in the areas of science and mathematics, especially on standardised tests. Meanwhile, British secondary school students fail to shine in conditions most educational researchers would say are far more likely to help them succeed.
Classroom management seems to be easier in places like Korea, and perhaps lessons are more effective as a direct consequence. After all, we are only too aware of the decline in discipline standards in our own school: belligerent and disrespectful students appear to be the norm these days. Teachers in Britain seem powerless to control what happens anymore. Surely this situation cannot create a very effective learning environment, so perhaps the number of students is far less relevant than is the manner in which they conduct themselves.
But there are other factors to consider, too. There is the home environment. The traditional family unit still remains relatively intact in Korea. Few children come from broken homes, so there is a sense of security, safety and trust both at home and at school. In Britain meanwhile, one in every two marriages fails and divorce rates are sky high. Perhaps children struggle to cope with unstable family conditions and their only way to express their frustration is by misbehaving at school.
But while the Japanese, Korean and Asian models generally do seem to produce excellent results, the statistics don’t tell the whole truth. You see, behind those great maths and science scores, there is a quite remarkable work ethic. Asian students tend to put their education before literally everything else. They do very few extracurricular activities and devote far more time to their studies than their British peers.
There has been a lot of attention and praise given to these Asian models and their “impressive” statistics of late. And without question, some of this praise is justified, but it seems to be a case of two extremes in operation here. At one end, there is the discipline and unbelievably hard work ethic of the Asian students – success in education before all else. At the other end, British students at times appear careless and extremely undisciplined by comparison, but at least they Do have the free time to enjoy their youth and explore their interests. Is either system better outright? Or is it perhaps about time we stopped comparing and started trying to combine the best bits of both, so that we can finally offer our students a balanced, worthwhile educationWhat does the writer mean when he says there is a “paradox” in the Asian education model?
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Read the following text and circle the best answer among A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet for the questions from 44 to 50
HISTORY LESSONS
“History is the version of past events that people have decided to agree upon"
Naponeon Bonapart
Think of three historical figures. What do you know about them? Where did you get your information from? The chances are that you either read it somewhere or someone who read it somewhere told you about it. Did you ever think about who wrote down these facts? How can you be sure that they are true? The thing is, many historical “truths” are historical myths.
Let's take some examples. In America, 4th July is Independence Day, the most important day in the American Calendar, which Americans celebrate with parades and fireworks. It was on 4th July, 1776 that Congress approved the Declaration of Independence. It was a good start. However, the struggle continued for another seven years after this, with some of the most brutal fighting in the whole war, as King George III was not willing to grant America total Independence, which was the only arrangement that the American leaders would accept. So the fighting continued. The first draft on a Treaty of Peace was signed in November 1782 and in February 1783 the King officially announced that the war would soon be over. This led to the signing of the Treaty of Paris on 3rd September that same year.
Think about the discovery of America. What's the first name that comes to mind? More than likely it's Christopher Colombus.Was America really discovered by him? He had set out to reach Asia and that's where he thought he was when he came to America. But there were many people there before him. The first ones were certainly the Native Americans, thousands years before 1492. Where had they come from? Even the Vikings had made a number of expeditions, with Leif Eriksson landing there in around 1000 A.D. Perhaps Amerigo Vespucci was the discover of America. After all, unlike Columbus before him, he was the first fifteen - century explorer to realise where has was, or rather, where he definitely wasn't. so, maybe the word “re-discover” is more accurate when it comes to Columbus, if history is to give him any credit at all.
Everyone believes such historical "facts” because, like you, they got them from what they thought was a reliable source. But how can such things be written down in the first place? One of the reasons must be that history is seldom “cut - and - dried”. The events are often complicated and messy. The achieving of American independence was a lengthy affair. Presumably 4th July was chosen as the date to celebrate because it was seen as more significant than the date of the actual end of the war. Another reason is that such myths always contain a grain of truth. Columbus was not the first person to travel to America, but he was the first fifteenth-century explorer to go there. His “re-discovery” was, from a historical point of view, extremely significant for Europe since his voyages opened up large-scale commerce between Europe and America.
History has traditionally been written by the winners. If the conquered indigenous peoples had written the history of the discovery of the New World, it would most probably have been very different, but not necessarily objective: the point of view of the conquered can be just as biased as the point of view of the conqueror. But that is not the whole story. The writing of history depends not only on the "side” the writer is on, but also on the culture and attitudes of the era it is written in.
History is always subjective. So, remember: when you read history, take it with a pinch of salt.What might be a suitable alternative title for this text?
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Choose the answer A, B, C or D that best fits the blank space in the following passage:
"The Security Council is the most powerful (1)….. in the UN. It is responsible for maintaining international peace, and for (2)…. Peace when conflicts arise. Its decisions are binding on all UN members and have the force of international law. The Security Council has the (3)… to define what is a threat to security, to determine how the UN should respond, and to enforce its decisions by ordering UN members to take certain (4)….. . For example, the Council may impose economic sanctions, such as halting trade with a country it considers an aggressor.
The Security Council has 15 members, 5 of which hold permanent seats. The General Assembly elects the other 10 members for (5)….. two-year terms. The 5 permanent members - the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Russia (formerly the Soviet Union), and China - have the most power. These nations were the winning (6)…. at the end of World War II, and they still represent the bulk of the world's military might.
Decisions of the Council require nine votes. But any one of the permanent members can veto an important decision. This authority is known (7) …. the veto right of the great powers. As a result, the Council is effective only when its permanent members can reach a consensus. Beginning in the 1990s, increased cooperation between the United States and Russia (8) …..the council to become more effective.
In recent years, there has been growing (9)….. over which countries should have permanent seats on the Council. Some nations believe that other countries besides the original five should be included. For example, Japan and Germany are powerful countries that pay large membership dues and make substantial contributions to the UN, (10)…. they do not have permanent seats. There is no easy solution to this problem."8. Beginning in the 1990s, increased cooperation between the United States and Russia (8) …..the council to become more effective.
