Choose the letter A, B, C or D to complete the sentences

Neil has passed his examinations, _________ is good news.

Choose the best answer:
When the era of digital technology has bloomed all over the world, human beings have witnessed thousands of wonderful inventions which can be applied in a variety of fields. Among those, robots are considered as a brilliant human creativity and have been developed further to serve people. Shaped into human bodies, robots are machines built to do tasks. Normally, they can be controlled by built-in computers so that they can do a series of automatic actions. These human-like machines help us explore new places, and uncover the mystery of the deep and cold ocean which is very dangerous for a normal body. They seem to play an unlimited role not only in exploration, but in medical fields as well. In hospitals, they can do a wide range of jobs in cooperation with doctors to improve the health care system. For instance, robots can assist physicians remotely to check on patients and even inspect them. They can search around hospitals to collect information about the sick and transmit it to the doctors through a screen to help them interact efficiently. With cutting-edge technology they can even do an operation with a high level of accuracy under professionals’ control. Thanks to robotic assistants, medical workers can save time and save many lives from fatal diseases. It is believed that the number of robots applied in the medical industry will be expected to increase dramatically over the next few years.

1. What is the passage mainly about?

Choose the letter A, B, C or D to answer these following questions

Bright kids are excellent at processing and retaining information. This fact, combined with their work ethic, leads to outstanding academic achievement. Gifted learners, often, do not need nearly as much repetition to become familiar with the material. As a result, gifted kids are forced to sit through hours of class time when they could simply “pass a test” and move on.

Since the gifted kid’s insatiable curiosity is not being quenched, they’ll dig more deeply into the subject – and will want to know everything about it. They’ll ask themselves questions and use Google or a book to find the answers – and effortlessly retain their newly acquired knowledge. So, when the next class comes around, the gifted kid is already well beyond anything that the teacher teaches.

Gifted children are often moved through the regular school curriculum at a faster pace than their peers. Some children with exceptionally high ability in a particular subject area may be allowed to reduce the time they spend in their other subjects to permit more time to focus on challenging content in their specialty. A high school student who is particularly gifted in math, for example, may attend advanced math classes at a local college rather than music classes at the high school. Some gifted students may also skip grades or they may enter kindergarten, high school, or college at an early age.

Gifted kids will use ____________ to find the answers and acquire knowledge.

Read the text about Adele and answer the questions that follow.

Adele has been one of the world's most well-known singers and songwriters in recent years. Born in North London in 1988, Adele started singing at a young age and she was mostly influenced by the Spice Girls. At the age of 16, Adele composed her first hit song, "Hometown Glory".

When she was a student at the British School for Performing Arts and Technology, she recorded three songs for a class project. All these songs later were posted on MySpace.com and became very popular. As a result, she was offered a record deal from XL Recordings after her graduation. Her first album "19" debuted at number one on the British charts in 2008.

In March 2008, she did a short tour in America and soon her international career began. In 2011, her second album, "21", came out. The music on this album was different from the soul music of "19". It was influenced by American country music, which Adele was listening to during her tour.

In 2012, she wrote and recorded "Skyfall" for the James Bond film of the same name. The song sold more than two million copies worldwide and for it Adele won the Academy Award for Best Original Song.

Since 2012, Adele has won many more awards. She has many fans including other famous singers because they admire her unique voice and her passion for music.

The second paragraph is mainly about _____________.

Read the passage carefully and decide whether the following statements are TRUE or FALSE
NYLON was invented in the early 1930s by an American chemist, Julian Hill. Other scientists worked with his invention and finally on 27 October 1938, Nylon was introduced to the world. It was cheap and strong and immediately became successful, especially in the making of ladies’ stocking. Today, Nylon is found in many things: carpets, ropes, seat belts, furniture, computers, and even spare parts of the human body. It has played an important part in our lives up to now.

Nylon was strong but expensive. 

Read the passage and choose the best answers to the questions. (10 pts)

The development of so-called keyhole surgery means that the surgeon’s knife may soon disappear altogether as it is replaced by miniature cameras, microscopic scissors, and staplers. Instead of making long cuts in the patient’s body, surgeons look at the site through an “endoscope”, or operating telescope. This is passed into the body through a small hole that will barely leave a scar.

As long as the operation is carried out skillfully by an experienced surgeon, keyhole surgery damages the patient far less than a conventional operation. “Minimal access surgery is a real breakthrough,” says Alf Cuschieri, a leading endoscopic surgeon. “I wish we’d developed it years ago. Not only does it reduce the trauma to the patient – but it also means that we no longer have to make major incisions to perform major operations.”

The viewing technology that allows doctors to see what is happening deep inside the human body has been borrowed from the aerospace industry. Although in the 1960s flexible scopes were developed by technicians to check engine interiors without them having to be taken apart, today’s endoscopes are not just simple tubes you can see through; they are equipped with very small television cameras. An image of the operation – magnified eight times – is transmitted by the camera onto a strategically placed TV screen. Doctors and nurses needn’t crowd round to look into the wound. Instead, they keep their eyes on the screen with straight backs and plenty of elbow room. As surgeons cannot work in the dark, light is beamed into the area of the body being operated on through optical fibers – strands of special glass, each as thin as a human hair, through which light travels.

Keyhole surgeons hope that miniaturization will make it possible for patients to have their operations performed by robots small enough to crawl through the patient’s body. Despite the fact that, until now, even the smallest robots have been too large to be exploited in endoscopic surgery, in Massachusetts the Institute of Technology’s Artificial Intelligence and Robotics Laboratory is working on ever-smaller miniature and microrobots. These robots could be used for filming, taking biopsy specimens, or on-the-spot analysis.

One of the most exciting future developments involves telesurgery, where doctors will operate by remote control. This means that a patient can be operated on by two surgeons who are hundreds of kilometers away from each other – and from the patient.

Some believe that such techniques will have been perfected in the next ten years or so.

What was the main use of flexible scopes in the 1960s?

Choose the letter A, B, C or D to answer these following questions

New part-time volunteering opportunities - Woodcraft Folk Glasgow districts

Are you looking to get more involved with your local community?

Do you enjoy working with young people and children?

Are you passionate about big issues affecting society today and building children's awareness and self-confidence to cope with the challenges of tomorrow?

If this sounds like you Woodcraft Folk needs you!

Woodcraft Folk is a registered charity offering you the opportunity to help build a fairer, more peaceful world for all. We run weekly groups for children aged 4-16yrs old and are looking for Volunteers to get involved for a few hours a month, whenever it suits YOU!

Perhaps you'd like to contribute a couple of hours as a one-off workshop? Or maybe you'd like to take part in a group discussion or games night once a fortnight?

We know that your time is precious so we will work with you to make sure you to get the most out of your experience with us. From working directly with the groups and running your own sessions, to representing groups at the national level there are many aspects of the organization you can choose to get involved with!

If you are a good communicator who shares our values of peace, co-operation and equality, Glasgow Woodcraft Folk invites you to get in touch. We are running induction events week starting Monday 22^nd April and would love to see you there!

What are the aspects of the organization you can choose from?

After reading the newspaper article about volunteers who helped the elderly, the writer ____.

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

The Fitbit Flex is a mobile device aimed at planning your exercise, diet, and sleep. It’s very easy to wear it all the time. It is very light and comfortable, and it looks casual and natural on your wrist. When I need to wear a watch, I have one that sits (26)...............the Flex quite easily. You can get different Fitbit Flex wristbands. Reasaonably priced, with dozens of fun colors!

I was pleasantly surprised to learn how many steps I walk during my normal working day. I actually find ways to fit in even more activities (27)..................., so I can watch the numbers go up. It’s water – resistant, so I can wear it in the shower or in the rain without worrying about keeping it dry. The Fitbit synchronizes with my smartphone via Bluetooth.

Tracking food items (28)....................it possible for the Dashboard to display a calorie budget for you, comparing calories consumed versus calories burned. It will use the daily calorie total you create to show you how many calories left in the day.

While I’m sleeping, the Fitbit Flex measures the movements of my wrist, logging my sleep (29)...............awake, restless, or asleep. It has been fascinating to see my sleep pattern each night and over time.

There is a notification alert to let me know when my battery is running low. After 10 minutes or so in the charging cable, it’s good to go again. The Fitbit Flex battery needs (30)...................every 3 to 5 days.

(27)................

Read the following passage carefully, and then select the best option A, B, C or D to complete it:

"Special Education, specially designed instruction to (1) _______ the unique needs and abilities of disabled or gifted children. Disabled children have conditions (2) _______ adversely affect their progress in conventional education programs. Gifted children, who demonstrate high capacity in intellectual, (3) _______, or artistic areas, may also fare poorly in regular education programs. Special education services can help both disabled and (4) _______ children make progress in education programs. Most children served by special education programs are (5) _______ the ages of 6 and 17.
In the United States, federal law requires states to identify and serve all children (6) _______ disabilities. Public education and health officials in the United States identified approximately 5.4 million infants, toddlers, (7) _______, and youth as disabled in 1994. That same year, the U.S. Department of Education reported that 12.2 percent of all children (8) _______ the age of 21 received some form of special education. The most frequently reported disabilities are speech or language impairments; mental retardation and (9) _______ developmental disorders; serious emotional disturbance; and specific learning disorders, (10) _______ memory disorders. Other disabilities include hearing, visual, or orthopedic impairments; autism; (11) _______ traumatic brain injury. An increasing number of children in the United States are identified as having attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and (12) _______ special education services.
Many schools in the United States provide special education services (13) _______ gifted children, although federal law does not mandate these services. Gifted children demonstrate (14) _______ high abilities in intellectual, creative, academic, leadership, or artistic areas. Estimates of the gifted (15) _______ in the United States range from 3 to 15 percent of all schoolchildren."

6. In the United States, federal law requires states to identify and serve all children (6) _______ disabilities.

Reading the passage carefully, then choose the correct answers:
Sydney is Australia’s most exciting city. The history of Australia begins here. In 1788 Captain Arthur Philips arrived in Sydney with 11 ships and 1624 passengers from Britain (including 770 prisoners). Today there are about 3.6 million people in Sydney. It is the biggest city in Australia, the busiest port in the South Pacific and one of the most beautiful cities in the world. In Sydney, the buildings are higher, the colors are brighter and the nightlife is more exciting.
There are over 20 excellent beaches close to Sydney and its warm climate and cool winter have made it a favorite city for immigrants from overseas. There are two things that make Sydney famous; its beautiful harbor, Sydney Harbor Bridge, which was built in 1932 and Sydney Opera House. It was opened in 1973.

The word “It” in the second paragraph refers to ____________

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

A 1927 FIFA commission examined the possibility and on the eve of the following year's Amsterdam Olympics, FIFA's Congress voted __________ (1) an inaugural world championship in 1930. The only remaining question was where. Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Uruguay all expressed __________ (2) interest but the Uruguayans alone were prepared to pay all travel and hotel expenses as well as build a new stadium at a time of economic uncertainty. Add the fact Uruguay would be __________ (3) its centenary that same year and FIFA duly plumped for the South Americans, confirming their decision at the 1929 Congress in Barcelona.

Finding the teams to take part __________ (4) the next challenge. Seven signed up from the home continent along with Mexico and the United States. But two months before the start, there was still no European entrant. The prospect of two months away was an obvious deterrent for players with jobs at home but France and Belgium – the only two FIFA founder members to participate – eventually __________ (5) to undertake the long journey together with Yugoslavia and Romania.

Read the passage and answer these following questions.

Working mothers are the ones who move out of the house for the purpose of earning money and also maintain household chores. Every single woman at home prefers to work in order to balance the financial and the other basic needs of the family. It is now very rare that a girl does not prefer to work and chooses to remain at home as a housewife.
The children of working mothers become smart and active as compared to the children of non-working mothers. This is because of the fact that the mothers being working have to move out of the house leaving all the household chores intact. The children behind understand their responsibilities and manages to do all their tasks without being dependent on others, thus become smart and active enough.
The working mothers are now a day helped by their spouse in household chores after returning from work. By seeing the fathers being a helping hand to mothers, children learn good habits and inculcate manners of helping others as well as their mothers, thus in this way good habits are inculcated in them. A working mother also adds to advantage of helping the family financially. It is beneficial as a woman becomes a helping hand to the husband in terms of money. This way family runs in a very smooth way without any financial difficulty and the kids also get the best as parents are able to afford due to a good income level.
The mothers when work, become an inspiration for their kids as they look up to their mom and say that they aspire to be like their moms in the near future. Working moms not only work but also look after their children without any difficulty. So such kids need to look at others for an inspiration, but they get to see an inspiration at home only. This way, they also learn to do hard work in their life.

What financial benefits does a working mother bring to her family?

Read the passage and complete the sentences. Mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet.

Once there were lots of pandas in the mountains of Western China. Today they are becoming extinct. The reason is they cannot find enough food. Pandas eat bamboo leaves. They do not like another food. The bamboo grows very slowly. It can take ten years for a bamboo to grow from a seed to a big plant. Some types of bamboo have seeds only once every 60 years. Pandas must wait many years for their food to grow. While the bamboo is growing, pandas do not have enough leaves to eat. Farmers are using more and more of the land on the mountain side to grow food for man. The farmers cut down the bamboo. Bamboo leaves become less plentiful. Pandas cannot find enough food to eat. They starve and die. China and World Wildlife Fund (WWF) are trying to save the pandas. In 1979 they began to set up special parks where pandas can live. One such park is the Wolong Reserve in Sichuan. The Wolong Reserve has the highest number of pandas in the world. Scientists come here to study the pandas’ eating and mating habits. By learning more about the pandas’ habits, scientists can save them from extinction.

What is the main food of pandas?

Read the passage below and choose the letter A, B, C, or D to indicate the correct answer to each question.

All creatures need to eat something in order to survive. Fortunately, different species of animals have different things that they eat as food. No matter what a creature eats, the food must have enough calories in it to maintain life. Calories, or the energy stored in the food, provide the fuel animals, including humans, need in order to live and move about in the world. Any creature that does not consume enough food, or in other words enough calories, will starve and die.

The term calorie has a scientific meaning. Calorie is a measure of an amount of energy just like pound is a measure of weight. A calorie is officially defined as the amount of energy it takes to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water by 1 degree Celsius, which is 1. 8 degrees Fahrenheit. The term "calorie" and "Calorie" with a capital C have two different meanings to scientists. The term Calorie (with a capital C) means one kilocalorie, the amount of energy required to raise the temperature of one kilogram of water by one degree Celsius. A kilogram is the same as 1,000 grams and a kilocalorie is 1,000 calories. Food calories are always measured as Calories but average people don't care much about the difference and just use the word calories.
Food is composed of proteins, fats and carbohydrates. Nutritionists know that a gram of protein contains 4 Calories, a gram of fat has 9 Calories, and a gram of carbohydrate has 4 Calories.

All food contain calories. When we eat something it provides energy for our bodies to use when we are active. We even need energy or calories while we are sleeping because, for example, our bodies are still breathing, our heart is pumping, and we continue to digest the food in our stomachs. If a person eats more food and more calories than is used up by activity, the body stores the excess calories in case it might need it later when food might not be available. So a person gains weight due to the extra food and calories. Similarity, if a person consumes fewer calories than are used every day over several weeks and is more active, that person will lose weight.

All the following statements are true EXCEPT ______.

Read the passage carefully and choose the correct answer

The major international competition in football is the World Cup, organized by FIFA. This competition takes place over a four-year period. More than 190 national teams compete in qualifying tournaments. The finals tournament, which is held every four years, now involves 32 national teams, increased in 1998 from the 24 of 1994, competing over a four-week period. The 2006 FIFA World Cup took place in Germany and in 2010 it will be held in South Africa.

There has been a football tournament at every Summer Olympic Games since 1900, except at the 1932 Games in Los Angeles. Before the inception of the World Cup, the Olympics, especially during the 1920s, had the same status as the World Cup. Originally, the event was for amateurs only, however, since the 1984 Summer Olympics professionals have been permitted as well, with certain restrictions which effectively prevent countries from fielding their strongest sides. Currently, the Olympic men’s tournament is played at under-23 level. In the past the Olympics have allowed a restricted number of over-age players per team; but that practice will cease in the 2008 Olympics. The Olympic competition is not generally considered to have the same international significance and prestige as the World Cup. A women’s tournament was added in 1996; in contrast to the men’s event, the women’s Olympic tournament is played by full international sides without age restrictions. It thus carries international prestige considered comparable to that of the FIFA Women’s World Cup.

Which sentence is NOT true?

Read the passage and choose the best answer:

FOOD AROUND THE WORLD

It isn't amazing how much time we spend talking about food? "Have you ever eaten ...?", "What do you have for lunch?" and so on. And yet, when you travel from one county to another, you find that people have quite different feelings about food. People often feel that what they eat is normal, and what other people eat is strange and silly. In most parts of Asia, for example, no meal is complete without rice. In England, people eat potatoes every day. In the Middle East, bread is the main part of every meal. Eating becomes a habit which is difficult to change. Americans like to drink a lot of orange juice and coffee. The English drink tea four or five times a day. Australians drink large amounts of beer and the French drink wine every day.

The sorts of meat people like to eat also differ from one country to another. Horse meat is thought to be delicious in France. In Hong Kong, some people enjoy eating snakes. New Zealanders eat sheep, but never eat goat meat. The Japanese don’t like to eat sheep meat because of its smell, but they enjoy eating raw fish. So it seems that although eating is a topic that we can talk about for hours, there is a little common sense in what we say about it. People everywhere enjoy what they have always eaten, and there is very little we can do to change our eating habit.

What is the main idea of the text? 

Read the passage, then decide if the statements that follow it are True or False.
Are you looking for a cheap, clean, effective source of power that doesn’t cause pollution or waste natural resources? Look no further than solar energy from our sun. Many countries are already using solar energy. Solar panels are placed on the roof of a house and the sun’s energy is used to heat water. The energy can be stored for a number of days, so on cloudy days you can use solar energy too. Sweden has an advanced solar energy program. There, all buildings will be heated by solar energy; cars and buses will use solar power instead of gas by the year 2015.
We can hardly use solar energy on cloudy days.

Choose the letter A, B, C, or D that best fits the blank space in the following passage.
David Evans is a farmer. He does the farming on his own land in Wales. The farm has (31)__________ to his family for generations. The soil is poor. David (32)__________ sheep on his land. He does not employ any full-time workers. His sons help him when they are not at school. His wife adds to the family income by selling eggs which her hens produce. In summer, she often takes paying guests into the farmhouse. The guests from the city enjoy their quiet holiday in the clean country air and Mrs. Evans enjoys having some (33)__________ money to spend on clothes for her children and herself. However, it is a lonely life for the Evans family when the guests have gone. The question is that if his children want to take over the farm when Mr. Evans (34)__________ up working. Country life is quiet and peaceful to them. It is quite likely that they will leave the farm (35)__________ the city some day.
(32)...............................

Choose the word or phrase (a, b, c or d) that best fits the blank space in the following passage.

FUN AND GAMES

Do you think computer games are just for kids? Then you should think again. You might be (61)______ to learn that the game industry now (62)__________ more money than Hollywood. (63)________ a family buys a new PC, all they really want to do is to play games. It is hardly surprising that video gaming has (64)____________ one of the most popular (65)____ of entertainment today. A good game is like a good film; it will hold your (66)_____, capture your imagination and play with your emotions. The big (67)_____, however, is that watching a movie is a passive (68)_________. You have no say in how the plot (69)________ or which characters dominate the story. With computer games, you direct the (70)_________ and that is what makes them so exciting. Finding the right game is (71)_________ to signal the beginning of a lasting love (72) with the interactive (73)______________ of make-believe. It is (74)_____ to think of gaming as something simply for children and teenagers. In fact, the (75)______ growth area of the market is the 25-35 age group.

64___________

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

If you find yourself learn better by making notes during the lecture, or when the teacher uses a new word, you want to see it written immediately, then you are very likely to be a more visual learner. You prefer to see the written words. You learn by reading and writing. Visual learners often think in pictures. If you find a particular task or text difficult, look for sources that will suit your learning style, e.g. sources with illustrations, charts, tables, or videos.

If you prefer recording the lecture and listening again to taking notes, or you memorize something by repeating it aloud instead of writing it out several times, you are probably a more auditory learner. You prefer to learn by listening and speaking. Auditory learners often learn best from lectures, discussions, by reading aloud, and by listening to audio material.

However, it is probably that you like most people, learn through a mixture of styles. Sometimes you may prefer to learn by reading, at other time by listening. Ask yourself which is the best style for the particular task you are doing.

Which of the following is probably NOT preferred by a visual learner?