Choose the letter A, B, C or D to complete the sentences with given words:
 In 1778, he went/ London/ study/ Benjamin West/ for/ four years.

 

 

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:
People travel for a lot of reasons: Some tourists go to see battlefields or religious shrines. Others are looking for culture, or simply want to have their pictures taken in front of famous places. But most European tourists are looking for a sunny beach to lie on.

Northern Europeans are willing to pay a lot of money and put up with a lot of inconveniences for the sun because they have so little of it. Residents of cities like London, Copenhagen, and Amsterdam spend a tot of their winter in the dark because the days are so short, and much of the rest of the year in the rain. This is the reason why the Mediterranean has always attracted them. Every summer, more than 25 million people travel to Mediterranean resorts and beaches for their vacation. They all come for the same reason, sun!

The huge crowds mean lots of money for the economies of Mediterranean countries. Italy’s 30,000 hotels are booked solid every summer. And 13 million people camp out on French beaches, parks and roadsides. Spain’s long sandy coastline attracts more people than anywhere else. 37 million tourists visit yearly, or one tourist for every person living in Spain.

But there are signs that the area is getting more tourists than it can handle. The Mediterranean is already one of the most polluted seas on earth. And with increased tourism, it’s getting worse. The French can’t figure out what to do with all the garbage left by campers around St. Tropez. And in many places, swimming is dangerous because of pollution.

None of this, however, is spoiling anyone’s fun. The Mediterranean gets more popular every year with tourists. Obviously, they don’t go there for clean water and solitude. They tolerate traffic jams and seem to like crowded beaches. They don’t even mind the pollution. No matter how dirty the water is, the coastline still looks beautiful. And as long as the sun shines, it’s still better than sitting in the cold rain in Berlin, London, or Oslo.

The word “solid” in paragraph 3 means most nearly the same as     .

Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
Some technological developments are the results of years of diligent work. Others are stumbled upon by accident. The discovery of X-rays is in the second category. In 1895, X-ray radiation was accidentally discovered by a physicist named Wilhelm Rontgen, while he was working in his lab. Rontgen discovery greatly advanced medical science. One night in 1895, Wilhelm Rontgen was working with an electric device called a Crookes tube. A Crookes tube is a glass tube with metal components inside it. When turned on, the tube produces a stream of electrons. Rontgen and other scientists observed a new form of energy escaping from the front end of the Crookes tube. Rontgen wanted to be the first to discover this new mysterious energy. To do this, he needed to make sure the tube was covered with black cardboard. This would make the room completely dark and allow him to better see this new form of energy. Rontgen was hoping to observe this new energy on a special screen that would be placed right in front of the Crookes tube. Amazingly, before the screen was placed near the Crookes tube, Rontgen already noticed the screen was glowing. He bought the screen closer, and the glow became brighter. (1) He then placed a book between the end of the tube and the screen-the glow was still there. (2) Rontgen realized that a new and different form of radiation must be causing the screen to glow. (3) As he didn't know what kind of radiation it was, he named it "X". (4) Rontgen soon started studying the new type of radiation. He designed experiments which allowed him to test how far X- rays could penetrate. He also had the bright idea of trying to take photographs with X-rays. One day, he tested his theories by asking his wife to put her hand between a photographic plate and a Crookes Tube. Sure enough, the resulting image of the bones in his wife's hand was the first ever X-ray photograph of the human body. After taking that first photograph, Rontgen understood how X-rays could benefit doctors and patients. He shared his discovery, and soon X-ray machines were appearing in hospitals. X-rays were very useful for medicine because they let doctors see a patient's bones. If a patient had a broken bone, it was made visible by the X-ray image. This let doctors know the right way to repair the fracture. Wilhelm Rontgen's accidental discovery has now been helping people for over one hundred years. Thanks to X-rays, broken bones can be repaired reliably and effectively. We should be grateful to Wilhelm Rontgen for making his discovery freely available and greatly advancing medical science. Because of this, we humans are able to live longer, healthier lives.
4. Which sentence about X-rays is true?

Find synonym:
The related publications are far too numerous to list individually.

My family consists of four people. There’s my father whose name is Jan, my mother whose name is Marie, my brother Peter and of course me. I have quite a large extended family as well but only the four of us live together in our apartment in a block of flats. My father is fifty-two years old, he works as an accountant in an insurance company. He is tall and slim, has got short brown and grey hair and blue eyes. My father likes gardening very much as well as listening to music and reading books about political science. His special hobbies are bird watching and travelling.

Now I’ll describe my mother and my brother. My mother is forty-seven and she works as a nurse in a hospital. She is small and slim, has got short brown hair and green eyes. She likes bird watching and travelling too, so whenever my parents are able to them go to some places interesting for nature watching. Since we have a cottage with a garden they both spend a lot of time there. My brother is sixteen. He is slim and has short brown hair and blue eyes. He also attends high school. He is interested in computers and sports like football and hockey. He also spends a lot of time with his friends.

I have only one grandmother left still living. She is in pretty good health even at the age of seventy- eight so she still lives in her own flat. I enjoy spending time with her when I can. Both my grandfathers died from cancer because they are smokers, which was really a great tragedy because I didn’t get a chance to know them. My other grandmother died just a few years ago. I also have a lot of aunts, uncles, and cousines. The cousine I’m closest to is my uncle’s daughter Pauline. We have a lot in common because we are both eighteen and so we are good friends.

My parents have assigned me certain duties around the house. I don’t mind helping out because everyone in a family should contribute in some way. I help with the washing up, the vacuuming and the shopping. Of course, I also have to help keep my room tidy as well. My brother is responsible for the dusting and the mopping. He also has to clean his own room. Even though my brother and I sometimes fight about who has to do what job, we are still very close. I am also very close to my parents and I can rely on them to help me. My parents work together to keep our home well maintained and it seems they always have some projects or another that they are working on. They respect each other’s opinions and even if they disagree they can always come to a compromise. I hope in the future that I have a family like ours.

What does the writer do to help her parents at home?

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A _______ is a person or group competing in a final.

Read the passage below carefully, and then choose the best answer:
The Great Debate over GM Foods
One of the hottest topic in agriculture today is genetically modified (GM) foods. GM foods are foods that come from plants that have had their DNA altered using biotechnology. GM foods have been on the market since 1994, when a company called Calgene started selling GM tomatoes. Since then, other GM foods including papaya, corn, and plums to name a few have been developed. The main benefit of GM foods is that they can be a more economical solution than non GM foods. Scientists found a way to modify many plants to make them more resistant to weeds, diseases, and pests. This allows the plants to grow in tougher climates and conditions, which should lead to lower food prices and increase the overall food supply. However, many consumers still have their doubts about GM foods. For one they feel that by eating GM foods people are messing with nature. Until now humans have survived on food that was produced without any interference from science. Even though many lab studies show that GM foods are safe in the short term, opponents feel that not enough long-term testing has been done yet. Another major issue in the GM foods debate is its labelling. Current US laws do not require producers to label their foods as GM. This has upset many consumers who feel they have the right to clearly know how the food they are buying is produced. On the other hand, producers are afraid to label their foods as GM because they feel it will result in less product sales, as people may assume that there is something wrong with GM foods. This controversy is not just on the level of consumers and producers. The issue of non GM foods has also become a block to a major free trade agreement between the US and Europe. GM foods are banned throughout most of Europe, while they are quite common throughout the US. Since many American GM food producers would like to sell their foods overseas in Europe, the US is requesting that European nations eliminate laws banning GM foods. However, many European nations are not fully convinced that these products are safe.
3. What is the third paragraph mainly about?

Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
Psychology recognizes two types of research, experimental and differential. The former is concerned mainly with the overall processes governing human activities, and the latter sets out to establish individual differences in performance. More recent studies have demonstrated the need for a third type of psychological study, namely, that which has to do with human development. Rather than considering this aspect of human performances as a part of the first two types, scientists have noted that developmental research indeed belongs in a separate category in and of itself. Piaget's work would indisputably fall in the area of developmental theories that have had great impact on both experimental and differential research. When examining Piaget's studies, it is necessary to keep in mind that, while his theories have been highly influential, his methodology has been strongly criticized. The primary shortfall of his work had to do with a lack of definition and standardization in his data and experiment design.
5. It can be inferred from the passage that studies of human performance and of individual variations:

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We think that with our solidarity we can______this difficulty.

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Of course as a student I want _____ all the exams.

Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
Aspirin's origins go back at least as early as 1758. In that year, Englishman Edward Stone noticed a distinctive bitter flvor in the bark of the willow tree. To Stone, this particular bark seem to have much in common with "Peruvian Bark", which had been used medicinally since the 1640s to bring down fevers and to treat malaria, stone decided to test the effectiveness of the willow bark. He obtained some, pulverized it into tiny pieces, and conducted experiments on its properties. His tests demonstrated that this pulverized willow bark was effective both in reducing high temperatures and in relieving aches and pains. In 1763, stone presented his tiding to the British Royal Society. Several decades later, further studies on the medicinal value of the willow bark were being conducted by two Italian scientists. These chemists, Brugnatelli and Fontana, determined that the active chemical that was responsible for the medicinal characteristics in the willow bark was the chemical salicin, which is the active ingredient of today's aspirin. The name "aspirin" is the trade name of the drug based on the chemical salicin, properly known as acetylsalicylic acid.The trade name "aspirin" was invented for the drug in the 1890s by the Bayer Drug Company in Germany. The fist bottles of aspirin actually went on sale to the publicjust prior to the turn of the century, in 1899.
8. The expression "prior to" in could best be replaced by: 

Choose the underlined words or phrases that are not correct in standard written English.
The Chinese build the Great Wall over two thousand years ago.

Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
If we took a look at how people in Europe communicated just one hundred years ago, we would be very surprised to find out that English was hardly used outside the United Kingdom. The language most commonly used between people of different nationalities, and particularly the aristocracy, was French. In fact, French was the language of diplomacy, culture and education. However, that is not the case nowadays. English has replaced French as the international language of communication. Today there are more people who speak English as a second language than people who speak it as a first language. There are many reasons why English has become the language of international communication. Britain's colonization of many parts of the world had something to do with it, but it is mainly due to America's rise to the position of major world power. This helped spread popular American culture throughout the world bringing the language with it. But is it good that English has spread to all parts of the world so quickly? Language specialists seem to be divided over this issue. There are those who claim that it is important to have a language that the people in our increasingly globalized world have in common. According to others, English is associated with a particular culture and therefore promotes that culture at the expense of others. Linguists have suggested "Esperanto", an artificially put-together language, as a solution to international communication problems but without success. So, English will continue being the world language until some other language, maybe Chinese, which is the most widely-spoken native language in the world, takes over as the world's international language instead of English.
8. What would be a good title for this passage?

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Peter’s uncle ____________ to Hue next month.

Read the reading below carefully, and then complete it with the best option A, B, C or D given below:
Football, game played on a rectangular (1) _______ by two opposing teams with an inflated leather ball that is roughly (2) _______ in shape. The object of the game is to score points by carrying the ball (3) _______ the opponent’s goal line or by (4) _______ the ball through the opponent’s goalposts. Football is (5) _______ a full-contact sport, meaning that play involves bodily contact by means of checking, blocking, grabbing, and tackling.

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The Math test was ....... than I thought it would be.

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Some people applied for the job, but two of them were ______

Read the passage below carefully, and then choose the best answer:
A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words
In 1826, a man named Joseph Nicephore Niepce went to the upstairs window of his home in France. He used a new invention called a camera to take the world’s first photograph of nature. Niepce’s photograph shows us the view from his window. However, it is very difficult to know that when you look at the picture. The image is not very clear at all. That doesn’t matter. On that day, Niepce changed the world forever. Photography first became very popular in the 1850s and 1860s. People liked it because it showed more details than other kinds of art. A painting or a statue might be more beautiful than a photograph, but a photograph can tell you a much clearer story. Many people believe that colour photographs didn’t exist until the 1920s, but that’s not true. The first colour photograph was taken in 1855. It shows a colourful ribbon. Before the 1920s, people didn’t often use colour photography because it was very complicated and expensive. Even after colour photography became easier and cheaper, many people still preferred black and white pictures. They felt that black and white had a more “classic photo” feeling. In the 1940s, colour photography finally replaced black and white. When we think of the history of photography, it is amazing to think of how easy it is to take pictures today. Many years ago, only professionals had cameras. These days, just about everybody has one. One of the biggest reasons for this change is the popularity of smartphones. Almost every modern smartphones. Almost every modern smartphone has a camera. These smartphone cameras are very easy to use and they also take very clear pictures. Most of them have a video function.  One thing that hasn’t changed is the importance of photography. These days, a picture can still create all kinds of feelings and emotions inside of us. There is a saying. “A picture is worth a thousand words.”
5. What happened in the 1940s?

 Read the following passage and choose the correct answer to each of the questions.

"Who talks more - men or women? Most people believe that women talk more. However, linguist Deborah Tannen, who has the studied the communication style of men and women, says that this is a stereotype. According to Tannen, women are more verbal - talk more - in private situations, where they use conversation as the “glue’ to hold relationships together. But, she says, men talk more in public situations, where they use conversation to exchange information and gain status. Tannen points out that we can see these difference even in children. Little girls often play with one ‘best friend’ and their play includes a lot of conversation. Little boys often play games in groups, their play usually involves more doing than talking. In school, girls are often better at verbal skills, while boys are often better at mathematics. A recent study at Emory University helps to shed light on the roots of this difference. Researchers studied conversation between children aged 3-6 and their parents. They found evidence that parents talk very differently to their sons than they do to their daughters. The startling conclusion was that parents use more language with their girls. Specifically, when parents talk with their daughters, they use more descriptive language and more details. There is also far more talk about emotions, especially with daughters than with sons."

5: Which sentence best expresses the main idea of the second paragraph?

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My mother taught me how to _________ the transplanting when I was six.

Read the reading below carefully, and then complete it with the best option A, B, C or D given below:
(1) ........ .........most scientists dismiss tales of out-of-body experiences on the operating table as dreams and delusions, there are some cases which seem to defy rational explanation. Take Margaret Frobisher. In 2003, she was undergoing a routine operation under general anaesthetic at Sansdown Hospital in Kent. There were serious complications, (2) ......................... , and her heart stopped beating. Try (3) ......................... they might, the surgeon and anaesthetist were unable to resuscitate her. Finally, after eight minutes, they succeeded. (4) ......................... having been clinically dead, Margaret suffered no brain damage and no adverse side effects. The story doesn't stop there, (5) ......................... . When the anaesthetist went to visit her in her hospital bed, Margaret Frobisher recounted an amazing story. She said she vividly remembered floating above the operating table. And (6) ......................... her never having been conscious in that room at any time, she described the room and the resuscitation attempt in great detail. She said that (7) ......................... three of the walls were bright white, one was dark grey. This was true. She also said that, on the top of a cabinet in a corner of the operating theatre, there was an old book. (8) ......................... the anaesthetist didn't - and couldn't - believe her, she checked. There, just as Margaret Frobisher had described it, was the book. (9) ......................... as they tried, no one at the hospital could explain how Margaret could have known about the book. Even (10) ......................... one does not believe in a 'soul' or in life after death, it is difficult to explain what happened in that operating theatre when Margaret Frobisher's heart stopped beating