Gardening is the art of growing plants with the goal of crafting a purposeful landscape. Residential gardening most often takes place in or about a residence, in a space referred to as the garden. Although a garden typically is located on the land near a residence, it may also be located in a roof, in an atrium, on a balcony, in a window-box, or on a patio or vivarium..

Gardening also takes place in non-residential green areas, such as parks, public or semi-public gardens amusement and theme parks, along transportation corridors, and around tourist attractions and hotels. In these situations, a staff of gardeners or groundskeepers maintains the gardens.

Indoor gardening is concerned with the growing of houseplants within a residence or building, in a conservatory, or in a greenhouse. Indoor gardens are sometimes incorporated as part of air conditioning or heating systems.

Water gardening is concerned with growing plants adapted to pools and ponds. Bog gardens are also considered a type of water garden. These all require special conditions and considerations. A simple water garden may consist solely of a tub containing the water and plant.

Which of the following is NOT non-residential green areas ?

Read the passage carefully, then choose the correct answer.

Going to party can be fun and enjoyable. If you are invited to a party, do call your host up early to inform him/her of whether you are going. If you want to bring someone who has not been invited along with you, you should ask for permission first. Remember to dress appropriately for the party. You will stick out like a sore thumb if you are dressed formally whereas everyone else is in T-shirt and jeans. If you are not sure what to wear, do ask your host.

During the party you may perhaps like to help your host by offering to serve drinks or wash the dishes. Your host would certainly appreciate these efforts. If you happen to be in a party you do not know anyone, do not try to monopolize the host's attention. This is inconsiderate since your host has many people to attend to and can not spend all his/ her time with you. Instead, learn to mingle with others at the party. You could try breaking the ice by introducing yourself to someone who is friendly-looking.

Before you leave the party, remember to thank your host first. If you have the time, you could even offer to help your host clean up the place.

 According to the passage, if you are dressed differently from everybody at the party, _________.

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

Though called by sweet-sounding names like Firinga or Katrina, tropical cyclones are huge rotating storms 200 to 2,000 kilometers wide with winds that blow at speeds of more than 100 kilometers per hour (kph). Weather professionals know them as tropical cyclones, but they are called hurricanes in the Caribbean Sea, typhoons in the Pacific Ocean, and cyclones in the Indian Ocean. They occur in both the northern and southern hemispheres. Large ones have destroyed cities and killed hundreds of thousands of people.

Tropical cyclones begin over water that is warmer than 27 degrees Celsius (80 degrees Fahrenheit) slightly north or south of the earth’s equator. Warm, humid air full of water vapor moves upward. The earth’s rotation causes the growing storm to start to rotate around its center (called the eye). At a certain height, the water vapor condenses, changing to liquid and releasing heat. The heat draws more air and water vapor upward, creating a cycle as air and water vapor rise and liquid water falls. If the cycle speeds up until winds reach 118 kilometers per hour, the storm qualifies as a tropical cyclone.

Most deaths in tropical cyclones are caused by storm surge. This is a rise in sea level, sometimes seven meters or more, caused by the storm pushing against the ocean’s surface. Storm surge was to blame for the flooding of New Orleans in 2005. The storm surge of Cyclone Nargis in 2008 in Myanmar pushed seawater nearly four meters deep some 40 kilometers inland, resulting in many deaths.

It has never been easy to forecast a tropical cyclone accurately. The goal is to know when and where the next tropical cyclone will form. “And we can’t really do that yet,” says David Nolan, a weather researcher from the University of Miami. The direction and strength of tropical cyclones are also difficult to predict, even with computer assistance. In fact, long-term forecasts are poor; small differences in the combination of weather factors lead to very different storms. More accurate forecasting could help people decide to evacuate when a storm is on the way.

The word “evacuate” in paragraph 4 mostly means ______.

The Blackening of the Bride: Scotland

The bride and groom are slathered from head ____________ (6) toe in every disgusting substance their friends can get their hands on. Curdled milk, rotten eggs, spoiled curry, fish sauces, mud, flour, sausages, every nasty thing you can imagine. As if that weren’t enough, the couple is then paraded about, with well-wishers making ____________ (7) much noise as possible. Depending on the region, sometimes it’s just the bride or groom alone ____________ (8) is the victim of this particular pre-wedding tradition.

(7)____-

The New Year is an event that happens when a cuture celebrates the end of one year and the begining of the next year. Cultures that measure yearly calendars all have New Year celebrations.

Tet Nguyen Dan pronunciation, more commonly known by its shortened name Tet, is the most important and popular holiday and festival in Vietnam. It is Vietnamese New Year which is based on the Chinese calendar, a lunisolar calendar. The name Tet Nguyen Dan is Vietnamese for Feast of the First Morning.

Tet is celebrated on the same day as Chinese New Year through exceptions arise due to the one-hour time diference between Hanoi and Beijing. Tet shares many of the same customs of its Chinese counterpart. It is celebrated from the first day of the first month of the Chinese calendar, around late January or early February, until at least the third day. Many Vietnamese prepare for Tet by cooking special holiday foods, decorating and cleaning the house. During Tet holiday, Vietnamsese visit their families, pagodas and temples, forgetting about the troubles of the past year and hoping for a better upcoming year. Tet traditionally marks the coming of Spring, so Spring is sometimes used interchangeably with Tet in Vietnamese. Vietnamese people usually return to their famillies during Tet. Some return to worship at the family altar or visit the graves of their ancestors. Other return to where they grew up. Although Tet is a main holiday among all vietnamese, each region and religion has its own customs.

Vietnamese New Year is based on __________.

Choose the best sentence -a, b, c, or d - made from the given cues.

We/ listen/ old man/ say/ his story/ beginning/ end//

University Entrance Examination is very important in Vietnamese students. High school graduates have to take it and get high results to be admitted to universities. The pressure on the candidates remains very high despite the measures that have been taken to reduce the heat around these exams, since securing a place in a state university is considered a major step towards a successful career for young people, especially those from rural areas or disadvantaged families. In the year 2004, it was estimated that nearly 1 million Vietnamese students took the University Entrance Examination, but on average only 1 out of 5 candidates succeeded. Normally, candidates take 3 exam subjects, and each lasts; 180 minutes for the fixed group of subjects they choose. There are 4 fixed groups of subjects: Group A: Mathematics, Physics, and Chemistry; Group B: Mathematics, Biology, and Chemistry; Group C: Literature, History, and Geography; Group D: Literature, Foreign Language, and Mathematics.

In addition to universities, there are community colleges, art and technology institutes; professional secondary schools, and vocational schools which offer degrees or certificates from a-few-month to 2-year courses.

According to Vietnam's Ministry of Education and Training, there are currently 23 non-public universities, accounting for 11% of the total number of universities. These non-public universities are currently training 119,464 students, or 11.7% of the total number of students. The government is planning to increase the number of non-public universities to 30% by 2007.

Which sentence refers to the University Entrance Examination in Vietnam?

Next in order of popularity are travel books, biographies and memoirs. These tell us tales of places we have not seen and of great men in whom we are interested. Some of these books are as wonderful as novels, and they have an added value that they are true. Such books give us knowledge, and we also find immense pleasure in knowing details of lands we have not seen and of great men we have only heard of.

   Reading is one of the greatest enjoyments of life. To book-lovers, nothing is more fascinating than a favorite book. And, the ordinary educated man who is interested and absorbed in his daily occupation wants to occasionally escape from his drudgery into the wonderland of books for recreation and refreshment.

According to the passage, travel books, biographies and memoirs ______.

 Before the mid-nineteenth century, people in the United States ate most foods only in season. Drying, smoking and salting could preserve meat for a short time, but the availability of fresh meat, like that of fresh milk, was very limited; there was no way to prevent spoilage. But in 1810, a French inventor named Nicolas Appert developed the cooking-and-sealing process of canning. And in the 1850’s an American named Gail Borden developed a means of condensing and preserving milk. Canned goods and condensed milk became more common during the 1860’s, but supplies remained low because cans had to be made by hand. By 1880, however, inventors had fashioned stamping and soldering machines that massproduced cans from tinplate. Suddenly all kinds of food could be preserved and bought at all times of the year.

   Other trends and inventions had also helped make it possible for Americans to vary their daily diets. Growing urban population created demand that encouraged fruit and vegetable farmers to raise more produce. Railroad refrigerator cars enabled growers and meat packers to ship perishables great distances and to preserve them for longer periods.

During the 1860’s, canned food products were _________

Last week I went to visit Atlantic College, an excellent private college in Wales. Unusually, it gives people much needed experience of life outside the classroom, as well as the opportunity to study for their exams. The students, who are aged between 16 and 18 and come from all over the word, spend the morning studying. In the afternoon they go out and do a really useful activity, such as helping on the farm, looking after people with learning difficulties, or checking for pollution in rivers.

One of the great things about Atlantic College students is that they come from many different social backgrounds and countries. As few can afford the fees of £20,000 over two years, grants are available.

A quarter of students are British, and many of those can only attend because they receive government help.

“I really admire the college for trying to encourage international understanding among young people", as Barbara Molenkamp, a student from the Netherlands, said. ''You learn to live with people and respect them, even the ones you don't like. During the summer holidays my mother couldn't believe how much less I argued with my sister."

To sum up, Atlantic College gives its students an excellent education, using methods which really seem to work

What can a reader find out from this text?

Rearrange the sentences to make meaningful sentences

adolescent/ UNICEF/ girls’ health/ helps/ and/ adolescent/ wellbeing/ countries/ advance.

 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 short brown hair and green eyes. She likes bird watching and travelling too, so whenever my parents are able to they go someplace 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 seventyeight 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 were smokers, which was really a great tragedy because I didn't get chance to know them. My other grandmother died just a few years ago. I also have a lot of aunts, uncles, and cousins. The cousin 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.

 What does the writer’s brother do?

As Christmas evolved in the United States, new customs were adopted and many old ones were reworked. The legend of Santa Claus, for example, had origins in Europe and was brought by Dutch settlers to New York in the early 18th century. Traditionally, Santa Claus - from the Dutch Sinter Klaas - was depicted as a tall, dignified, religious figure riding a white horse through the air. Known as Saint Nicholas in Germany, he was usually accompanied by Black Peter, an elf who punished disobedient children. In North America he eventually developed into a fat, jolly old gentleman who had neither the religious attributes of Saint Nicholas nor the strict disciplinarian character of Black Peter.

Santa's transformation began in 1823, when a New York newspaper published the poem " A Visit from Saint Nicholas ", which Clemen Clark Moore had written to amuse his daughter. The poem introduced many Amercians to the story of a kindly saint who flew over housestops in a reindeer-drawn sleigh. Portraits and drawings of Santa Claus by American illustrator Thomas Nast further strengthened the legend during the second half of the 19th century. Living at the North Pole and assisted by elves, the modern Santa produced and delivered toys to all good children. By the late 19th century, he had become such a prominent figure of American folklore that in 1897, when Virginia O'Hanlon wrote to the New York Sun newspaper asking if Santawas real, she received a direct answer : " Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus ".

According to Clemen Clark Moore's poem

 Over the past 600 years, English has grown from a language of few speakers to become the dominant language of international communication. English as we know it today emerged around 1350, after having incorporated many elements of French that were introduced following the Norman invasion of 1066. Until the 1600s, English was, for the most part, spoken only in England and had not extended even as far as two centuries, English began to spread around the globe as a result of exploration, trade (including slave trade), colonization, and missionary work. Thus, small enclaves of English speakers became established and grew in various parts of the world. As these communities proliferated, English gradually became the primary language of international business, banking and diplomacy.

   Currently, about 80 percent of the information stored on computer systems worldwide is English. Two thirds of the world’s science writing is in English, and English is the main language of technology, advertising, media, international airports, and air traffic controllers. Today there are more than 700 million English users in the world, and over half of these are nonnative speakers, constituting the largest number of non-native users than any other language in the world.

What is the main topic of this passage?

 Over the past 600 years, English has grown from a language of few speakers to become the dominant language of international communication. English as we know it today emerged around 1350, after having incorporated many elements of French that were introduced following the Norman invasion of 1066. Until the 1600s, English was, for the most part, spoken only in England and had not extended even as far as two centuries, English began to spread around the globe as a result of exploration, trade (including slave trade), colonization, and missionary work. Thus, small enclaves of English speakers became established and grew in various parts of the world. As these communities proliferated, English gradually became the primary language of international business, banking and diplomacy.

   Currently, about 80 percent of the information stored on computer systems worldwide is English. Two thirds of the world’s science writing is in English, and English is the main language of technology, advertising, media, international airports, and air traffic controllers. Today there are more than 700 million English users in the world, and over half of these are nonnative speakers, constituting the largest number of non-native users than any other language in the world

 In the first paragraph, the word “emerged” is closest in meaning to____.

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

   Sound moves form its source to the ear by wavelike fluctuations in air pressure, something like the crests and troughs of ocean waves. Once way to keep from hearing sound is to use ear plugs. Another way is to cancel out the sound with anti-sound. Using a noisemarker controlled by a microprocessor, engineers have produced sound waves that are half a wavelength out of phase with those of the noise to be quieted-each crest is matched to a trough, and vice versa. Once the researchers have recorded the offending sound, a microprocessor calculates the amplitude and wavelength of sound that will cancel out the crests and troughs of noise. It then produces an electric current that is amplified and fed to a loudspeaker, which produces antisound and wipes out the noise. If the anti-sound goes out of synchronization, a microphone picks up the leftover sound and sends it back to the microprocessor, which changes the phase of the anti- sound just enough to cause complete silence.

   The research team has concentrated on eliminating low-frequency noise from ship engines, which causes fatigue that can impair the efficiency and alertness of the crew, and may mask the warning sounds of alarm and fog signals.

What is the main purpose of the passage?

 We get great pleasure from reading. The more advanced a man is, the greater delight he will find in reading. The ordinary man may think that subjects like philosophy or science are very difficult and that if philosophers and scientists read these subjects, it is not for pleasure. But this is not true. The mathematician finds the same pleasure in his mathematics as the school boy in an adventure story. For both, it is a play of the imagination, a mental recreation and exercise.

   The pleasure derived from this activity is common to all kinds of reading. But different types of books give us different types of pleasure. First in order of popularity is novel-reading. Novels contain pictures of imaginary people in imaginary situations, and give us an opportunity of escaping into a new world very much like our world and yet different from it. Here we seem to live a new life, and the experience of this new life gives us a thrill of pleasur

 According to paragraph 1, which of the following is NOT true?

Rearrange the sentences to make meaningful sentences

 weeks/in France/spend/I/will/next year/my holiday/for two

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.

Why are there white rings on each end of the football?

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

 City/ children/ have/ more/ interesting life/ country ones.

 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.

What do officials do during the game of football?