I have been trying to ring him up all day and I could not _____ through.

(472)_____

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:
Animals have an intuitive awareness of quantities. They know without analysis the difference between a number of objects and a smaller number. In his book "The Natural History of Selboure" (1786), the naturalist Gilbert White tells how he surreptitiously removed one egg a day from a plover's nest, and how the mother laid another egg each day to make up for the missing one. He noted that other species of birds ignore the absence of a single egg but abandon their nest if more than one egg has been removed. It has also been noted by naturalists that a certain type of wasp always provides five - never four, never six - caterpillars for each of their eggs so that their young have something to eat when the eggs hatch. Research has also shown that both mice and pigeons can be taught to distinguish between odd and even numbers of food pieces.
These and similar accounts have led some people to infer that creatures other than humans can actually count. They also point to dogs that have been taught to respond to numerical questions with the correct number of banks, or to horses that seem to solve arithmetic problems by stomping their hooves the proper number of times.
Animals respond to quantities only when they are connected to survival as a species - as in the case of the eggs - or survival as individuals - as in the case of food. There is no transfer to other situations of from concrete reality to the abstract notion of numbers. Animals can "count" only when the objects are present and only when the numbers involved are small - not more than seven or eight. In lab experiments, animals trained to "count" one kind of object were unable to count any other type. The object, not the numbers, are what interest them. Animals' admittedly remarkable achievements simply do not amount to evidence of counting, nor do they reveal more than innate instincts, refined by the genes of successive generations, or the results of clever, careful conditioning by trainers.

According to information in the passage, which of the following is LEAST likely to occur as a result of animals' intuitive awareness of quantities?

While she _____ breakfast, I set the table.

(510)________

Choose the letter A, B, C or D to complete the sentences with given words:
If/ it/ fine/ tomorrow, we/ go/ the/ dentist.

Read the passage below carefully, and then choose the best answer:
The Greatest Light Show on the Earth
If you are a fan of amazing visual displays, planetariums around the world offer some entertaining laser-light shows that are often accompanied by popular music. Yet if you want to see the world’s greatest light show, you won’t be able to catch it indoors. Instead, you will have to head to one of the Poles. In certain spots, you will be treated to colourful streaks of light dancing across the sky. This incredible display is the aurora borealis, and every year people from all corners of the globe flock to witness its wonders firsthand. The Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights, got its official name in 1621. The name combines the name of the Roman goddess of the dawn, Aurora, and the Roman god of the north wind, Boreas. In ancient times, the aurora completely baffled people’s minds, as science was far more primitive than it is today. Nevertheless, they created many myths to explain them. The Vikings believed the lights were the reflection of dead maidens. The Scots thought they were supernatural beings battling in heaven. Meanwhile, Eskimos thought that the lights were dead souls, and when the colours changed, it was their attempt to contact living friends and relatives. It was not until 2008 that a team of scientists from ULCA finally concluded with certainty what the true cause of these dancing light is. The process begins when solar winds carry charged particles from the Sun through space and into the Earth’s atmosphere. When these charged particles enter the Earth’s atmosphere, they are magnetically attracted to the Earth’s poles. During their journey to these points, they come in contact with nitrogen and oxygen atoms in the sky. These collisions are what cause the aurora. The heights at which the collisions occur determine the colours of the individual lights. For example, when the solar winds collide with nitrogen at least than 96 kilometres above the Earth’s surface, the lights will be blue. If the same collision occurs above 96 kilometres, however, the light will be purple. Or, if the solar wind particles collide with oxygen, the colours produced will be either red or green. However, merely understanding how the aurora works does not do this phenomena justice. To truly appreciate the full splendor of the aurora, you will have to see this Natural Wonder of the World in person.
6. Where can we often see the aurora most?

Choose the best answer:
It is the first of Viet Nam’s nine national parks _________ established

Choose the best answer:
She keep ______me if I could help her.

Read the passage below carefully, and then choose the best answer:
Some Amazing Apps for Your Smartphone
It is hard to imagine life in modern society without smartphones. These handy little devices keep us entertained and enable us to manage important tasks on the go. Although smartphones feature powerful hardware, they wouldn’t be so useful without thousands of handy applications. Here are a few free and helpful apps that you can download to help you throughout the day. If you have a habit of forgetting things and want to organize your life, give Evernote a try. It promises to help users remember everything. With a few clicks, you can send all of your photos, documents, and audio notes to Evernote. Then, your digital information can be stored in folders or tagged with useful keywords. When you need to access this data, you can perform a simple search and it will appear in seconds. Evernote is available on smartphones, tablets, and computers, so you can access your data from everywhere. Imagine this scenario. You are watching a TV show and you hear a cool song in the background. You want to buy it but there is one problem. You don’t know the name of the song. SoundHound is an app that will make this problem a thing of the past. It enables users to quickly identify songs by launching the app and holding their phone in the air. The app takes the song playing and compares it to thousands of other songs until it finds a match. Within seconds, it can tell you the name, artist, and album of the song you just heard. Another spectacular app is Lookout. Hopefully, you won’t have to use it often, but when you do need it. Lookout can be a lifesaver. Its main function is to help you find your phone if it goes missing. Lookout does this by using your smartphone’s data connection to locate your lost device. To see where your phone is on a map, simply log into Lookout from any web browser. In the worst-case situation, if someone steals your phone and you fear it has gone for good, you can wipe out all of its data with a few clicks. This will ensure no one will see any private information on your phone. These helpful apps are just the tip of the iceberg. If you do some searching online, you are certain to find many other apps that will make your life more convenient.
3. What could best replace the word “appear” in paragraph 2?

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct word or phrase that best fits each of the numbered blanks.
Culture has a strong influence on non–verbal communication. Even the simple act of looking someone in the eye is not at all that simple. In the USA, Americans are (1).......... to look directly  at people when speaking to them. It shows interest in what they are saying and is thought to carry a (2).......of honesty. Meanwhile, in Japan and Korea, people avoid long periods of eye contact. It is considered more polite to look to the side during a conversation. The Lebanese, (3)............ , stand close together and look intensely into each other's eyes. The action shows sincerity and gives people a better sense of what their counterparts want. Given such differences with even the most common expressions, people (4)................. travel or work abroad have a real need to learn the other culture's body language. People tend to be unaware of the messages they are sending to others. So, it is (5).................. to consider your own body language before dealing with people from other cultures. Knowing about the body language of friends, clients, and colleagues can be very helpful in improving understanding and avoiding miscommunication.

(3).......................

Mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the undelined part that needs correction in each of the following questions:
The cause of tooth decay is acid, which is produced by bacteria in the mouth. The acid removes minerals from tooth enamel, allowing tooth decay to begin; the saliva in your mouth encourages remineralization and neutralizes the acid. The rate at which bacteria in the mouth produce acid depends on the amount of plaque on the teeth, the composition of the microbial flora, and whether the bacteria of the plaque have been "primed" by frequent exposure to sugar. To keep your teeth healthy, a regular dental hygiene program should be followed.
Removing plaque with a toothbrush and dental floss temporarily reduces the numbers of bacteria in the mouth and thus reduces tooth decay. It also makes the surfaces of the teeth more accessible, enabling saliva to neutralize acid and remineralize lesions. If fluoride is present in drinking water when teeth are forming, some fluoride is incorporated into the enamel of the teeth, making them more resistant to attack by acid. Fluoride toothpaste seems to act in another way, by promoting the remineralization of early carious lesions.
In addition to a regular dental hygiene program, a good way to keep your teeth healthy is to reduce your intake of sweet food. The least cavity-causing way to eat sweets is to have them with meals and not between. The number of times you eat sweets rather than the total amount determines how much harmful acid the bacteria in your saliva produce. But the amount of sweets influences the quality of your saliva. Avoid, if you can, sticky sweets that stay in your mouth a long time. Also try to brush and floss your teeth after eating sugary foods. Even rinsing your mouth with water is effective. Whenever possible, eat foods with fiber, such as raw carrot sticks, apples, celery sticks, etc., that scrape off plaque, acting as a toothbrush. Cavities can be greatly reduced if these rules are followed when eating sweets.

According to the passage, all of the following statements about plaque are true EXCEPT     .

Choose the word whose underlined part is pronounced differently from that of the others.
 

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.

Choose the best answer:
been to/ is/ What/ destination/ exciting/ you/ have/ the most?

Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
According to Vietnamese legend, (1) ____ giant turtle in Hanoi's Hoan Kiem Lake reclaimed a magic sword given to King Le Loi in the 15th century that he used to win independence (2) ____ China's Ming Dynasty. The lake was thereafter named 'Ho Hoan Kiem', or 'Lake of the Returned Sword', and Hanoi has been built up (3) ____ it. Margie Mason of Associated Press wrote: "(4) ____ once was a magic golden turtle that lived in Hanoi's most enchanted lake. The giant turtle was believed so powerful, it snatched a divine sword from a warrior king and returned it to the gods of the depths nearly six centuries (5) ____. That tale has long been a (6) ____ among young and old Vietnamese living in the capital city, but folklorists soon may have to rewrite the story to (7) ____ a very sad ending. In real life, the last giant soft-shell turtle (8) ____ in Hoan Kiem Lake probably will die alone, and at least one biologist says the species (9) ____ then be extinct. The elusive creature - with a shell as big as a desk - occasionally pokes its wrinkled head out of the murky waters of the downtown lake to (10) ____ a breath, but few Vietnamese are lucky enough to glimpse it. And certainly no one knows its age."

Rewrite sentences without changing the meaning
 I do judo every Tuesday and Thursday.

Choose the best answer:
He is ............................ for his elderly parents.

Why is it that flying to New York from London will leave you feeling less tired than flying to London from New York? The answer may be a clear case of biology not being able to keep up with technology. Deep inside the brain there is a "clock" that governs every aspect of the body's functioning: sleep and wake cycles, levels of alertness, performance, mood, hormone levels, digestion, body temperature and so on. It regulates all of these functions on a 24-hour basis and is called the circadian clock (from the Latin, circa "about" + dies "day").

This body clock programmes us to be sleepy twice a day, between 3-5 a.m and again between 3-5 p.m. Afternoon tea and siesta times are all cultural responses to our natural biological sleepiness in the afternoon. One of the major causes of the travelers' malady known as jet lag is the non-alignment of a person's internal body clock with clocks in the external world. Crossing different time zones confuses the circadian clock, which then has to adjust to the new time and patterns of light and activity. To make matters more complex, not all internal body functions adjust at the same rate. So your sleep/wake may adjust to a new time zone at one rate, while your temperature adjusts at a different pace. Your digestion may be on a different schedule altogether.

Though we live in a 24-hour day, the natural tendency of the body clock is to extend our day beyond 24 hours. It is contrary to our biological programming to shrink our day. That is why travelling in a westward direction is more body-clock friendly than flying east. NASA studies of long haul pilots showed that westward travel was associated with significantly better sleep quantity and quality than eastward flights. When flying west, you are "extending" your day, thus travelling in the natural direction of your internal clock. Flying eastward will involve "shrinking" or reducing your day and is in direct opposition to your internal clock's natural tendency.

One of the more common complaints of travelers is that their sleep becomes disrupted. There are many reasons for this: Changing time zones and schedules, changing light and activity levels, trying to sleep when your body clock is programmed to be awake, disruption of the internal circadian clock and working longer hours. Sleep loss, jet lag and fatigue can seriously affect our ability to function well. Judgment and decision-making can be reduced by 50%, attention by 75 percent, memory by 20 percent and communication by 30 percent. It is often suggested that you adjust your watch as soon as you board a plane, supposedly to try to help you adjust to your destination's schedule as soon as you arrive. But it can take the body clock several days to several weeks to fully adjust to a new time zone.

According to the article, ________

Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
Alemur is a unique animal. When you look at a lemur, it might be hard to tell what you are really looking at. With their huge dark eyes and lush fur, lemurs are very cute, but what animal family are they from? Some lemurs look like a cross between a cat and a dog. Some look a little like squirrels, while others resemble monkeys. Why do they look so strange? To answer to this question we need to understand the lemur's history and genetics. In modern biology, lemurs are called prosimians. This means before monkeys. Remarkably, lemurs, monkeys, apes, and humans all share a common ancestor from about 50 million years ago. Monkeys, apes, and humans developed together in one direction. However, lemurs developed differently and slowly because of their geographical location. All lemurs come from the island of Madagascar, located off the east coast of Africa. Madagascar split off from mainland Africa 50 million years ago. It is believed that the first prosimians traveled to Madagascar on floating trees and plants. The prosimians that traveled to Madagascar were isolated from the rest of Africa. Predators, like dogs or cats, did not make it to Madagascar. Since there were no dangerous threats, prosimians did not have to evolve as quickly as other primates did. (primates: any nimal that belongs to the group of mammals that includes humans, apes, and monkeys.) Over time, the original prosimians evolved into lemurs. Lemurs have changed in some ways over those 50 million years, but they are much more similar to our shared ancestor than either humans, monkeys, or apes. Because of this, their bodies and behaviors hold clues about what out common ancestor looked like. Lemurs have four fingers and a thumb on their hands, and five toes on their feet, just like humans do. They have eyes and jaw bones that are similar to humans as well, but they have a wet nose, like a dog. Lemur behavior is also comparable to human behavior, as they live in social groups. Like apes and humans, lemurs travel together, groom one another, fight each other, and play together. Lemurs, however, have simpler friend and family relationships. Recently, lemurs have been studied in captivity. Like their distant chimpanzee and monkey cousins, they can be taught to use tools and to solve complicated problems. The word lemur means ghost. While the name probably comes from their huge reflective eyes and their strange, haunting cries, lemurs are ghosts in a way. They are living ghosts that remind US where we came from, and also give US clues about how humans evolved.
10. Why does the writer say: "they are living shosts" in paragraph 6?

Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
Glenbrook South (GBS) High School is in a suburb of Chicago, lllinois, in the United States. It is an award-winning school with a highly competent teaching staff. It has over 400 Asian Pacific American students-over 17 percent of the students in the school. Of these, the majority are Korean American. This is very unusual in a state where Korean Americans are less than 1 percent of the population. The interactions of the Korean American students at GBS were the subject of an article in Asian Week magazine. Different Korean American students react differently to being in a high school where most students are white. Professor Pyong Gap Min, an expert on Korean life in America, believes that Korean Americans in this situation can sometimes feel inhibited or ashamed of their Korean identity. Asian Week interviewed a number of GBS students, and each had a different attitude. Eighteen-year-old Alice said that she used to spend time only with Korean American friends. Although she felt secure with those friends, she found herself motivated to form closer relationships with non-Koreans, too. She said that she felt she was missing out on new experiences and challenges. Seventeen-year-old John moved in the opposite direction. In junior high school, most of John's friends were white. After coming to GBS, his sense of his Korean American identity was restored, and he decided to have mainly Korean American friends. He feels that he and his Korean American friends understand each other better. For example, they understand about severe parental pressures to succeed at school; John felt his white friends couldn't really understand. Sixteen-year-old Paul has some Korean American friends, but he says he spends most of his time with his white friends. He is often the only Asian American in the group, but he doesn't mind. What Paul likes about the white culture is that he can be more radical - he can be as loud and funny as he wants to be. He says he doesn't see as much of that among the Asian students. Without belittling the importance of what these students had to say, it's important to remember that their opinions at this phase of their lives are bound to change as they grow into adulthood. But these honest opinions can help US better understand issues of cultural relations, and their honesty might help Americans from different cultural groups to get along better in the future. 
7. What DOESN'T the author think about the opinions of the three students?

Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
The ubiquitous bar code, developed more than twenty years ago, is not a stagnant product. On the contrary, the technology has been improved so that it can be used more efficiently. Much less expensive than a computer chip, the bar code can hold more information than it had in the past by adding a second dimension to the structure. The bar code consists of a series of parallel vertical bars or lines of two different widths, although sometimes four widths are used, printed in black on a white background. Barcodes are used for entering data into a computer system. The bars represent the binary digits 0 and 1, just like basic computer language, and sequences of these digits can indicate the numbers from 0 to 9, which can then be read by an optical laser scanner and processed by a digital computer. Arabic numbers appear below the code. The traditional bar code has been used to monitor skiers at ski lifts and to determine price and perform inventory control on groceries, drugs, medical supplies, manufactured parts, and library books to name a few. The bar code used on grocery products, introduced in the 1970s, is called a universal product code (or UPC) and assigns each type of food or grocery product a unique code. The five digits on the left are assigned to a particular manufacturer or maker and the five digits on the right are used by that manufacturer to identify a specific type or mark of product. Traditional single dimension bar codes are not readily customizable because there is little extra space. The two-dimensional bar code, with an information density of 1,100 bytes, allows a considerably greater amount of information to be coded than does the traditional bar code, including customized information. [A] It also has built-in redundancy, meaning that the identical information is duplicated on the same code. [B] Therefore, if the code is damaged, it can still be read. [C] The technology even allows pictures or texts to be contained within the code, as well as bar code encryption. [D] The new technology dramatically reduces the errors of the single dimensional bar code and reduces the enormous costs that some companies have reported in the past. 
2. The word "stagnant" in the first sentence is closest in meaning to: 

Next week new payment processing terminals will be installed at each sales register in Macaw stores located in St.Thomas. Payment   System 4.0 ---139--- in our stores in Puerto Rico for several months. So far, no issues with the system have been reported by ---140--- customers or managers there. ---141---. It is faster and handles more transaction types than the current payment system. It also eliminates the need for ---142--- verification of transactions under $25.00.

140.............