Identify the one underlined word or phrase - A, B, C or D - that must be changed for the sentence to be correct.
When I kept getting unwanted calls, I called the phone company and had my phone number change.
Suy nghĩ và trả lời câu hỏi trước khi xem đáp án
Lời giải:
Báo saikiến thức: đọc hiểu
Giải thích: changed (bị động)
Dịch: Khi tôi liên tục nhận được các cuộc gọi không mong muốn, tôi đã gọi cho công ty điện thoại và thay đổi số điện thoại.
Câu hỏi liên quan
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Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions.
Orchids are unique in having the most highly developed of all blossoms, in which the usual male and female reproductive organs are fused in a single structure called the column. The column is designed so that a single pollination will fertilize hundreds of thousands, and in some cases millions, of seeds, so microscopic and light they are easily carried by the breeze. Surrounding the column are three sepals and three petals, sometimes easily recognizable as such, often distorted into gorgeous, weird, but always functional shapes. The most noticeable of the petals is called the labellum, or lip. It is often dramatically marked as an unmistakable landing strip to attract the specific insect the orchid has chosen as its pollinator.
To lure their pollinators from afar, orchids use appropriately intriguing shapes, colors, and scents. At least 50 different aromatic compounds have been analyzed in the orchid family, each blended to attract one, or at most a few, species of insects or birds. Some orchids even change their scents to interest different insects at different times.
Once the right insect has been attracted, some orchids present all sorts of one-way obstacle courses to make sure it does not leave until pollen has been accurately placed or removed. By such ingenious adaptations to specific pollinators, orchids have avoided the hazards of rampant crossbreeding in the wild, assuring the survival of species as discrete identities. At the same time they have made themselves irresistible to collectors.
Which of the following is a kind of petal?
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Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
Many of the most damaging and life-threatening types of weather-torrential rains, severe thunderstorms, and tornadoes-begin quickly, strike suddenly, and dissipate rapidly, devastating small regions while leaving neighboring areas untouched. One such event, a tornado, struck the northeastern section of Edmonton, Alberta, in July 1987. Total damages from the tornado exceeded $ 250 million, the highest ever for any Canadian storm. Conventional computer models of the atmosphere have limited value in predicting short-live local storms like the Edmonton tornado, because the available weather data are generally not detailed enough to allow computers to discern the subtle atmospheric changes that precede these storms. In most nations, for example, weather balloon observations are taken just once every twelve hours at locations typically separated by hundreds of miles. With such limited data, conventional forecasting models do a much better job predicting general weather conditions over large regions than they do forecasting specific local events. Until recently, the observation-intensive approach needed for accurate, very short-range forecasts, or "Nowcasts", was not feasible. The cost of equipping and operating many thousands of conventional weather stations was prohibitively high, and the difficulties involved in rapidly collecting and processing the raw weather data from such a network were insurmountable. Fortunately, scientific and technological advances have overcome most of these problems. Radar systems, automated weather instruments, and satellites are all capable of making detailed, nearly continuous observation over large regions at a relatively low cost. Communications satellites can transmit data around the world cheaply and instantaneously, and modern computers can quickly compile and analyzing this large volume of weather information. Meteorologists and computer scientists now work together to design computer programs and video equipment capable of transforming raw weather data into words, symbols, and vivid graphic displays that forecasters can interpret easily and quickly. As meteorologists have begun using these new technologies in weather forecasting offices, Nowcasting is becoming a reality.
1. What does the passage mainly discuss? -
Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
There are many theories about the beginning of drama in ancient Greece. The one most widely accepted today is based on the assumption that drama evolved from ritual. The argument for this view goes as follows. In the beginning, human beings viewed the natural forces of the world, even the seasonal changes, as unpredictable, and they sought, through various means, to control these unknown and feared powers. Those measures which appeared to bring the desired results were then retained and repeated until they hardened into fixed rituals. Eventually stories arose which explained or veiled the mysteries of the rites. As time passed some rituals were abandoned, but the stories, later called myths, persisted and provided material for art and drama. Those who believed that drama evolved out of ritual also argue that those rites contained the seed of theater because music, dance, masks, and costumes were almost always used. Furthermore, a suitable site hard to be provided for the performances, and when the entire community did not participate, a clear division was usually made between the “acting area” and the “auditorium”. In addition, there were performers, and since considerable importance was attached to avoiding mistakes in the enactment of rites, religious leaders usually assumed that task. Wearing masks and costumes, they often impersonated other people, animals, or supernatural beings, and mimed the desired effect- success in hunt or battle, the coming rain, the revival of the Sun as an actor might. Eventually such dramatic representations were separated from religious activities. Another theory traces the theater’s origin from the human interest in storytelling. According to this view, tales (about the hunt, war or other feats) are gradually elaborated, at first through the use of impersonation, action, and dialogue by a narrator and then through the assumption of each of the roles by a different person. A closely related theory traces theater to those dances that are primarily rhythmical and gymnastic or that are imitation of animal movements and sounds.
7: The word "they" in paragraph 3 refers to: -
Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
Music can bring US to tears or to our feet, drive US into battle or lull US to sleep. Music is indeed remarkable in its power over all humankind, and perhaps for that every reason, no human culture on earth has ever lived without it. From discoveries made in France and Slovenia even Neanderthal man, as long as 53,000 years ago, had developed surprisingly sophisticated, sweet-sounding flutes carved from animal bones. It is perhaps then, no accident that music should strike such a chord with the limbic system - an ancient part of our brain, evolutionarily speaking, and one that we share with much of the animal kingdom. Some researchers even propose that music came into this world long before the human race ever did. For example, the fact that whale and human music have so much in common even though our evolutionary paths have not interested for nearly 60 million years suggests that music may predate humans. They assert that rather than being the inventors of music, we are latecomers to the musical scene. Humpback whale composers employ many of the same tricks that human songwriters do. In addition to using similar rhythms, humpbacks keep musical phrases to a few seconds, creating themes out of several phrases before singing the next one. Whale songs in general are no longer than symphony movements, perhaps because they have a similar attention span. Even though they can sing over a range of seven octaves, the whales typically sing in key, spreading adjacent notes no farther apart than a scale. They mix percussive and pure tones in pretty much the same ratios as human composers - and follow their ABA form, in which a theme is presented, elaborated on and then revisited in a slightly modified form. Perhaps most amazingly, humpback whale songs include repeating refrains that rhyme. It has been suggested that whales might use rhymes for exactly the same reasons that we do: as devices to help them remember. Whale songs can also be rather catchy. When a few humpbacks from the Indian Ocean strayed into the Pacific, some of the whales they met there quickly changed their tunes - singing the new whales'songs within three short years. Some scientists are even tempted to speculate that a universal music awaits discovery.
10: The word "their" in paragraph 2 refers to: -
Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
Continents and ocean basins represent the largest identifiable bodies on Earth. On the solid portion of the planet, the second most prominent features are flat plains, elevated plateaus, and large mountain ranges. In geography, the term "continent" refers to the surface of continuous landmasses that together comprise about 29.2% of the planet's surface. On the other hand, another definition is prevalent in the general use of the term that deals with extensive mainlands, such as Europe or Asia,that actually represent one very large landmass. Although all continents are bounded by the water bodies or high mountain ranges, isolated mainlands, such as Greenland and India-Pakistan areas are called subcontinents. In some circles, the distinction between continents and large islands lies almost exclusively in the size of a particular landmass. The analysis of compression and tension in the earth's crust has determined that continental structures are composed of layers that underlie continental shelves. A great deal of disagreement among geologists surrounds the issue of exactly how many layers underlie each landmass because of their distincive mineral and chemical composition. It's also quite possible that the ocean floor rests on top of unknown continents that have not yet been explored. The continental crust is believed to have been forrmed by means of a chemical reaction when lighter materials separated from heavier ones,thus settling at various levels within the crust. Assisted by the measurements of the specifics within crust formations by means of monitoring earthquakes, geologists can speculate that a chemical split occured to form the atmosphere, sea water and the crust before it solidified many centuries ago. Although each continent has its special features, all consist of various combinations of components that include shields,moutain belts, intracratonic basins, margins, volcanic plateaus, and blockvaulted belts. The basic differences among continents lie in the proportion and the composition of these features relative to the continent size. Climatic zones have a crucial effect on the weathering and formation of the surface features, soil erosion, soil deposition, land formation, vegetation, and human activities. Moutian belts are elongated narrow zones that have a characteristic folded sedimentary organization of layers. They are typically produced during substabtial crustal movements, which generate faulting and moutain building. When continental margins collide, the rise of a marginal edge leads to the formation of large moutain ranges, as explained by the plate tectonic theory. This process also accounts for the occurrence of mountain belts in ocean basins and produces evidence for the ongoing continental plate
evolution.
9. The phrase "This process" at the end of paraghaph 4 refers to . -
Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
There are many theories about the beginning of drama in ancient Greece. The one most widely accepted today is based on the assumption that drama evolved from ritual. The argument for this view goes as follows. In the beginning, human beings viewed the natural forces of the world, even the seasonal changes, as unpredictable, and they sought, through various means, to control these unknown and feared powers. Those measures which appeared to bring the desired results were then retained and repeated until they hardened into fixed rituals. Eventually stories arose which explained or veiled the mysteries of the rites. As time passed some rituals were abandoned, but the stories, later called myths, persisted and provided material for art and drama. Those who believed that drama evolved out of ritual also argue that those rites contained the seed of theater because music, dance, masks, and costumes were almost always used. Furthermore, a suitable site hard to be provided for the performances, and when the entire community did not participate, a clear division was usually made between the “acting area” and the “auditorium”. In addition, there were performers, and since considerable importance was attached to avoiding mistakes in the enactment of rites, religious leaders usually assumed that task. Wearing masks and costumes, they often impersonated other people, animals, or supernatural beings, and mimed the desired effect- success in hunt or battle, the coming rain, the revival of the Sun as an actor might. Eventually such dramatic representations were separated from religious activities. Another theory traces the theater’s origin from the human interest in storytelling. According to this view, tales (about the hunt, war or other feats) are gradually elaborated, at first through the use of impersonation, action, and dialogue by a narrator and then through the assumption of each of the roles by a different person. A closely related theory traces theater to those dances that are primarily rhythmical and gymnastic or that are imitation of animal movements and sounds.
2: The word "they" in paragraph 2 refers to . -
The ideas of John Dewey, philosopher and educator, have influenced American thought for over one hundred years. Dewey was born in Vermont in 1859, and throughout hi life he kept the respect for experience, individuality, and fair play that shaped the character of the nineteenth century Vermonter. He viewed his own life as a continuously reconstructive process with experience and knowledge building on each other. By the 1930s, Dewey had simplified his theory of experience to its essence. As the intellectual leader of the progressive schools, he asserted that there was danger in rejecting the old unless the new was rooted in a connect idea of experience. He held that experience is an interaction between what a person already knows and the situation at hand. Previous knowledge interacting with the present environment influences future experience. Dewey be1ieved that experience could not be equated with education because all experiences as not necessarily educative. Experience is educative only when it contributes to the growth of the individual, but it can be miseducative if it distorts the growth of further experience. It is the quality of experience that matters. Thus, productive experience is both the means and the goal of education. Furthermore, since education is a social process, truly progressive education involves the participation of the learner in directing the learning experience.During his long life, Dewey lectured and published prolifically. These writings were influential both during his lifetime and after his death at the age of ninety-two. He viewed his whole life as an experiment which would produce knowledge that would lead to further experimentation. The range and diversity of Dewey’s writings and his influence on society place him among American’s great thinkers.
The word “prolifically” in paragraph 4 is closest in meaning to____.
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Read the passage and choose the best option to fill in each blank.
An important part of being an adult is becoming more independent from your parents. _____(24)_____ independent, you'll need to focus on your living situation, your financial resources, your budgeting behavior and possibly how you interact with your parents in your day-to-day life.
Make sure you are living somewhere other than your parents' house or in a residence that your parents have paid ____(25)____. If you want to be independent and make your own decisions about how you live, you will need to obtain your own housing that is completely separate from your parents both physically and financially.
One of the main challenges in becoming independent as an adult is acquiring a sufficient income to allow you to live without the financial ____(26)____of your parents. This can be particularly difficult if you are still a university student, but it is not impossible. Seek scholarships and part-time jobs. If you are ___(27)____ a student, find employment that offers a salary that can cover your expenses. Avoid relying on your parents as the first option for help of any kind. Although your parents will always be an important source of social support in your life, your parents should not be the first people you approach with requests for help, or requests for financial assistance. This means that you may never ask your parents for help again, it just means that as an independent adult, there should be ___(28)____ sources of support within your life that you can turn to when necessary.
Question 24...............
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Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
You can usually tell when your friends are happy or angry by the looks on their faces or by their actions. This is useful because reading their emotional expressions helps you to know how to respond to them. Emotions have evolved to help us respond to important situations and to convey our intentions to others. But does raising the eyebrows and rounding the mouth say the same thing in Minneapolis as it does in Madagascar ? Much research on emotional expressions has centered on such questions. According to Paul Ekman, the leading researcher in this area, people speak and understand substantially the same “facial language”. Studies by Ekman’s group have demonstrated that humans share a set of universal emotional expressions that testify to the common biological heritage of the human species. Smiles, for example, signal happiness and frowns indicate sadness on the faces of people in such far-flung places as Argentina, Japan, Spain, Hungary, Poland, Sumatra, the United States, Vietnam, the jungles of New Guinea, and the Eskimo villages north of Artic Circle. Ekman and his colleagues claim that people everywhere can recognize at least seven basic emotions: sadness, fear, anger, disgust, contempt, happiness, and surprise. There are, however, huge differences across cultures in both the context and intensity of emotional displays – the so-called display responses – expecially negative ones – while many American children are encouraged to express their feelings more openly. Regardless of culture, however, emotions usually show themselves, to some degree, in people’s behavior. From their first days in life, babies produce facial expressions that communicate their feelings. The ability to read facial expressions develops early, too. Very young children pay close attention to facial expressions, and by age five, they nearly equal adults in their skill at reading emotions on people’s faces. This evidence all points to a biological underpinning for our abilities to express and interpret a basic set of human emotions. Moreover, as Chales Dawin pointed out over a century ago, some emotional expressions seem to appear across species boundaries. Cross-cultural psychologists tell us that certain emotional responses carry different meanings in diferrent cultures. For example, what emotion do you suppose might be conveyed while sticking out your tounge ? For American, this might indicate disgust, while in China it can signify surprise. Likewise, a grin on an American face may indicate joy, while on a Japanese face it may just as easily mean embarrassment. Clearly, culture influences emotional expressions.
7: Unlike American children, Asian children are encouraged to . -
Read the text and choose the best option to fill in each blank numbered:
Keeping your distance
Personal space is a term that refers (1)_______ the distance we like to keep between ourselves and other people. When (2) _______ we do not know well gets too close we usually begin to feel uncomfortable. If a business colleague comes closer than 1.2 meters, the most common response is to move (3)______ Some interesting (4)______ have been done in libraries. If strangers come too close, many people get up and leave the building; others use different methods such as turning their back on the intruder. Living in cities has made people develop new skills for dealing with situations where they are very close to strangers. Most people on crowded trains try not to look at strangers; they avoid skin contact, and apologize if hands touch by mistake. People use newspapers (5)_______ a barrier between themselves and other people, and if they do not have one, they stare into the distance, making sure they are not looking into anyone’s eyes. -
Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
Music can bring US to tears or to our feet, drive US into battle or lull US to sleep. Music is indeed remarkable in its power over all humankind, and perhaps for that every reason, no human culture on earth has ever lived without it. From discoveries made in France and Slovenia even Neanderthal man, as long as 53,000 years ago, had developed surprisingly sophisticated, sweet-sounding flutes carved from animal bones. It is perhaps then, no accident that music should strike such a chord with the limbic system - an ancient part of our brain, evolutionarily speaking, and one that we share with much of the animal kingdom. Some researchers even propose that music came into this world long before the human race ever did. For example, the fact that whale and human music have so much in common even though our evolutionary paths have not interested for nearly 60 million years suggests that music may predate humans. They assert that rather than being the inventors of music, we are latecomers to the musical scene. Humpback whale composers employ many of the same tricks that human songwriters do. In addition to using similar rhythms, humpbacks keep musical phrases to a few seconds, creating themes out of several phrases before singing the next one. Whale songs in general are no longer than symphony movements, perhaps because they have a similar attention span. Even though they can sing over a range of seven octaves, the whales typically sing in key, spreading adjacent notes no farther apart than a scale. They mix percussive and pure tones in pretty much the same ratios as human composers - and follow their ABA form, in which a theme is presented, elaborated on and then revisited in a slightly modified form. Perhaps most amazingly, humpback whale songs include repeating refrains that rhyme. It has been suggested that whales might use rhymes for exactly the same reasons that we do: as devices to help them remember. Whale songs can also be rather catchy. When a few humpbacks from the Indian Ocean strayed into the Pacific, some of the whales they met there quickly changed their tunes - singing the new whales'songs within three short years. Some scientists are even tempted to speculate that a universal music awaits discovery.
5: The word "They" in paragraph 2 refers to: -
Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
At first glance, there is little in Horton to attract people. The other nearby towns have much more to offer: Bradfield has its river and historic buildings, while Newtown has shops and entertainment. The buildings of Horton look dirty and unloved. For shops, there is a small supermarket, a few bargain shops, a bakery which, strangely, does not sell bread and a florist which has one stand of sad-looking flowers. Even so, Horton has several advantages over its neighbouring towns. Firstly, it has a country park. Four thousand years ago, this was an important fort. There are no historic remains here now, but there are wonderful views over the countryside. On sunny weekends you can often see kids out with their parents, kicking balls or flying kites. There aren’t many job opportunities in Horton, and the roads to nearby cities aren’t really fast, but there are excellent rail links. You can be in London in an hour and a half, and other cities are less than an hour away. That means that parents can earn a good salary and still get home in time to spend the evenings with their families. Houses in Horton aren’t pretty, but they are functional and cheap. The streets are quiet and safe, and there are plenty of parks and playgrounds. It has a library, three primary schools and a secondary school, St. Mark’s. It’s not as academically brilliant as other schools in the area, but it is friendly and offers a wide range of subjects and activities to children of all abilities and backgrounds. The town also has a swimming and a sports centre, and the community halls hold regular clubs and events for people of all ages.
1. What is the writer’s main purpose? -
Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
When jazz began to lose its reputation as "low-down" music and to gain well-deserved acclaim among intellectuals, musicians began to feature many instruments previously considered inappropriate for jazz. Whereas before the 1950s, jazz musicians played only eight basic instruments in strict tempo, in this decade they started to improvise on the flite, electric organ, piccolo, accordion, cello, and even bagpipes, with the rhythm section composed for strings or piano. Big bands no longer dominated jazz, and most changes emerged from small combos, such as the Dave Brubeck Quartet and the Gerry Mulligan Quartet. The Gerry Mulligan Quartet proved that a small, modern band could sound complete without a piano; the rhythm section consisted only of a set of drums and a string bass. Jazz continued to move in new directions during the 1960s. Saxophonist and composer Ornette Coleman led a quartet playing "free" jazz that was atonal. Pianist Cecil Taylor also conducted similar experiments with music, and John Coltrane included melodies from India in his compositions. In the 1970s musicians blended jazz and rock music into fusion jazz which combined the melodies and the improvisations of jazz with the rhythmic qualities of rock'n' roll, with three or five beats to the bar and in other meters. The form of jazz music was greatly affected by electric instruments and electronic implements to intensify, distort, or amplify their sounds. However, the younger musicians of the time felt compelled to include a steady, swinging rhythm which they saw as a permanent and essential element in great jazz.
6. The author believes that the developments in jazz described in the passage -
Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
Most forms of property are concrete and tangible, such as houses, cars, furniture or anything else that is included in one’s possessions. Other forms of property can be intangible and copyright deals with intangible forms of property. Copyright is a legal protection extended to authors of creative works, for example, books, magazine articles, maps, films, plays, television shows, software, paintings, photographs, music, choreography in dance and all other forms of intellectual or artistic property. Although the purpose of artistic property is usually public use and enjoyment, copyright establishes the ownership of the creator. When a person buys a copyrighted magazine, it belongs to this individual as a tangible object. However, the authors of the magazine articles own the research and the writing that went into creating the articles. The right to make and sell or give away copies of books or articles belongs to the authors, publishers, or other individuals or organizations that hold the copyright. To copy an entire book or a part of it, permission must be received from the copyright owner, who will most likely expect to be paid. Copyright law distinguishes between different types of intellectual property. Music may be played by anyone after it is published. However, if it is performed for profit, the performers need to pay a fee, called a royalty. A similar principle applies to performances of songs and plays. On the other hand, names, ideas, and book titles are accepted. Ideas do not become copyrighted property until they are published in a book, a painting or a musical work. Almost all artistic work created before the 20th century is not copyrighted because it was created before the copyright law was passed. The two common ways of infringing upon the copyright are plagiarism and piracy. Plagiarizing the work of another person means passing it off as one’s own. The word plagiarism is derived from the Latin plagiarus, which means “abductor”. Piracy may be an act of one person, but, in many cases, it is a joint effort of several people who reproduce copyrighted material and sell it for profit without paying royalties to the creator. Technological innovations have made piracy easy and anyone can duplicate a motion picture on videotape, a computer program, or a book. Video cassette recorders can be used by practically anyone to copy movies and television programs, and copying software has become almost as easy as copying a book. Large companies zealously monitor their copyrights for slogans, advertisements, and
brand names, protected by a trademark.
3: It can be inferred from the passage that copyright law is intended to protect . -
Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
Music can bring US to tears or to our feet, drive US into battle or lull US to sleep. Music is indeed remarkable in its power over all humankind, and perhaps for that every reason, no human culture on earth has ever lived without it. From discoveries made in France and Slovenia even Neanderthal man, as long as 53,000 years ago, had developed surprisingly sophisticated, sweet-sounding flutes carved from animal bones. It is perhaps then, no accident that music should strike such a chord with the limbic system - an ancient part of our brain, evolutionarily speaking, and one that we share with much of the animal kingdom. Some researchers even propose that music came into this world long before the human race ever did. For example, the fact that whale and human music have so much in common even though our evolutionary paths have not interested for nearly 60 million years suggests that music may predate humans. They assert that rather than being the inventors of music, we are latecomers to the musical scene. Humpback whale composers employ many of the same tricks that human songwriters do. In addition to using similar rhythms, humpbacks keep musical phrases to a few seconds, creating themes out of several phrases before singing the next one. Whale songs in general are no longer than symphony movements, perhaps because they have a similar attention span. Even though they can sing over a range of seven octaves, the whales typically sing in key, spreading adjacent notes no farther apart than a scale. They mix percussive and pure tones in pretty much the same ratios as human composers - and follow their ABA form, in which a theme is presented, elaborated on and then revisited in a slightly modified form. Perhaps most amazingly, humpback whale songs include repeating refrains that rhyme. It has been suggested that whales might use rhymes for exactly the same reasons that we do: as devices to help them remember. Whale songs can also be rather catchy. When a few humpbacks from the Indian Ocean strayed into the Pacific, some of the whales they met there quickly changed their tunes - singing the new whales'songs within three short years. Some scientists are even tempted to speculate that a universal music awaits discovery.
3: The word "one" in paragraph 1 can be replaced by: -
Read the passage about tourism in Wales and circle the best option (A, B, C, or D) to fill in each numbered blank. An example has been done for you.
It is estimated that in north Wales 30 per cent of all jobs can be directly attributed to tourism, but the fact that visitors spend their money in a variety of ways has a beneficial effect (26)____________ other things too. Many village shops would have to close if they were not supported by income from tourists, and the money spent on local souvenirs can (27)____________ local industries from going out of business.
Unfortunately, tourism also has disadvantages. (28)____________, many of the roads in the Snowdonia area are extremely narrow and tourist cars cause traffic jams. Some farmers and local merchants complain that they make it difficult for them (29)____________ their work as car parks full up during busy periods and many visitors cause obstructions by parking across gateways, etc. In addition, in the summer, thousands of people use the network of footpaths across Snowdon and its foothills. Often the grassy surface is (30)____________, leaving rough stone or mud. This makes the paths hard to see, and it can be dangerous to walk on.Question 30...................
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Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct word or phrase that best fits each of the numbered blanks from 19 to 23:
Holidays are rich in old traditions and are (19) _______in Scotland, Ireland, Wales and England. Christmas is a great English (20) _______ holiday, and in Scotland it is not kept at all, except by clerks in banks; all the shops, mills and factories are working. But six days later, (21)_______ New Year’s Eve, the Scots begin to enjoy themselves. People invite their friends to their house (22)_______ “sit the old year out and the new year in”. When the clock begins to strike, the head of the family (23)_______to the front door, opens it wide, and holds it until the last stroke. Then he shuts the door. He has let the old year out and the New Year in.
Question 21:......................
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Read the passage and choose one correct answer for each question.
PARENTS’ DREAMS
Parents often have dreams for their children’s future. They hope their children will have a better life than they had. They dream that their children will do things that they couldn’t do.
Parents who come to the U.S from foreign countries hope their children will have better education here. They think their children will have more career choices and more successful lives. They make many sacrifices so that their children will have more opportunities. They think their children will remain close to them because of this. Some children understand and appreciate these sacrifices and remain close to their parents. However, other children feel ashamed that their parents are so different from other Americans.
Parents think their children will remain close to them because___
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Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
When Malaysia takes the ASEAN chair next year, it will face a huge challenge. Too few of us know enough about this grouping we call the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. We do not know what it means to be a part of ASEAN and why it is important to us. At the same time, pressure is mounting to reinvent ASEAN to make it more people-centric and less government-centric. The Heat speaks to Global Movement of Moderates CEO Saifuddin Abdullah on why ASEAN should mean more to us than just acronyms. ASEAN people do not feel like they are a part of the community of Southeast Asian nations. This statement, backed up by survey findings, is pretty bizarre, and extremely hurtful too, considering that ASEAN is 47 years old today. “Interview 10 persons on the Street and you would perhaps get only one of them who knows about ASEAN,” says Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah. This CEO of Global Movement of Moderates (GMM) is not running down ASEAN; he’s confronting the truth as it impacts the project he has been entrusted with. Here’s more, in 2012, the ASEAN Secretariat conducted a survey that showed only 34% of Malaysians had heard of the ASEAN community. This compares with 96% of Laotians. Malaysia chairs ASEAN next year, and GMM is a member of the national steering committee organizing the ASEAN People’s Forum (APF), a platform designed to bridge the gap between governments and civil society. Never heard of it? You’re forgiven. The APF actually started off life in the 1990s, except it was called the ASEAN People’s Assembly (APA). It was held back to back with the ASEAN Summit, which is held twice a year. The APA is the forum where 10 leaders of government engage with 10 leaders of civil society in a half-hour meeting. “It was going well until one year when the chairman decided not to hold the APA, so it was discontinued until 2005 when Malaysia took the chairmanship of ASEAN again and founded the ASEAN People’s Forum (APF),” Saifuddin explains. In a perfect world, forums such as the APF or its predecessor APA would have worked perfectly to bridge the gap between government and civil society. However, as Saifuddin points out, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) often do not see eye to eye with their governments. For instance this year, Myanmar is chair of ASEAN and in the APF, three member nations – including Malaysia – decided not to recognize the CSO leaders chosen as representatives so the APF did not take place. “This is where the GMM wants to play a role in ensuring that this situation does not arise again,” Saituddin says.
1. According to the passage, in 1990s, APF was called -
Certain birds are, more often than not, considered bad luck, or even a sign of impending death. For example, all over the world, both crows and ravens have some connection to war, and death. In early times, crows and ravens were thought to accompany the gods of war, or be signs of the gods’ approaching arrival. This idea later changed. Crows in particular were thought to be harbingers of ill fortune or, in some cases, guides to the afterlife. Woe be it to the person who saw a single crow or raven flying overhead, for this was most certainly a portent of death in the near future.
Interestingly, though potentially bad luck for people individually, the raven is considered to be good luck for the crown of England. So much so, in fact, that a “raven master” is, even today, an actual government position in London. He takes care of the ravens there and also clips their wings, ensuring that these birds can never fly far from the seat of the British government. This way, the kingdom will never fall to ill fortune.
Another bird that is thought to play a part in forecasting the fortunes of people is the swallow. Depending on how and when it is seen, the swallow can be a harbinger of either good or ill fortune. Perhaps inspired by the swallow’s red-brown breast, Christian people initially related the swallow to the death of Jesus Christ. Thus, people who saw a swallow fly through their house considered it a portent of death. Later, however, farmers began to consider swallows signs of good fortune. Any barn that has swallows living in it is sure to be blessed in the following year. Farmers also have to beware of killing a swallow; that would be certain to end any good luck they might have had.
Though many people think these superstitions are old wives’ tales, there is actually some evidence to support them. For example, crows and ravens, being scavengers, appear at the aftermath of battles. Thus, large numbers of crows and ravens could be good indications of war in an area. As well, swallows feed on insects that can cause infections in cattle. Thus, a farmer who has many swallows in his barn may actually have healthier animals on his farm. Therefore, the next time you feel inclined to laugh at an old wives’ tale, maybe you had better find out if there is any truth to it first!.Swallows help keep cattle in barns healthier by ___________.