Nowadays most foods are dried mechanically; the conventional method of such dehydration is to put food in chambers through which hot air is blown at temperatures of about 110oC at entry to about 45oC at exit. This is the usual method for drying such things as vegetables, minced meat, and fish.

      Liquids such as milk, coffee, tea, soups and eggs may be dried by pouring them over a heated horizontal steel cylinder or by spraying them into a chamber through which a current of hot air passes. In the first case, the dried material is scraped off the roller as a thin film which is then broken up into small, though still relatively coarse flakes. In the second process it falls to the bottom of the chamber as a fine powder. Where recognizable pieces of meat and vegetables are required, as in soup, the ingredients are dried separately and then mixed.

      Dried foods take up less room and weigh less than the same food packed in cans or frozen, and they do not need to be stored in special conditions. For these reasons they are invaluable to climbers, explorers and soldiers in battle, who have little storage space. They are also popular with housewives because it takes so little time to cook them.

The word “they” in paragraph 5 refers to _______________.

Communication in general is process of sending and receiving messages that enables humans to share knowledge, attitudes, and skills. Although we usually identify communication with speech, communication is composed of two dimensions - verbal and nonverbal.

Nonverbal communication has been defined as communication without words. It includes apparent behaviors such as facial expressions, eyes, touching, tone of voice, as well as less obvious messages such as dress, posture and spatial distance between two or more people.

Activity or inactivity, words or silence all have message value: they influence others and these others, in turn, respond to these communications and thus they are communicating.

Commonly, nonverbal communication is learned shortly after birth and practiced and refined throughout a person's lifetime. Children first learn nonverbal expressions by watching and imitating, much as they learn verbal skills.

Young children know far more than they can verbalize and are generally more adept at reading nonverbal cues than adults are because of their limited verbal skills and their recent reliance on the nonverbal to communicate. As children develop verbal skills, nonverbal channels of communication do not cease to exist although become entwined in the total communication process.

According to the writer, …………….

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.

   Hummingbirds are small, often brightly colored birds of the family Trochilidae that live exclusively in the Americas. About 12 species are found in North America, but only the ruby-throated hummingbird breeds in eastern North America and is found from Nova Scotia to Florida. The greatest variety and number of species are found in South America. Another hummingbird species is found from southeastern Alaska to northern California.

   Many hummingbirds are minute. But even the giant hummingbird found in western South America, which is the largest known hummingbird, is only about 8 inches long and weighs about two-thirds of an ounce. The smallest species, the bee hummingbird of Cuba and the Isle of Pines, measures slightly more than 5.5 centimeters and weighs about two grams.

   Hummingbirds' bodies are compact, with strong muscles. They have wings shaped like blades. Unlike the wings of other birds, hummingbird wings connect to the body only at the shoulder joint, which allows them to fly not only forward but also straight up and down, sideways, and backward. Because of their unusual wings hummingbirds can also hover in front of flowers so they can suck nectar and find insects. The humming- bird's bill, adapted for securing nectar from certain types of flowers, is usually rather long and always slender, and it is curved slightly downward in many species.

   The hummingbird’s body feathers are sparse and more like scales than feathers. The unique character of the feathers produces brilliant and iridescent colors, resulting from the refraction of light by the feathers. Pigmentation of other feathers also contributes to the unique color and look. Male and female hummingbirds look alike in some species but different in most species; males of most species are extremely colorful.

   The rate at which a hummingbird beats its wings does not vary, regardless of whether it is flying forward, flying in another direction, or merely hovering. But the rate does vary with the size of the bird - the larger the bird, the lower the rate, ranging from 80 beats per second for the smallest species to 10 times per second for larger species. Researchers have not yet been able to record the speed of the wings of the bee humming-bird but imagine that they beat even faster. Most hummingbirds, especially the smaller species, emit scratchy, twittering, or squeaky sounds. The wings, and sometimes the tail feathers, often produce humming, hissing, or popping sounds, which apparently function much as do the songs of other birds.

The author indicates that a hummingbird’s wings are different from those of other birds because

 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.

William Sydney Porter (1862-1910), who wrote under the pseudonym of O. Henry, was born in North Carolina. His only formal education was to attend his Aunt Lina’s school until the age of fifteen, where he developed his lifelong love of books. By 1881 he was a licensed pharmacist. However, within a year, on the recommendation of a medical colleague of his Father’s, Porter moved to La Salle County in Texas for two years herding sheep. During this time, Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary was his constant companion, and Porter gained a knowledge of ranch life that he later incorporated into many of his short stories. He then moved to Austin for three years, and during this time the first recorded use of his pseudonym appeared, allegedly derived from his habit of calling “Oh, Henry” to a family cat. In 1887, Porter married Athol Estes. He worked as a draftsman, then as a bank teller for the First National Bank.

In 1894 Porter founded his own humor weekly, the “Rolling Stone”, a venture that failed within a year, and later wrote a column for the Houston Daily Post. In the meantime, the First National Bank was examined, and the subsequent indictment of 1886 stated that Porter had embezzled funds. Porter then fled to New Orleans, and later to Honduras, leaving his wife and child in Austin. He returned in 1897 because of his wife’s continued ill-health, however she died six months later. Then, in 1898 Porter was found guilty and sentenced to five years imprisonment in Ohio. At the age of thirty five, he entered prison as a defeated man; he had lost his job, his home, his wife, and finally his freedom. He emerged from prison three years later, reborn as O. Henry, the pseudonym he now used to hide his true identity. He wrote at least twelve stories in jail, and after re-gaining his freedom, went to New York City, where he published more than 300 stories and gained fame as America’s favorite short Story writer. Porter married again in 1907, but after months of poor health, he died in New York City at the age of forty-eight in 1910. O. Henry’s stories have been translated all over the world.

Why did the author write the passage?

REMEMBER?

Your mind's ability to bring back experiences you have had is your memory. There are two kinds of remembering, recall and recognition. For instance, you may not be able to recall the poem you read yesterday in class, but if you see it again, you will know it instantly because you recognize it.

Some few people have 'total recall,' often spoken of as photographic memory. A person with total recall can recite a whole page of a book he has read only once, or play a musical composition after hearing it once. This is very unusual, however, and most people have difficulty in remembering even names they heard the day before. This is not because most people lack the ability to remember, but because they had not paid much attention to what they heard. They felt no personal reasons to remember. Having a personal reason for remembering is one of the most important factors in a good memory.

When you have a strong reason for remembering, concentrate as you read or listen, and try to connect the new information to things you I already know. A detail is easy to remember when it fits into a whole that makes sense. If you understand the entire history lesson before you try to remember any particular dates, your memory may surprise you.

One way to improve our memory is ________

Rearrange the sentences to make meaningful sentences

such/ Amsterdam/ again/ is/ it/ one/ a/ that/ to/ wonderful/ want/ city/ I/ visit/ again/ day.

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.

Crying Ritual of the Tujia People: Sichaun Province, China

Starting 30 days before the wedding, the bride spends an hour a day ____________ (9). Ten days later, she is joined by her mother, and then ten days after that, her grandmother. I know what you’re thinking, ____________ (10) this is actually meant as an expression of joy and deep love.

Daur Chick Liver Tradition: Inner Mongolia, China

Time to get mystical. To select a wedding date, the young couple must take a knife and together slaughter a chick. The date is then divined by the appearance of the chick’s liver. If the liver has an unfortunate appearance, they must keep __________ (11) chicks until they find a good one.

Kumbh Vivah: India

Indian men and women born as Mangliks — meaning Mars is situated in the 1st, 2nd, 4th, 7th, 8th or 12th house of a person’s Rashi (Indian astrological moon sign) — are believed __________ (12). It is believed that Mangalik Dosha negatively impacts married life, causing tension and sometimes the untimely death of one of the partners. To cancel ___________ (13) effects, a Kumbh Vivah can be performed before the wedding. This is a wedding between a Mangalik and either a statue of Vishnu or a Peepal tree or banana tree. The celebrated Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai had one such marriage with a tree before marrying her husband, Abhishek.

Bathroom Moratorium: Tidong community, Indonesia/ Malaysia

After the wedding, the bride and groom are not allowed to use the bathroom _________ (14) three whole days. They cannot leave the house, clear their bowels or urinate. The couple is watched over and are allowed minimal amounts of food and drink. ______________ (15) the custom is not practiced, they believe it will bring bad luck to the couple, with consequences such as a broken marriage, infidelity or death of their children.

(6)_______

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 Santa was real, she received a direct answer : " Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus ".

Who was Black Peter ?

Thanksgiving is associated with the time when Europeans first came to North America. In 1620 the ship the Mayflowers arrived, bringing about 150 people who today are usually called Pilgrims. They arrived at the beginning of a very hard winter and could not find enough to eat, so many of them died. But in the following summer Native Americans showed them what foods were safe to eat, so that they could save food for the next winter. They held a big celebration to thank God and the Native Americans for the fact that they had survived.

   Today people celebrate Thanksgiving to remember these early days. The most important part of the celebration is a traditional dinner with foods that come from North America. The meal includes turkey, sweet potatoes (also called yams) and cranberries, which are made into a kind of sauce or jelly. The turkey is filled with stuffing or dressing, and many families have their own special recipe. Dessert is pumpkin made into a pie.

   On Thanksgiving there are special television programs and sports events. In New York there is the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, when a long line of people wearing fancy costumes march through the streets with large balloons in the shape of imaginary characters. Thanksgiving is considered the beginning of the Christmas period, and the next day many people go out to shop for Christmas presents.

Which of the following statements is not TRUE about Thanksgiving ______?

Daur Chick Liver Tradition: Inner Mongolia, China

Time to get mystical. To select a wedding date, the young couple must take a knife and together slaughter a chick. The date is then divined by the appearance of the chick’s liver. If the liver has an unfortunate appearance, they must keep __________ (11) chicks until they find a good one.

Kumbh Vivah: India

Indian men and women born as Mangliks — meaning Mars is situated in the 1st, 2nd, 4th, 7th, 8th or 12th house of a person’s Rashi (Indian astrological moon sign) — are believed __________ (12). It is believed that Mangalik Dosha negatively impacts married life, causing tension and sometimes the untimely death of one of the partners. To cancel ___________ (13) effects, a Kumbh Vivah can be performed before the wedding. This is a wedding between a Mangalik and either a statue of Vishnu or a Peepal tree or banana tree. The celebrated Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai had one such marriage with a tree before marrying her husband, Abhishek.

(13)__________

William Sydney Porter (1862-1910), who wrote under the pseudonym of O. Henry, was born in North Carolina. His only formal education was to attend his Aunt Lina’s school until the age of fifteen, where he developed his lifelong love of books. By 1881 he was a licensed pharmacist. However, within a year, on the recommendation of a medical colleague of his Father’s, Porter moved to La Salle County in Texas for two years herding sheep. During this time, Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary was his constant companion, and Porter gained a knowledge of ranch life that he later incorporated into many of his short stories. He then moved to Austin for three years, and during this time the first recorded use of his pseudonym appeared, allegedly derived from his habit of calling “Oh, Henry” to a family cat. In 1887, Porter married Athol Estes. He worked as a draftsman, then as a bank teller for the First National Bank.

According to the passage, Porter’s Father was ___________.

They call Jamaica the "Island in the sun" and that is my memory of it. Of sunshine, warmth and abundant fruit that was growing everywhere, and of love. There were two sisters ahead of me in the family, and though of course I didn't know it, there was an exciting talk of emigration, possibly to Canada but more usually to England, the land of opportunity. I guess that plans were already being made when I was born, for a year or so later my Dad left for London. Two years after that my mum went as well and my sisters and I were left in the care of my grandmother.

   Emigrating to better yourself was a dream for most Jamaicans, a dream many were determined to fulfill. Families were close and grandmothers were an important part of the family. So, when the mass emigrations began, it seemed perfectly right and natural for them to take over the running of families left behind.

 The writer says that when he was very young ________

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

A dolphin/ can/ swim/ stay/ underwater/ a long time.

Read the article and answer the questions that follow.

Is There Really a Generation Gap?

According to the results of a survey in USA WEEKEND Magazine, there isn’t really a generation gap. The magazine’s “Teens & Parents” survey shows that today’s generation of young people generally get along well with their parents and appreciate the way they’re being raised. Most feel that their parents understand them, and they believe their parents consider family as the No. 1 priority in their lives. Although more than a third of teens have something in their rooms they would like to keep secret from their parents, it is usually nothing more harmful than a diary or a CD.

Such results may seem surprising in the context of the violent events that people hear about in the media. Maybe because of the things they hear, parents worry that their own kids might get out of control once they reach the teenage years. However, the facts in the survey should make us feel better. The survey shows us that today’s teens are loving and sensible. They are certainly happier than the angry people in the teenage stereotypes we all know about. True, some teenagers are very angry, and we need to recognize their needs, but the great majority of teens are not like that at all.

In contrast to some stereotypes, most teens believe they must be understanding about differences among individuals. Many of them volunteer for community service with disadvantaged people. When they talk about themselves, their friends and their families, they sound positive and proud. Generally, these are very nice kids.

Is this spirit of harmony a change from the past? Only a generation ago, parent-child relations were described as the “generation gap”. Yet even then, things were not so bad. Most kids in the 1960s and 1970s shared their parents’ basic values.

Perhaps, however, it is true that American families are growing closer at the beginning of this new millennium. Perhaps there is less to fight about, and the dangers of drug abuse and other unacceptable behavior are now well known. Perhaps, compared to the impersonal world outside the home, a young person’s family is like a friendly shelter, not a prison. And perhaps parents are acting more like parents than they did 20 or 30 years ago.

What is the main subject of paragraph three?

Rearrange the sentences to make meaningful sentences

I/ when/ mother/ usually/ in/ having/ my/ confide/ problems.

 Many people believe that watching television has resulted in lower reading standards in schools. However, the link between television and printed books is not as simple as that. In many cases, television actually encourages people to read; for example, when a book is turned into a TV series, its sales often go up. One study of this link examined six-year-old children who were viewing a special series of 15-minute programs at school. The series was designed to encourage love of books, as well as to develop the basic mechanical skills of reading. Each program is an animated film of a children's book. The story is read aloud and certain key phrases from the book appear on the screen, beneath the picture. Whenever a word is read, it is also highlighted on the TV screen.

   One finding was that watching these programs was very important to the children. If anything prevented them from seeing a program, they were very disappointed. What's more, they wanted to read the books which the different parts of the series were based on.

   The programs also gave the children more confidence when looking at these books. As a result of their familiarity with the stories, they would sit in pairs and read the stories aloud to each other. On each occasion, the children showed great sympathy when discussing a character in a book because they themselves had been moved when watching the character on television.

What kind of film is each program?

The search for alternative sources of energy has led in various directions. Many communities are burning garbage and other biological waste products to produce electricity- Converting waste products to gases or oil is also an efficient way to dispose of wastes. Experimental work is being done to derive synthetic fuels from coal, oil shale, and coal tars. But to date, that process has proven expensive. Other experiments are underway to harness power with giant windmills. Geothermal power is also being tested. Some experts expect utility companies to revive hydroelectric power derived from streams and rivers. Fifty years ago hydroelectric power provided one third of the electricity used in the United States, but to day it supplies only 4 percent. The oceans are another potential source of energy. Scientists are studying ways to convert the energy of ocean currents, tides, and waves to electricity. Experiments are also underway to make use of temperature differences in ocean water to produce energy.

What can be inferred from the last paragraph?

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.

Who maintains the public gardens ?

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

What/ most/ important/ volunteer activity/ our area?

Unlike most plants that usually grow in the direction of light or warmth, a dodder plant will grow in the direction of, for example, tomato odor––if a tomato happens to be growing nearby.

   However, a young dodder plant must find a host plant quickly. If it cannot catch a whiff of a potential host within a few days, it will dry up and disappear—even if there is plenty of water around. Once it finds a host, the young dodder plant will attach itself to it and start growing faster. At that point, the dodder plant will drop its root.

   Dodder is thus a difficult weed to manage and a real headache for farmers. When it does get out of hand, dodder can greatly reduce a farmer’s harvest or even destroy crops completely. Before sowing their produce, farmers in warm parts of the world often check to make sure no unwanted dodder seeds have intermingled with their crop seeds. This is a good way to stop dodder plants from sneaking their way into a crop field.

What causes dodder to grow in a particular direction?

The U.S. Congress passed the Standard Time Act of 1918 to establish standard time and preserve and set Daylight Saving Time across the continent. This act also devised five time zones throughout the United States: Eastern, Central, Mountain, Pacific, and Alaska. The first time zone was set on "the mean astronomical time of the seventy-fifth degree of longitude west from Greenwich" (England). In 1919, this act was repealed.

   President Roosevelt established year-round Daylight Saving Time (also called War Time) from 1942–1945. However, after this period, each state adopted its own DST, which proved to be disconcerting to television and radio broadcasting and transportation. In 1966, President Lyndon Johnson created the Department of Transportation and signed the Uniform Time Act. As a result, the Department of Transportation was given the responsibility for the time laws. During the oil embargo and energy crisis of the 1970s, President Richard Nixon extended DST through the Daylight Saving Time Energy Act of 1973 to conserve energy further. This law was modified in 1986, and Daylight Saving Time was reset to begin on the first Sunday in April (to spring ahead) and end on the last Sunday in October (to fall back).

Which of the following statements is true of the U.S. Department of Transportation?