Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
A friend once boasted to me that she had seen the film The Sound of Music no fewer than 17 times. Personally, I cannot imagine any greater (1) ______of one’s time (once was enough for me), but I have to confess there are films I, too, have watched on multiple occasions without ever growing tired of them. Indeed, some films have benefited (2)______ a second viewing, in exactly the same way that one’s enjoyment of a novel can improve on the second, third or fourth reading. It often feels like a different experience. And a recent study has shown that it actually is different, that reading books, watching films again or revisiting places (3)_____ you have been happy, ‘results in a new or renewed appreciation’ of the experience. (4)______study says that doing something again enables people not only to relieve the past experience, but also to discover new details. “Therefore, the experience is different, (5) _______ it is repeated,” the research concludes. “By doing it again, people get more out of it.”

Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
Once restricted to space stations and satellites, photovoltaics are now gaining popularity and becoming an increasingly viable option. Every day, the sun releases an enormous amount of energy, far more than the entire population consumes. Being that the sun is a sustainable, renewable, and inexhaustible source for generating electricity, not using it seems almost counter-intuitive, especially considering the social and environmental impacts of other forms of energy generation. But the technology to create electricity from the sun is by no means simple and still has some limitations, the most significant being price. The process of turning the sun’s rays into electrical energy all starts in the so-called photovoltaic cell. These cells are produced with two chemically altered silicon layers of which one is missing elections and the other is electron-overloaded. When the photons from the sunlight reach the surface, these electrons gain the ability to move, generating a flow that creates an electric current. Each cell generates a small amount of energy and a panel is usually made of between 36 and 72 photovoltaic cells. By connecting several panels together, a photovoltaic system is created. Eight to ten panels is enough to power a small house. Evidently, however, this statistic is influenced by some factors, such as the efficiency of the panels, the amount of sunshine in the region, and the energy demand of the residence itself.  Importantly, photovoltaic solar panels produce electricity in the form of direct current, meaning the electricity must pass through an inverter to transform it into alternating current - which is what is normally used in buildings, appliances, sockets, and light bulbs. Photovoltaic systems can facilitate energy generation in remote locations where infrastructural networks do not reach. In these cases, the system uses batteries to store electricity when less energy is used than is consumed, such as at night or on very cloudy days. However, it is also possible to use photovoltaics in systems connected to the power grid. In these cases, the excess energy goes to the electricity grid, creating energy “credits” for the building in question. In some countries, it is even possible to sell surplus energy, making the building a power plant for neighbors and method of paying off the investment more quickly.  
7. Which of the following statements is TRUE, according to the passage?

Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
Hundreds of years ago, life was harder than it is today. People didn’t have modern machines. Yet life today has brought new problems. One of the biggest is pollution. Water pollution has made our rivers and lakes dirty. It kills our fish and pollutes our drinking water. Noise pollution makes us talk (1)______ and become angry more easily. Air pollution is the most serious kind of pollution to all living things in the world. Cars, planes and factories all pollute our air every day. Sometimes the polluted air is (2)________thick that it is like a quilt over a city. This kind of quilt is called smog. Many countries are making rules to fight pollution. Factories must now (3)______ their water before it is thrown away, and they mustn’t let dirty smoke go into the air. We need to do many other things. We (4)_______ put waste things in the dustbin and do not throw them on the ground. We can go to work by bus with our friends in the (5)________car. If there are fewer people driving, there will be less pollution. Rules are not enough. Every person must help to fight pollution

Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
Naturalists in the developed countries were largely split between conservationists and  preservationists. This battle is no better demonstrated in the US than during the Progressive Era of 1890-1920.  While the existing economic paradigm was one of laissez-faire economics that many felt was damaging the natural environment and integrity of natural resources, the conservationist movement led by Theodore Roosevelt was deeply concerned about the wastage and harm it was doing to the land, leading to a large number of game species in the US on the brink of extinction in less than a century. Then there were the preservationists who argued that the proposals of the emerging conservationists did not go far enough. This was certainly the view of John Muir who believed that there was still too much concern for the economic value of land rather than the need for preservation of pristine landscapes. Muir’s Sierra Club made a stand with the development of the Hetch Hetchy Dam in Yosemite, arguing that the land should be kept pristine and the valley protected.  As president, Roosevelt pushed strongly for conservation issues which may be the reason they eventually won the day. During his term in office, around 230m acres of land were put under Federal protection, established the US Forestry Service, and created five national parks, and several national forests. That’s not to say that preservationists did not have their victories. In the 1960s, the Wilderness Actset aside large tracts of land with minimal human impact and of particular cultural, scientific, or natural interest. In these areas, logging, mining and other industrial activities are prohibited and there are strong protections in place to maintain the integrity of natural water sources partly for the ecosystem and partly for industrial and commercial developments downstream of the water flow. 
1. Which best serves as the title for the passage?

Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
Facebook users spend an average of more than 15 hours a month on the social  networking site. While there are plenty who caution against such intensive use — and there are a number of studies detailing the harm Facebook could potentially cause — there also are lots of reports extolling the site’s virtues. As the social media giant prepares for its upcoming initial public offering, here are some ways Facebook just might be good for you.  Spending time on Facebook can help people relax, slow down their heart rate and decrease stress levels, according to researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Milan. In a study published earlier this year, researchers studied 30 students and found that a natural high was sparked when they were on the social media network that led to the relaxed heart rates and lower levels of stress and tension. In the study, the students were monitored in three situations: looking at panoramic landscapes, performing complicated mathematical equations and using Facebook. While the first situation was the most relaxing to students and the math problems were the most stressful, the time on Facebook uncovered high levels of attractiveness and arousal. The findings support the researchers’ hypothesis that Facebook’s success, as well as that of other social media networks, correlates to the specific positive mental and physical state users experience.  While many may argue that social media networks only distract employees, research shows the opposite may be true. Research from Keas.com found that a 10-minute Facebook break makes employees happier, healthier and more productive. The study examined workers in three groups: one that was allowed no breaks, one that was allowed to do anything but use the Internet and one that was allowed 10 minutes to use the Internet and Facebook. The Facebook group was found to be 16 percent more productive than the group that was not allowed to use the Internet and nearly 40 percent more productive than the group that was allowed no breaks. “Short and unobtrusive breaks, such as a quick surf on the Internet, enables the mind to rest itself, leading to a higher net total concentration for a day’s work, and as a result, increased productivity,” said Brent Coker of the department of management and marketing at the University of Melbourne in Australia.  Facebook is also in the business of matchmaking. Research shows that nearly 60 percent of singles will friend someone new on Facebook after meeting them in person. If they like what they see, 25 percent are likely to contact their new love interest via Facebook. Once the courting is over, nearly 40 percent of those social networking adults will update their relationship status on Facebook, with just 24 percent telling their friends first. Facebook use between couples will continue through the dating process, the research shows. Throughout the day, 79 percent of couples said they send partners Facebook messages or chat on the social network. In addition, more than 60 percent would post romantic messages on their significant other’s Facebook wall. When the relationship ends, more than half of those surveyed immediately update their status to single, which automatically sends out a notification to their friend list to start the dating cycle over again
5. Why does Facebook motivate the productivity of employees?

Choose the best answer:
Which ____________ is the documentary on?

Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
If you see someone who’s looking blue, just reach out and offer a kind word, a smile, a hug. Sometimes people just feel (1) ____ they need someone to care. Maybe they’re confused and not sure what’s going on just in the moment, or in a bigger picture such as where their lives are (2) ____. The purpose of our lives is to love, laugh, be happy and to grow together, sharing with one another. If we are all too busy (3) ____ someone who is in emotional need, it can leave the person wondering what’s the real point of everything. By reaching out and smiling, showing compassion, listening, offering a (4) ____ of gentle advice, you remind both yourself and the (5) ____ what the bigger picture is, and bring a little burst of more light and happiness into the world. Enough of those bursts and lights contribute to the tipping point towards a more compassionate and joyful world

Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
Pick any day in the Piazza del Duomo in the Italian city of Pisa, and you will  undoubtedly spot a bunch of tourists posing for the same photo: hands outstretched towards the cathedral’s conspicuously tilting bell tower, as if they are supporting it with their sheer strength. The so-called Leaning Tower of Pisa is one of the most famous buildings in the world, although maybe not for the reasons its original architects would have wanted.  In 1173, construction began on a white marble bell tower for the cathedral complex in Pisa, located between the Arno and Serchio rivers in Tuscany, central Italy. By the time builders had finished the third of eight planned stories about five years later, the tower’s foundation had begun to settle unevenly on the ground beneath it, a dense mixture of clay, sand and shells. As a result, the structure had begun to tilt visibly toward the south. Shortly after that, war broke out between Pisa and Genoa, another Italian city-state, halting construction for nearly a century. This delay allowed the foundation to settle further, likely prevented the bell tower’s premature collapse.  When construction resumed, chief engineer Giovanni di Simone tried to compensate for the lean by adding extra masonry to the short side, but the additional weight caused the structure to tilt even further. The tower was officially completed around 1370, but its lean only increased over the next six centuries, becoming an integral part of the monument’s quirky appeal. Despite various attempts to reinforce it, Pisa’s tower continued to subside at a rate of some 0.05 inches per year, placing it in increasing danger of collapse. By 1990, it was leaning 5.5 degrees (or some 15 feet) from the perpendicular–the most extreme angle yet. That year, the monument was closed to visitors and the bells removed as engineers started extensive reparations to stabilize it. By siphoning earth from beneath and adding counterweights to the tower’s north end, they were able to reduce the lean to 13.5 feet, or 4.0 degrees from perpendicular. The straightening continued after the tower reopened in 2001, and in 2008 sensors showed the subsiding motion had stopped, after a total improvement of some 19 inches. Engineers now believe the Leaning Tower of Pisa will remain stable for some 200 years, barring an earthquake or other unpredictable disaster. 
8. Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?

Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
During droughts water is scarce but is it possible to make it rain to provide water. Experiments in cloud seeding suggest that it may be possible to artificially create rainfall. Rainfall occurs when supercooled droplets of water – those that are still liquid but are at a temperature below the usual freezing point of zero centigrade – form ice crystals. Now too heavy to remain suspended in the air, these then fall, often melting on their way down to form rain. Even in dry areas the air usually contains some water. This can be made to come together and form ice crystals by seeding the atmosphere with chemicals such as silver iodide or dry ice. They work to promote rainfall by inducing nucleation – what little water is in the air condenses around the newly introduced particles and crystallises to form ice. The ‘seeds’ can be delivered by plane or simply by spraying from the ground. But does it work? It’s hard to tell for sure. As is often the case with weather and climate, it’s impossible to carry out a controlled experiment – so, in areas of increased precipitation, we can’t know whether it would still have rained even if the clouds hadn’t been seeded. Success has been claimed for trials in Australia, France, Spain and the US. In the United Arab Emirates, the technique is credited with the creation of 52 storms in the Abu Dhabi desert, while China boasts of having used the technology in reverse to keep the Beijing Olympic Games of 2008 dry. Recent research, however, suggests that it’s not as effective as was previously believed  
5. The word “credited” in paragraph 5 is closest in meaning to ______

Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
In the folklore of the Navajo people, it was said that frogs and toads fell from the sky when it (1)________. The phenomenon that gave rise to this belief involved the spade foot toad, which remains dormant beneath the Sonoran Desert of Arizona, (2)_________ the heat and drought for as long as eight or nine months. With the onset of summer thunderstorms, however, the toads respond to the vibrations of drumming raindrops and emerge, as if fallen from the sky with the rain, (3)__________their brief and frantic mating season. The male spade foot sits in a muddy pool and fills the night with his calls, attempting to attract a female of the same species. Once a female joins him, she may lay as many as 1,000 eggs in the small pool of rainwater. From that point it’s a race against the elements for the young, (4)_________ must hatch and mature with remarkable speed before the pool evaporates beneath the searing desert sun. As the pool grows smaller and smaller, it became thick with tadpoles fighting for survival in the mud, threatened not only by the loss of their watery nest but also by devouring insects and animals. In as few as nine days after fertilization of the eggs, those lucky enough to survive develop through each tadpole stage and finally emerge as fully formed toads. After (5)______ themselves on insects, the young toads like their parents, burrow underground, where they will lie dormant awaiting the next summer’s storms

Choose the best answer:
If I ……… my wallet at home this morning, I ……… money for lunch now.

Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
National parks protect the best of our natural heritage: stunning landscapes,  extraordinary wildlife and majestic forests. Together with other protected areas they form the basis of our economic and social wellbeing, attract millions of visitors annually, and help to protect Australia’s unique wildlife by acting as a refuge for threatened species. Future generations deserve the right to see these natural values intact and protected as we do today.  Our national parks form the cornerstone of biodiversity conservation in Australia, containing vital habitat that provides safe havens in which animals and plants can survive and thrive. Together with other protected areas, they provide a ‘backbone’ of core conservation areas that can be linked by conservation efforts across different tenures, supporting a diverse, healthy and resilient environment. A well-connected landscape is essential for saving NSW’s 1,000 threatened species, 70% of which occur in our national parks. In addition our protected areas provide life-sustaining services vital for the wellbeing of our environment and society, such as protection of urban water catchments and climate amelioration.  National Parks provide a major boost to Australia’s economy, with nature-based tourism bringing $23 billion into the country every year. Regional communities in particular benefit from the 35.5 million people who visit NSW’s national parks each year, through job creation and money spent on accommodation, fuel and food. The Great Barrier Reef alone attracts more than $6 billion a year in tourist-spending and supports over 63,000 jobs. Furthermore, from ancient aboriginal rock-art sites, to the buildings left over from early European settlements, our national parks also serve as a natural history book dating back thousands of years. Our national parks protect these vital and fragile places; areas where the traces of a history extending back more than 22,000 years can remain undisturbed.  Natural areas have a profound effect on our physical and emotional health and wellbeing. In our increasingly frenetic world, our national parks are important sanctuaries where people can take time out, enjoy nature, get fit, relax and revitalise, whilst nature’s inherent beauty serves as a source of artistic, creative and spiritual inspiration. Research on the benefits of contact with the natural environment show that it is likely to have a significant positive psychological effect, serving to reduce stress, anger, frustration and aggression, providing an opportunity for social bonding, and serving as a place for learning and mental stimulation. Children in particular display long-term benefits of playing outdoors.
5. According to paragraph 3, what are the mentioned aspects of benefits brought about by national reserves? 

Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
According to airline industry statistics, almost 90 percent of airline accidents are survivable or partiallysurvivable. But passengers can increase their chances of survival by learning and following certain tips. Experts say that you should read and listen to safety instruction before take off and ask questions if you have uncertainties. You should fasten your seat belt low on your hips and as tightly as possible. Of course, you should also know how the release mechanism of your belt operates. During takeoffs and landings, you are advised to keep your feet flat on the floor. Before take off, you should locate the nearest exit and an alterative exit and count the rows of seats between you and the exits so that you can
reach them in the dark if necessary. In the event that you are forewarned of a possible accident, you should put your hands on your ankles and keep your head down until the planes comes to a complete stop. If smoke is present in the cabin, you should keep your head low and cover your face with napkins, towels, or clothing. If possible, wet these for added protection against smoke inhalation. To evacuate as quickly as possible, follow crew commands and do not take personal belongings with you. Do not jump on escape slides before they are fully inflated, and when you jump, do so with your arms and legs extended in front of you. When you get to the ground, you should move away from the plane as quickly as possible, and smoke near the wreckage
7. Airline passengers are advised to do all of the following EXCEPT: 

Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
Super Size Me is a 2004 film by Morgan Spurlock, in which he (1)____ his experiment to eat only McDonald’s fast food three times a day, every day, for thirty days. Spurlock made himself a short list of rules for the experiment, including an obligation to eat all of the three meals he ordered. He also had to ‘Super Size’, which means (2) ______ a giant portion every time the option was offered to him. He ended up vomiting after the first Super Size meal he finished, after taking nearly twenty minutes to consume it. After five days Spurlock put on almost 5kg, and he soon found himself feeling depressed, with no energy. The only thing that got rid of his headaches and made him feel better was another McDonald’s meal, so his doctors told him he was addicted. More seriously, around day twenty, he started experiencing heart (3)________ and one of the doctors detected liver problems. However, in spite of his doctor’s advice, Spurlock continued to the end of the month and achieved a total weight gain of 11kg. His body mass index also increased from a healthy 23.2 to an overweight 27. It took Spurlock fifteen months to recover (4)_______ his experiment and return to his original weight, but the film also had a wider impact. Just after its showing in 2004, McDonald’s phased out the Super Size option and healthier options like salads appeared on the menu. Unfortunately, McDonald’s denied the connection between the film and the changes, but it is interesting to note how closely they (5)________ with the release of the film

rewrite the sentence:
I haven't got used to Indian food although I have lived here for three months.

Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
Have you ever been cycling? This spring my elder brother and I left the busy city and spent a long weekend cycling in the countryside. Our average speed was only around 14 kph, but that didn’t matter. We hadn’t come to break any speed records, or to get fit and healthy. All we wanted was some fresh air and a break from schoolwork. My bike only once went more than 30 kph, and that was when I raced my brother down the only hill on our route.  We really enjoyed cycling along flat, traffic-free country paths. There was plenty of spring sunshine, but it was quite cold, especially in the morning. We didn’t mind, though - and we soon warmed up as we rode along. Our only problem was when my brakes started making a terrible noise. But I didn’t mind as it gave us an excuse to visit a cafe while a helpful bike mechanic had a look at it.  That was one of the best things about our route: every few kilometres there was a village where we could find everything we needed. All the local people were really friendly, too. However, most places we stopped at served chips with the meals, which soon got fairly boring. One night we were woken at 4 a.m. by a group of rugby fans singing loudly in the hotel corridor. We were tired and bad-tempered when we set off the next morning and very nearly got lost, but soon felt more cheerful when the sun came out. That’s what I like about cycling - it’s simple and it’s fun. If you’re looking for a short break that’s active and cheap, then cycling is a great choice!  
1. What is Chris Hones doing in this text?

Choose the best answer:
We can learn how ______ a lantern on the Mid- autumn .

Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
Spend just a minute watching the world population counter tick up on Worldometers and you’ll see just how quickly we’re swelling in numbers. The current figure stands at around 7.7 billion, and this is projected to become 9.8 billion by 2050, according to the UN. More people means more carbon footprints - more cars, waste and emissions, more houses and infrastructure to be constructed using the world’s limited resources, more mouths to be fed using more water and energy in food production. Governments recognise the severity of the situation and have mostly come together over global policies like the UN’s Paris Agreement, to limit carbon emissions and their impact on climate change. In addition, new technologies are being developed to make our use of resources more efficient. As for controlling population growth, the education of women is one key factor. Research shows the higher level to which a woman is educated, the fewer children she is likely to have. In Ghana, for example, women who have been to high school, have a fertility rate of between two and three children, compared with six for those who have no education. This could be for several reasons including learning about desired family size and understanding child health better. This means that the mother is more confident her children will survive. She is also likely to hold more sway within the family, arguing for fewer children if that is what she wants.  There is also plenty that individuals can do to reduce their personal footprint. Earth Overshoot Day is defined as the day when humanity has used up nature’s resource budget for the year. The Global Footprint Network calculates that moving Earth Overshoot day back by five days every year would mean that, by 2050, we’d be using the resources of less than one planet. Just eating 50% less meat and replacing it with vegetarian alternatives could save the planet five days. As David Attenborough says, if we want to save Earth, we can no longer afford to keep eating meat: “We are omnivores, so biologically, if you could have a biological morality, you can say, yes we evolved to eat pretty well everything. But now we’ve got to a stage in our own social evolution in which that is no longer practical.” Sir David says he himself now eats less meat and is bolstered by the knowledge that it’s helping the planet.  
6. The word “it” in paragraph 5 refers to _____

Choose the best answer:
He suggests that mothers_____ are employed full-time will not be able to give their children enough care and attention.

Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
Geothermal energy is the heat from the Earth. It’s clean and sustainable. Resources of geothermal energy range from the shallow ground to hot water and hot rock found a few miles beneath the Earth’s surface, and down even deeper to the extremely high temperatures of molten rock called mác-ma. Almost everywhere, the shallow ground or upper 10 feet of the Earth’s surface maintains a nearly constant temperature between 50° and 60°F (10° and 16°C). Geothermal heat pumps can tap into this resource to heat and cool buildings. A geothermal heat pump system consists of a heat pump, an air delivery system (ductwork), and a heat exchanger-a system of pipes buried in the shallow ground near the building. In the winter, the heat pump removes heat from the heat exchanger and pumps it into the indoor air delivery system. In the summer, the process is reversed, and the heat pump moves heat from the indoor air into the heat exchanger. The heat removed from the indoor air during the summer can also be used to provide a free source of hot water. In the United States, most geothermal reservoirs of hot water are located in the western states, Alaska, and Hawaii. Wells can be drilled into underground reservoirs for the generation of electricity. Some geothermal power plants use the steam from a reservoir to power a turbine/generator, while others use the hot water to boil a working fluid that vaporizes and then turns a turbine. Hot water near the surface of Earth can be used directly for heat. Direct-use applications include heating buildings, growing plants in greenhouses, drying crops, heating water at fish farms, and several industrial processes such as pasteurizing milk. Hot dry rock resources occur at depths of 3 to 5 miles everywhere beneath the Earth’s surface and at lesser depths in certain areas. Access to these resources involves injecting cold water down one well, circulating it through hot fractured rock, and drawing off the heated water from another well. Currently, there are no commercial applications of this technology. Existing technology also does not yet allow recovery of heat directly from mác-ma, the very deep and most powerful resource of geothermal energy 
3. The phrasal verb “consists of” in paragraph 2 can be best replaced by ______

Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
Despite the fact that humans haven’t returned to the Moon since the cancellation of the Apollo program in 1972, there have nonetheless been incredible advances in space exploration in recent years. All across the world, human time is the most valuable commodity – particularly when it comes to solving problems. Far from stealing jobs, the majority of advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning are designed to automate relatively “simple” processes and free up time for humans to do what they do best. Already we have had a taste of what AI can achieve from space, even as far back as the early 2000s with the launch of the Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) satellite, which helps analyse and inform the appropriate response in the event of a disaster, such as hurricanes and volcanic eruptions. In some cases, the systems in place on EO-1 began capturing satellite images of disaster zones before ground personnel were even aware that a disaster had occurred. More recently, AI has been used on the Mars Curiosity rover, where AEGIS software is able to identify intriguing rock or soil patches that should be targeted for analysis. This significantly expedites the process of collecting data from the surface of Mars as the robot isn’t relying solely on human commands. Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic – which hopes to soon begin conducting commercial flights – charges between $200,000 to $250,000 per ticket for a flight where passengers will experience just several minutes of weightlessness beyond the Karman line where space officially begins. Therefore, previous space missions have always needed to consider very carefully which astronauts they send to space, with the ultimate decision often coming down to an astronaut’s ability to act as a ‘jack-of-all-trade’. In future, it should be possible to automate the computing and engineering tasks that historically astronauts have had to train for. This would mean sending individuals with specialised expertise in science and research in place of the all-rounder astronauts of yesteryear. For success in space exploration in the years to come, we will need to continue along the exponential curve of open source uptake and see advances in the approach to how spacecraft software, hardware and infrastructure is developed and deployed. With this baseline in place, advances in AI-driven scientific research have the potential to propel us forwards.
4. According to paragraph 3, what is the challenge that paint the AI advances so valuable?