Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
Aside from the ability to delay normal cognitive decline as we age, there are significant social benefits to lifelong learning. Habitual learners are more likely to put themselves (1) ____ new and challenging social situations throughout life. Learning is by definition a social activity; (2) ____, we often develop connections with other people who have knowledge we would like to learn, or who are equally interested in learning about a new topic. Viewing socialization through the educational lens (3) ____ corresponding results: we are more likely to participate in social engagements as older adults when we are lifetime learners, probably due to the (4) ____ self-esteem that comes with the achievement of a task. Science has shown that aging adults (5) ____ have strong social connections live longer, and lifetime learning is an ideal way to build those support networks
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Lời giải:
Báo saiGiải thích: Ta dùng “who” thay thế cho “aging adults”
Tạm dịch: Khoa học đã cho thấy rằng những người lớn tuổi người mà có kết nối xã hội sâu sắc sống lâu hơn, và học tập suốt đời là một cách lí tưởng để xây dựng những hỗ trợ mạng đó
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Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
Would you believe that your diet can make a big difference in keeping a youthful appearance? It seems strange to think that the food we take in could result in fewer wrinkles. Wouldn’t it be better to put things on our skin rather than in our mouths? Well, according to one scientific theory, our bodies start aging because of oxidation. This is caused by certain oxygen-containing molecules in our cells, called free radicals. Free radicals have the capability to attach to and damage parts of our cells, including our DNA. Our bodies have the ability to repair this damage. However, as we get older, these repair mechanisms start to break down, resulting in signs of aging, such as wrinkles. Free radicals are actually produced by our bodies, but their numbers can also increase because of the food we eat. Besides avoiding foods that could potentially produce more free radicals, eating foods that contain certain vitamins and micro-nutrients can also keep us looking young. These vitamins help produce molecules called antioxidants, which actually help reduce the production of free radicals. Even better, foods containing antioxidants are not rare. Common antioxidants, like vitamins A and E, can be found in many dark-colored vegetables. For example, carrots, seaweed, spinach, and broccoli are all excellent sources of these helpful vitamins. Also, you can eat orange-colored fruits like apricots and peaches. Vitamins A and E are particularly good for helping your skin remain young-looking. These nutrients strengthen your skin and make it soft. However, if you really want to stock up quickly on nutrients that benefit your skin, you should eat cow’s liver. One small piece of cooked cow’s liver contains twice as much vitamin A as half a cup of cooked carrots. More recently, green tea has also been tentatively added to the list of youthpromoting substances. Research on green tea’s effects on our bodies is still in the early stages. Scientists certainly believe that it is good for us, but they are cautious about predicting its ability to keep us looking youthful. However, recent experiments seem to show that green tea’s antioxidant properties can repair cell damage already sustained as well as prevent damage in the future. In fact, green tea works even better if you apply it directly to your skin as an ingredient in facial cream. “You are what you eat.” The more we find out about how our bodies work, the more this old proverb seems to be true. Think about that the next time you sit down at the table.
7. The word “tentatively” in paragraph 4 is closest in meaning to ___________ -
Choose the best answer:
How many/ picture/ there/ wall? -
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 from 36 to 42.
It is estimated that by 2050 more than two-thirds of the world's population will live in cities, up from about 54 percent today. While the many benefits of organized and efficient cities are well understood, we need to recognize that this rapid, often unplanned urbanization brings risks of profound social instability, risks to critical infrastructure, potential water crises and the potential for devastating spread of disease. These risks can only be further exacerbated as this unprecedented transition from rural to urban areas continues.
How effectively these risks can be addressed will increasingly be determined by how well cities are governed. The increased concentration of people, physical assets, infrastructure and economic activities mean that the risks materializing at the city level will have far greater potential to disrupt society than ever before.
Urbanization is by no means bad by itself. It brings important benefits for economic, cultural and societal development. Well managed cities are both efficient and effective, enabling economies of scale and network effects while reducing the impact on the climate of transportation. As such, an urban model can make economic activity more environmentally-friendly. Further, the proximity and diversity of people can spark innovation and create employment as exchanging ideas breeds new ideas.
But these utopian concepts are threatened by some of the factors driving rapid urbanization. For example, one of the main factors is rural-urban migration, driven by the prospect of greater employment opportunities and the hope of a better life in cities. But rapidly increasing population density can create severe problems, especially if planning efforts are not sufficient to cope with the influx of new inhabitants. The result may, in extreme cases, be widespread poverty. Estimates suggest that 40% of the world's urban expansion is taking place in slums, exacerbating socio-economic disparities and creating unsanitary conditions that facilitate the spread of disease.
The Global Risks 2015 Report looks at four areas that face particularly daunting challenges in the face of rapid and unplanned urbanization: infrastructure, health, climate change, and social instability. In each of these areas we find new risks that can best be managed or, in some cases, transferred through the mechanism of insurance.The word “spark” in paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to ___________.
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The past fifty years or so have seen the gradual disappearing of animals from this earth, fishes from the sea, trees and plants from the land. Many factors result in this unpleasant phenomenon. Among them, hunting is the main factor that endangers wildlife. Some people kill wildlife for sport. They take pleasure in collecting heads and hides. Yet others specialize in commercial hunting like killing whales. Apart from this, the rapidly growing human population threatens wildlife on land, too. Towns expand and roads have to be built, so forests are burnt and trees are chopped down. It seems that man needs every inch of land within his reach, so he moves on to the natural habitat of wildlife. Tigers, lions and leopards slowly die off without the food and shelter that the forests provide. In addition, rapid urbanization means industrial expansion. Very often, poisonous chemicals, industrial wastes and oil are dumped into the rivers and seas. Fish and birds are threatened. Man depends greatly on animals for survival. He needs their flesh, hides and furs. Thus, man cannot do without wildlife; or he himself would become extinct. The public should be made aware that it would be better to shoot the animals with a camera than with a gun. In this way, they can preserve and help wildlife to continue living rather than to remove all signs of it. Man must learn to farm the sea as he does the land. He should regulate the amount and the frequency of his catch. He should allow fish to breed and multiply before netting them. Man also needs to build forest reserves, and to pass laws prohibiting the killing of animals, especially those that are already rare. To retain the present animal kingdom, the least that man can do is to clean the seas and rivers and to prevent pollution. The cycle of nature is such that it forms a vicious circle. The insecticides and pesticides that we spray on crops can kill the birds and animals that feed on them. When man eats these poisoned animals, he himself can die. We must therefore test the chemicals to be used before they are sprayed or it might mean the death of man!
4. The phrase “commercial hunting” in paragraph 2 refers to the kind of hunting for _______ -
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Paul Watson is an environmental activist. He is a man who believes that he must do something, not just talk about doing something. Paul believes in protecting endangered animals, and he protects them in controversial ways. Some people think that Watson is a hero and admire him very much. Other people think that he is a criminal. On July 16th, 1979, Paul Watson and his crew were on his ship, which is called the Sea Shepherd. Watson and the people who work on the Sea Shepherd were hunting on the Atlantic Ocean near Portugal. However, they had a strange prey, instead of hunting for animals, their prey was a ship, the Sierra. The Sea Shepherd found the Sierra, ran into it and sank it. As a result, the Sierra never returned to the sea. The Sea Shepherd, on the other hand, returned to its home in Canada. Paul Watson and his worked thought that they had been successful. The Sierra had been a whaling ship, which had operated illegally. The captain and the crew of the Sierra did not obey any of the international laws that restrict whaling. Instead, they killed as many whales as they could, quickly cut off the meat, and froze it. Later, they sold the whale meat in countries where it is eaten. Paul Watson tried to persuade the international whaling commission to stop the Sierra. However, the commission did very little, and Paul became impatient. He decided to stop the Sierra and whaling ships in any way that he could. He offered to pay $25,000 to an one who sank any illegal whaling ship, and he sank the Sierra. He acted because he believed that the whales must be protected. Still, he acted without the approval of the government; therefore, his action controversial. Paul Watson is not the only environmental activist. Other men and women are also fighting to protect the Earth. Like Paul Watson, they do not always have the approval of their governments, and like Watson, they have become impatient. Yet, because of their concern for the environment, they will act to protect it.
7. The captain and the crew of the Sierra were acting illegally because: -
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Sophia is a humanoid robot developed by Hong Kong-based company Hanson Robotics. She has been designed to learn and adapt to human behavior and work with humans, and has been interviewed around the world. In October 2017, she became a Saudi Arabian citizen, the first robot to receive citizenship of a country. According to herself, Sophia was activated on April 19, 2015. She is modeled after actress Audrey Hepbum,and is known for her human-like appearance and behavior compared to previous robotic variants. According to manufacturer, David Hanson, Sophia has artificial intelligence, visual data processing and facial recognition. Sophia also imitates human gestures and facial expressions and is able to answer certain questions and to make simple conversations on predefined topics (e.g. on the weather). The robot uses voice recognition technology from Alphabet Inc. (parent company of Google) and is designed to get smarter over time. Sophia’s intelligence software is designed by SingularityNET. The AI program analyses conversations and extracts data that allows her to improve responses in the future. It is conceptually similar to the computer program ELIZA, which was one of the first attempts at simulating a human conversation. Hanson designed Sophia to be a suitable companion for the elderly at nursing homes, or to help crowds at large events or parks. He hopes that she can ultimately interact with other humans sufficiently to gain social skills. Sophia has been interviewed in the same manner as a human, striking up conversations with hosts. Some replies have been nonsensical, while others have been impressive, such as lengthy discussions with Charlie Rose on 60 Minutes. In a piece for CNBC, when the interviewer expressed concerns about robot behavior, Sophia joked that he had “been reading too much Elon Musk, and watching too many Hollywood movies”. Musk tweeted that Sophia could watch The Godfather and suggested “What’s the worst that could happen?”. On October 11, 2017, Sophia was introduced to the United Nations with a brief conversation with the United Nations Deputy Secretary-General, Amina J. Mohammed. On October 25, at the Future Investment Summit in Riyadh, she was granted Saudi Arabian citizenship, becoming the first robot ever to have a nationality. This attracted controversy as some commentators wondered if this implied that Sophia could vote or marry, or whether a deliberate system shutdown could be considered murder. Social media users used Sophia’s citizenship to criticize Saudi Arabia’s human rights record.
1. The passage mainly discusses________ -
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.
Right now, the biggest source of energy in the world is fossil fuel. Fossil fuels are oil, gas, and coal. More than 80 percent of the world's energy comes from fossil fuel. There are many problems with fossil fuel. One problem is that when fossil fuel is burned, it pollutes the air. Also, when we take fossil fuel from the Earth, we often cause a lot of damage. Another problem is that we are running out of it. That is why we need new sources of energy. A big source of energy for many countries is nuclear power. Thirty-one countries use nuclear power. Many ships also use it.
Nuclear power has some advantages. First of all, we can't run out of nuclear power. Nuclear power does not make the air dirty. Also, if a country has nuclear power, it doesn't need to buy as much as oil from other countries.
However, there are also a lot of problems that come with nuclear power. For example, nuclear accidents are very serious. In 1986, there was a nuclear accident in Ukraine. In the next 20 years, about 4,000 people got sick and died. In 2011, there was another very serious nuclear accident in Japan. Japan is still trying to clean up the nuclear waste from the accident.
Many people don't want nuclear power in their countries. They say that it is not safe. A lot of people want their countries to use safer and cleaner ways to get electricity. There have been protests against nuclear energy in the United States, Russia, France, Taiwan, Japan, India, and many other countries.
Although many people hate nuclear energy, more and more countries are using it. One reason for this is that the world is using more and more energy. We just don't have enough fossil fuel. However, if we use nuclear power, then we may have more serious problems in the future.The phrase "clean up" in paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to _______.
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Leonardo da Vinci was born on April 15, 1452, in the small Tuscan town of Vinci, near Florence. Leonardo was the son of a wealthy Florentine public official and a peasant woman. In the mid- 1460s, the family settled in Florence, where Leonardo was given the best education that Florence could offer. He rapidly advanced socially and intellectually. He was handsome, persuasive in conversation and a fine musician and improviser. About in 1466, he apprenticed as a studio boy to Andrea Del Verrocchio. In Verrocchio’s workshop, Leonardo was introduced to many activities, from the painting of altarpieces and panel pictures to the creation of large sculptural projects. In 1472, he was entered in the painter’s guild of Florence, and in 1476, he was still mentioned as Verrocchio’s assistant. In Verrocchio’s Baptism of Christ, the kneeling angel at the left of the painting is by Leonardo. In 1478, Leonardo became an independent master. His first commission, to paint an altarpiece for the chapel of the Palazzo Vecchino, the Florentine town hall, was never executed. His first large painting, The Adoration of the Magi, left unfinished, was ordered in 1481 for the Monastery of San Donato a Scopeto, Florence. Other works ascribed to his youth are the so-called Benois Madonna, the portrait Ginerva de’ Benci, and the unfinished Saint Jerome. In 1482, Leonardo’s career moved into high gear when he entered the service of the duke of Milan, Ludovico Sforza, having written the duke an astonishing letter in which he stated that he could build portable bridges; that he knew the techniques of constructing bombardments and of making cannons; that he could build ships as well as armored vehicles, catapults, and other war machines; and that he could execute sculpture in marble, bronze, and clay. He served as a principal engineer in the duke’s numerous military enterprises and was so active also as an architect. In addition, he assisted the Italian mathematician Luca Pacioli in the celebrated work Divina Proportione. Evidence indicates that Leonardo had apprentices and pupils in Milan, for whom he probably wrote the various texts later compiled as Treatise on Painting. The most important of his own paintings during the early Milan period was The Virgin of the Rocks, two versions of which exist; he worked on the compositions for a long time, as was his custom, seemingly unwilling to finish what he had begun. From 1495 to 1496, Leonardo labored on his masterpiece, The Last Super, a mural in the refectory of the Monastery of Santa Maria Delle Grazie, Milan. Unfortunately, his experimental use of oil on dry plaster was technically unsound, and by 1500 its deterioration had begun. Since 1726 attempts have been made, unsuccessfully, to restore it; a concerted restoration and conservation program, making use of the latest technology, was begun in 1977 and is reversing some of the damage. Although much of the original surface is gone, the majesty of the composition and the penetrating characterization of the figures give a fleeting vision of its vanished splendor. During his long stay in Milan, Leonardo also produced other paintings and drawings, most of which have been lost theater designs, architectural drawings, and models for the dome of Milan Cathedral. His largest commission was for a colossal bronze monument to Francesco Sforza, father of Ludovico, in the courtyard of Castello Sforzesco. In December 1499, however, the Sforza family was driven from Milan by French forces; Leonardo left the statue unfinished and he returned to Florence in 1500.
4. The word “apprenticed” in paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to __________ -
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The era of “smart cities”, controlled by an ecosystem of sensors, cameras and algorithms, is fast approaching. In China, state media claim 500 are under construction. In Canada, Alphabet has plans for turning parts of Toronto into a timber-framed tech town as a prototype. Incremental steps are also making cities smarter. Last week, Transport for London announced plans to track Tube passengers through WiFi to monitor congestion. In the US, fast-food drive-throughs will trial number plates scanners to make ordering faster. Individually these services can improve daily life. Integrating them will create something more powerful than the sum of its parts. Though convenience and safety are the end goals, serious questions about how city authorities will both store and share vast bodies of data must be answered. The fact that surveillance is built into key transport infrastructure will also make it increasingly difficult to avoid without disrupting daily life. The smart city risks creating a panopticon in the name of an easier and better life. The risks of anonymity disappearing will be increased by the use of different data sets, making it more likely that identifiable characteristics may appear. Closely linked to this is the question of data storage and sharing. The treasure trove of personal information will be a tempting target for hackers. This information might also be used by law enforcement, feeding into the existing dangers of mass surveillance and profiling, as is already the case in China. These concerns have long been levelled at social media and internet-enabled home appliances. Smart city surveillance can be even more insidious. Users can avoid Facebook or hardware such as Alexa. Avoiding basic infrastructure will be near impossible without seriously affecting day-to-day life. TfL has put up signs warning customers of the WiFi tracking, yet the only choice is between tracking and having no signal. Reports on the facial recognition at airports in America suggest that avoiding being automatically scanned will be tough as well. As these systems become more closely enmeshed, avoiding snooping will become increasingly tricky. The inevitable rise of smart cities is not inherently negative. Harnessing the power of technology and data can potentially help urban environments adapt to challenges such as climate change and overcrowding. Politicians, programmers and academics must work to ensure that does not come at the cost of all-seeing, 24-hour surveillance.
4. According to paragraph 2, what is the mentioned unwanted consequence for the future of high-tech societies? -
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All living things require energy to do the work necessary for survival and reproduction. But what is energy? Energy is simply the ability to do work, (1) ____ work is done when a force moves an object. Let’s consider your own needs for a moment. You need energy to turn on and turn off your computer. You need energy to (2) ____ of bed in the morning. And, yes, you need energy to reproduce. So where does energy come from and how do we use it? On Earth, energy ultimately comes from the sun. Plants use the sun’s energy to make sugar. Organisms, in turn, use sugar as a (3) ____ of energy to do work. Plants use energy from sunlight to make sugar and oxygen from carbon dioxide and water. The process by which carbon dioxide and water are (4) ____ to sugar and oxygen using sunlight is referred to as photosynthesis. This is an endergonic reaction, meaning energy is required by the reaction. Specifically, energy is required to put the carbon dioxide and the water molecules together to form sugar. Sun (5) ____ the energy needed to drive photosynthesis, and some of the energy used to make the sugar is stored in the sugar molecule -
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Parents in most cases want the best for their children, and to ensure this, they are pushed to actively engage in their children’s lives, to ensure that they are making the right choices. Some parents, however, go to the extent of wanting to have the upper hand even when it comes to taking major decisions, such as choosing a career. Local comedian and actor, Michael Sengazi, was obliged by his parents to pursue a career in law, a path he followed when he joined University of Kigali, but deep down he knew this wasn’t his dream career. This is why after graduating he chose to follow his passion —comedy. His parents failed to understand how a qualified lawyer could decide to go for comedy because they didn’t see it as a ‘well-paying job’. He had a challenge of convincing them to bless his journey. “So, I asked them to give me one year to try and see if comedy would work out for me. I worked hard and my parents realised that I could achieve big things, and they gave me the freedom to pursue the career.” Bienvenue Muragwa, a career consultant at The Southern New Hampshire University based in Rwanda, says that parents are only allowed to guide the child during the career guidance process, but not take the final decision. “Parents are not allowed to choose or take the final decision for their children as the performance of the student is the assessing parameter of the career to be pursued,” he explains. Shalom Azabe, a graduate in general counselling at Kampala Christian University, says in most African countries, not only Rwanda, children are overly dependent on their parents, yet this shouldn’t be the case. She recommends picking a leaf from westerners who endeavour to learn their children’s interests, something she says aides them in career guidance for the child. “Normally, a child starts to demonstrate a choice in career at 14 years of age. This is when parents need to sit down and make analysis that would help them guide their child in choosing the fitting option to undertake. This is in fact considered as overprotection as parents want to exercise their authority on their kids unwillingly, yet this affects them psychologically, and when the kid later on fails, they encounter a regret of pursuing studies that were not their choice in the first place,” Azabe said.
4. The word “parameter” in paragraph 3 can be replaced by_______ -
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Why is it that many teenagers have the energy to play computer games until late at night but can’t find the energy to get out of bed (1) ________ for school? According to a new report, today’s generation of children are in danger of getting so (2)_______ sleep that they are putting their mental and physical health at (3)_______. Adults can easily survive on seven to eight hours’ sleep a night, (4)_______teenagers require nine or ten hours. According to medical experts, one in five youngsters (5)________ anything between two and five hours’ sleep a night less than their parents did at their age. -
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It’s extremely important for kids of middle childhood to continue, or to start to lead a healthy lifestyle, including eating nutritious meals as well as getting plenty of exercise and adequate sleep every day. These positive health habits will help children grow strong, stay healthy, and decrease the likelihood that they will become obese. Childhood obesity rates have increasing dramatically in recent years. According to the Centers for Disease Control, in 2004, 18.8% of school-aged children were obese, versus 4% of children 30 years before in 1974. Children’s skyrocketing rate of obesity is worrisome because it greatly increases children’s risk for remaining obese in adulthood, which in turn raises their risk for heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes, and premature death as adults. Obese children may also develop associated health problems during the middle childhood stage, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels, and respiratory problems. Obesity can also set the stage for problems with self esteem, depression, anxiety and social ostracism, and/or being victimized by bullies Healthy diet and adequate exercise are important in preventing Type II diabetes in childhood as well as obesity. Diabetes is a metabolic disease in which the body cannot properly metabolize the sugars from food. Because the body cannot metabolize sugars, the sugars accumulate in the bloodstream instead and ultimately stress children’s kidneys, heart, circulatory system, and eyes. Insulin, which is created in the pancreas, is the chemical that breaks down blood sugar. In Type II diabetes, the body does not produce enough insulin to deal with all the sugars coming into the body. This medical diagnosis used to be called “adult-onset diabetes” because the disorder primarily affected adults with poor eating and activity habits. Today, however, this illness is now diagnosed in America’s children far more than in adults. It is now referred to as “Type II diabetes”, to reflect this shift in prevalence. In contrast to the many youth in America who overeat and don’t get enough exercise, other children become obsessed with over-controlling their food intake and with exercising too much. With the constant barrage of perfect, photoshopped bodies in the media today, many children are feeling pressure at younger and younger ages to imitate those images. Children as young as 6 are reporting that they are trying to lose weight by dieting. Overemphasis on extreme thinness can put children at risk for poor self-esteem, unhealthy exercise patterns, and eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia. Children who embrace healthy eating and exercise habits during middle childhood will have a much easier time maintaining a healthy lifestyle through adolescence and adulthood than individuals who try to make the shift later in life. Teaching children to habitually eat moderate portion sizes and to choose healthy foods in preference to junk foods becomes increasingly important as children begin to spend more time away from home and gain more independence over their food and activity choices. Even though parents have less control over their children’s eating habits during middle childhood than when children were younger, it remains vital that parents continue to reinforce children’s healthy habits whenever possible.
6. According to paragraph 4, what gives many youth in America pressure to try to lose weight by dieting? -
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Nuclear family, also called elementary family, in sociology and anthropology, is a group of people who are united by ties of partnership and parenthood and consisting of a pair of adults and their socially recognized children. Typically, but not always, the adults in a nuclear family are married. Although such couples are most often a man and a woman, the definition of the nuclear family has expanded with the advent of same-sex marriage. Children in a nuclear family may be the couple’s biological or adopted offspring. Thus defined, the nuclear family was once widely held to be the most basic and universal form of social organization. Anthropological research, however, has illuminated so much variability of this form that it is safer to assume that what is universal is a “nuclear family complex” in which the roles of husband, wife, mother, father, son, daughter, brother, and sister are embodied by people whose biological relationships do not necessarily conform to the Western definitions of these terms. In matrilineal societies, for example, a child may be the responsibility not of his biological genitor but of his mother’s brother, who fulfills the roles typical of Western fatherhood. Closely related in form to the predominant nuclear-family unit are the conjugal family and the consanguineal family. As its name implies, the conjugal family is knit together primarily by the marriage tie and consists of mother, father, their children, and some close relatives. The consanguineal family, on the other hand, typically groups itself around a unlineal descent group known as a lineage, a form that reckons kinship through either the father’s or the mother’s line but not both. Whether a culture is patrilineal or matrilineal, a consanguineal family comprises lineage relatives and consists of parents, their children, and their children’s. Rules regarding lineage exogamy are common in these groups; within a given community, marriages thus create cross-cutting social and political ties between lineages. The stability of the conjugal family depends on the quality of the marriage of the husband and wife, a relationship that is more emphasized in the kinds of industrialized, highly mobile societies that frequently demand that people reside away from their kin groups. The consanguineal family derives its stability from its corporate nature and its permanence, as its relationships emphasize the perpetuation of the line.
8. What does the author imply in the last paragraph? -
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When I tell people about the idea of moving out, many people’s reaction is like, “what do your parents say?” because they assume the parents would not like their children to leave them. Well I don’t know if my parents like it but I can tell you my parents support and respect my decision. They think it is good for me to try and live on my own and then I would know it is the best to stay with my family. The most important reason for independent living is to save the travelling time to work. It used to take me one hour fifteen minutes to travel to work from my previous living place. From my new apartment, it just takes me thirty minutes so I saved forty-five minutes’ traveling time. I don’t have to get up so early and I save two-third of my traveling cost. It does not only save my time to travel for work but also from most of the places in Hong Kong. In addition, I gain my personal space and freedom by independent living. I make my own decision all the time, I do not have to say whether I would go home for dinner, I can invite my friends to come up and stay late. Of course, there are some trade-offs in living on your own. If you want to rent an apartment, there are lots of preparatory work to do. You have to keep visiting the apartments to search for your ideal one. You have to negotiate with the landlord about the price, furniture inclusion, who is responsible for the maintenance of the furniture and equipment. My experience was that after we moved into the apartment, it was not until the kitchen cupboard was soaked with water that we found out there was water leakage in the kitchen sink. Money is the main issue in living on your own. You have to be responsible for all the expenses, for example, the rent, electricity, gas, water, telephone, internet bills, etc. Therefore, you’ve got to be well prepared and save up for your bills. Although I find my transportation time much shorter, the saved time is spent on other things, such as cooking and some other household chores. I think preparing and cooking the food do occupy a significant portion of my time, therefore I always try to make simple meals. On the other hand, I have to regularly tidy up my apartment and wash my clothes, so it doesn’t really save much of my time after all. Now everything is settled down, I’m getting used to my new life and I am enjoying it. I feel that moving out makes it easier for me to strike a balance between my work, my social life, my study and my family. It may be troublesome but it may worth
4. Which of the following is NOT included in the preparatory work of renting an apartment? -
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Zoos used to be primarily a place for people to see wild animals they had never seen. Now, however, zoos serve a new purpose – to be captive-breeding programs for endangered animals. There are less than a hundred Sumatran rhinos worldwide, and three were born in Cincinnati Zoo. When old enough, one of the males was sent to Way Kamabas National Park in Sumatra and this helped to start the process of re-populating his species in the wild and saving it from the extinction. Other zoos have started captive-breeding programs as well. Zoos have saved the Arabian onyx, the black-footed ferret, the red wolf, the Guam rail, and the California condor. But the cost of the programs for saving the threatened animals is not cheap. The condor program alone costs up to $2 million a year. While it is mostly large-city zoos involved in captive breeding, smaller zoos do their part. The Miller Park Zoo in Bloomington, Illinois, is working on breeding the endangered, and small. Mount Graham red squirrel. Zoos have always been involved in animal conservation to some degree, but the question of which animals to save is a big one. Endangered animals may not be the most exciting to see in a zoo, and to di conservation work the zoos must survive financially. Space is a problem as well. A zoo might be able to save a small number of large animals or a large number of small ones. Currently, the most threatened group of animals is amphibians. Zoos realize that visitors may not want to see frogs, salamanders, or other small animals and may only pay to see rhinos, lions, and tigers. Some scientists believe zoos should be less tourist attractions and more conservation sanctuaries. Thus, although zoos continue to do good work, they still confront tricky questions. There are a limited number of animals that can be cared for in zoos, and that means many species on the edge of extinction may not survive. The Sumatran orangutan and a thousand other threatened species have not made it into a captive-breeding program, but the species will continue to exist. How? In the Frozen Zoo. Cells from these animals are stored in the San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research in liquid nitrogen. Only one animal in the Frozen Zoo is presently extinct, but many others are at dire risk. In the Frozen Zoo, however, the cells of animals will be preserved for study through their genetic material.
1. What is the main idea of this passage? -
Mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the undelined part that needs correction in each of the following questions:
In the United States, it is important to be on time, or punctual, for an appointment, a class, a meeting, etc... This may not be true in some other countries, however. An American professor discovered this difference while teaching a class in a Brazilian university. The two-hour class was scheduled to begin at 10 a.m, and end at 12 a.m. On the first day, when the professor arrived on time, no one was in the classroom. Many students came after 11 a.m. Although all of the students greeted the professor as they arrived, few apologised for their lateness. Were these students being rude? He decided to study the students’ behavior.
In American university, students are expected to arrive at the appointed hour. On the other hand, in Brazil, neither the teacher nor the students always arrive at the appointed hour. Classes not only begin at the scheduled time in the United States, but they also end at the scheduled time. In the Brazilian class, only a few students left the class at noon, many remained past 12:30 to discuss the class and ask more questions. While arriving late may not be important in Brazil, neither is staying late.
The explanation for these differences is complicated. People from Brazilian and North American cultures have different feelings about lateness. In Brazil, the students believe that a person who usually arrives late is probably more successful than a person who is always on time. In fact, Brazilians expect a person with status or prestige to arrive late, while in the United States, lateness is usually considered to be disrespectful and unacceptable. Consequently, if a Brazilian is late for an appointment with a North America, the American may misinterpret the reason for the lateness and become angry.
As a result for his study, the professor learned that the Brazilian students were not being disrespectful to him. Instead, they were simply behaving the appropriate way for a Brazilian student in Brazil. Eventually, the professor was able to adapt his own behavior to feel comfortable in the new culture.What is the main idea of this passage?
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Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
Normally a student must attend a certain number of courses in order to graduate, and each course which he attends gives him a credit which he may count towards a degree. In many American universities the total work for a degree consists of thirty-six courses each lasting for one semester. A typical course consists of three classes per week for fifteen weeks; while attending a university a student will probably attend four or five courses during each semester. Normally a student would expect to take four years attending two semesters each year. It is possible to spread the period of work for the degree over a longer period. It is also possible for a student to move between one university and another during his degree course, though this is not in fact done as a regular practice. For every course that he follows a student is given a grade, which is recorded, and the record is available for the student to show to prospective employers. All this imposes a constant pressure and strain of work, but in spite of this some students still find time for great activity in student affairs. Elections to positions in student organizations arouse much enthusiasm. The effective work of maintaining discipline is usually performed by students who advise the academic authorities. Any student who is thought to have broken the rules, for example, by cheating has to appear before a student court. With the enormous numbers of students, the operation of the system does involve a certain amount of activity. A student who has held one of these positions of authority is much respected and it will be of benefit to him later in his career.
Normally a student would at least attend ____ classes each week.
2. According to the first paragraph an American student is allowed ____ -
Choose the best answer:
The Mona Lisa,_____ is a painting by Leonardo da Vinci, has caused a lot of disputes. -
Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
Hamams, or bath houses, are a traditional part of Turkish culture. They represent an important piece of Turkey’s long history and serve as a window into the past. However, these bath houses are quickly disappearing because of the changing habits of the Turkish people. Hamams hold a strong place in the history of Turkey and many date back hundreds of years. Traditionally, all kinds of people went to hamams because Islam has strict laws for cleanliness. Believers must wash themselves regularly, particularly before their daily prayers. As most people in Turkey didn’t have access to running water in their homes, the hamam was the perfect to get clean, relax, and catch up with friends. Today, however, the tradition of going to the humam is quickly dying out for many young people. Now almost everyone has running water in their bathrooms, so they prefer to bathe at home. As a result, Turkish people are not going to humans as often as they used to. These days, instead of relying on locals, many hamams are trying to attract foreign tourists. Some of the best hamams in Turkey are located in Istanbul, the country’s largest city. The Cagaloglu hamam is a great example. It was a gift to the people from the Sultan in 1741 and is one of the last old hamams to be built during the Ottoman Empire. Many visitors are impressed by the high domed ceilings, marble floors, and marble walls used throughout. A typical session at a hamam can last well over an hour. Visitors will be welcomed into camekan, or entrance hall. There they will be able to relax with friends and chat over a cup of tea. They will also be able to change into the customary pestemal, or Turkish towel, which wraps around the waist like a skirt. When ready, visitors will head into the hararet, or hot room. There they will lie on the hot floor and be scrubbed clean and massaged by one of the in-house masseurs or masseuses. Men and women always bathe separately, but their experience are very similar. Although many hamams are in danger of closing, they will always remain a part of Turkish culture. An experience in one of Istanbul’s famous bath houses is not to be misses on any visit to Turkey. It will certainly leave you refreshed, relaxed, and squeaky clean for your next adventure
6. According to the passage, there are some of the best hamams located in _________