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Water is of vital importance to all living things. Without it, all living things will  surely die. We also use a great (1)_____ of water daily in our homes, in factories, and in power stations. Most of this water is fresh water and it comes to us from reservoirs, rivers and lakes.  The Earth’s surface is (2)_____ by large areas of water which we call oceans and seas. If you have tasted the water from the sea, you will know that, unlike fresh water, seawater tastes salty. This is due to the (3)_____ of sodium chloride which comes from the land. Rivers carry it to the sea.  Although (4)_______salt nor fresh water has (5)________color, the sea often looks blue in the sunlight. The reason is that sunlight is made up of many colors. Some colors disappear quickly in the sea but blue light bounces back or is reflected, to the surface. This makes the sea look blue. Hence, a stormy sky will make the sea look grey

Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
Kids can be creatures of habit. Much like how they can watch the same movie over and over, some kids will stick to one author or genre of book that they’ve fallen in love with. But does it matter if they’re always reading the same type of book? After all, isn’t their love of reading in itself enough? Reading builds their imagination, develops their critical thinking skills, and improves their communication skills, amongst many other benefits. Well, while a love of reading of any sort is to be nurtured, when a child only reads the same author or type of book, their growth and the benefits they gain may not be as broad if they were to explore more types of books. Coaxing them to open up to reading other genres can be a big advantage for them in the long term. They will get exposed to different types of characters and lifestyles when they read a wider range of writing. For example, their favourite fantasy novels may spark their imagination, but true tales of life halfway around the world can trigger interest in traveling and foster understanding of other cultures. It helps them develop a broad perspective on the world around them. Their vocabulary will benefit, too, if they read a wide selection of books. Think of the words and the sentence structure used in a vampire book and how they will differ significantly from those in a suspense novel. They will have to sound out words, and it’ll be helpful to have a dictionary handy. With each new word encountered in the broad range of reading materials they’re consuming, their vocabulary grows. Reading a variety of books will also help your child grow their love of reading and it’ll fuel their motivation to read more and more. They once only adored one author, who has  a limited number of books written, discovering new authors or types of books expands their choice of reading material; they’ll never run out of books to add to their reading list! Consider, too, the value of specific types of books for very young readers. Ones that teach the alphabet help them learn that letters come together to form the words in books. Poetry with rhyming words will help develop a child’s phonemic awareness, which is the ability to hear, identify and manipulate individual sounds in spoken words. Folktales and nursery rhymes are beloved and cherished. Surely there are ones that bring you right back to your childhood, and they tend to be shared from one generation to the next - your child’s favourite will likely be ones they teach their children when they grow up and have kids of their own!
2. According to paragraph 1, reading is good 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 following questions:
Foot racing is a popular activity in the United States. It is seen not only as a competitive sport but also as a way to exercise, to enjoy the camaraderie of like-minded people, and to donate money to a good cause. Though serious runners may spend months training to compete, other runners and walkers might not train at all. Those not competing to win might run in an effort to beat their own time or simply to enjoy the fun and exercise. People of all ages, from those of less than one year (who may be pushed in strollers) to those in their eighties, enter into this sport. The races are held on city streets, on college campuses, through parks, and in suburban areas, and they are commonly 5 to 10 kilometers in length.
The largest foot race in the world is the 12-kilometer Bay to Breakers race that is held in San Francisco every spring. This race begins on the east side of the city near San Francisco Bay and ends on the west side at the Pacific Ocean. There may be 80,000 or more people running in this race through the streets and hills of San Francisco. In the front are the serious runners who compete to win and who might finish in as little as 34 minutes. Behind them are the thousands who take several hours to finish. In the back of the race are those who dress in costumes and come just for fun. One year there was a group of men who dressed like Elvis Presley, and another group consisted of firefighters who were tied together in a long line and who were carrying a fire hose. There was even a bridal party, in which the bride was dressed in a long white gown and the groom wore a tuxedo. The bride and groom threw flowers to bystanders, and they were actually married at some point along the route.

The word “camaraderie” in the first paragraph could be best replaced by which of the following?

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:
Because writing has become so important in our culture, we sometimes think of it as more real than speech. A little thought, however, will show why speech is primary and writing secondary to language. Human beings have been writing at least 5,000 years, but they have been talking for much longer, doubtless ever since there have been human beings. When writing developed, it was derived from and represented speech, although imperfectly. Even today, there are spoken languages that have no written form. Furthermore, we all learn to talk well before we learn to write; any child who is not severely handicapped physically or mentally will learn to talk: a normal man cannot be prevented from doing so. On the other hand, it takes a special effort to learn to write; in the past, many intelligent and useful members of society did not acquire the skill, and even today many who speak languages with writing systems never learn to read or write while some who learn the rudiments of those skills do so imperfectly.
To affirm the primacy of speech over writing is not to disparage the later. One advantage writing has over speech is that it is more permanent and makes possible the records that any civilization must have. Thus, if speaking makes us human, writing makes us civilized.

The word “disparage” in the passage mostly means     .

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 USA, the UK and many other countries, a lot of babies were born in the “baby boom” of the late 1940s and 1950s; after that the birth-rate fell. Baby boomers have now retired, or are approaching retirement, and this is causing headaches for many organizations: there are not enough people to succeed their top managers when they retire.
Does your organization have key staff who can’t easily be replaced? A CEO or financial director, perhaps, or a technical expert with knowledge that nobody else in the organization has. If your answer is “yes”, what will happen when they retire, or leave for another company? Will you wait until the last moment before looking for someone to replace them? Or is your organization thinking about likely future changes now, as it should be, and making plans, so that there is likely to be someone ready to replace the person leaving? If the answer is that you are planning ahead, your organization is carrying out succession planning.
Succession planning means looking inside the organization for “high-fliers” - current staff members with the potential to fill key positions - and planning the training, responsibilities and promotion they need, to make them ready when a senior vacancy occurs - which may not be for several years. The company benefits by being able to make an internal promotion when a key person leaves, and in the meantime it benefits by developing the skills of its high-fliers and encouraging them to stay. And the high-fliers benefit, because they achieve their full potential, a career is planned for them within the organization, and they can look forward to a senior post in time.
The training program planned for the high-fliers will help them to develop the leadership skills they need for more senior roles, skills such as planning long-term strategies. A career path is also planned, so that each high-flier moves into a number of different positions over a few years, to gain the experience and know ledge they need.
Sometimes a staff member is chosen as a potential successor to a particular senior manager, but a better method is for organizations to select a number of high-fliers, and prepare them for a range of senior roles. An organization can’t be certain when a particular senior manager will leave. Having a group of people being prepared fee top positions makes it easier to replace someone who leaves unexpectedly, and also means that there are other people available if a high-flier leaves the company.

What can be inferred from the passage?

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Let’s knock on their door to see ……… home.

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As places transformed, so did the people. When researchers at Yale University and the University of Westminster studied what images people associated with climate change, they found a shift this decade. When they began their study in 2003, the majority of people surveyed thought of melting polar ice. By 2016, more and more people had weather top of mind. Climate, to be clear, is not weather. It’s the difference between a trend and a one-off event. But with wetter storms and hotter summers unfolding over the course of the decade, people were making new connections between climate change and the weather. Seeing climate change through the lens of something they experience every day opens the door for people to see the weight of the issue over their own lives. “Americans are just beginning to connect the dots and to say, wait a second, what’s going on here,” says Anthony Leiserowitz, a lead author of the study and director of the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication. “There’s been this increasing dawning of awareness among many Americans that climate change is actually starting to harm people here and now.” New renewable energy projects outpaced new fossil fuel installations in worldwide growth for the first time in 2015. In a pivotal moment for the whole planet, every country on Earth agreed to take on climate change when they adopted the Paris climate accord in 2015. That committed countries to reducing their greenhouse gas emissions enough to keep the Earth from warming beyond roughly 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, a threshold that could be catastrophic for people and ecosystems if it’s crossed. It was the culmination of years of political wrangling. “It is rare to have the opportunity in a lifetime to change the world,” former French president François Hollande told delegates gathered on the final day of negotiations. “Seize it so that the planet can live on, so that humanity can live on.” But cooperation, even when the health of the whole planet is on the line, can be a fragile, fleeting thing. After Donald Trump was elected president in 2016, he began the process of formally withdrawing the US from the Paris accord. One by one, Trump backtracked on existing federal efforts to cut down on pollution, too. The words “climate change” began disappearing from government websites and documents  
4. According to paragraph 3, what is the result of heightened awareness of global citizens?

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Continuing education is required for workers to stay current with the latest developments, skills, and new technologies required for their fields. Certain professions also require continuing education to comply with laws, remain licensed or certified, or maintain membership in an association or licensing body. Many careers require continuing education. For example, teachers, real estate agents, and engineers are required to have a base of education and then receive updated education as they continue to work in their fields. Nursing, pharmacy, accounting, and criminal justice are additional fields in which professionals must continue to develop the skills necessary for ever-changing environments. For nurses, there are typically two types of continuing education. The first is required for them to remain licensed in their states. The second type of continuing education allows them to get more advanced degrees and qualify for higher-level nursing positions. In the fastpaced pharmacy field, continuing education is important for career growth and licensure. Pharmacists need continuing education to renew their state licenses. Continuing education focuses on subject areas in health care, including pharmacology, patient counseling, regulatory issues, and other topics that contribute to professional pharmacy practice.  Certified public accountants (CPAs) must meet continuing education requirements established by the State Board of Accountancy of the states where their CPA licenses are held. The requirements vary from state to state. The American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) also requires certain continuing education for CPAs to maintain membership. Meanwhile, criminal justice professionals need to stay up-to-date on the new laws, procedures, and technologies to reinforce the knowledge they have already gained. Criminal justice and legal fields include a variety of jobs, such as probation and parole officers, summary court officials, emergency management personnel, and crime scene technicians. Many of these careers require an undergraduate degree for entry, and then professionals must complete continuing education courses as they progress in their careers. Crime scene investigators and evidence technicians must maintain certifications specific to the collection, processing, and maintenance of evidence. Traffic crash reconstructionists must maintain accredited certifications. Emergency management professionals must complete and maintain certifications for their respective states and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Howard concluded “Today’s professionals must, therefore, commit to a ‘life-long learning’ philosophy that enhances effectiveness, diagnose and more quickly solves problems, while moving away from the traditional autocratic management styles.” Whether it is required or not, continuing education can be important for career satisfaction.  
4. According to paragraph 3, which domain does NOT require continuing education?

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Stories about how people (1)__________ know when they are being watched have  been going around for years. However, few made have been made to investigate the phenomenon scientifically. Now, with the completion of the largest ever study of the socalled staring effect, there is impressive evidence that this is a recognizable and (2) _______ sixth sense. The study involved hundreds of children. For the experiments, they sat with their eyes covered and with their backs to other children, who were told to either stare at them or look away. The results consistently showed that the children who could not see were able to (3) _______ when they were being stared at. In a total of 18,000 trials carried out worldwide, the children correctly sensed when they were being watched almost 70% of the time. The experiment was repeated with the added precaution of putting the children who were being watched outside the room, (4) _______ from the starters by the windows. The results, though less impressive, were more or less the same. Dr. Sheldrake, the biologist who designed the study, believes that the results are (5) _______ enough to find out through further experiments precisely how the staring effect might actually come about

Read the passage and choose the best answer from 55 to 64.

Of the six outer planets, Mars, commonly called the red planet, is the closest to Earth. Mars, 4,200 miles in diameter and 55 percent of the size of Earth, is 34,600,000 miles from Earth, and 141,000,000 miles from the Sun. It takes this planet, along with its two moons, Phobos and Deimos, 1.88 years to circle the Sun, compared to 365 days for the Earth.

For many years, Mars had been thought of as the planet with the man-made canals, supposedly discovered by an Italian astronomer, Schiaparelli, in 1877. With the United States spacecraft Viking I's landing on Mars in 1976, the man-made canal theory was proven to be only a myth.

Viking I, after landing on the soil of Mars, performed many scientific experiments and took numerous pictures. The pictures showed that the red color of the planet is due to the reddish, rocky Martian soil. No biological life was found, though it had been speculated by many scientists. The Viking also monitored many weather changes including violent dust storms. Some water vapor, polar ice, and permafrost (frost below the surface) were found, indicating that at one time there were significant quantities of water on this distant planet. Evidence collected by the spacecraft shows some present volcanic action, though the volcanoes are believed to be dormant, if not extinct.

Mars has been nicknamed___________________ .

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You get off your plane and make your way to the Baggage Reclaim area. After quite some time spent waiting, their is no sign of your bags and you begin to consider the possibility that they may have gone (1) _________. What should you do? Firstly, don’t panic. The most likely (2) _________ is that your bags simply didn’t make it onto the flight, perhaps because they were mislaid at the departure airport, or perhaps because the aircraft had already (3) _________ its weight allowance. If they fail to appear on the carousel, report the loss before you leave the baggage hall and go through customs. Recovering your luggage should be no problems, (4) ______ you’ve kept hold of your baggage checks – those little barcodes stuck to the back of your tickets at check-in. Go to the handling agent’s desk and complete a Property Irregularity Report (PIR) form, (5) _________ describes the checked bag and its contents. Then, ask the baggageservices manager for a contact telephone number and confirm that your bags will be forwarded to your final destination

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:
The biological community changes again as one moves from the city to the suburbs. Around all cities is a biome called the "suburban forest". The trees of this forest are species that are favored by man, and most of them have been deliberately planted. Mammals such as rabbits, skunks, and opossums have moved in from the surrounding countryside. Raccoons have become experts at opening garbage cans, and in some places even deer wander suburban thoroughfares. Several species of squirrel get along nicely in suburbia, but usually only one species is predominant in any given suburb -fox squirrels in one place, red squirrels in another, gray squirrels in a third - for reasons that are little understood. The diversity of birds in the suburbs is great, and in the South, lizards thrive in gardens and even houses. Of course, insects are always present. There is an odd biological sameness in these suburban communities. True, the palms of Los Angeles are missing from the suburbs of Boston, and there are species of insects in Miami not found in Seattle. But over wide stretches of the United States, ecological conditions in suburban biomes vary much less than do those of natural biome. And unlike the natural biomes, the urban and suburban communities exist in spite of, not because of, the climate.

The author implies that the mammals of the "suburban forest" differ from most species of trees there in which of the following ways?

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Just as optical fibers have transformed communication, they are also revolutionizing medicine. These ultra - thin, flxible fiers have opened a window into the living tissues of the body. By inserting optical fibers through natural openings or small incisions and the threading them along the body's established pathways, physicians can look into the lungs, intestines, heart and other areas that were formerly inaccessible to them. The basic fiber-optics system is called fiberscope, which consists of two bundles of fibers. One, the illuminating bundle, carries light to the tissues. It is coupled to a high-intensity light source. Light enters the cores of the high-purity silicon glass and travels along the fibers. A lens at the end of the bundle collects the light and focuses it into the other bundle, the imaging bundle. Each fibers in the bundle transmits only a tiny fraction of the total image. The reconstructed image can be viewed through an eyepiece or displayed on a television screen. During the last five years, improved methods of fabricating optical fibers have led to a reduction in fiberscope diameter and an increase in the number of fibers, which in turn has increased resolution. Optical fibers can also be used to deliver laser light. By use of laser beams, physicians can perform surgery inside the body, sometimes eliminating the need of invasive procedures in which healthy tissue must be cut through to reach the site of disease. Many of these procedures do not require anesthesia and can be performed in a physician's office. These techniques have reduced the risk and the cost of medical care.
7. According to the passage, how do the fiberscopes used today differ from those used in five years ago?

Each sentence has a mistake. Find it by chosing A B C or D

Young women are in the major in the fashion industry

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The British are particular about timings and being late is frowned upon, but being on  time is a complicated matter because in some situations, being a few minutes early on others means being exactly on time and in some instances, it is completely acceptable to arrive 10 minutes to a few hours later than the stated time. This can be a minefield for someone who is new to the UK, so here are some basics rules that will help you get your timings right whatever the situation.  In formal meetings, such as job interviews, you should arrive at least five minutes before your meeting. This will give you time to compose yourself before your big meeting. In the UK, arriving late for a formal meeting is seen as unprofessional and will reflect badly on you. If you are running late, ring your host to let them know you will be late. On arrival, apologize sincerely and offer a reason for your lateness, such as you got lost or the train was delayed. It will help you redeem yourself. However, if you are late because you set off later than you should have, it’s wise to keep that to yourself! With appointments such as visits to the doctor or dentist, the time you are given for your appointment isn’t necessarily the time you will be seen. It is not uncommon you may have to wait between 15-30 minutes before you are seen by a doctor and that can be much longer if it is a hospital appointment. Nevertheless, you should arrive at least five minutes before your appointment and it is recommended you take a drink and something to read.  When you start a new job, you are given your typical working hours. For example, if you are expected to start at 9am, it is not acceptable to arrive after this time. Most employers make an exception if you are late once in a while. If you have an appointment, you need to seek permission from your employer to arrive later on that day. Being late consistently will land you in trouble and you can be sacked from your job if after three warnings you are still late.  There is an unsaid rule that you can be a few minutes late for a lecture or seminar once in a while. When you are late, you should enter quietly and find a seat at the back of the room. At the end of lecture or seminar, you should offer your apology to the lecturer. If you have been invited to a dinner party, you should arrive exactly on time as the host will have planned when they will serve the food. You will find that your host will serve their guests a pre-dinner drink, so that gives you a bit of wiggle room, but if you are running later than 10 minutes, you should ring your host and let them know how late you might be. That way they can decide whether to go ahead and serve the other guests. When you arrive you should offer the host and the other guests your apology for being late. 
2. The word “compose” in the second paragraph is closest in meaning to _____________

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:
Clara Barton became known as “The Angel of the Battlefield” during the American Civial War. Born in Oxford, Massachusetts in 1821, Clara Barton’s interest in helping soldiers on the battlefield began when she was told army stories from her father. Another event that influenced her decision to help soldiers was an accident her brother had. His injuries were cared for by Barton for 2 years. At the time, she was only 11 years old. Barton began teaching school at the age of 15. She taught for 18 years before she moved to Washington, D.C. in 1854.
The civil war broke out 6 years later. Immediately, Barton started was service by helping the soldiers with their needs. At the battle of Bull Run, Clara Barton received permission from the government to take care of the sick and hurt. Barton did this with great empathy and kindness. She acknowledged each soldier as a person. Her endurance and courage on the

battlefield were admired by many. When the war ended in 1865, she used 4 years of her life to assist the government in searching for soldiers who were missing during the war.
The search for missing soldiers and years of hard work made her feeble physically. In 1869, her doctors recommended a trip to Europe for a rest. While she was on vacation, she became involved with the International Red Cross, an organization set up by the Geneva Convention in 1864. Clara Barton realized that the red Cross would be a big help to the United States. After she returned to the United States, she worked very hard to create an American red Cross. She talked to government leaders and let American people know about the Red Cross. In 1881, the Notional Society of the Red Cross was finally established with its headquarters in Washington, D.C. Clara Barton managed its activities for 23 years.
Barton never let her age stop her from helping people. At the age of 79, she helped flood victims in Galveston, Texas. Barton finally resigned from the Red Cross in 1904. She was 92 years old and had truly earned her titled “The Angel of the Battlefield”.

What is the main idea of the passage?

Each sentence has a mistake. Find it by chosing A B C or D

Ballad, like folk tales, began thousands   of years ago among people who could not read or writing

Choose the best answer:
My family and I often spend time ____________ television in the evening.

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Many prehistoric people subsisted as hunters and gatherers. Undoubtedly, game  animals, including some very large species, provided major components of human diets. An important controversy centering on the question of human effects on prehistoric  wildlife concerns the sudden disappearance of so many species of large animals at or near the end of the Pleistocene epoch. Most paleontologists suspect that abrupt changes in climate led to the mass extinctions. Others, however, have concluded that prehistoric people drove many of those species to extinction through overhunting. In their “Pleistocene overkill hypothesis,” they cite what seems to be a remarkable coincidence between the arrival of prehistoric peoples in North and South America and the time during which mammoths, giant ground sloths, the giant bison, and numerous other large mammals became extinct.  Perhaps the human species was driving others to extinction long before the dawn of history. Hunter-gatherers may have contributed to Pleistocene extinctions in more indirect ways. Besides overhunting, at least three other kinds of effects have been suggested: direct competition, imbalances between competing species of game animals, and early agricultural practices. Direct competition may have brought about the demise of large carnivores such as the saber-toothed cats. These animals simply may have been unable to compete with the increasingly sophisticated hunting skills of Pleistocene people.  Human hunters could have caused imbalances among game animals, leading to the extinctions of species less able to compete. When other predators such as the gray wolf prey upon large mammals, they generally take high proportions of each year’s crop of young. Some human hunters, in contrast, tend to take the various age-groups of large animals in proportion to their actual occurrence. If such hunters first competed with the larger predators and then replaced them, they may have allowed younger to survive each year, gradually increasing the populations of favored species. As these populations expanded, they in turn may have competed with other game species for the same environmental niche, forcing the less hunted species into extinction. This theory, suggests that human hunters played an indirect role in Pleistocene extinctions by hunting one species more than another. 
6. The highlighted word “they” in the passage refers to ___________

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The fresh data released by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE)  showed that unemployment rate in the month of October jumped to 8.5 per cent, which is the highest in over three years. A new academic research paper released by the Centre of Sustainable Employment also concluded that there has been a marked decline in total employment in India between 2011-12 and 2017-18, reported The Indian Express.  The research paper by Santosh Mehrotra and Jaiati K Parida stated as, "However, due to sharp increases in enrollment at every level of education over the noughties, it was expected that post -2012 total employment would increase, particularly in the non-farm sectors. But unfortunately, total employment during 2011-12 and 2017-18 declined by 9 million. The research further states that this happened for the first time in India’s history.  It is really ironical noting that Coimbatore Municipal Corporation posted a vacancy for 549 sanitary workers. What followed was that 7000 highly qualified applicants even some of them with engineering and graduate degrees applied for the job. The Corporation witnessed the overwhelming turnout of 7000 candidates. Similarly, few month back, Chennai witnessed an unusual event when around 4600 of youth sent their application for 14 posts like sweepers and sanitary workers. The applicants had professional qualification like B.Tech, M.Tech, Master of Business Administration.  Though the government constantly has been refuting the grim of job data but the facts and figures can’t be avoided any more. Therefore, now the government should take an initiative to overcome the high prevalence of unemployment and figure out the derivers of the job crisis. In this regard, it is worth to mention a book titled ‘Job crisis in India’ written by business journalist Raghavan Jagnnathan. The author in his book pointed out factors and reasons behind this decline of employment. He attributed that the absence of skills required in the highly technical nature of jobs is big factor. Another aspect of this is that in the majority of cases the skills or training acquired by the youths do not match or suit the core demand of the job. So at first the government must step up for reformation, innovation and renovation of the standard of the education in universities and colleges. 
3. The word “this” in paragraph 2 refers to __________

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There is a new type of advertisement becoming increasingly common in newspaper classified columns. It is sometimes placed among “situations vacant”, although it does not offer anyone a job, and sometimes it appears “situations wanted”, although it is not placed by someone looking for a job, either. What it does is to offer help in applying for a job. “Contact us before writing your application”, or "Make use of our long experience in preparing your curriculum vitae or job history”, is how it is usually expressed. The growth and apparent success of such a specialized service is, of course, a reflection on the current high levels of unemployment. It is also an indication of the growing importance of the curriculum vitae (or job history), with the suggestion that it may now qualify as an art form in its own right. There was a time when job seekers simply wrote letters of application. “Just put down your name, address, age and whether you have passed any exams”, was about the average level of advice offered to young people applying for their first jobs when I left school. The letter was really just for openers, it was explained, everything else could and should be saved for the interview. And in those days of full employment, the technique worked. The letter proved that you could write and were available for work. Your eager face and intelligent replies did the rest. Later, as you moved up the ladder, something slightly more sophisticated was called for. The advice then was to put something in the letter which would distinguish you from the rest. It might be the aggressive approach. “Your search is over. I am the person you are looking for,” was a widely used trick that occasionally succeeded. Or it might be some special feature specially designed for the job in view  
6. The word "worked” in the third paragraph is closest in meaning to ____.