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.

   Dodder is an unusual and unwanted plant that attacks other plants. Except for its flowers, the plant looks like spaghetti noodles. Its almost leafless, thread–like stems hang down atop other plants that dodder needs to stay alive. Dodder does not produce its own food. Instead, it steals it from other plants. It feeds by sucking juices from the plant it is wrapped around, often making its host very weak or even killing it. Dodder can find other plants by their smell. When a dodder seedling starts growing, it follows the scent of plants it prefers, like tomato plants, potato plants, or other farm crops.

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

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

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

What is the main topic of the passage?

Read the passage below and choose the best answer (A, B, C or D ) to each question.

Different cultures follow their own special customs when a child's baby teeth fall out. In Korea, for example, they have the custom of throwing lost teeth up on the roof of a house. According to tradition, a magpie will come and take the tooth. Later, the magpie will return with a new tooth for the child. In other Asian countries, such as Japan and Vietnam, children follow a similar tradition of throwing their lost teeth onto the roofs of houses.

Birds aren't the only animals thought to take lost teeth. In Mexico and Spain, tradition says a mouse takes a lost tooth and leaves some money. However, in Mongolia, dogs are responsible for taking teeth away. Dogs are highly respected in Mongolian culture and are considered guardian angels of the people.

Tradition says that the new tooth will grow good and strong if the baby tooth is fed to a guardian angel. Accordingly, parents in Mongolia will put their child's lost tooth in a piece of meat and feed it to a dog. The idea of giving lost teeth to an angel or fairy is also a tradition in the West. Many children in Western countries count on the Tooth Fairy to leave money or presents in exchange for a tooth. The exact origins of the Tooth Fairy are a mystery, although the story probably began in England or Ireland centuries ago. According to tradition, a child puts a lost tooth under his or her pillow before going to bed. In the wee hours, while the child is sleeping, the Tooth Fairy takes the tooth and leaves something else under the pillow. In France, the Tooth Fairy leaves a small gift. In the United States, however, the Tooth Fairy usually leaves money. These days, the rate is 1 to 5 per tooth, adding up to a lot of money from the Tooth Fairy!

According to the passage, where is a child's lost tooth thought to be taken away by a mouse?

Choose the best answer: 
Archaeological records ― paintings, drawings, and carvings of humans engaged in activities involving the use of hands ― indicate that humans have been predominantly right-handed for more than 5,000 years. In ancient Egyptian artwork, for example, the right-hand is depicted as the dominant one in about 90percent of the examples. Fracture or wear patterns on tools also indicate that a majority of ancient people were right-handed. Cro-Magnon cave paintings some 2,000 years old commonly show outlines of human hands made by placing one hand against the cave wall and applying paint with the other. Children today make similar outlines of their hands with crayons on paper. With few exceptions, left hands of Cro-Magnons are displayed on cave walls, indicating that the paintings were usually done by right- handers. Anthropological evidence pushes the record of handedness in early human ancestors back to at least 1.4 million years ago. One important line of evidence comes from flaking patterns of stone cores used in toolmaking: implements flaked with a clockwise motion (indicating a right-handed toolmaker) can be distinguished from those flaked with a counter-clockwise rotation (indicating a left-handed toolmaker). Even scratches found on fossil human teeth offer clues. Ancient humans are thought to have cut meat into strips by holding it between their teeth and slicing it with stone knives, as do the present-day Inuit. Occasionally the knives slip and leave scratches on the users' teeth. Scratches made with a left-to-right stroke direction (by right-handers) are more common than scratches in the opposite direction (made by left-handers). Still other evidence comes from cranial morphology: scientists think that physical differences between the right and left sides of the interior of the skull indicate subtle physical differences between the two sides of the brain. The variation between the hemispheres corresponds to which side of the body is used to perform specific activities. Such studies, as well as studies of tool use, indicate that right- or leftsided dominance is not exclusive to modern Homo sapiens. Populations of Neanderthals, such as Homo erectus and Homo habilis, seem to have been predominantly right-handed, as we are.
2.The word "other" in paragraph 2 refers to

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct word or phrase that best fits each of the numbered blanks from 41 to 45.
Working as a novelist is not really a career like being a doctor or a scientist. Although a fewwell-known ones, like Harry Potter author J. K. Rowling, have become wealthy, most writers find it difficult even to make a living from their book sales. Novels take a long time towrite, and authors can get into financial (41)     if they don’t have money coming in regularly from another job. But for those determined to     write novels, it is without (42) one of the most enjoyable kinds of work to do. The writer has to be creative, thinking up completely new stories, and (43)      , meaning they put all their time and effort     into their work. They also need to be able to cope in a crisis, as nobody else can write their book for them. For this, a good sense of (44) often helps. Or the thought that maybe their novel might one day be turned into a film and become a Hollywood (45)          !
(45)........................

Read the following passage and mark A, B, C, or D to indicate the correct answer to each  of the blanks from 36 to 40.
From a very early age, it was apparent that Magnus Carlen was a brilliant chess player. By the age of 13, Magnus was (36)    to be one of the best chess players in the world, and his parents wanted him to reach his full potential as a professional chess player.
This meant their son had to develop a lifestyle of strict (37) which included many  hours of practice. Only this way could he become a world champion. (38) Magnus's parents supported him, they did not want him to devote his whole life to chess. They felt that if he focused only on chess, he would suffer both physically and emotionally. They made it clear to him that thay had no intention of letting their son drop out of school. He was also encouraged to follow his interest in sports. As a result of his (39)      , when Magnus graduated from high school in 2009, he was not only the best chess player in the world, but he was also awarded the title of "sport-student of the year" for his achievements  in snowboarding and golf.
Today, Magnus gives credit to his parents for the way they raised him. They set rules, but they never (40)    with his ambitions. Instead they gave him the support and encouragement he needed to achieve his goals and still be a happy young man.
(40)................

Choose the word or phrase among A, B, C or D that best fits the blank space in the following passage:

"Oxford engineer, David Heston, is planning an interesting cycle ride this summer - (1)….. the Sahara Desert. During his five-week journey, temperatures (2)…..  a sizzling 45°. David, 19, of Church Road, Dorchester, hopes to complete the first summer (3)…… of the desert on a tandem (bicycle for two people). “It does sound a bit (4)….. he said. (5)…. there are good reasons. It’s part of a research expedition about finding ways of (6)…. the spread of the desert. The Sahara is getting bigger and bigger and that’s bad (7)…… .
David is taking five Cambridge University friends with him. One will join him on the tandem and the others will drive two Land Rovers in support, travelling from (8)….. of Algeria to Agadez in the South. The journey is not without its problems, and (9)….. a 600-mile section (10)…..has no roads and no water."

9. The journey is not without its problems, and (9)….. a 600-mile section

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.
A large number of inventions require years of arduous research and development before they are perfected. For instance, Thomas Edison had to make more than 1,000 attempts to invent the incandescentlight bulb before he finally succeeded. History is replete with numerous other examples of people trying, yet failing to make inventions before they eventually succeede d. Yet some inventions have come about not through hard work but simply by accident.
In most cases, when someone unintentionally invented something, the inventor was attempting to create something else. For example, in the 1930s, chemist Roy Plunkett was attempting to make a new substance that could be used to refrigerate items. He mixed some chemicals together. Then, he put them into a pressurized container and cooled the mixture. By the time his experiment was completed, he had a new invention. It was not a new substance that could be used for refrigeration though. Instead, he had invented Teflon, which is today most commonly used to make nonstick pots and pans. Similarly, decades earlier, John Pemberton was a pharmacist in Atlanta, Georgia .He was attempting to create a tonic that people could use whenever they had headaches. While he was not successful in that endeavor, he managed to invent Coca - Cola, the world – famous carbonated soft drink.
Scientists have also made crucial discoveries by accident when they were conducting experiments. In 1928, Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin, an antibiotic, in this manner. He discovered some mold growing in a dish with some bacteria. He noticed that the bacteria seemed to be avoiding the mold. When he investigated further, he determined some of the many useful properties of penicillin, which has saved millions of lives over the past few decades. Likewise, in 1946, scientist Percy Spencer was conducting an experiment with microwaves. He had a candy bar in his pocket, and he noticed that it suddenly melted. He investigated and learned the reason why that had happened. Soon afterward, he built a device that could utilize microwaves to heat food: the microwave oven.

The author uses Alexander Fleming as an example of  ..........

Basic to any understanding of Canada in the 20 years after the Second World War is the country’s impressive population growth. For every three Canadians in 1945, there were over five in 1966. In September 1966 Canada’s population passed the 20 million mark. Most of this surging growth came from natural increase.  The depression of the 1930s and the war had held back marriages, and the catching-up process  began after 1945. The baby boom continued through the decade of the 1950s, producing a population increase of nearly fifteen percent in the five years from 1951 to 1956. This rate of increase had been exceeded only once before in Canada’s history, in the decade before 1911, when  the prairies were being settled. Undoubtedly, the good economic conditions of the 1950s  supported a growth in the population, but the expansion also derived from a trend toward earlier marriages and an increase in the average size of families. In 1957 the Canadian birth rate stood at  28 per thousand, one of the highest in theworld. 
After the peak year of 1957, the birth rate in Canada began to decline. It continued falling  until in 1966 it stood at the lowest level in 25 years. Partly this decline reflected the low level of births during the depression and the war, but it was also caused by changes in Canadian society. Young people were staying at school longer, more women were working; young married couples  
were buying automobiles or houses before starting families; rising living standards were cutting down the size of families. It appeared that Canada was once more falling in step with the trend  toward smaller families that had occurred all through the Western world since the time of the  IndustrialRevolution. 
Although the growth in Canada’s population had slowed down by 1966 (the increase in the  first half of the 1960s was only nine percent), another large population wave was coming over the horizon. It would be composed of the children who were born during the period of the high birth  rate prior to 1957.

The phrase “prior to” in bold is closest in meaning to .......................

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate thecorrect answer to each of the questions.
Instructors at American colleges and universities use many different teaching methods. Some instructors give assignments everyday. They grade homework. Students in their classes have to take many quizzes, a midterm exam, and a final test. Other instructors give only writing assignments. Some teachers always follow a course outline and usually use the text book. Others send students to the library for assignments.
The atmosphere in some classrooms is very formal. Students call their instructors “Professor Smith,” “Mrs Jones,” and so on. Some teachers wear business clothes and give lectures. Other classrooms have an informal atmosphere. Students and teachers discuss their ideas. Instructors dress informally, and students call them by their first names. American teachers are not alike in their teaching styles.
At most American colleges and universities, facilities for learning and recreation are available to students. Students can often use type-writers, tape recorders, video machines, and computers at libraries and learning centres. They can buy books, notebooks, and other things at campus stores. They can get advice on their problems from counselors and individual help with their classes from tutors. Students can relax and have fun on campus, too. Some schools have swimming pools and tennis courts. Most have snack bars and cafeterias.

What is the main idea of the first paragraph?

Choose the letter A, B, C or D to complete the passage below

   How would you like (1) _______work in the fast-growing tech sector? Information technology is the #1 field in (2)_______ of expected job growth over the next decade,(3) _______makes systems engineers among the most highly sought after professionals today. The average salary for a systems engineer is $87,100, and the career field is expected to grow 45% over the next 10 years. To become a systems engineer, you need a bachelor’s (4)_______in engineering.

   Software architects have taken the title as the best job in the country with job growth of 34% and an average annual salary of $119,000 per year. These innovative engineering professionals are responsible for (5)_______ to analyze and store data.

(5)........................

Read the passage below and choose the best answer (A, B, C or D ) to each question.

Sometimes you know things about people the first time you see them, for example, that you want to be friends with them or that you don't trust them. But perhaps this kind of intuition isn't as hard to explain as may seem. For instance, people give out body language signals all the time. The way you hold your body, head and arms tells people about your mood. If you hold your arms tightly at your sides, or fold them across your chest, people will generally feel that you are being defensive. Holding your head to one side shows interest in the other, while an easy, open posture indicates that you are self-confident. All this affects the way you feel about someone.

Also, a stranger may remind you of a meeting with someone. This may be because of something as simple as the fact that he or she is physically similar to someone who treated you well or badly. Your feelings about a stranger could be influenced by a smell in the air that brings to mind a place where you were happy as a child. Since even a single word can bring back a memory such as that, you may never realize it is happening.

What one feels about a stranger may be influenced by something that ______

Read the passage below and choose the best answer (A, B, C or D ) to each question.

The movement of people towards cities has accelerated in the past 40 years, particularly in the less developed regions, and the share of the global population living in urban areas has increased from one third in 1960 to 47% (2.8 billion people) in 1999. The world's urban population is now growing by 60 million persons per year, about three times the increase in the rural population.

Increasing urbanisation results about equally from births in urban areas and from the continued movement of people from the rural surround. These forces are also feeding the sprawl of urban areas as formerly rural peri-urban settlements become incorporated into nearby cities and as secondary cities, linked by commerce to larger urban centres, grow larger.

The proportion of people in developing countries who live in cities has almost doubled since 1960 (from less than 22% to more than 40%), while in more-developed regions the urban share has grown from 61% to 76%. There is a significant association between this population movement from rural to urban areas and declines in average family size.

Asia and Africa remain the least urbanised of the developing regions (less than 38% each). Latin America and the Caribbean is more than 75% urban, a level almost equal to those in Europe, Northern America and Japan (all are between 75 and 79%).

Urbanisation is projected to continue well into the next century. By 2030, it is expected that nearly 5 billion (61%) of the world's 8.1 billion people will live in cities. The less-developed regions will be more than 57% urban. Latin America and the Caribbean will actually have a greater percentage of inhabitants living in cities than Europe will.

Globally, the number of cities with 10 million or more inhabitants is increasing rapidly, and most of these new 'megacities' are in the less-developed regions. In 1960, only New York and Tokyo had more than 10 million people. By 1999, there were 17 cities of more than 10 million people around the world, 13 of these were in less-developed regions. It is projected that there will be 26 megacities by 2015, 22 in less-developed regions (18 will be in Asia); more than 10% of the world's population will live in these cities, up from just 1.7% in megacities in 1950.

What percentage of the world population living in urban areas in 1960?

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.
One of the seven wonders of the ancient world, the Great Pyramid of Giza was a monument of wisdom and prophecy built as a tomb for Pharaoh Cheops in 2720 B.C. Despite its antiquity, certain aspects of its construction makes it one of the truly wonders of the world. The thirteen acre structure near the Nile river is a solid mass of stone blocks covered with limestone. Inside are the number of hidden passageways and the burial chamber of the Pharaoh. It is the largest single structure in the world. The  four sides of the pyramid are aligned almost exactly on true north, south, east and west-an incredible engineering feat. The ancient Egyptians were sun worshippers and great astronomers, so computations for the Great Pyramid were based on astronomical observations. Explorations and detailed examinations of the base of the structure reveal many intersecting lines.
Further scientific study indicates that these represent a type of timeline of events – past, present and future. Many of the events have been interpreted and found to coincide with known facts of the past. Others are prophesied for future generations and are currently under investigation. Many believe that pyramids have supernatural powers and this one is no exception. Some researchers even associate it with extraterrestrial beings of ancient past. Was this superstructure made by ordinary beings, or one built by a race far superior to any known today?

What is the best title for the passage?

Choose the best answer:
Fans are generally taken (1)______ when a famous actor or actress suddenly (2)______ the profession at the height of his or her career. Greta Garbo, who made her last film when she was not yet 40, was a notable (3)______ in point.

Sportsmen and women face this decision earliest. Though they generally have evidence that their powers are in (4)______, very few have the self-awareness to get out while the going is still (5)______.

Politicians are perhaps the last to realise that the game is up. As long as they can (6)______ on to power, they refuse to accept the advice of party members, no doubt suspecting it is prompted by their colleagues' own ambitions!
2. 

Read the following passage and choose the best answer for each blank.

Robots are already a part of our lives. Industrial robots widely used in manufacturing. Military and police organizations use robots to (26) _____ in dangerous situations. Robots can (27) _____ be found from vacuuming the floors in your home to exploring the surface of Mars.

Within a few more years a whole host of robotic adaptations will be running many aspects' of our lives. "I think in (28) _____ next thirty years, we are going to see a transformation between the industrial sorts of robots to personal robots," says Brooks from Brooks' company, IRobot, markets floor cleaning robots for homes.

"The advances in robotics make it clear that many household (29) ____ will be easily handled by a robot in the near future," says Bob Christopher, who works for a robotic technology company that is marketing a toy robot (30) _____ Pleo. "We have only one child but I could easily (31) _____ five or six robots in the home as well."

Within the next 10 years one will be able to (32) _____, to lease or purchase a domestic robot that not only does the household cleaning and prepare and serve his meals, (33) _____ also can carry him to the bathtub if he cannot walk.

Demographic changes, such as a rapidly aging population and a shrinking workforce, will drive forward the application of new (34) ___. There is going to be a real pull for increasing the productivity of working age people. So there is going to be a real push for robotics to help people. (35) _____ addition, it is likely that in the near future we will see robots- taking on some of the care functions elderly, or long-term ill people.

(28) _____

Choose the word or phrase among A, B, C or D that best fits the blank spare in the following passage.

Most people need some preparation before they are (1) ____ for the workforce, and planning should begin long before it is time to start a career. 

Many high school students don't yet know what they want to do. High school is a great time to start thinking about careers. Setting on just one (2) ____ in high school isn't necessary, but they should know how to explore careers and put time into investigating them and learning about their skills and interests.

Understanding what you enjoy and what you are good at is the first step in (3) ____ careers. It is important to think about what you like to do because work will eventually be a big part of the life. Once you have thought about the subjects and activities you like best, the next step is to look for careers that put those interests to use. If you love sports, for example, you might (4) ____ a career as a gym teacher, or a coach.

Another approach to identifying potential career interests is to consider local employers and the types of jobs they have. There are many jobs in manufacturing and healthcare near the high school. Talking directly to workers can help you get (5) ____ about what they do. If you don't know workers in occupations (6) ____ interest you, ask people such as parents, friends, or teachers for their (7) ____.

If job (8) ____ gives you a taste of what an occupation is like, imagine how helpful getting experience could be. Students can begin getting career-related experiences in high school through internships, employment, and other activities. Completing an internship is an excellent (9) ____ get experience. Internships are temporary, supervised (10) ____ designed to give students practical job training.

(4) ______

Read the passage below and choose the best answer (A, B, C or D ) to each question.

Higher education, also called tertiary, third stage or post secondary education, is the non-compulsory educational level following the completion of a school providing a secondary education, such as a high school, secondary school. Tertiary education is normally taken to include undergraduate and postgraduate education, as well as vocational education and training. Colleges and universities are the main institutions that provide tertiary institutions. Tertiary education generally results in the receipt of certificates, diplomas, or academic degrees.

Higher education includes teaching, research and social services activities of universities, and within the realm of teaching, it includes both the undergraduate level and the graduate level. Higher education in that country generally involves work towards a degree-level or foundation degree qualification. It is therefore very important to national economies, both as a significant industry in its own right, and as a source of trained and educated personnel for the rest of the economy.

_________is important to national economies.

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct word or phrase that best fits each of the numbered blanks.
Sugar was for a long time a luxury and in the opinion of the medical profession it still should be. During the nineteenth century, however, manufactures discovered (6)........... of producing it in vast quantities and it has since become one of the staple articles of diet, particularly for the lower social classes. It has the advantages of being comparatively cheap, easily digested, rich in energy and useful for flavoring. Its major drawbacks are that it lacks every nourishing quality except that of giving energy, and because of its attractive flavor it (7).......... to displace other much more valuable foods from the diet. Most serious of all is its adverse (8).........   on  health, since excessive consumption can cause heart trouble, obesity and dental decay. The latter is widespread among the inhabitants of western countries. From the very young to the very old, (9).............anyone  escapes.  Yet  if  parents  would  drastically  reduce  the  (10).............. of confectionery they allow their children to eat, the extend of dental decay would soon be made
(9).....................................

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct word or phrase that best fits each of the numbered blanks.
Many people love boats. Going out on the water on a warm summer day is a lot of (1)......... (2).......... , different people like different kinds of boats. Two of the most popular kinds of boat are sailboats and speedboats. Sailboats use the (3)............ to give them power. They only have small engines. In contrast, speedboats have large engines and go very fast. Furthermore, speedboats are usually not as (4).......  as sailboats. Speedboats are small so that they can go fast. Sailboats, on the other hand, are big so that they are more comfortable. ( 5)....... , sailboats can travel into the ocean, but this would be very dangerous in a speedboat. You can only use speedboats on rivers or lakes.
(4)............................

Animation traditionally is done by hand-drawing or painting successive frame of an object,  each slightly different than the proceeding frame. In computer animation, although the computer  may be the one to draw the different frames, in most cases the artist will draw the beginning and  ending frames and the computer will produce the drawings between the first and the last drawing.  This is generally referred to as computer-assisted animation, because the computer is more of a  helper than an originator. 
In full computer animation, complex mathematical formulas are used to produce the final  sequences of pictures. These formulas operate on extensive databases of numbers that defines the  objects in the pictures as they exist in mathematical space. The database consists of endpoints,  and color and intensity information. Highly trained professionals are needed to produce such  effects because animation that obtains high degrees of realism involves computer techniques from three-dimensional transformation, shading, and curvatures. 
High-tech computer animation for film involves very expensive computer systems along  with special color terminals or frame buffers. The frame buffer is nothing more than a giant image  memory for viewing a single frame. It temporarily holds the image for display on the screen. 
A camera can be used to film directly from the computer’s display screen, but for the  highest quality images possible, expensive film recorders are used. The computer computers the  positions and colors for the figures in the picture, and sends this information to the recorder,  which captures it on film. Sometimes, however, the images are stored on a large magnetic disk  before being sent to the recorder. Once this process is completed, it is replaced for the next frame.  When the entire sequence has been recorded on the film, the film must be developed before the  animation can be viewed. If the entire sequence does not seem right, the motions must be  corrected, recomputed, redisplayed, and rerecorded. This approach can be very expensive and time – consuming. Often, computer-animation companies first do motion tests with simple computer  generated line drawings before selling their computers to the task of calculating the high resolution, realistic-looking images.

Which of the following statement is supported by the passage?

Read the passage carefully and choose the correct answer.

In the future, genetic engineering will allow us to create the perfect human. It will be hard to get used to. Parents will order a baby who will grow up to become a genius or to have a Miss World appearance. Also, genetic engineering will allow us to mix plants and animals. As computers have advanced, they have helped us remember, calculate, organize, and clarify. So it will become easier to deal with things, and much quicker.

At a point in a future time, some may claim that computers become about as smart as Newton or Einstein. More advanced computers will be able to be creative, respond to feelings in a feeling way, develop intuition, recognize patterns, and suggest innovative alternatives. There is a hope if we choose to take action. We can select Internet information wisely, choose healthy computer games, limit our exposure to television commercials, and select television programs carefully. People will be aware of the importance of keeping active, getting outside to do more physical activities. We will also plan to make a major sacrifice the next time we buy a car, take the bus. Everybody will be more concerned about making environmentally friendly choices, eating healthy, and helping build a healthier society by shopping at better stores that sell better food.

Most people will be aware that a happy, loving family is a joy to be part of, and that it is a necessary foundation for building a strong society. But it is extremely important for our future that we maintain a healthy perspective. We need to value and appreciate the importance of what can be achieved by loving and committed parents. People need a strong foundation, so it is vital for our society that we encourage parents to work at creating love, joy, and happiness for their children in a decent, stable, and productive atmosphere.

The phrase to have a Miss World appearance means _______.