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.
 The story of gold is an adventure involving kings, queens, pirates, explorers, conquerors, and the native peoples they conquered. Throughout history, gold has woven a magic spell over those it touched. Gold is beautiful and rare; a soft shiny metal that can be moulded into many (1)...... . It has been used for money, jewelry, and to decorate special buildings such as palaces and places of worship. (2)......the precious metal was discovered, prospectors rushed to mine it, starting new cities and countries as they went. Gold and the people who love it have helped shape the world we live (3).........today. Gold is one of many elements, or substances that cannot be changed by normal chemical means, that are found in the Earth's crust. Gold has a warm, sunny colour and (4)......... it does not react with air, water, and most chemicals, its shine never fades. In its natural (5)........... , gold is soft and easily shaped. When heated to 1,062 Celsius it melts and can be poured into moulds to form coins, gold bars, and other objects. Stories have been told, movies made and legends bom about the discovery of the world’s great gold deposits. It is a saga of dreams, greed, ambition and exploration.
(3)...................................

Interest is the sum charged for borrowing money for a fixed period of time. Principal is the term used for the money that is borrowed, and the rate of interest is the percent per year of the principal charged for its use. Most of the profits for a bank are derived from the interest that they charge for the use of their own or their depositor’s money.
All problems in interest may be solved by using one general equation that may be stated as follows:
Interest = Principal X Rate X Time
Any one of the four quantities – that is, interest, principal, rate, or time – may be found when the other three are known. The time is expressed in years. The rate is expressed as a decimal fraction. Thus, 6 percent interest means six cents charged for the use of $1 of principal borrowed for one year. Although the time may be less than, equal to, or greater than one year, most applications for loans are for periods of less than one year. For purpose of computing interest for short periods, the commercial year or 360 days is commonly used, but when large sums of money are involved, exact interest is computed on the basis of 365 days.

The word “periods” in paragraph 3 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.
A healthy way to know a city Maybe you are staying in a city, and there is no park nearby where you can take your morning job. One of the more recent trend is to go on a running tour, but you are not leading the way. Rather, a running enthusiast (1).......   knows the best (2)..... in the city acts as your guide. You are going out for a run, but you are also being shown highlights of the city while you are doing it.
Guided running tours are a trend that seems to be catching (3)...... in quite a few of the bigger cities in the United States. New York City, Chicago, and San Francisco are just three of the major cities that  have  running  tours in (4)........... They offer these tours to individuals, groups, and even for corporate events. If you are going into a city with colleagues to attend a business meeting or a convention, what better way is there to see the city and network with others (5) .......while taking a healthy run? 
(2).......................................

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

Vietnam is considered a third world country, its people live (26) _____ poverty by the millions. After the (27) _____, Vietnam's economy remained dominated by small-scale production, low labor productivity, (28) _____, material and technological shortfalls, and insufficient food and (29) _____ goods. The Doi Moi reforms that were instated in 1986 have shed new light and added new features to the Vietnamese economy. (30) ____ Vietnamese Communist Party plays a leading role in establishing the foundations and principles of communism, mapping strategies for economic development, setting growth targets, and (31) _____ reforms. Doi Moi combined government planning with free-market incentives and (32) _____ the establishment of private businesses and foreign investment, including foreign-owned enterprises. By the late 1990s, the success of the business and agricultural reforms ushered in under Doi Moi was evident. (33) _____ than 30,000 private businesses had been created, and the economy was growing at an annual (34) _____ of more than 7 percent. Farming systems research and the international development projects are a source of new hope for the people of Vietnam. If these recent projects are successful and Doi Moi continues on its current path the Vietnamese people may (35) _____ a new standard of living. More reforms like Doi Moi need to take place in order to create a more stable Vietnamese future.

(34) _____

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Theresa May, the second female Britain’s prime minister following Margaret Thatcher, revealed in 2013 that she had been given a diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes, a condition that requires daily insulin injections. Asked later how she felt about the diagnosis, she said her approach to it was the same as toward everything in her life: “Just get on and deal with it.” That kind of steeliness brought her to center stage in the aftermath of Britain’s vote to leave the European Union and the feuding that erupted in the Conservative Party over who would succeed David Cameron.
Ms” May, 59 years old, is the country’s longest-serving home secretary in half a century, with a reputation for seriousness, hard work and above all, determination. She is one of a growing number of women in traditionally male-dominated British politics rising to the upper position of leadership.
Bom in 1956, Ms. May grew up mainly in Oxford shire, an only child who was first drawn to the Conservative Party at age 12. As a conscientious student, she never rebelled against her religious upbringing and remains a regular churchgoer. Tellingly, her sports hero was Geoffrey Boycott, a solid, stubborn cricketer who specialized in playing the long game.
Like many other Britain’s prime minister including Tony Blair, Sir Robert Peel and Margaret Thatcher, she won a place at Oxford. But while almost every other political leader got there by way of Eton College and joined Oxford’s hedonistic Bullingdon Club, she attended a state secondary school and had a more sedate university career. After unsuccessful attempts to be elected to the House of Commons in 1992 and 1994, she finally became an MP in 1997 general election.
May is known for a love of fashion and in particular distinctive shoes. She even wore leopard-print shoes to her final Cabinet meeting as Home Secretary in early 2016. However, she has been quite critical of the media focusing on her fashion instead of her achievement as a politician. May also describes cooking and walking as primary hobbies, and if someone is raising questions about why walking can be classified as a hobby, she elaborates in a column for Balance magazine, in which she wrote of her battle with diabetes.

The most prominent characteristic of Theresa May is ...................

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Twenty-five students from Walling School are currently living in France. They are there for three months as part of a living-abroad project. The 16- and 17-year-old students are living with French families and attending a French school. Most of the students have taken French language classes for 3 or 4 years and are finally getting an opportunity to use their French.
Not only are students learning a new language, but they are learning about a new culture, too. Students have been particularly surprised about the French attitude towards food. “They won’t leave anything on their plate,” says Vanessa Athol. “They aren’t wasteful at all.” Vanessa has vowed to be more careful with waste when returning to the United States.
The group’s chaperone, Mrs. Smith, has been pleased with the students’ acquisition of language. “Even the most timid are trying their best to speak. The students are learning a lot. I’m very impressed,” she said. Mrs. Smith added that she thinks living with a French family makes a difference because students are forced to speak French. “We are all very grateful to the French families who are hosting us.”
The French families are happy to have the students, as they are getting to leam about American culture. Both groups will be celebrating the exchange at a large potluck dinner at the end of the stay. There will be a slide show of memories and the students will speak about their experiences. Currently, the American students are periodically posting pictures and student essays on the Walling School website. “Living in France is an experience I’ll never forget,” writes student Tina Davis. “I know I’ll want to eat these croissants and this Camembert for the rest of my life!”

According to the passage, which of the following is TRUE?

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.
A healthy way to know a city Maybe you are staying in a city, and there is no park nearby where you can take your morning job. One of the more recent trend is to go on a running tour, but you are not leading the way. Rather, a running enthusiast (1).......   knows the best (2)..... in the city acts as your guide. You are going out for a run, but you are also being shown highlights of the city while you are doing it.
Guided running tours are a trend that seems to be catching (3)...... in quite a few of the bigger cities in the United States. New York City, Chicago, and San Francisco are just three of the major cities that  have  running  tours in (4)........... They offer these tours to individuals, groups, and even for corporate events. If you are going into a city with colleagues to attend a business meeting or a convention, what better way is there to see the city and network with others (5) .......while taking a healthy run? 
(4).......................................

Read the passage and choose the best answers:

In the United States and Canada, it is very important to (1)___________ a person directly in the eyes when you are having a conversation with him or her. If you look down or to the side when the other person is talking, that person will think that you are not interested in (2)___________ he or she is saying. This, (3) __________is not polite. If you look down or to the side when you are talking, it might seem that you are not honest.

However, people who are speaking will sometimes look away for a few seconds when they are thinking or (4)______________ to find the right word. But they always turn immediately back to look the listener directly in the eyes. These social "rules" are (5)___________ for two men, two women, a man and a woman, or an adult and a child.

(4)___________

Before the 1500’s, the Western plains of North America were dominated by farmers. One group, the Mandans, lived in the upper Missouri River country, primarily in present-day North Dakota. They had large villages of houses built close together. The tight arrangement enabled the Mandans to protect themselves more easily from the attacks of others who might seek to obtain some of the food these highly capable farmers stored from one year to the next.
The women had primary responsibility for the fields. They had to exercise considerable skill to produce the desired results, for their northern location meant fleeting growing seasons. Winter often lingered; autumn could be ushered in by severe frost. During the spring and summer, drought, heat, hail, grasshoppers, and other frustrations might await the wary grower.
Under such conditions, Mandan women had to grow maize capable of weathering adversity. They began as early as it appeared feasible to do so in the spring, clearing the land, using fire to clear stubble from the fields and then planting. From this point until the first green corn could be harvested, the crop required labor and vigilance. Harvesting proceeded in two stages. In August the Mandans picked a smaller amount of the crop before it had matured fully. This green corn was boiled, dried, and shelled, with some of the maize slated for immediate consumption and the rest stored in animal-skin bags. Later in the fall, the people picked the rest of the corn. They saved the best of the harvest for seeds or for trade, with the remainder eaten right away or stored for later use in underground reserves. With appropriate banking of the extra food, the Mandans protected themselves against the disaster of crop failure and accompanying hunger.
The women planted another staple, squash, about the first of June, and harvested it near the time of the green corn harvest. After they picked it, they sliced it, dried it, and strung the slices before they stored them. Once again, they saved the seed from the best of the year`s crop. The Mandans also grew sunflowers and tobacco; the latter was the particular task of the older men.

According to the passage, the Mandans preserved their food by ...........

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In the United States, friendship can be close, constant, intense, generous and real, yet fade away in a short time if circumstances change. Neither side feels hurt by this. Both may exchange Christmas greetings for a year or two, perhaps a few letters for a while - then no more. If the same two people meet again by chance, even years later, they pick up the friendship where they left off and are delighted.
In the United States, you can feel free to visit people's homes, share their holidays, or enjoy their lives without fear that they are taking on a lasting obligation. Do not hesitate to accept hospitality because you can’t give it in turn. No one will expect you to do so for they know you are far from home. Americans will enjoy welcoming you and be pleased if you accept their hospitality easily.
Once you arrived there, the welcome will be fun, warm, and real. Most visitors find themselves readily invited into many homes there. In some countries it is considered inhospitable to entertain at home, offering what is felt as only home cooked food, not doing something for your guests." It is felt that restaurant entertaining shows more respect and welcome. Or for other different reasons, such as crowded space, language difficulties, or family customs, outsiders are not invited into homes.
In the United States, both methods are used, but it is often considered friendlier to invite a person to one's home than to go to a public place, except in purely business relationship. So, if your host or hostess brings you home, do not feel that you are being shown inferior treatment.
Don't feel neglected if you do not find flowers awaiting you in your hotel room, either. Flowers are very expensive there; hotel delivery is uncertain; arrival times are delayed, changed or cancelled - so flowers are not customarily sent as a welcoming touch. Please do not feel unwanted! Outward signs vary in different lands; the inward welcome is what matters, and this will be real.

In the United States, friendship will    if circumstances change.

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After the Anasazi abandoned southwestern Colorado in the late 1200s or early 1300s, history’s pages are blank. The Anasazi were masons and apartment builders who occupied the deserts, river valleys, and mesas of this region for over a thousand years, building structures that have weathered the test of time.
The first Europeans to visit southwestern Colorado were the ever-restless, ambitious Spanish, who sought gold, pelts, and slaves. In 1765, under orders from the Spanish governor in Santa Fe, Juan Maria Antonio Rivera led a prospecting and trading party into the region. Near the Dolores River in southwestern Colorado, he found some insignificant silver-bearing rocks, and it is thought that it was he who named the mountains nearby the Sierra de la Plata or the Silver Mountains. Rivera found little of commercial value that would interest his superiors in Santa Fe, but he did open up a route that would soon lead to the establishment of the Old Spanish Trail. This expedition and others to follow left names on the land which are only reminders we have today that the Spanish once explored this region.
In 1776, one of the men who had accompanied Rivera, Andre Muniz, acted as a guide for another expedition. That party entered southwestern Colorado in search of a route west to California, traveling near today’s towns of Durango and Dolores. Along the way, they camped at the base of a large green mesa which today carries the name Mesa Verde. They were the first Europeans to record the discovery of an Anasazi archeological site in southwestern Colorado.
By the early 1800s, American mountain men and trappers were exploring the area in their quest for beaver pelts. Men like Peg-leg Smith were outfitted with supplies in the crossroads trapping town of Taos, New Mexico. These adventurous American trappers were a tough bunch. They, possibly more than any other newcomers, penetrated deeply into the mountain fastness of southwestern Colorado, bringing back valuable information about the area and discovering new routes through the mountains. One of the trappers, William Becknell, the father of the Santa Fe Trail, camped in the area of Mesa Verde, where he found pottery shards, stone houses, and other Anasazi remains.

What does the passage mainly discuss?

It was the first photograph that I had ever seen, and it fascinated me. I can remember holding it at every angle in order to catch the flickering light from the oil lamp on the dresser. The man in the photograph was unsmiling, but his eyes were kind. I had never met him, but I felt that I knew him. One evening when I was looking at the photograph, as I always did before I went to sleep, I noticed a shadow across the man’s thin face. I moved the photograph so that the shadow lay perfectly around his hollow cheecks. How different he looked!
That night I could not sleep, thinking about the letter that I would write. First, I would tell him that I was eleven years old, and that if he had a little girl my age, she could write to me instead of him. I knew that he was a very busy man. Then I would explain to him the real purpose of my letter. I would tell him how wonderful he looked with the shadow that I had seen across his photograph, and I would most carefully suggest that he grow whiskers.
Four months later when I met him at the train station near my home in Westfield, New York, he was wearing a full beard. He was so much taller than I had imagined from my tiny photograph.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” he said, “I have no speech to make and no time to make it in. I appear before you that I may see you and that you may see me.” Then he picked me right up and kissed me on both cheeks. The whiskers scratched. “Do you think I look better, my little friend?” he asked me.
My name is Grace Bedell, and the man in the photograph was Abraham Lincoln.

The word “fascinated” in paragraph 1 could best be replaced by.........

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
Welcome to the Netherlands, a tiny country that only extends, at its broadest, 312 km north to  south, and 264 km east to west - (1) ......... the land area increases slightly each year as a result of continuous land reclamation and drainage. With a lot of heart and much to offer, ‘Holland,’ as it is (2).......known to most of us abroad - a name stemming from its once most prominent provinces - has more  going  on  per  kilometer  than  most  countries,  and  more  English-speaking  natives.  You’ll  be impressed by its (3).....cities and charmed by its countryside and villages, full of contrasts. From the exciting variety on offer, you could choose a romantic canal boat tour in Amsterdam, a Royal Tour by coach in The Hague, or a hydrofoil tour around the biggest harbour in the world - Rotterdam. In season you could visit the dazzling bulb fields, enjoy a full day on a boat, or take a bike tour through the pancake-flat countryside spiced with windmills. The possibilities are countless and the nationwide tourist office is on hand to give you information and help you (4)...... reservations.  You’ll  have (5)........language problems here, as the Dutch are true linguists and English is spoken here almost universally.
(5)...........................

Read the following passage and choose among A, B, C or D the correct answer to each of the questions.

FIRST TIME IN THE AIR

When John Mills was going to fly in an aero plane for the first time, he was frightened.

He did not like the idea of being thousands of feet up in the air. "I also didn't like the fact that I wouldn't be in control," says John.

"I'm a terrible passenger in the car. When somebody else is driving, I tell them what to so. It drives everybody crazy."

However John couldn't avoid flying any longer. It was the only way he could visit his grandchildren in Canada.

"I had made up my mind that I was going to do it, I couldn't let my son, his wife and their three children travel all the way here to visit me. It would be so expensive for them and I know Tom's business isn't doing so well at the moment - it would also be tiring for the children - it's a nine-hour flight!" he says.

To get ready for the flight John did lots of reading about aero planes. When he booked his seat, he was told that he would be flying on a Boeing 747, which is better known as a jumbo jet. "I needed to know as much as possible before getting in that plane. I suppose it was a way of making myself feel better. The Boeing 747 is the largest passenger aircraft in the world at the moment. The first one flew on February 9th 1969 in the USA. It can carry up to 524 passengers and 3.400 pieces of luggage. The fuel for aero planes is kept in the wings and the 747 is wings are so big that they can carry enough fuel for an average car to be able to travel 16,000 kilometers a year for 70 years. Isn't that unbelievable? Even though I had discovered all this very interesting information about the jumbo, when I saw it for the first time, just before I was going to travel to Canada, I still couldn't believe that something so enormous was going to get up in the air and fly. I was even more impressed when I saw how big it was inside with hundreds of people!"

The biggest surprise of all for John was the flight itself. "The take-off itself was much smoother than I expected although I was still quite scared until we were in the air. In the end, I managed to relax, enjoy the food and watch one of the movies and the view from the window was spectacular. I even managed to sleep for a while! Of course," continues John, "the best reward of all was when I arrived in Canada and saw my son and his family, particularly my beautiful grandchildren. Suddenly, I felt so silly about all the years when I couldn't even think of getting on a plane. I had let my fear of living stop me from seeing the people I love most in the world. I can visit my son and family as often as I like now!"

Why did John read about aero plane?

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What geologists call the Basin and Range Province in the United States roughly coincides in its northern portions with the geographic province known as the Great Basin. The Great Basin is hemmed in west by the Sierra Nevada and on the east Line by the Rocky Mountains; it has no outlet to the sea. The prevailing winds in the Great Basin are from the west. Warm, moist air from the Pacific Ocean is forced upward as it crosses the Sierra Nevada. At the higher altitudes it cools and the moisture it carries is precipitated as rain or snow on the western slopes of the mountains. That which reaches the Basin is air wrung dry of moisture. What little water falls there as rain or snow, mostly in the winter months, evaporates on the broad, flat desert floors. It is, therefore, an environment in which organisms battle for survival. Along the rare watercourses, cottonwoods and willows eke out a sparse existence. In the upland ranges, pinion pines and junipers struggle to hold their own.
But the Great Basin has not always been so arid. Many of its dry, closed depressions were once filled with water. Owens Valley, Panamint Valley, and Death Valley were once a string of interconnected lakes .The two largest of the ancient lakes of the Great Basin were Lake Lahontan and Lake Bonneville. The Great Salt Lake is all that remains of the latter, and Pyramid Lake is one of the last briny remnants of the former. There seem to have been several periods within the last tens of thousands of years when water accumulated in these basins. The rise and fall of the lakes were undoubtedly linked to the advances and retreats of the great ice sheets that covered much of the northern part of the North American continent during those times.
Climatic changes during the Ice Ages sometimes brought cooler, wetter weather to mid latitude deserts worldwide, including those of the Great Basin. The broken valleys of the Great Basin provided ready receptacles for this moisture.

Why does the author mention cottonwoods and willows?

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Working on the computer is very tough on your body, which is not used to this modem type of work. Sitting has long been known to cause back pain and negatively influence circulation, which can promote cardiovascular disease. Extensive use of the keyboard and mouse can lead to stiffening of the muscles in your hands, arms, and neck. Staring at a bright screen for too long can cause dry eyes and headaches. So, computer work can be as unhealthy a job as you can imagine.
First and foremost, sitting for long stretches of time is a very serious health risk! Sitting affects your blood circulation, your back experiences a steady stress, you are more likely to drink and eat stuff that isn’t good for you, and you bum very little calories, making it more likely that you overeat. As a result, sitting contributes to a host of conditions, most notably gaining weight, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and consequently a shortened life span.
Second, bad posture causes pain. You can develop bad posture from anything you do habitually, whether it’s sitting, standing, or walking. The typical consequences associated with bad posture while working on the computer are pain in the back, shoulder, and neck, often resulting in tension headaches.
Third, staring at the screen causes eve strain. Staring at a bright screen for hours can lead to eye fatigue or eye strain, headaches, blurred vision, burning, itching or tearing eyes, and temporary vision disorders. Fortunately, eye strain rarely results in a permanent condition and symptoms can be prevented or cured rather easily.
Last, but not least, emotional pressure and isolation cause anxiety and depression. Computers are very efficient tools in that they help us with getting more work done in less time. At the same time, you spend less face-to-face time with your colleagues, family, or friends. This can lead to isolation, anxiety, and depression, i.e. both physical and mental health issues. The symptoms are manifold and can include tense muscles, back pain, headaches, poor sleep (insomnia), increased or flat breathing, quickened pulse, and generally signs of stress, depression, or anxiety.

What is NOT mentioned as a cause of health issues related to working on the computer?

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For many American university students, the weeklong spring break holiday means on endless party on a sunny beach in Florida or Mexico. In Panama City Beach in Florida, a city with permanent population of around 36.000, more than half a million university students arrive during the month of March to play and party, making it the number one spring break destination in the United States
A weeklong drinking binge is not for everyone, however and a growing number of American university students have found a way to make spring break matter. For them, joining or leading a group of volunteers to travel locally or internationally and work to alleviate problems such as poverty, homelessness, or environmental damage makes spring break a unique learning experience that university students can feel good about.
During one spring break students at James Madison University in Virginia participated in 15 alternative spring break" trips to nearby states, three others to more distant parts of the United States and five international trips. One group of JMU students travelled to Bogalusa, Louisiana to help rebuild homes damaged by Hurricane Katrina. Another group traveled to Mississippi to organize creative activities for children living in homeless shelter. One group of students did go to exhausting physical labor such Florida. but not to lie on the sand. They performed as maintaining hiker rails and destroying invasive plant species that threaten the native Florida ecosystem.
Students who participate in alternative spring break projects find them very rewarding. While most university students have to get their degrees before they can start helping people, students volunteers are able to help people now. On the other hand, the accommodations are far from glamorous. Students often sleep on the floor of a school or church, or spend the week camping in tents. But students only pay around
$250 for meals and transportation, which is much less than some their peers spend to travel to more traditional spring break hotspots
Alternative spring break trips appear to be growing in popularity at universities across the United States. Students cite a number of reasons for participating. Some appreciate the opportunity to socialize and meet new friends. Others want to exercise their beliefs about peoples obligation to serve humanity and make the world a better place. Whatever their reasons, these students have discovered something that gives them rich rewards along with a break from school work.

How many university students travel to Panama Beach City every March for spring break?

In addition to the great ridges and volcanic chains, the oceans conceal another form of undersea mountains: the strange guyot, or flat-topped seamount. No marine geologist even suspected the existence of these isolated mountains until they were discovered by geologist Harry H. Hess in 1946.
He was serving at the time as naval officer on a ship equipped with a fathometer. Hess named these truncated peaks for the nineteenth-century Swiss-born geologist Arnold Guyot, who had served on the faculty of Princeton University for thirty years. Since then, hundreds of guyots have been discovered in every ocean but the Arctic. Like offshore canyons, guyots present a challenge to oceanographic theory. They are believed to be extinct volcanoes. Their flat tops indicate that they once stood above or just below the surface, where the action of waves leveled off their peaks. Yet today, by definition, their summits are at least 600 feet below the surface, and some are as deep as 8,200 feet. Most lie between 3,200 feet and 6,500 feet. Their tops are not really flat but slope upward to a low pinnacle at the center. Dredging from the tops of guyots has recovered basalt and coral rubble, and that would be expected from the eroded tops of what were once islands. Some of this material is over 80 million years old. Geologists think the drowning of the guyots involved two processes: The great weight of the volcanic mountains depressed the sea floor beneath them, and the level of the sea rose a number of times, especially when the last Ice Age ended, some 8,000 to 11,000 years ago.

The word “conceal” is closest in meaning to which of the following?

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These days in business, people have to face many challenging questions when designing and implementing new projects in undeveloped areas of the countryside. One issue which has to be faced is whether it is possible to introduce new technology without destroying the local environment. Economic (1)..... and environmental conservation are often seen as natural enemies. It is unfortunate that in the past this has often been true, and it has been necessary to choose between (2)......the project or protecting the environment. However, by taking environmental considerations (3)........ at an early stage in a project, companies can significantly reduce any impact on local plants and animals. For example, in southern Africa, a company called CEL was asked to put up 410 km of a power transmission line without disturbing the rare birds which inhabit that area. The project was carried out with (4)....... disturbance last summer. What may surprise many business people is the fact that this consideration for local wildlife did not in any way slow down the project. Indeed, the necessary advance  planning combined  with  local  knowledge  and  advanced technology, (5).......... that  the  project  was actually completed ahead of schedule. CEL was contracted to finish the job by October and managed to do so two months earlier.
(3).........................

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The ocean bottom - a region nearly 2.5 times greater than the total land area of the Earth - is a vast frontier that even today is largely unexplored and uncharted. Until about a century ago, the deep ocean floor was completely inaccessible, hidden beneath waters averaging over 3,600 meters deep. Totally without light and subjected to intense pressures hundreds of times greater than at the Earth's surface, the deep-ocean bottom is a hostile environment to humans, in some ways as forbidding and remote as the void of outer space.
Although researchers have taken samples of deep-ocean rocks and sediments for over a century, the first detailed global investigation of the ocean bottom did not actually start until 1968, with the beginning of the National Science Foundation's Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP). Using techniques first developed for the offshore oil and gas industry, the DSDP's drill ship, the Glomar Challenger, was able to maintain a steady position on the ocean's surface and drill in very deep waters, extracting samples of sediments and rock from the ocean floor.
The Glomar Challenger completed 96 voyages in a 15-year research program that ended in November 1983. During this time, the vessel logged 600,000 kilometers and took almost 20,000 core samples of seabed sediments and rocks at 624 drilling sites around the world. The Glomar Challenger's core samples have allowed geologists to reconstruct what the planet looked like hundreds of millions of years ago and to calculate what it will probably look like millions of years in the future. Today, largely on the strength of evidence gathered during the Glomar Challenger's voyages, nearly all earth scientists agree on the theories of plate tectonics and continental drift that explain many of the geological processes that shape the Earth.
The cores of sediment drilled by the Glomar Challenger have also yielded information critical to understanding the world's past climates. Deep-ocean sediments provide a climatic record stretching back hundreds of millions of years, because they are largely isolated from the mechanical erosion and the intense chemical and biological activity that rapidly destroy much land-based evidence of past climates. This record has already provided insights into the patterns and causes of past climatic change - information that may be used to predict future climates.

The word "inaccessible" in the first paragraph is closest in meaning to     .

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:
On the tiny island of Flores, east of Bali and midway between Asia and Australia, the scientists have discovered the remains of a small, hobbit-like species of humans. These people grew no larger than the modern three-year-old child. They lived about 18,000 years ago and are completely different species of human.
This discovery has taught scientists a lot about the human species. This remarkable discovery shows that the human species is more varied and flexible in its ability to adapt than previously thought. These hobbit-like people join a short list of other type of humans that lived with modern humans.
The researchers believe that these hobbits evolved from a normal size, human population that reached Flores around 840,000 years ago. One likely explanation is that, over thousands of years, the species became smaller because the environmental conditions favored a smaller body size. The dwarfing of mammals on islands occurs frequently. Islands limit food supply and predators and species compete for the same environmental space. Survival would depend on minimizing energy requirements.a

Which of the following best favors a smaller body size?