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 ability of falling cats to right themselves in midair and land on their feet has been a source of wonder for ages. Biologists long regarded it as an example of adaptation by natural selection, but for physicists it bordered on the miraculous.
Newton's laws of motion assume that the total amount of spin of a body cannot change unless an external torque speeds it up or slows it down. If a cat has no spin when it isreleased and experiences no external torque, it ought not to be able to twist around as it falls.
In the speed of its execution, the righting of a tumbling cat resembles a magician's trick. The gyrations of the cat in midair are too fast for the human eye to follow, so the process is obscured. Either the eye must be speeded up, or the cat's fall slowed down for the phenomenon to be observed. A century ago the former was accomplished by means of high-speed photography using equipment now available in any pharmacy. But in the nineteenth century the capture on film of a falling cat constituted a scientific experiment.
The experiment was described in a paper presented to the Paris Academy in 1894. Two sequences of twenty photographs each, one from the side and one from behind, show a white cat in the act of righting itself. Grainy and quaint though they are, the photos show that the cat was dropped upside down, with no initial spin, and still landed on its feet. Careful analysis of the photos reveals the secret; as the cat rotates the front of its body clockwise, the rear and tail twist counterclockwise, so that the total spin remains zero, in perfect accord with Newton's laws. Halfway down, the cat pulls in its legs before reversing its twist and then extends them again, with the desired end result. The explanation was that while nobody can acquire spin without torque, a flexible one can readily change its orientation, or phase. Cats know this instinctively, but scientists could not be sure how it happened until they increased the speed of their perceptions a thousandfold.

How did scientists increase “the speed of their perceptions a thousandfold” (lines 25-26)?

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct word for each of the blanks.
In Japan, politeness and good manners are very important and business meetings are very formal. Business cards are also important and they (1).....these at the beginning of a meeting. They always look at them carefully, so you should do the same as they might think you're rude if you don't. A lot of communication is non-verbal. They are very good listeners and may ask a lot of questions to  (2)...... they understand everything.
In a conversation they  wait  longer  before  they  reply  than  westerners  do,  so  it's  important  (3)........ speak in those long pauses but to wait for their reply. In their culture it's rude to ask direct questions or to say 'No' or 'I disagree'. In business it takes a long time to (4)...... a decision because they have to ask everyone in the company. When they say 'Yes' it may mean 'I understand', not 'I agree', and when they smile it might be because they don't know (5) ....... to say.
(4)..........................

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:
If you could travel back in time five centuries, you'd encounter a thriving Aztec empire in Central Mexico, a freshly painted "Mona Lisa" in Renaissance Europe and cooler temperatures across the Northern Hemisphere. This was a world in the midst of the Little Ice Age (A.D. 1300 to   1850) and a period of vast European exploration now known as  the Age of  Discovery. But what if  we could look 500 years into the future and glimpse the Earth of the 26th century? Would the  world seem as different to us as the 21st century would have seemed to residents of the 16th century? For starters, what will the weather be like?
Depending on whom you ask, the 26th century will either be a little chilly or infernally hot.
Some solar output models suggest that by the 2500s, Earth's climate will have cooled back down to near Little Ice Age  conditions. Other studies predict that ongoing climate change and fossil fuel use will render much of the planet too hot for human life by 2300.
Some experts date the beginning of human climate change back to the Industrial Revolution  in the 1800s, others to slash-and-burn agricultural practices in prehistoric times. Either way, tool- wielding humans alter their environment -- and our 26th century tools might be quite impressive indeed.
Theoretical physicist and futurist Michio Kaku predicts that in a mere 100 years, humanity will make the leap from a type zero civilization to a type I civilization on the Kardashev Scale. In  other words, we'll become a species that can harness the entire sum of a planet's energy. Wielding such power, 26th-century humans will be masters of clean energy technologies such as fusion and solar power. Furthermore, they'll be able to manipulate planetary energy in order to control global climate. Physicist Freeman Dyson, on the other hand, estimates the leap to a type I civilization would occur within roughly 200 years.
Technology has improved exponentially since the 1500s, and this pace will likely continue in   the centuries to come. Physicist Stephen Hawking proposes that by the  year 2600, this growth  would see 10 new theoretical physics papers published every 10  seconds. If  Moore's Law holds  true and both computer speed and complexity double every 18 months, then some of  these  studies may be the work of highly intelligent machines.
What other technologies will shape the world of the 26th century? Futurist and author Adrian Berry believes the average human life span will reach 140 years and that the digital  storage of human personalities will enable a kind of computerized immortality. Humans will farm the oceans, travel in starships and reside in both lunar and Martian colonies while robots explore the outer cosmos.

According to Adrian Berry, the following are what future humans can do, EXCEPT ______.

The relationship between students and teachers is (1)_________formal in the USA than in many other countries, especially at the college level. American college students do not stand up when their teacher enters the room. Students are generally encouraged to ask questions in class, to stop in the professor's of lice for extra help, and to phone if they are absent and need a(n) (2)_________. Most teachers allow students to enter class late or leave early, if necessary. Despite the lack of formality, students are still expected to be polite to their teacher and fellow classmates. When students want to ask questions, they usually (3)__________a hand and wait to be called on. When the teacher or a student is speaking to the class, it is rude to begin whispering (4)_________another classmate. When a test is being given, talking to' a classmate is not only rude but also risky. Most American teachers consider that students who are talking to each other (5) _________a test are cheating.
(5).............................

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D to indicate the answer to each of the question. 
A report from the United Nations given at the conference unveils how worrying the pollution caused by plastic utensils, especially plastic bags, is becoming. In a single minute, the world consumes one million plastic bottles; in a year, the world consumes five billion single-use plastic bags, according to Vietnamplus. The scary fact is that such plastic bottles and bags are not properly treated, as each year, the world discharges 300 million tons of plastic waste, accounting for some 10% of all solid waste, putting the environment and human health under tenterhooks, according to the news site.
The conference also drew attention to another fact: “For a plastic bag that can be used for five minutes, it takes five seconds to produce, one second to discard, but 500 to 1,000 years to become totally decomposed,” says Vietnamplus.
In another message given by the UN General Secretary and delivered at the conference, it is reported that since more than eight million tons of plastic bags end up in the oceans each year, “microplastics in the seas now outnumber stars in our galaxy.” “If present trends continue, by 2050 our oceans will have more plastic than fish,” Dan Tri reports, quoting Caitlin Wiesen, country director of the UN Development Programme in Vietnam.
These above-mentioned fearful facts, however, are not merely global issues, but domestic problems as well, according to local media. Many local news outlets, when relating data from the conference, point out that white pollution – a term used to indicate the overwhelming discharge of plastic bags into the environment – is even getting worse in Vietnam than elsewhere.

What does the phrase “present trends” in paragraph 3 refer to?

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D indicate the correct answer to each of the questions. 
      In the near term, the goal of keeping AI’s impact on society beneficial motivates research in many areas, from economics and law to technical topics such as verification, validity, security and control. Whereas it may be little more than a minor nuisance if your laptop crashes or gets hacked, it becomes all the more important that an AI system does what you want it to do if it controls your car, your airplane, your pacemaker, your automated trading system or your power grid. Another short-term challenge is preventing a devastating arms race in lethal autonomous weapons.
       In the long term, an important question is what will happen if the quest for strong AI succeeds and an AI system becomes better than humans at all cognitive tasks. Such a system could potentially undergo recursive self-improvement, triggering an intelligence explosion leaving human intellect far behind. By inventing revolutionary new technologies, such a superintelligence might help us eradicate war, disease, and poverty, and so the creation of strong AI might be the biggest event in human history. Some experts have expressed concern, though, that it might also be the last, unless we learn to align the goals of the AI with ours before it becomes superintelligent.
      There are some who question whether strong AI will ever be achieved, and others who insist that the creation of superintelligent AI is guaranteed to be beneficial. At FLI we recognize both of these possibilities, but also recognize the potential for an artificial intelligence system to intentionally or unintentionally cause great harm. We believe research today will help us better prepare for and prevent such potentially negative consequences in the future, thus enjoying the benefits of AI while avoiding pitfalls.

According to paragraph 1, what is NOT mentioned as a potential benefit of AI?

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 human criterion for perfect vision is 20/20 for reading the standard lines on a Snellen eye chart without a hitch. The score is determined by how well you read lines of letters of different sizes from 20 feet away. But being able to read the bottom line on the eye chart does not approximate perfection as far as other species are concerned. Most birds would consider us very visually handicapped. The hawk, for instance, has such sharp eyes that it can spot a dime on the sidewalk while perched on top of the Empire State Building.
It can make fine visual distinctions because it is blessed with one million cones per square millimeter in its retina. And in water, humans are farsighted, while the kingfisher, swooping down to spear fish, can see well in both the air and water because it is endowed with two foveae - areas of the eye, consisting mostly of cones, that provide visual distinctions. One fovea permits the bird, while in the air, to scan the water below with one eye at a time. This is called monocular vision. Once it hits the water, the other fovea joins in, allowing the kingfisher to focus both eyes, like binoculars, on its prey at the same time.
A frog’s vision is distinguished by its ability to perceive things as a constant motion picture. Known as “bug detectors”, a highly developed set of cells in a frog’s eyes responds mainly to moving objects. So, it is said that a frog sitting in a field of dead bugs wouldn’t see them as food and would starve. The bee has a “compound” eye, which is used for navigation. It has 15,000 facets that divide what it sees into a pattern of dots, or mosaic. With this kind of vision, the bee sees the sun only as a single dot, a constant point of reference. Thus, the eye is a superb navigational instrument that constantly measures the angle of its line of flight in relation to the sun. A bee’s eye also gauges flight speed. And if that is not enough to leave our 20/20 “perfect vision” paling into insignificance, the bee is capable of seeing something we can’t - ultraviolet light.
Thus, what humans consider to be “perfect vision” is in fact rather limited when we look at other species. However, there is still much to be said for the human eye. Of all the mammals, only humans and some primates can enjoy the pleasures of color vision.

The phrase “without a hitch” 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:
How is the news different from entertainment? Most people would answer that news is real but entertainment is fiction. However, if we think more carefully about the news, it becomes clear that the news is not always real. The news does not show us all the events of the day, but stories  from a small number of chosen events. The creation of news stories is subject to specific constraints, much like the creation of works of fiction. There are many constraints, but three of the most important ones are: commercialism, story formulas, and sources.
Newspapers, radio, and TV stations are businesses, all of which are rivals for audiences and advertising revenue. The amount of time that the average TV station spends on news broadcasts has grown steadily over the last fifty years - largely because news is relatively cheap to produce, yet sells plenty of advertising. Some news broadcasts are themselves becoming advertisements. For example, during one week in 1996 when the American CBS network was airing a movie about the sinking of the Titanic, CBS news ran nine stories about that event (which had happened 84 years before). The ABC network is owned by Disney Studios, and frequently runs news stories about Mickey Mouse. Furthermore, the profit motive drives news organizations to pay more attention to stories likely to generate a large audience, and to shy away from stories that may be important but dull. This pressure to be entertaining has produced shorter, simpler stories: more focus on celebrities than people of substance, more focus on gossip than on news, and more focus on dramatic events than on nuanced issues.
As busy people under relentless pressure to produce, journalists cannot spend days agonizing over the best way to present stories. Instead, they depend upon certain story formulas, which they can reuse again and again. One example is known as the inverted pyramid. In this formula, the journalist puts the most important information at the beginning of the story, than adds the next most important, and so on. The inverted pyramid originates from the age of the telegraph, the idea being that if the line went dead halfway through the story, the journalist would know that the most crucial information had at least been relayed. Modern journalists still value the formula for a similar reason. Their editors will cut stories if they are too long. Another formula involves reducing a complicated story into a simple conflict. The best example is "horse race" election coverage. Thorough explication of the issues and the candidates' views is forbiddingly complex. Journalists therefore concentrate more on who is winning in the opinion polls, and whether the underdog can catch up in the numbers than on politicians' campaign goals.
Sources are another constraint on what journalists cover and how they cover it. The dominant sources for news are public information officers in businesses and government offices. The majority of such officers try to establish themselves as experts who are qualified to feed information to journalists. How do journalists know who is an expert? In general, they don't. They use sources not on the basis of actual expertise, but on the appearance of expertise and the willingness to share it. All the major news organizations use some of the same sources (many of them anonymous), so the same types of stories always receive attention. Over time, the journalists may even become close friends with their sources, and they stop searching for alternative points of view. The result tends to be narrow, homogenized coverage of the same kind.

According to paragraph 2, 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 answer to each of the questions:
Social parasitism involves one species relying on another to raise its young. Among vertebrates, the best known social parasites are such birds as cuckoos and cowbirds; the female lays egg in a nest belonging to another species and leaves it for the host to rear
The dulotic species of ants, however, are the supreme social parasites. Consider, for example, the unusual behavior of ants belonging to the genus Polyergus. All species of this ant have lost the ability to care for themselves. The workers do not forage for food, feed their brood or queen, or even clean their own nest. To compensate for these deficits, Polyergus has become specialized at obtaining workers from the related genus Formica to do these chores
In a raid, several thousand Polyergus workers will travel up to 500 feet in search of a Formica nest, penetrate it, drive off the queen and her workers, capture the pupal brood, and transport it back to their nest. The captured brood is then reared by the resident Formica workers until the developing pupae emerge to add to the Formica population, which maintains the mixed- species nest. The Formica workers forage for food and give it to colony members of both species. They also remove wastes and excavate new chambers as the population increases
The true extent of the Polyergus and dependence on the Formica becomes apparent when the worker population grows too large for existing nest. Formica scouts locate a new nesting site, return to the mixed-species colony, and recruit additional Formica nest mates. During a period that may last seven days, the Formica workers carry to the new nest all the Polyergus eggs, larvae, and pupae, every Polyergus adult, and even the Polyergus queen
Of the approximately 8000 species of ants in the world, all 5 species of Polyergus and some 200 species in other genera have evolved some degree of parasitic relationship with other ants

The word “raise” 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:
Recreational diving or sport diving is a type of diving that uses scuba equipment for the purpose of leisure and enjoyment. In some diving circles, the term "recreational diving" is used in contradistinction to "technical diving", a more demanding aspect of the sport  which  requires greater levels of training, experience and equipment.
Recreational scuba diving grew out of related activities such as snorkeling and underwater hunting. For a long time, recreational underwater excursions were limited by the  amount of  breath that could be held. However, the invention of the aqualung in 1943 by Jacques-Yves Cousteau and its development over subsequent years led to a revolution in recreational diving. However, for much of the 1950s and early1960s, recreational scuba diving was a  sport limited to  those who were able to afford or make their own kit, and prepared to undergo intensive training to use it. As the sport became more popular, manufacturers became aware of the potential market, and equipment began to appear that was easy to use, affordable and reliable. Continued advances in' SCUBA technology, such as buoyancy compensators, modern diving regulators, wet or dry suits,  and dive computers, increased the safety, comfort and convenience of the gear encouraging more people to train and use it.
Until the early 1950s, navies and other organizations performing professional diving were   the only providers of diver training, but only for their own personnel and only using their own    types of equipment. There were no training courses available to civilians who bought the  first  scuba equipment. Professional instruction started in 1959 when the non-profit National Association of Underwater Instructors was formed.
Further developments in technology have reduced the cost of training and diving. Scuba- diving has become a popular leisure activity, and many diving locations have some form of  dive  shop presence that can offer air fills, equipment and training. In tropical and sub-tropical parts of the world, there is a large market in holiday divers, who train and dive while on holiday, but rarely dive  close to home. Generally, recreational diving depths are limited to a maximum of between 30 and 40 meters (100 and 130 feet), beyond which a variety of safety issues make it unsafe to dive using recreation diving equipment and practices, and specialized training and equipment for technical diving are needed.

Recreational diving    _.

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D to indicate the answer to each of the question. 
Australia has a well-organized and well-structured education system. The education starts at the age of five or six, but it may differ by a narrow margin between states. It starts with the preschool education which is not compulsory and can be offered within a school or separately. The primary and secondary school encompasses the compulsory education for Australians. There are a large number of primary and high school across the country with most of them being public schools. It is estimated that public schools amount to 60% of scholars as opposed to 40% in private settings. All these education providers must be licensed by the government and must fulfill certain requirements including infrastructure and teaching. Universities, on the other hand, are mainly public institutions.
The Australian education system has established a standard curriculum so all scholars will be given the same quality of education. Despite there may be some states at which this curriculum is modified a bit, but the change is not that significant. The actual curriculum set out in Australia education system is based on important abilities one must have in his life: Literacy, Numeracy, Information and communication technology, Critical and creative thinking, personal and social capability, ethical understanding, intercultural understanding.
Vocational and Technical schools prepare students that want to skip the university and want to move directly to the job market. Actually, here it stands the difference between universities and colleges: the Vocational and Technical Schools are more oriented in teaching practical skills while university courses are mainly theory-based to lead students to different academic careers. There are hundreds of other schools out there that provide technical and further education (TAFE) and vocational education and training (VET). These schools offer short courses, certificates I through IV, diplomas, and advanced diplomas. They focus on training their students in a particular vocation or just to help their students get out into the workplace. These schools offer a wide variety of courses and qualifications attained by these courses can lead to different career pathways to follow afterward.
Australian higher education modernity and reputation relies on a huge number of educational providers including universities and different training organizations. Currently, there are 43 universities across the country. The vast majority of universities are public except two private universities. The world-class teaching offered is surely undisputed. Seven Australian universities are traditionally found at the top 100 best universities in the world which is a sufficient indicator to highlight their quality.
Besides universities, more than 5,000 training organizations are registered and accredited. Actual figures show that the number of enrolled students is around 3.8 million with international students sharing more than half a million. There are also 3 self-accrediting higher education institutions. Furthermore, dozens of smaller schools do not grant any degrees or have an accreditation – these are private schools that focus on theology, business, information technology, natural therapies, hospitality, health, law, and accounting.

According to paragraph 3, the main difference between universities and Vocational and Technical schools is that _______________.

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:
Jupiter is the largest and most massive planet and is fifth in order of distance from the sun. It is well placed for observation for several months in every year and on average is the brightest of
the planets apart from Venus, though for relatively brief periods Mars may outshine it. Jupiter's less than 10 hour rotation period gives it the shortest day in the solar system in so far as the principal planets are concerned. There are no true seasons on Jupiter because the axial inclination to the perpendicular of the orbital plane is only just over 3°-less than that for any other planet.
The most famous mark on Jupiter is the Great Red Spot. It has shown variations in both intensity and color, and at times it has been invisible, but it always returns after a few years. At its greatest extent it may be 40,000 kilometers long and 14,000 kilometers wide, so its surface area is greater than that of Earth. Though the latitude of the Red Spot varies little, it drifts about in longitude. Over the past century the total longitudinal drift has amounted to approximately 1200°. The latitude is generally very close to -22°. It was once thought that the Red Spot might be a solid or semisolid body floating in Jupiter's outer gas. However, the Pioneer and Voyager results have refuted that idea and proven the Red Spot to be a phenomenon of Jovian meteorology. Its longevity may well due to its exceptional size, but there are signs that it is decreasing in size, and it may not be permanent. Several smaller red spots have been seen occasionally but have not lasted.

According to the passage, which planet typically shines the most brightly?

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

"There's quite a bit of evidence that technology, when used in the right way, ________ (1) students learn. One study, for example, showed that a medical school class with iPads scored 23% ________ (2) on exams than classes without this device.

Technology, such as tablets, isn't only useful for ________ (3) knowledge; it helps with communication as well. Teachers and administrators use such devices to send materials and information ________ (4) students and parents. Students ________ (5) in homework and term papers online and can access educational applications and programs to further assist with learning."

2. One study, for example, showed that a medical school class with iPads scored 23% ________ (2) on exams than classes without this device.

Choose the underlined word or phrase (A, B, C or D) that is incorrect and needs to be changed: Some predictions by early science fiction writers about the future of electronic communication have turned to be extraordinarily accurate

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 letter of application is a sales letter in which you are both salesperson and product, for the purpose of an application is to attract an employer’s attention and persuade him or her to grant you an interview. To do this, the letter presents what you can offer the employer, rather than what you want from the job.
Like a resume, the letter of application is a sample of your work and an opportunity to demonstrate your skills and personality. If it is written with flair and understanding and prepared with prefessional care, it is likely to be very effective. While the resume must be factual, objective, and brief, the letter is your chance to interpret and expand. It should state explicitly how your background relates to the specific job, and it should emphasise your strongest and most relevant characteristics. The letter should demonstrate that you know both yourself and the company.
The letter of application must communicate your ambition and enthusiasm. Yet it must be modest. It should be neither aggressive nor compliant: neither pat yourself on the back nor ask for sympathy. It should never express dissatisfaction with the present or former job or employer. And you should avoid discussing your reasons for leaving your last job.
Finally, it is best that you not broach the subject on salary. Indeed, even if a job advertisement requires that you mention your salary requirements, it is advisable simply to call them “negotiable.” However, when you go on an interview, you should be prepared to mention a salary range. For this reason, you should investigate both your field and, if possible, the particular company. You don’t want to ask for less than you deserve or more than is reasonable.

According to paragraph 1, in a letter of application, the applicant tries to     .

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D to indicate the correct word or phrase that best fits each of the numbered blanks. 
All living things require energy to do the work necessary for survival and reproduction. But what is energy? Energy is simply the ability to do work, (1) _______ work is done when a force moves an object. Let's consider your own needs for a moment. You need energy to turn on and turn off your computer. You need energy to (2) _______ of bed in the morning. And, yes, you need energy to reproduce. So where does energy come from and how do we use it? On Earth, energy ultimately comes from the sun. Plants use the sun's energy to make sugar. Organisms, in turn, use sugar as a (3) _______ of energy to do work.
Plants use energy from sunlight to make sugar and oxygen from carbon dioxide and water. The process by which carbon dioxide and water are (4) _______ to sugar and oxygen using sunlight is referred to as photosynthesis. This is an endergonic reaction, meaning energy is required by the reaction. Specifically, energy is required to put the carbon dioxide and the water molecules together to form sugar. Sun (5) _______ the energy needed to drive photosynthesis, and some of the energy used to make the sugar is stored in the sugar molecule. 

(26)........................

Cable television was born in 1928. Sadly, we are all witnessing its death. Not so long ago, a TV guide could be found on every living room coffee table to help consumers plan their evening TV show lineup. Today, Generation Z consumes video content in a completely different way. These young viewers have placed a premium on flexibility. Rigid time frames outlining ad-laden TV shows are wholly unappealing to such an audience. 
From the type of content they watch and the format they watch it in to the device they watch it on, Gen Z is asking for content to be catered to them. The successful streaming platforms will be the ones that listen. The migration from traditional media to on-demand streaming has forced media outlets to become more agile than ever.
While cable TV is holding on for dear life to its remaining subscribers, successful platforms have provided what their customers want — content on the go. Gone are the days where family members rush home to secure a spot on the couch just in time to tune into their favorite programs. Instead, Gen Z has ignited the movement of content providers toward specialized content streaming. Specifically, platforms have carved out success by placing more tailored content onto apps and services that are geared toward the younger viewers and accessible by phone or tablet. Studies have revealed that a Gen Z audience consumes the majority of its content on three platforms: YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter. 
Gen Z consumes three hours of entertainment and video content on their phones, nearly doubling the number of hours spent watching cable TV. With this in mind, it should come as no surprise that producers are opting to create streamable, accessible, mobile content over traditional platforms.

The word “opting” in paragraph 4 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 word or phrase that best fits each of the numbered blanks.
Sociologists have been carrying out research into the social pressures of being a teenager. Many adolescents are unhappy at school because they find it difficult to (1)....... friends. This stress can bring on illness or result in poor grades. They may also worry about their appearance and often feel (2)......enormous pressure to dress, talk and behave the same as (3)....... . This phenomenon is called peer pressure, and it is very common in today’s society. Advertising contributes a lot to the social pressures teenagers feel. Advertisers know how important it is to feel that you belong to a group when  you are in your teens, so they try to persuade teenagers that certain products will make them (4).....  with their classmates. Sadly, many teenagers act irresponsibly and even do dangerous things just to make others accept them. Peer pressure is often the reason for teenage smoking, drug (5)........ or dangerous driving. Teenagers need to learn to say no to social pressure and to find friends who they can talk things over with when they have a problem.
(4)........................

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:
Buying a house is the single largest financial investment an individual makes. Yet, in India this act is fraught with risk and individuals depend on weak laws for justice. Occasionally, deviant promoters are called to account as was the case in the detention of Unitech’s promoters. This incident shows up the fallout of an absence of proper regulation to cover contracts between buyers and real estate promoters. A real estate bill, which is presently pending in Rajya Sabha, seeks to fill this gap. It has been debated for over two years and should be passed by Parliament in the budget session.
India is in the midst of rapid urbanization and urban population is expected to more than double to about 900 million over the next three decades. Unfortunately, even the current population does not have adequate housing. A government estimate in 2012 put the shortage at nearly 19 million units. If this shortage is to be alleviated quickly, India’s messy real estate sector needs reforms.
The real estate bill seeks to set standards for contracts between buyers and sellers. Transparency, a rare commodity in real estate, is enforced as promoters have to upload project details on the regulators’ website. Importantly, standard definitions of terms mean that buyers will not feel cheated after taking possession of a house. In order to protect buyers who pay upfront, a part of the money collected for a real estate project is ring-fenced in a separate bank account. Also, given the uncertainty which exists in India on land titles, the real estate bill provides title insurance. This bill has been scrutinized by two parliamentary committees and its passage now brooks no delay.
This bill is an important step in cleaning up the real estate market, but the journey should not end with it. State governments play a significant role in real estate and they are often the source of problems. Some estimates suggest that real estate developers have to seek approvals of as many as 40 central and state departments, which lead to delays and an escalation in the cost of houses. Sensibly, NDA government’s project to provide universal urban housing forces states to institute reforms to access  central funding. Without real estate reforms at the level of states, it will not be possible to meet the ambition of making housing accessible for all urban dwellers.

The word “escalation” in the last 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:
Baseball evolved from a number of different ball-and stick games (paddle ball, trap ball, one-old- cat, rounders, and town ball) originating in England. As early as the American Revolution, it was noted that troops played “baseball” in their free time. In 1845 Alexander Cartwright formalized the New York Knickerbockers’ version of the game: a diamond shaped infield, with bases ninety feet apart, three strikers - you’re - out, batter out on a caught ball, three outs per inning, a nine-man team. “The New York Game” spread rapidly, replacing earlier localized forms. From its beginnings, baseball was seen as a way of satisfying the recreational needs of an increasingly urban - industrial society. At its inception it was it was played by and for gentlemen. A club might consist of 40 members. The president would appoint two captains who would choose teams from among the members. Games were played on Monday and Thursday afternoons, with the losers often providing a lavish evening’s entertainments for the winners.
During the 1850 - 70 period the game was changing, however, with increasing commercialism (charging admission), under - the - table payments to exceptional players, and gambling on the outcome of games. By 1868 it was said that a club would have their regular professional ten, an amateur first - nine, and their “muffins” (the gentlemanly duffers who once ran the game). Beginning with the first openly all - salaried team (Cincinnati’s Red Stocking Club) in 1869, the 1870- 1890 period saw the complete professionalization of baseball, including formation of the National Association of Professional baseball players in 1871. The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs was formed in 1876, run by business-minded invertors in joint-stock company clubs. The 1880s has been called Major League Baseball’s “Golden Age”. Profits soared, player’s salaries rose somewhat, a season of 84 games became one of 132, a weekly periodical “The sporting News” came into being, wooden stadiums with double- deck stands replaced open fields, and the standard refreshment became hot dogs, soda pop and peanuts. In 1900 the Western League based in the growing cities of the Mis west proclaimed itself the American League.

Which of the following is true of the way the game was played by wealthy gentlemen at its inception?