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.
Set in the red desert of central Australia is the mining town of Coober Pedy. At first sight, the town looks similar to many other such communities, but Coober Pedy is different. Sixty per cent of its population of 4,000 people lives underground. There are today about 800 underground houses as well as shops, hotels and even churches in the town and the surrounding hills. Once a site has been chosen, special tunneling machines are (1)............in to create passages and rooms in the sandstone. Rock pillars are left to support the roof, and doors and windows are cut into the front. Houses are of all shapes and (2)......., the largest having twenty rooms, and some even have their own swimming poll.
Living underground may sound strange but in fact it has a number of advantages. In summer, the temperature outside can reach an astonishing 47°C, and in winter the nights can be (3)...... cold.
However, inside the houses it remains a steady 25°C all year round. Many people say that living underground makes they feel very secure. There is no problem with noise from the neighbours and the houses are not affected. By the fierce dust storms that regularly sweep (4)........the area. And of course, if your family (5)........... or lots of friends come to stay, you can always dig another room.
(5)..........................
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Lời giải:
Báo saiTạm dịch: And of course, if your family ...... or lots of friends come to stay, you can always dig another room: Và dĩ nhiên, nếu gia đình bạn ..... hoặc rất nhiều bạn bè ở lại, bạn luôn cỏ thế đào một căn phòng khác.
A. grows = to increase in size, number, strength or quality: tăng lên về kích thước, số lượng, sức mạnh, chất lượng.
B. rises: tăng lên về mức độ, mọc lên (mặt trời, mặt trăng), tăng lên (giá cả)
C. stretches: kéo căng, nới rộng, trải dài
D. explodes: no, bùng no
Đáp án A
Câu hỏi liên quan
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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 first thing to do when you have a trip abroad is to check that your passport is valid. Holders of out–of–date passports are not allowed to travel overseas. Then you can prepare for your trip. If you don't know the language, you can have all kinds of problems communicating with local people. Buying a pocket dictionary can make a difference. You'll be able to order food, buy things in shops and ask for directions. It's worth getting one. Also there's nothing worse than arriving at your destination to find there are no hotels available. The obvious way to avoid this is to book in advance. This can save you money too. Another frustrating thing that can happen is to go somewhere and not know about important sightseeing places. Get a guide book before you leave and make the most of your trip. It's a must.
Then, when you are ready to pack your clothes, make sure they are the right kind. It's no good packing sweaters and coats for a hot country or T–shirts and shorts for a cold one. Check the local climate before you leave.
Also, be careful how much you pack in your bags. It's easy to take too many clothes and then not have enough space for souvenirs. But make sure you pack essentials. What about money? Well, it's a good idea to take some local currency with you but not too much. There are conveniently located cash machines (ATMs) in most big cities, and it's usually cheaper to use them than change your cash in banks. Then you'll have more money to spend. When you are at your destination, other travellers often have great information they are happy to share. Find out what they have to say. It could enhance your travelling experience.According to the passage, holders of out–of–date passports .
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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.
Everybody has heard about the Internet, do you know what an “intranet” is? It is this: just as the Internet connects people around the world, intranets connect people within a single company. In fact, intranets make use of the same software programs as the Internet to (1)......computers and people. This means that you do not have to buy a lot of additional programs to set up an intranet service. If your intranet is working properly, it can link together a huge amount of (2)...........which is stored in different places in the company. In this way, people can get the information they need, regardless (3)........ where it comes from. A company intranet can, of course, be used for unimportant information like office memos or canteen menus. But an intranet should provide important information which people need to make decision about new products, costs and so on. The intranet is (4)......... to share their information with other people. Unfortunately, many departments don’t want to share their specialist knowledge with others. Another problem (5)........ often occurs is that top managers like to use the intranet to “communicate down” rather than to “communicate across”. That is, they use the intranet to give orders, not to share information between themselves and others working in the same organization.
(5)................................
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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:
Boots has reduced the price of "feminine" razors to bring them in line with men's. The chemist chain says it is just an isolated incident, but campaigners say it is part of a "pink tax" that discriminates against women. Who's right and what's the bigger story, ask Jessica McCallin and Claire Bates. Campaigners against what's been dubbed the "pink tax" - where retailers charge women more than men for similar products - are celebrating after Boots said it would change the price of some of its goods.
Stevie Wise, who launched the petition, was driven by a Times investigation which claimed that women and girls are charged, on average, 37% more for clothes, beauty products and toys. The New York Department of Consumer Affairs had compared the prices of 800 products with male and female versions and concluded that, after controlling for quality, women's versions were, on average, 7% more expensive than men's.
“This is a very exciting response,” says Wise. We are delighted with Boots' decision, but we now need to get them to look at all of their products, not just the ones highlighted in the petition. We hope this decision is just the first of many and we may broaden our campaign to focus on other retailers as well." Wise says that women have been getting in touch with examples of other price discrepancies from lots of companies and says there seems to be a particular problem with toys and clothes. Argos has been criticized for identical scooters that cost £5 more if they were pink rather than blue. Argos said it was an error that had already been rectified and that it would never indulge in differential pricing.
Among the examples sent to Wise was Boots selling identical child car seats that cost more in pink. Another retailer was selling children's balance bikes which cost more for a flowery print aimed at girls than a pirate print aimed at boys. But the latter example already appears to have been tweaked on the retailer's website, albeit by applying a £10 discount to the flowery version.
When challenged over sexist pricing, both Levi's and Tesco argued that different versions of things could have different production costs even if appearing fairly similar. Prof Nancy Puccinelli says her research suggests that women are much more careful shoppers than men, better able to scrutinise adverts and pricing gimmicks. She wonders if women are perceiving more value in the more expensive products. “If products are separated into male and female sections far away from each other it's harder to scrutinise prices.” Such a situation could either be deliberate or accidental but the campaigners are not convinced.
There is an opportunity for some companies, argues Olchawski. “The finding shows the power of marketing in our lives, how it shapes our perception of what it means to be a man or a woman. Some companies could choose not to play into this, not to play into the stereotypes and rip women off, but launch products more in tune with moves toward gender equality.”What of the following most accurately reflects the author's imply in the last paragraph?
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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:
Most sources of illumination generate light over an appreciable period, and indeed if an object is lit for a very brief time (1ess that 1/25 second), the human eye will not react in time to see the object. A photographic emulsion - that is, a light-sensitive coating on photographic film, paper, or glass - will, however, record much shorter bursts of light. A photographic flash can therefore be used to capture high- speed movement on film as well as to correct deficiencies of the normal surrounding lighting. Photoflash is now generated electronically, but the earliest form, first used in 1864, was a paper bag containing magnesium wire and some oxygen-rich substance, such as potassium chlorate. When the bag was ignited, the metal burned with an intense flash. A contemporary observer reported that "this quite unsafe device seems to have done nothing worse that engulf the room in dense smoke and lead to pictures of dubious quality and odd poses.”
The evolution of the photoflash was slow, flashbulbs, containing fine wire made of a metal, such as magnesium or aluminum, capable of being ignited in an atmosphere of pure oxygen at low pressure, were introduced only in the 1920's. In the earliest type, the metal was separated from the oxygen by a thin glass bulb. The flash was fired by piercing the bulb and allowing the oxygen to come into contact with the metal, which ignited spontaneously. Later bulbs were fired by an electric battery, which heated the wire by passing a small current through it. Other combinations, such as the pairing of oxygen difluoride with zirconium, have also been used. In each case enough energy is given out to heat the oxidizable metal momentarily to a white hot emission of visible light. The smoke particles are so small that they cool rapidly; but since they are white, they contribute to the brilliance by reflecting the light from their still glowing neighbors. A slightly bigger form of the metal will burn for a longer time.According to the passage, what helps a flashbulb burn longer?
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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:
Educating children at home as an alternative to formal education is an option chosen by families in many parts of the world. The homeschooling movement is popular in the United States, where close to one million Children are educated at home. In Canada, 1 percent of school-age children are homeschooled, and the idea also enjoys growing popularity in Australia, where 20,000 families homeschool their children. The movement is not limited to these countries. Homeschooling families can be found all over the world, from Japan to Taiwan to Argentina to South Africa.
Homeschooling is not a novel idea. In fact, the idea of sending children to spend most of their day away from home at a formal school is a relatively new custom. In the United States, for example, it was not until the latter part of the nineteenth century that state governments began making school attendance compulsory. Before that, the concept of a formal education was not so widespread. Children learned the skills they would need for adult life at home from tutors or their parents, through formal instruction or by working side by side with the adults of the family.
In the modern developed world, where the vast majority of children attend school, families choose homeschooling for a variety of reasons. For people who live in remote areas, such as the Australian outback or the Alaskan Wilderness, homeschooling may be their only option. Children who have exceptional talents in the arts or other areas may be homeschooled so that they have more time to devote to their special interests. Much of the homeschooling movement is made up of families who, for various reasons, are dissatisfied with the schools available to them. They may have a differing educational philosophy, they may be concerned about the safety of the school environment, or they may feel that the local schools cannot adequately address their children's educational needs. Although most families continue to choose a traditional classroom education for their children, homeschooling as an alternative educational option is becoming more popular.What does the author mean in the last sentence?
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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:
Tides are the periodic rise and fall of the Earth’s waters that are caused by the Moon’s and Sun’s forces of gravity acting on the Earth .It is important to distinguish natural tidal phenomena from huge tsunamis , with the latter being caused by earthquakes and undersea volcanic eruptions.
The Moon is a main factor controlling ordinary tides. At the location on the Earth closest to the Moon, it exerts a powerful gravitational pull on the water. The resulting rise in the water produces higher tides. The water on the side of the Earth farthest away from the Moon also gets pulled by this lunar gravity, but not as strongly. The Earth itself has its own gravitational force that is constantly pulling waters downward, which is why the oceans do not simply bulge out toward the Moon. Ordinary tides usually feature high and low waters alternating in relation to the Earth’s rotation. Most shores around the world have high waters and two low waters for each day, which last about 24 hours and 50 minutes. The difference in height between the high water and low water is called the range of tide, and it can be quite dramatic in narrower bays
.Canada’s bays of Fundy , for example , commonly experiences the world’s most extreme tidal ranges , with daily differences of the 16 meters.
Two other types of tides are influenced by the Sun, which is much farther away from the Earth and exerts less than half of the Moon’s gravitational force. When the Sun, the Moon and the Earth are directly in line, the solar and lunar gravitational forces add up to produce higher spring tides. The range of spring tides is intensified, with higher water marks and lower low water marks. However, when the Moon is in the first or third quarter, it is at a 90–degree angle with the Sun in relation to the Earth .The opposing solar and lunar forces partially cancel each other out, and the result is a lower tide. This is called a neap tide, which comes twice a month and has lower high water marks and higher low water marks. The range of neap tides is minimum.
Some tides do not occur over water at all. The solid body of the Earth has slight elasticity, so lunar and solar gravity cause it to stretch very subtly. These changes in the Earth’s shape, although imperceptible to humans, are known as Earth tides.
Another tidal phenomenon, atmospheric tides, is caused by the Sun’s heating of the Earth’s atmosphere. Like ordinary tides, they usually occur over 12–hour periods.The word imperceptible in the last paragraph could best be replace by
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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:
Most people need some preparation before they are ready 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. Settling on just one occupation 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 what you are good at is the first step in exploring careers. It is important to think about what you like to do because work will eventually be a big part of your 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 consider a career as a gym teacher, or 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 information about what they do. If you don't know workers in occupations that interest you, ask people such as your parents, friends, or teacher for their contacts.
If job shadowing give you 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 way to get experience. Internships are temporary, supervised assignments designed to give student practical job training.Which could be the best title for the passage?
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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:
Grandparents are becoming the forgotten generation, with youngsters now too busy to listen to their stories from the olden days.
A study of 1,000 five to 18 year-olds reveals just 21 per cent will visit their older relatives to hear about how their lives were different in the past; such as where they worked, how it was living in the war, and how they met the love of their life. More than half of youths have no idea what job their grandparent did before retirement - admitting they'd never thought to ask. Sadly, one in 10 admitted they are simply not interested in their grandmother's or grandad's previous job or talents and interests, and a quarter only turn up to see them for pocket money. But 23 per cent claim the reason they don't know anything about their older relatives is because they don't really get the chance to talk properly.
Geoff Bates, spokesman for McCarthy 8/. Stone's Inspirational Generation campaign, said: We know this generation have lived full lives with heroic tales to tell and so much to offer, but how many of us have actually thought to ask these questions of our older family members? We want to shout about the amazing feats retirees have achieved in their lifetime and put the spotlight on the wonderfully colorful lives of today's older people. We are calling on parents and children to talk to their grandparents, to find out what they have done in their lives - and continue to do, and tell us all about it so we can give them the credit they deserve."
Researchers found that although 65 per cent of youngsters do see their grandparents every single week, 37 per cent claim this is only because their parents want them to. And while 39 per cent talk to their grandparents on the phone, Facebook or Skype at least once a week - 16 per cent once a day - conversation is rarely focused on what they are doing or have done in the past. Four in 10 kids have no idea what their grandparents proudest achievements are, while 30 per cent don't know if they have any special skills or talents. And 42 per cent don't spend any time talking about their grandparent's history -and are therefore clueless about what their grandmother or grandad was like when they were younger. Perhaps due to this lack of communication and respect, just six per cent of children say they look up to their grandparents as a role model and inspiration. However, grandchildren are agreed their grandparents are both loving and friendly, while 43 per cent think they're funny - with 23 per cent admitting they often have more fun with their elderly relatives than their parents.The author implied in the last paragraph that .
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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:
Atomic were once thought to be fundamental pieces of matter, but they are in turn made of smaller subatomic particles There are three major subatomic particles neutrons, protons, and electronic. Protons and neutrons can be broken into even smaller units, but these smaller units not occur naturally in nature and are thought to only be produced in manmade particle accelerators and perhaps in extreme stellar events like supernovas. The structure of an atom can best be described as a small solar system, with the neutrons at the center and the electrons circling them in various orbits, just as the planets circle the sun. In reality, the structure of an atom is far more complex, because the laws of physics are fundamentally different at the atomic level than at the level of the observable word. The true nature of atomic structure can only be expressed accurately through complex mathematical formulas. This explanation, however, is of little use to most average people.
Protons and neutrons have nearly equal mass and size, but protons carry a positive electrical charge, while neutrons carry no charge at all. Protons and neutrons are bound together by the strong nuclear force, one of the four basic forces in the universe. Protons and neutrons give atoms some of their most basic properties. Elements are defined by two numbers: their atomic number, which is equal to the number of protons they have, and their atomic weight, which is equal to total number of their neutrons and protons. In most lighter atoms, the number of neutrons and protons is equal, and the element is stable. In heavier atoms, however, there are more neutrons than protons, and the element is unstable, eventually losing neutrons through radioactive decay until a neutral state is reached.
Electrons are negatively charged particles. They are bound to their atoms through electromagnetic attraction. Opposite electrical charges attract one another, so the positive charge of the proton helps to keep the negatively charged electron in orbit around the nucleus of the atom. Electrons are different from neutrons in that they cannot be broken down into smaller particles. They are also far smaller and lighter than neutrons and protons. An electron is about one thousandth of the diameter of a proton and an even smaller fraction of its mass. Electrons circle the protons and neutrons at the center of the atom in orbits. These orbits are often called electron shells. The closer the orbit is to the center of the atom, the lower its energy is. There are seven electron shells, and each higher level can hold more electrons than the previous shell. Electrons naturally seek to occupy the lowest shell possible. So, if there is space in a lower shell, an electron will drop down to occupy that space. At temperatures higher than a few hundred degrees, electrons will gain energy and move to a higher shell, but only momentarily. When the electrons drop back down to their natural shell, they emit light. This is why fires and other very hot objects seem to glow.
Electrons are also primarily responsible for many of the chemical properties of atoms. Since electrons seek to occupy the lowest electron shell possible, they will move from one atom to another if there is a space available in a lower electron shell. For example, if there is an atom with an open space in its third shell, and it comes into contact with an atom with electrons in its fourth shell, the first atom will take one of these electrons to complete its third shell. When this happens, the two atoms will be chemically bonded to form a molecule. Furthermore, atoms sometimes lose electrons in collisions with other atoms. When this happens, the radio of protons and electrons in the atom changes, and therefore, the overall electrical charge of the atom changes as well. These atoms -
Choose the best answer:
Many young people choose to spend a year or two of their lives while they are still (1)______ living in a foreign country and working as a volunteer. Working as a volunteer means that you cannot only help others, but also develop a (2)______understanding of the world and yourself.You must have a university degree and (3)______at least one year‟s experience before you can (4)______ . Suitable applicants are invited to attend a series of interviews and are then sent on a training programme. Applicants are usually offered a post (5)______ months and can be sent anywhere from the Sahara to Siberia.
The advantages of being a volunteer far (6)______ the disadvantages. Being a volunteer can enable you to get (7)______ experience that you would otherwise not have had. It can help you move up the career ladder faster. You will make (8)______ friends and return with an appreciation of another culture and language.
However, volunteering is not for everyone. It can be difficult being (9)______ from friends and family. Living on a (10)______ allowance is challenging. But, if you do choose to go, you will return a stronger and wiser person.
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There are a number of natural disasters that can strike across the globe. Two that are frequently linked to one another are earthquakes and tsunamis. Both of them can cause a great amount of devastation when they hit. However, tsunamis are the direct result of earthquakes and cannot happen without them.
The Earth has three main parts. They are the crust, the mantle, and the core. The crust is the outer layer of the Earth. It is not a single piece of land. Instead, it is comprised of a number of plates.
There are a few enormous plates and many smaller ones. These plates essentially rest upon the mantle, which is fluid. As a result, the plates are in constant – yet slow – motion. The plates may move away from or toward other plates. In some cases, they collide violently with the plates adjoining them. The movement of the plates causes tension in the rock. Over a long time, this tension may build up. When it is released, an earthquake happens.Tens of thousands of earthquakes happen every year. The vast majority are so small that only scientific instruments can perceive them. Others are powerful enough that people can feel them, yet they cause little harm or damage. More powerful earthquakes, however, can cause buildings, bridges, and other structures to collapse. They may additionally injure and skill thousands of people and might even cause the land to change it appearance.
Since most of the Earth’s surface is water, numerous earthquakes happen beneath the planet’s oceans. Underwater earthquakes cause the seafloor to move. This results in the displacement of water in the ocean. When this occurs, a tsunami may form. This is a wave that forms on the surface and moves in all directions from the place where the earthquake happened. A tsunami moves extremely quickly and can travel thousnads of kilometres. As it approaches land, the water near the coast gets sucked out to sea. This causes the tsunamis to increase in height.
Minutes later, the tsunami arrives. A large tsunami – one more than ten meters in height – can travel far inland. As it does that, it can flood the land, destroy human settlements, and kill large numbers of peopleThe word “adjoining” in bold in paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to ..............
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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 legal limit for driving after drinking alcohol is 80 milligrams of alcohol in 100 milliliters of blood, when tested. But there is no sure way of telling how much you can drink before you reach this limit. It varies with each person depending on your weight, your sex, if you’ve just eaten and what sort of drinks you’ve had. Some people might reach their limit after only about three standard drinks.
In fact, your driving ability can be affected by just one or two drinks. Even if you’re below the legal limit, you could still be taken to court if a police officer thinks your driving has been affected by alcohol.
It takes about an hour for the body to get rid of the alcohol in one standard drink. So, if you have a heavy drinking session in the evening you might find that your driving ability is still affected the next morning, or you could even find that you’re still over the legal limit. In addition, if you’ve had a few drinks at lunchtime, another one or two drinks in the early evening may well put you over the legal limit.
In a test with professional drivers, the more alcoholic drinks they had had the more certain they were that they could drive a test course through a set of moveable posts … and the less able they were to do it!So the only way to be sure you’re safe is not to drink at all.
Alcohol is a major cause of road traffic accidents. One in three of the drivers killed in road accidents have levels of alcohol which are over the legal limit, and road accidents after drinking are the biggest cause of death among young men. More half of the people stopped by the police to take a breathalyzer test have a blood alcohol concentrate of more than twice the legal limit.
It is important to remember that driving after you’ve been drinking doesn’t just affect you. If you’re involved in an accident it affects a lot of other people as well, not least the person you might kill or injure.The amount of alcohol a person can drink before reaching the legal limit is .
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Read the passages and choose the best answer to each question:
Preparation is a key to a successful interview. Does the idea of going to a job interview make you feel a little nervous? Many people find that it is the hardest part of the employing process. But it is not really true. The more you prepare and practice, the more comfortable you will feel. You should find out as much as possible about the company before you go to the interview. Understand the products that they produce and the services that they provide. It is also good to know who the customers are and who the major competitors are. Practice makes perfect. It will also make you feel more confident and relaxed. So, practice your answers to common questions. Make a list of questions to ask, too. Almost all interviewers will ask if you have questions. This is a great opportunity for you to show your keenness, enthusiasm, and knowledge.
Make a great impression. The interview is your chance to show that you are the best person for the job. Your application or resume has already exhibited that you are qualified. Now it is up to you to show how your skills and experience match this position and this company. The employer will be looking and listening to determine if you are a good fit. He/she will be looking for a number of different qualities, in addition to the skills that you possess. To make the best impression, dress appropriately; express your strengths; arrive early, by about 10-15 minutes; be enthusiastic; shake hands firmly; be an active listener; sit up straight and maintain eye contact; and ask questions
After the interview, follow up with a thank-you note. This is a chance for you to restate your interest and how you can benefit the company. Your best bet is to try to time it so that the note gets there before the hiring: decision is made. You should also follow up with a phone call if you do not hear back from the employer within the specified time.Which is not included in the writer's advice?
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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 legal limit for driving after drinking alcohol is 80 milligrams of alcohol in 100 milliliters of blood, when tested. But there is no sure way of telling how much you can drink before you reach this limit. It varies with each person depending on your weight, your sex, if you’ve just eaten and what sort of drinks you’ve had. Some people might reach their limit after only about three standard drinks.
In fact, your driving ability can be affected by just one or two drinks. Even if you’re below the legal limit, you could still be taken to court if a police officer thinks your driving has been affected by alcohol.
It takes about an hour for the body to get rid of the alcohol in one standard drink. So, if you have a heavy drinking session in the evening you might find that your driving ability is still affected the next morning, or you could even find that you’re still over the legal limit. In addition, if you’ve had a few drinks at lunchtime, another one or two drinks in the early evening may well put you over the legal limit.
In a test with professional drivers, the more alcoholic drinks they had had the more certain they were that they could drive a test course through a set of moveable posts … and the less able they were to do it!
So the only way to be sure you’re safe is not to drink at all.
Alcohol is a major cause of road traffic accidents. One in three of the drivers killed in road accidents have levels of alcohol which are over the legal limit, and road accidents after drinking are the biggest cause of death among young men. More half of the people stopped by the police to take a breathalyzer test have a blood alcohol concentrate of more than twice the legal limit.
It is important to remember that driving after you’ve been drinking doesn’t just affect you. If you’re involved in an accident it affects a lot of other people as well, not least the person you might kill or injure.What does this article urge you to remember particularly about driving and drinking?
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The quest for sustainable sources of energy study the energy has led humans to study the energy potential of the sun and the wind, as well as the immense power created by dammed rivers. The oceans, too, represent an impressive source of potential energy. For example, it has been estimated that the oceans could provide nearly 3,000 times the energy generated by hydroelectric dams such as the Hoover Dam. Yet, this source remains quite difficult to exploit.
But this challenge has not prevented scientists from trying. Within the last few decades, several technologies that can transform the ocean’s immense forces into usable electricity have been invented and introduced. Some focus on capturing the power of the changing tides, while others rely on thermal energy created by oceans in certain tropical regions. However, the most common and easiest-to-develop technologies are those designed to harness the power inherent in the ocean’s waves.
There are several methods by which ocean-wave energy can be collected. All of them work because the movement of the water that the waves induce creates storable energy by directly or indirectly driving a power generator. In one such technology, the changing water levels in the ocean that are produced by waves lift a long floating tube comprised of many sections connected by hinges. As the sections move up and down with the water, they pump a special fluid through the tube that can be used to drive a generator. Another technique works on a similar principle, only the floating object rocks back and forth with the motion of the water instead of up and down. A third method of collecting wave energy relies on the rising water from the waves to compress air in a partially submerged chamber. As the waves rush into the chamber, they push the air out through a narrow tunnel. Located inside this tunnel is a turbine connected to a power generator. The movement of the air turns the turbine, which feeds energy into the generator.
The drawback to each of these concepts is that the they make it necessary to have many pieces of machinery linked together. This presents a problem because the larger the device, the more vulnerable it is to damage from hazardous ocean environments, and the more likely it is to interfere with otherwise unspoiled coastal scenery. Also, these methods demand the construction of site-specific machines that take into consideration average local wave heights and sea conditions. Such a requirement can be quite cost-prohibitive, because engineers must create unique power generation mechanism for each site. In other words, the ability to get power from waves differ from region to region.
Japan, Norway, and the UK have attempted to generate energy by capturing the power of ocean waves. In northern Scotland, the first power plan to use wave power, OSPREY ( Ocean Swell Powered Renewable Energy ), began operating in 1995. It followed the principle of the third method described above : waves entering a partially submerged chamber pushed air into turbines to generate electricity. The electricity was then transmitted to power collectors in the shore via underwater cables. Unfortunately, the OSPREY plant was destroyed in a large storm, highlighting an unavoidable difficulty associated with this kind of power generation.
The potential benefits of wave-based energy are hard to ignore. Once the proper machinery is produced and installed, the energy is free. Maintenance cost are small, and the equipment does not pose any threats of environmental pollution. And best of all, the amounts of energy produced are enormous.
However, these theoretical advantages have yet to be fully realized. In many cases, a lack of government funding has inhibited the technologies from advancing. For example, despite the relative abundance of propo -
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Archimedes’s Principle is a law of physics that states that when an object is totally or partially immersed in a fluid, it experiences an upthrust equal to the weight of the fluid displaced. The principle is most frequently applied to the behaviour of objects in water, and helps to explain floating and sinking, and why objects seem lighter in water. It also applies to balloons.
The key word in the principle is “upthrust”, which refers to the force acting upward to reduce the apparent weight of the object when it is under water. If, for example, a metal block with a volume of 100 cm3 is dipped in water, it displaces an equal volume of water, which has a weight of approximately 1 N (3.5 oz). The block therefore seems to weigh about 1 N less.
An object will float if its average density is less than that of water. If it is totally submerged, the weight of the water it displaces (and hence the upthrust on it) is greater than its own weight, and it is forced upward and out of water, until the weight if water displaced by submerged part is exactly equal to the weight of the floating object. Thus a block of wood with a density six tenths that of water will float with six tenths of its volume under water, since at that point the weight of fluid displaced is the same as the blocks’s own weight. If a dense material is made into a suitable shape, it will float because of Archimedes’s principle. A ship floats, whereas a block of iron of the same mass sinks.
It is also because of Archimedes’s principle that ships float lower in the water when they are heavily loaded (more water must be displaced to give the necessary upthrust). In addition, they cannot be so heavily loaded if they are to sail in fresh water as they can if they are to sail in the sea, since fresh water is less dense than sea water, and so more water must be displaced to give the necessary upthrust. This means the ship is lower in the water, which can be dangerous in rough weather.What happens when something is immersed in a fluid?
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Nature has always provided a stimulus for inventive minds. Early flying machines clearly were an attempt to emulate the freedom of birds. Architects and engineers have often consciously modeled buildings on forms found in nature. A more recent example of the inspiration given by nature is the invention of Velcro®. The inventor of this now common fastening device noticed that small burrs attached to his dog's coat grasped the hairs by means of tiny hooks. This led him to invent a synthetic fabric whose surfaces mimic the clasping properties of this natural seedpod.
Animals and plants have evolved solutions to the kinds of problems that often interest engineers and designers. Much current research in material science is concerned with actively examining the natural world, especially at the molecular level, for inspiration to develop materials with novel properties. This relatively new field of study is sometimes known as biomimetics, since it consciously attempts to mimic nature.
Researchers have investigated several interesting areas. For example, they have studied how the molecular structure of antler bone contributes to its amazing toughness, how the skin structure of a worm contributes to its ability to crawl, how the sea cucumber softens its skeleton and changes shape so that it can squeeze through tiny gaps in rocks, or what gives wood its high resistance to impact. These investigations have led to several breakthroughs in the development of composite materials with remarkable properties.
Predictions for future inventions that may be developed from these lines of research include so- called smart structures that design and repair themselves in a similar way to a variety of processes in the natural world. For example, engineers have envisaged bridges that would detect areas heavily stressed by vehicle movement or wind. The bridge structure would then automatically add or move material to the weak areas until the stress is reduced. The same principle might be used to repair damaged buildings. Other new materials that have been imagined are substances that would copy photosynthesis in green plants in order to create new energy sources. The potential impact of biomimetic research is so great that the twenty-first century may come to be known as the "Age of Materials."According to the passage, what do investigations in biomimetics suggest?
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Boots has reduced the price of "feminine" razors to bring them in line with men's. The chemist chain says it is just an isolated incident, but campaigners say it is part of a "pink tax" that discriminates against women. Who's right and what's the bigger story, ask Jessica McCallin and Claire Bates. Campaigners against what's been dubbed the "pink tax" - where retailers charge women more than men for similar products - are celebrating after Boots said it would change the price of some of its goods.
Stevie Wise, who launched the petition, was driven by a Times investigation which claimed that women and girls are charged, on average, 37% more for clothes, beauty products and toys. The New York Department of Consumer Affairs had compared the prices of 800 products with male and female versions and concluded that, after controlling for quality, women's versions were, on average, 7% more expensive than men's.
“This is a very exciting response,” says Wise. We are delighted with Boots' decision, but we now need to get them to look at all of their products, not just the ones highlighted in the petition. We hope this decision is just the first of many and we may broaden our campaign to focus on other retailers as well." Wise says that women have been getting in touch with examples of other price discrepancies from lots of companies and says there seems to be a particular problem with toys and clothes. Argos has been criticized for identical scooters that cost £5 more if they were pink rather than blue. Argos said it was an error that had already been rectified and that it would never indulge in differential pricing.
Among the examples sent to Wise was Boots selling identical child car seats that cost more in pink. Another retailer was selling children's balance bikes which cost more for a flowery print aimed at girls than a pirate print aimed at boys. But the latter example already appears to have been tweaked on the retailer's website, albeit by applying a £10 discount to the flowery version.
When challenged over sexist pricing, both Levi's and Tesco argued that different versions of things could have different production costs even if appearing fairly similar. Prof Nancy Puccinelli says her research suggests that women are much more careful shoppers than men, better able to scrutinise adverts and pricing gimmicks. She wonders if women are perceiving more value in the more expensive products. “If products are separated into male and female sections far away from each other it's harder to scrutinise prices.” Such a situation could either be deliberate or accidental but the campaigners are not convinced.
There is an opportunity for some companies, argues Olchawski. “The finding shows the power of marketing in our lives, how it shapes our perception of what it means to be a man or a woman. Some companies could choose not to play into this, not to play into the stereotypes and rip women off, but launch products more in tune with moves toward gender equality.”The word "rectified" in the third paragraph is closest in meaning to _.
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The word robot first appeared in a 1921 stage play by Czech writer Karel Capek. In the play, a man makes a machine that can think, which he calls a robot and which ends up killing its owner. In the 1940s, the American science fiction writer Isaac Asimov wrote a series of stories about robots and invented the term robotics, the science of robots. Meanwhile, in the real world, the first robots were developed by an engineer, Joseph F. Engelberger, and an inventor, George C. Devol. Together they started Unimation, a manufacturing company that produces the first real robot in 1961, called the Unimate. Robots of this type were installed at a General Motors automobile plant and proved to be a success. They worked reliably and saved money for General Motors, so other companies were soon acquiring robots as well.
These industrial robots were nothing like the terrifying creatures that can often be seen in science fiction films. In fact, these robots looked and behaved nothing like humans. They were simply pieces of computer-controlled machinery, with metal “arms” or “hands”. Since they were made of metal, they could perform certain jobs that were difficult or dangerous for humans, particularly jobs that involve high heat. And since robots were tireless and never got hungry, sleepy, or distracted, they were useful for tasks that would be tiring or boring for humans. Industrial robots have been improved over the years, and today they are used in many factories around the world. Though the use of robots has meant the loss of some jobs, at the same time other jobs have been created in the design, development, and production of the robots.When did the word “robot” appear?
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By mid-century, there will likely be 9 billion people on the planet, consuming ever more resources and leading ever more technologically complex lives. What will our cities be like? How much will artificial intelligence advance? Will global warming trigger catastrophic changes, or will we be able to engineer our way out of the climate change crisis?
Making predictions is, by nature, a dicey business, but to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Smithsonian magazine Big Think asked top minds from a variety of fields to weigh in on what the future holds 40 years from now. The result is our latest special series, Life in 20 50. Demographic changes in world population and population growth will certainly be dramatic. Rockefeller University mathematical biologist Joel Cohen says it's likely that by 2050 the majority of the people in the world will live in urban areas, and will have a significantly higher average age than people today. Cities theorist Richard Florida thinks urbanization trends will reinvent the education system of the United States, making our economy less real estate driven and erasing the divisions between home and work.
Large migrations from developing countries like Indonesia, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Mexico, and countries in the Middle East could disrupt western governments and harm the unity of France, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, Poland, and the United Kingdom under the umbrella of the European Union.
And rapidly advancing technology will continue ever more rapidly. According to Bill Mitchell, the late director of MIT's Smart Cities research group, cities of the future won't look like "some sort of science -fiction fantasy" or "Star Trek" but it's likely that "discreet, unobtrusive" technological advances and information overlays, i.e. virtual reality and augmented reality, will change how we live in significant ways. Self-driving cars will make the roads safer, driving more efficient, and provide faster transports. A larger version of driverless cars-driverless trucks-may make long haul drivers obsolete.
Meanwhile, the Internet will continue to radically transform media, destroying the traditional model of what a news organization is, says author and former New York Times Public Editor, Daniel Okrent, who believes the most common kinds of news organizations in the future will be "individuals and small alliances of individuals” reporting and publishing on niche topics.Which of the following best describes the author’s attitude about the life in 2050?