Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D to indicate the word that best fits each of the blanks from 6 to 10.
HOLIDAYS
We've just come back exhausted after a two-week holiday in France. We were really stupid. On the last day we drove non-stop from Marseille to Calais- we should have (6)           our journey in Lyon or Paris.   As if that wasn't enough, the sea was so rough in the English Channel that the (7)         took three hours instead of one and a half. Next year we've decided we're going on a cheap (8)           holiday to Italy. It sounds marvellous- the cost of the flight, the hotel and all our meals are (9)             in the price. While we're in Rome we'll be going on a guided tour of the Coliseum. The last time I was in Italy, I was on a business trip - I can't say I saw many of the famous tourist (10)                 on that occasion.
(10)..............................

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

"Books are written to provide knowledge and good books enrich the mind. By putting (1)…. under the influence of superior mind, we (2) ….. our mental powers. (3)…. good books, we learn that people everywhere are the (4) ......., in ali ages, and in all (5)…. . This knowledge improves our love (6)…. others and helps us to live in peace with them.
 We also (7)…. that the world was made not only for man (8)…. but for every creature that can feel hunger and thirst, warmth and cold. Though it may be possible for us to travel (9)…. the world and see the things happening today, it is not possible for us to see the things that happened in the past. But good books (10) …..us to see not only into the most remote regions of the world today, but also into the world in which our ancestors lived."

8. the world was made not only for man (8)…. but for every creature that can feel hunger and thirst, warmth and cold.

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct word or phrase for each of the numbered blanks.
An ecosystem is a community of animals, plants and microbes that sustain themselves in the same area or environment by performing the activities of living, feeding, reproducing and interacting. Like many of Africas large mammals, giraffes have (21)________ in numbers and in range over the last century.   At one time, herds of over 100 animals were common in savanna regions across the continent, however, today concentrations like these exist only in East Africa particularly Tanzania Serengeti National Park. The decline of giraffe populations has largely been due to hunting. In Africa, the giraffe is a traditional source of hide and hair and also of tough  but (22) ________ meat. The hunting of giraffes has not yet  had a catastrophic effect, (23)________ on some of Africas big-game animals, but it is a cause for concern. The natural habitat of the giraffe is also being impacted more and more by human activities, (24)________ the animals range. The giraffe is currently a protected species throughout most of its range and is classed as conservation-dependent by the World Conservation Union. The giraffe’s prospects for survival are good for (25)________ living in national parks and game reserves, but for animals living outside these   areas the future is less secure.
(23).................

Let children learn to judge their own work. A child learning to talk does not learn by being corrected all the time. If corrected too much, he will stop talking. He notices a thousand times a day the difference between the language he uses and the language those around him use. Bit by bit, he makes the necessary changes to make his language like other people’s. In the same way, children learn all the other things they learn to do without being taught - to talk, run, climb, whistle, ride a bicycle - compare their own performances with those of more skilled people, and slowly make the needed changes. But in school we never give a child a chance to find out his mistakes for himself, let alone correct them. We do it all for him. We act as if we thought that he would never notice a mistake unless it was pointed out to him, or correct it unless he was made to. Soon he becomes dependent on the teacher. Let him do it himself. Let him work out, with the help of other children if he wants it, what this word says, what the answer is to that problem, whether this is a good way of saying or doing this or not.
If it is a matter of right answers, as it may be in mathematics or science, give him the answer book. Let him correct his own papers. Why should we teachers waste time on such routine work? Our job should be to help the child when he tells us that he can’t find the way to get the right answer. Let’s end all this nonsense of grades, exams, and marks. Let us throw them all out, and let the children learn what all educated persons must someday learn, how to measure their own understanding, how to know what they know or do not know.
Let them get on with this job in the way that seems most sensible to them, with our help as school teachers if they ask for it. The idea that there is a body of knowledge to be learnt at school and used for the rest of one’s life is nonsense in a world as complicated and rapidly changing as ours. Anxious parents and teachers say, “But suppose they fail to learn something essential, something they will need to get on in the world?” Don’t worry! If it is essential, they will go out into the world and learn it.

The word “complicated” in the third paragraph is closest in meaning to ________.

Light from a living plant or animal is called bioluminescence, or cold light, to distinguish it from incandescence or heat-generating light. Life forms could not produce incandescent light without being burned. Their light is produced in chemicals combining in such a way that little or no measurable heat is produced, and the life forms generating it are unharmed. Although bioluminescence is a relatively complicated process, it can be reduced to simple terms. Living light occurs when luciferin and oxygen combine in the presence of luciferase. In a few cases, fireflies the most common, an additional compound called ATP is required.

The earliest recorded experiments with bioluminescence in the late 1800s are attributed to Raphael Dubois, who extracted a luminous fluid from a clam, observing that it continued to glow in the test tube for several minutes. He named the substance luciferin, which means “the bearer of life”. In further research, Dubois discovered that several chemicals were required for bioluminescence to occur. In his notes, it was recorded that a second important substance, which he called luciferase, was always present. In later study of small, luminous sea creatures, Newton Harley concluded that luciferin was composed of carbon, hydrosen, and oxygen, which are the building blocks of all living cells. He also proved that there are a variety of luciferin and luciferase, specific to the plants and animals that produce them.

Much remains unknown, but many scientists who are studying bioluminescence now believe that the origin of the phenomenon may be traced to a time when there was no oxygen in the Earth’s atmosphere. When oxygen was gradually introduced to the atmosphere, it was actually poisonous to life forms, plants and animals produced light to use up the oxygen in a gradual but necessary adaptation. It is speculated that millions of years ago, all life may have produced light to survive. As the millennia passed, life forms on Earth became tolerant of, and finally dependent on oxygen, and the adaptation that produced bioluminescence was no longer necessary, but some primitive plants and animals continued to use the light for new functions such as mating or attracting prey.

Which of the following is the main topic of the passage?

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.

I’m standing on a sidewalk in the early morning. The great avenues of Paris are silent, and the shops are closed. Suddenly, a couple appeared from a hole in the sidewalk. Mud covers their boots. They place the iron cover over the hole and run down the street, smiling. The couple had been exploring the tunnels beneath the city.

When Romans occupied Paris, they cut down stone from deep within the earth to build their city. Later, the French used more stone to construct the Notre Dame Cathedral. This left huge underground tunnels upon which part of the city now. Once used for growing mushrooms and as a hiding place, today they are mostly forgotten, except by "cataphiles" - those who love to go down into the tunnels below Paris, even though it is actually not permitted.

In the 70s and 80s, it is easier to enter the tunnels because there were many more open entrances through forgotten doorways and into catacombs - rooms filled with bones. The bones had been moved into the tunnels to solve the problem crowded cemeteries. By the end of the 1980s, most of the entrances were shut and police regularly walked the tunnels. However, there are still cataphiles, like the couple I saw that morning, and for those who dare, the underground is an exciting place to meet, party, perform for each other or create art.

My own experience began beneath the old Paris opera house, where sewer workers showed me a 55-meter-long underground pond, a pond that actually had fish in it! Later, at France's national bank, officials guided me below to an amazing room filled with 2,600 tons of gold.

As cataphiles are the best guides, I then asked one of the cataphiles to give me a tour. Descending into the underground through a secret entrance beneath a bridge, we walked for hours through catacombs, and galleries of huge, bright paintings. The cataphile told me "Many people come down here to party, some to paint. Some people to destroy or to create or to explore. We do what we want, We don't have rules..."

(Adapted from Reading Explorer 2, Paul Macintyre&David Bohlke, 2015)

The word "descending" in paragraph 5 is closest in meaning to .................

Read the text below and decide which answer (A,B,C, or D) best fits each space.
Postsecondary institutions and private schools are corporations under U.S. law.  They are approved to operate as non-profit, for-profit, or public corporations (1)  _______ education and training. Increasingly, state authorities are requiring  approved educational providers to apply (2) _______ and receive accreditation  as a condition of final and continued approval. 
As corporate entities, U.S. institutions are internally self-governing and are (3)  _______ to make property, facilities, equipment, and utilities transactions; make  their own personnel decisions; decide whom to admit to study and to graduate;  (4) _______ their own funds from outside sources; enter into contracts and  compete for grants; and do most of the other things that corporations do.  Institutions compete (5) _______ one another for students, research funding,  faculty, and other benefits. Public institutions may compete within the same  state or territory for budget appropriations. It is the corporate nature of  institutions and the competition within the system that (6) _______ Americans  to refer to the concept of the educational or academic marketplace - an important distinctive element of the way U.S. education is organized. 
Some institutions are governed (7) _______ under multi-campus arrangements.  These include most local public schools (governed by school districts) and many  state community college and university systems. Whether single- or multi campus, institutional corporations (8) _______ by boards of citizens, both  alumni and non- alumni, who are ultimately responsible for all operations. They  appoint senior (9) _______, such as principals, headmasters, presidents, and  deans; and approve the actions taken (10) ______ their name. 

3.....................

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D to indicate the answer to each of the question. 
The world’s oldest post office, which has been operating in Sanquhar, Scotland, for more than 300 years, faces an uncertain future. Current owner and stamp collector, Manzoor Alam, and his wife, Nazra, have been forced to put the business and its accompanying cottage on the market due to ill health.
The Alams are “heartbroken” to leave the post office, and are concerned that if a buyer cannot be found its rich history could be lost. “It was my husband who was always the one most interested in stamps and the postal service but over the last few years of working here it has grown on me too,” said Mrs Alam. The couple are the post office’s 16th postmasters, and if they become the last, the title will fall to a Stockholm branch, which opened in 1720.
Dumfries and Galloway councillor, Andrew Wood, said lots of rural areas were struggling to keep their post offices open. He said it would be a “sad day” if the business folded. “I was wondering if the community could arrange a buyout but it shouldn’t come down to that,” he said. “We’re a wealthy country and should be able to have them in good-sized towns.”
The property is on the market for £275,000, and includes a three-bed cottage with two bathrooms, a large living room, and garden with outbuildings. Agent Humberstones suggests the outbuilding could be a holiday let, tea room or postal museum, as Mr Alam had planned. “My ambition is to promote the rich heritage of the past by establishing a postal museum — the only one in Scotland — and combining it with a modern business, securing this wonderful post office for future generations,’” he had said when he took on the business.

Which best serves as the title for the passage?

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct word or phrases that best fits each of the numbered blanks from 46 to 50.
ABROAD WITH US
The company study abroad was originally founded in 1991 for students who wished to study French in France. Its success led to the establishment of other schools around the world.
Learning the language in the country in which it is spoken is, of course,a (46)_________ more effective and faster process than studying in your own country. It is also an opportunities to mix with local habitants and (47) _________ a greater and deeper (48) _________ of the people whose language you are studying. This makes the whole experience much more enjoyable.
You may wish to attend an Italian language and a cooking course in Italy or combine a Portuguese course with a sport. You should look at all the possibilities and (49) _________ the best choice.
In order to choose  the (50)_________ course and location for you, we suggest you contact us to discuss your particular requirements. From the information you give us, we can make some recommendation.
(48).......................

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.

Machines already perform a lot of tasks that were usually done by humans, such as building cars, doing complex calculations, and even marking exam papers. But now it seems that ever more intelligent machines are straying into areas where we never envisaged they would go. We have always taken pride in having a unique kind of intelligence that machines could never match, one which allows us to think of new ideas and produce creative and artistic works. But it seems that even here, computers are lining up to compete with us.

Machines can easily be trained to do the physical work of producing art. About ten years ago, a painting robot known as e-David was created at a university in Germany. And recently in New York, the painting ‘Portrait of Edmond de Belamy' has been auctioned for nearly half a million dollars. What made it a bit unusual was that the idea, and the image itself, was produced entirely by a computer. A group of young French artists gave instructions to the computer, aiming simply to show that computers can be creative.

Some artists are now working with computers to produce a new kind of art. Computer-generated works of art are certainly interesting, and make us think about the limits of what machines can and cannot do. But not everyone would accept that they qualify as art. Some enthusiasts would argue they do, and the collectors willing to pay high prices for these works would suggest there is definitely a market for computer art. Others, however, would disagree.

Many 'real' artists would claim that art is an expression of human intelligence and human emotions. More importantly, it is about a desire to communicate with other people. These things, they argue, are part of being human and can never be produced by a machine.

(Adapted from Formula-Exam Trainer)

The word unusual in paragraph 2 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.

Machines already perform a lot of tasks that were usually done by humans, such as building cars, doing complex calculations, and even marking exam papers. But now it seems that ever more intelligent machines are straying into areas where we never envisaged they would go. We have always taken pride in having a unique kind of intelligence that machines could never match, one which allows us to think of new ideas and produce creative and artistic works. But it seems that even here, computers are lining up to compete with us.

Machines can easily be trained to do the physical work of producing art. About ten years ago, a painting robot known as e-David was created at a university in Germany. And recently in New York, the painting ‘Portrait of Edmond de Belamy' has been auctioned for nearly half a million dollars. What made it a bit unusual was that the idea, and the image itself, was produced entirely by a computer. A group of young French artists gave instructions to the computer, aiming simply to show that computers can be creative.

Some artists are now working with computers to produce a new kind of art. Computer-generated works of art are certainly interesting, and make us think about the limits of what machines can and cannot do. But not everyone would accept that they qualify as art. Some enthusiasts would argue they do, and the collectors willing to pay high prices for these works would suggest there is definitely a market for computer art. Others, however, would disagree.

Many 'real' artists would claim that art is an expression of human intelligence and human emotions. More importantly, it is about a desire to communicate with other people. These things, they argue, are part of being human and can never be produced by a machine.

(Adapted from Formula-Exam Trainer)

The word they in paragraph 4 refers to_______

In “Cerealizing America”, Scott Bruce and Bill Crawford remark that the cereal  industry uses 816 million pounds of sugar per year. Americans buy 2.7 billion  packages of breakfast cereal each year. If (1) _______ end to end, the empty  cereal boxes from one year's consumption would (2) _______ to the moon and back. One point three (1.3) million advertisements for cereal are broadcast on  American television every year at a(n) (3) _______ of $762 million for airtime.  Only automobile manufacturers spend more money on television advertising  than the makers of breakfast cereal. (4) _______ of the boxed cereals found in  supermarkets contain large amounts of sugar and some contain more than 50%  sugar. Cereal manufacturers are very clever in their marketing, making many  cereals appear much healthier than they really are by “fortifying” them with vitamins and minerals. Oh, (5) ______ – you now have vitamin-fortified sugar! Before you eat any cereal, read the ingredient list and see how (6) _______  sugar appears on the ingredient list. Then check the “Nutrition facts” panel. 
There are actually only a small handful of national commercially-branded cereals  that are made (7) _______ whole grains and are sugar-free. If you shop at a health  food store instead of your local supermarket, you (8) _______ to find a healthy,  whole grain, sugar-free (or very low sugar) cereal. But (9) _______! Some of the  health food store boxed cereals are sweetened with fruit juice or fructose.  Although this may be an improvement (10) _______ refined white sugar, this can  really skyrocket the calories. 

8.....................

Read the following passage and choose the correct answer to each of the questions.

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 produced 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 machines, 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.

Outside of industry, robots have also been developed and put into use by governments and scientists in situations where humans might be in danger. For example, they can be sent in to investigate an unexploded bomb or an accident at a nuclear power plant. Researchers also use robots to collect samples of hot rocks or gases in active volcanoes. In space exploration, robots have performed many key tasks where humans could not be present, such as on the surface of Mars. In 2004, two robotic Rovers, small six-wheeled computerized cars, were sent to Mars.

Which of these statements is TRUE about Karel Capek?

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct word or phrase that best fits each of the numbered blanks from 41 to 45.
SOCIAL NETWORK
A 16-year-old girl from Essex has been sacked after describing her job as boring on the social networking website, Facebook. The teenager, who had been working (41)      an administrative assistant at a    marketing company for just three weeks, didn‟t feel very enthusiastic about the duties she was asked to do. (42)       of moaning to her friends she decided to express her thoughts on her Facebook page to a colleague, who (43)       the boss‟s attention to it. He immediately fired her on the (44)       that her public display of dissatisfaction made it impossible for her to continue working for the company. She later told newspapers she had been treated totally unfairly, especially as she hadn‟t even mentioned the company‟s name. She claimed she‟s been perfectly happy with her job and that her light-hearted comments shouldn‟t (45)      taken seriously. A spokesperson from a workers‟ union said the incident demonstrated two things: firstly, that people need to protect their privacy online and secondly, that employers should be less sensitive to criticism.
(44).......................

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.

GLOBAL WARMING

Few people now question the reality of global warming and its effects on the world's climate. Many scientists (1) _____________the blame for recent natural disasters on the increase in the world's temperatures and are convinced that, more than ever before, the Earth is at risk from the forces of the wind, rain and sun. According to them, global warming is making extreme weather events, such as hurricanes and droughts, even more (2) _____________and causing sea levels all around the world to rise.

     Environmental groups are putting pressure on governments to take action to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide which is given (3) _____________by factories and power plants, thus attacking the problem at its source. They are in favor of more money being spent on research into solar, wind and wave energy devices, (4) _____________ could then replace existing power station.

Some scientists, (5) _____________, believe that even if we stopped releasing carbon dioxide and other gases into the atmosphere tomorrow, we would have to wait several hundred years to notice the results. Global warming, it seems, is to stay.

(3) _________

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D to indicate the word that best fits each of the blanks from 6 to 10.
HOLIDAYS
We've just come back exhausted after a two-week holiday in France. We were really stupid. On the last day we drove non-stop from Marseille to Calais- we should have (6)           our journey in Lyon or Paris.   As if that wasn't enough, the sea was so rough in the English Channel that the (7)         took three hours instead of one and a half. Next year we've decided we're going on a cheap (8)           holiday to Italy. It sounds marvellous- the cost of the flight, the hotel and all our meals are (9)             in the price. While we're in Rome we'll be going on a guided tour of the Coliseum. The last time I was in Italy, I was on a business trip - I can't say I saw many of the famous tourist (10)                 on that occasion.
(7)..............................

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.

   Mickey Mantle was one of the greatest baseball players of all time. He played for the New York Yankees in their years of glory. From the time Mantle began to play professionally in 1951 to his last year in 1968, baseball was the most popular game in the United States. For many people, Mantle symbolized the hope, prosperity, and confidence of America at that time.

   Mantle was a fast and powerful player, a “switch-hitter” who could bat both right-handed and lefthanded. He won game after game, one World Series championship after another, for his team. He was a wonderful athlete, but this alone cannot explain America’s fascination with him.

   Perhaps it was because he was a handsome, red-haired country boy, the son of a poor miner from Oklahoma. His career, from the lead mines of the West to the heights of success and fame, was a fairy-tale version of the American dream. Or perhaps it was because America always loves a “natural”: a person who wins without seeming to try, whose talent appears to come from an inner grace. That was Mickey Mantle.

   But like many celebrities, Mickey Mantle had a private life that was full of problems. He played without complaint despite constant pain from injuries. He lived to fulfill his father’s dreams and drank to forget his father’s early death.

   It was a terrible addiction that finally destroyed his body. It gave him cirrhosis of the liver and accelerated the advance of liver cancer. Even when Mickey Mantle had turned away from his old life and warned young people not to follow his example, the destructive process could not be stopped. Despite a liver transplant operation that had all those who loved and admired him hoping for a recovery, Mickey Mantle died of cancer at the age of 63.

Which of the following is mentioned as the main cause of the destruction of Mantle’s body?

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. 
      Sixty percent of working Americans today say they’ve left a job, or considered leaving a job, because they didn’t like their direct supervisor, according to a survey from human resource consulting firm Randstad US. Though leaving a job may seem like the best solution for retiring a bad boss, that doesn’t mean that it’s always the best plan for your career. In fact, if you’re in a situation where you love your job and the opportunities it presents, then leaving your role because of a difficult boss may not be the best idea. Pollak and Monster.com career expert Vicki Salemi broke down three ways you can deal with a bad boss without quitting a job you love. 
      Pollak says that in many cases, a difficult relationship with your boss is often due to differing personalities and habits. One way to mend this relationship, she says, is to closely study your boss’s behavior so that you can meet their expectations. “Become the world’s leading expert on your boss or your manager,” says Pollak, who is also the author of the book “The Remix: How to Lead and Succeed in the Multigenerational Workforce.” “How does this person like to communicate? If she hates long emails, stop sending long emails. If she doesn’t like it when you drop by her office but reacts better when you schedule an appointment, then learn to always schedule appointments instead of dropping in. If she is not a morning person, don’t ask for things in the morning. If this person is really detail-oriented, then triple check your documents before handing them in.” Salemi agrees. She says that if you have a boss who’s critical or a micromanager, often the best way to deal with them is to be proactive in meeting their needs. “It’s kind of like you’re managing them without making it seem like you’re managing them,” she says.
      When dealing with a difficult boss, Pollak says one of the best ways to figure out how to successfully work under their leadership is to talk to other people who you know have been in a similar situation. “Other people can be a resource, whether it’s a mentor, someone at a different company, a coach or people who have worked for this person in the past,” she says. “Treat it as a positive and say, ‘I really want to be successful working with X. What recommendations do you have?’” However, she emphasizes, you should never talk about the situation in a negative way, or say you don’t like working for your boss. Instead, discuss about the situation in a way that shows your willingness to adapt to make the relationship work.
      If talking to other colleagues isn’t helpful, then Pollak says one of your last options should be to talk directly to your boss. Consider your approach carefully. Instead of saying, “We’re not getting along. What should we do?”, say something to the effect of, “I’d really like to make sure that I’m serving your needs. I’d like to make sure that I’m communicating in a way that’s effective for you and I want to make sure that I’m being as productive as possible. Is there anything I can do differently?” This way, she says, you’re approaching the situation by asking how you can help, instead of emphasizing a problem.

The word “productive” in the last paragraph is closest in meaning to _____________.

Read the following the passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct word or phrasethat best fits each of the numbered blanks from 31 to 35.
From the next year, every student in their final rear at our school will study for a compulsory Diploma of Practical Achievement. This will be in addition to the normal examinations. Up to now, the course has been optional, but from now on every student must (31)        it.
The aim is to (32)   students with "life skills", which the Diploma divides into eight categories. These cover a range of things relevant to life beyond school, from sending an e-mail to giving presentation  to  an  audience.  Under  the  heading     "survival",  (33)      ,  students   can learn  car mainternance, first aid and cooking. We have discovered that many students cannot do simple things such as mend a puncture or boil an egg. At the other extreme, the Diploma includes such things as how to design a webpage and how to cope if someone has a heart attack. It has been called a " Diploma in Common Sense".
On the course, students will not be taught in the traditional (34)  
  , but rather will be guided and encouraged to do things for themselves. This is above all a practical "hand-on" course. To a greater or lesser extent, good schools have always tried to (35)        these skills. Unfortunately, students have not always shown much interest because such skills are not directly related to passing exams for higher education. We hope this will change now that we have a proper course that will lead to a recognised diploma.
(31)..................

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 following questions.

Let children learn to judge their own work. A child learning to talk does not learn by being corrected all the time. If corrected too much, he will stop talking. He notices a thousand times a day the difference between the language he uses and the language those around him use. Bit by bit, he makes the necessary changes to make his language like other people's. In the same way, children learn all the other things they learn to do without being taught - to talk, run, climb, whistle, ride a bicycle - compare their own performances with those of more skilled people, and slowly make the needed changes. But in school we never give a child a chance to find out his mistakes for himself, let alone correct them. We do it all for him. We act as if we thought that he would never notice a mistake unless it was pointed out to him, or correct it unless he was made to. Soon he becomes dependent on the teacher. Let him do it himself. Let him work out, with the help of other children if he wants it, what this word says, what the answer is to that problem, whether this is a good way of saying or doing this or not.

If it is a matter of right answers, as it may be in mathematics or science, give him the answer book. Let him correct his own papers. Why should we teachers waste time on such routine work? Our job should be to help the child when he tells us that he can't find the way to get the right answer. Let's end all this nonsense of grades, exams, and marks. Let us throw them all out, and let the children learn what all educated persons must someday learn, how to measure their own understanding, how to know what they know or do not know.

Let them get on with this job in the way that seems most sensible to them, with our help as school teachers if they ask for it. The idea that there is a body of knowledge to be learnt at school and used for the rest of one's life is nonsense in a world as complicated and rapidly changing as ours. Anxious parents and teachers say, “But suppose they fail to learn something essential, something they will need to get on in the world?" Don't worry! If it is essential, they will go out into the world and learn it.

According to paragraph 1, what basic skills do children learn to do without being taught?

Humans have struggled against weeds since the beginnings of agriculture. Marring our gardens is one of the milder effects of weeds - any plants that thrive where they are unwanted. They clog waterways, destroy wildlife habitats, and impede farming. Their spread eliminates grazing areas and accounts for one-third of all crop loss. They compete for sunlight, nutrients, and water with useful plants.
The global need for weed control had been answered mainly by the chemical industry. Its herbicides are effective and sometimes necessary, but some pose serious problems, particularly if misused. Toxic compounds threaten animal and public health when they accumulate in food plants, groundwater, and drinking water. They also harm workers who apply them.
In recent years, the chemical industry has introduced several herbicides that are more ecologically sound. Yet new chemicals alone cannot solve the world’s weed problems. Hence, scientists are exploring the innate weed-killing powers of living organisms, primarily insects and microorganisms.
The biological agents now in use are environmentally benign and are harmless to humans. They can be chosen for their ability to attack selected targets and leave crops and other plants untouched. In contrast, some of the most effective chemicals kill virtually all the plants they come in contact with, sparing only those that are naturally resistant or have been genetically modified for resistance. Furthermore, a number of biological agents can be administered only once, after which no added applications are needed. Chemicals typically must be used several times per growing season.

Which of the following statements about the use of chemical agents as herbicides would the author most likely agree?