Read the passage and answer the questions below.
A lot of people go to the seaside for their holidays and the various towns try to organize entertainment for them.

In one seaside holiday town in the South of England, arrangements were made for a band to play outdoors in a public park every evening for a week. Unfortunately, it rained the first evening, and although the band performed well, there was only one person in the audience because, though the band was undercover, the audiences were not.

The man was sitting in a chair, wearing a waterproof hat and coat. After an hour, the conductor of the band went to this man and asked whether he had a special request. “Yes, I have,” said the man, “please finish as soon as you can. I’m the keeper of this park, and I want to lock the gates and go home”.

The band…………………………….

Read the following passage and choose the item (A, B, C or D) that best answers each of the questions about it

Every nation and every country has its own customs and traditions. In Britain traditions play a more important part in the life of the people than in other countries. Englishmen are proud of their traditions and carefully keep them up.

It has been the law for about 300 years that all theatres are closed on Sundays. No letters are delivered; only a few Sunday papers are published. 

To this day an English family prefers a house with a garden to a flat in a modern house with central heating. English people like gardens. Sometimes the garden in front of the house is a little square covered with cement painted garden in imitation of grass and a box of flowers.

Holidays are especially rich in old traditions and are different in Scotland, Ireland, Wales and England. Christmas is a great English national holiday, and in Scotland it is not kept, except by clerks in banks, all shops and factories are working.

What is the best title for the passage?

You are going to read an extract from a writer’s journal. For Questions 1-8, choose the correct answer A, B, C, or D.

Six months ago I made a rash promise. The leader of the youth club in our village rang me in March saying, “We’re thinking of running a children’s playscheme for a day in October half-term. Would you be prepared to help?” My response was “Sure, why not?” In truth, I was a little flattered to be asked, even though working as a care assistant with old people hardly qualified me for the role. Still, I duly put the date in my diary and of course, I forgot all about it. I don’t know if you’ve noticed this but time has a habit of speeding along faster than a police car chasing a robber and, before I knew it, the day was dawning.

I arrived at the youth center that morning feeling full of trepidation. There was a gang of 12 helpers including me and each pair had been allocated a particular age group. Mine was the 10 to 11-year-olds. Even with the planning meeting I had attended the week before, I worried about whether I was up to the task. Why hadn’t I read through the copious lesson plans we were given beforehand? And wasn’t the average 10-year-old more interested in the latest Play Station game than making things with paper and glue?

All too quickly the children began arriving. The look of relief on parents’ faces as they handed their offspring over to us was quite comical. A handful of the children were already members of the club but the other forty-five or so were from the local primary schools. Again I asked myself why I had elected to spend a day with all these ‘little monsters’, especially when I have two all of my own to contend with!

I needn’t have worried of course as it turned out to be a marvelous day. We watched entertaining DVD clips, learned ‘action’ songs, made clay pyramids, decorated biscuits, played memory games, and spent some time in quiet reflection. I say ‘we’ because I rediscovered my inner child and joined in all the activities.

The particular highlight for me was the final rendition of “He’s got the whole world in his hands” in the closing part of the day. The children knew the words and actions off by heart and sang so loudly it was almost enough to bring the roof down. It’s difficult to explain those moments; only that the body tingles with the pleasure of having witnessed something so magical.

Of course, there were also moments of great poignancy. I found it difficult to stop thinking of one little girl, who mentioned oh-so-casually that her mum was in the hospital and would be there for a long time. It’s easy for us adults to idealize childhood and forget that some children have their own burden of anxieties and concerns. When I got home utterly exhausted, still with modeling clay under my fingernails, I reflected on what a privilege it had been.

There was one disappointment for the children and that was that the playscheme was only running for a day, and not the whole week. As I said farewell to my group, one of the children turned and said “Can we do it again in the next holiday, Miss?” My response was, “Sure, why not?”

When the day arrived the writer was surprised _____________.

Read the following passage and choose the best answer: 

       The locations of stars in the sky relative to one another do not appear to the naked eye to change, and as a result, stars are often considered to be fixed in position. Many unaware stargazers falsely assume that each star has its own permanent home in the nighttime sky.

        In reality, though, stars are always moving, but because of their tremendous distances between stars themselves and from stars to Earth, the changes are barely perceptible here. An example of a rather fast-moving star demonstrates why this misconception prevails; it takes approximately two hundred years for a rapid star-like Bernard’s star to move a distance in the sky equal to the diameter of the Earth’s moon. When apparently negligible movement of the stars is contrasted with the movement of the planets, the stars are seemingly unmoving.

This passage would most probably be assigned in the field of ……………..

Read the text below and decide which answer (A, B, C, or D) best fits each space. 

Many parents believe that they should begin to teach their (1) ______ to read when they are more than toddlers. This is fine if the child shows a real interest but (2) _____  a child could be counter-productive if she isn’t ready. Wise parents will have a relaxed attitude and take the (3) _____ from their child. What they should provide is a selection of (4) _____ toys, books, and other activities. Nowadays, there is plenty of good (5) _____ available for young children, and of course, seeing plenty of books in use about the house will also (6) _____ them to read.

Of course, books are no longer the only (7) ______ of stories and information. (8) _____  is also a huge range of videos, which can reinforce and extend the pleasure a child finds in a book and are (9) _______ valuable in helping to increase vocabulary and concentration. Television gets a bad (10) _______ as far as children are concerned, mainly because too many spend too much time watching programs not intended for their age group.

3_________

Read the following passage then choose the best option.

 Computerization has changed high school education in many ways. In the early 1980s, only 20% of high school teachers in the US used computers. However, since then high schools in the US have computerized rapidly. In 1987, schools acquired about 1.5 million computers with 95% of the schools having at least one computer. At school, teachers can use a computer to bring texts, sound, and pictures into a classroom. With a computer, they can readily attract and retain students’ attention. Computers can also speed up the teaching process and make difficult-to-explain ideas straightforward. This means that teachers can spend more time answering students’ questions and catering to other needs. Computer software can shorten the learning process by illustrating real-world applications of abstract theories.

What is the main idea of the text?

Đọc đoạn văn sau và chọn phương án đúng (ứng với A, B, C hoặc D) cho mỗi câu dưới đây.

Much of the information we have today about chimpanzees comes from the long-term research of the great conservationist Jane Goodall. Jane Goodall was born in London, England, on April 3, 1934. On her second birthday, her father gave her a toy chimpanzee named Jubilee. Jubilee was named after a baby chimp in the London Zoo and seemed to foretell the course Jane’s life would take. From an early age, Jane was fascinated by animals and animal stories. By the age of 10, she was talking about going to Africa to live among the animals there. At the time, in the early 1940S, this was a radical idea because women did not go to Africa by themselves.

As a young woman, Jane finished school in London, attended a secretarial school, and then worked for a documentary filmmaker for a while. When a school friend invited her to visit Kenya, she worked as a waitress until she had earned the fare to travel there by boat. She was 23 years old. Once in Kenya, she met Dr. Louis Leakey, a famous paleontologist, and anthropologist. He was impressed with her thorough knowledge of Africa and its wildlife and hired her to assist him and his wife on a fossil-hunting expedition to Olduvai Gorge. Dr. Leakey soon realized that Jane was the perfect person to complete a study he had been planning for some time. She expressed her interest in the idea of studying animals by living in the wild with them, rather than studying dead animals through paleontology.

Dr. Leakey and Jane began planning a study of a group of chimpanzees who were living on the shores of Lake Tanganyika in Kenya. At first, the British authorities would not approve of their plan. At the time, they thought it was too dangerous for a woman to live in the wilds of Africa alone. But Jane’s mother, Vanne, agreed to join her so that she would not be alone. Finally, the authorities gave Jane the clearance she needed in order to go to Africa and begin her study.

Dr. Louis Leakey hired her because_______________

Khoanh tròn vào đáp án đúng nhất trong số (A, B, C hoặc D) để điền vào chỗ trống trong đoạn văn sau. 
Electricity is the (0) _________ common form of energy used today. (1) _________ the modern world, (2) _________ is instantly available at the touch of a switch. Electricity has numerous uses. The most common use of electricity is to provide artificial lighting. In factories, electricity is used to (3) _________ the electric motor of machines. In offices, electricity is used to light up (4) _________ workplace. It is also used to operate air-conditioners, computers (5) _________ many other machines.

2_________

Read and answer the question

Thailand, located in the Southeast of Asia, has a total area of 513,115 sq km. It is bordered by the countries Laos in the Northeast, Cambodia in the Southeast and Malaysia in the South. The total population is about 65.5 million in 2010. Bangkok, the most populous city, is the capital of Thailand. The country’s unit of currency is the Baht, which consists of 100 Satang. The country enjoys a tropical monsoon climate, and there are differences between the weather in the North and the South. The Northern Thai have three seasons in a year, hot from March to May, rainy from June to October, and cool from November to February. The Southern Thai have only two seasons, rainy from April to November and hot from December to March.The national language is Thai. English is also spoken and understood by many citizens, especially in Bangkok and other tourism areas. Although Thailand has no official religion, up to 96.4% people (2002) believe in Buddhism. Additionally, there are followers of some other religions such as Muslims, Hinduism and Christianity.

Is the weather in Northern and Southern Thailand  the same?

READING COMPREHENSION
Finish-born botanist William Nylander taught at the University of Helsinki for a number of years and later moved to Paris, where he lived until his death at the end of the nineteenth century. During the second half of the last century, he became a prominent figure in the field of lichenology. Botanists from all over the world sent samples to his laboratory to be analyzed and classified. It can be said without exaggeration that four of five lichens bear his name.
He was the first to realize the importance of using chemical reagents in the taxonomy of lichens. He selected the most common reagents used by the chemists of his time. Lichenologists all over the world still use these reagents, including tincture of iodine and hypochlorite in their laboratories. During the first half of the nineteenth century, a Japanese named Abahima added only one chemical product- Phenol diamines. Nylander was also responsible for discovering that the atmosphere of big cities hindered the lichens’ development and cause them to disappear. Now they are used to detect atmospheric pollution. Nevertheless, he considered lichens to be simple plants and vehemently opposed the widely accepted modern theories that lichens are compound species formed by two discordant elements: algae and fungi.

 Which of the following is not true?

Decide whether the following statements are True (T) or False (F).

Thailand, located in the Southeast of Asia, has a total area of 513,115 sq km. It is bordered by the countries Laos in the Northeast, Cambodia in the Southeast and Malaysia in the South. The total population is about 65.5 million in 2010. Bangkok, the most populous city, is the capital of Thailand. The country’s unit of currency is the Baht, which consists of 100 Satang.

The country enjoys a tropical monsoon climate, and there are differences between the weather in the North and the South. The Northern Thai have three seasons in a year, hot from March to May, rainy from June to October, and cool from November to February. The Southern Thai have only two seasons, rainy from April to November and hot from December to March.

The national language is Thai. English is also spoken and understood by many citizens, especially in Bangkok and other tourism areas. Although Thailand has no official religion, up to 96.4% people (2002) believe in Buddhism. Additionally, there are followers of some other religions such as Muslims, Hinduism and Christianity.

Thailand is contiguous to Laos, Cambodia and Malaysia.

They all start_______.the same place no matter they are rich or poor.

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.

MY HOME TOWN

I was born in Newcastle, a city in the North East of England. Newcastle is on the bank of the River Tyne. It is a quite big city of about 200,000 inhabit­ants. There is a cathedral and a university. There are five bridges over the River Tyne, which link Newcastle to the next town, Gateshead, where there is one of the biggest shopping centres in the world, the Metro Centre.

A few years ago, the main industries were shipbuilding and coal mining, but now the chemical and soap industries are important.

I moved from Newcastle ten years ago but I often return. I miss the people, who are so warm and friendly, and I miss the wild, beautiful countryside near the city, where there are so many hills and streams.

Newcastle is ………………………………………………

Read the following passage and choose the best answers.

New York – The “ Big Apple”

Our arrival in New York was spectacular. It’s skyscrapers and the Statue of Liberty make a (1)_______sight. New York has a (2) _______of over seven million and it is probably the world’s most famous city. The inhabitants of the “Big Apple” come from many (3) ______ countries. There are more nationalities in New York (4) _________in any other places on the earth. It is also has (5) _______ tourists than any other city except London, especially in the summer. (6) _______come from all (7) _________the world and have a wonderful time. There are so many (8) ________for them to get enthusiastic about – whether it’s some of the (9) _______museums in the world or the (10) _______little streets of Greenwich Village.

Question: There are more nationalities in New York (4) _________in any other places on the earth.

Read the following passage and decide which options A, B, C, D best fits each space. 
          Everyone wants to reduce pollution. But the pollution problem is as complicated _________ (41) it is serious. It is complicated because much _________ (42) is caused by things that benefit people. For example, exhaust _________ (43) automobiles causes a large percentage of all air pollution. _________ (44) the automobiles provide transportation for millions of people. Factories _________ (45) much of the material which pollutes air and water, but factories give employment to a large number of people.

        Thus, to _________ (46) or greatly reduce pollution immediately, people would have to stop using many things that benefit them. Most of the people do not want to do that, of course. But pollution can be _________ (47) reduced in several ways. _________ (48) and engineers can work to find ways to lessen the _________ (49) of pollution that such things as automobiles and factories cause. Governments can pass and enforce laws that require businesses and individuals to stop or cut _________ (50) on certain polluting activities.

44._________

Read the following passage and choose the best answer: 

       The locations of stars in the sky relative to one another do not appear to the naked eye to change, and as a result, stars are often considered to be fixed in position. Many unaware stargazers falsely assume that each star has its own permanent home in the nighttime sky.

        In reality, though, stars are always moving, but because of their tremendous distances between stars themselves and from stars to Earth, the changes are barely perceptible here. An example of a rather fast-moving star demonstrates why this misconception prevails; it takes approximately two hundred years for a rapid star-like Bernard’s star to move a distance in the sky equal to the diameter of the Earth’s moon. When apparently negligible movement of the stars is contrasted with the movement of the planets, the stars are seemingly unmoving.

The best title for this passage is “……………”

Read the text below and decide which answer (A, B, C, or D) best fits each space. 

Many parents believe that they should begin to teach their (1) ______ to read when they are more than toddlers. This is fine if the child shows a real interest but (2) _____  a child could be counter-productive if she isn’t ready. Wise parents will have a relaxed attitude and take the (3) _____ from their child. What they should provide is a selection of (4) _____ toys, books, and other activities. Nowadays, there is plenty of good (5) _____ available for young children, and of course, seeing plenty of books in use about the house will also (6) _____ them to read.

Of course, books are no longer the only (7) ______ of stories and information. (8) _____  is also a huge range of videos, which can reinforce and extend the pleasure a child finds in a book and are (9) _______ valuable in helping to increase vocabulary and concentration. Television gets a bad (10) _______ as far as children are concerned, mainly because too many spend too much time watching programs not intended for their age group.

9._______-

 Read the text and answer the stament is True (T) or False(F)

"Last year I visited the Somerset Levels, a coastal plain and wetland area in Somerset, South West England. This area is home to one of Somerset’s oldest traditional crafts - willow basket making. Basket making began in the area a long time ago. At the beginning of the 19th century, more than three thousand acres of willow trees were planted commercially there because the area provided an excellent natural habitat for their cultivation. I’d seen willow baskets before I visited the Levels, but I was still amazed at the numerous products created by the basket makers there. They make lobster pots, bread trays, and even passenger baskets for hot air balloons. Although the arrival of plastics in the 1950s caused the basket making industry to decline, willow growing and basket making have continued to play a significant role in Somerset’s rural economy. Willow growers and basket makers have dealt with this challenge by finding new markets and innovative ways of using willow. They make willow charcoal for artists and bower seats for gardens. Some even weave willow coffins. Therefore, people here can still live on the craft that their great-grandparents passed down to them."

3.  The presence of plastic products did not affect the growth of the basket making industry in the area in the 1950s.

Read the following passage and decide which options A, B, C, D best fits each space. 
          Everyone wants to reduce pollution. But the pollution problem is as complicated _________ (41) it is serious. It is complicated because much _________ (42) is caused by things that benefit people. For example, exhaust _________ (43) automobiles causes a large percentage of all air pollution. _________ (44) the automobiles provide transportation for millions of people. Factories _________ (45) much of the material which pollutes air and water, but factories give employment to a large number of people.

        Thus, to _________ (46) or greatly reduce pollution immediately, people would have to stop using many things that benefit them. Most of the people do not want to do that, of course. But pollution can be _________ (47) reduced in several ways. _________ (48) and engineers can work to find ways to lessen the _________ (49) of pollution that such things as automobiles and factories cause. Governments can pass and enforce laws that require businesses and individuals to stop or cut _________ (50) on certain polluting activities.

45._________

Đọc đoạn văn sau và chọn phương án đúng (ứng với A, B, C hoặc D) cho mỗi chỗ trống.

When I first entered general practice I was living in a small community on the east coast of Lake Huron. People expected me to be (21) …….. of their last physician, and they were both disappointed and upset when this didn’t turn out to be the case. Although I had few (22) …….. companions, I was a young, unmarried, and attractive woman who had been through one of the best medical schools in the country, and I had reasonable regard for my own qualities. It was upsetting at first when professional (23) …….. was ignored and my patients insisted on second opinions for the most trivial of conditions, but things became even more difficult when people started to spread malicious (24) …….. about my private life.

However, I decided that I would not let myself be made (25) …….. even if there were enough reasons to make anyone feel (26) ……… I followed my father’s cure for a problem – plain old hard work. I got up early every morning, (27) …….. to my office, and followed my profession. This was in the ‘30s and the level of poverty was (28) ……… Children didn’t have enough to eat and mothers couldn’t feed them. Because I was sympathetic and able to give practical help in some cases, my surgery became a (29) …….. for women trying to escape from the threat of domestic violence and the trap of poverty and too many children. And ironically, as I (30) …….. the poorest people in the community, the middle class began to think that maybe I had something to offer and started to beat a path to my surgery door.

27___________