Read the passage and choose the best answers.
The 24th SEA Games was held from 6th to 15th December, 2007 in three provinces in Thailand, namely Nakhon Ratchsima, Bangkok, and Chon Buri. In fact, the 2007 SEA Games was to be hosted by Singapore, but Singapore gave up the chance, as its new national sports stadium is under construction and will not be completed in time for the next SEA Games. Thailand was then asked by The SEA Games Federation to host this regional sport event in place of Singapore.
The SEA Games takes place every two years, with 11 countries in Southeast Asia participating. Each member country, in alphabetical order, takes turn hosting this event. Let’s look at the number of sports and gold medals in The SEA Games in recent years. The 21st SEA Games, hosted by Malaysia in 2001, had 32 sports with 391 gold medals. There were 32 sports with 439 gold medals in The 22nd SEA Games, held in Vietnam in 2003. The 23rd SEA Games, in The Philippines in 2005, had 40 sports with 439 gold medals.
The 24th SEA Games in Thailand this year, featuring 43 sports and 485 gold medals, had the highest number of sports and gold medals in The Asian Games and The Olympic Games. So The SEA Games is regarded as the largest regional sporting event in the world in terms of number of sports and medals
How often does the SEA Games take place? Every ___________.
Suy nghĩ và trả lời câu hỏi trước khi xem đáp án
Lời giải:
Báo saiGiải thích: The SEA Games takes place every two years
Dịch nghĩa: SEA Games diễn ra hai năm một lần
Câu hỏi liên quan
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The Japan of the mid-nineteenth century was a shadow of the modern economic juggernaut that is now one of the world's leading traders. For hundreds of years, Japan had been secluded from the outside world by the strict policies of the rulers of Japan, the Tokugawa shoguns. With the exception of one Dutch ship per year at the port of the Nagasaki, the Japanese refused to deal with foreign ships or nations. Sailors shipwrecked on the Japanese islands were treated harshly and often imprisoned. Passing vessels were refused food, water, and other provisions. With a goal to right these wrongs and to open Japan to trade, in 1853, the United States sent its most capable man, Admiral Matthew Perry, and four warships to open Japan to the rest of the world. The consequences of those actions are still being felt today.
In the seventeenth century, the Japanese had opened their doors briefly to the Dutch and allowed a trading station and Christian enclave in Nagasaki. Guns were imported as part of this trade, and they were one of the reasons for a great upheaval that engulfed Japan for many decades, as a civil war raged between powerful shoguns, or warlords. Finally, Tokugawa emerged as the victor and claimed the lordship of Japan. During these upheavals, the emperor and his family had stood by wielding no power and existed merely as a figurehead. Soon after the civil war, the abandoned the use of guns and the art of the gun making. When Admiral Perry and his fleet arrived in 1853, they were defenseless against his awesome firepower.
Perry had three main purposes when he arrived in Japan: open the country to American trade, get an agreement to use Japan as a coaling and provisioning station for American vessels, and provide guarantees that Japan would aid shipwrecked American sailors. He wished to deal only with the highest officials and rebuffed Japanese attempts to foster lower-level emissaries on him. He sailed away to examine further the coast of Taiwan as a possible coaling station but returned to Japan the following spring in March 1854. This time, under threat of naval bombardment, the Japanese relented and finally signed the Treaty of Kanagawa on March 31, 1854. In addition to the three main items, the Japanese agreed to allow an American consulate to be established. At first, only Nagasaki was open to American trade, but the treaty stipulated that, after five years, other ports would be opened.
The consequences of these events were far reaching for Japan and the world. Within a few years, foreign currency began to flow to Japan, which upset its economy and caused rising inflation. This was a precursor to the fall of the Tokugawa shoguns and the return of the emperor as the leader of Japanese affairs in 1868. The Emperor Meiji then set a clear path for his nation, not wanting Japan to be under the heel of the foreigners who now clamored at the heel of the foreigners of his land. Meiji sent sailors to England to learn how to build ships and fight a modern naval war, invited German army officers to train his soldiers, and made deals with many companies to modernize Japan's industry, transportation, and communications. In fact, the efforts were so successful that, by the 1980s, the world began to view Japan as one of the great powers, more so after it defeated both China and Russia on land and at sea in two local wars. The Russian defeat was even more astonishing since the Europeans were unused to losing to those they considered their inferiors.
Japan's rapid industrialized and militarization had dreadful consequences for Asia, as Meiji's grandson Hirohito led the nation down the path to world war, which ultimately saw the destruction of much of Japan. The shock of this defeat still echoes through Japanese history, as does the arriv -
Almost as soon as World War II ended, the debate began over who had actually done the most on the Allied side to ensure the defeat of the Axis powers. The Russians only needed to point to their twenty million plus war dead to justify their rights in Eastern Europe and their new position as a great power on the world stage. Yet, Americans could also claim that they had done as much, if not more, as the Russians to defeat the Axis enemy. In hindsight, it is obvious that despite its greater number of dead, the Russian effort ranks second place to the American. In particular, the American effort seems greater in light of three crucial points: it was fighting at extreme distances from its home territory; it simultaneously fought three different enemies on a multitude of complex fronts with air, naval, land forces; and finally, it supplied many other fighting forces, including the Russians, with massive amounts ofmaterial.
The main fronts of World War II were in North Africa, Italy, Western and Eastern Europe, the Pacific Ocean, China, and India. The United States military forces fought on or supported every front, all of which were at extreme distances from the continental United States. A great logistical effort required to support both its own forces and those of many other nations. Above all, supply ships were essential because without the supply ships, all would have been in vain. Keeping the world's sea lanes free was one of the great accomplishments of the United States Navy and her allies, especially the British and Canadians. This allowed ships to traverse great distances and bring American and other Allied fighting forces to face the Axis powers. The Russians, on the other hand, were fighting in their own country for much of the war and were close to their supply lines. They fought on one continuous font and did not have to travel far to meet the enemy.
The United States fought all three great Axis powers during the war: Germany, Japan, and Italy. While it cannot be denied that the Russian did the lion's share of the fighting against Germany and the lesser Axis powers of Finland, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria for a longer time, it was not until the last days of the war that Russia attacked Japan. As for the Italians, the Russians only met the reluctant few whom Hitler managed to coerce for his Russian campaign. Another area to take into consideration is the strategic bombing campaign that the Americans and British waged against German industry, something that the Russians did not take part in at all. Finally, with the exception of the Baltic Sea, the Russian navy played a very minor role in the war compared to American's navy. Despite significant aid from the British, Australians, and New Zealanders, the Americans bore the brute of the Pacific fighting.
The Chinese tied down a massive number of Japanese troops on the Asian mainland, but they were supplied almost exclusively by the United States. American arms, support equipment, food, and clothing went to the four corners of the world during the war even before American officially entered it in 1941. Indeed, the Russian Red Army rode into Eastern Europe on the wheels of over 300,000 American trucks, fed itself on a diet of American canned ham, and wore
American boots. Coupled with all this were billion-dollar loans with generous terms of interest, which America gave to its allies. American was the only Allied nation that did not need to borrow any money during the war.
Russia's combat dead were approximately eight million. American's number of combat deal was nowhere near the equal of the Russia's comprising less than five percent of the number of Russian combat deaths. This is not only a reflection of the intensity of the fighting in Eastern Euro
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An idea came to me, and I turned off the lights in the studio. In the dark ness, I put the cello's spike into a loose spot on the carpet, tightened the bow and drew it across the open strings. I took off my shirt and tried it again; it was the first time in my life I'd felt the instrument against my bare chest. I could fell the vibration of the strings travel through the body of the instrument to my own body. I'd never thought about that; music scholars always talk about the resonating properties of various instruments, but surely the performer's own body must have some effect on the sound. As I dug into the notes I imagined that my own chest and lung were extensions of the sound box; I seemed to be able to alter the sound by the way I sat, and by varying the muscular tension in my upper body.
After improvising for a while, I started playing the D minor Bach suite, still in the darkness. Strangely freed of the task of finding the right phrasing, the right intonation, the right bowing, I heard the music through my skin. For the first time I didn't think about how it would sound to anyone else, and slowly, joyfully, gratefully, I started to hear again. The note sang out, first like a trickle, then like a fountain of cool water bubbling up from a hole in the middle of the desert. After an hour or so I looked up, and in the darkness saw the outline of the cat sitting on the floor in front of me, cleaning her paws and purring loudly. I had an audience again, humble as it was.
So that's what I do now with the cello. At least once a day I find time to tune it, close my eyes, and listen. It’s probably not going to lead to the kind of come back I'd fantasized about for so long – years of playing badly have left scars on my technique, and, practically speaking, classical musicians returning from obscurity are almost impossible to promote – but might eventually try giving a recital if I feel up to it. Or better yet, I may pay for Dr. Polk if our date at the concert goes well. Occasionally I fell a stab of longing, and I wish I could give just one more concert on the great stage before my lights blink off, but that longing passes more quickly now. I take solace on the fact that, unlike the way I felt before, I can enjoy playing for myself now. I fell relaxed and expansive when I play, as if I could stretch out my arms and reach from one end of the apartment to the other. A feeling of the completeness and dignity surrounds me and lifts me up.In paragraph 2 the author's primary purpose is.............................
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Today we take electricity for granted and perhaps we do not realize just how useful this discovery has been. Steam was the first invention that replaced wind power. It was used to drive engines and was passed through pipes and radiators to warm rooms. Petrol mixed with air was the next invention that provided power. Exploded in a cylinder, it drove a motor engine, Beyond these simple and direct uses, those forms have not much adaptability.
On the other hand, we make use of electricity in thousands of ways. From the powerful voltages that drive our electric trains to the tiny current needed to work a simple calculator, and from the huge electric magnet in steel works that can lift 10 tons to the tiny electric magnet in a doorbell, all are powered by electricity. An electric current can be made with equal ease to heat a huge mass of molten metal in a furnace, or to boil a jug for a cup of coffee. Other than atomic energy, which has not as yet been harnessed to the full, electricity is the greatest power in the world. It is flexible, and so adaptable for any task for which it is wanted. It travels so easily and with incredible speed along wires or conductors that it can be supplied instantly over vast distances.
To generate electricity, huge turbines or generators must be turned. In Australia they use coal or water to drive this machinery. When dams are built, falling water is used to drive the turbines without polluting the atmosphere with smoke from coal. Atomic power is used in several countries but there is always the fear of an accident. A tragedy once occurred at Chernobyl, in Ukraine, at an atomic power plant used to make electricity. The reactor leaked, which caused many deaths through radiation.
Now scientists are examining new ways of creating electricity without harmful effects to the environment. They may harness the tides as they flow in and out of bays. Most importantly, they hope to trap sunlight more efficiently. We do use solar heaters for swimming pools but as yet improvement in the capacity of the solar cells to create more current is necessary. When this happens, electric cars will be viable and the world will rid itself of the toxic gases given off by trucks and cars that burn fossil fuels.The best title for this passage could be......................
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Choose the letter A, B, C or D to complete the passage below
HÀ NỘI — The Government has approved the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism’s proposal to hold the 31st Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games 31) and the 11th ASEAN Para Games (Para Games 11) in Việt Nam in 2021.
At a meeting in the capital on Tuesday, the Cabinet assigned Hà Nội __________ (6) the host city, after successfully holding the SEA Games 22 in 2003, the Asian Indoor Games in 2009 and several other international sporting __________ (7). The ministry’s proposal was made after the SEA Games Federation (SEAGF) informed Việt Nam it would have the right to host the SEA Games 31. The federation said Cambodia, scheduled to host SEA Games 31, proposed __________ (8) hosting until the next Games in 2023 as it is not ready.
Concluding the meeting, Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc lauded the determination of the culture, sports and tourism sector, as well as of Hà Nội and relevant ministries and agencies. Hosting the events is both the responsibility __________ (9) honour of Việt Nam as a constructive member of ASEAN, he said, adding it is also a chance to promote the Vietnamese land and people. The leader asked Hà Nội __________ (10) infrastructure, set forth a detailed plan on the organisation of the events and mobilise the participation of different economic sectors in these efforts. The sports sector should make preparations to reach the highest results at the tournament, he said.
At a meeting in the capital on Tuesday, the Cabinet assigned Hà Nội as the host city, after successfully holding the SEA Games 22 in 2003, the Asian Indoor Games in 2009 and several other international sporting __________ (7).
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Choose the word or phrase among A, B, C or D that best fits the blank space in the following passage:
"The 22nd Southeast Asian Games (22nd SEA Games) successfully closed in Ha Noi. Prominent among 40,000 spectators at the closing (1)…. at My Dinh National Stadium were Party Secretary General Nong Duc Manh, Vice President Truong My Hoa and leaders of the Asian Sport Federation.
A spectacular art (2)…… programme with the participation of 300 musicians and 500 artists was (3)……. to welcome the success of the Games. Singaporean swimmer Yeojoscelin who won six gold medals and Vietnamese marksman Nguyen Manh Tuong who owned five gold medals during the Games were awarded the most (4)…… athlete title.
Nguyen Danh Thai, Minister-Chairman of the State Committee for Physical Training and Sports, President of the 22nd SEA Games Council and Head of the 22nd SEA Games Organising Committee, (5)……. that the Games have successfully concluded after boisterous competition days. All activities took place(6)…… scheduled in an (7)….. of solidarity and friendship among Southeast Asian people.
With the Vietnamese Government and people's efforts and international support, the 22nd SEA Games have become a festival that impressed people (8)…. the spirit of “solidarity. cooperation for peace and development”.
The 22nd SEA Games are not only a song of honesty and nobility in competition and organising competition but (9)….. a sign of a bright future for the development of regional sports. After Vietnamese singer My Linh and a Philippine singer sang the song “For the World of Tomorrow”, Minister Nguven Danh Thai and Chairman of the Ha Noi People's Committee Hoang Van Nghiên handed over the SEA Games Flag to the Chairman of the Olympic Committee and the Head of the Philippine sport team, (10)…… the host country of the 23rd SEA Games - the Philippines 2005."4. Singaporean swimmer Yeojoscelin who won six gold medals and Vietnamese marksman Nguyen Manh Tuong who owned five gold medals during the Games were awarded the most (4)…… athlete title.
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Choose the word or phrase among A, B, C or D that best fits the blank space in the following passage:
"The 22nd SEA Games were launched by an impressive opening ceremony at Hanoi’s My Dinh National Stadium, in front of over 40,000 awed spectators. Divided into two parts, rites and festivals, the ceremony (1)…. At 19:00 with the song, “Vietnam - Our Fatherland”. The (2)….. appearance of parachutists, carrying the 11 national flags of the competing Southeast Asian countries, was greeted (3) …. thunderous applause from the audience.
All the stadium’s lights suddenly came on, (4)…. the start of the procession of Vietnam’s flag and the 22nd SEA Games' Symbol. The 11 sporting delegations then marched past the reviewing stand to excite applause from officials and spectators.
The sacred torch, which symbolises the (5)….. of the Games and (6)… to compete with burning intensity, was taken from the Ho Chi Minh Museum and passed by Truong Quoc Thang (cyclist), Bui Thi Nhung (runner), Vu Kim Anh (karate artist) and athletes from 10 regional countries to Nguyên Thuy Hien (wushu artist) (7)….. gave it to the Prime Minister, who in tum passed it to an athlete dressed like national hero Giong.
From this athlete’s hand, the official flame was lit at My Dinh National Stadium and will bum (8) …… the course of the Games. (9)…… at the opening ceremony, Minister-Chairman of the Physical Training and Sports Committee Nguyen Danh Thai, who is also the head of the 22nd SEA Games Organising Board, warmly welcomed Party and State leaders, delegates, domestic and international guests, and 11 sports delegations from Southeast Asian countries to the 22nd SEA Games.
(10)……. behalf of the host country, Prime Minister Phan Van Khai declared the 22nd SEA Games open."2. The (2)….. appearance of parachutists, carrying the 11 national flags of the competing Southeast Asian countries,
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Read the following passage and choose the best answer for each blank.
Yesterday, Eleanor Preston won an international swimming competition for girls (26) _________ under sixteen. She swam faster (27) _________ girls from ten other countries. This (28) ______even better when you learn that Elenor is only thirteen. She had to have special (29) _________to enter, because normally competitors are fourteen or older. Eleanor has been (30) ______on swimming for a long time – (31) ______she was three in fact. I wonder whether she found it hard to (32) _______several hours a day training. She (33) _________. me that sometimes she has problems finding time for homework, but that’s all. “My parents have given up so (34) _______time driving me to local competitions, I think it’s been harder for them, actually.” Her aim is to swim at the Olympic Games. After yesterday’s performance, I think she may (35)_________. there.
(34) _________
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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.
A rather surprising geographical feature of Antarctica is that a huge freshwater lake, one of the world’s largest and deepest, lies hidden there under four kilometers of ice. Now known as Lake Vostok, this huge body of water is located under the ice block that comprises Antarctica. The lake is able to exist in its unfrozen state beneath this block of ice because its waters are warmed by geothermal heat from the earth’s core. The thick glacier above Lake Vostok actually insulates it from the frigid temperatures on the surface.
The lake was first discovered in the 1970s while a research team was conducting an aerial survey of the area. Radio waves from the survey equipment penetrated the ice and revealed a body of water of indeterminate size. It was not until much more recently that data collected by satellite made scientists aware of the tremendous size of the lake; the satellite-borne radar detected an extremely flat region where the ice remains level because it is floating on the water of the lake.
The discovery of such a huge freshwater lake trapped under Antarctica is of interest to the scientific community because of the potential that the lake contains ancient microbes that have survived for thousands of years, unaffected by factors such as nuclear fallout and elevated ultraviolet light that have affected organisms in more exposed areas. The downside of the discovery, however, lies in the difficulty of conducting research on the lake in such a harsh climate and in the problems associated with obtaining uncontaminated samples from the lake without actually exposing the lake to contamination. Scientists are looking for possible ways to accomplish this.
It can be inferred from the passage that the ice would not be flat if______.
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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.
Thanksgiving is celebrated in the US on the fourth Thursday in November. For many Americans it is the most important holiday apart from Christmas. Schools, offices and most businesses close for Thanksgiving, and many people make the whole weekend a vacation.
Thanksgiving is associated with the time when Europeans first came to North America. In 1620 the ship the Mayflowers arrived, bringing about 150 people who today are usually called Pilgrims. They arrived at the beginning of a very hard winter and could not find enough to eat, so many of them died. But in the following summer Native Americans showed them what foods were safe to eat, so that they could save food for the next winter. They held a big celebration to thank God and the Native Americans for the fact that they had survived.
Today people celebrate Thanksgiving to remember these early days. The most important part of the celebration is a traditional dinner with foods that come from North America. The meal includes turkey, sweet potatoes (also called yams) and cranberries, which are made into a kind of sauce or jelly. The turkey is filled with stuffing or dressing, and many families have their own special recipe. Dessert is pumpkin made into a pie.
On Thanksgiving there are special television programs and sports events. In New York there is the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, when a long line of people wearing fancy costumes march through the streets with large balloons in the shape of imaginary characters. Thanksgiving is considered the beginning of the Christmas period, and the next day many people go out to shop for Christmas presents.
Which of the following is NOT true?
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Choose the item among A, B, C or D that best answers the question about the passage:
"The 22nd Southeast Asian Games were held in Hanoi, Vietnam from 5 December to 13 December, 2003. The Games were opened by Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Van Khai in the newly constructed My Dinh National Stadium in Hanoi. The Games torch was lit by Nguyen Thuy Hien of Wushu. It was the First time in the SEA Games history that the Games venues were assigned into two cities namely Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.
The 22nd SEA Games logo designed by painter Nguyen Chi Long is based on a legendary bird named “Chim Lac”. The bird decorated the Ngoe Lu bronze drum, a typical antiquity of the ancient Dong Son Vietnamese culture. The Emblem is composed of harmonious and vigorous curves, creating a feeling of movement and strength which conforms to the Olympic Spirit: “Faster. Higher and Stronger The colorful whirls represent the tough competitiveness in sports.
The Games’ hymn was “For the World of Tomorrow” composed by Nguyen Quang Vinh. Painter Nguyen Thai Hung chose “Trau Vang”, the golden water buffalo as the mascot for the 22nd SEA Games. With a gentle and harmonious nature, the clever Buffalo has become synonymous with the water and rice civilization that is so important in Vietnam as well as in other Southeast Asian countries. To Vietnamese people, the Golden Buffalo symbolizes a golden harvest, prosperity, happiness, power and the Vietnamese martial spirit."4. What has the mascot for the 22nd SEA Games been associated with?
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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.
A rather surprising geographical feature of Antarctica is that a huge freshwater lake, one of the world’s largest and deepest, lies hidden there under four kilometers of ice. Now known as Lake Vostok, this huge body of water is located under the ice block that comprises Antarctica. The lake is able to exist in its unfrozen state beneath this block of ice because its waters are warmed by geothermal heat from the earth’s core. The thick glacier above Lake Vostok actually insulates it from the frigid temperatures on the surface.
The lake was first discovered in the 1970s while a research team was conducting an aerial survey of the area. Radio waves from the survey equipment penetrated the ice and revealed a body of water of indeterminate size. It was not until much more recently that data collected by satellite made scientists aware of the tremendous size of the lake; the satellite-borne radar detected an extremely flat region where the ice remains level because it is floating on the water of the lake.
The discovery of such a huge freshwater lake trapped under Antarctica is of interest to the scientific community because of the potential that the lake contains ancient microbes that have survived for thousands of years, unaffected by factors such as nuclear fallout and elevated ultraviolet light that have affected organisms in more exposed areas. The downside of the discovery, however, lies in the difficulty of conducting research on the lake in such a harsh climate and in the problems associated with obtaining uncontaminated samples from the lake without actually exposing the lake to contamination. Scientists are looking for possible ways to accomplish this.
What is true of Lake Vostok?
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Today we take electricity for granted and perhaps we do not realize just how useful this discovery has been. Steam was the first invention that replaced wind power. It was used to drive engines and was passed through pipes and radiators to warm rooms. Petrol mixed with air was the next invention that provided power. Exploded in a cylinder, it drove a motor engine, Beyond these simple and direct uses, those forms have not much adaptability.
On the other hand, we make use of electricity in thousands of ways. From the powerful voltages that drive our electric trains to the tiny current needed to work a simple calculator, and from the huge electric magnet in steel works that can lift 10 tons to the tiny electric magnet in a doorbell, all are powered by electricity. An electric current can be made with equal ease to heat a huge mass of molten metal in a furnace, or to boil a jug for a cup of coffee. Other than atomic energy, which has not as yet been harnessed to the full, electricity is the greatest power in the world. It is flexible, and so adaptable for any task for which it is wanted. It travels so easily and with incredible speed along wires or conductors that it can be supplied instantly over vast distances.
To generate electricity, huge turbines or generators must be turned. In Australia they use coal or water to drive this machinery. When dams are built, falling water is used to drive the turbines without polluting the atmosphere with smoke from coal. Atomic power is used in several countries but there is always the fear of an accident. A tragedy once occurred at Chernobyl, in Ukraine, at an atomic power plant used to make electricity. The reactor leaked, which caused many deaths through radiation.
Now scientists are examining new ways of creating electricity without harmful effects to the environment. They may harness the tides as they flow in and out of bays. Most importantly, they hope to trap sunlight more efficiently. We do use solar heaters for swimming pools but as yet improvement in the capacity of the solar cells to create more current is necessary. When this happens, electric cars will be viable and the world will rid itself of the toxic gases given off by trucks and cars that burn fossil fuels.Before electricity, what was sometimes passed through pipes to heat rooms?
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Today we take electricity for granted and perhaps we do not realize just how useful this discovery has been. Steam was the first invention that replaced wind power. It was used to drive engines and was passed through pipes and radiators to warm rooms. Petrol mixed with air was the next invention that provided power. Exploded in a cylinder, it drove a motor engine, Beyond these simple and direct uses, those forms have not much adaptability.
On the other hand, we make use of electricity in thousands of ways. From the powerful voltages that drive our electric trains to the tiny current needed to work a simple calculator, and from the huge electric magnet in steel works that can lift 10 tons to the tiny electric magnet in a doorbell, all are powered by electricity. An electric current can be made with equal ease to heat a huge mass of molten metal in a furnace, or to boil a jug for a cup of coffee. Other than atomic energy, which has not as yet been harnessed to the full, electricity is the greatest power in the world. It is flexible, and so adaptable for any task for which it is wanted. It travels so easily and with incredible speed along wires or conductors that it can be supplied instantly over vast distances.
To generate electricity, huge turbines or generators must be turned. In Australia they use coal or water to drive this machinery. When dams are built, falling water is used to drive the turbines without polluting the atmosphere with smoke from coal. Atomic power is used in several countries but there is always the fear of an accident. A tragedy once occurred at Chernobyl, in Ukraine, at an atomic power plant used to make electricity. The reactor leaked, which caused many deaths through radiation.
Now scientists are examining new ways of creating electricity without harmful effects to the environment. They may harness the tides as they flow in and out of bays. Most importantly, they hope to trap sunlight more efficiently. We do use solar heaters for swimming pools but as yet improvement in the capacity of the solar cells to create more current is necessary. When this happens, electric cars will be viable and the world will rid itself of the toxic gases given off by trucks and cars that burn fossil fuels.The main forms of power used to generate electricity in Australia are ..................
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Almost as soon as World War II ended, the debate began over who had actually done the most on the Allied side to ensure the defeat of the Axis powers. The Russians only needed to point to their twenty million plus war dead to justify their rights in Eastern Europe and their new position as a great power on the world stage. Yet, Americans could also claim that they had done as much, if not more, as the Russians to defeat the Axis enemy. In hindsight, it is obvious that despite its greater number of dead, the Russian effort ranks second place to the American. In particular, the American effort seems greater in light of three crucial points: it was fighting at extreme distances from its home territory; it simultaneously fought three different enemies on a multitude of complex fronts with air, naval, land forces; and finally, it supplied many other fighting forces, including the Russians, with massive amounts ofmaterial.
The main fronts of World War II were in North Africa, Italy, Western and Eastern Europe, the Pacific Ocean, China, and India. The United States military forces fought on or supported every front, all of which were at extreme distances from the continental United States. A great logistical effort required to support both its own forces and those of many other nations. Above all, supply ships were essential because without the supply ships, all would have been in vain. Keeping the world's sea lanes free was one of the great accomplishments of the United States Navy and her allies, especially the British and Canadians. This allowed ships to traverse great distances and bring American and other Allied fighting forces to face the Axis powers. The Russians, on the other hand, were fighting in their own country for much of the war and were close to their supply lines. They fought on one continuous font and did not have to travel far to meet the enemy.
The United States fought all three great Axis powers during the war: Germany, Japan, and Italy. While it cannot be denied that the Russian did the lion's share of the fighting against Germany and the lesser Axis powers of Finland, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria for a longer time, it was not until the last days of the war that Russia attacked Japan. As for the Italians, the Russians only met the reluctant few whom Hitler managed to coerce for his Russian campaign. Another area to take into consideration is the strategic bombing campaign that the Americans and British waged against German industry, something that the Russians did not take part in at all. Finally, with the exception of the Baltic Sea, the Russian navy played a very minor role in the war compared to American's navy. Despite significant aid from the British, Australians, and New Zealanders, the Americans bore the brute of the Pacific fighting.
The Chinese tied down a massive number of Japanese troops on the Asian mainland, but they were supplied almost exclusively by the United States. American arms, support equipment, food, and clothing went to the four corners of the world during the war even before American officially entered it in 1941. Indeed, the Russian Red Army rode into Eastern Europe on the wheels of over 300,000 American trucks, fed itself on a diet of American canned ham, and wore
American boots. Coupled with all this were billion-dollar loans with generous terms of interest, which America gave to its allies. American was the only Allied nation that did not need to borrow any money during the war.
Russia's combat dead were approximately eight million. American's number of combat deal was nowhere near the equal of the Russia's comprising less than five percent of the number of Russian combat deaths. This is not only a reflection of the intensity of the fighting in E
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Choose the word or phrase among A, B, C or D that best fits the blank space in the following passage:
"The 22nd Southeast Asian Games (22nd SEA Games) successfully closed in Ha Noi. Prominent among 40,000 spectators at the closing (1)…. at My Dinh National Stadium were Party Secretary General Nong Duc Manh, Vice President Truong My Hoa and leaders of the Asian Sport Federation.
A spectacular art (2)…… programme with the participation of 300 musicians and 500 artists was (3)……. to welcome the success of the Games. Singaporean swimmer Yeojoscelin who won six gold medals and Vietnamese marksman Nguyen Manh Tuong who owned five gold medals during the Games were awarded the most (4)…… athlete title.
Nguyen Danh Thai, Minister-Chairman of the State Committee for Physical Training and Sports, President of the 22nd SEA Games Council and Head of the 22nd SEA Games Organising Committee, (5)……. that the Games have successfully concluded after boisterous competition days. All activities took place(6)…… scheduled in an (7)….. of solidarity and friendship among Southeast Asian people.
With the Vietnamese Government and people's efforts and international support, the 22nd SEA Games have become a festival that impressed people (8)…. the spirit of “solidarity. cooperation for peace and development”.
The 22nd SEA Games are not only a song of honesty and nobility in competition and organising competition but (9)….. a sign of a bright future for the development of regional sports. After Vietnamese singer My Linh and a Philippine singer sang the song “For the World of Tomorrow”, Minister Nguven Danh Thai and Chairman of the Ha Noi People's Committee Hoang Van Nghiên handed over the SEA Games Flag to the Chairman of the Olympic Committee and the Head of the Philippine sport team, (10)…… the host country of the 23rd SEA Games - the Philippines 2005."5. Nguyen Danh Thai, Minister-Chairman of the State Committee for Physical Training and Sports, President of the 22nd SEA Games Council and Head of the 22nd SEA Games Organising Committee, (5)……. that the Games have successfully concluded after boisterous competition days.
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Choose the item among A, B, C or D that best answers the question about the passage:
"The 22nd Southeast Asian Games were held in Hanoi, Vietnam from 5 December to 13 December, 2003. The Games were opened by Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Van Khai in the newly constructed My Dinh National Stadium in Hanoi. The Games torch was lit by Nguyen Thuy Hien of Wushu. It was the First time in the SEA Games history that the Games venues were assigned into two cities namely Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.
The 22nd SEA Games logo designed by painter Nguyen Chi Long is based on a legendary bird named “Chim Lac”. The bird decorated the Ngoe Lu bronze drum, a typical antiquity of the ancient Dong Son Vietnamese culture. The Emblem is composed of harmonious and vigorous curves, creating a feeling of movement and strength which conforms to the Olympic Spirit: “Faster. Higher and Stronger The colorful whirls represent the tough competitiveness in sports.
The Games’ hymn was “For the World of Tomorrow” composed by Nguyen Quang Vinh. Painter Nguyen Thai Hung chose “Trau Vang”, the golden water buffalo as the mascot for the 22nd SEA Games. With a gentle and harmonious nature, the clever Buffalo has become synonymous with the water and rice civilization that is so important in Vietnam as well as in other Southeast Asian countries. To Vietnamese people, the Golden Buffalo symbolizes a golden harvest, prosperity, happiness, power and the Vietnamese martial spirit."3. What is the effect of harmonious and vigorous curves of the emblem?
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Read the passage carefully and choose the correct answer.
The 22nd SEA Games, hosted this year by Vietnam, has joined the international movement to rid sports of tobacco. For the first time, the regional sporting event will be tobacco-free under a landmark cooperative agreement signed in April 2003 between the World Health Organization (WHO), the 22nd SEA Games Organizing Committee and the Vietnamese Ministry of Health. Hanoi Health Department has organized a press seminar to celebrate and raise awareness about the tobacco-free SEA Games.
The 22nd SEA Games is the first games hosted by Vietnam and 10 countries from the Southeast Asian region with nearly 8,000 athletes and coaches will participate. It will be the first tobacco-free international sporting event in Vietnam, joining other international tobacco-free sporting events such as the FIFA World Cup 2002, and the Winter Olympic Games 2002.
The 22nd SEA Games will ban all sales, advertising and other promotion of tobacco products, and restricts smoking in all Games venues. The aim is to protect spectators, athletes, event staff, media and other visitors from the serious health hazards of second-hand tobacco smoke, as well as to change public attitudes about the social acceptability of smoking. Madame Pascale Brudon, WHO Representative in Vietnam, stated, "Vietnam has established 3 years ago a comprehensive, ambitious national tobacco control policy and a national tobacco control program. The tobacco-free 22nd SEA Games will be yet another area where Vietnam is leading the way for other countries in the region and the world in protecting its citizens from the debilitating and disastrous consequences of tobacco use."
WHO has provided funding and technical assistance to the SEA Games Organizing Committee and Vietnamese Ministry of Health to train of over 4,000 SEA Games organizers and volunteers on the implementation of the tobacco-free policy. An international team of trainers from the Ministry of Health, International Organization for Good Temper (lOGT), WHO and International Development Enterprises (IDE) began a series of national training workshops for volunteers in April, 2003. The tobacco-free SEA Games are an inspiration and a model for other sport events, big and small, not only in Vietnam but also in the Southeast Asian and Western Pacific Region.
According to the text, The tobacco _______
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Large animals that inhabit the desert have evolved a number of adaptations for reducing the effects of extreme heat. One adaptation is to be light in color, and to reflect rather than absorb the Sun's rays. Desert mammals also depart from the normal mammalian practice of maintaining a constant body temperature. Instead of trying to keep down the body temperature deep inside the body, which would involve the expenditure of water and energy, desert mammals allow their temperatures to rise to what would normally be fever height, and temperatures as high as 46 degrees Celsius have been measured in Grant's gazelles. The overheated body then cools down during the cold desert night, and indeed the temperature may fall unusually low by dawn, as low as 34 degrees Celsius in the camel. This is an advantage since the heat of the first few hours of daylight is absorbed in warming up the body, and an excessive buildup of heat does not begin until well into the day.
Another strategy of large desert animals is to tolerate the loss of body water to a point that would be fatal for non-adapted animals. The camel can lose up to 30 percent of its body weight as water without harm to itself, whereas human beings die after losing only 12 to 13 percent of their body weight. An equally important adaptation is the ability to replenish this water loss at one drink. Desert animals can drink prodigious volumes in a short time, and camels have been known to imbibe over 100 liters in a few minutes. A very dehydrated person, on the other hand, cannot drink enough water to rehydrate at one session, because the human stomach is not sufficiently big and because a too rapid dilution of the body fluids causes death from water intoxication. The tolerance of water loss is of obvious advantage in the desert, as animals do not have to remain near a water hole but can obtain food from grazing sparse and far-flung pastures. Desert-adapted mammals have the further ability to feed normally when extremely dehydrated, it is a common experience in people that appetite is lost even under conditions of moderate thirst.
The word "tolerate" 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.
Coral reefs are some of the most diverse ecosystems in the world, housing tens of thousands of marine species. With their hardened surfaces, corals are sometimes mistaken as being rocks. And, because they are attached, “taking root” to the seafloor, they are often mistaken for plants. However, unlike rocks, corals are alive. And unlike plants, corals do not make their own food. Corals are in fact animals. Appearing as solitary forms in the fossil record more than 400 million years ago, corals are extremely ancient animals that evolved into modern reef-building forms over the last 25 million years.
Coral reefs are the largest structures on earth of biological origin. Coral reefs are unique and complex systems. Rivaling old growth forests in longevity of their ecological communities, well-developed reefs reflect thousands of years of history.
Corals are ancient animals related to jellyfish and anemones. The branch or mound that we often call “a coral” is actually made up of thousands of tiny animals called polyps. A coral polyp is an invertebrate that can be no bigger than a pinhead to up to 30 centimeters (1 foot) in diameter. The polyps extend their tentacles at night to sting and ingest tiny organisms called plankton and other small creatures. Each polyp has a saclike body and a mouth that is encircled by stinging tentacles. The polyp uses calcium carbonate (limestone) from seawater to build a hard, cup-shaped skeleton. This skeleton protects the soft, delicate body of the polyp.
Reefs only occur in shallow areas that are reachable by sunlight because of the relationship between coral and algae. Various types of microscopic algae, known as Symbiodinium, live inside of the coral, providing them with food and helping them to grow faster.
There are over 2,500 kinds (species) of corals. About 1,000 are the hard corals that build coral reefs. Other corals are soft corals. Soft corals have skeletons that are flexible and can bend with the water. The three main types of coral reefs are fringing reefs, barrier reefs, and coral atolls. The most common type of reef is the fringing reef. This type of reef grows seaward directly from the shore. They form borders along the shoreline and surrounding islands. When a fringing reef continues to grow upward from a volcanic island that has sunk entirely below sea level, an atoll is formed. Atolls are usually circular or oval in shape, with an open lagoon in the center. Any reef that is called a barrier reef gets its name because its presence protects the shallow waters along the shore from the open sea. That protection promotes the survival of many types of sea plant and animal life.It can be inferred from the passage that coral reefs ______________.