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An Amazing Invention
Look at your hand, and it might not seem very interesting at first, but it is an amazing tool. In fact, the human hand is as complex and as useful as a high tech machine. This might sound strange to you, but the development of the human hand changed the world. For example, the thumb helped human beings become the smartest and most powerful animals on the Earth. Your thumb is important because it faces your other fingers. This allows you to hold things, like tools. Being able to hold tools allowed our ancient ancestors to build things and become more advanced. It is also possible that when we developed thumbs and started to use tools, our brains developed faster as well. And how about this? Your fingers are the only parts of your body that are moved by a “remote control”. A remote control is the small device that you use to change the channel on your television. Your fingers are controlled by remote because they don’t have any muscles. You control your fingers with the muscles in your palms. The palms are connected to the fingers by tendons. The palms pull the tendons, and move them the same way a string moves a puppet. Every part of the human body is complicated, but the hand is especially complicated. It has a total of 29 bones. There are 34 different muscles that move the fingers and the thumb. Seventeen of those muscles are in the palm, and 18 are in the forearm. The human hand also has 48 nerves and 30 arteries. An artery is like a vein, but it carries blood away from the heart. Human beings are not as strong or as fast as other animals. However, our ancient ancestors were able to rule the world for two reasons.  First, they were intelligent. Second, they had these amazing instruments called hands. There is no other invention like them in the world. 
3. The word “tendons” in paragraph 3 most probably means ________

Fill in each numbered blank with one suitable word or phrase

There are many reasons (1) _____ taking regular time with our family is important:

It (2) _____ a place to listen, teach, learn, and (3) _____ ourselves freely and safely. It provides (4) _____ to discuss family joys, issues, and problems. Family members can practice skills in a non-threatening (5) _____. Families are a (6) _____ part of our society and the fabric of our communities - we spend (7) _____ time together to get our feelings (8) _____ belonging, our values, support and understanding. It helps (9) _____ family members together and feel safe in today's world where (10) _____ can lead to family disintegration.

(10) ________

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The Prime Minister's comments yesterday on education spending miss the point, as the secondary education system also needs a major overhaul. Firstly, the system only views the weakest learners as having special (1)...... The brightest and most (2)....... students are not encouraged to develop to their full potential. Secondly, there's too much testing and not enough learning. My fifteen-year-old daughter, for example, has just spent the last month or so (3)_____ for exams. These aren't even real, important exams, as her GCSEs will be next year. They're just (4)....  exams. Is the work she's been doing really going to make her more (5)..... about her subjects, or will she forget it all tomorrow? I suspect the latter. Thirdly, the standard (6)_____ doesn't give students any (7)....... in developing practical work-related, living and social skills, or in skills necessary for higher education. How many students entering university have the first idea what the difference is between (8)....... someone else's work and making good use of someone else's ideas? Shouldn't they have been taught this at school? How many of them are really able to go about (9).......a  skill that's essential at university because there are no teachers to tell you what to do - in an efficient way? Indeed, hoe many students (10)....... from university totally unable to spell even simple English words correctly? The system is letting our children down

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Genetics is the study of hereditary characteristics that are passed down from one generation of living organisms to another. Although farmers have used selective breeding to improve the resilience of crops and animals, it wasn't until the mid-1800s that Gregor Mendel started the science of genetics as we know it today. Following Mendel's methods, scientists have discovered "chromosomes" and "DNA". With the ability to study DNA, scientists were able to study the genetic differences between races. Modern genetics discovered that all humans are descendants of "Mitochondrial Eve," a woman who lived over 150,000 generations have passed, and many subtle differences are now evident. Humans share at least 99% of their genetic makeup. A 1% difference may not seem like much, but when you consider that a chimpanzee shares 98% of human genes, you realize how much a 1% difference makes! Africans are more closely related to Europeans than any other two groups despite the fact that they differ so much in appearance. The biggest genetic differences are found between Africans and the native populations of Nord America (22%). However, it is essential to note that the genetic differences between people of the same race are much greater than the differences between people of different races. This means that the argument which claims that genets differences make one race superior to another is nothing but a tall story. The differences in various populations may also be the result of circumstances rather than genetic makeup. Factors such as climate, diet, health care, education, and employment as well as other socioeconomic factors are all influential. However, there are some traits which are genetic, for example, then is a much higher incidence of sickle cell anemia among black populations that any other population group. Adult African-Americans and Latinos have twice as many cases of diabetes than Caucasians. In the U.S, Latinos suffer more deaths from liver disease than other races. Europeans suffer more from heart disease and cancer. Genes not only affect our susceptibility to disease, they also affect our physical attributes. The Dinka people from the Sudan are considered to be the tallest people with men having an average height of 6ft 3 in, while women hit the big time with an impressive 5ft 3 in. This contrasts sharply with the Pygmy tribes who get the short end of the stick at only about 4ft 11 in tall. Genetic differences may help US to tailor health service to people of different races or to detect life threatening diseases early. However, they are not significant enough to support the claim that one race is superior to another. In fact, our modern scientific understanding of human genetic diversity flit in the face of almost all our social stereotypes.
5. Where do the greatest genetic differences occur?

Mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the undelined part that needs correction in each of the following questions:
Early peoples had no need of engineering works to supply their water. Hunters and nomads camped near natural sources of fresh water, and populations were so sparse that pollution of the water supply was not a serious problem. After community life developed and agricultural villages became urban centres, the problem of supplying water became important for inhabitants of a city, as well as for irrigation of the farms surrounding the city. Irrigation works were known in prehistoric times, and before 2000 BC the rulers of Babylonia and Egypt constructed systems of dams and canals to impound the flood waters of the Euphrates and Nile rivers, controlling floods and providing irrigation water throughout the dry season. Such irrigation canals also supplied water for domestic purposes. The first people to consider the sanitation of their water supply were the ancient Romans, who constructed a vast system of aqueducts to bring the clean waters of the Apennine Mountains into the city and built basins and filters along these mains to ensure the
clarity of the water. The construction of such extensive water-supply systems declined when the Roman Empire disintegrated, and for several centuries local springs and wells formed the main source of domestic and industrial water. The invention of the force pump in England in the middle of the 16th century greatly extended the possibilities of development of water-supply systems. In London, the first pumping waterworks was completed in 1562; it pumped river water to a reservoir about 37 m above the level of the River Thames and from the reservoir the water was distributed by gravity, through lead pipes, to buildings in the vicinity. Increased per-capita demand has coincided with water shortages in many countries. Southeast England, for example, receives only 14 per cent of Britain's rainfall, has 30 per cent of its population, and has experienced declining winter rainfall since the 1980s.
In recent years a great deal of interest has been shown in the conversion of seawater to fresh water to provide drinking water for very dry areas, such as the Middle East. Several different processes, including distillation, electrodialysis, reverse osmosis, and direct-freeze evaporation, have been developed for this purpose. Some of these processes have been used in large facilities in the United States. Although these processes are successful, the cost of treating seawater is much higher than that for treating fresh water.

Clean water supply was first taken into consideration by     .

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.
Culture has a strong influence on non–verbal communication. Even the simple act of looking someone in the eye is not at all that simple. In the USA, Americans are (1).......... to look directly  at people when speaking to them. It shows interest in what they are saying and is thought to carry a (2).......of honesty. Meanwhile, in Japan and Korea, people avoid long periods of eye contact. It is considered more polite to look to the side during a conversation. The Lebanese, (3)............ , stand close together and look intensely into each other's eyes. The action shows sincerity and gives people a better sense of what their counterparts want. Given such differences with even the most common expressions, people (4)................. travel or work abroad have a real need to learn the other culture's body language. People tend to be unaware of the messages they are sending to others. So, it is (5).................. to consider your own body language before dealing with people from other cultures. Knowing about the body language of friends, clients, and colleagues can be very helpful in improving understanding and avoiding miscommunication.

(2).........................................

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Why is it that many teenagers have the energy to play computer games until late at night but can't find the energy to get out of bed (1) _____ time for school? According to a new report, today’s generation of children are in danger of getting so (2) _____  sleep that they are putting their mental and physical health at (3) ________. Adults can easily survive on seven to eight hours' sleep a night, (4)_____ teenagers require nine or ten hours. According to medical experts, one in five youngsters (5) ______ by on between two and five hours/ sleep a night, less than their parents did at their age

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Some technological developments are the results of years of diligent work. Others are stumbled upon by accident. The discovery of X-rays is in the second category. In 1895, X-ray radiation was accidentally discovered by a physicist named Wilhelm Rontgen, while he was working in his lab. Rontgen discovery greatly advanced medical science. One night in 1895, Wilhelm Rontgen was working with an electric device called a Crookes tube. A Crookes tube is a glass tube with metal components inside it. When turned on, the tube produces a stream of electrons. Rontgen and other scientists observed a new form of energy escaping from the front end of the Crookes tube. Rontgen wanted to be the first to discover this new mysterious energy. To do this, he needed to make sure the tube was covered with black cardboard. This would make the room completely dark and allow him to better see this new form of energy. Rontgen was hoping to observe this new energy on a special screen that would be placed right in front of the Crookes tube. Amazingly, before the screen was placed near the Crookes tube, Rontgen already noticed the screen was glowing. He bought the screen closer, and the glow became brighter. (1) He then placed a book between the end of the tube and the screen-the glow was still there. (2) Rontgen realized that a new and different form of radiation must be causing the screen to glow. (3) As he didn't know what kind of radiation it was, he named it "X". (4) Rontgen soon started studying the new type of radiation. He designed experiments which allowed him to test how far X- rays could penetrate. He also had the bright idea of trying to take photographs with X-rays. One day, he tested his theories by asking his wife to put her hand between a photographic plate and a Crookes Tube. Sure enough, the resulting image of the bones in his wife's hand was the first ever X-ray photograph of the human body. After taking that first photograph, Rontgen understood how X-rays could benefit doctors and patients. He shared his discovery, and soon X-ray machines were appearing in hospitals. X-rays were very useful for medicine because they let doctors see a patient's bones. If a patient had a broken bone, it was made visible by the X-ray image. This let doctors know the right way to repair the fracture. Wilhelm Rontgen's accidental discovery has now been helping people for over one hundred years. Thanks to X-rays, broken bones can be repaired reliably and effectively. We should be grateful to Wilhelm Rontgen for making his discovery freely available and greatly advancing medical science. Because of this, we humans are able to live longer, healthier lives.
6. In paragraph 1, what does "Others" refer to?

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As teenagers approach university level, a decision has to be made on what course to pursue. In this world of diversity, (1) ______ such a choice is not easy for both children and parents. In the old days, it was not much a problem to do the task because there were not so many diverse learning areas to choose from. Besides, there were only a few distinctive professional careers like doctor, engineer, accountant, nurse, teacher,etc.  to think about. Most higher learning usually led to a financially successful life. (2) ______, the cost of education was not so high. Today’s world is entirely different from the things (3) ______ have just been described.  The job market is constantly changing due to innovative technology and new (4) ______. Meanwhile, most teenagers have difficulty in identifying their own interests. There are a variety of well- organized career talks and student counseling workshop to guide and help teenagers (5) ______ what course to take. Furthermore, psychological tests are also used.  Certain instruments such as surveys, interviews and computer software can help to find out preferences, interests, or learning styles of the students.

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The Particle that Started the Big Bang
In 2013, the Nobel Prize for Physics was awarded to Francois Englert and Peter W. Higgs for their discovery of a particle that is vital to our understanding of the universe. Although its official name is the Higgs boson, many refer to it as the God particle, because it’s considered to be the building block of the universe. Many believe that the Higgs boson may be the cause for the Big Bang explosion which led to the creation of the universe. In the 1960s, Higgs came up with the concept that particles had no mass when the universe started. In a split-second, however, it came into contact with something that gave it mass. This, Higgs theorized, was the Higgs boson. Many scientists initially laughed at the idea, but in the upcoming years, Higgs along with Englert and several of their peers continued to work on these concepts. Their ideas would eventually help lead the way to the discovery of the Higgs boson decades later. The search for the Higgs boson certainly didn’t come up cheap, as it cost nearly $10 billion to build the machinery necessary to perform the tests to find it. Yet nearly every physicist would agree that it was worth it, as the Higgs boson has already been labeled as one of the most important discoveries in particle physics. The finding is also a huge boost for physics in general because it proves that the Standard Model of Physics which researchers have been using for years is correct. The Higgs was the last remaining question mark as all of the other particles and elements had been found. Still, many ordinary people may question how such a discovery affects their lives at all. Although quantum mechanics may seem weird, it has actually led to several important technological breakthroughs over the past century. These findings have led to laser and X-ray technologies that work in the real world. There is still much to be learned with further observation of the Higgs boson in action. Scientists hope to learn more about dark matter, a strange substance that constitutes 25 percent of the mass of the universe. The research could also lead to some other technologies as well.
5. How might everyone benefit from the discovery of Higgs boson?

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One of the most important social developments that helped to make possible a shift in thinking about the role of public education was the effect of the baby boom of the 1950’s and 1960’s on the schools. In the 1920’s, but especially in the Depression conditions of the 1930’s, the United States experienced a declining birth rate – every thousand women aged fifteen to forty-four gave birth to about 118 live children in 1920, 89.2 in 1930, 75.8 in 1936, and 80 in 1940. With the growing prosperity brought on by the Second World War and the economic boom that followed it, young people married and established households earlier and began to raise larger families than had their predecessors during the Depression. Birth rates rose to 102 per thousand in 1946, 106.2 in 1950, and 118 in 1955. Although economics was probably the most important determinant, it is not the only explanation for the baby boom. The increased value placed on the idea of the family also helps to explain this rise in birth rates. The baby boomers began streaming into the first grade by the mid-1940’s and became a flood by 1950. The public school system suddenly found itself overtaxed. While the number of schoolchildren rose because of wartime and postwar conditions, these same conditions made the schools even less prepared to cope with the flood. The wartime economy meant that few new schools were built between 1940 and 1945. Moreover, during the war and in the boom times that followed large numbers of teachers left their profession for better-paying jobs elsewhere in the economy. Therefore, in the 1950’s and 1960’s, the baby boom hit an antiquated and inadequate school system. Consequently, the “custodial rhetoric” of the 1930’s and early 1940’s no longer made sense; that is, keeping youths aged sixteen and older out of the labor market by keeping them in school could no longer be a high priority for an institution unable to find space and staff to teach younger children aged five to sixteen. With the baby boom, the focus of educators and of laymen interested in education inevitably turned toward the lower grades and back to basic academic skills and discipline. The system no longer had much interest in offering nontraditional, new, and extra services to older youths
6. The word “inevitably” in parapraph 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 word or phrase that best fits each of the numbered blanks.
                                          Culture Clash
In Africa a famous food company tried to sell its baby food by advertising it with the picture of a baby on the label. They did not know that this particular country used labels only to (1)............. a picture of the food inside. When Pepsico used the slogan "Come alive with Pepsi' in Taiwan, they had no idea that it would be translated into Chinese as 'Pepsi (2)............. your ancestors back from the dead’.
Misunderstandings such as these about language or about culture are sometimes comical but can also cause genuine hurt or anger. Business styles (3).............. widely in different countries and what is normal in one culture can be completely unacceptable in another.
Socialising in different countries can be tricky. In Arabic countries, for example, people do not discuss business (4)...............meals. Giving gifts is another potential problem: in the UK most people take presents to a dinner party, but in many countries this is not polite because it (5)............ you think the host is poor.

(1)...................................

He graduated with doctorates of _____ and surgery from Florence, gaining the highest honors that year. 

(234)______

Read the reading below carefully, and then complete it with the best option A, B, C or D given below:
The Prime Minister's comments yesterday on education spending miss the point, as the secondary education system also needs a major overhaul. Firstly, the system only views the weakest learners as having special (1)...... .The brightest and most (2)....... students are not encouraged to develop to their full potential. Secondly, there's too much testing and not enough learning. My fifteen-year-old daughter, for example, has just spent the last month or so (3)_____ for exams. These aren't even real, important exams, as her GCSEs will be next year. They're just (4)....  exams. Is the work she's been doing really going to make her more (5)..... about her subjects, or will she forget it all tomorrow? I suspect the latter. Thirdly, the standard (6)_____ doesn't give students any (7)....... in developing practical work-related, living and social skills, or in skills necessary for higher education. How many students entering university have the first idea what the difference is between (8)....... someone else's work and making good use of someone else's ideas? Shouldn't they have been taught this at school? How many of them are really able to go about (9).......a  skill that's essential at university because there are no teachers to tell you what to do - in an efficient way? Indeed, hoe many students (10)....... from university totally unable to spell even simple English words correctly? The system is letting our children down

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The Invention of the Periodic Table
If you are looking to gain a better understanding of the world around you, chemistry is the perfect subject to study. It is an examination of matter, its properties, and its interactions with everything around it. Where physics often deals with concepts and theories that are difficult to test and observe, chemistry principles can easily be applied to medicine, cooking, and several other areas. At the heart of all these discoveries is one vital chart that organizes elements based on their atomic number and chemical properties: the periodic table. Although the first periodic table was published in 1869, it was a work in progress for hundreds, if not thousands of years. Since ancient times, people have been fascinated with elements such as gold, tin, and copper in their natural forms. They were mined and used to make jewellery, weapons, coins, and many other things. Over time, people became more curious about these metals and how they were composed. In ancient Greece, Aristotle and other philosophers claimed things were made from the elements of earth, water, fire, and air. For years, this theory was accepted. Then people began to reevaluate this concept during the Age of Enlightenment. In 1661, Irish scientist Robert Boyle defined an element as something that “cannot be broken down into a simpler substance by a chemical reaction”. Over a century later, French chemist Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier would publish the first modern textbook on chemistry. In it, he listed several substances which he believed should be classified as elements into two categories: metals, and non-metals. Although his work wasn’t completely accurate, it represented a major step forward at the time. Over the next century, scientists started to classify the elements into different groups depending on their properties and atomic weights. However, it is Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev who is usually credited as the first person to make a periodic table. Although other scientists had submitted tables, they were eventually rejected by the scientific community for a lack of detail. Mendeleev arranged all of the elements according to their atomic mass. He was even smart enough to leave empty spaces for elements which hadn’t been discovered at the time. Although Mendeleev’s periodic table wasn’t perfect, it set the format which is similar to the one used today.
6. Why is Mendeleev usually given credit for inventing the periodic table?

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The ________ of the volcano was predicted in advance, so no one was injured.

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The Advancing Development of Artificial Limbs
It wasn’t very long ago that losing a limb automatically meant a drastic drop in the quality of a person’s life. Thanks to the wonders of modern science, people now are recovering from all sorts of horrendous injuries that let them disabled. The reason they are able to do so is remarkable advances made in the field of artificial limbs. Doctors have been creating prosthetic limbs for their patients dating back to ancient Greece. For most of history, however, these replacements were mainly for cosmetic purposes. Pirates, knights, loot soldiers that lost their limbs in battle would get them, so they wouldn’t lose face when returning to society. It wasn’t until the mid-19th century that doctors were able to perform surgeries to reliably attach limbs to people’s bodies and amputate limbs without causing serious infection. Modern artificial limbs represent a tremendous leap forward in terms of form and function. Today’s limbs are far more durable and can withstand a lot more wear and tear. An amazing example of how far artificial limbs have progressed is the Flex-Foot Cheetah. Made from carbon fiber, it is able to store energy as the person moves, which enables the wearer to run and jump. The technology is so good that approximately 90 percent of all Special Olympic amputees use them in competition. Meanwhile, the Bebionic3 has emerged as the most advanced prosthetic arm available. It has been nicknamed “The Terminator” because it is similar to Arnold Schwarzenegger’s mechanical limbs in the famous blockbuster film. The Bebionic3 can perform a multitude of tasks including writing, tying a shoelace, lifting heavy objects, and even pouring a beer. Wearers simply push a button on the base of the arm and the Bebionic3 will work its magic. In September 2013, scientists took another giant leap forward when they successfully fitted a patient with an artificial leg that can be controlled by thought. Two of the patient’s nerves were attached to his hamstring muscle. These nerves then interact with sensors inside the artificial leg. Sensors will then transmit these messages to a computer which will follow through on his instructions. Therefore, if the patient wants to stretch out his leg, the computer will understand this command and send a message to the limb and instruct it to do so. If artificial limb technology keeps advancing like this, losing a limb may not be such a big deal.
4. Which of the following best matches the meaning of the word “multitude” in paragraph 4?

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Listen! Someone ……….. at the door.

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This is a picture of Tom’s family. He is my pen pal. He lives in a lovely old town in England. There are six people in his family: his parents, his aunt, his uncle, his brother and Tom. They live happily together.
Tom’s family lives in a nice house in the town. His house is near a park and next to a bookstore. There are seven rooms, a garage and a beautiful garden in the house. The seven rooms include three bedrooms, two bathrooms, one living room, and a large kitchen. Tom and his brother share a bedroom and they don’t really like it. The house was built in 1999 but it is still new and fashionable. The garden is so beautiful with many kinds of flowers. Tom loves the garden so much.
People in Tom’s family have different jobs. His father is fifty and he is a teacher. He teaches in a secondary school in the town. His mother is forty-eight and she is a housewife. She takes care of all the people in the house. She grows vegetables in the garden and usually prepares wonderful meals. His brother, Peter is a pilot. He flies a plane in the sky. He is very handsome. His aunt is a nurse. She helps doctors take care of sick people in the hospital. His uncle is a journalist. He writes articles for a local newspaper. Tom is a student and he wants to be a doctor in the future. I will go to England to see him again next summer vacation.

Where is Tom’s house?

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It _______________last night because the ground is really wet.

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World Wide Web (WWW), computer-based (1) _______ of information resources that combines text and multimedia. The information on the World Wide Web can be accessed and searched through the (2) _______, a global computer network. The World Wide Web is often (3) _______ to simply as “the Web.” The Web started to become a (4) _______ resource after 1993 when the first widely distributed browser provided a convenient way to (5) _______ a variety of information on the Internet