Read the passage below then pick out ONE best option (A, B, C, or D) to complete each of the following sentences. (1.5 points)

    Sydney was founded as a British colony in 1788. Sydney was the first everlasting European settlement in Australia and today it is the country's largest city area, with about 4 million residents. Sydney is the seat of state government as the capital of New South Wales, Australia's most populous and economically important state. The city is an active cultural center with a varied economy based on service industries, tourism, manufacturing, and international commerce. Its port is one of the leading centers of intercontinental trade in the Asia-Pacific region. Sydney is located on Australia’s southeastern coast at Port Jackson, a large, sheltered, deep-water inlet of the Tasman Sea.

   Sydney is well-known for its Opera House. The Sydney Opera House is the centerpiece of the city’s places for live performances of ballet, opera, and classical music. The Australian Opera, Australian Ballet, and Sydney Dance companies regularly stage performances there. Moreover, the place often hosts internationally touring performances. Sydney also has many places for musical theater, drama, and popular music. The Sydney Theatre Company is one of many successful theatre companies in the city. Sydney is also home to the internationally praised Australian Chamber Orchestra and Sydney Symphony Orchestra.

   The cultural life of Sydney is exciting and varied, reflecting the multicultural nature of the city. Many festivals, parades, and outdoor concerts cheer up the city streets in the summer months. Annual events include the Sydney Festival in January and February, the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras in March, the Royal Easter Show in April, and the multicultural festival Carnivale in September and October. Sydney has also become world-renowned for its street parties and fireworks on New Year's Eve and Australia Day celebrated on Sydney's Founding date, January 26.

The word intercontinental in the first paragraph could be best replaced with……

Read the following passage and write the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the following questions.

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 theaters 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 green 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?

Read, then choose the best answer by circling the corresponding letter A, B, C, or D. 

Radar is an electronic device that can “see” great distances (1) ……. fog, rain, snow, cloud, and darkness. It can find and (2) ……… locate missiles, aircraft, ships, cities, rainstorms, and mountains. Radar uses radio waves, (3) ……….. light waves, which the human eye uses in seeing. This makes it (4) …….. for radar to locate many kinds of objects at (5) …….. greater distances than the eye can see. Radar became an important military device during World War II. Today, networks of radar lookout stations guard the United States and Canada 24 hours a day against (6) ……. missiles and airplanes. Patrol planes and ships (7) …….. the oceans with radar for hostile ships and aircraft. Airports use radar to (8).…. planes safety to earth in fog or storms. Ships use it to steer clear of other (9) ……… or icebergs.  Radar helps weathermen warn of (10) ……. hurricanes or tornadoes.

7..................

Read the following passage and choose the correct answer to each of the following questions from 46 to 50.

On January 17, 1995, a powerful earthquake hit the city of Kobe, Japan. Many buildings burned or collapsed. Part of an expressway fell over. Train lines were damaged, so trains could not run, and supplies of electricity, gas, and water were cut off. Soon after the earthquake was over, people in Kobe began working together to save their city. Neighbors pulled each other out of collapsed buildings. Ordinary people put out fires even before the fire trucks arrived. Volunteers in Kobe organized themselves into teams. They worked out a system to send help to where it was needed. Some people brought food, water, clothes, and electric generators to different parts of the city. Other teams searched for belongings in damaged stores and homes. Some volunteers took care of the children who had lost their parents. Teams of volunteers from outside Japan helped, too. A rescue team with search dogs came from Switzerland. A group of doctors called Doctors Without Borders came from all over the world. A group called the International Rescue Corps also sent its members to help.

Today, Kobe has been rebuilt. But people there still remember the outpouring of support they received from all over the world back in 1995.

 Why did volunteers from other countries come to Japan after the earthquake?

Read the text carefully and then choose the best answers to the questions below by circling the corresponding letter A, B, C, or D. 
 
In the early years of television, educational specialists believed that it would be very useful in teaching and learning. Many schools have bought television sets intending to use them effectively to improve the quality of education, but actually, they are rarely used properly in classrooms. Meanwhile, children spend the majority of their out-of-school hours watching TV and their typical school days proceed as if television did not exist.

There are some explanations for the failure of television to get the interest of the teachers. Firstly, the schools that purchased television sets have not set aside money for equipment repairs and maintenance, so these television sets are sooner and later out of work. Secondly, these schools have not found an effective way to train teachers to integrate television into their ongoing instructional programs. Lastly, most teachers do not regard the quality of television and its usefulness in the classroom.

Teachers at the schools work hard for at least twelve years to train their students to become good readers. However, according to recent statistics, teenagers seldom spend their free time reading books and newspapers but watching television instead.

There are _____ explanations for the failure of television to get the interest of the teachers.

Pick out ONE best option (A, B, C, or D) to fill in each numbered blank, completing the meaning of the passage. 

   Before the (25)……of newspapers, town criers would go through city streets ringing a bell. They shouted the latest news as they were walking.

   In Vietnam, people love reading newspapers and magazines. The Tuoi Tre is one of the (26)……newspapers and is widely read by young and old alike.

   Thanks to television people can get the latest information and enjoy interesting programs in an inexpensive and convenient way. Nowadays, viewers can watch a (27)……of local and international programs on different channels.

   The next stage in the development of television is interactive TV. Viewers are able to ask questions about the show (28)……their remote controls.

   The Internet has (29)……developed and become part of our everyday life. People find the Internet useful. People use the Internet for many purposes. Some access the Internet to look for information, some surf the web for entertainment, and (30)……rely on the Internet as a means of education.

   The mass media plays an important (31)……in collecting and passing on information. The information may be local, national, or international. It can cover a wide range of topics, from news and weather to entertainment. News stories contain information about politics, the economy, and such international affairs (32)……wars or natural disasters.

32_________

Choose the best word (A, B, C, or D) to fill in each gap in the passage

     Television is one of man's most important --------------(17) of communication. It brings pictures and sounds from around the world into millions of homes. A person with a television set can sit in his house and watch the President make a --------------(18) or visit a foreign country. He can see a war being fought and watch statesmen try to bring about peace. Through television, home viewers can see and learn about people, places, and things in faraway lands. TV even ---------------(20) its viewers out of this world. It brings them coverage of America's astronauts as the astronauts explore outer space.

     In addition _______(21) these things, television brings its viewers a steady stream of programs that are ----------(22) to entertain. In fact, TV _______(23) many more entertainment programs than any other kinds. The programs include action-packed dramas, light comedies, sporting ----------(24), and motion pictures

Câu 20____________

He is already looking ______ to next summer when Marie is going to spend her holidays with his family in England

Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow. Circle A, B, C, or D to indicate your answers.

Alfred Bernhard Nobel, a Swedish inventor, and philanthropist bequeathed most of his vast fortune in trust as a fund from which annual prizes could be awarded to individuals and organizations who had achieved the greatest benefit to humanity in a particular year. Originally, there were six classifications for outstanding contributions designated in Nobel’s will, including chemistry, physics, physiology or medicine, literature, and international peace.

The prizes are administered by the Nobel Foundation in Stockholm. In 1969, a prize for economics endowed by the Central Bank of Sweden was added. Candidates for the prizes must be nominated in writing a qualified authority in the field of competitions. Recipients in physics, chemistry, and economics are selected by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences; and physiology or medicine by the Caroline Institute; in literature by the Swedish Academy; and in peace by the Norwegian Nobel Committee appointed by Norway’s parliament. The prizes are usually in Stockholm on December 10, with the King of Sweden officiating, an appropriate tribute to Alfred Nobel on the anniversary of his death. Each one includes a gold medal, a diploma, and a cash award of about one million dollars.

What does this passage mainly discuss?

Read the passage below then pick out ONE best option (A, B, C or D . to complete each of the following sentences:

Britain is now a highly industrialized country and there are only 238,000 farms in the UK. More and more farmers leave the land because they can not earn enough money to survive. Only large farms are economic and because of this most British farm are big. They usually grow cereals in the east of England and raise sheep and cowsin the north of England and Scotland. The small family farms often have to earn more money by offering bed and breakfast accommodation to tourists.

Farming methods in Britain have also changed. Fields used to be quite small, divided by hedges which were sometimes a thousand years old and full of wild flowers and birds. Many hedges were pulled up to allow farmers to use mordern machinery. Now most fields in England are large by European standards.

Question: Most British farms are big because_________ .

Read the following passage and choose the best answer to each question. Write your answers in the space provided. 

Of all the weather events that occur around the world, lighting is the single most powerful and most frequent. Lightning strikes somewhere around the Earth 100 times each second. A typical lightning strike carries enough electricity to power a small town. In less than a second, a lightning strike heats the surrounding air to temperatures several times hotter than the surface of the sun. Obviously, lightning strikes are powerful. But how do they work?

A lightning strike is the last of the complex chain of events that happen inside a cloud. This chain of events starts when warm air rises in the clouds and cold airdrops. As the cold air and warm air pass each other, they carry millions of tiny drops of water and ice. When these passing water drops hit each other, they create electricity. Just like the batteries in your MP3 player, this electricity has a positive and a negative side. In the cloud, the negative side is at the bottom, and the positive side is at the top of the cloud. This makes the cloud electrically unbalanced. When the imbalance becomes too great, a streak of lightning forms, reconnecting the positive and negative parts of the cloud.

Lightning has two basic forms: cloud to cloud lightning and cloud to ground lightning. Cloud to cloud lightning occurs inside a cloud and never touches the ground. Sometimes called heat lightning, cloud to cloud lightning is most common in the late afternoon and evening, when temperatures begin to fall and there is more movement between hot and cold air inside a cloud. Cloud to ground lightning is far more dangerous. Cloud to ground lightning usually occurs during a thunderstorm. Many people think that cloud-to-ground lightning will hit the latest available object, but this is not always true. Cloud to ground lightning is very unpredictable and can even hit objects very low to the ground.

According to paragraph 1, all of the following are true of lightning EXCEPT

Read the passage below then pick out ONE best option (A, B, C or D . to complete each of the following sentences:

Britain is now a highly industrialized country and there are only 238,000 farms in the UK. More and more farmers leave the land because they can not earn enough money to survive. Only large farms are economic and because of this most British farm are big. They usually grow cereals in the east of England and raise sheep and cowsin the north of England and Scotland. The small family farms often have to earn more money by offering bed and breakfast accommodation to tourists.

Farming methods in Britain have also changed. Fields used to be quite small, divided by hedges which were sometimes a thousand years old and full of wild flowers and birds. Many hedges were pulled up to allow farmers to use mordern machinery. Now most fields in England are large by European standards.

British farmers give up working on their farms because________ .

 Read the text and then choose the best answer A, B, C, or D.

Every year, thousands of people come to Edinburgh, the capital city of Scotland, to be part of the Edinburgh Festival. For three weeks every August and September the city is filled with actors and artists from all over the world. They come to Edinburgh for the biggest arts festival in Britain. During this time, the streets of the city are alive with music and dance from early in the morning untill late at night. You can even see artists painting pictures on the streets.

Tens of thousands of tourists come to the festival to see new films and plays and to hear music played by famous musicians. This year, you can see over five hundred performances with actors from more than forty countries.

The tickets for these performances are quite cheap, and it is usually easier to see your favourite star in Edinburgh than it is in London. So come to Edinburgh next summer!

Question: How long does the Edinburgh Festival last?

Read the following passage and then choose the correct answer A, B, C, or D.
One of the most important discoveries of the nineteenth century was the method of using natural gas for cooking and heating. Large amounts of natural gas are found in the United States, usually several feet below the surface of the earth. Natural gas is most often found in places where petroleum, the oil from which gasoline is made, is found. Often the natural gas must be removed before the oil itself can be reached.
For many years after natural gas was first discovered, it was thought to have no value. Finally, however, people began to understand its use and to find ways of storing it and moving it from place to place. Today natural gas is stored in large tanks and used for lighting, cooking, and heating. It has also been used for electric generators and hybrid cars recently. In many ways, natural gas is one of our finest fuels. It can be used for cooking without making the room hot. It is cheap and can be moved easily from one place to another through long pipelines, some of which are hundreds of miles in length.

How many uses of natural gas are mentioned?

They survived in very good ______.

Circle A, B, C, or D  which best completes each blank in the following passage. 

The traffic light signal was invented by a railway signaling engineer. It was installed (36)_______the House of Parliament in 1868. It (37)_______like any railway signal of the time, and was operated by gas. However, it exploded and killed a policeman, and the accident (38)_______ further development until cars became common.

Modern traffic lights are an American invention. Red-green systems were installed in Cleveland in 1914. Three-color signals, (39)_______by hand from a tower in the middle of the street, were installed in New York in 1918. The first lights of this type to (40)_______in Britain were in London, on the junction between St. James street and Piccadilly in 1925.

37________

Read the following passage and write 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.

            A lot of people have hobbies, but who spends 8 hours a day (01)___________ a hobby? Meet Shi-tung Chuang. He plays online (02)___________ games eight hours a day! Shi-tung is a college student at DeLin (03)___________. He does well in school, so his parents do not (04) ___________ that he spends so much time on the computer. Does he have time (05)___________ friends? “Sure, I do.”, he says. “All my friends have the same (06)___________, so we play (07)___________ online. Sometimes we even see each other in (08)___________ life.”

“Many online players spend too much time on their games.”, says Stephen Kline of Simon Fraser University in Canada, and this can (09)___________ to family fights. Some players are (10) ___________. “I’m not addicted,” says Shi-tung, “although it’s a bit hard to stop. It’s crazy and so much fun to play. I want to succeed! I want to win!".

Câu 10._________

Read, then choose the best answer by circling the corresponding letter A, B, C, or D. 

Radar is an electronic device that can “see” great distances (1) ……. fog, rain, snow, cloud, and darkness. It can find and (2) ……… locate missiles, aircraft, ships, cities, rainstorms, and mountains. Radar uses radio waves, (3) ……….. light waves, which the human eye uses in seeing. This makes it (4) …….. for radar to locate many kinds of objects at (5) …….. greater distances than the eye can see. Radar became an important military device during World War II. Today, networks of radar lookout stations guard the United States and Canada 24 hours a day against (6) ……. missiles and airplanes. Patrol planes and ships (7) …….. the oceans with radar for hostile ships and aircraft. Airports use radar to (8).…. planes safety to earth in fog or storms. Ships use it to steer clear of other (9) ……… or icebergs.  Radar helps weathermen warn of (10) ……. hurricanes or tornadoes.

9.....................

Pick out ONE best option (A, B, C, or D) to fill in each numbered blank, completing the meaning of the passage. 

   Before the (25)……of newspapers, town criers would go through city streets ringing a bell. They shouted the latest news as they were walking.

   In Vietnam, people love reading newspapers and magazines. The Tuoi Tre is one of the (26)……newspapers and is widely read by young and old alike.

   Thanks to television people can get the latest information and enjoy interesting programs in an inexpensive and convenient way. Nowadays, viewers can watch a (27)……of local and international programs on different channels.

   The next stage in the development of television is interactive TV. Viewers are able to ask questions about the show (28)……their remote controls.

   The Internet has (29)……developed and become part of our everyday life. People find the Internet useful. People use the Internet for many purposes. Some access the Internet to look for information, some surf the web for entertainment, and (30)……rely on the Internet as a means of education.

   The mass media plays an important (31)……in collecting and passing on information. The information may be local, national, or international. It can cover a wide range of topics, from news and weather to entertainment. News stories contain information about politics, the economy, and such international affairs (32)……wars or natural disasters.

29__________

Read this passage carefully and then choose the best answers to the questions below by circling the corresponding letter A, B, C, or D. 

A recent investigation by scientists at the US Geological Survey shows that strange animal behavior might help predict the future earthquake.
Investigators found such occurrences in a ten-kilometer radius of the center of a fairly recent quake. Some birds screeched and flew about wildly. Dogs yelped and ran uncontrollably.
Scientists believe that animals can perceive these environmental changes as early as several days before the disaster.
In 1976 after observing animal behavior, the Chinese were able to predict a terrible quake. Although hundreds of thousands of people were killed, the government was able to evacuate millions of people and thus keep the death toll at a lower rate.

If scientists can accurately predict earthquakes, there will be ……….

Choose the best word (A, B, C, or D) to fill in each gap in the passage

     Television is one of man's most important --------------(17) of communication. It brings pictures and sounds from around the world into millions of homes. A person with a television set can sit in his house and watch the President make a --------------(18) or visit a foreign country. He can see a war being fought and watch statesmen try to bring about peace. Through television, home viewers can see and learn about people, places, and things in faraway lands. TV even ---------------(20) its viewers out of this world. It brings them coverage of America's astronauts as the astronauts explore outer space.

     In addition _______(21) these things, television brings its viewers a steady stream of programs that are ----------(22) to entertain. In fact, TV _______(23) many more entertainment programs than any other kinds. The programs include action-packed dramas, light comedies, sporting ----------(24), and motion pictures

Câu 18:_________