Read the reading below carefully, and then complete it with the best option A, B, C or D given below:
Background, in relation to computers, on the screen, the color on which characters are displayed. (1)For example , a white background may be used for black characters. In a windowing environment in which more than one program or document can be available to the user, open but currently inactive (2) _______ are said to be in the background. In the context of operating systems and program execution, background refers to a process, or task, assigned a lower priority in the microprocessor's share of time to tasks other than the task running in the (3) _______. A background process thus often performs (4)_____________ work, such as printing or checking for arriving messages on an electronic mail network, invisibly unless the user requests an update or brings the task to the foreground. (5) _______, only multitasking operating systems are able to support background processing

Read the reading below carefully, and then complete it with the best option A, B, C or D given below:
Every Saturday Minh and his family have dinner in a (1) ….. They eat chicken or (2) …… with peas and beans. Sometimes Minh’s mother (3) … fish. Minh also has a big (4) …. Minh’s (5)…… drink is fruit juice, but his father and mother like (6) … They listen to (7) …… while they are having (8) …… dinner

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Can you imagine your life without advertisements? They are present in all sectors of our lives, in our homes on TV, on public means of transport, in the streets, in newspapers, you name it. It is only natural that all this advertising with its intrusive nature would have an impact on our lives, and many people would agree that this impact is on the whole a negative one. Adverts are very creative and attract our attention; they are also highly persuasive and influence the way we think. Their aim is to make us believe we will feel a certain way if we purchase the product which is being advertised. For example, many adverts for products show good-looking, successful people enjoying themselves and consuming or using a specific product. This plays on our psychology and our sense of self-worth, and it makes us want to buy the product so that we can look and feel like the models in the adverts. Images and lifestyles aren't the only thing that advertising imposes on us. Artificial needs are also imposed on us. We are constantly exposed to visual and verbal adverts which try to convince us that our lives will be improved if we buy a particular product. Don't tell me the plasma TV or the air freshener advertised on TV is a necessity. However, clever advertising creates in people a sense of need for material goods, which if they don't acquire, can often lead to feelings of inferiority and unhappiness. Advertising also gives a distorted picture of reality, which creates unrealistic expectations, particularly among young children and teenagers. Many adverts are targeted specifically at these age groups, creating an intense desire to own a particular product. The resulting pressure on parents is so great that they often give in to the demands of their children in order to avoid confrontation and tantrums, thus creating patterns of consumption and gratification at the expense of other values in life. This vicious cycle can have a very detrimental effect on children and, consequently, the future of society. Advertising today, with its ubiquity and aggressive nature, poisons our minds with false ideals and instils in people a sense of dissatisfaction. It turns people into materialistic consumers; this is a far cry from the self-assured, informed individuals who know the real value of money and are able to develop the sensible shopping habits that any healthy society needs.
1. Which best serves as the title for the passage?

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An A level is an Advanced level GCE qualification. This exam is (1) ____ taken after two years of A level study, following the O level/IGCSE exams. Students can take any number of A level exams; in the UK, most college students take three or four A level exams for their final two years of study. The (2) ____ of A levels to be taken will often depend on the qualifications that the university (3) ____ requires. A level results can open doors to (4) ____ studies at some of the best higher educational institutions in the world, and to a (5) ____ range of professional and vocational courses that can help build skills for an exciting and (6) ____ career. In many countries round the world, some schools follow the GCE syllabus to prepare their pupils for taking A level exams. Students at these schools should enquire at their school about how they can register and sit (7) ____ the exams. Students who do not (8) ____ a school that follows the GCE syllabus can still take A level exams and can register as a private individual with the British Council.  In order to register for an A level exam one will need to (9) ____ an entry form which will become available at the British Council offices. Forms usually become (10) ____ for January examinations in early August of the preceding year. For May/June examinations, they are available in early December of the preceding year

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I went to Australia on a student program last year and I like to (26)_______ you about it. I was very (27)_______when I knew I was going to Australia because I had never been there before. I didn’t think about the problems of speaking English (28)_______I met my host family. At first I couldn’t communicate with them because my English was so bad. All the five years I had been learning English wasn’t much used at all (29)_______we didn’t have real practice at school. Even though my grammar was good, my pronunciation wasn’t. My problem is (30)_______ ‘l’ and ‘r’. For example, Australian people often asked “What do you eat in Vietnam?” I wanted to tell them that we eat rice, but they didn’t understand when I said “We eat lice”…

Read the reading below carefully, and then complete it with the best option A, B, C or D given below:
From: Daniel Doyle
To: Lois Henares
Subject: Our appointment
Date: Wed, 20 Sept 2008
Lois,
I’m sending my apologies for having to (1)___ our 10:00 appointment for this morning. I was on my way to your office but was suddenly called away to deal with an (2)------- problem at the factory. I have asked Ms. Blanchard to reschedule our meeting on Friday at 11:00 A.M. Our agenda, as agreed upon, will be the implementation of a new inventory system. I would appreciate it if you could send other members scheduled to attend the meeting a summary of the points that (3)------- in your presentation on the new system. This should facilitate decision-making during our meeting. I hope you were not inconvenienced by the cancelation of our meeting this morning.
All the best,
Daniel

Choose the letter A, B, C or D to answer these questions

Hi. My name is Mary. I’m twelve years old. I’m a pupil. I live in a beautiful area in a big city. Every morning I get up at 5:30 o’ clock. After that, I dress up, have breakfast and go to school. My school is not very far from my house so I often go to school on foot. But today I ride my bike because I want to attend my English class after school. I love English so much. I will study abroad soon.

What does Mary do?

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My parents earn a modest income and were unable to send me to public school.

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Over the past fifty years or so, the methods used for collecting money from the public to aid the developing world have changed out of all recognition, along with the gravity of the problems (1) ____, and the increasing awareness among the population that something must be done. At the beginning of this period, it would have been common to put money in a collecting box, perhaps on the street or at church. The 1960s saw the (2) ____ of shops which sold second-hand goods, donated by the public, and which also began to sell articles manufactured in the developing world in charitable projects set up to guarantee a fair income to local people. The next development was probably the charity 'event', in which participants were (3) ____ to run, cycle, swim or what have you, and collected money from friends and relatives (4) ____ how far or long they managed to keep going. The first hint of what was to become the most successful means of (5) ____ money was the charity record, where the artists donated their time and talent, and the (6) ____ from the sales went to a good cause. This was perhaps a (7) ____ of the fact that young people felt increasingly concerned about the obvious differences between life in Europe and the United States, and that in most of Africa, for example. A feeling of frustration was building up. Why was so little being done? The huge success of Band Aid, and (8) ____ televised concerts, showed the power of the media, and of music in particular, to inspire and shock. It differed significantly in style from other events. People phoned up in their thousands on the day and pledged money by (9) ____ their credit card numbers. (10) ____ if you have enough money to buy an MP3 player, you can afford something for the world's starving children

Read the passage below and answer the question

Hello everyone, I’m Phu. I’m from Vietnam. There are four seasons in the North of Vietnam. I like the spring and winter most. In the spring, it is warm and there are many kinds of fruits. I live in the countryside so the air is very cool and fresh in the spring. The view looks like a stunning picture. In the summer, it is very hot so I and my friends usually go swimming and fly our kites. Sometimes we go fishing. I don't like the winter because the weather is very cold and there is a lot of cold wind. I love living in the rural areas.

Where is Phu from?

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Vietnam is a (1) ____, developing country that in the last 34 years has had to recuperate from the ravages of war. Substantial progress was (2) ____ from 1986 to 1997 in moving forward from an extremely low level of development and significantly reducing poverty.  Since 2001, Vietnamese authorities have reaffirmed their (3) ____ to economic liberalization and international (4) ____. They have moved to implement the structural reforms needed to modernize the economy and to produce more competitive, (5) ____ industries.  Vietnam's membership in the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) and entry (6) ____ force of the US-Vietnam Bilateral Trade Agreement in December 2001 have (7) ____ to even more rapid changes in Vietnam's trade and economic regime. Vietnam's exports to the US doubled in 2002 and again in 2003. Vietnam joined the WTO (World Trade Organization) in January 2007, following over a decade long (8) ____. This should provide an important boost to the economy and should help to ensure the continuation of liberalizing reforms.  Vietnam is working to create jobs to meet the challenge of a (9) ____ that is growing by more than one million people every year. Vietnamese authorities have tightened monetary and fiscal (10) ____ to stem high inflation

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Polar bears are being increasingly threatened by the effects of climate change, but their disappearance could have (26) _______ consequences. They are uniquely adapted to the extreme conditions of the Arctic Circle, (27) _______ temperatures can reach -40°C. One reason for this is that they have up to 11 centimetres of fat underneath their skin. Humans with comparative levels of adipose tissue would be considered obese and would be likely to suffer from diabetes and heart disease. (28) _______ the polar bear experiences no such consequences. A 2014 study by Shi Ping Liu and colleagues sheds light on this mystery. They compared the genetic structure of polar bears with (29) _______ of their closest relatives from a warmer climate, the brown bears. This allowed them to determine the genes that have allowed polar bears to survive in one of the toughest environments on Earth. Liu and his colleagues found the polar bears had a gene known as APOB, which reduces levels of low-density lipoproteins (LDLs) - a form of 'bad' cholesterol. In humans, mutations of this gene are (30) _______ with increased risk of heart disease. Polar bears may therefore be an important study model to understand heart disease in humans

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I first noticed it in a restaurant. The place was oddly quiet, and at one table a group sat with their heads bowed, their eyes hooded and their hands in their laps. I then realised that every one, whatever their age group, was gazing at a handheld phone or tablet. People strolled in the street outside likewise, with arms at right angles, necks bent and heads in awkward postures. Mothers with babies were doing it. Students in groups were doing it. The scene resembled something from an old science fiction film. There was no conversation. Every visit to California convinces me that the digital revolution is over, by which I mean it is won. Everyone is connected. The New York Times last week declared the death of conversation. While mobile phones may at last be falling victim to considerate behaviour, this is largely because even talk is considered too intimate a contact. No such bar applies to emailing, texting, messaging, posting and tweeting. It is ubiquitous, the ultimate connectivity, the brain wired full-time to infinity. The MIT professor and psychologist Sherry Turkle claims that her students are close to mastering the art of maintaining eye contact with a person while texting someone else. It is like an organist playing different tunes with hands and feet. To Turkle, these people are ‘alone together … a tribe of one’. Anyone with 3,000 Facebook friends has none. The audience in many theatres now sit, row on row, with lit machines in their laps, looking to the stage occasionally but mostly scrolling and tapping away. The same happens at meetings and lectures, in coffee bars and on jogging tracks. Psychologists have identified this as ‘fear of conversation’, and have come up hmmm with the term ‘conversational avoidance devices’ for headphones. In consequence, there is now a booming demand for online ‘conversation’ with robots and artificial voices. Mobiles come loaded with customised ‘boyfriends’ or ‘girlfriends’. People sign up with computerised dating advisors, even claim to fall in love with their on-board GPS guides. The ‘post-digital’ phenomenon, the craving for live experience, is showing a remarkable vigour. The US is a place of ever greater congregation and migration, to parks, beaches and restaurants, to concerts, rock festivals, ball games. Common interest groups, springing up across the country, desperately seek escape from the digital dictatorship, using Facebook and Twitter not as destinations but as route maps to meet up with real people Somewhere in this cultural mix I am convinced the desire for friendship will preserve the qualities essential for a civilised life, qualities of politeness, listening and courtesy. Those obsessed with fashionable connectivity and personal avoidance are not escaping reality. They may be unaware of it but deep down they, too, still want someone to talk to.
2. The word “it” in paragraph 1 refers to _______

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It is true that keeping fit will benefit a person’s health in many ways. It has become clear in recent years, that a large number of people are doing less and less exercise and this is now causing many serious illnesses, putting a strain on doctors and hospitals. However, some experts believe that too much exercise can do just as much (44) _____. Although it is true that moderate exercise such as walking can be very beneficial to a person’s health, it is not the only one factor (45)_____ keeps us healthy. Diet is also extremely important and I would argue that it is probably even more important than exercise, although the ideal is for both of these factors to work together. It seems to me that many people are unwilling to put in the effort required to become fitter. (46)_____, too much exercise can also cause problems. So people are urged to take moderate exercise and eat moderately healthily rather than embarking on extreme diets and training. In too many instances, ultra–fit people have had heart attacks or dropped down dead. In all, governments need to find ways of (47)_____ people to take responsibility for their own health. People need to realize that eating healthy food does not have to cost a (48)_____, nor is it difficult to prepare healthy meals themselves. People need to be better educated about their health

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Is the west falling out of love with the car? For environmentalists it seems an impossible dream, but it is happening. While baby boomers and those with young families may carry on using four wheels, a combination of our ageing societies and a new attitude among the young seems to be breaking our 20th- century car addiction. Somewhere along the road, we reached the high point of the car and are now cruising down the other side. The phenomenon was first recognised in The Road... Less Traveled, a 2008 report by the Brookings Institution in Washington DC, but had been going on largely unnoticed for years. Japan reached it in the 1990s. They talk there of “demotorisation”. The west had its tipping point in 2004. That year the US, UK, Germany, France, Australia and Sweden all saw the start of a decline in the number of kilometres the average person travelled in a car that continues today. What could be driving us off the road? Fuel costs and rising insurance premiums may be a factor. And urban gridlock, combined with an absence of parking places and congestion charging, makes an increasing number of us look on the car as a dumb way to move around in cities where there are public transport alternatives. Demographics are another possible explanation. It is surely no accident that ‘peak car’ happened first in Japan, which has the world’s oldest population. Pensioners do not drive to work, and many don’t drive at all. There is also the rise of “virtual commuters” who work from home via the Internet. Besides these new employment patterns, leisure lifestyles are also changing. Social scientists detect a new ‘culture of urbanism’. The stylish way to live these days is in inner-city apartments, not the suburbs. Richard Florida, an urban studies theorist at the University of Toronto in Canada, points out that the young shop online, telecommute, live in walkable city neighbourhoods near public transport and rely more on social media and less on face-to-face visiting. Given those changes, they can think of better ways to spend their money than buying a car. Some think car use will revive if and when economies recover. But it looks like something more profound is going on. Florida calls it a “great reset” in society that will have profound consequences – not least for the environment. Even our most treasured consumer aspirations can have a peak. Enough can be enough.
1. Which best serves as the title for the passage?

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Plants supply man with food clothing, and shelter- his most important needs. Many of our most useful medicines are also made (26)___ plants. In addition, plants add beauty and pleasure to our lives. Most people enjoy the smell of flowers, the sight field of waving grain, and the quiet of a forest. Not (27)_______plants are helpful to man. Some species grow in fields and gardens  as weeds that choke off useful plants. Tiny hits of pollen from (28)_______plants cause such (29)_________as asthma and hay fever. Other plants destroy millions of dollars (30)_______of crops yearly.

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A team of social psychologists from California has spent six years studying the reactions of people in cities around the world to different situations. The results show that cities where people have (37) _______ money generally have friendlier populations. The psychologists from California State University say it has got more to do with environment than culture or nationality. They carried out a study into the way locals treated strangers in 23 cities around the world. The team conducted their research through a series of tests, in (38) _______ they dropped pens or pretended they were blind and needed help crossing the street. The study concludes that people are more helpful in cities with a more relaxed (39) _______ of life such as Rio. While they were there, researchers received help in 93 percent of cases, and the percentage in Lilongwe was only a little lower. (40) _______ , richer cities such as Amsterdam and New York are considered the least friendly. Inhabitants of Amsterdam helped the researchers in 53 percent of cases and in New York just 44 percent. The psychologists found that, in these cities, people tend to be short of time, so they hurry and often (41) _______ strangers

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Maybe you are staying in a city, and there is no park nearby where you can take your morning job. One of the more recent trend is to go on a running tour, but you are not leading the way. Rather, a running (1)_________ who knows the best (2)_________ in the city acts as your guide. You are going out for a run, but you are also being shown highlights of the city while you are doing it. Guided running tours are a trend that seems to be catching (3)_________ in quite a few of the bigger cities in the United States. New York City, Chicago,  and San Francisco are just three of the major cities that have running tours in (4)_________. They offer these tours to individuals, groups, and even for corporate events. If you are going into a city with colleagues to attend a business meeting or a convention, what better way is there to see the city and network with others (5)_________ while taking a healthy run?

Read the reading below carefully, and then complete it with the best option A, B, C or D given below:

Hoa is going on (1) ...................... this summer. First, she is going (2) ......................Ha Long Bay, Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum (3) ...................... Hoi An Ancient town (4) ...................... five days. She is going to stay (5) ...................... her uncle in Ha Noi. (6) ......................, she is going to stay in a hotel in Hue for two days. She is going to see the (7) ...................... and Thien Mu (8) ......................

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Tornadoes are known to have higher winds than tropical cyclones, (1)_________ tornadoes are much smaller. As a (2)_________, a tropical cyclone can be hundreds of kilometres wide, with destruction occurring in different degrees depending on which part of the cyclone hits the land. In contrast, tornadoes are usually less than a few hundred metres wide. These storms are (3)_________ destructive in the smaller areas in which they hit, but they are also short-lived. Tropical cyclones develop in areas where the seawater is warm and there is instability in the atmosphere. (4)_________ as tropical depressions, they begin to gather strength. As they are developing, they begin to rotate, with the differences in humidity and air temperature (5)_________ them until sufficient wind speeds are reached to be classified as a tropical cyclone

Read the reading below carefully, and then complete it with the best option A, B, C or D given below:
Dear Sir or Madam, I am sending you this letter of (1) ____, together with my CV, in view of the possibility of obtaining a job inside your company. (2) ____ very well aware of the fact that you will choose the best, I would be honoured (3) ____ myself among them in order to occupy an intermediary position between your company and your clients. Considering that my experience and my education are appropriate (4) ____ the job you could be offering and for the competence of your company, I decided to (5) ____ my CV to your attention. I have a very high interest in becoming a competent person in a (6) ____ company (7) ____ experience, motivation and ambition will be proven to be the strongest points for the best interest of the company and for my future experience. You will find details (8) ____ my education, my (9) ____ experience and my skills in the attached CV. I would be very glad with the opportunity of an interview, (10) ____ you consider it necessary and useful, in order to analyze the possibility of me being a part of the team. For any explanations that will be necessary please do not hesitate to contact me at the following number: 0723.456.789 Yours faithfully, George Airinei!