Sometimes forest fires have caused serious damage to both private and public property. They destroy many houses and cause deaths, particularly when they have reached villages which are close to the forests. It is more dangerous if a destructive fire burns away plants and trees that prevent erosion. If heavy rains occur after such a fire, landslides, ash flows, and flash floods can occur. This can result in property damage in the immediate fire area, and can affect the water quality of streams, rivers and lakes. Wind sometimes makes contributions to forest fires. In southern California, under the influence of Santa Ana winds, fires could move at tremendous speeds, up to 40 miles (60 km) in a single day, consuming up to 1,000 acres (4 km2) per hour.

______may happen after a forest fire. 

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:
In most discussions of cultural diversity, attention has focused on visible, explicit aspects of culture, such as language, dress, food, religion, music, and social rituals. Although they are important, these visible expressions of culture, which are taught deliberately and learned consciously, are only the tip of the iceberg of culture. Much of culture is taught and learned implicitly, or outside awareness. Thus, neither cultural insiders nor cultural outsiders are aware that certain “invisible” aspects of their culture exist.
Invisible elements of culture are important to us. For example, how long we can be late before being impolite, what topics we should avoid in a conversation, how we show interest or attention through listening behaviour, what we consider beautiful or ugly- these are all aspects of culture that we learn and use without being aware of it. When we meet other people whose invisible cultural assumptions differ from those we have learned implicitly, we usually do not recognize their behaviour as cultural in origin.
Differences in invisible culture can cause problems in cross-cultural relations. Conflicts may arise when we are unable to recognize others’ behavioural differences as cultural rather than personal. We tend to misinterpret other people’s behaviour, blame them, or judge their intentions or competence without realizing that we are experiencing cultural rather than individual differences.

Formal organizations and institutions, such as schools, hospitals, workplaces, governments, and the legal system are collection sites for invisible cultural differences. If the differences were more visible, we might have less misunderstanding. For example, if we met a man in a courthouse who was wearing exotic clothes, speaking a language other than ours, and carrying food that looked strange, we would not assume that we understood his thoughts and feelings or that he understood ours. Yet when such a man is dressed similarly to us, speaks our language, and does not differ from us in other obvious ways, we may fail to recognize the invisible cultural differences between us. As a result, mutual misunderstanding may arise.

The author implies that institutions such as schools and workplaces     .

Schools in the United States have not always had a large number of libraries. As recently as 1958 about half of the public schools in the United States had no libraries at all. The (1)_______of public school libraries increased dramatically when the federal government passed the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, which provided funds for school districts to improve their education programs and facilities, including their libraries. (2) _______, many educators claim that since the legislation was passed federal spending has not increased sufficiently to meet the rising cost of new library technologies such as computer databases and Internet access. Because the federal government provides only limited funds to schools, individual school districts (3)______ on funds from local property taxes to meet the vast majority of public schools tend to reflect the financial capabilities of the communities in which they are located. Districts in wealthy suburbs often have fully staffed libraries (4)________ abundant resources, spacious facilities, and curricular and instructional support. In (5) __________school districts in many poor areas house their libraries in ordinary classrooms or in small rooms. The libraries in such areas are generally staffed by volunteers, who organize and maintain books that are often out-of-date, irrelevant, or damaged.

(61)________

Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
Left-handers are the odd ones out. Sure, lefties (1) ______up about 10 percent of the population but, frankly, it seems like society has forgotten about them. Just consider all of the right-handed gadgets, awkwardly designed desks, and cooking tools that fit comfortably only in your right hand. What (2)______someone to become a lefthand? Scientists aren’t exactly sure, but research points to a complex (3)______between genes and environment.  While no exact set of “leftie genes” have been discovered, people who dominantly use their left hands do have more left-handed family members. And researchers have found different brain wirings in righties vs. lefties. But no matter (4) ______it is that drives someone to use their antipodal paw, science has also uncovered a particular set of personality traits that left-handed people tend to have. So for all of you lefties, leftie-loving righties, and ambidextrous folks out there - it’s time to brush up on your left-handed knowledge and help (5) ______an end to leftie discrimination once and for all

Choose the best answer:
I/ not/ think/ women’s/ natural roles/ be/ care-givers/ housewives

Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
Rain pounded down on the roof. I was trying to read but the sound was too loud. I couldn’t help myself from being a little grumpy. I wanted to be outside playing, but the rain was keeping me inside. My mom had gone to the grocery store, and my dad was spending Saturday at the office. I had planned to spend the day hiking, but Mother Nature decided that today was the perfect day for rain. It meant that I would have to entertain myself. I spent most of the morning playing with my stuffed animals and reading. I was sitting next to the window staring out when I got a strange idea: why not just go outside anyway? I put on my boots and a big raincoat and stepped out into the wet world. It was raining hard but it wasn’t cold. All I could hear were raindrops and the wind. I decided to go on my hike anyway. My feet didn’t make any sound on the wet ground and the forest seemed different. I went to my favourite place and sat down. In the summer, my best friend Ellen and I would come here and sit for hours. It was our special place. All of a sudden, I thought I heard someone shouting my name. I turned and saw Ellen walking up behind me. “Oh my Gosh! It’s really you, Martha!” she said. “I can’t believe that you are out here right now. I thought I would be the only person crazy enough to go for a walk in the rain.” I was very happy to have some company. We decided that hiking in the rain was just as fun as hiking in the sunshine. We planned on hiking in the rain again.
6. What did Martha think about being outside?

Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
Any change in one part of an ecosystem can cause changes in other parts. Droughts, storms and fires can change ecosystems. Some changes (1) _______ ecosystems. If there is too (2) _______ rainfall, plants will not have enough water to live. If a kind of plant dies off, the animals that feed on it may also die or move away. Some changes are good for ecosystems. Some pine forests need fires for he pine trees to reproduce. The seeds are sealed inside pinecones. Heat from a forest fire melts the seal and lets the seeds (3) _______. Polluting the air, soil, and water can harm ecosystems. Building (4) _______ on rivers for electric power and irrigation can harm ecosystems around the rivers. Bulldozing wetlands and cutting down forests destroy ecosystems. Ecologists are working with companies and governments to find better ways of (5) _______ fish, cutting down trees, and building dams. They are looking for ways to get food, lumber, and other products for people without causing harm to ecosystems

Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
It's only 36 centimeters tall, but to fans throughout the world, it represents the highest achievement in football. Every four years, teams from all over the globe compete to take home the FIFA World Cup Trophy, yet nobody ever does. Do you know why? Nobody ever takes it home because the 18-carat gold trophy is kept under lock and key by FIFA (Federation Internationale de Football Association). The champions of each World Cup tournament receive only a replica. This is to protect the valuable prize from thieves, who have stolen the World Cup trophy twice in its 75-year history. The little trophy has certainly had a troubled existence. The original trophy was made by a French sculptor, Abel LaFleur, and was called the "Jules Rimet Cup," in honor of the founder of the World Cup tournament. Sometime during the first three World Cup events (1930, '34 and '38), the name changed to simply the "World Cup." Then during World War II, not much was seen or heard of the trophy. It was being kept hidden in a shoe box under the bed of Dr. Ottorino Barassi, the Italian vice-president of FIFA, to prevent it from falling into the hands of the Nazi army. Although the trophy made it safely through the war, it didn't fare so well during the turbulent 1960s. In 1966, the Cup was stolen during a public showing of the trophy prior to the World Cup tournament in England. Luckily, it was found a short time later none the worse for wear in a trash container, by a little dog named Pickles. Four years later, Brazil earned permanent possession of the original trophy by winning its third World Cup title. Unfortunately, the trophy was stolen a second time, in 1983, and was never recovered. The Brazilian Football Association had to have a duplicate trophy made. After the first trophy became the possession of Brazil's football association, a new World Cup Trophy for FIFA was designed by an Italian artist, Silvio Gazazniga, in 1974. This trophy cannot be won outright, but remains in the possession of FIFA, and rest assured they are keeping a close eye on it. Today, World Cup winners are awarded a replica of the trophy that is gold-plated, rather than solid gold like the real one. Gazazniga's World Cup trophy weighs almost five kilograms. Its base contains two layers of a semi-precious stone called malachite, and has room for 17 small plaques bearing the names of the winning teams -enough space to honor all the World Cup champions up to the year 2038. After that, a new trophy will have to be made.
3. The first trophy was named the "Jules Rimet Cup" because Rimet.....

Choose the best answer:
Quoc Tu Giam/ established/ the/ grounds/ Van Mieu.

Read the reading below carefully, and then complete it with the best option A, B, C or D given below:
Many parents believe that they should begin to teach their children to read when they are (1)________ more than toddlers. This is fine if the child shows a real interest but forcing a child could be counter-productive if she isn't ready. Wise parents will have a (2) ________attitude and take the lead from their child. What they should provide is a selection of stimulating toys, books and other activities. Nowadays there is plenty of good (3) ________available for young children, and of course, seeing plenty of books in use about the house will also (4) ________them to read. Of course, books are no longer the only source of stories and information. There is also a huge range (5)_______ videos, which can reinforce and extend the pleasure a child finds in a book and are equally valuable in helping to increase vocabulary and concentration. Television gets a bad review as far as children are concerned, mainly because too many spend too much time watching programmes not intended for their age group

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions form 31 -35

Tourism will always have an impact on the places visited. Sometimes the impact is good, but often it is negative. For example, if lots of people visit one place, then this can damage the environment. The question is - how can we minimize the problems without preventing people from travelling and visiting places? 

The main aim of ecotourism is to reduce the negative impact that tourism has on the environment and local people. The idea is to encourage tourists to think about what they do when they visit a place. 

It's great to talk about protecting the environment, but how do you actually do this? There are a number of key points. Tourists shouldn't drop litter, they should stay on the paths, they shouldn't interfere with wildlife and they should respect local customs and traditions. 

Some people see ecotourism as a contradiction. They say that any tourism needs infrastructure - roads, airports and hotels.The more tourists that visit a place, the more of these are needed and, by building more of these, you can't avoid damaging the environment. 

But, of course, things aren't so black and white. Living in a place of natural beauty doesn't mean that you shouldn't benefit from things like better roads. As long as the improvements benefit the local people and not just the tourists, and the local communities are consulted on plans and changes, then is there really a problem? 

In 2002 the United Nations celebrated the "International Year of Ecotourism". Over the past twenty years, more and more people have started taking eco-holidays. In countries such as Ecuador, Nepal, Costa Rica and Kenya, ecotourism represents a significant proportion of the tourist industry. 

In paragraph 1, the word "it" refers to ____.

Choose the best answer:
We often get up early in order to get __________ for the new working day.

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D to indicate the best option for each of the blanks.
Our classes take place for three hours every morning from Monday to Friday. The (1)................ class size is twelve and the average is ten. We use modern methods (2)....................... teaching and learning, and the school has a language laboratory, a video camera and recorders. You will only be successful in improving your English; however, if you work hard and practise speaking English as much as you can. You will take a  short (3)....................... in English  as soon as  you arrive.  In this way, we can put you  in a (4)..........................at the most suitable level.
The emphasis is on oral communication practice in a wide (5)............. of situations at the advanced knowledge. You will learn how to use language correctly and appropriately when you talk to native speakers. In addition, you will develop such study skills as reading efficiently, writing articles and reports, and note-taking from books and lectures.

(1)......................... 

In the United States, federal law requires states to identify and serve all children (1) _______ disabilities. Public education and health officials in the United States identified approximately 5.4 million infants, toddlers, (2) _______, and youth as disabled in 1994. That same year, the U.S. Department of Education reported that 12.2 percent of all children (3) _______ the age of 21 received some form of special education. The most frequently reported disabilities are speech or language impairments; mental retardation and (4) _______ developmental disorders; serious emotional disturbance; and specific learning disorders, (5) _______ memory disorders.

(17)___________

Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
William Sydney Porter (1862-1910), who wrote under the pseudonym of O. Henry, was born in North Carolina. His only formal education was to attend his Aunt Lina’s school until the age of fifteen, where he developed his lifelong love of books. By 1881 he was a licensed pharmacist. However, within a year, on the recommendation of a medical colleague of his Father’s, Porter moved to La Salle County in Texas for two years herding sheep. During this time, Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary was his constant companion, and Porter gained a knowledge of ranch life that he later incorporated into many of his short stories. He then moved to Austin for three years, and during this time the first recorded use of his pseudonym appeared, allegedly derived from his habit of calling “Oh, Henry” to a family cat. In 1887, Porter married Athol Estes. He worked as a draftsman, then as a bank teller for the First National Bank. In 1894 Porter founded his own humor weekly, the “Rolling Stone”, a venture that failed within a year, and later wrote a column for the Houston Daily Post. In the meantime, the First National Bank was examined, and the subsequent indictment of 1886 stated that Porter had embezzled funds. Porter then fled to New Orleans, and later to Honduras, leaving his wife and child in Austin. He returned in 1897 because of his wife’s continued ill-health, however she died six months later. Then, in 1898 Porter was found guilty and sentenced to five years imprisonment in Ohio. At the age of thirty five, he entered prison as a defeated man; he had lost his job, his home, his wife, and finally his freedom. He emerged from prison three years later, reborn as O. Henry, the pseudonym he now used to hide his true identity. He wrote at least twelve stories in jail, and after re-gaining his freedom, went to New York City, where he published more than 300 stories and gained fame as America’s favorite short Story writer. Porter married again in 1907, but after months of poor health, he died in New York City at the age of forty-eight in 1910. O. Henry’s stories have been translated all over the world.
3: The word “imprisonment” in paragraph 2 is closet in meaning to _________

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions.
Together, the thousands of scientists and conservation organizations that contribute to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List and other systems of assessment provide the world's largest knowledge base on the global status of species. The aim of these systems is to provide the general public, conservationists, nongovernmental organizations, the media, decision makers, and policy makers with comprehensive and scientifically rigorous information on the conservation status of the world's species and the threats that drive the observed patterns of population decline. Scientists in conservation and protected area management agencies use data on species status in the development of conservation planning and prioritization, the identification of important sites and species for dedicated conservation action and recovery planning, and educational programs. Although the IUCN Red List and other similar species-assessment tools do not prescribe the action to be taken, the data within the list are often used to inform legislation and policy and to determine conservation priorities at regional, national, and international levels. In contrast, the listing criteria of other categorization systems (such as the United States Endangered Species Act, the CITES) are prescriptive; they often require that landowners and various governmental agencies take specific mandatory steps to protect species falling within particular categories of threat It is likely that many undescribed or unassessed species of plants, animals, and other organisms have become or are in the process of becoming extinct. To maintain healthy populations of both known and unknown species, assessments and reassessments are valuable tools. Such monitoring work must continue so that the most current knowledge can be applied to effective environmental monitoring and management efforts. For many threatened species, large well-protected conservation areas (biological reserves) often play major roles in curbing population declines. Such reserves are often cited by conservation biologists and other authorities as the best way to protect individual species as well as the ecosystems they inhabit. In addition, large biological reserves may harbor several undescribed and unassessed species. Despite the creation of several large reserves around the world, poaching and illegal trafficking plague many areas. Consequently, even species in those areas require continued monitored and periodic assessment.
4. The word 'they' in paragraph 1 refers to ____.

Choose the best answer:
The children were wearing traditional _______ costume.

Choose the word whose underlined part is pronounced differently from that of the others.

Read the passage below carefully, and then choose the best answer:
Traveling in the Future
These days, if you want to travel from New York to Beijing, the flight takes about 16 hours. You also have to wait at the airport, and sometimes you have to transfer onto a different airplane. If you add all of that extra time, the trip takes at least 20 hours. But in the future, the trip from New York to Beijing might only take two hours. Right now, a private company is developing something called ET3. ET3 stands for “evacuated tube transport technology”. Here is how it works. A tube goes all the way from New York to Beijing. The tube is only a few meters wide. Capsules move through the tube. Six people can sit in one capsule. The capsules use electricity instead of gasoline. For international travel, the capsules can travel at about 6,500 kilometers per hour. That is much faster than airplane – most modern airplanes usually only fly at about 800 kilometers per hour. So how is this possible? How can these capsules travel so fast? The answer is that there is no air inside the tube. When airplanes fly, they have to move through the air. The air slows the airplanes down. Because there is no air in the ET3 tubes, the capsules are able to move at a very high speed. Besides, the capsules are quite light. They only weigh 183 kilograms. There are other advantages to ET3. Because it uses electricity, it is quite clean. In addition, it is much quieter than airplanes and cars. Finally, ET3 tubes and capsules don’t require very much building material. Of course, ET3 doesn’t exist yet. The technology is still being developed. Developers still have to solve a lot of problems. The biggest problem is that right now, ET3 would be far too expensive. In order to make ET3 cheaper, we will need much better technology. It is exciting to think of how ET3 will change travel in the future. Maybe someday, you will be able to have lunch in New York and dinner in Beijing.
4. All of the following are factors that make ET3 travel fast EXCEPT that _________

Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C, D):
According to Vietnamese legend, (1) ____ giant turtle in Hanoi's Hoan Kiem Lake reclaimed a magic sword given to King Le Loi in the 15th century that he used to win independence (2) ____ China's Ming Dynasty. The lake was thereafter named 'Ho Hoan Kiem', or 'Lake of the Returned Sword', and Hanoi has been built up (3) ____ it. Margie Mason of Associated Press wrote: "(4) ____ once was a magic golden turtle that lived in Hanoi's most enchanted lake. The giant turtle was believed so powerful, it snatched a divine sword from a warrior king and returned it to the gods of the depths nearly six centuries (5) ____. That tale has long been a (6) ____ among young and old Vietnamese living in the capital city, but folklorists soon may have to rewrite the story to (7) ____ a very sad ending. In real life, the last giant soft-shell turtle (8) ____ in Hoan Kiem Lake probably will die alone, and at least one biologist says the species (9) ____ then be extinct. The elusive creature - with a shell as big as a desk - occasionally pokes its wrinkled head out of the murky waters of the downtown lake to (10) ____ a breath, but few Vietnamese are lucky enough to glimpse it. And certainly no one knows its age."

Choose the best answer:
My father ________ this flower every morning.