1. There is no _______________ in the countryside.                                                   (entertain)

2. She has no parents or close __________________.                                                 (relate)

3. People in the country are often more ____________ than people in the city.      (friend)

4. A lot of people believe that well-paying jobs are __________ in the city.                       (plenty)

5. Increased pollution is another ________________ result.                                      (please)

6. The air is heavily ________________ with traffic fumes.                                       (pollute)

7. They made a decision to close down the factory _____________.                                    (permanence)

8. It’s a ___________ that so many people are unable to find jobs.                           (tragic)

9. We are living in a friendly _____________.                                                              (neighbor)

10. It’s ______________ to sit down after standing for hours.                                               (please)

11. Some of my _______________ live in Nha Trang.                                                             (relate)

12. Many remote areas are getting ______________.                                                   (electric)

13. Life in the country is _______________.                                                                 (simply)

14. Medical facilities are more easily ___________.                                                    (access)

15. Farmers are always faced with ________ brought about by typhoons, floods or droughts.                                                                                                                                          (destroy)

Read the following passage on transport, and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions from 43 to 50.

    (1) Increasing numbers of parents in the U.S. are choosing to teach their children at home. In fact, the U.S. Department of Education has estimated that in 1999, about 850,000 children were being homeschooled. Some educational experts say that the real number is double this estimate, and the ranks of homeschooled children seem to be growing at the average rate of about eleven percent every year.

    (2) At one time, there was a theory accounting for homeschooling: it was traditionally used for students who could not attend school because of behavioral or learning difficulties. Today, however, more parents are taking on the responsibility of educating their own children at home due to their dissatisfaction with the educational system. Many parents are unhappy about class size, as well as problems inside the classroom. Teacher shortages and lack of funding mean that, in many schools, one teacher is responsible for thirty or forty students. The children are, therefore, deprived of the attention they need. Escalating classroom violence has also motivated some parents to remove their children from school.

    (3) Although there have been a lot of arguments for and against it, homeschooling in the U.S. has become a multi-million dollar industry, and it is growing bigger and bigger. There are now plenty of websites, support groups, and conventions that help parents protect their rights and enable them to learn more about educating their children. Though once it was the only choice for troubled children, homeschooling today is an accepted alternative to an educational system that many believe is failing.

This estimated number was presented by _____.

A. a government office

B. school teachers

C. the parents

D. homeschooled children

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

        Most people start smoking when they are in their teens and are addicted by the time they reach adulthood. Some have tried to quit but have returned to cigarettes because smoking is such a strong addiction. It is a habit that is very difficult to break. There are many different reasons why people smoke.

        Three of the main reasons that young people smoke are to look mature, to be like their friends, and to experiment. Since teens see older people all around them smoking, especially their parents and relatives, they smoke to act older. If their friends or peers smoke, they may feel pressured into doing the same to be accepted. The last reason is the excitement of experimenting with something that is forbidden. In Massachusetts it is against the law for anyone under 18 years old to smoke. Usually parents do not allow their under age teens to smoke. Therefore, smoking becomes very attractive. It is exciting to get cigarettes and sneak away to smoke without being caught.

         Adults smoke for other reasons. They may have a lot of stress and pressures because of economic and personal problems. They may be unemployed or working but not making enough money to take care of themselves and their families. They may be homeless, or they may be dealing with alcohol or cocaine/heroin addictions. Some may be in bad marriages or relationships in which there is physical and/or verbal abuse. All these people may smoke to feel relaxed or to give them energy while going through a hard time.

        Whether young or old, some people smoke to control their weight. Smokers, on the average, weigh seven pounds less than non-smokers. Smoking reduces a person's appetite. It lessens his/her sense of taste and smell. This could be why ex-smokers gain weight after quitting cigarettes. Food tastes and smells so much better.

        Finally, there are people who say they love to smoke. Smoking gives them pleasure. It just makes them feel good.

In paragraph 3, how does sentence 3 relate to sentence 1?

A. It is a contradiction 

B. It is a cause

C. It is an example

D. It is an effect

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, c, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer for each of the questions from 46 to 55.

Increasing numbers of parents in the u.s. are choosing to teach their children at home. In fact, the u.s. Department of Education has estimated that in 1999, about 850,000 children were being homeschoolded. Some educational experts say that the real number is double this estimate, and the ranks of homeschooled children seem to be growing at the average rate of about eleven percent every year.

At one time, there was a theory accounting for homeschooling: it was traditionally used for students who could not attend school because of behavioral or learning difficulties. Today, however, more parents are taking on the responsibility of educating their own children at home due to their dissatisfaction with the educational system. Many parents are unhappy about class size, as well as problems inside the classroom. Teacher shortages and lack of funding mean that, in many schools, one teacher is responsible for thirty or forty students. The children are, therefore, deprived of the attention they need. Escalating classroom violence has also motivated some parents to remove their children from school.

Although there have been a lot of areuments for and against it, homeschooling in the u.s. has become a multi-million dollar industry, and it is growing bigger and bigger. There are now plenty of websites, support groups, and conventions that help parents protect their rights and enable them to learn more about educating their children. Though once it was the only choice for troubled children, homeschooling today is an accepted alternative to an educational system that many believe is failing.

The word “arguments” at the beginning of the third paragraph cam be best replaced by “__________”.

A. rows

B. quarrels

C. viewpoints

D. Discussions

Read the following passage and mark the letter A,B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the best answer

Meditation

Meditation has been in use for thousands of years: people have always searched for inner quiet and physical relaxation, which may be for spiritual, self-realization or health reasons. It is nothing unusual and you do not have to be a great athlete to be able to achieve and enjoy the benefits of meditation at both physical and mental levels.

What, then, is meditation? As one expert put it recently, it is just sitting and relaxing. (A) Many people find that their lives are so full of the demands of work, family, friends and organized leisure pursuits that they have no time to “stand and state”. Many are so busy planning and working towards the future that they take little pleasure from the here and now. In their hurry to “get on” they miss out on the simple pleasures of life; the change of the seasons, the singing of a bird or the innocent wonder of a child. But beauty and joy are there to be seen and experienced, even in the most industrial of landscapes. (B) Meditation can be a good way of just taking time out and allowing yourself to relate to and appreciate the moment. It may be by walking along the seashore, or sitting by a stream, or just by noticing silence in a still room and enjoying it. (C)

Rather than forcing yourself to take up a difficult physical position, just relax; sit in a chair or take a walk in a favorite landscape at a steady pace. It is not a good idea to slump or lie down, as this tend to leads to sleep. It is the relaxed focus that is necessary. If you sit down, do so with your feet flat on the floor, hands resting in your lap or on the arms of the chair, and your head comfortably balanced. If you are walking, do so slowly and carefully, aware of the movement of each foot, and the contact with the ground below. (D) Notice the reaction of the ground to your feet. This is an extremely simple but effective exercise in becoming truly aware of the present.

Meditation, above all, is about staying with the moment, being in touch with one’s surroundings and one’s inner world, much of which is more easily achieved when you are in a meditative state. 

At which point in the passage would the following sentence best fit? “In fact, in the harshest environments, meditation may be needed the most”

A. (A)

B. (B)

C. (C)         

D. (D)

Read the following passage and mark the letter A,B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the best answer

Meditation

Meditation has been in use for thousands of years: people have always searched for inner quiet and physical relaxation, which may be for spiritual, self-realization or health reasons. It is nothing unusual and you do not have to be a great athlete to be able to achieve and enjoy the benefits of meditation at both physical and mental levels.

What, then, is meditation? As one expert put it recently, it is just sitting and relaxing. (A) Many people find that their lives are so full of the demands of work, family, friends and organized leisure pursuits that they have no time to “stand and state”. Many are so busy planning and working towards the future that they take little pleasure from the here and now. In their hurry to “get on” they miss out on the simple pleasures of life; the change of the seasons, the singing of a bird or the innocent wonder of a child. But beauty and joy are there to be seen and experienced, even in the most industrial of landscapes. (B) Meditation can be a good way of just taking time out and allowing yourself to relate to and appreciate the moment. It may be by walking along the seashore, or sitting by a stream, or just by noticing silence in a still room and enjoying it. (C)

Rather than forcing yourself to take up a difficult physical position, just relax; sit in a chair or take a walk in a favorite landscape at a steady pace. It is not a good idea to slump or lie down, as this tend to leads to sleep. It is the relaxed focus that is necessary. If you sit down, do so with your feet flat on the floor, hands resting in your lap or on the arms of the chair, and your head comfortably balanced. If you are walking, do so slowly and carefully, aware of the movement of each foot, and the contact with the ground below. (D) Notice the reaction of the ground to your feet. This is an extremely simple but effective exercise in becoming truly aware of the present.

Meditation, above all, is about staying with the moment, being in touch with one’s surroundings and one’s inner world, much of which is more easily achieved when you are in a meditative state. 

According to the author, what is the best seated position for meditation?

A. sitting cross-legged on the ground

B. sitting on the floor with the knees bent upwards

C. sitting on a chair with the feet place

D. sitting on your lower legs, with the heels below your waist

Read the following passage and mark the letter A,B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the best answer

Meditation

Meditation has been in use for thousands of years: people have always searched for inner quiet and physical relaxation, which may be for spiritual, self-realization or health reasons. It is nothing unusual and you do not have to be a great athlete to be able to achieve and enjoy the benefits of meditation at both physical and mental levels.

What, then, is meditation? As one expert put it recently, it is just sitting and relaxing. (A) Many people find that their lives are so full of the demands of work, family, friends and organized leisure pursuits that they have no time to “stand and state”. Many are so busy planning and working towards the future that they take little pleasure from the here and now. In their hurry to “get on” they miss out on the simple pleasures of life; the change of the seasons, the singing of a bird or the innocent wonder of a child. But beauty and joy are there to be seen and experienced, even in the most industrial of landscapes. (B) Meditation can be a good way of just taking time out and allowing yourself to relate to and appreciate the moment. It may be by walking along the seashore, or sitting by a stream, or just by noticing silence in a still room and enjoying it. (C)

Rather than forcing yourself to take up a difficult physical position, just relax; sit in a chair or take a walk in a favorite landscape at a steady pace. It is not a good idea to slump or lie down, as this tend to leads to sleep. It is the relaxed focus that is necessary. If you sit down, do so with your feet flat on the floor, hands resting in your lap or on the arms of the chair, and your head comfortably balanced. If you are walking, do so slowly and carefully, aware of the movement of each foot, and the contact with the ground below. (D) Notice the reaction of the ground to your feet. This is an extremely simple but effective exercise in becoming truly aware of the present.

Meditation, above all, is about staying with the moment, being in touch with one’s surroundings and one’s inner world, much of which is more easily achieved when you are in a meditative state. 

What is needed for someone to learn meditation?

A. to be mentally and physically flexible

B. to have experience with unusual states of mind

C. to have strength and athletic ability

D. to desire to manage one’s physical and emotional being

Read the following passage on transport, and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions from 43 to 50.

    (1) Increasing numbers of parents in the U.S. are choosing to teach their children at home. In fact, the U.S. Department of Education has estimated that in 1999, about 850,000 children were being homeschooled. Some educational experts say that the real number is double this estimate, and the ranks of homeschooled children seem to be growing at the average rate of about eleven percent every year.

    (2) At one time, there was a theory accounting for homeschooling: it was traditionally used for students who could not attend school because of behavioral or learning difficulties. Today, however, more parents are taking on the responsibility of educating their own children at home due to their dissatisfaction with the educational system. Many parents are unhappy about class size, as well as problems inside the classroom. Teacher shortages and lack of funding mean that, in many schools, one teacher is responsible for thirty or forty students. The children are, therefore, deprived of the attention they need. Escalating classroom violence has also motivated some parents to remove their children from school.

    (3) Although there have been a lot of arguments for and against it, homeschooling in the U.S. has become a multi-million dollar industry, and it is growing bigger and bigger. There are now plenty of websites, support groups, and conventions that help parents protect their rights and enable them to learn more about educating their children. Though once it was the only choice for troubled children, homeschooling today is an accepted alternative to an educational system that many believe is failing.

The attitude of the author towards homeschooling can be best described as _____.

A. acceptable

B. favorable

C. remarkable

D. unfavorable