PART C: READING (2 marks)

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 from ($) to (#).

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was one of the [21]   ________    musicians in the world. He created some of the most beautiful music ever heard, which made him become people's favorite composer of all time. Mozart was [22]   ________     in 1756 in Austria. Mozart's father, Leopold, was a musician. He played the violin and he worked as a music teacher. His son Mozart [23]   ________   plays the piano when he was 3. At the age of 4 he started to write music. He simply took a violin and started to play before anyone showed him how to play the instrument. Mozart's sister, Maria Anna, was good at music, too. Mozart and his sister invented their own secret language. They told stories about a magic kingdom where they were a king and a queen. Leopold took his two children to Vienna. There they played for the Emperor of Austria at his palace. Everyone [24] ______ their talent and the Emperor called Mozart a “little magician”.

SECTION D. Reading (2.0 pt)

Part 1: 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 from 25 to 28. (1.0 pt).

            One of the (25)______traditional special food for New Year (Tet) of Vietnamese is Banh Chung or sticky rice cake. Banh Chung is (26)______of sticky rice, pork meat and green bean, every ingredient is wrapped inside a special leaf (27)______is called Dong. Making Banh Chung requires care and precision in every step. The rice and green bean has to be soaked in water for a day to make it stickier. The pork is usually soaked (28)______several hours. Squaring off the cakes with bamboo strings requires skillful hands to make it a perfect square.

Question 25. A. many               B. more                    C. most                       D. much

Question 26. A. make               B. made                    C. making                   D. to make

Question 27. A. which              B. what                     C. when                       D. who

Question 28. A. on                    B. to                         C. with                        D. for

Làm + Giải thích 

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct word for each of the blanks. (1.0 point)

Weather

    Weather influences the lives of everyone. The climate of any country depends on its position on Earth, its ...(31)... from the sea and how high it is. In countries which have sea all ... (32)... them, like Britain and New Zealand, winters are mild and summers are cool. There is not a huge change from one season to ... (33).... Countries near the Equator have hot weather all year with some ... (34)...rain, except in deserts where it rains very little. Above the desert there are no clouds in the sky so the temperature of the sun can easily warm the ground during the day but it gets very cold at night. People are always interested in unusual weather and pictures of tornadoes, for example, are shown on television. Strong winds and rain can ... (35)... a lot of damage to buildings and in spite of modern methods of weather forecasting they can still surprise us.

Question 31.  A- distance B- space            C- depth             D- length

Question 32.  A-through              B-beside             C-around                        D-near

Question 33.  A- next                  B- another                      C-later               D-other

Question 34.  A- hard                 B- large              C-heavy             D-great

Question 35.  A- make                B- happen                      C-have               D-cause

I. READING 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

The country and the city have advantages and disadvantages. People in the country live in more beautiful surroundings. They enjoy (19) …………….. and quietness, and can do their work at their own pace because no one is in a (20) …………………... They live in larger, more comfortable houses, and their neighbors are more friendly, and ready to help them (21) ……………….. they need it. Their life, however, can be boring and they may be isolated, which is serious problem (22) ……………… they are ill or want to take children to school. The city has all the services that the country lacks, but it also has a lot of disadvantages. Cities are often polluted. They not only have polluted air but also have noisy streets. Everyone is always in hurry and this means that people have no time to get to know each other and make friends.

Question 19. A. quietly B. peaceful C. peace D. quiet

Question 20. A. hurried B. hurrying C. hurriedly D. hurry

Question 21. A. what B. when C. which D. that

Question 22. A. unless B. although C. because D. if

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 questions

The country is more beautiful than a town and more pleasant to live in. Many people think so, and go to the country for the summer holidays though they cannot live there all the year round. Some have a cottage built in a village so that they can go there whenever they can find the time. English villages are not all alike, but in some ways they are not very different from one another. Almost every village has a church, the round or square tower of which can be seen from many miles around. Surrounding the church is the church yard, where people are buried. The village green is a wide stretch of grass, and houses or cottages are built round it. Country life is now fairly comfortable and many villages have running water brought through pipes into each house. Most villages are so close to some small towns that people can go there to buy what they can’t find in the village shops.

Question 23. When do city people often go to the country?

A. At the weekends.

B. All the year round.

C. At Christmas.

D. . The summer holidays.

Question 24. What is the advantage of city people when they have a cottage built in the

village?

A. They can have their houses rented.

B. They can go to the country at weekends.

C. They can go to the country when they are busy.

D. They can go to the country whenever they can find the time.

Question 25. What is NOT mentioned in the life of English villages?

A. The village green

B. Running water

C. The church

D. The Internet

Question 26. What can villagers do when their villages are close to small towns?

A. They can go there to buy cheaper things.

B. They can go there to buy whatever they want.

C. They can go there to buy luxury goods.

D. They can go there to buy what is not found in the village shops.

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct word that best fits each of the numbered blanks. 

• Read the following passage and mark the letter (A, B, C, or D) on your answer sheet to indicate the correct word that best fits each of the numbered blanks.

                                                                                                        BERTHA

Fifty feet below downtown Seattle, the world's largest (1) _________ machine, nicknamed Bertha after the city's (2) _________ mayor, lies still. This (3) _________  vehicle weighs 7,000 tons, stretches nearly 330 feet long, and has a 60-foot diameter. When fully (4) _________, Bertha has an intrepid crew of 25. In early August, Bertha began carving out a two-mile road tunnel to replace the Alaskan Way viaduct, an ugly double-decker motorway that has been (5) _________ Seattle's waterfront since the 1950s.

   Dozens of (6) _________ were considered, including twin tunnels, another elevated roadway, and even scrapping the highway in favor of improved surface roads and better public transport. As it happens, (7) _________ dithered long enough for tunneling technology to develop (8) _________ facilitating another option: a single tunnel large enough to accommodate two levels of multi-lane traffic. Many local (9) _________ are against Bertha, but she has already chewed up and spit out one politician. As the new mayor settles into his new role, he will surely be hoping that Bertha (10) __________ finds her appetite for muck, not mayors.

1, A. tunnel-drilling     B. drill-hole     C. tunnel-boring     D. soil-drilling

2, A. increasing     B. progressing     C. progressive     D. progression

3, A. remarkable     B. extraordinary     C. noteworthy     D. impressive

4, A. operating     B. operational     C. operative     D. postoperative

5, A. mutilating     B. disfigured     C. deformed     D. disfiguring

6, A. replacements     B. alternatives     C. surrogates     D. substitutions

7, A. politicians     B. legislators    C. lawmakers     D. policymakers

8, A. satisfactorily     B. abundantly     C. adequately     D. sufficiently

9, A. delegators     B. commissioners     C. legislatures     D. representatives

10, A. speedily     B. quickly     C. rapidly     D. precipitately

• Read the following passage and mark the letter (A, B, C, or D) on your answer sheet to indicate the correct word that best fits each of the numbered blanks.

                                                                                                   ^{REMOTE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT}

     With (1) .......................... transportation technologies, it is now possible to reach even the most distant regions in the world.    (2) .........................., I would contend that the merits of this development are outweighed by its drawbacks. 

    (3) ..................., the ability to travel anywhere in the world offers (4) ................... benefits. At the outset, the discovery of new areas allows everyone to gain a better perception of the earth and new species. This newfound knowledge can act as a precursor to clinical (5) ................... or provide scientists with valuable insights to more effectively combat environmental issues such as climate change. Access to previously unreachable scenic beauty also suggests tourism opportunities, as travel enthusiasts are always on the lookout for new exotic getaways.

     Nonetheless, I believe the (6) ................... perspectives of this trend are eclipsed by more immediate threats to life in this remote natural world. More often than not, as major corporations set foot on and (7) .................... tourism in these areas, the construction of tourism facilities drives out the indigenous people living there. Hotels and recreational facilities emerged at the expense of the locals' accommodation. These people are (8) .................... assimilation, which, as history has indicated, results in the loss of civilizations and cultures. The presence of foreign visitors in these places also poses certain threats to the natural environment, specifically water contamination, land degradation, and natural resource depletion.

     In conclusion, (9) ........................ the thought of traveling to remote natural areas may sound, I conclude that they are better off left untouched.

1, A. the aid of                   B. the help of                 C. support of                  D. assistance of

2, A. That's why                 B. Nevertheless              C. Even though              D. All the same

3, A. On the one hand        B. Other way                  C. Moreover                   D. On one side

4, A. appreciable                B. substantial                 C. considerable              D. extensive

5, A. breakthroughs           B. steps forward             C. improvements           D. tapers off

6, A. constructive               B. favorable                   C. peremptory                D. positive

7, A. tap into                      B. expand                       C. exploit                       D. utilize

8, A. forced to                    B. coerced into               C. influenced by             D. pushed out

9, A. look interesting         B. as attractive as           C. as fascinating as        D. as exciting as

• 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.

                                                                                        SMARTPHONES - A NECCESITY

Smartphones have spread beyond the boardroom and keeping a close eye on what's new is Mike Lazaridis, chief executive of RIM, the company that makes the BlackBerry smartphone. His device may no longer be quite as trendy as it once was but it is still (21) .................. − particularly for Argentinian milk farmers. Mr. Lazaridis says: "I like the way it's being used by the farmers so they are always up to date. Milk is a (22) .................. item, so delivery and production standards are incredibly important." He is reminded of the company's early days: "This is where we started in 1987, with a wireless vertical data business for the Swedish lumber (23) .................., and then on to fire brigades, ambulances, and garbage trucks."

    While the BlackBerry was quick to (24) .................. itself as the accessory of choice for business professionals such as Wall Street traders, the cheaper price (25) .................. and new, more colorful handsets now (26) .................. offer have opened it up to a much wider market. Mr. Lazaridis says: "It was obvious that business people and self-employed professionals would buy the BlackBerry, but we were not expecting the (27) .................. we had from ordinary consumers."

    The greatest challenge for RIM, however, could lie in an economic (28) ..................., when individuals and companies alike may see devices like the BlackBerry as luxuries they can (29) .................. without. The company has to make its product indispensable to the lifestyles of consumers or prove that they bring a real (30) .................. on investment for business users.

_{+ ANSWER:}

21, A. constructive     B. functional     C. active     D. operative

22, A. perishable     B. short-lived     C. decaying     D. destructible

23, A. manufacturers     B. enterprise     C. commerce     D. industry

24, A. install     B. establish     C. create     D. demonstrate

25, A. designs     B. programmes     C. plans     D. systems

26, A. at            B. on             C. for            D. under

27, A. return     B. retort     C. reply     D. response

28, A. downturn     B. tall     C. decrease     D. drop

29, A. make      B. carry      C. do      D. stay

30, A. return      B. gain      C. interest      D. profit

THE RECIPE FOR GOOD COMMUNICATION
How many people do you communicate with in a day? Probably a lot more than you did ten years ago. With a few pieces of
equipment we can „talk‟ to people in more and more ways, not (15) ……..face-to-face and on the phone, but also through the
Internet. It is very important, therefore, for everyone to try and improve their communication skills. Despite all the
technological advances of (16) ……… years, the art of good conversation is still at the heart of successful communication. So
it is a good idea to remember the four golden rules of good communication. (17) ……., be as clear as you can.
Misunderstandings happen if we don‟t say correctly (18)……….we mean. Secondly, we have to
work hard at listening. Pay attention to what the other person is saying. Thirdly, ask other people what they think, don‟t only
tell them what you think. Fourthly, give them time to say what they want, and show interest in what they say. If you (19)……..
these rules, you will be a good communicator.