III. Read the passage about ancestor worship, and do the tasks that follow.

Ancestor Worship

            Ancestor worship is a religious practice based on the belief that one's ancestors possess supernatural powers, such as gods, angels, saints, or demons.

            Ancestor worship in some cultures honors the deeds, memories, and sacrifice of the deal. Much of the worship includes visiting the ancestors at their graves, making offerings to them to provide for their welfare in the afterlife.

            Spirit money (also called Hell Notes) is sometimes burned as an offering to ancestors as well for the afterlife. The living may regard the ancestors as“guardian angels” to them, perhaps in protecting them from serious accidents, or guiding their path in life.

            Families burned incense every day on the domestic ancestral altar. In China, the family altar house the family spirit tablets. On the outer surface of the spirit tablet is engraved the year of the death, his full name, and the name of the son who erects the tablet.

            Anniversary rites take place the death date of each major deceased member of the family every year.Sacrificial food is offered, and living members of the family participate in the ceremony in ritual order based on age and generation.

1. Why does ancestor worship become a religious practice?

_________________________________________________________________________________

2. What are the activities of the worship?

_________________________________________________________________________________

3. Why do people burn spirit money for their dead ancestors?

_________________________________________________________________________________

4. What can we see on the spirit tablet?

_________________________________________________________________________________

5. When do anniversary rites for the major deceased member of the family take place?

____________________________________________________________________________________ 

Read the passage below. For each paragraph, choose the most suitable heading from the list which follows. There is one extra heading you do not need to use.

PROCESSED FOOD
A. Not all doctors agree.
B. Adequate nourishment essential.
C. Additives disguise bad ingredients.
D. Diet to be fat-free, sugar-free.
E. Coffee increases risk of heart disease.
F. Tea and coffee bad for you.
G. Processed food may be bad for you.
H. Doctor's argument not logical.

1. ..........................
After the cigarette manufacturers, it has become the turn of the food processors to suffer the attacks of those who would have us lead a healthy life. Sometimes you have the feeling that almost everything you eat is liable to damage your brain, clog your arteries, ulcerate your stomach, or impact your intestine. On the other hand, it is certainly true that there is nothing like reading the list of ingredients on the back of a cereal packet or a pot of jam to put you off your breakfast.
2. ..........................
One dietician writes of pork pies as follows: "People wouldn't buy a pork pie if chemicals had not been designed into them. A pork pie can contain as much as 50 per cent of highly saturated fat which is bad for the heart and arteries. A perfectly good pork pie could be made from reasonable ingredients but it is cheaper to make it with additives because less meat is then needed. The additives in the pie do little harm in themselves. The fat is made acceptable by a perfectly safe emulsifier. Added colour makes the fat look like meat. The additives in it deceive our senses and persuade us to eat too much fat. Even if the additives themselves are considered to be relatively safe, the nutritional consequences are appalling."
3. ..........................
Since a study by Johns Hopkins Medical Centre, Baltimore, in the mid-eighties, coffee has been on everyone's blacklist. According to the study: "Regardless of the measure of coffee consumption used, analyses found that heavy coffee drinkers were almost three times more likely to have coronary disease than were non-drinkers. Even one or two cups of coffee a day appear to be associated with a small extra risk of heart disease - a one-third increase over non-drinkers." The one piece of good news appears to be that the risk decreases rapidly once a person stops drinking coffee.
4. ..........................
Few arguments create greater passion among medical experts than the supposed link between diet and heart disease. Some doctors, however, refuse to accept any connection between the two. They have argued that diets which cut back on dairy produce, although unlikely to cause physical harm, could lead to malnutrition, particularly among children. They are appalled that breakfast, that traditional British meal, should be under attack by the spectre of disease. Come between some doctors and their bacon and eggs and feelings will run high.
5. ..........................
The nutritionists have fought back. They remain convinced that sugary, fatty foods lead to preventable ill health. One doctor argues that a fibre-rich diet is only of use to those who suffer from diabetes. Rubbish, say the nutritionists, and go on to point out that "over one third of British adults are constipated. At least one in seven takes laxatives. And dietary fibre is of proven value in the treatment of constipation."
6. ..........................
Yet another doctor argues that dental decay should really be seen as a disease which results from a lack of fluoride. What we need to do is clean our teeth like crazy, have them coated with sealants, and take fluorides daily. The nutritionist blasts back by pointing out that you might as well say that headaches are caused by a lack of aspirin.
7. ..........................
What we do know is that nutrition does affect health. Too little food and too much food are both bad for you. In Britain, poor boys tend to be two inches shorter on average than rich boys.

Read the text. Choose the best heading (1-5) for each paragraph (A-C). There are TWO extra headings.

DON CA TAI TU: THE VOICE OF THE SOUTHERN PEOPLE

Recognised as UNESCO's world cultural heritage in 2013, don ca tai tuhas been an important part of people’s life and work in the Mekong River Delta region.

A. _________________

Having appeared in the late 19th century, don ca tai tu became a popular art formin southern Viet Nam. It started as daily entertainment for the village farmers, who were good neighbours and close friends. After working hard in the fields, the neighbours usually gathered together to sing and relax. This was the time when people started performing this kind of music.

B. _________________

Typically, the men in the group play the instruments while the women sing. Most of the musicians and singers are not professionally trained; they are just music lovers performing with all their heart. They usually perform at events such as weddings and traditional festivals, and the melodies express different moods and feelings. 

C. _________________

Today, tourists can enjoy don ca tai tu performances in southern Viet Nam, where local artists perform at floating markets or in fruit gardens. Such performances help preserve the art form and allow artists to reach a wider audience, including people from around the world

XI. Read the text, and match the headings (A-F) with paragraphs (1-5). There is one extra
heading that you do not need.
A – Why do “friends” websites seem dangerous?
B – How do “friends” websites work?
C - What’s the best advice for people who want to use “friends” websites?
D – Where do Millie’s friends live?
E – How can I find “friends” websites?
F – Why are “friends” websites popular?
1. _______ Millie is 14 years old and lives in Miami. She has 204 friends – and she makes two
or three more friends every week. About 20 of her friends also live in Miami. Some go to the
same school, and others go to the same music clubs and sports centers. She often sees them. The
others live in other cities and other countries: England, Canada, Japan … She never meets these
friends, but she talks to them on the Internet. They are her “MySpace Friends”.
2. _______ Because of websites like MySpace, Yahoo 360 and Bebo, people can make friends
online. These websites are very popular all over the world, especially with young people. Users
have their own homepage. They give information about themselves. They write letters for their
webpage, show photos and give opinions. They write about their favourite films, music and TV
programmes.
3. _______ For many young people, a good homepage is an important part of their image. It
says: “This is me! I have something to say. These things – and these people – are important in
my life.” And these websites are also an easy way to talk to a lot of different people. That is
why teenagers likes these “friends” websites.
4. _______ But some people are worried that these websites aren’t safe. For example, it is
impossible to know that the information on a homepage is true. Perhaps the 14-year-old girl you
talk to online is really a 40-year-old man. So here is some advice.
5. _______ Keep your webpage private. (only friends can see a private homepage). Do not put
photos of yourself on your homepage. Do not meet people that you only know because of the
website. And finally, remember that online friends are fun, but they are not the same as real
friends.
 

The reading passage has seven paragraphs A-G. Choose the correct heading for each paragraph from the list of headings below.

CLOCKING CULTURES

What is time? The answer varies from society to society

A If you show up a bit late for a meeting in Brazil, no one will be too worried. But if you keep someone in New

York City waiting for ten or fifteen minutes, you may have some explaining to do. Time is seen as relatively flexible in some cultures but is viewed more rigidly in others. Indeed, the way members of a culture perceive and use time tells us about their society's priorities, and even their own personal view of the world.

B Back in the 1950s, anthropologist Edward T Hall described how the social rules of time are like a 'silent

language' for a given culture. These rules might not always be made explicit, he stated, but 'they exist in the

air'. He described how variations in the perception of time can lead to misunderstandings between people

from separate cultures. 'An ambassador who has been kept waiting by a foreign visitor needs to understand that

if his visitor "just mutters an apology", this is not necessarily an insult,' Hall wrote. 'You must know the

social rules of the country to know at what point apologies are really due.'

C Social psychologist Robert V Levine says 'One of the beauties of studying time is that it's a wonderful window on culture. You get answers on what cultures value and believe in.' Levine and his colleagues have conducted so-called pace-of-life studies in 31 countries. In A Geography of Time, published in 1997, Levine describes how he ranked the countries by measuring three things: walking speed on urban sidewalks, how quickly postal clerks could fulfill a request for a common stamp, and the accuracy of public clocks. From the data he collected, he concluded that the five fastest-paced countries are Switzerland, Ireland, Germany, Japan and Italy; the five slowest are Syria, El Salvador, Brazil, Indonesia and Mexico.

D Kevin Birth, an anthropologist, has examined time perceptions in Trinidad. In that country, Birth observes, 'if

you are meeting friends at 6.00 at night, people show up at 6.45 or 7,00 and say, "any time is Trinidad time".'

When it comes to business, however, that loose approach works only for the people with power, A boss

can show up late and just say 'any time is Trinidad time', but those under him are expected to be on time. Birth

adds that the connection between power and waiting time is true for many other cultures as well,

E The complex nature of time makes it hard for anthropologists and social psychologists to investigate.

'You can't simply go into a society, walk up to someone and say, "Teli me about your concept of time",' Birth

says. 'People don't really have an answer to that. You have to come up with other ways to find out.'

F Birth attempted to get at how Trinidadians regard time by exploring how closely their society links time and

money. He surveyed rural residents and found that farmers - whose days are dictated by natural events,

such as sunrise - did not recognise the phrases time is money, budget your time or time management even

though they had satellite TV and were familiar with Western popular culture. But tailors in the same areas

were aware of such notions. Birth concluded that wage work altered the tailors' views of time. 'The ideas of

associating time with money are not found globally,' he says, 'but are attached to your job and the people you

work with.'

G In addition to cultural variations in how people deal with time at a practical level, there may be differences in

how they visualise it from a more theoretical perspective. The Western idea of time has been compared to that of an arrow in flight towards the future; a one-way view of the future which often includes the expectation that life should get better as time passes. Some cultures see time as closely connected with space: the Australian

Aborigines' concept of the 'Dreamtime' combines a myth of how the world began with stories of sacred sites and orientation points that enable the nomadic Aborigines to find their way across the huge Australian landscape. For other cultures, time may be seen as a pattern incorporating the past, present and future, or a wheel in which past, present and future revolve endlessly. But theory and practice do not necessarily go together. 'There's often considerable variation between how a culture views the mythology of time and how they think about time in their daily lives,' Birth asserts.

The reading passage has seven paragraphs A-G. Choose the correct heading for each paragraph from the list of headings below.

CLOCKING CULTURES

What is time? The answer varies from society to society

A If you show up a bit late for a meeting in Brazil, no one will be too worried. But if you keep someone in New

York City waiting for ten or fifteen minutes, you may have some explaining to do. Time is seen as relatively flexible in some cultures but is viewed more rigidly in others. Indeed, the way members of a culture perceive and use time tells us about their society's priorities, and even their own personal view of the world.

B Back in the 1950s, anthropologist Edward T Hall described how the social rules of time are like a 'silent

language' for a given culture. These rules might not always be made explicit, he stated, but 'they exist in the

air'. He described how variations in the perception of time can lead to misunderstandings between people

from separate cultures. 'An ambassador who has been kept waiting by a foreign visitor needs to understand that

if his visitor "just mutters an apology", this is not necessarily an insult,' Hall wrote. 'You must know the

social rules of the country to know at what point apologies are really due.'

C Social psychologist Robert V Levine says 'One of the beauties of studying time is that it's a wonderful window on culture. You get answers on what cultures value and believe in.' Levine and his colleagues have conducted so-called pace-of-life studies in 31 countries. In A Geography of Time, published in 1997, Levine describes how he ranked the countries by measuring three things: walking speed on urban sidewalks, how quickly postal clerks could fulfill a request for a common stamp, and the accuracy of public clocks. From the data he collected, he concluded that the five fastest-paced countries are Switzerland, Ireland, Germany, Japan and Italy; the five slowest are Syria, El Salvador, Brazil, Indonesia and Mexico.

D Kevin Birth, an anthropologist, has examined time perceptions in Trinidad. In that country, Birth observes, 'if

you are meeting friends at 6.00 at night, people show up at 6.45 or 7,00 and say, "any time is Trinidad time".'

When it comes to business, however, that loose approach works only for the people with power, A boss

can show up late and just say 'any time is Trinidad time', but those under him are expected to be on time. Birth

adds that the connection between power and waiting time is true for many other cultures as well,

E The complex nature of time makes it hard for anthropologists and social psychologists to investigate.

'You can't simply go into a society, walk up to someone and say, "Teli me about your concept of time",' Birth

says. 'People don't really have an answer to that. You have to come up with other ways to find out.'

F Birth attempted to get at how Trinidadians regard time by exploring how closely their society links time and

money. He surveyed rural residents and found that farmers - whose days are dictated by natural events,

such as sunrise - did not recognise the phrases time is money, budget your time or time management even

though they had satellite TV and were familiar with Western popular culture. But tailors in the same areas

were aware of such notions. Birth concluded that wage work altered the tailors' views of time. 'The ideas of

associating time with money are not found globally,' he says, 'but are attached to your job and the people you

work with.'

G In addition to cultural variations in how people deal with time at a practical level, there may be differences in

how they visualise it from a more theoretical perspective. The Western idea of time has been compared to that of an arrow in flight towards the future; a one-way view of the future which often includes the expectation that life should get better as time passes. Some cultures see time as closely connected with space: the Australian

Aborigines' concept of the 'Dreamtime' combines a myth of how the world began with stories of sacred sites and orientation points that enable the nomadic Aborigines to find their way across the huge Australian landscape. For other cultures, time may be seen as a pattern incorporating the past, present and future, or a wheel in which past, present and future revolve endlessly. But theory and practice do not necessarily go together. 'There's often considerable variation between how a culture views the mythology of time and how they think about time in their daily lives,' Birth asserts.

Read the text. Match the headings with the paragraphs A-C.

- The artist                         Paragraph ____________

- The process                     Paragraph ____________

- The tradition                    Paragraph ____________

Many of children's toys are perfect craftwork. To he, Vietnamese folk art, is a typical example.

A

To he is made from dough into different little things or animals which Vietnamese children love to keep as toys. Interesting shapes can be created to the wish of the children. It could be an animal like a chicken, a monkey or some fruits like a hand of bananas. The dough can be made from flour taken from ground rice or sticky rice, but the amount of sticky rice should be restricted to just 10 percent of the dough. Besides making nice dough, the artist prepares natural colours, which are usually made from leaves, vegetables or fruits. Sometimes paint is used, but traditionally natural items are preferred because they will make safe edible toys. The artist may creatively use leaves or small twigs to make further decorations. [1]

B

To he can be made by anyone who is creative and skillful enough, so parents can become favourite to he artists of their children. However, great artists of to he can be found in many Vietnamese villages. They can make extraordinary artworks with beautiful shapes, harmonious combination of colours, and lifelike features. The artists usually travel through villages or come to local fairs and festivals selling toys to children and their artworks play an important role in folk decorations. [2]

C

Nobody knows exactly when to he came into being, but it is believed to come from the north of Viet Nam. Xuan La village in Ha Noi is famous for this traditional art. Devoted artists have brought this beautiful art to everywhere in Viet Nam. Outside a schoolgate or on the pavement of a crowded street, a to he artist can be found passionately creating little colourful toys for some young children. [3] To he remains an interesting feature of Vietnamese culture.

You are going to read an article about a sailing race. Choose the most

suitable heading from the list A - H for each paragraph from 1 – 5 of the article. There

are two extra headings which you do not need to use. There has been an example for you.  (10 pts)

          EX:      Paragraph 0: D

Paragraph 0:         D

Imagine for a moment, spending the night on board of a large yacht, being roughly woken in the pitch dark and ordered on deck. Every so often you will be totally drenched, very suddenly, in salt water. You will be sharing the same cramped space with 14 other people for a whole year. Your stomach, when not affected by seasickness, will be hit by the competitive tension and nervousness that afflicts all sportspeople. You will be obliged to concentrate without cease. The slightest loss of focus could cost someone their life.

Paragraph 1:

For the eight crews taking part in the Round-the-world yachting race, this has been daily life since they left Britain eleven months ago. Now, after racing 50,000 across kilometers of ocean, they are soon due home. While most of us have worked, slept, taken a holiday, these crews have sailed and sailed, day after day, night after night, in weather conditions that would test any human. This is the reality of ocean yacht racing, which bears little resemblance to the popular image of sailing - the quick sprint around a lake before returning ashore for a meal and a warm bath.

Paragraph 2:

Racing 20-metre yachts around the world is a story of unrelenting hard work, pushing yourself to the limits of endurance. But it is also a story of the vastness and beauty of the sea, of seeing the sun rise and set on hundreds of desolate horizons, and of the supreme satisfaction of arriving somewhere knowing that wind alone has taken you there.

Paragraph 3:

Unlike the captains, who are professional sailors, the crews all consist of amateur volunteers who have actually paid for the privilege of taking a year off from their work and enduring these difficult conditions. On board London Light the ages range from 21 to 65. For the youngest member, Susan Porter, the trip is about the excitement of both the racing and the elements “Being able to pitch yourselves as a team against a storm gives you a huge sense of achievement”, she says

Paragraph 4:

Jerry Wallace, a marketing director, found sailing a refreshing change from the selfish individualism of business. Although he was prepared for the discomfort, the mental stress of long distance racing was not what he has anticipated, “A grand Prix driver has a few hours of focus, a footballer 90 minutes, but we have been racing for 11 months. This is something I didn’t really appreciate before I start.”

Paragraph 5:

Inevitably, there are tensions. The kind of people who choose to take part in races like this tend to motivated and strong-willed. On a trivial level, there are the usual arguments about things like cleaning, tidying, personal hygiene, even the way people snore. Row on a boat must be addressed immediately. Left to develop, they get much worse. On London Light they have done this by having a meeting where problems can be discussed and resolved by majority vote. Cooperation is the key, and everyone can have their say. The London is one of the few boats that has never lost any crew early because of a personality clash.