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 from 53 to 62.

History books recorded that the first film with sound was The Jazz Singer in 1927. But sound films, or talkies, did not suddenly appear after years of silent screenings. From the earliest public performances in 1896, films were accompanied by music and sound effects. These were produced by a single pianist, a small band, or a full-scale orchestra; large movie theatres could buy sound-effect machines. Research into sound that was reproduced at exactly at the same time as the pictures – called “synchronized sound” – began soon after the very first films were shown. With synchronized sound, characters on the movie screen could sing and speak. As early as 1896, the newly invented gramophone, which played a large disc carrying music and dialogue, was used as a sound system. The biggest disadvantage was that the sound and pictures could become unsynchronized if, for example, the gramophone needle jumped or if the speed of the projector changed. This system was only effective for a single song or dialogue sequence.

In the “sound-on-film” system, sound was recorded as a series of marks on celluloid which could be read by an optical sensor. These signals would be placed on the film alongside the image, guaranteeing synchronization. Short feature films were produced in this way as early as 1922. This system eventually brought us “talking pictures”.

Short feature films produced as early as 1922 _________.

A. were recorded by optical sensors                              

B. put musicians out of work

C. were only effective for dialogue sequences                

D. preceding talking pictures

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 following questions

          The dream of a canal across the Isthmus of Suez had existed since the time 4,000 years ago when the pharaohs built Egypt's first canal. (It linked the Nile River with the Great Bitter Lake, which then opened onto the Gulf of Suez.) This canal, however, was filled in, and for centuries trade with the Far East was carried overland across Asia. Eventually ships began to sail around the southern tip of Africa to reach the Mediterranean Sea from the Red Sea.

          Then in 1858 a French engineer, Ferdinand de Lesseps, acquired the rights from his friend, Said Pasha, viceroy of Egypt, to organize a company and build a canal. On November 17, 1869, the Suez Canal was opened with great ceremony at the northern terminus, Port Said, which was named for Said Pasha. The 12,400-mile (19,950-kilometer) voyage from London around South Africa to Bombay, India, was shortened to 7,250 miles (11,670 kilometers).

The Suez Canal is 101 miles (163 kilometers) long, or about twice the length of the Panama Canal. The Suez was easier to construct because it crosses flat, sea-level terrain and requires no locks. About 24 miles (39 kilometers) of the canal are channels dredged through lakes. Most of the banks of the other 77 miles (123 kilometers) are reinforced with stone, cement, or steel to help prevent erosion.

The main channels of the canal are dredged to a depth of about 66 feet (20 meters), and the navigational width between buoys is set at 596 feet (180 meters). Double channels, where ships traveling in opposite directions can pass without stopping, have been constructed at four locations and cover a little more than 41 miles (67 kilometers). The largest ships allowed to pass through the canal may have a beam of up to 210 feet (64 meters) wide and a draught (belowwater depth) of up to 53 feet (16 meters).

Ships move through the canal under their own power, but large ships must be accompanied by a tugboat. The trip takes roughly 12 to 18 hours. To prevent accidents, vessels must travel in convoys at fixed speeds, fixed intervals and fixed distances between passing ships. Convoys going in opposite directions are usually timed so they will pass each other in the Great Bitter Lake where there is a long double channel.

Each day two convoys from south to north and one convoy from north to south sail through the canal, with a maximum total of 80 vessels a day. Yearly traffic numbers about 20,000 ships carrying between 300 million and 400 million net tons. Tankers and cargo ships account for nearly all canal traffic, but occasionally passenger liners and warships use the waterway. Northbound cargo is chiefly oil from the Persian Gulf headed for Western Europe. Southbound cargo consists mainly of manufactured goods and grain from Europe and North America destined for the Far East and southern Asia.

According to the passage, ships that pass the Suez Canal _________.

A. can’t have a beam of more – than – 210 – feet width 

B. are big and cover an area of 41 miles 

C. do not need any help 

D. can always travel in opposite directions all the way along the Canal

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D to indicate the correct answer.

The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded annually and the first woman to win this prize was Baroness Bertha Felicie Sophie von Suttner in 1905. In fact, her work inspired the creation of the Prize. The first American woman to win this prize was Jane Addams, in 1931. However, Addams is best known as the founder of Hull House.

Jane Addams was born in 1860, into a wealthy family. She was one of a small number of women in her generation to graduate from college. Her commitment to improving the lives of those around her led her to work for social reform and world peace. In the 1880s Jane Addams traveled to Europe. While she was in London, she visited a ‘settlement house’ called Toynbee Hall. Inspired by Toynbee Hall, Addams and her friend, Ellen Gates Starr, opened Hull House in a neighborhood of slums in Chicago in 1899. Hull House provided a day care center for children of working mothers, a community kitchen, and visiting nurses. Addams and her staff gave classes in English literacy, art, and other subjects. Hull House also became a meeting place for clubs and labor unions. Most of the people who worked with Addams in Hull House were well educated, middle-class women. Hull House gave them an opportunity to use their education and it provided a training ground for careers in social work.

Before World War I, Addams was probably the most beloved woman in America. In a newspaper poll that asked, “Who among our contemporaries are of the most value to the community?”, Jane Addams was rated second, after Thomas Edison. When she opposed America’s involvement in World War I, however, newspaper editors called her a traitor and a fool, but she never changed her mind. Jane Addams was a strong champion of several other causes. Until 1920, American women could not vote. Addams joined in the movement for women’s suffrage and was a vice president of the National American Woman Suffrage Association. She was a founding member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and was president of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom. . Her reputation was gradually restored during the last years of her life. She died of cancer in 1935.

The word “contemporaries” in line 19 is closest in meaning to

A. people of the same tim

B. famous people still alive

C. elected officials

D. people old enough to vote

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 from 30 to 34.

  Most of the early houses built in America were suited to farm life, as it was not until cities became manufacturing centers that colonists could survive without farming as their major occupation. Among the earliest farmhouses in America were those built in Plymouth Colony. Generally they consisted of one large rectangular room on the ground floor, called a hall or great room and having a fireplace built into one of the walls, and a loft overhead. Sometimes a lean-to was attached alongside the house to store objects such as spinning wheels, firewood, barrels, and tubs. The furnishings in the great room were sparse and crudely built. Tabletops and chest boards were split or roughly sawed and often smoothed only on one side. Benches took the place of chairs, and the table usually had a trestle base so it could be dismantled when extra space was required. One or two beds and a six-board chest were located in one corner of the room. The fireplace was used for heat and light, and a bench often placed nearby for children and elders, in the area called the inglenook.

    The original houses in Plymouth Colony were erected within a tall fence for fortification. However, by 1630 Plymouth Colony had 250 inhabitants, most living outside the enclosure. By 1640, settlements had been built some distance from the original site. Villages began to emerge throughout Massachusetts and farmhouses were less crudely built. Windows brought light into homes and the furnishings and décor were more sophisticated.

    As more diversified groups of immigrants settled the country, a greater variety of farmhouses appeared, from Swedish long-style houses in the Delaware Valley to saltbox houses in Connecticut, Dutch-Flemish stone farmhouses in New York, and clapboard farmhouses in Pennsylvania. From Georgian characteristics to Greek revival elements, farmhouses of varied architectural styles and building functions populated the landscape of the new frontier.

The main idea of the passage is

A. The history of the American farmhouse

B. Where immigrants settled in America

C. How to build an American farmhouse

D. life in Plymouth Colony

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 29. Fill in the appropriate word in question 25

  Some people return to college as mature students and take full- or part-time training courses in a skill will help them to get a job. The development of open learning, (25)______ it possible to study when it is convenient for the students, has increased the opportunities available (26)______ many people. This type of study was formerly restricted to book-based learning and (27)______ course but now includes courses on TV, CD-ROM or the Internet, and self-access courses at language or computer centers. Americans believe that education is important at all stages of life and should not stop (28) ______ people get their first job. About 40% of adults take part in some kind of education. About half of them are trying to get qualifications and skills to help them with their jobs while the (29)______ are taking recreational subjects for personal satisfaction. Schools and community colleges arrange evening classes, and a catalog of courses is published by local boards of education.

A. left

B. rest

C. remains

D. excess

We gain more knowledge about how to stay safe online. We worry about the threats of cybercrime less.

A. The more knowledge about how to stay safe online we gain, the less we worry about the threats of cybercrime. 

B. The more we stay online to gain safety knowledge, the less we worry about the threats of cybercrime. 

C. The more knowledge about how to stay safe online we gain, the more we worry about the threats of cybercrime. 

D. The more we know about how to stay safe online, we worry about the threats of cybercrime less.