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.

Humans have struggled against weeds since the beginnings of agriculture. Marring our gardens is one of the milder effects of weeds - any plants that thrive where they are unwanted. They clog waterways, destroy wildlife habitats, and impede farming. Their spread eliminates grazing areas and accounts for one-third of all crop loss. They compete for sunlight, nutrients, and water with useful plants.

The global need for weed control had been answered mainly by the chemical industry. Its herbicides are effective and sometimes necessary, but some pose serious problems, particularly if misused. Toxic compounds threaten animal and public health when they accumulate in food plants, groundwater, and drinking water. They also harm workers who apply them.

In recent years, the chemical industry has introduced several herbicides that are more ecologically sound. Yet new chemicals alone cannot solve the world's weed problems. Hence, scientists are exploring the innate weed-killing powers of living organisms, primarily insects and microorganisms.

The biological agents now in use are environmentally benign and are harmless to humans. They can be chosen for their ability to attack selected targets and leave crops and other plants untouched. In contrast, some of the most effective chemicals kill virtually all the plants they come in contact with, sparing only those that are naturally resistant or have been genetically modified for resistance. Furthermore, a number of biological agents can be administered only once, after which no added applications are needed. Chemicals typically must be used several times per growing season.

The word “marring” in bold is closest in meaning to ________.

A. spoiling                     

B.  planting                    

C. dividing                     

D. replacing

Mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the word(s) CLOSEST in meaning to the underlined word(s) in each of the following questions.

The government decided to pull down the old building adter asking for the ideas from the local resident.

A. renovate

B. purchase

C. maintain

D. demolish

Reading 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 1 to 8.

You can usually tell when your friends are happy or angry by the looks on their faces or by their actions. This is useful because reading their emotional expressions helps you to know how to respond to important situations and to convey our intentions to others. But does raising the eyebrows and rounding the mouth say the same thing in Minneapolis as it does in Madagascar ? Much research on emotional expressions has centered on such questions.

According to Paul Ekman, the leading researcher in this area, people speak and understand substantially the same “facial language”. Studies by Ekman’s group have demonstrated that humans share a set of universal emotional expressions that testify to the common biological heritage of the human species. Smiles, for example, signal happiness and frowns indicate sadness on the faces of people in such far-flung places as Argentina, Japan, Spain, Hungary, Poland, Sumatra, the United States, Vietnam, the jungles of New Guinea, and the Eskimo villages north of Artic Circle. Ekman and his colleagues claim that people everywhere can recognize at least seven basic emotions : sadness, fear, anger, disgust, contempt, happiness, and surprise.

There are, however, huge differences across cultures in both the context and intensity of emotional displays – the so-called display responses – expecially negative ones – while many American children are encouraged to express their feelings more openly. Regardless of culture, however, emotions usually show themselves, to some degree, in people’s behavior. From their first days in life, babies produce facial expressions that communicate their feelings.

The ability to read facial expressions develops early, too. Very young children pay close attention to facial expressions, and by age five, they nearly equal adults in their skill at reading emotions on people’s faces. This evidence all points to a biological underpinning for our abilities to express and interpret a basic set of human emotions. Moreover, as Chales Dawin pointed out over a century ago, some emotional expressions seem to appear across species boundaries. Cross-cultural psychologists tell us that certain emotional responses carry different meanings in diferrent cultures. For example, what emotion do you suppose might be conveyed while sticking out your tounge ? For American, this might indicate disgust, while in China it can signify surprise. Likewise, a grin on an American face may indicate joy, while on a Japanese face it may just as easily mean embarrassment. Clearly, culture influences emotional expressions.

(Adapted from https://www.booksource.com)

Paul Ekman is mentioned in the passage as an example of ______

A. investigators on universal emotional expressions 

B. researchers who can speak and understand many languages 

C. researchers on universal language 

D. lacked many main ingredients

Mary expected ______ to her dreamy university, but she wasn't.

A. to admit

B. admitting          

C. to be admitted 

D. being admitted