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

           A pioneering study by Donald Appleyard made the astounding discovery that a sudden increase in the volume of traffic through an area affects people in the way that a sudden increase in crime does. Appleyard observed this by finding three blocks of houses in San Francisco that looked much alike and had the same kind of middle-class and working-class residents, with approximately the same ethnic mix. The difference was that only 2,000 cars a day ran down Octavia Street (LIGHT street, in Appleyard’s terminology) while Gough Street (MEDIUM street) was used by 8,000 cars daily, and Franklin Street (HEAVY street) had around 16,000 cars a day. Franklin Street often had as many cars in an hour as Octavia had in a day.
          Heavy traffic brought with it danger, noise, fumes and soot, directly, and trash secondarily. That is, the cars didn’t bring in much trash, but when trash accumulated, residents seldom picked it up. The cars, Appleyard determined, reduced the amount of territory residents felt responsible for. Noise was a constant intrusion into their homes. Many Franklin Street residents covered their doors and windows and spent most of their time in the rear of their houses. Most

families with children had already left.
          Conditions on Octavia Street were much different. Residents picked up trash. They sat on their front steps and chatted with neighbors. They had three times as many friends and twice as many acquaintances as the people on Franklin.
          On Gough Street, residents said that the old feeling of community was disappearing as traffic increased. People were becoming more and more preoccupied with their own lives. A number of families had recently moved and more were considering. Those who were staying expressed deep regret at the destruction of their community.

The author’s main purpose in the second paragraph is to __________.

A. discuss the problem of trash disposal

B. point out the disadvantage of heavy traffic

C. propose an alternate system of transportation

D. suggest ways to cope with traffic problems

Mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the word of phrase that is CLOSEST in meaning to the underlined part in each of the following question.

Few businesses are flourishing in the present economic climate.

A. taking off        

B. setting up         

C. growing well    

D. closing down

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.

Let children learn to judge their own work. A child learning to talk does not learn by being corrected all the time. If corrected too much, he will stop talking. He notices a thousand times a day the difference between the language he uses and the language those around him use. Bit by bit, he makes the necessary changes to make his language like other people’s. In the same way, children learn all the other things they learn to do without being taught – to talk, run, climb, whistle, ride a bicycle – compare their own performances with those of more skilled people, and slowly make the needed changes. But in school we never give a child a chance to find out his mistakes for himself, let alone correct them. We do it all for him. We act as if we thought that he would never notice a mistake unless it was pointed out to him, or correct it unless he was made to. Soon he becomes dependent on the teacher. Let him do it himself. Let him work out, with the help of other children if he wants it, what this word says, what the answer is to that problem, whether this is a good way of saying or doing this or not.

If it is a matter of right answers, as it may be in mathematics or science, give him the answer book. Let him correct his own papers. Why should we teachers waste time on such routine work? Our job should be to help the child when he tells us that he can’t find the way to get the right answer. Let’s end all this nonsense of grades, exams, and marks. Let us throw them all out, and let the children learn what all educated persons must someday learn, how to measure their own understanding, how to know what they know or do not know.

Let them get on with this job in the way that seems most sensible to them, with our help as school teachers if they ask for it. The idea that there is a body of knowledge to be learnt at school and used for the rest of one’s life is nonsense in a world as complicated and rapidly changing as ours. Anxious parents and teachers say, “But suppose they fail to learn something essential, something they will need to get on in the world?” Don’t worry! If it is essential, they will go out into the world and learn it.

The word “those” in the first paragraph refers to _______.

A. skills

B. things

C. performances

D. changes

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.

Alexis de Tocqueville, the French political scientist, historian, philosopher and politician, is most famous for a four-volume book he wrote called “Democracy in America”. He came to America in 1831 to study the American form of democracy and what it might mean to the rest of the world. After a visit of only nine months, he wrote a remarkable book which is regarded as a classic. De Tocqueville had unusual powers of observation. He described not only the democratic system of government and how it operated, but also its effect on how Americans think, feel, and act. Many scholars believe he had a deeper understanding of traditional American beliefs and values than anyone else who has written about the United States. What is so remarkable is that many of these traits which he observed nearly 200 years ago, are still visible and meaningful today. His observations are also important because the timing of his visit, the 1830s, was before America was industrialized. This was the era of the small farmer, the small businessman, and the settling of the western frontier. It was the period of history when the traditional values of the new country were newly established. In just a generation, some 40 years since the adoption of the U.S. Constitution, the new form of government had already produced a society of people with unique values. He was, however, a neutral observer and saw both the good and bad sides of these qualities.

The first part of “Democracy in America” was written in 1831-32 and published in 1835. A highly positive and optimistic account of American government and society, the book was very well received. He attempted to get a glimpse of the essence of American society, all the while promoting his own philosophy: the equaling of the classes and the inevitable depth of aristocratic privilege. The rest of the book he labored on for four years, and in 1840 the second part was published. This was substantially more pessimistic than the first, warning of the dangers despotism and governmental centralization, and applying his ideas and criticisms more directly to France. As a result, it was not received as well as the first part, except in England where it was acclaimed highly.

Question:Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?

A.  the English don’t like the French

B.  the book was most important because it was the first time that American values had been clearly documented

C.  de Tocqueville was a slow writer

D.  de Tocqueville was primarily motivated by an interest in his own country

Mark the letter A, B, C or B on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the following questions.

She said to me that she _________ to me the Sunday before.

A. wrote

B. has written

C. was writing

D. had written