III. Read the text below and write one word in each blank to complete it.

        Elevator technology has evolved from rudimentary lifting devices driven by muscle power to complicated state-of-the-art machines (1) t _____________ offer "smart" controls. A modern elevator (2) u _____________ computer integration to assess and compensate for traffic patterns, and many elevators are furnished (3) w _____________  touch screens, air conditioning, and highly artistic designs in cabs and doors. What's more the elevator industry (4) h _____________ changed our culture and the way we live. In the (5) p _____________, upper rooms of hotels and rooming houses were considered undesirable due to the need to climb stairs carrying (6)h _____________ baggage. With the advent of the passenger elevator, the penthouse suite and corner office with a sweeping (7) v _____________became prime real estate. In a rush to build upward, modern cities have grown into booming centres of commerce and culture. Mankind has come a long way, in the never-ceasing endeavour to accomplish a given task (8) m _____________ efficiently.

(Source: https://landmarkelevator.com/)

IV. Read the following text and decide which answer best fits each numbered blank.

        Technology in education plays an important role (1) _____________ building on the educational skills and knowledge for people. This is very essential, especially those who need (2) _____________ their knowledge. (3)_____________ for them to achieve a successful life in the future. Technology in education is manifested through the use of computers. This is also a great help for teachers (4)_____________ they can already enhance their teaching skills and strategies every time they are facing their classes. There is a variety of benefits which technology brings back. Firstly, students can already learn (5) _____________ their own even without the (6) _____________ of their parents and teachers. They are just going to the Internet to (7) _____________ the lesson they need to study. Quick accessibility and being well-equipment with the skills and knowledge in operating a computer are very (8) _____________ for the students. Next, the need for heavy books to be brought back and forth from school and home is so longer needed technology. The book can stay in the classroom because the information that they need is easily accessed on a computer. Last but not least, along with lots of images, videos and other graphics and text (9)_____________ in computer, more students would feel excited (10)_____________ studying through the use of the gadget, which is very important to arouse their interest in studying.

1. A. on                             B. in                          C. at                          D. for

2. A. improve                    B. improving             C. to be improved     D. being improved

3. A. so that                      B. in order                 C. so in                      D. in order that

4. A. although                   B. so                          C. because                 D. hence

5. A. for                            B. at                          C. on                         D. in

6. A. assist                        B. assistant                C. assisting                D. assistance

7. A. look after                  B. look up                 C. look in                  D. look for

8. A. help                          B. helpful                  C. helpless                 D. helping

9. A. finding                      B. find                       C. found                    D. to find

10. A. in                            B. on                         C. with                      D. about

It seems entirely (1)_____________ to us that there are teams of scientists in universities and other institutions around the world attempting to (2) _____________ the way the world works. However, it hasn't always been that (3) _____________. Although the scientific method is now four or five hundred years old, the ancient Greeks, for example, believed that they could work out the (4)_____________ of natural events just by the power of thought.

        During the 17th century, more and more people began to realise that they could (5) _____________ their scientific ideas by designing a relevant (6)_____________ and seeing what happened. A lot of (7) _____________ was made in this way by individual scientists. These men and women often worked alone, carrying out (8) _____________ into many different areas of Science, and they often receive very little (9)_____________ for their hard work. At the start of the 20th century, though it became (10) _____________that science was becoming more complicated and more expensive. The individual scientist disappeared, to be replaced by highly qualified teams of experts. Modern science was born.

1.     A. physical                B. natural                  C. typical                   D. real

2.     A. create                    B. invent                    C. construct               D. discover

3.     A. route                     B. method                  C. way                       D. technique

4.     A. aims                      B. reasons                 C. causes                   D. impulses

5.     A. calculate                B. estimate                C. measure                D. test

6.     A. experiment            B. research                C. attempt                 D. analysis

7.     A. development         B. movement             C. progress                D. evolution

8.     A. research                B. experiment            C. discovery              D. education

9.     A. award                   B. prize                      C. gift                        D. reward

10.   A. clear                      B. true                       C. accurate                D. actual

V. Write one word in each gap to complete the following sentences.

        Pluto is a dwarf planet. A dwarf planet travels around, or orbits, the sun just like other (1) __________. But it is much smaller. Clyde Tombaugh discovered Pluto in 1930. He was an astronomer (2) _____________ the United States. An astronomer is a scientist who studies stars and other objects in (3) _____________. Venetia Burney named Pluto that same year. She was an 11-year-old girl from England.

        Pluto is not (4) _____________ big. It is only half as wide as the United States. Pluto is smaller than Earth's moon. This dwarf planet (5)_____________ 248 Earth years to go around the sun. If you lived on Pluto, you (6) _____________have to wait 248 Earth years to celebrate your first birthday. One day on Pluto is about 6 1/2 days (7) _____________Earth. Pluto is about 40 times farther from the sun than Earth is. Pluto is in am area of space (8) _____________ the Kuiper (KY-per) Belt. Thousands of small, icy objects like Pluto but smaller (9)_____________in the Kuiper Belt.

        This dwarf planet has five moons. Its largest moon is (10) _____________ Charon (KAIR-ən). Charon is about half the size of Pluto. Pluto's four other moons are named Kerberos, Styx, Nix and Hydra.

IV. Read the following text and answer the questions by choosing the option A, B, C or D.

        Mercury is the smallest planet in our solar system. It's just a little bigger than Earth's moon. It is the closest planet to the sun, but it's actually not the hottest. Venus is hotter.

        Along with Venus, Earth, and Mars, Mercury is one of the rocky planets. It has a solid surface that is covered with craters. It has a thin atmosphere, and it doesn't have any moons. Mercury likes to keep things simple.

        This small planet spins around slowly compared to Earth, so one day lasts a long time. Mercury takes 59 Earth days to make one full rotation. A year on Mercury goes by fast. Because it's the closest planet to the sun, it doesn't take very long to go all the way around. It completes one revolution around the sun in just 88 Earth days. If you lived on Mercury, you'd have a birthday every three month!

        A day on Mercury is not like a day here on Earth. For us, the sun rises and sets each and every day. Because Mercury has a slow spin and short year, it takes a long time for the sun to rise and set there. Mercury only has one sunrise every 180 Earth days! Isn't that weird?

(Source: https://spaceplace.nasa.gov)

1.     What does the passage mainly discuss?

        A. Days on Mercury                                    B. What Mercury is like

        C. Sunrise on Mercury                                                                  D. Length of a year on Mercury

2.     According to the passage, Mercury _____________.

        A. is the nearest to the Sun                         B. doesn't have atmosphere

        C. the hottest planet                                    D. has many moons

3.     The word "It" in paragraph 2 refers to _____________.

        A. Earth                    B. Mercury                C. Venus                   D. Mars

4.     The word "spins" in paragraph 3 can be best replaced by _____________.

        A. comes                   B. arrives                   C. appears                 D. moves

5.     It can be inferred from the passage that a year on Mercury _____________.

        A. has 59 days                                            B. much longer than that on Earth

        C. has 88 days                                             D. has only 180 days

6.     How often does the sunrise on Mercury?

        A. The same as on Earth.                            B. Every 3 months.

        C. Every 180 days.                                      D. Sun never sets.

        In sunglasses and jumpsuits, a crew of European test astronauts is laying the groundwork for a Mars simulation in the barren expanse of the Omani desert, a terrestrial mission intended to pave the way to the red planet.

        The "analogue astronauts" of (1) _____________ Austrian Space Forum -- a volunteer-based collective - have (2) _____________ in Oman to begin preparations for a four-week simulation mission (3)_____________ to the begin of next year.

        Touching down at Marmul Airport, a remote outpost used (4)_____________ oil workers, the five-person advance team loaded up on sunscreen and, with (5)_____________ Omani counterparts dressed in crisp white gowns and colourful turbans, boarded four-by-fours and plunged into the desert (6) _____________ the blazing sun.

        Oil installations receded (7)_____________ the background and only rocky plateaus and ancient sandy riverbeds remained (8)                  _____________far as the eye could see. Maps were spread on the hoods of the vehicles.

        "We want to simulate Mars (9) _____________ Earth and so we need a place that looks as much like Mars as possible. And we (10) _____________ it here in Oman," Alexander Soucek, the lead flight director of the AMADEE-18 mission, told AFP.

(Source: http://www.afp.com)

1.     A. the                        B. a                            C. an                          D. x

2.     A. come                     B. gone                      C. arrived                  D. reached

3.     A. before                   B. after                      C. via                         D. due

4.     A. with                      B. by                         C. through                 D. to

5.     A. they                      B. them                      C. their                      D. theirs

6.     A. under                    B. above                    C. inside                    D. outside

7.     A. in                          B. to                          C. into                       D. onto

8.     A. so                          B. as                          C. from                      D. to

9.     A. from                      B. with                      C. on                         D. in

10.   A. found                    B. did                        C. made                     D. brought

I. Read the following text and answer the questions below.

        Mars is a planet. It is the fourth planet from the sun. It is the next planet beyond Earth. Mars is more than 142 million miles from the sun. The planet is about one-sixth the size of Earth. Mars is known as the Red Planet. It gets its red colour from the iron in its soil. Mars has two small moons. Their names are Phobos and Deimos.

        Mars is very cold. The average temperature on Mars is minus 80 degrees Fahrenheit - way below freezing!

        Mars is rocky with canyons, volcanoes and craters all over it. Red dust covers almost all of Mars. It has clouds and wind, just as Earth does. Sometimes the wind blows the red dust into a dust storm. Tiny dust storms can look like tornados, and large ones can cover the whole planet!

        Mars has about one-third the gravity of Earth. A rock dropped on Mars would fall slower than a rock dropped on Earth. Things weigh less on Mars than they weigh on Earth. A person who weighs 100 pounds on Earth would only weigh about 37 pounds on Mars because of less gravity.

(Source: http://www.nasa.gov)

1.     How far is it from Mars to the Sun?

____________________________________________________________________

2.     What is the average temperature on Mars?

____________________________________________________________________

3.     What covers almost all of Mars?

____________________________________________________________________

4.     What can cover the whole planet?

____________________________________________________________________

5.     What is your weight on Mars if you weigh 100 pounds on Earth?

____________________________________________________________________