AMBROSIA HSG Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars.

DETAILED KEY FOR NEC 2016

LISTENING
Part 1:
1. A
“Now we’ve given the section a new name, actually”
2. C
“Two words, the Young Set”
3. B
“…but then we decided to make it a flat rate of $6.50 an hour”
4. D
“…an hour for lunch and 15-minute coffee breaks”
5. D
“Well it’s three weeks in the first year, and that rises to four weeks in your third year with
us”
Part 2:
6. B
7. E
“Korea has few natural resources. We only have people. So anyone who wants to be
successful really has to stand out”
A is wrong because it’s private school at night
C is wrong because the speaker did not mention formidable parents, but formidable pupils
D is wrong because the mother mentioned ‘We only have people’
8. A
“The result of this non-stop study is children who are fantastics at tests… with most of them
getting full marks”
9. D
“Korean brands are internationally famous”
10. G
“The pressure on young people is huge. And the suicide rate is the highest of all developed
countries”
Part 3:
11. 40 percent / 40%
Explain: “The 12 countries involved are looking to strengthen their economies by linking
them together. And they’re already pretty strong, accounting for a combined 40% of global
GDP”
12. eliminating (many) tariffs
Explain: “Trade between nations will be boosted by eliminating many tariffs and other
methods countries often use to protect domestic industries from outside competition”
13. (largest) copper company
Explain: “Example of protected markets are beef and cars in Japan, the dairy and sugar
industries in the United States, and state-owned enterprises like Chile’s largest copper
company and the Vietnamese telecommunication service.”
14. labor
Explain: “Along with eliminating barriers to trade, to create a fair playing field for competing
businesses, all countries involved will have to meet certain negotiated standards, like
environmental protections that ban trading in endangered species and illegal logging or
enhanced labor standards like the right to form a union, the abolition of child labor and
banning workplace discrimination.”
15. patent and copyright
Explain: “Another big criticism is that certain proposed patent and copyright rules in the
deal could keep the cost of medicine around the world higher than it should be.”
Part 4
16. hunter-gatherer
"The thing about the Piraha is that as well as living what we would term a hunter-gatherer
lifestyle, that is, they're not engaged in agriculture or animal husbandry..."
17. monolingual
"Although the number of Piraha speakers is small, the language cannot be described as
endangered because most of its speakers are monolingual and have little contact with other
language groups."
18. colour/color
"...Everett knew the tribe was remarkable. As far as he could tell, the language had no
words capable of conveying basic ideas like "colour", although words for "light" and "dark"
existed. Or, more significantly, "counting"..."
19. numerical skills
"It seems that in their everyday lives, these people had no need of numerical skills, and so
couldn't even grasp the concept of number."
20. humming
"It's a kind of singsong communication which some have compared to singing but which, to
my mind, has more in common with humming than with the spoken word."
21. personal pronouns
"Although Piraha does have a set of personal pronouns, these seem to have been imported
from a neighbouring language rather than being an original feature."
22. collective memory
"Because there's no written version of Piraha, very few storytelling traditions and no
tradition of decorative art, the tribe seems to have a complete lack of what is known as a
“collective memory”, in other words, there's little sense of history as people are focused on
their current need."
23. sense of direction
"...Everett disputes the idea that they're intellectually inferior to other peoples. He points to
their remarkable sense of direction as a skill that he himself has been unable to learn from
them."

24. language structure

"The evidence of the Piraha would seem to suggest that this is not the case. Everett believes
that it is the Piraha's culture that determines their language structure rather than an innate
system of grammar."
25. corroborate - refute
"It's a compelling argument but, like most people, I and keeping an open mind. Piraha is
such a difficult language to learn that few people have been able either to corroborate or
refute Professor Everett's ideas."

LEXICO GRAMMAR
Part 1:
26. D. rare: hiếm khi
27. B. eerie: kì bí, có phần gây sợ
Tip: A and C are common and have somehow the same connotation, answer D is mostly
known in the phrase ‘as sober as a judge’, from which we can guess ‘sober’ means sensible.
28. A. on-the-run breakfast: breakfast for people who are always busy and moving around
29. A. lips
not pass your lips: you say nothing
30. B. paid tribute to: pay respect
Tip: From the context, we can infer that the missing words may mean respect something so
you can eliminate A obviously, C (‘paid’ does not imply respect) and D (‘set’ may mean much
more about the start, the beginning)
31. B. rich
rich food: food abundant in high calorie ingredients
Tip: we can eliminate answer A and C because they refers more to money aspect whereas
the word ‘lavish’ refers more to lifestyle
32. A. invited
Cấu trúc rút gọn cho ‘Because a qualified coach was invited, the performance …’
33. C. ill-advised: not sensible
Tip: From the context, we can eliminate answer B and D and we should remember that
‘inadvisable’ is associated with the structure ‘it is inadvisable to do sth’
34. D. at which point
Tip: We can eliminate answer A and B because they are grammatically incorrect and answer
C because the previous clause refers to a specific moment: the ninetieth minute of the
match whereas ‘in which’ refers to a place
35. D. to see to sth: deal with sth
36. A. decorating
Tip: We can eliminate answer C and D because they are grammatically incorrect and answer
B because it must be in passive form. That leaves us with A as the only possible answer.
Although it may sound insensible, we should take note that the structure ‘need + V_ing’ is
passive so somehow this may apply to the word ‘want’.
37. C. chance
leave nothing to chance: leave nothing unprepared and subject to luck.
38. C. amenities: a feature that makes a place pleasant to live (note that in the previous
clause, it says ‘one of the biggest advantages’)
utilities: a service provided for the public but shops and banks are not utilities because they
may be privately owned => incorrect
properties: a thing owned by someone => incorrect
services => incorrect because this word is too general and does not indicate specific
negative or positive attitude
=> C is the best answer
39. D. convened: to arrange for people to come together
gather = collect + people => incorrect
assemble + people (not assemble a meeting) => incorrect
Part 2:
40. counterintuitive
You can guess by the meaning that the notion is against what we think; therefore, it is
logical to add the prefix ‘counter’, which means contrary to
41. misperceive
Here we already have the word ‘perceive’; therefore, it should be something that is opposite
to perceive to match the ‘paradox’
42. underlying
In the previous sentence, the surface characteristics are mentioned; therefore, in this
sentence, the adjective should have the meaning of ‘less noticeable’. You can try adding the
prefix ‘under’ to indicate that the characteristics are beneath the surface
43. markedly
In this sentence, we are looking for an adverb that has the meaning of significant to match
the meaning of ‘most important’ in the sentence that follows
44. upturned
45. fleshy
If you don’t know the word ‘fleshy’, you can guess the adjective of flesh by relying on other
similar examples like ‘fish-fishy’, ‘mush-mushy’,...

READING
Part 1:
46. spectacles / glasses
through rose-tinted glasses / spectacles: see things optimistically
Tip: we can infer that this part in Vietnamese means ‘nhìn qua lăng kính màu hồng’ so we
may translate ‘lăng kính’ into glasses.
47. realities
Tip: we can infer from the context that this part means the true face of the visited place or
the ‘realities’
48. describe
Tip: just translate in Vietnamese: ‘như các nhà thơ đã từng miêu tả nó’
49. a
Tip: do not overthink and it cannot be ‘to’ because the meaning is inappropriate. We can
understand in Vietnamese ‘chúng ta có thể muốn có một cái nhìn’ but not ‘chúng ta muốn
phải nhìn’
50. perspective: the way you conceive the world
We can translate into Vietnamese as ‘nó có thể là do cách nhìn mọi thứ hạn hẹp của bạn’
51. off
off the beaten track: far from people, populated places (a common idiom)
52. going
going to somewhere: đi đến đâu (don’t overthink)
53. direction
Translate: ‘đi theo một hướng khác với mọi người’
54. by
Translate: Bị kẹt với những điểm du lịch lớn bởi bị phân công
55. others
Translate: tìm kiếm những điều mà những người khác bỏ lỡ
Part 2:
56. v
‘...whether this educational system advances or retards their cause’
The paragraph is raising the question of whether single-sex education is useful => its
heading should be ‘Does it help or not?’
57. viii
‘...segregation of all sorts happen all the time’
58. ii
‘...research usually sinks into a morass of conflicting data’
59. x
This paragraph revolves around ‘proponents’, ‘support’
60. vii
‘Those who make such claims are accused of emphasising favorable data…’
In this paragraph, the writer tries to counter the idea of superior performance in single-sex
school
61. i
This paragraph provides the positives to support single-sex education
62. vi
In the previous paragraphs, the writer has discussed about single-sex education. In this
paragraph, he/she looks at the other side, which is co-education
63. iii
In this paragraph the writer mention about ‘good or bad’, ‘enhancing or retarding’. This goes
best with the heading ‘Negatives and positives’
64. behavior
‘...not only in raw academic scores but also in behavior’
65.(notoriously) unreliable
‘since statistics are notoriously unreliable and subject to varying interpretations
(=ambiguous)
66. deference and respect
‘... their new students, who, in turn, receive more deference and respect from society’
67. sexual harassment
‘...girls are free from worry of sexual harassment’
68. anecdotal evidence
‘...drawing conclusion based more on anecdotal evidence and gender stereotyping’
69. glib and unreal
‘In other words, these statements are just glib and unreal assertions’
70. (subsets of) challenge
It presents exactly the subsets of challenge that students will ultimately have to deal with in
the real world
Part 3:
71. E
In the paragraph that immediately follows, they mention about ‘dumbing down’.This
matches with the fact mentioned in paragraph E that popular culture is now becoming
legitimate art forms alongside high art.
72. G
In the paragraph that immediately follows, it mentions ‘English and Welsh schools’. This
matches ‘schools’ in paragraph G. Also, paragraph G mentions the ‘revolution’. which is the
trend of appreciating ‘works that they might previously consider dull or incomprehensible’
73. B
Paragraph B mentions ‘where school failed’. This matches the figures about failure of
schools in the previous paragraph
74. H
Paragraph H mentions ‘art should stand alone and speak for itself’. This matches the
information of the previous paragraph: ‘there was no explanation or interpretation on offer’
75. A
In the previous paragraph, the writer mentions the ‘education team’. Paragraph A mentions
the ‘chief curator’ of the team
76. F
In the paragraph that immediately follows, it mentions ‘opera’ as an art form. In paragraph
F, it mentions the group of ‘English Pocket Opera’.
77. C
We can see that paragraph C is signaling a conclusion through the sentence ‘but for all the
success in efforts to reach wider public’. Therefore, it’s most logical to place C at the end.
78. A
Explain: If something causes you to raise an eyebrow or to raise your eyebrows, it causes
you to feel surprised or disapproving.
79. B
Explain: Mutter darkly: to say in a pessimistic tone
80. D
Explain: Dusty regime: very old regime
81. D
Explain: be steeped in history/tradition/politics etc: to have a lot of a particular quality
82. C
Explain: wash your hands of sth: If you wash your hands of something that you were
previously responsible for, you intentionally stop being involved in it or connected with it in
any way:
83. A
Explain:
on a shoestring: (informal) If you do something on a shoestring, you do it with a very small
amount of money
pay through the nose: (informal) to pay too much money for something
84. B
Part 4:
85. A
The correct answer is A, since A mentions that oak wood “is very resistant to insect and
fungal attack because of its high tannin content.”
B and C also mention some form of resistance (from decay and wood rot), but not from any
kind of “attack”. Nothing is mentioned in D.
86. C
The correct answer is C. A mentions oak wood being used by “naval men of war”. B mentions
elm being “prized by bowyers”. D mentions beech wood being “used for the stocks of military
rifles”. Nothing is mentioned in C, so C is the correct answer.
87. D
The correct answer is D, since D mentions beech wood as being ”widely used for furniture
framing and carcass construction, flooring and engineering purposes, in plywood and in
household items like plates, but rarely as a decorative wood.”
By contrast, A mentions oak as actually having “appealing grain markings” and used “in the
construction of fine furniture”. The woods in B and C are also used in other kinds of
construction.
88. B
The correct answer is B, since B mentions elm wood as being “resistant to decay when
permanently wet”. To be submerged is to be put under water, hence “wet”, and “resistant
to decay” implies “little ill effect”.
89. A
The correct answer is A. The keyword here is “more valuable.” A mentions that ”the use of
oak in wine can add many different dimensions to wine based on the type and style of the
oak” and, more importantly, that “French oaks give the wine greater refinement and are
chosen for the best wines since they increase the price compared to those aged in American
oak wood”.
Even though D also mentions “chips of beech wood are used in the brewing of Budweiser
beer as a fining agent” and “beech logs are burned to dry the malts used in some German
smoked beers, giving the beers their typical flavour,” it may not necessarily imply the food
and drink can become “more valuable”. Nothing is mentioned in B and C.
90. C
The correct answer is C, since C mentions that mahogany “is often used for musical
instruments” such as guitars, due to their specific property of producing “a very deep, warm
tone”
91. A
The correct answer is A, since A mentions that “wide, quarter-sawn boards of oak have been
prized since the Middle Ages for use in interior paneling of prestigious buildings such as the
debating chamber of the House of Commons in London, and in the construction of fine
furniture.” “Luxurious” is a synonym for “prestigious”.
92. B
The correct answer is B, since B mentions that “the elm's wood bends well and distorts
easily making it quite pliant.” Other wood such as mahogany is, instead, durable, which
does not strictly mean they can bend well, i.e. “flexible” like elm wood.
93. D
The correct answer is D, as evident in its first sentence “beech wood is an excellent
firewood, easily split and burning for many hours with bright but calm flames.”
B mentions that elm’s lopped branches “were used for fodder and firewood”, but “very well”
is the missing keyword. Nothing is mentioned in A and C.
94. B
The correct answer is B, since B mentions that “the Romans, and more recently the Italians,
used to plant elms in vineyards as supports for vines.” It is the only wood that is mentioned
to have aided agricultural activities.
95. C
The correct answer is C, since C mentions that “[mahogany’s] reddish-brown color darkens
over time”. The keyword is “its colour”. Woods in other paragraphs can help alter other
things’ colour, such as wines, but only mahogany can change its own colour.