PRACTICE

T/F/NTG

Reading passage 1

Performer Houdini

Harry Houdini (1874 to 1926) was a Hungarian-American illusionist and stunt performer,
noted for his sensational escape acts. He first attracted attention as “Harry Handcuff
Houdini” on a tour of Europe, where he challenged police forces to keep him locked up.
Soon he extended his repertoire to include chains, ropes slung from skyscrapers,
straitjackets under water, and having to hold his breath inside a sealed milk can.

In 1904, thousands watched as Houdini tried to escape from special handcuffs

commissioned by London’s Daily Mirror newspaper. Another stunt saw him buried alive
and only just able to claw himself to the surface. While many suspected that these
escapes were faked, Houdini presented himself as the scourge of fake magicians and
spiritualists. As President of the Society of American Magicians, he was keen to uphold
professional standards and expose fraudulent artists. He was also quick to sue anyone
who pirated his stunts.

Are the following statements true, false, or not given in the text?

1. Houdini was more successful in Europe than in America.NG

2. Many people were skeptical about Houdini’s escape acts. T
3. He took legal action against those who tried to copy him. T

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 Reading passgage 2:

Visions of the future

Humans have always speculated about what society may or should look like in the
future and there is a long and honourable tradition of writers who have described their
vision of the world in a future age. One possible division of these books is into utopias
which paint a picture of an ideal society and dystopias in which the world is a much less
desirable and often frightening place. Perhaps the most famous utopia remains Plato’s
Republic, written around two and half thousand years ago, which is also partly a political
manifesto proposing a form of government where philosophers kings rule in the
interests of the many. In its day, this most undemocratic proposal was less controversial
than it would be today, as there was a strong body of opinion in Athens that democracy
was not a model form of government. While many today may find Plato’s vision
unpleasant, his intention was otherwise and the book has the optimistic goal of showing
how the ills of society could be cured. This optimism stands in stark contrast to George
Orwell’s dystopian nightmare 1984. That book too presents a version of what society
may look like in the future, but it has a quite different purpose: the aim of the book is to
serve as a warning. The reader is meant to be shocked and horrified by the world of
deception and tyranny it portrays, a world where the state authorities, in the form of Big
Brother, have absolute control of every aspect of individuals’ lives and where truth is
lost.

Are the following statements true, false, or not given in the text?

1. The society proposed by Plato in The Republic is democratic. F

2. 1984 presents a pessimistic view of the future. T
3. George Orwell wrote 1984 as a warning against communism.NG

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Reading passage 3:

Cycling

What’s the furthest you have ever cycled? Perhaps you cycle to school or to work, or
maybe at most a short cycling trip with friends? How would you feel about spending
months on the road travelling solo from the UK to China, by bike?

For British cyclist Pete Jones, camping rough and cycling long distances through
inhospitable terrain are second nature. Mr Jones is currently undertaking a mammoth
trip across the Eurasiancontinent from Britain to China. Pete Jones is no stranger to
China. But he says many people there are puzzled by his passion for cycling, asking
why he would choose to cycle when he can afford a car. Indeed, while there are an
estimated 400 million bicycles in China, where it has long been the preferred form of
transport, rapid economic growth has fuelled an explosive expansion in car ownership.
Edward Genochio, another British cyclist who completed a 41,000km trip to China and
back, said one of his aims was to “promote cycling as a safe, sustainable and
environmentally benign means of getting about”. In the UK, the last few years have
seen a rise in the number of people choosing two wheels over four, with some
estimates saying the number of people cycling to work has almost doubled in the last
five years.

Politicians also see cycling as a way to boost their eco-credentials, with people such as
London mayor Boris Johnson often riding to work under his own steam. But we may
have to wait some time before we see him emulating Pete Jones in attempting to cycle
all the way to China!

Are the following statements true, false, or not given in the text?

1. Jones often takes cycling trips through long distances.T

2. In China, latest economic recession has enabled many people to own a car. F
3. Edward Genochio’s main purpose was to encourage cycles as an
environmentally-friendly transport. NG (vi kh the ket luan day la muc tieu chinh
hay la khong).

(B

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 Reading passgage 4:
The Mona Lisa

Mona Lisa, also known as La Gioconda, is the wife of Francesco del Giocondo.
This painting is painted as oil on wood. The original painting size is 77 x 53 cm
(30 x 20 7/8 in) and is owned by the Government of France and is on the wall in
the Louvre in Paris, France.

This figure of a woman, dressed in the Florentine fashion of her day and seated
in a visionary, mountainous landscape, is a remarkable instance of Leonardo’s
sfumato technique of soft, heavily shaded modelling. The Mona Lisa’s enigmatic
expression, which seems both alluring and aloof, has given the portrait universal
fame.

The Mona Lisa’s famous smile represents the sitter in the same way that the
juniper branches represent Ginevra Benci and the ermine represents Cecilia
Gallerani in their portraits, in Washington and Krakow respectively. It is a visual
representation of the idea of happiness suggested by the word “gioconda” in
Italian. Leonardo made this notion of happiness the central motif of the portrait: it
is this notion which makes the work such an ideal. The nature of the landscape
also plays a role. The middle distance, on the same level as the sitter’s chest, is
in warm colours. Men live in this space: there are a winding road and a bridge.
This space represents the transition between the space of the sitter and the far
distance, where the landscape becomes a wild and uninhabited space of rocks
and water which stretches to the horizon, which Leonardo has cleverly drawn at
the level of the sitter’s eyes.

Questions

Decide if the following statements are True (T), False (F), or Not Given (NG):

1. Francesco del Giocondo was the wife of Leonardo da Vinci. F

2. The French government bought the painting in Paris, France. NG
3. The Mona Lisa was painted by an artist named Leonardo.T
4. The painting is well-known around the world.T
5. The word “Giaconda” in Italian means “happiness”.T
6. The countryside depicted in the background is also important to the
meaning of the painting.
7. The artist liked to use warm colours in his artistic work.
8. The wild and uninhabited space depicted in the landscape refers to the
difficult path of life.

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9. i      A fresh and important long-term goal
10. ii     Charging for roads and improving other transport methods
11. iii    Changes affecting the distances goods may be transported
12. iv    Taking all the steps necessary to change transport patterns
13. v     The environmental costs of road transport
14. vi    The escalating cost of rail transport
15. vii   The need to achieve transport rebalance
16. viii  The rapid growth of private transport
17. ix    Plans to develop major road networks
18. x     Restricting road use through charging policies alone
19. xi    Transport trends in countries awaiting EU admission
20. Paragraph A viii
21. Paragraph B iii
22. Paragraph C xi
23. Paragraph D i
24. Paragraph E v
25. Paragraph F - vii
26. Paragraph G x
27. Paragraph H ii
28. Paragraph I iv