TÀI LIỆU TIẾNG ANH NÂNG CAO KỲ THI HỌC SINH GIỎI VÒNG TỈNH THPT ĐỀ THI THỬ

HSG TỈNH SỐ 01 NĂM 2020

Môn thi: TIẾNG ANH

Thời gian thi: 180 phút (không kể thời gian giao đề)

I. LISTENING (50 POINTS)

Part 1. For questions 1-9, listen to a conversation in a tourist information office in Guernsey and decide whether these
statements are True (T) or False (F). Write your answers in the corresponding numbered boxes provided.

1. There is a concert at the old castle on Saturday night.

2. St James concert hall is an ideal place to learn about the history of the island.

3. The woman says that Hauteville House was the home of a famous writer.

4. The guided walk in St Peter Port starts at 5.00 and lasts 1.5 hours.

5. To join the guided walk, visitors must buy a ticket from the information office.

6. The man plans to take part in the Autumn Walking Festival.

7. The name Tennerfest is related to the price offered.

8. Tennerfest will start in six weeks’ time.

9. The man is not interested in visiting the island of Jersey.

Part 2. For questions 10-15, listen to a radio interview with the comedian Brain Conley, who does a considerable
amount of work in panto, a type of family-friendly show which is popular at Christmas and choose the correct answer
A, B or C which fits best according to what you hear. Write your answers in the corresponding numbered boxes
provided.

10. Brian likes Birmingham because

A. it has provided him with a steady income. B. it is where he grew up.

C. it was where he first became famous

11. When they discuss children’s participation in panto, Brian says that

A. he prefers children not to come up on stage.

B. it’s important to get the parents’ permission if a child wants to participate.

C. he thinks that children’s participation adds a certain quality to the show.

12. According to Brian, the advantage of panto is that

A. all the actors can change their lines to reflect current events.

B. the qualities required in panto match his talents.

C. it gives him the chance to play a comedy character.

13. Brian became involved in comedy because

A. he had wanted to do it since he was a child.

B. his friends at school encouraged him to do it.

C. he found he could earn more by doing comedy.

14. What does Brian say about providing comedy for corporate events?

A. It is easy because the audience has had a lot to drink.

B. He has learnt how to respond to comments from the audience.

C. It’s the only way for many comedians to find work.

15. What does Brian feel with regards to nerves?

A. He agrees with a comment someone made early in his career

B. He no longer feels nervous because he is more experienced

C. The extent of his nerves has changed over the years.

Your answers
10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15.

Part 3. For questions 16-25, listen to a talk about the history of the electric guitar and supply the blanks with the
missing information. Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS taken from the recording for each answer in the space
provided.

DATE MAKER NAME OF GUITAR FEATURES

1890s Orville Gibson no name similar in shape to a

16.________________

1925 Jogn Dopyera The National Guitar made of metal, good for playing
17.________________
1930s C.F. Martin Company The Dreadnought strings made of
18.________________
1931 George Beauchamp The 19.________________ used two
20.________________shaped like
horseshoes to increase sound
1935 Adolph Rickenbacker The Rickenbacker Electro made from 21.________________
Spanish
1941 Les Paul The Log the first to be completely
22.________________

1950 Leo Fender The Fender Broadcaster its simplicity made it ideal for
23.________________
1951 Leo Fender The 24.________________ easy to carry around

1952 Ted McCarty The Gibson Les Paul 25.________________in colour

1954 Leo Fender The Fender Stratocaster double cutaway design

I. PHONETICS (10 POINTS)

Part 1. Choose the word whose underlined part is pronounced differently from the others.

26. A. failed B. reached C. absorbed D. solved

27. A. loses B. houses C. rises D. shoes

28. A. says B. pays C. stays D. bays

29. A. scheme B. parachute C. architect D. psychology

30. A. mahout B. foul C. poultry D. drought

Part 2. Choose the word which is stressed differently from the others.

31. A. remote B. receive C. prevent D. recent

32. A. preferential B. congratulate C. development D. preservative

33. A. abnormal B. initial C. innocent D. impatient

34. A. interchange B. infamous C. overeat D. undercurrent

35. A. aphorism B. extremism C. barbarism D. feminism

III. LEXICO-GRAMMAR (40 POINTS)

 Part 1. For questions 36-55, choose the correct answer A, B, C or D to each of the following questions and write your
answers in the corresponding numbered boxes provided.

36. Standing on the tip of the cape, ________________.

A. people have seen a lighthouse far away B. lies a lighthouse in the middle of the sea

C. a lighthouse can be seen from the distance D. we can see the lighthouse in the distance

37. John: “Do you think we should use public transport to protect our environment?”

Laura: “________________”

A. Of course not. You bet! B. Well. that’s very surprising.

C. There’s no doubt about it. D. Yes, it’s an absurd idea.

38. ________________ visit the British Museum while you are in London, you mustn't forget to look at the famous
Rosetta Stone.

A. In case you B. If you should C. For fear that you D. When you might

39. Paul: “ I was late because I got caught in traffic.”

Kevin: “________________, lateness will not be tolerated in this office.”

A. Be that as it may B. If need be C. Then so be it D. Whatever it may be

40. The hostage was released unharmed by the kidnappers, but they were never caught and charged with
________________.

A. fraud B. forgery C. abduction D. trafficking

41. On his first day in the Milanese office, the German executive experienced ________________ on the part of the
employees in the office, who saw him as a threat.

A. inadequacy B. hostility C. equality D. degradation

42. The only room available was, to say the least________________. There was no carpet, no curtains, and the only
furniture was a bed and a small bedside table.

A. snug B. dreary C. stark D. cushy

43. Regional parliaments allow ________________ for remote parts of the country or islands far from the capital.

A. self-government B. self-sufficiency C. self-regulation D. self-support

44. Zoe’s plan to study at university ________________ when she didn’t get the required grades in her school leaving
exams.
A. fell through B. wrote off C. got back D. put in

45. It’s not advisable to buy goods from street vendors – there’s a good chance you’ll be ____________.

A. ripped off B. forked out C. paid off D. scraped by

46. We all agreed to cover some of the cost – so come on, ________________!

A. dip in B. put aside C. bail out D. cough up

47. I ate some tinned sardines that had expired and ended up feeling so sick that I ________________ all the food I had
eaten.

A. brought up B. passed out C. packed up D. went off

48. He was too sure of himself to pay ________________ to the warnings against the danger.

A. notice B. attention C. respect D. recognition

49. All nations should ____________ hands to work out a plan to solve the problem of global warming.

A. join B. hold C. shake D. lend

50. At the age of 11, Taylor Swift was already trying to __________ a record deal in Nashville.

A. land B. create C. steal D. grab

51. Please ________________ these figures to memory, so that you will be able to answer the investors’ questions easily
and confidently.

A. memorise B. recall C. retain D. commit

52. He’s sometimes bad-tempered but he’s a good fellow ________________.

A. at heart B. with heart C. by heart D. in heart

53. When it comes to the ________________, Alice always support her friends.

A. point B. crunch C. mark D. crisis

54. Although he came to work the day before his retirement, everyone knew he was just ________________.

A. going with the flow B. going through the motions C. going against the grainD.going along with them

55. I had a __________this morning when a tractor trailer unexpectedly swerved into my lane.

A. deep end B. dead beat C. close shave D. tight corner

Part 2. For questions 56-60, write the correct form of each bracketed word in the numbered space provided.
Whilst 56.________________(urban) was characteristic of an earlier era, many young people are choosing to do exactly
the opposite of their forebears. As a result of financial 57.________________(stable) in the city and worries about
inadequate public services, numerous educated, young individuals, either alone or with their families are willingly moving
back to smaller towns and villages in search of a better and more 58.________________(afford) way of life.

When families are 59.________________(root) from their homes, there are a lot of negative repercussions; educated
graduates may face competition from skilled workers, who, while having no formal qualifications, have been working the
land for years, and city children may find themselves 60.________________(margin) at school.

Part 3. For questions 61-65, write the correct form of each bracketed word in the numbered space provided.

61. The discussions reached a new level of ________________(intense) and by lunchtime the exchanges were becoming
very heated.

62. Alvin met the genial master poet Langston Hughes, who became a lifelong friend and ________________ (confide).

63. There is an ________________ (speak) recognition of a certain disposition or habitus among the social classes.

64. It has to be said it was rather ________________ (genus) of him to ask a complete stranger to look after his luggage.

65. Sometimes a sympathetic friend can be a constant source of discouragement, all _________ (know).

Part 2. For questions 86-95, read the text below and decide which answer A, B, C or D best fits each gap. Write your
answers in the corresponding numbered boxes provided.

When LL Zamenhof constructed the auxiliary language of Esperanto in the late 1880s, he did so with certain key goals in
mind: to 86.__________ the study of language easier and more learner-friendly; and to develop a universal language as a
means of international communication and as a 87._________ for promoting concord and understanding in a
88.__________ world. His goals were influenced very much by his own experiences of growing up in Bialystok, which is
part of modern-day Poland. A multitude of different ethnic groups lived there at the time and were constantly
89.__________ with each one another. It was this at which Zamenhof despaired, and he reasoned that the 90.__________
cause of dispute was the barriers to communication present on account of the lack of a common language. Therefore, he
set out to create one: Esperanto.

His goals were incredibly ambitious, but was the new language a success? Well, in so far as it is the most widely spoken
artificial one in existence today, with an estimated two-plus-million people worldwide fluent to some 91.__________, you
would have to say yes. However, the fact remains that Esperanto has not 92.__________ English as the lingua franca of
international communication, nor has it been nearly so widely 93.__________ as Zamenhof himself would have hoped.

Therefore, judged against Zamenhof’s own 94.__________ ambitions for the language, the conclusion could not be in the
affirmative. That said, his intentions in building an entirely new language were incredibly noteworthy and that the
language has 95.__________ even to the extent that it has done, with millions of active speakers, is, in and of itself quite
remarkable.

86. A. render B. prove C. adjust D. portray

87. A. mechanism B. utensil C. device D. scheme

88. A. discordant B. analogous C. congruent D. comparable

89. A. quarrelling B. disputing C. debating D. conflicting

90. A. outlying B. underlying C. outstanding D. underlining

91. A. scope B. breadth C. matter D. degree

92. A. promoted B. usurped C. overturned D. reversed

93. A. endured B. embraced C. embodied D. enhanced

94. A. reckless B. modest C. lofty D. pushy

95. A. enriched B. cultivated C. stretched D. prospered

Part 4. For questions 109-118, read the following passage and choose the answer A, B, C or D that fits best according
to the text. Write your answers in the corresponding numbered boxes provided.

Forget global terrorism - for most of the world's population, ticking time bombs like earthquakes, supervolcanoes and
hurricanes pose a far greater threat. Natural disaster expert Bill McGuire reveals a

few of the top catastrophes waiting to happen.

With NASA's eminent climate scientist, Jim Hansen, concerned that collapsing polar ice sheets could result in sea levels
rising 1-2m this century and several more in the next, prospects for the Earth's coastal zones are bleak. A 1m rise would
threaten one-third of the world's agricultural land, while a 4m rise would maroon Miami 60km offshore. Rising sea levels
is not the only threat to coastal regions. The Cumbre Vieja volcano on the Canary Island of La Palma is slowly creeping
seawards. During a future eruption, this gigantic landslide will plunge into the ocean, pushing up a bulge of water close to
a kilometre high, spawning a mega-tsunami capable of devastating all the coastal areas surrounding the

North Atlantic.

Coastal regions also face the menace of desertification. By 2030, over half a billion people living around the shores of the
Mediterranean will be viewing the encroaching desert with increasing panic. An area bigger than the UK, and home to 16
million people, is threatened - by the end of the century - with transformation from a green and pleasant land to a baking
wilderness of sand and rock.

However, these disasters seem pale in comparison to the mega-catastrophes waiting to happen like supervolcanoes, for
instance. Every 50 millennia or so, a colossal volcanic blast expels sufficient ash and gas to cover a continent and block
the Sun's rays for years on end, heralding a bitter volcanic winter. At Yellowstone in Wyoming, US, two such super-
eruptions have shattered the crust in the last 2.1 million years and the volcano there remains restless. An asteroid attack is
another threat which would have devastating consequences. A total of 713 asteroids with diameters of 1km or more, and
the potential to clobber the Earth at some future date, have been identified. A 2km asteroid would load the atmosphere
with dust and trigger a sustained global freeze. Harvests would fail and billions would die. Fortunately, such collisions
only happen every couple of million years.

109. Which best serves as the title for the passage?

A. Disasters in Waiting B. Threats to the Earth’s Coastal Zones

C. The Mega-catastrophes That Could End the World D. Surprising Facts about Supervolcanoes

110. According to the passage, what poses an imminent threat to us?

A. the increase of global terrorism B. the rise in the world's population

C. the consequences of climate change and natural disastersD. time bombs waiting to go off

111. The word “bleak” in paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to __________

A. auspicious B. promising C. commanding D. gloomy

112. Which aspect of the Cumbre Vieja eruption will have the worst effects?

A. the eruption itself B. the subsequent mega-tsunami

C. the plunge into the ocean D. the resulting landslide

113. The word “maroon” in paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to __________

A. push B. leave C. surge D. pull

114. The process of desertification threatening the shores of the Mediterranean will occur __________

A. gradually B. at the end of this century

C. to an area not quite as big as the UK D. all of a sudden

115. The word “menace” in paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to __________

A. acceleration B. spread C. threat D. process

116. How often does a supervolcano take place?

A. once every century B. once every 50 thousand years

C. once every couple of million years D. once every 50 million years

117. The word “there” in paragraph 4 refers to __________

A. the continent B. Yellowstone C. The US D. the crust

118. Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?

A. Terrorism is the most challenging issue facing the world.

B. Rising sea levels wreak greater havoc on coastal regions than volcanoes do.

C. The UK is one of the countries most heavily affected by desertification.

D. Both supervolcanoes and asteroid attacks lead to extremely cold weather conditions.

IV. WRITING (50 points)

Part 1. Rewrite the following sentences using the words given.

126. The reason they did not give him the job was because he could not use a computer. (inability)

Had it not ............................................................................................................................

127. If there is a fire, people should not use the lift. (event)

In .........................................................................................................................................

128. Harry knows about the new regulations so let’s ask him. (brains)

Let’s ......................................................................................................................................

129. I managed to persuade John not to resign. (talk)

I managed ..............................................................................................................................

130. Why did you have to cause so much trouble over something so unimportant? (dance)

Why did you have to ..............................................................................................................?

Part 3. Write an essay of 300 words on the following topic:

Nowadays there is a growing shift towards the use of cashless transactions. While some people argue in support of a
cashless society, claiming that it is beneficial to citizens, others raise concerns about security. Which side of this
argument do you, personally, agree with, and why?