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

ĐỀ THI THỬ HSG TỈNH SỐ 10 NĂM 2020

Môn thi: TIẾNG ANH

Thời gian thi: 180 phút (không kể thời gian giao đề)
Ngày thi:
Đề thi có 15 trang

* Thí sinh không được sử dụng tài liệu, kể cả từ điển

* Giám thị không giải thích gì thêm.
I. LISTENING (50 POINTS)

Part 1. For questions 1-9, listen to a radio programme about sponsorship in Formula 1 racing and
decide whether these statements are True (T) or False (F). Write your answers in the corresponding
numbered boxes provided.
1. Graham Swift is a professional racing driver who races in Formula 1.
2. In the past, Formula 1 cars did not carry advertising.
3. Formula 1 is totally dependent on sponsorship.
4. Tobacco companies sponsor Formula 1 because the sport appeals mainly to young, male smokers.
5. After 1991, the McLaren team became less successful than it had been.
6. Sponsors expect to get value for money.
7. Marlboro withdrew its sponsorship from McLaren because the team asked for more money.
8. Some sponsors supply goods rather than money to teams.
9. In general, the presenter seems to disapprove of tobacco companies sponsoring Formula 1.

Your answers
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

Part 2. For questions 10-15, listen to a radio interview with a travel writer called Marina Vardy and
choose the correct answer A, B, C or D which fits best according to what you hear. Write your
answers in the corresponding numbered boxes provided.
10. What made Marina start traveling?
A. a sudden desire to overcome her fear of the sea
B. a difficult problem in the life she had at the time
C. an unexpected opportunity to escape a boring routine
D. a friend's wish for a traveling companion
11. What is Marina’s main reason for being happy about her decision to go on that first journey?
A. It led to a successful career as an author.
B. It gave her a more positive outlook on life.
C. It offered her some exciting adventures.
D. It taught her to cope with difficulties.
12. How did Marina first get into writing?
A. She wanted to describe the different exotic places that she visited.
B. She found it satisfying to write her private feelings in a teenage diary.
C. She enjoyed the reaction of others to something she wrote as a young girl.
D. She was keen to be like her father, who was an enthusiastic writer.
13. What does Marina say is her greatest challenge?
A. feeling uncertain about the quality of her work
B. coping with some lack of support from her family
C. having to face danger for the sake of a story
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D. finding things to write about that will interest her readers
14. Marina says that aspiring travel writers must ensure that they
A. work hard to make their writing style as good as they can.
B. try to make their readers experience strong emotions.
C. offer much more than an account of their own adventures.
D. keep their own grandmother in mind as they write.
15. What does Marina say she finds particularly rewarding about being a travel writer?
A. It has developed her powers of observation.
B. It offers her the chance to take revenge of unkind people.
C. It provides her with an adventurous lifestyle.
D. It gives her a satisfying psychological detachment.

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

Part 3. For questions 16-25, listen to a postgraduate psychology student talking to other students
about a job-satisfaction study he has investigated 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.
Workers involved in the study were employed at a 16___________.
Despite some apparent differences between groups of workers, the survey results were statistically
17___________.
The speaker analysed the study's 18___________ to identify any problems with it.
The various sub-groups were 19___________ in size.
Workers in the part-time group were mainly 20___________
The 21___________ of workers who agreed to take part in the study was disappointing.
Researchers were unable to 22___________ the circumstances in which workers filled out the
questionnaire.
In future, the overall size of the 23___________ should be increased.
In future studies, workers should be prevented from having discussions with 24___________.
Workers should be reassured that their responses to questions are 25___________.

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II. PHONETICS (10 POINTS)

Part 1. Choose the word whose underlined part is pronounced differently from the others.
26. A. collapsed B. transfused C. conversed D. decreased
27. A. loses B. houses C. rises D. shoes
28. A. program B. process C. promise D. progress
29. A. cheap B. chicken C. chef D. chief
30. A. ugali B. umpire C. ulcer D. umber

Part 2. Choose the word which is stressed differently from the others.
31. A. index B. commit C. preview D. open
32. A. habitat B. attendance C. candidate D. wilderness
33. A. equality B. difficulty C. simplicity D. discovery
34. A. abandonment B. ufology C. valerian D. incidental
35. A. inveigle B. histogram C. fiasco D. narcosis

Your answers
26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35.

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. - Laura: “What a lovely house you have!”
- Maria: “_____________.”
A. Of course not, it’s not costly B. Thank you. Hope you will drop in
C. I think so D. No problem
37. _____________, we can take another road.
A. If need be B. When it may
C. We might as well D. Come what must
38. For the first few months, the babies looked so alike I couldn’t tell ______________.
A. who is whom B. which is which
C. which from which D. whom with whom
39. Social scientists believe that _____ from sounds such as grunts and barks made by early ancestors of
human beings.
A. the very slow development of language B. language developed very slowly
C. language which, was very slow to develop D. language, very slowly developing
40. His talent meant he could create wondrous things, but his ______________ meant he hardly ever
felt like working.
A. adversity B. lethargy C. ineptitude D. tactlessness
41. The employees are ______________ a rally in the city centre to demand higher wages.
A. making B. performing C. staging D. presenting
42. Julie felt unfairly ______________ when she spoke out against a company proposal and the entire
staff team turned against her.
A. prosecuted B. persecuted C. oppressed D. suppressed
43. Everyone was living off tens of thousands of years of accumulated groundwater, like a
______________ heir squandering his wealth.
A. stingy `` B. miserly C. spendthrift D. penny- pincher
44. There is no need to get so ______________ about being turned down. There are other advertising
agencies out there, you know.
A. destitute B. descendant C. despondent D. despicable
45. The island of Tahiti ______________ sandy beaches and crystal clear water.
A. brags B. gloats C. boasts D. swaggers
46. I've searched ______________ for that old photo album, but I can't find it anywhere.
A. high and low B. long and short
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C. straight and narrow D. thick and thin
47. People don’t have a right to ______________ in judgement when they don’t know all the facts.
A. sit B. pass C. make D. bite
48. The management are making ______________ to increase the company’s efficiency.
A. measures B. steps C. moves D. deeds
make moves: thay đổi
49. It was _______________ plain to the new employees that they should be polite to the customers.
A. put B. stated C. made D. explained
50. The boss had an old axe to ______________ with Benson, which may be why he fired him.
A. weld B. sharpen C. grind D. trim
51. A(n) ______________decision has been made and there is nothing we can do about it now.
A. lock and key B. on and off
C. high and mighty D. cut and dried
52. Roads were ______________ as police searched for the escaped prisoner.
A. washed up B. cut off C. sealed off D. kept out
53. The only thing they felt he was capable of was ______________ film reviews.
A. writing in B. turning out C. signing off D. summing up
54. We hurried back to our car as we saw the clouds ______________ over the mountains.
A. rolling in B. holding off C. beating down D. bucketing down
55. The challenges Ann encountered while assisting the medical charity in Africa brought
______________ the best in her personality.
A. up B. out C. about D. around

Your answers
36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42.
43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49.
50. 51. 52. 53. 54. 55.

Part 2. For questions 56-60, write the correct form of each bracketed word in the numbered space
provided.
Winter in the British countryside can be very brutal but it has such (56-breath) __________ beauty that
for many people (57-go) __________ the pleasure of long country walks is out of the question, however
severe the weather.
Fortunately, there is a very wide range of hiking gear from which to choose, from the traditional waxed
jackets to modern Gore-tex clothing and footwear. But, (58-respect) __________ of your clothing
preferences, of all your priorities, the main one should be to keep warm and dry. Layering clothing is a
good idea. Start with thermal underwear topped with an outer shell of jackets and overtrousers in (59-
permeate) __________ fabrics that keep out the wind and rain but don’t make you sweat. Even in wet
weather, rubber boots are unsuitable for proper long walks. You will need good boots with ankle
support and good traction. A small rucksack of around 20-litre capacity is fine for short walks but the
intrepid hiker will need a substantially larger one of up to 40 litres. Hikers’ rucksacks have been
considerably (60-light) __________ in recent years as more and more lightweight fabrics have been
developed.

Part 3. For questions 61-65, write the correct form of each bracketed word in the numbered space
provided.
61. British traditions often reveal elements of the islands’ Celtic _________. (HEIR)
62. Songs are a(n) _________ part of most of our traditions, as is cake. (PRESENT)
63. While such mentalistic constructions may sound _________ at first sight, they are justified in three
ways. (PLAUDIT)
64. I've been hearing about your __________ reputation for a long time, and greatly respect you.
(BLEMISH)
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65. He was a modest and ___________ man who never gave the impression that he knew all the
answers. (ASSUME)

Part 4. For questions 66-75, find and correct 10 mistakes in the passage. Write them in the numbered
boxes provided.
Can robots advance so further that they become the ultimate threat to our existence? Some scientists say
no, and dismiss the very idea of Artificial Intelligence. The human brain, they argue, is the most
complicated system ever created, and every machine designed to reproduce human thought is bound to
failure. Physicist Roger Penrose of Oxford University and others believe that machines are physically
incapable of human thought. Colin McGinn of Rutgers University backs this up when he says that
Artificial Intelligence ‘is like sheep trying to make complicated psychoanalysis. They just don’t have the
conceptual equipment they need in their limit brains.’
Artificial Intelligence, or AI, is different from most technologies in which scientists still understand very
little about how intelligence works. Physicists have a good understanding of Newtonian mechanics and
the quantum theory of atoms and molecules, whereas the basic laws of intelligence still remain a
mystery. But a sizeable number of mathematicians and computer scientists, who are specialists in the
area, are optimistic about the possibilities. To them it is only a matter of the time before a thinking
machine walks out of the laboratory. Over the years, various problems impeded all efforts to create
robots. To attack these difficulties, researchers tried to use the ‘top-down approach’, using a computer in
an attempt to program all the essential rules onto a single disc. By inserting this into a machine, it would
then become self-awared and attain a human-like intelligence.

Your answers
66. 67. 68. 69. 70.

71. 72. 73. 74. 75.

III. READING (50 POINTS)

Part 1. For questions 76-85, fill each of the following numbered blanks with ONE suitable word and
write your answers in the corresponding numbered boxes provided.
Is cooking becoming a lost art? On the 76.____________ of it, the question may seem slightly
ridiculous. 77.____________ all, food and cookery programmes have, in recent years, become one of
most popular broadcasts on television. Celebrity chef cookbooks regularly top best-seller lists, and the
78.____________ division of cookery seems to be disappearing - nowadays, it’s not at all, unusual to
find men in the kitchen cooking 79.____________ a storm. Yet, is it all as it really seems? Apparently
not. According to food industry analysts, while seeking out good food has become the
80.____________, preparing and cooking it certainly hasn't. The home-cooked meal is fast becoming a
lost art. Today, many people view the daily preparation of meals as an impossible aspiration. Ready
meals and other heavily processed products have become the order of the 81.____________. Both
young and old cite lack of time as the primary reason for opting for pre-packaged convenience foods.
The trend for ready meals began in the 1990's. Today Americans spend on 82.____________ 50 cents
out of every food dollar on ready-prepared, ready-to-eat foods. A recent survey on the eating habits of
Americans revealed that, in 1984, Americans made 72% of their dinners from scratch but by 2008 that
figure had dropped to just 57%. Americans don't eat out as often as they used to, but eating more at
home has not 83.____________ preparing more meals from scratch. The trend is mirrored in the UK.
Like Americans, Britons are finding someone else to do the cooking - their supermarket. Aisle after
aisle of British supermarket shelves are now devoted 84.____________ ready meals. It's high time we
took back the kitchen. It’s time to 85.____________ free from the shackles of ready-made, industrial
food. It’s time to cook.

Your answers

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76. 77. 78. 79. 80.

81. 82. 83. 84. 85.

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.
In the north-west corner of the island paradise Isla Perlita, nestling in the shadow of Mount Machu, lies
the sleepy village of San Lorenzo. Off the beaten (86)_______, there is nothing out of the ordinary
about this quaint little village -nothing, that is, apart from the magnificent (87)_______ Bay Hotel. The
Bay, as it is known locally, is a recent development catering for (88)_______travellers who enjoy luxury
holiday-making. Famous throughout the island for the outstanding quality of its accommodation and the
excellence of its cuisine, the Bay (89)_______ 30 guest suites, each with a charm and character of its
own. Each suite looks (90)_______ Falmer Beach, commanding breathtaking views of the four miles of
white sand, which gently shelves into the (91)_______ clear waters of the Crepuscan Sea. At the heart
of the Bay Hotel is personal, efficient and unobtrusive service. (92)_______ staff anticipate your every
need in an atmosphere of quiet professionalism and genuine friendliness. (93)_______, the Bay Hotel is
a place to get (94)_______ from the stresses of everyday life, and whether it is (95)_______ away the
hours soaking up the sun or taking advantage of the wide range of recreational activities that the hotel
has on offer, you can be sure that a holiday at the Bay truly is the holiday of a lifetime.
86. A. path B. track C. road D. way
87. A. starred B. stars C. star D. starring
88. A. disconcerting B. discerning C. distinctive D. discriminated
89. A. announces B. claims C. asserts D. boasts
90. A. back on B. onto C. into D. down
91. A. crystal B. sky C. diamond D. pearl
92. A. Preoccupied B. Attentive C. Concentrated D. Undivided
93. A. All over B. For all C. Above all D. All along
94. A. out B. over C. off D. away
95. A. whiling B. wearing C. wending D. winding

Your answers
86. 87. 88. 89. 90.

91. 92. 93. 94. 95.

Part 3. For questions 96-108, read the following passage and do the tasks that follow.
WHAT IS PERSONALITY?
A. We are all familiar with the idea that different people have different personalities, but what does
this actually mean? It implies that different people behave in different ways, but it must be more than
that. After all, different people find themselves in different circumstances, and much of their behaviour
follows from this fact. However, our common experience reveals that different people respond in quite
remarkably different ways even when faced with roughly the same circumstances. Alan might be happy
to live alone in a quiet and orderly cottage, go out once a week, and stay in the same job for thirty years,
whilst Beth likes nothing better than exotic travel and being surrounded by vivacious friends and loud
music.

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B. In cases like these, we feel that it cannot be just the situation which is producing the differences in
behaviour. Something about the way the person is ‘wired up’ seems to be at work, determining how they
react to situations, and, more than that, the kind of situations they get themselves into in the first place.
This is why personality seems to become stronger as we get older; when we are young, our situation
reflects external factors such as the social and family environment we were born into. As we grow older,
we are more and more affected by the consequences of our own choices (doing jobs that we were drawn
to, surrounded by people like us whom we have sought out). Thus, personality differences that might
have been very slight at birth become dramatic in later adulthood.
C. Personality, then, seems to be the set of enduring and stable dispositions that characterise a person.
These dispositions come partly from the expression of inherent features of the nervous system, and
partly from learning. Researchers sometimes distinguish between temperament, which refers exclusively
to characteristics that are inborn or directly caused by biological factors, and personality, which also
includes social and cultural learning. Nervousness, for example, might be a factor of temperament, but
religious piety is an aspect of personality.
D. The discovery that temperamental differences are real is one of the major findings of contemporary
psychology. It could easily have been the case that there were no intrinsic differences between people in
temperament, so that given the same learning history, the same dilemmas, they would all respond in
much the same way. Yet we now know that this is not the case.
E. Personality measures turn out to be good predictors of your health, how happy you typically are –
even your taste in paintings. Personality is a much better predictor of these things than social class or
age. The origin of these differences is in part innate. That is to say, when people are adopted at birth and
brought up by new families, their personalities are more similar to those of their blood relatives than to
the ones they grew up with.
F. Personality differences tend to manifest themselves through the quick, gut-feeling, intuitive and
emotional systems of the human mind. The slower, rational, deliberate systems show less variation in
output from person to person. Deliberate rational strategies can be used to over-ride intuitive patterns of
response, and this is how people wishing to change their personalities or feelings have to go about it. As
human beings, we have the unique ability to look in at our personality from the outside and decide what
we want to do with it.
G. So what are the major ways personalities can differ? The dominant approach is to think of the space
of possible personalities as being defined by a number of dimensions. Each person can be given a
location in the space by their scores on all the different dimensions. Virtually all theories agree on two
of the main dimensions, neuroticism (or negative emotionality) and extroversion (or positive
emotionality). However, they differ on how many additional ones they recognise. Among the most
influential proposals are openness, conscientiousness and agreeableness. In the next section I shall
examine these five dimensions.

Questions 56-62: There are seven paragraphs marked A-G in the passage. Choose the correct
heading for each paragraph from the list below. Write your answers in the corresponding numbered
box provided.

List of Headings
i A degree of control
ii Where research has been carried out into the effects of
family on personality
iii Categorising personality features according to their

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 origin
iv A variety of reactions in similar situations
v A link between personality and aspects of our lives that
aren’t chosen
vi A possible theory that cannot be true
vii Measuring personality
viii Potentially harmful effects of emotions
ix How our lives can reinforce our personalities
x Differences between men’s and women’s personalities

96. Paragraph A
97. Paragraph B
98. Paragraph C
99. Paragraph D
100. Paragraph E
101. Paragraph F
102. Paragraph G

Your answers
96. 97. 98. 99. 100. 101. 102.

Questions 63-68: Do the following statements reflect the claims of the writer? Write your answers in
the corresponding numbered box provided.

Write
YES if the statement reflects the claims of the writer
NO if the statement reflects the claims of the writer
NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this

103. Alan and Berth illustrate contrasting behaviour in similar situations.

104. As we grow older, we become more able to analyse our personalities.
105. Nervousness is an example of a learned characteristic.
106. The discovery of differences in temperament has changed the course of psychological research.
107. Adopted children provide evidence that we inherit more of our personality than we acquire.
108. The rational behaviour of different people shows greater similarity than their emotional behaviour
.
Your answers
103. 104. 105. 106. 107. 108.

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.
When one hears the expression “role models”, one’s mind naturally jumps to celebrities, especially as
far as young people are concerned. Therefore, it would be more than natural to assume that teenagers,
heavily influenced by the media, are dazzled by well-known Hollywood stars, famous musicians and
internationally renowned athletes. However, nothing could be further from the truth.
In reality, according to a recent survey, over 75% of teens who filled out an online questionnaire
claimed that the role model for whom they had the greatest respect was not a famous personality, but a
family member. It seems that the qualities that make a good role model are more complex than
researchers first assumed. For example, Nancy L, a teenage girl from Wisconsin, described her role
model as a woman who had a clear sense of what was important to her, making the effort to create
things that would make a real difference in the world. The woman she was referring to was her favorite
aunt, who was a painter and sculptor.
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Role models come into young people’s lives in various ways. They are family members, educators,
peers and ordinary people encountered in their daily lives. Students emphasized that being a role model
is not confined to those with international fame or unbelievable wealth. Instead, they said the greatest
attribute of a role model is the ability to inspire others. Teachers were often mentioned as examples in
this case, ones that are dedicated to encouraging students, helping them push their limits and strengthen
their characters.
Another quality high on the list was the ability to overcome obstacles. In addition to parents, peers often
made up a large percentage of such role models. Young people are at a point in their lives when they are
developing the skills of initiative and capability, so it is only natural that they admire people who show
them that success in the face of difficulty is possible.
A final and perhaps unexpected character trait that the youth of today admire is a clear set of values.
Children admire people whose actions are consistent with their beliefs; in other words, who practice
what they preach. Role models help them to understand the significance of honesty, motivation and the
desire to do general good. For example, local politicians who clearly struggle to improve living
conditions in their cities are high on their lists of role models.
Perhaps what should be understood from what young people consider important in a role model is that
each and every person around them affects them to a certain extent, perhaps much more than most
parents think. This makes it crucial for adults to be aware of their influence on the young and set the
best examples possible.
Question 109: Which of the following is closest in meaning to “dazzled”?
A. impressed B. disappointed C. confused D. frightened
Question 110: Which of the following is LEAST likely to be assumed as teens’ role model?
A. A handsome actor B. A talented footballer
C. A hot popstar D. A brilliant scientist
Question 111: What is surprising about the findings of the survey?
A. Celebrities are the most common role models to most teens.
B. The role models of the respondents are not quite influential.
C. The qualities that make up teens’ role models are not simple.
D. Most celebrities have their family members as role models.
Question 112: What does the passage tell us about Nancy L’s role model?
A. She was not related to her. B. She was famous for her talent.
C. She was a mysterious person. D. She had strong priorities.
Question 113: Which of the following is closest in meaning to “confined to”?
A. assisted by B. restricted to C. similar to D. influenced by
Question 114: According to the passage, what quality makes teachers good role models?
A. their ambition to succeed B. their wide knowledge
C. their ability as academic educators D. their positive effect on students
Question 115: The ability to overcome obstacles is important to young people because ______.
A. teens must have it to teach their peers
B. it is not something that one can easily find
C. obstacles make life more difficult
D. it is relevant to the stage of life they are in
Question 116: According to paragraph 5, children really look up to those who _______.
A. are as active as possible B. do what they say they will do
C. pay attention to the needs of the young D. are religious in their life
Question 117: According to the passage, some politicians are considered admirable ______.
A. because they are familiar to young people
B. because of the strong power they have
C. because of their concern for others
D. because they believe in themselves
Question 118: The passage suggests that adults should ______.
A. try to avoid imposing their influence on younger people
B. realize that they have a strong effect on young people
C. be careful of the role models their children may have
D. encourage children to reject celebrities as role models

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Part 5. In the passage below, seven paragraphs have been removed. For questions 119-125, read the
passage and choose from the paragraphs A-H the one which fits each gap. There is ONE extra
paragraph which you do not need to use. Write your answers in the corresponding numbered box
provided.

Playing the Game

It's a cut-throat business but there are massive rewards on offer in the software industry - and age is no
barrier to success, explains Rupert Jones.

The frequent claim that Britain has an unrivalled reputation when it comes to producing games is no idle boast;
the UK has by far the biggest development community in Europe and is also home to most of the global
publishing giants. In fact, the UK leisure software market is now said to be the fastest-growing sector of the UK
entertainment media.

119.

"It's now very much a commercial exercise," says Roger Bennett, Director General of industry trade body, the
Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA). "Whereas people can make a film with a
camcorder, you can't make a game now unless you have a huge amount of equipment and the skills to use it."
And lots of money, too. A top-flight game can cost up to £5m to develop.

120.

This is borne out by Nick Wheelwright at Codemasters. He says it looks for "outstanding academic people".
Those the company takes on will normally have a degree in a relevant discipline, so for an artist that might be
fine art or illustration and animation, while for a programmer it could be computer science or maths.

121.

When it comes to publishing, distribution and marketing, the skills required tend to be more commercial. "It's an
industry that people do want to get into. Whenever we advertise a vacancy we get lots of interest," says Rob
Murphy, finance director at south-London-based SCi Entertainment.

122.

Games testers are a crucial component of the industry, and this is an area where a university qualification may
not be necessary - five GCSEs and good PC knowledge may be enough. These are the people who play games all
day, testing them for playability and making sure there are no bugs.

123.

Rachel Wood swapped her paintbrush for a computer and the latest graphics and animation software seven
years ago. She is now a senior lead artist at Codemasters, overseeing a team of artists working on two new
games. "Everyone has input into how the game looks, especially in the early stages. My job is to direct that,
initially, and make sure everyone is working in the same direction," says Rachel.

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124.

When Rachel joined Codemasters she had little understanding of how computers worked, but she had had an
interest in maths and physics before choosing to take the fine art route. Working in this field does involve "a
certain degree of technological understanding" but Rachel stresses that traditional artistic talent and creativity
are very important.

125.

Getting a job as a games tester can be a good route in. Many games-mad teenagers have got in this way
and then worked their way up the ladder. Students may be able to get a foot in the door by doing gap
year or summer job work experience, perhaps working on the company website. A passion for games
isn’t obligatory but, obviously, it helps.

A Perhaps inevitably, the development side in particular has become much more professional in the way
it operates, with a far greater emphasis on academic excellence when it comes to hiring staff. "The
people being employed now are highly educated and highly qualified. The biggest studios will only
recruit people of high academic excellence," says Mr Bennett.

 B Now 29, she studied fine art at Plymouth University and later spent time doing oil painting
commissions but she was not content. "Working as a fine artist is fairly isolated. This offered a chance
to learn new technologies and to be working in a team." Once she arrived, she was hooked, though she
had to learn some new skills.

 C Based near Leamington Spa, Codemasters employs more than 400 people, and the average age of the
staff is just 23-24. It has, among others, people with physics degrees who measure things like the speed,
momentum and crash impact in racing games, computer science graduates who are responsible for
testing the games to check for bugs, people with law degrees involved with celebrity contracts and
licences, and automotive engineering graduates who design the structure of virtual racing cars.

 D For wannabe graphics artists, some degree of technological understanding is clearly an advantage. If
you’re not up on the latest software, however, don't be put off. There’s still space for people with
traditional artistic talent and creativity. You can pick up the tech side as you go.

E "Quite often you will have to play the game for many months. You have to be dedicated and pretty
systematic," says Mr Murphy. Codemasters says there may be as many as 30 people testing the same
game for the final three months. “A tester might be paid around £18,000 compared with an experienced
producer, who can earn £40,000-plus”, says Mr Murphy.

 F To stand a chance of serious long-term success in this cut-throat market, games consoles need great
games, and lots of them. It's on sales of games at up to £45 a throw that the real profits are made. ‘Club
Football’ and ‘LMA Manager’ are two such titles. "We've been going out to the clubs and
photographing the players. I've been to a couple of the shoots," smiles Rachel.

G But the past few years have brought big changes to the way companies work. The cottage industry
days, when a teenage techie could create a game in his bedroom that went on to become a blockbuster,
are long gone.

 H SCi is one of the UK's longest-established games publishers, whose recent hits include ‘The Italian
Job’, based on the Michael Caine heist movie. Mr Murphy adds that it helps to have some experience
under your belt. "There are a lot of things people can do to get experience; for example, becoming a
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tester for a while. We have had students on their gap year in to help on our website." Most people will
have degrees but a lot comes down to the individual and their enthusiasm for games.

Your answers
119. 120. 121. 122. 123. 124. 125.

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 2.  The bar graph shows the global sales (in billions of dollars) of different types of digital games
between 2000 and 2006. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features,
and make comparisons where relevant. Write at least 150 words.

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

Creative artists should be given freedom to express their ideas through words, pictures, music or
films. Some people nevertheless think that the government should restrict artists' freedom of
expression. To what extent do you agree or disagree?
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