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

ĐỀ THI THỬ HSG TỈNH SỐ 03 NĂM 2020

I. LISTENING (50 POINTS)
Part 1. For questions 1-9, listen to an interview on the radio with a conservationist
called Kay Giles and decide whether these statements are True (T) or False (F). Write
1. Kay is the editor of an environmental magazine.
2. The purpose of the seminars Kay mentions is to give support to teachers.
3. The projects are designed to let the students see for themselves the consequences of
pollution.
4. According to the scheme, all family members can end up being involved in the
conservation effort.
5. Reading articles and watching videos in no way help students learn about the
environment.
6. People should have three separate containers for recycling.
7. Families can only rely on local councils for pick-up service.
8. Kay believes the government are not active enough.
9. Kay wants children to educate families about the environment.
Part 2. For questions 10-15, listen to a recording about rudeness and choose the correct
answer A, B, C or D which fits best according to what you hear. Write your answers in
10. What is the main point of the anecdote Jeff tells?
A. That the young seem to lack social skills.
B. That it’s an all too familiar sight these days.
C. It’s the same thing as using your phone in the theatre.
D. They are no better than the Internet trolls.
11. What does Jeff say about the “death of deference”?
A. People no longer care what others think of them.
B. Teenagers didn’t want their behavior to be disapproved of.
C. For the most part, it had positive effects on society.
D. It made people disrespect those in authority.
12. What does Laura imply about teenage behavior?
A. There’s nothing that can be done about it.
B. That it’s not entirely their fault.C. It’s worse nowadays than previously.
D. They are not taught how to behave.
13. How does Jeff respond to Laura’s opinion of teenagers?
A. He believes it is all their fault.B. He thinks they are not properly brought up.
C. Those in charge of children should take responsibility.
D. He thinks she is just making excuses for bad behavior.
14. Both Jeff and Laura seem to agree that A. A little bit of rudeness is a good thing.
B. Parents don’t teach their children how to converse.
C. The young don’t understand adult conversation.
D. The art of conversation has declined.
15. What does Laura say about modern technology and teenage behavior?
A. It has an effect on the development of social skills.
B. It is wholly responsible for today’s lack of social skills.
C. They become insulting and threatening.
D. They can hide from the world behind technology.
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Part 3. For questions 16-25, listen to a lecture about baby’s memory and supply the
blanks with the missing information. Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS
AND/OR A NUMBER taken from the recording for each answer in the space provided.
Question: Can babies remember any 16_________________?

Experiment with babies

Apparatus:
baby in cot
colourful mobile
some 17____________________

Re-introduce mobile between one and 18__________________ later.

Table showing memory test results
Baby’s age Maximum memory span
2 months 2 days
19______________
3 months
21 months several weeks
2 years 20______________
Research questions:
Is memory linked to 21_________________ development?
Can babies 22_________________ their memories?
Experiment with older children
Stages in incident:
a) lecture taking place
b) object falls over
c) 23___________________
Table showing memory test results
Age % remembered next day % remembered
after 5 months
Adults 70% 24__________________
9—year-o1ds 70%, Less than 60%
6—year-olds Just under 70% 25_________________

II. PHONETICS (10 POINTS)

Part 1. Choose the word whose underlined part is pronounced differently from the
26. A. rubbed B. tugged C. stopped D. filled
27. A. knives B. smiles C. classes D. chores
28. A. hesitate B. reserve C. physics D. basic
29. A. stone B. zone C. phone D. none
30. A. extradite B. extrapolate C. extramural D. extracurricular
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Part 2. Choose the word which is stressed differently from the others.
31. A. offer B. persuade C. apply D. reduce
32. A. adventure B. advantage C. advertise D. adverbial
33. A. irrational B. characterise C. facility D. variety
34. A. therapeutic B. conscientious C. fanaticism D. orthographic
35. A. interpolate B. acclimatize C. cannibalize D.
demystify
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
36. Paul has just sold his ________________ car and intends to buy a new one.
A. black old Japanese B. Japanese old black C. old black Japanese
D. old Japanese black
37. Maria: “Our environment is getting more and more polluted. Do you think so?”
Alex: “________________. It’s really worrying.”
A. I’ll think about that B. I don’t agree C. I don’t think so D. I can’t agree more
38. Many people suspect that the vice president of the company has ________________.
A. a hiding agenda B. a hidden agendaC. an agenda to hide D. an agenda hiding
39. I don’t know why nobody ever listens to Ted. He’s ________________ as intelligent
as his brother.A. rather B. fairly much C. somewhat D. every bit
40. The use of vitamin ________________ and herbs has become increasingly popular
among Americans.A. components B. materialsC. ingredients D. supplements
41. You ‘re so ________________; you’ll believe anything anybody tells you.
A. distant B. vulnerable C. platonic D. gullible
42. I’m afraid your hardware is not only outdated, it is ________________. You’ll have to
replace it.A. outmoded B. redundant C. obsolete D. deceased
43. What can we do to persuade drivers that alcohol can turn a car into a
________________ weapon? A. lethal B. fatal C. mortal D. venal
44. The table in the living room should be moved to ________________ the new TV set.
A. get rid of B. pave the way for C. make room forD. take hold of
45. Don’t ________________ your resignation until you’ve got another job in the
pipeline.A. give B. remove C. assign D. tender
46. He kept telling us about his operation, in the most ________________ detail.
A. elaborate B. knotty C. graphic D. burning
47. Many diseases that used to be considered ________________ of mankind are now
easily treatable with antibiotics
A. scourges B. tortures C. blights D. thorns
48. Peter is disappointed at not getting the job, but he will ________________ it soon.
A. take on B. get over C. go through D. come over
49. John and Ella drifted __________ when they left university and have gone their
separate ways now.A. apart B. out C. down D. back
50. Catherine really needs a holiday; she’s so stressed ________________.
A. up B. out C. down D. in
51. I was promised a good job from January this year, but it’s April now and I’m afraid
that they are just ____________ me along.
A. cheating B. swindling C. stringing D. bringing
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52. You can’t expect the sofa to look brand new after two years. There is such a thing as
____________ and tear, you know.A. tide B. wear C. fair D. bear
53. They ____________ with neighbouring countries and managed to drive out the
invaders.A. closed ranks B. held fast C. sat tight D. joined forces
54. The sales assistants were so rude to me. I decided to take my ____________
elsewhere.A. income B. custom C. capital D. fortune
55. The film still ________with younger audiences, even after all these years.
A. beats the drum B. rings a bellC. strikes a chord D. hits the right note
Part 2. For questions 56-60, write the correct form of each bracketed word in the
Most sci-fi films describe unpleasant, ________________(56-utopia) futures for
humankind, but I’m afraid we already live there. The human population is constantly
increasing ________________(57-check) and uncontrolled, drawing on our ever-
diminishing resources. There’s a________________(58-wide) gap between the wealthy
minority and the overwhelmingly ________________(59- privilege) majority on the
planet, making the effort to bridge the rift an impossibility.
Extreme poverty brings along a resounding lack of human rights and
________________(60-just), as it’s painfully obvious that the legal system everywhere on
the planet are designed to benefit the affluent rather than ensure a fair trial to all.
Part 3. For questions 61-65, write the correct form of each bracketed word in the
numbered space provided.
61. Sue was ________________(joy) to learn that she had passed her exams.
62. Stella is talking with ________________(prospect) investors to help her expand her
business.
63. His ________________(resolve) may stem from the fact that she has no clear goals for
the future.
64. The man was ________________(stow) on a medal for bravely taking a child out of
the burning house.
65. The goverment’s policy to soothe the anger among people was _______________
(chronology). It should have happened earlier.
Part 4. For questions 66-75, find and correct 10 mistakes in the passage. Write them in
the numbered boxes provided.
Stressful situations that emerge almost every day in life seem to be unavoidable. However,
we can do a little sometimes to avoid a misfortune or an unpleasant occurrence which may
befall us expectedly as only it can. At such a moment, one may hit the roof, give up to the
helplessness of the situation or, ideally, put a brave face on it trying to bear with the
burden.
Can you envision in your mind an hour spent in a traffic jam, say, this morning? Do you
light one cigarette before another? Do you sound the horn every few seconds like the other
neurotics? Or do you take a different stance and make good use of the time draw up a
schedule for the days to come?
To withstand the stressful moment you can also do a crossword puzzle, listen to your
favourite music or even compose a menu for your Saturday dinner. In fact, whatever way
you respond to the annoyed situation, you can exert no impact on it as the traffic jam will
only reduce in the due course. Nevertheless, your reaction might considerably influence
your mood for the rest of the day. The inability to confront a stressful occurrence like that
with a deal of composure and sensibility adds much more strain to your life and in this
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way puts your well-being in jeopardy. Surprisingly, it's the seemingly negligible hardships
we stumble on daily that runs double the risk of developing serious health disorders rather
than our isolated tragedies whatever painful they may be.
Given that so many of those wretched stress-inducing troubles affect us in a day, we
should, at most, try to avoid them or possibly make radical alterations in the way we lead
our daily lifestyles.
Your answers
66. 67. 68. 69. 70.
71. 72. 73. 74. 75.
III. READING (50 POINTS)
Part 1. For qestions 76-85, fill each of the following numbered blanks with ONE
suitable word and write your answers in the corresponding numbered boxes provided.
Scientists have always tried to make things better, stronger and faster. In the previous two
centuries the emphasis was 76.____________ machines; from household appliances to
reusable spacecraft. However, the progress in this century cannot be viewed
77.____________ a microscope as genetic engineering changes the world from within.
From disease-resistant crops to pigs with low-fat meat, researchers have 78.____________
numerous breakthroughs by modifying the genetic make-up of animals and plants. But
who could have 79.____________ that goats would be able to produce spider silk? Spider
silk is an amazing substance - it is five times stronger than steel, yet light
80.____________ to make protective clothing. Unfortunately, spiders cannot be farmed
because they have a 81.____________ to eat each other! However, genetic engineers have
finally 82.____________ out how to produce the protein artificially on a large scale by
creating transgenic goats. The gene for producing the silk protein was inserted into goat
embryos and when these 83.____________ adulthood, they make the protein in their milk.
Once extracted from the milk, the protein is made into a fibre almost 84.____________ to
the silk of a spider's web.
Innovations like this are incredible and seem likely to become increasingly common, but
they 85.____________ serious issues about the right of human beings to tamper with the
DNA of animals in this way.
Your answers
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.
Who says that each and every teenager spends all of his or her time inside in front of a
screen? Contrary to popular belief, many teens have taken to the great 86.____________
in search of a way to give 87.____________ to their feelings and stay fit. What are these
teens up to? Well, it is a sport called parkour. In fact, parkour is more than just a sport; it
is a training discipline, one that has its 88.____________ in common military obstacle
course training.
The 89.____________ of parkour is to get from Point A to Point B, usually
90.____________ a complex urban environment, without the assistance of any special
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equipment in the quickest way imaginable. And it does demand the use of the imagination
because the philosophy behind parkour is seeing your environment in an innovative
manner; envisioning the manner in which it can be navigated by diverse movements over
anything that might be in the way. This could mean running around 91.____________
buildings in an inner city “ghetto”; jumping over 92.___________ in busy urban streets or
climbing up, and then down, any other physical features that block the route of the
participant.
Parkour is something that requires 93.____________ and a variety of other skills – some
physical, some mental, but all incredibly challenging. One person who has mastered these
skills is Dimitris Kyrsanidis of Greece. Virtually a(n) 94.____________ success, Dimitris
took up the sport and literally 95.____________ the ground running! In a remarkable
achievement, he went from playing football on a local pitch to becoming a noted parkour
champion in the famous Red Bull Art of Motion competition by beating seventeen of the
best parkour athletes in the world.
86. A. outdoors B. suburbs C. outskirts D. downtown
87. A. way B. vent C. over D. rise
88. A. origins B. roots C. backgrounds D. bases
89. A. ambition B. dream C. record D. aim
90. A. taking up B. going up against C. knuckling downD. scraping through
91. A. bustling B. provincial C. run-of-the mill D. run-down
92. A. bungalows B. parking metersC. barristers D. junctions
93. A. felonies B. surveillance C. perseverance D. mishaps
94. A. overnight B. night-time C. nightly D. night-long
95. A. set B. hit C. had D. met
Part 3. For questions 96-108, read the following passage and do the tasks that follow.
Wheel of Fortune
Emma Duncan discusses the potential effects on the entertainment industry of the digital
revolution
A Since moving pictures were invented a century ago, a new way of distributing
entertainment to consumers has emerged about once every generation. Each such
innovation has changed the industry irreversibly; each has been accompanied by a period
of fear mixed with exhilaration. The arrival of digital technology, which translates music,
pictures and text into the zeros and ones of computer language, marks one of those
periods.
B This may sound familiar, because the digital revolution, and the explosion of choice that
would go with it, has been heralded for some time. In 1992, John Malone, chief executive
of TO, an American cable giant, welcomed the '500-channel universe'. Digital television
was about to deliver everything except pizzas to people's living rooms. When the
entertainment companies tried out the technology, it worked fine — but not at a price that
people were prepared to pay.
C Those 500 channels eventually arrived but via the Internet and the PC rather than
through television. The digital revolution was starting to affect the entertainment business
in unexpected ways. Eventually it will change every aspect of it, from the way cartoons
are made to the way films are screened to the way people buy music. That much is clear.
What nobody is sure of is how it will affect the economics of the business.
D New technologies always contain within them both threats and opportunities. They have
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the potential both to make the companies in the business a great deal richer, and to sweep
them away. Old companies always fear new technology. Hollywood was hostile to
television, television terrified by the VCR. Go back far enough, points out Hal Varian, an
economist at the University of California at Berkeley, and you find publishers
complaining that 'circulating libraries' would cannibalise their sales. Yet whenever a new
technology has come in, it has made more money for existing entertainment companies.
The proliferation of the means of distribution results, gratifyingly, in the proliferation of
dollars, pounds, pesetas and the rest to pay for it.
E All the same, there is something in the old companies' fears. New technologies may not
threaten their lives, but they usually change their role. Once television became
widespread, film and radio stopped being the staple form of entertainment. Cable
television has undermined the power of the broadcasters. And as power has shifted the
movie studios, the radio companies and the television broadcasters have been swallowed
up. These days, the grand old names of entertainment have more resonance than power.
Paramount is part of Viacom, a cable company; Universal, part of Seagram, a drinks-and-
entertainment company; MGM, once the roaring lion of Hollywood, has been reduced to a
whisper because it is not part of one of the giants. And RCA, once the most important
broadcasting company in the world, is now a recording label belonging to Bertelsmann, a
large German entertainment company.
F Part of the reason why incumbents got pushed aside was that they did not see what was
coming. But they also faced a tighter regulatory environment than the present one. In
America, laws preventing television broadcasters from owning programme companies
were repealed earlier this decade, allowing the creation of vertically integrated businesses.
Greater freedom, combined with a sense of history, prompted the smarter companies in the
entertainment business to re-invent themselves. They saw what happened to those of their
predecessors who were stuck with one form of distribution. So, these days, the powers in
the entertainment business are no longer movie studios, or television broadcasters, or
publishers; all those businesses have become part of bigger businesses still, companies
that can both create content and distribute it in a range of different ways.
G Out of all this, seven huge entertainment companies have emerged —Time Warner,
Walt Disney, Bertelsmann, Viacom, News Corp, Seagram and Sony. They cover pretty
well every bit of the entertainment business except pornography. Three are American, one
is Australian, one Canadian, one German and one Japanese. 'What you are seeing', says
Christopher Dixon, managing director of media research at PaineWebber, a stockbroker,
'is the creation of a global oligopoly. It happened to the oil and automotive businesses
earlier this century; now it is happening to the entertainment business.' It remains to be
seen whether the latest technology will weaken those great companies, or make them
stronger than ever.
Questions 96-103: Which paragraph mentions the following? Write your answers in the
96. the contrasting effects that new technology can have on existing business
97. the fact that a total transformation is going to take place in the future in the delivery of
all forms of entertainment
98. the confused feelings that people are known to have experienced in response to
technological innovation
99. the fact that some companies have learnt from the mistakes of others
100. the high cost to the consumer of new ways of distributing entertainment
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101. uncertainty regarding the financial impact of wider media access
102. the fact that some companies were the victims of strict government policy
103. the fact that the digital revolution could undermine the giant entertainment companies
Your answers
96. 97. 98. 99. 100. 101. 102. 103.

Questions 104-107:
The writer refers to various individuals and companies in the reading passage. Match
the people or companies (A-E) with the points made in Questions 104-107 about the
introduction of new technology. Write your answer in the corresponding box.
A. John Malone
B. Hal Valarian
C. MGM
D. Walt Disney
E. Christopher Dixon
104. Historically, new forms of distributing entertainment have alarmed those well-
established in the business.
105. The merger of entertainment companies follows a pattern evident in other industries.
106. Major entertainment bodies that have remained independent have lost their influence.
107. News of the most recent technological development was published some years ago.
Questions 108: Choose the appropriate letters A—D and write them in the
108. Which of the following best summarises the writer's views in the passage?
A. The public should cease resisting the introduction of new technology.
B. Digital technology will increase profits in the entertainment business.
C. Entertainment companies should adapt to technological innovation.
D. Technological change only benefits big entertainment companies.
Your answers
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.
The garden city was largely the invention of the British social visionary Ebenezer Howard
(1850-1928). After emigrating to the USA, and an unsuccessful attempt to make a living
as a farmer, he moved to Chicago, where he saw the reconstruction of the city after the
disastrous fire of 1871. In those pre-skyscraper days, it was nicknamed 'the Garden City',
almost certainly the source of Howard's name for his proposed towns. Returning to
London, Howard developed his concept in the 1880s and 1890s, drawing on notions that
were circulating at the time, but creating a unique combination of proposals.
The nineteenth-century slum city was in many ways an horrific place; but it offered
economic and social opportunities, lights and crowds. At the same time, the British
countryside - now too often seen in a sentimental glow - was in fact equally
unprepossessing: though it promised fresh air and nature, it suffered from agricultural
depression and it offered neither sufficient work and wages, nor adequate social life.
Howard's idea was to combine the best of town and country in a new kind of settlement,
the garden city.
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Howard's idea was that a group of people should establish a company, borrowing money
to establish a garden city in the countryside, far enough from existing cities to ensure that
the land was bought at rock-bottom, depressed-agricultural, land values. They should get
agreement from leading industrialists to move their factories there from the congested
cities; their workers would move too, and would build their own houses.
Garden cities would follow the same basic blueprint, with a high proportion of green
spaces, together with a central public open space, radial avenues, and peripheral industries.
They would be surrounded by a much larger area of permanent green belt, also owned by
the company, containing not merely farms, but institutions like reformatories and
convalescent homes, that could benefit from a rural location.
As more and more people moved out, the garden city would reach its planned limit -
Howard suggested 32,000 people; then, another would be started a short distance away.
Thus, over time, there would develop a vast planned agglomeration, extending almost
without limit; within it, each garden city would offer a wide range of jobs and services, but
each would also be connected to the others by a rapid transit system, thus giving all the
economic and social opportunities of a giant city.
109. Which best serves as the title for the passage?
A. The Invention of the Garden City B. Garden Cities – Why Not?
C. The Garden City Land Structure D. Garden City Movement
110. Howard's concept of garden cities was influenced by __________
A. the style in which Chicago was rebuilt. B. other people's ideas.
C. his observations of rural life. D. the life he had led.
111. The word “unprepossessing” in paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to __________.
A. unattractive B. disappointing C. demanding D. promising
112. What does the writer claim about nineteenth century life?
A. Agriculture offered more work than cities did.
B. Or balance, urban life was easier than rural life.
C. Our view of rural life is more positive than the reality.
D. Too many people moved from the countryside to cities.
113. Howard proposed that garden cities should be located __________
A. where employment opportunities already existed.B. in areas where people wished to
live. C. as far as possible from existing cities. D. where cheap land was available.
114. Garden cities were planned __________
A. to integrate institutions within the city area. B. to keep industrial activity to a minimum.
C. to be similar to each other in layout. D. to provide buildings for public gatherings.
115. The word “They” in paragraph 4 refers to __________
A. garden cities B. green spaces C. avenues D. industries
116. What is said about garden cities in the last paragraph?
A. Each one would contain a certain type of business. B. The number would continue to
rise. C. Residents would live and work in the same place. D. Each one would continue to
expand.
117. The word “agglomeration” in the last paragraph is closest in meaning to
__________.A. unit B. centre C. cluster D. castle
118. Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?
A. The movement initiated by Howard influenced the development of several model
suburbs in other countries.
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B. Howard aimed to reduce the alienation of humans and society from nature.
C. Howard arrived to Chicago just before the great fire of 1871, which heavily destroyed
the city.
D. Howard decided to emigrate to the USA after farming efforts in his homeland failed.
Your answers
109. 110. 111. 112. 113.

114. 115. 116. 117. 118.

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
WELCOME TO ECO-CITY
The world has quietly undergone a major shift in balance. According to UN estimates,
2008 marked the first year in history when more than half of the world's population lived
in cities. There are now around 3.4bn human beings stuffed into every available corner of
urban space, and more are set to follow. At a time when humanity has woken up to its
responsibility to the environment, the continuing urban swell presents an immense
challenge. In response, cities all over the world are setting themselves high targets to
reduce carbon emissions and produce clean energy. But if they don't succeed, there is
another option: building new eco-cities entirely from scratch.
119.
`Rather than just design a city in the same way we'd done it before, we can focus on how
to minimise the use of resources to show that there is a different way of doing it', says
Roger Wood, associate director at Arup. Wood is one of hundreds of people at Arup, the
engineering and architecture giant, hired by Shanghai Industrial Investment Corporation to
set out a master plan for the Dongtan eco-city.
120.
When the first demonstrator phase is complete, Dongtan will be a modest community of
5000. By 2020, that will balloon to 80,000 and in 2050, the 30km2 site will be home to
500,000. Arup says that every one of those people will be no more than seven minutes'
walk from public transport. Only electric vehicles will be allowed in the city and residents
will be discouraged from using even those because each village is planned so that the need
for motorised transport is minimal.
121.
That's a big cornerstone of Arup's design for Dongtan. The aim is that the city will require
66 percent less energy than a conventional development, with wind turbines and solar
panels complementing some 40 percent that comes from biological sources. These include
human sewage and municipal waste, both of which will be controlled for energy recovery
and composting. Meanwhile, a combined heat and power plant will burn waste rice husks.
122.
Work on Dongtan had been scheduled to begin in late 2008 with the first demonstration
phase completed by 2010. Unfortunately, problems resulting from the complicated
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planning procedures in China have led to setbacks. Dongtan's rival project in Abu Dhabi
has suffered no such hold-ups. Engineers broke ground on the Masdar eco-city in March
2008. Although it will take a different approach in terms of design, like Dongtan, the city
is planned to be a zero-carbon, uber-efficient showcase for sustainable living.
123.
In the blistering desert of the Gulf state, where it's almost too hot to venture outdoors for
three or four months of the year, the big question for Masdar is how to keep cool without
turning on the air-conditioning. In this equation, insulation and ventilation suddenly
become more important than the performance of solar panels. To maximise shade, I the
city's streets are packed closely together, with limits of four or five storeys set on the
height of most buildings.
124.
The other major design feature for Masdar is that the whole city is raised on a deck. The
pedestrian level will be free of vehicles and much of the noisy maintenance that you see in
modern cities. Cars are banned from Masdar entirely, while an underground network of
`podcars' ferries people around the city.
125.
Given that this concern is legitimate, developers of both cities would do well to
incorporate both a range of housing and jobs to make them inclusive to everyone. This
will be difficult, obviously, but then just about everything is difficult when you're
completely reinventing the way we build and live in a metropolis. And supposing these
sustainable and super-efficient cities are successful, could they even usher in a new world
order?
A. The city will be built on a corner of Chongming Island in the mouth of the Yangtze
River. It will be made up of three interlinked, mixed-use villages, built one after the other.
Each will combine homes, businesses and recreation, and a bridge and tunnel link will
connect the population with Shanghai on the mainland.
B. The skin of each building will be crucial. Thick concrete would only soak up heat and
release it slowly, so instead engineers will use thin walls that react quickly to the sun. A
thin metal layer on the outside will help to reflect heat and stop it from penetrating the
building. Density is also critical for Masdar. The city is arranged in a definite square with
a walled border. Beyond this perimeter, fields of solar panels, a wind farm and a
desalination plant will provide clean energy and water, and act as a barrier to prevent
further sprawl.
C. 'If you plan your development so people can live, work and shop very locally, you can
quite significantly reduce the amount of energy that's being used', Wood says. `Then, not
only have you made the situation easier because you've reduced the energy demand, but it
also means that producing it from renewable sources becomes easier because you don't
have to produce quite as much'.
D. Arup's integrated, holistic approach to city planning goes further still. Leftover heat
from the power plant will be channelled to homes and businesses. Buildings can be made
of thinner materials because the electric cars on the road will be quiet, so there's less noise
to drown out. Dongtan will initially see an 83 per cent reduction in waste sent to landfill
compared to other cities, with the aim to reduce that to nothing over time. And more than
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60 per cent of the whole site will be parks and farmland, where food is grown to feed the
population.
E. Developers at Masdar and Dongtan are adamant that each city will be somewhere that
people want to live. Critics do not question this but they do, nevertheless, wonder if these
cities will be realistic places for people on a low income. They say that it would be easy
for places like these to become a St Tropez or a Hamptons, where only rich people live.
F. Funded by a 12bn (euro) investment from the government in Abu Dhabi, it has not
passed the attention of many observers that Masdar is being built by one of the world's
largest and most profitable producers of oil. Even so, under the guidance of architects as
Foster and Partners, the city is just as ambitious as its Chinese counterpart and also hinges
on being able to run on low power.
G. Since cars and other petrol-based vehicles are banned from the city, occupants will
share a network of ‘podcars' to get around. The 'personal rapid transit system' will
comprise 2500 driverless, electric vehicles that make 150,000 trips a day by following
sensors along a track beneath the pedestrian deck. Up to six passengers will ride in each
pod: they just hop in at one of 83 stations around the city and tap in their destination.
H. Incredibly, this is already happening. Two rival developments, one in China and one in
the United Arab Emirates, are progressing in tandem. Work on Masdar, 17km from Abu
Dhabi, began in 2008, while Dongtan, near Shanghai, will eventually be home to half a
million people. The aim for both is to build sustainable, zero-carbon communities that
showcase green technology and demonstrate what smart urban planning can achieve in the
21st century.
Your answers
119. 120. 121. 122. 123. 124. 125.
IV. WRITING (50 points) Part 1. Rewrite the following sentences using the words
126. Roger is now responsible for the whole sales department. (CHARGE)
Roger___________________________________________________________________
127. Time is precious, so can we please hurry? (SHORT)
We_____________________________________________________________________
128. In all likelihood, the board of directors will choose Derek rather than Neil. (CHANCES)
The_____________________________________________________________________
129. You must make sure this never happens again or there will be trouble. (SEE)
Please___________________________________________________________________
130. Ray’s good work record enabled him to get promotion. (STRENGTH)
Ray_____________________________________________________________________

Part 2. The graph below shows the amounts of waste produced by three companies over
a period of 15 years. 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:
These days people in some countries are living in a “throw-away” society which means
people use things in a short time the throw them away. What are the causes and
negative effects of this trend?

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