Đề luyện thi Chuyên Anh - Test 1

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I. LEXICO - GRAMMAR:

Choose the correct answer A, B, C, or D that best completes these following sentences:

1. I was bitterly disappointed because I had been ___________ in the back by my besties, leading to
hesitation to make new friends.

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A. sneaked B. hit C. stabbed D. bashed

2. If you want to be more knowledgeable about politics, you need to come to see Mark, who is such a

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political __________ that the authorities need his advice before they make up their mind to do anything.

A. pundit B. accompanist C. clairvoyant D. erudition

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3. __________ from power, the market would never collapse.

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A. Had the president been laid off

C. Should the president be dismissed

B. Should the president be laid off

D. Had the president been removed

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4. It has been __________ all month, leading to the dark sky! I believe that if this keeps happening, the
whole world could absolutely be engulfed by darkness. So, can you save the world by smiling?
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A. tipping down B. tipping off C. tipping over D. tipping out

5, He had to admit that he had gone bankrupt at the age of 50. Nevertheless, everyone still admires him for
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his ceaseless effort thrown into his successful turning a/an __________ boy into a phenomenal one.

A. ins-and-out B. out-and-down C. down-and-out D. out-and-out

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6. Be careful with what you say when you are in a relationship. If your break-ups have been __________
when you have a short fuse, somedays it can be true.
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A. barged in B. bandied about C. bumped up D. come by

7. The law stipulates that if a driver __________ , he or she must not have been allowed to drive.
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A. is drunk B. get slaughtered C. was battered D. has been intoxicated

8. I prefer having my bone broken one by one __________ your tears falling on the ground. As my body may
be repaired but your heart never again.

A. to see B. than see C. than seeing D. to seeing

9. It is so __________ that people can only be in one place at a time because you are both in my heart and
my mind.

A. fallacious a statement B. fallacious statement

C. a statement D. statement

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 10. I detest pricking the __________ that you were dismissed from that position on account of your laziness.

A. jelly B. bubble C. cheese D. biscuit

11. The nearby shop in our town has sold a lot of old stock in order to __________ the decks for the new
collection.

A. cleanse B. clean C. clear D. cleave

12. Fortunately, everything’s coming up __________ ; otherwise, we have to use a back-up plan.

A. roses B. blossoms C. flowers D. lily

13. He made up a/an __________ excuse for cheating on his girlfriend that it registered with her.

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A. desultory B. flaccid C. feeble D. airy-fairy

14. At the bottom of the ocean __________ .

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A. did the titanic lay B. lay the titanic

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C. lied the titanic D. did the titanic lie

15. We need somewhere to relax, so we’re __________ the idea of paying a visit to Paris.

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A. toying with B. faffing around C. planning on D. build around
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16. I had a __________ feeling that my family was going to do something stupid that could destroy our lives.

A. bad B. floating C. sinking D. mixed

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17. __________ , she doesn’t like him by virtue of her relish for the bad one who pretends to be thoughtless
and inconsiderate.
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A. Much as considerate is he B. As kind he is

C. Complaisant though he is D. Though thoughtful he is

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18. __________ in the billionaire’s house in order to steal some precious jewelry, the robber was charged
with murder, leading to citizen’s belief that the owner colluded with the judge.
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A. Being breaking B. Because of breaking

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C. Though having broken D. Having been breaking

19. __________ some wild beasts, a lot of animals attack him.

A. Having provoked B. Provoking

C. Being provoking D. His provoking

20. Because of the outbreak of the flu in our neighborhood, we need to __________ the hatches in order to
deal with it.

A. batten down B. bury C. break D. save

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 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20.

II. WORD FORMATION:

Fill in the gaps with the correct form of the verbs in brackets:

21. It is galling to get out of bed at some ________________ hour in the morning to prepare a meal.

(GOD)

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22. David is such an annoying ________________ that he always tells me about his score which ranges from
9 to 9.8 while I believe that mine never surpasses 8.5, let alone 9. (WART)

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23. With a view to ________________ support to the start-up of his friends, James invested a large amount
of money in his friends’ company. (FIRM)

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24. I’m wondering why a ________________ who betrayed their friends or their soulmate can live without
feeling guilty. (COAT)

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25. I am tired of being responsible for the most challenging class in our school containing students who have
an ________________ attitude, and they are regarded as stubborn, bullheaded and aggressive. (GENTLE)
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26. Our company has encountered an expensive ________________ in the secret formula accidentally
caught by the opposite. (ADVENT)
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27. The onus is on John to count one third of ballot papers; therefore, he could make ________________ into
the system of voting. (ROAD)
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28. To suppress her ________________, Bella decided not to meet her boyfriend anymore because of his
thoughtlessness. (FIT)
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29. In light of the recent scandal, the tiktoker was predicted to live the rest of his life in ________________.

(FAME)
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30. The reviewing sector in e-commerce such as shopee or lazada is designed to be_________because some
people do it in want of gaining coin. (FUNCTION)
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21. 26.

22. 27.

23. 28.

24. 29.

25. 30.

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 III. READING:

Part 1: Choose the correct answer A, B, C, or D to fill in the gaps in this following passage:

Cruising at a depth of 8,336 meters (over 27,000 feet) just above the seabed, a young snailfish has
become the deepest fish ever (31) ___________ by scientists during a (32) ___________ into the abyss
of the northern Pacific Ocean.

Scientists from University of Western Australia and Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology
released footage of the snailfish on Sunday filmed last September by sea robots in deep trenches off Japan.

Along with the filming the deepest snailfish, the scientists physically caught two other (33) ___________
at 8,022 meters and set another record for the deepest catch.

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Previously, the deepest snailfish ever (34) ___________ was at 7,703 meters in 2008, while scientists had
never been able to collect fish from anywhere (35) ___________ 8,000 meters.

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“What is significant is that it shows how far a particular type of fish will (36) ___________ in the ocean,”
said marine biologist Alan Jamieson, founder of the Minderoo-UWA Deep Sea Research Centre, who led the

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(37) ___________.

During the two-month survey last year, three “landers” – automatic sea robots fitted with high-resolution

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cameras – were dropped into three trenches – the Japan, Izu-Ogasawara and Ryukyu trenches – at varying
depths.
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In the Izu-Ogasawara trench, footage showed the deepest snailfish (38) ___________ calmly alongside
other crustaceans on the seabed.
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Jamieson classified the fish as a (39) ___________ and said younger deep sea snailfish often stay as deep
as possible to avoid being eaten by bigger predators that swim at shallower depths.
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Another clip shot at between 7,500 and 8,200 meters in the same trench showed a (40) ___________ of
fish and crustaceans munching at bait tied to an undersea robot.
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31. A. explored B. filmed C. acknowledged D. unveiled

32. A. probe B. sneak C. dive D. scour

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33. A. such B. specimens C. subjects D. aquatics

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34. A. discovered B. captured C. tracked D. spotted

35. A. below B. under C. among D. above

36. A. cascade B. ascend C. descend D. plummet

37. A. cruise B. submarine C. expedition D. way

38. A. levitating B. hovering C. floating D. swooping

39. A. juvenile B. newborn C. offspring D. adolescent

40. A. herd B. flock C. fleet D. colony

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 31. 32. 33. 34. 35.

36. 37. 38. 39. 40.

Part 2: Fill in each gaps below with only ONE word:

There has been a lot of research over the decades that has shown children of single parents report
more family distress and conflict and live at a lower socioeconomic (41) ___________ compared to those
growing up in two-parent (42) ___________. Two-parent families usually have more income and are
generally able to provide more emotional resources to children, and that’s also a reflection of how (43)
___________ the United States in (44) ___________ does to support working mothers with parental paid

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leave and access to more health services and quality education.

And of course, it’s difficult to (45) ___________ single parenting outcomes to hypothetical alternatives.

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For many, a single mom can create a much safer or more stable environment than living with an abusive
parent and spouse. (46) ___________ growing up in an unhappy marriage has an effect on children.

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A 2017 study, however, looked at the (47) ___________-term effects of single parenthood on kids and
found that it had nearly no impact on their general life satisfaction. The authors also found no evidence

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“supporting the widely held notion from popular science that boys are more affected than girls by the (48)
___________ of their fathers.” What mattered most in terms of thriving, they concluded, consisted (49)
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___________ the quality and strength of the (50) ___________ between children and parents.

41. 46.
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42. 47.

43. 48.
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44. 49.

45. 50.
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Part 3: Read the passage carefully and answer questions from 51 to 60:

GRIMM’S FAIRY TALES

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The Brothers Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm, named their story collection Children’s and Household Tales and
published the first of its seven editions in Germany in 1812. The table of contents reads like an A-list of fairy-tale
celebrities: Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, Rumpelstiltskin, Hansel and
Gretel, the Frog King. Drawn mostly from oral narratives, the 210 stories in die Grimm’s’ collection represent an
anthology of fairy tales, animal fables, rustic farces, and religious allegories that remain unrivalled to this day.

Such lasting fame would have shocked the humble Grimms. During their lifetimes the collection sold modestly in
Germany, at first only a few hundred copies a year. The early editions were not even aimed at children. The brothers
initially refused to consider illustrations, and scholarly footnotes took up almost as much space as the tales themselves.
Jacob and Wilhelm viewed themselves as patriotic folklorists, not as entertainers of children. They began their work at a
time when Germany had been overrun by the French under Napoleon, who was intent on suppressing local culture. As
young, workaholic scholars, single and sharing a cramped flat, the Brothers Grimm undertook the fairy-tale collection
with the goal of serving the endangered oral tradition of Germany.

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 For much of the 19th century teachers, parents, and religious figures, particularly in the United States, deplored the
Grimms’ collection for its raw, uncivilized content. Offended adults objected to the gruesome punishments inflicted on
the stories’ villains. In the original “Snow White” the evil stepmother is forced to dance in red-hot iron shoes until she
falls down dead. Even today some protective parents shy from the Grimms’ tales because of their reputation for
violence.

Despite its sometimes rocky reception, Children’s and Household Tales gradually took root with the public. The
brothers had not foreseen that the appearance of their work would coincide with a great flowering of children’s literature
in Europe. English publishers led the way, issuing high-quality picture books such as Jack and the Beanstalk and
handsome folktale collections, all to satisfy a newly literate audience seeking virtuous material for the nursery. Once the
Brothers Grimm sighted this new public, they set about refining and softening their tales, which had originated centuries
earlier as earthy peasant fare. In the Grimms’ hands, cruel mothers became nasty stepmothers, unmarried lovers were
made chaste, and the incestuous father was recast as the devil.

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In the 20th century the Grimms’ fairy tales have come to rule the bookshelves of children’s bedrooms. The stories read
like dreams come true: handsome lads and beautiful damsels, armed with magic, triumph over giants and witches and
wild beasts. They outwit mean, selfish adults. Inevitably the boy and girl fall in love and live happily ever after. And

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parents keep reading because they approve of the finger-wagging lessons inserted into the stories: keep your promises,
don’t talk to strangers, work hard, obey your parents. According to the Grimms, the collection served as “a manual of
manners”.

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Altogether some 40 persons delivered tales to the Grimms. Many of the storytellers came to the Grimms’ house in
Kassel. The brothers particularly welcomed the visits of Dorothea Viehmann, a widow who walked to town to sell

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produce from her garden. An innkeeper's daughter, Viehmann had grown up listening to stories from travellers on the
road to Frankfurt. Among her treasures was “Aschenputtel” -Cinderella. Marie Hassenpflug was a 20-year-old friend of
their sister, Charlotte, from a well-bred, French-speaking family. Marie’s wonderful stories blended motifs from the oral
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tradition and from Perrault’s influential 1697 book, Tales of My Mother Goose, which contained elaborate versions of
“Little Red Riding Hood”, “Snow White”, and “Sleeping Beauty”, among others. Many of these had been adapted from
earlier Italian tales.
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Given that the origins of many of the Grimm fairy tales reach throughout Europe and into the Middle East and Orient,
the question must be asked: How German are the Grimm tales? Very, says scholar Heinz Rolleke. Love of the underdog,
rustic simplicity, creative energy—these are Teutonic traits. The coarse texture of life during medieval times in
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Germany, when many of the tales entered the oral tradition, also coloured the narratives. Throughout Europe, children
were often neglected and abandoned, like Hansel and Gretel. Accused witches were burned at the stake, like the evil
mother-in-law in “The Six Swans”. “The cruelty in the stories was not the Grimm’s fantasy”, Rolleke points out” It
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reflected the law-and-order system of the old times”.

The editorial fingerprints left by the Grimms betray the specific values of 19th-century Christian, bourgeois German
society. But that has not stopped the tales from being embraced by almost every culture and nationality in the world.
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What accounts for this widespread, enduring popularity? Bernhard Lauer points to the “universal style” of the writing,
you have no concrete descriptions of the land, or the clothes, or the forest, or the castles. It makes the stories timeless
and placeless,” The tales allow us to express ‘our utopian longings’,” says Jack Zipes of the University of Minnesota,
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whose 1987 translation of the complete fairy tales captures the rustic vigour of the original text. They show a striving
for happiness that none of us knows but that we sense is possible. We can identify with the heroes of the tales and
become in our mind the masters and mistresses of our own destinies.”

Fairy tales provide a workout for the unconscious, psychoanalysts maintain. Bruno Bettelheim famously promoted the
therapeutic of the Grimms’ stories, calling fairy tales the “great comforters. By confronting fears and phobias,
symbolized by witches, heartless stepmothers, and hungry wolves, children find they can master their anxieties.
Bettelheim’s theory continues to be hotly debated. But most young readers aren’t interested in exercising their
unconsciousness. The Grimm tales, in fact, please in an infinite number of ways, something about them seems to mirror
whatever moods or interests we bring to our reading of them. The flexibility of interpretation suits them for almost any
time and any culture.

Resource: Mini-Ielts.com

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 QUESTIONS 51 - 56: Do the following statements agree with the information given in the Reading
Passage? Write:

YES if the statement is true

NO if the statement is false

NOT GIVEN if the information is not given in the passage

51. The Grimm brothers believed they would achieve international fame.

52. The Grimm brothers were forced to work in secret.

53. Some parents today still think Grimm fairy tales are not suitable for children.

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54. The first edition of Grimm’s fairy tales sold more widely in England than in Germany.

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55. Adults like reading Grimm’s fairy tales for reasons different from those of children.

56. The Grimm brothers based the story “Cinderella” on the life of Dorothea Viehmann.

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51.

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QUESTIONS 57 - 60: Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.
57. In paragraph 4, what changes happened at that time in Europe?
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A. Literacy levels of the population increased.

B. The development of printing technology made it easier to publish.

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C. Schools were open to children.

D. People were fond of collecting superb picture books.

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58. What changes did the Grimm Brothers make in later editions?

A. They made the stories shorter.

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B. They used more oral language.

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C. The content of the tales became less violent.

D. They found other origins of the tales.

59. What does “they” in the fifth paragraph refer to?

A. The Grimms’ fairy tales.

B. The finger-wagging lessons inserted in Grimms’ stories.

C. The empowered handsome lads and beautiful damsels.

D. The kind, beautiful characters in Grimms’ fairy tales.

59. What did Marie Hassenpflug contribute to the Grimm’s Fairy tales?

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 A. She wrote stories.

B. She discussed the stories with them.

C. She translated a popular book for the brothers using her talent for languages.

D. She told the oral stories that were based on traditional Italian stories.

57. 58. 59. 60.

Part 4: Match the appropriate paragraph A - F that contains the information in questions 61 - 66. You
may use any letter more than once:

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THE EXPLORATION OF MARS
A. In 1877, Giovanni Schiaparelli, an Italian astronomer, made drawings and maps of the Martian surface that
suggested strange features. The images from telescopes at this time were not as sharp as today’s. Schiaparelli said he

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could see a network of lines, or canali. In 1894, an American astronomer, Percival Lowell, made a series of
observations of Mars from his own observations of Mars from his own observatory at Flagstaff, Arizona, USA. Lowell
was convinced a great network of canals had been dug to irrigate crops for the Martian race! He suggested that each

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canal had fertile vegetation on either side, making them noticeable from Earth. Drawings and globes he made show a
network of canals and oases all over the planet.

B.
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The idea that there was intelligent life on Mars gained strength in the late 19th century. In 1898, H.G. Wells
wrote a science fiction classic, The War of the Worlds about an invading force of Martians who try to conquer Earth.
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They use highly advanced technology (advanced for 1898) to crush human resistance in their path. In 1917, Edgar Rice
Burroughs wrote the first in a series of 11 novels about Mars. Strange beings and rampaging Martian monsters gripped
the public’s imagination. A radio broadcast by Orson Welles on Halloween night in 1938 of The War of the Worlds
caused widespread panic across America. People ran into the streets in their pyjamas-millions believed the dramatic
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reports of a Martian invasion.

C. Probes are very important to our understanding of other planets. Much of our recent knowledge comes from
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these robotic missions into space. The first images sent back from Mars came from Mariner 4 in July 1965. They
showed a cratered and barren landscape, more like the surface of our moon than Earth. In 1969, Mariners 6 and 7 were
launched and took 200 photographs of Mars’s southern hemisphere and pole on fly-by missions. But these showed little
more information. In 1971, Mariner 9’s mission was to orbit the planet every 12 hours. In 1975, The USA sent two
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Viking probes to the planet, each with a lander and an orbiter. The Landers had sampler arms to scoop up Maritain rocks
and did experiments to try and find signs of life. Although no life was found, they sent back the first colour pictures of
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the planet’s surface and atmosphere from pivoting cameras.

D. The Martian meteorite found in Earth aroused doubts to the above analysis. The ALH84001 meteorite was
discovered in December 1984 in Antarctica, by members of the ANSMET project; The sample was ejected from Mars
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about 17 million years ago and spent 11,000 years in or on the Antarctic ice sheets. Composition analysis by NASA
revealed a kind of magnetite that on Earth, is only found in association with certain microorganisms. Some structures
resembling the mineralized casts of terrestrial bacteria and their appendages, fibrils or by-products occur in the rims of
carbonate globules and pre-terrestrial aqueous alteration regions. The size and shape of the objects is consistent with
Earthly fossilized nanobacteria but the existence of nanobacteria itself is still controversial.

E. In 1965, the Mariner 4 probe discovered that Mars had no global magnetic field that would protect the planet
from potentially life-threatening cosmic radiation and solar radiation; observations made in the late 1990s by the Mars
Global Surveyor confirmed this discovery. Scientists speculate that the lack of magnetic shielding helped the solar wind
blow away much of Mars’s atmosphere over the course of several billion years. After mapping cosmic radiation levels
at various depths on Mars, researchers have concluded that any life within the first several meters of the planet’s surface
would be killed by lethal doses of cosmic radiation. In 2007, it was calculated that DNA and RNA damage by cosmic
radiation would limit life on Mars to depths greater than 7.5 metres below the planet’s surface. Therefore, the best
potential locations for discovering life on Mars may be at subsurface environments that have not been studied yet.

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 Disappearance of the magnetic field may have played a significant role in the process of Martian climate change.
According to the valuation of the scientists, the climate of Mars gradually transits from warm and wet to cold and dry
after the magnetic field vanished.

F. NASA’s recent missions have focused on another question: whether Mars held lakes or oceans of liquid water
on its surface in the ancient past. Scientists have found hematite, a mineral that forms in the presence of water. Thus, the
mission of the Mars Exploration Rovers of 2004 was not to look for present or past life, but for evidence of liquid water
on the surface of Mars in the planet’s ancient past. Liquid water, necessary for Earth life and for metabolism as
generally conducted by species on Earth, cannot exist on the surface of Mars under its present low atmospheric pressure
and temperature, except at the lowest shaded elevations for short periods and liquid water does not appear at the surface
itself. In March 2004, NASA announced that its rover Opportunity had discovered evidence that Mars was, in the
ancient past, a wet planet. This had raised hopes that evidence of past life might be found on the planet today. ESA

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confirmed that the Mars Express orbiter had directly detected huge reserves of water ice at Mars’ south pole in January
2004.

G. Researchers from the Center of Astrobiology (Spain) and the Catholic University of the North in Chile have

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found an ‘oasis’ of microorganisms two meters below the surface of the Atacama Desert, SOLID, a detector for signs of
life which could be used in environments similar to subsoil on Mars. “We have named it a ‘microbial oasis’ because we
found microorganisms developing in a habitat that was rich in rock salt and other highly hygroscopic compounds that

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absorb water” explained Victor Parro, researcher from the Center of Astrobiology in Spain. “If there are similar
microbes on Mars or remains in similar conditions to the ones we have found in Atacama, we could detect them with

H.
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instruments like SOLID” Parro highlighted.

Even more intriguing, however, is the alternative scenario by Spanish scientists: If those samples could be
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found to use DNA, as Earthly life does, as their genetic code. It is extremely unlikely that such a highly specialised,
complex molecule like DNA could have evolved separately on the two planets, indicating that there must be a common
origin for Martian and Earthly life. Life based on DNA first appeared on Mars and then spread to Earth, where it then
evolved into the myriad forms of plants and creatures that exist today. If this was found to be the case, we would have to
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face the logical conclusion: we are all Martian. If not, we would continue to search for signs of life.

Source: Mini-Ielts.com
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61. Martian evidence on Earth

62. Mars and Earth may share the same life origin
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63. certain agricultural construction was depicted specifically

64. the project which aims to identify life under similar condition of Mars
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65. Mars had experienced terrifying climate transformation

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66. Attempts in scientific investigation to find liquid water

61. 62. 63. 64. 65. 66.

Part 5: Read the passage carèully and choose the correct answers A, B, C, or D for these following
questions:

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 AN AWFULLY BIG ADVENTURE
The Taklamakan Desert in western China is one of the
last unexplored places on Earth. It is also one of the
most dangerous. Charles Blackmore crossed it, and
lived to tell the tale. There are very few big adventures
left and very few heroes. Children’s stories used to
specialise in them - courageous explorers with
sunburnt, leathery skin and eyes narrowed by straining
to see into far horizons on their journeys into the
unknown. These days you no longer find such people
in fiction, let alone in real life. Or so I thought until I
met Charles Blackmore.
own endurance and the camels had gone without water
for seven days, we managed to find some. We didn’t
experience the Taklamakan’s legendary sandstorms.
And we never hit the raw, biting desert cold that would
have totally immobilised us. That’s not to say that we
weren’t fighting against hurdles the whole time. The
fine sand got into everything, especially blisters and
wounds. The high dunes were torture to climb, for us
and for the heavily laden camels, which often rolled
over onto us.
‘What drove me on more than anything else was the

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Blackmore’s great adventure consisted of leading an need to survive. We had no contingency plan. Neither
expedition across one of the last unexplored places on our budget nor time allowed one. No aircraft ever flew
earth, the Taklamakan Desert in western China. Its over us. Once we got into the sandhills we were

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name means ‘once entered you never come out’, but completely on our own.
local people call it the Desert of Death. He recalled the
I knew I had the mental stamina for the trip but I was
dangers and exhilaration of that amazing trek, in the
very scared of my physical ability to do it. I remember

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calm atmosphere of his family home.
day one - we sat at the edge of the desert and it was
The team he led was composed of four Britons (one of such an inferno that you couldn’t breathe. I thought,

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them the party’s medical officer), an American
photographer, four Chinese (all experts on the area), 30
camels and six camel handlers. It later turned out that
“We’ve got to do it now!” At that moment I was a very
scared man.’
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If it was like that at the beginning, how did they feel
the camel handlers had never worked with camels
towards the end? ‘When you’ve walked for 1,000
before, but were long-distance lorry drivers: a
kilometres you’re not going to duck out. You’ve
misunderstanding that could have cost everyone their
endured so much; you’ve got so much behind you. We
lives and certainly jeopardised the expedition’s
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were very thin, but very muscular and sinewy despite

success. This mixed bunch set out to cross 1,200
our physical exhaustion. My body was well-toned and
kilometres of the world’s least hospitable desert and
my legs were like pistons. I could walk over anything.’
Charles Blackmore has written a mesmerising account
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of their journey. Midway through the book, Blackmore went on to

describe lying in the desert gazing up at a full moon,
At the time, he was about to leave the Army after 14
thinking of his family. How conscious was he of the
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happy years. He launched the expedition for fun, to fill

ordeal it must have been for them? ‘Inside me there’s
a gap in his life, to prove something. ‘I had always
someone trying to find peace with himself. When I
assumed I’d spend my whole life in the Army. I had
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have doubts about myself now, I go back to the image

been offered a promotion but suddenly I felt I wanted
of the desert and think, well, we managed to pull that
to see who Charles Blackmore really was, outside all
together. As a personal achievement, I feel prouder of
that. It was a tremendous gamble. Tina, my wife, was
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that expedition than of anything else I’ve done. Yet in

very worried that I wouldn’t come back as nobody had
terms of a lifetime’s achievement, I think of my family
ever done that route; we went into it blind. In the event,
and the happiness we share - against that yardstick, the
it took 59 days to cross from west to east, and the
desert does not measure up, does not compare.’
desert was very kind to us.’
Has Charles Blackmore found peace? ‘I yearn for the
Anyone reading his extraordinary account of that
challenge - for the open spaces - the resolve of it all.
crossing will wonder at the use of the word ‘kind’. The
We were buoyed up by the sense of purpose. I find it
team suffered unspeakable hardships: dysentery;
difficult now to be part of the uniformity of modern
extremes of temperature; severe thirst and dehydration;
life.’
the loss of part of their precious water supply. ‘But’,
Blackmore explains, ‘when we were at the limits of our

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 67. Meeting Charles Blackmore changed the writer’s opinion about:

A. the content of children’s fiction.

B. the nature of desert exploration.

C. the existence of traditional heroes.

D. the activities of explorers.

68. When the expedition members set off, some of the group:

A. posed an unexpected risk.

B. disagreed with each other.

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C. were doubtful of success.

D. went on ahead of the others.

rn
69. Blackmore had decided to set up the expedition because

A. he was certain he could complete it.

co
B. he wanted to write a book.

le
C. his aims in life had changed.

D. his self-confidence was low.

litt
70. Which of the following best describes the team’s experience of the desert?

A. They were not able to have enough rest.

hs

B. It presented continual difficulties.

C. They sometimes could not make any progress at all.

an

D. It was worse than they had expected.

71. Which of the following did Blackmore experience during the trip?
en

A. frustration at the lack of funding

uy

B. regret about the lack of planning

C. realisation that they would receive no help

Ch

D. fear that he would let his companions down

72. According to Blackmore, what enabled him to finish the expedition?

A. his strength of will

B. his physical preparation

C. his closeness to his family

D. his understanding of the desert

73. How does Blackmore feel now that the expedition is over?

A. tired but pleased to be home

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 B. regretful about his family’s distress

C. unsure of his ability to repeat it

D. unsettled by the experience

67. 68. 69. 70. 71. 72. 73.

IV. SENTENCE TRANSFORMATION:

Rewrite these followings using the given words in brackets without changing their meanings:

er
74. Whatever you say, he will raise a question and argue about such nonsense. (TOSS)

→ It doesn’t matter ______________________________________________________________________.

rn
75. Much as durian tastes delicious, some people feel slightly ill when eating it. (AGREE)

→ Delicious ____________________________________________________________________________.

co
76. If James hadn’t given the victim an amplitude of money, he would be sued for hitting people, which

le
throttled the process of his presidential election. (ANTED)

→ By not being thrown ___________________________________________________________________.

litt
77. It was not right for you to criticize your deskmate for not letting you copy in the final-semester exam.
(BEHOOVED)
hs

→ It _______________________________________________________________________________.

78. Recent evidence has challenged a question to the accused’s authenticity because of the inconsistency in
an

his version of events and the witness’s deposition. (ACCORD)

→ Recent evidence has cast _______________________________________________________________.

en

79. In spite of the most run-down building in this city, a married couple still wasted a million dollars on it.
(DRAIN)
uy

→ Regardless of an apology _______________________________________________________________.

80. It was such a complicated issue that I found it hard to understand it. (MIND)
Ch

→ So _________________________________________________________________________________.

81. That the stock price simultaneously drops leads to Jack’s nervousness. (JANGLES)

→ By _________________________________________________________________________________.

82. If she continues to behave like that, it will gradually destroy her relationship with everyone. (GAWN)

→ Should ______________________________________________________________________________.

83. I never cheat on my beloved in any circumstances.(DRAW)

→ I ___________________________________________________________________________________.

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 Keys
I. LEXICO - GRAMMAR: III. READING: Part 3:
51. NO
1. C Part 1: 52. NOT GIVEN
2. A 31. B 53. YES
3. D 32. A 54. NOT GIVEN
4. A 33. B 55. YES
5. C 34. D 56. NO
6. B 35. A 57. A
7. B 36. C 58. C
8. D 37. C 59. C
9. A 38. B

er
60. D
10. B 39. A
11. C 40. D Part 4:

rn
12. A 61. D
13. C Part 2: 62. H
14. B 41. status 63. A

co
15. A 42. households 64. G
16. C 43. little 65. E
17. C 44. general 66. F
18. C
19. D
le 45. compare
46. Just Part 5:
litt
20. A 47. long 67. C
48. absence 68. A
II. WORD-FORMATION: 49. in 69. C
21. ungodly 50. relationship 70. B
22. worrywart
hs

71. C
23. reaffirming 72. A
24. turncoat 73. D
25. intransigent
an

26. misadventure
27. inroads
28. discomfiture
en

29. infamy
30. perfunctory
uy

IV. SENTENCE TRANSFORMATION:

Ch

74. …what you say, he will raise a question and argue the toss.
75. …as/though durian is, it does not agree with some people when they eat it.
76. …thrown a spanner in the works of his presidential election, James anted up an amplitude of money in order not to
be sued for hitting people.
77. … ill behooved you to criticize your deskmate for not letting you copy.
78. … doubt on the accused’s authenticity because his version of events didn’t accord with/wasn’t in accord with the
witness’s deposition.
79. … for a building in this city, a married couple still spent a million dollars down the drain on it.
80. … complicated was the issue that I found it hard to get my mind around it.
8.1 … dint/reason/courtesy of the simultaneous stock price drops, it (definitely) jangles Jack nerves.
82. … she continue to behave like that, it will gawn away at her relationship with everyone
83. … draw the line at cheating on my beloved.

13