SỞ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO ĐỀ THI LẬP ĐỘI TUYỂN DỰ THI CHỌN HỌC SINH GIỎI

HƯNG YÊN CẤP QUỐC GIA LỚP 12 THPT NĂM HỌC 2019 – 2020
Môn thi: Tiếng Anh
ĐỀ CHÍNH THỨC
Thời gian: 180 phút (không kể thời gian giao đề)
Ngày thi thứ nhất – Ngày 28 tháng 8 năm 2019

Đề thi có 21 trang
 Thí sinh không được sử dụng tài liệu và từ điển.
SECTION 1: LISTENING (5 points)
There are 4 parts in this section. Each part will be played TWICE.
Part 1. You are going to listen to a conversation between a woman wanting to find
a job and an agent in a Recruitment Agency. For questions from 1 to 10, fill in
each blank with NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER from
the recording. Write your answers in the corresponding numbered spaces
provided below. You are going to listen TWICE.

EMPLOYEE RECORD
Surname: Thompson
Email: (1) ________________ @haught.net
Employer Reference: Name: Jane Foot
Job: (2) ________________ at Bermuda Girls’ School
Character Reference: Name: Monica Carmody
Relationship: (3) ________________ since 1991
Main occupation: (4)________________
Additional qualifications: Diploma in (5)________________
Can also teach: History to (6)________________

VACANCIES
Temporary Teaching Positions
Location Name Duration Notes
With a view to making
City centre La Salle 6-month contract position
(7)________________
Chelsea Teacher absent on
Near Chelsea (8)_______________
Free School (9)________________

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 Teacher absent on
(10)______________ Cambridge 6 weeks
extended sick leave
Your answers:

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

Part 2. Listen to a radio discussion between two authors called Mark Shaw and
Diana Abel about a book on laughter by Robert Provine. For questions 11-15,
choose the best answer which fits best according to what you hear. Write your
answers in the corresponding numbered spaces provided below. You are going to
listen TWICE.

11. According to Mark Shaw, the idea that the main motivation for laughter is not
humor
A. is hard for people to understand.
B. needs further investigation.
C. is now widely accepted.
D. contradicts findings in other studies.
12. What surprised Diana Abel about differences in laughter between men and
women?
A. The greater frequency of women’s laughter
B. The different roles of laughter in relationships between sexes
C. The difficulties faced by female comedians
D. Women place greater value on laughter
13. How has both speakers’ attitude to laughter changed after reading the book?
A. They find themselves more inclined to laugh
B. They are more conscious of their own laughter
C. They are more aware of people’s reasons for laughing
D. They find other people’s laughter strange
14. Mark and Diana would both have liked more information on
A. Different kinds of humor.
B. The origins of laughter.
C. The negative aspects of laughter
D. The physical effects of laughter
15. Why does Mark think the book will appeal to a non-academic audience?
A. It is written in lively, conversational style
B. It will teach people about relationships
C. It contains fascinating stories
D. It can be used as self-help guide

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Your answers:

11. 12. 13. 14. 15.

Part 3. Listen to an online tutorial on how to stay safe from malwares. For questions
16-25, fill in each gap with NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the recording.
Write your answers in the corresponding numbered spaces provided below. You
are going to listen TWICE.

HOW TO STAY SAFE FROM MALWARE

The speaker wants to help people on how to keep their computer (16)____________.
Firstly, he differentiates malware from viruses.

Viruses Malware

Definition: Definition:
- Viruses originally were simply infected - Malwares are crafted programs.
(17) _________________. Threats:
Threats: - Compromise security.
- compromise the system. (18)_________________.
- Make boot-ups difficult. - Complicated programs that are masquerading
- Damage data. as (19) _________________ named Rogue
Spyware. This spyware may have been (20)
_________________ in your system when
you click on a link or other buttons.

Secondly, he suggests excellent tools to combat this phenomenon as follows:

A. Have your Windows environment (21) _________________ as soon as possible.

B. Add two additional tools to (22) _________________ your system namely:
- (23)_________________, a free-downloading program of Microsoft.
- Malwarebytes at Malwarebytes.org to remove (24) _________________.
- You may need (25) _________________ to delete viruses on an extremely
infected and heavily damaged computer.
Your answers:

16.

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 17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.

SECTION 2: LEXICO-GRAMMAR (2 points)

Part 1: For question 26-40, choose the best answers (A, B, C or D) to complete each
of the following questions and write your answers (A, B, C or D) in the
corresponding numbered boxes.
26. He’d better take the doctor’s advice into consideration since he’s in ______ earnest
about the epidemic.
A. mortally B. fatally C. deadly D. gravely
27. Terry ______ into a rage when he saw that somebody had scratched the bonnet of his
brand new Jaguar.
A. flew B. rose C. ran D. went
28. Hoping to won a prize for the best costume, Tim dressed ______ with bright red
suspenders and a purple tie.
A. eminently B. virtuously C. conspicuously D. obscurely
29. Her rapport with everyone in the office ______ the kind of interpersonal skills that all
the employees appreciated.
A. prevailed B. diverged C. varied D. exemplified
30. The case for an increase in spending on education has been proved beyond the
______ of a doubt.
A. shadow B. hesitation C. suspicion D. shade
31. That old house hasn't been lived in for nearly thirty years, hence it looks so ______ .
A. decrepit B. trashed C. rotten D. derelict
32. I have been back to the doctor three times and he still hasn't ______ the reason for all
the pain I have been suffering from recently.
A. pinpointed B. indicated C. highlighted D. looked up
33. We were all in ______ of the fact that the new manager was our old friend Duncan.
A. surprise B. shock C. awe D. amazement
34. To get his proposal accepted, the Finance Manager had to ______ heavy pressure
from colleagues.
A. laugh about B. fend off C. send away D. rose up
35. When several companies showed interest in buying the film rights to his novel, he
knew he had ______.
A. upped the ante B. scooped the bag C. caught the fat one D. hit the jackpot

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36. His opponent called him a traitor, which really ______ his patriotism.
A. cast aspersions on B. dumped asperity on C. hurled insults D. drew integrity
from
37. There is a great deal of pressure in the newspaper industry; editor might work a 12-
hour day with no ______.
A. come-down B. letdown C. crackdown D. let-up
38. While backpacking in a quiet, traditional region, I came across the seemingly ______
fast food ads typical of my hometown.
A. capricious B. elevating C. irritating D. ubiquitous
39. Little did I imagine The Amazing Race would entail long-winded journey and ups
and downs ______.
A. aplenty B. inexhaustibly C. profusely D. superabundant
40. The rumor that his job was in jeopardy caused Pete to ______ with concern.
A. frown B. beam C. grimace D. howl

Your answers:
26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33.
34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40.

Part 2: For questions 41 – 45, write the correct form of each given word in
corresponding numbered box.
Cacti have enjoyed an (41. ENDURE) ________ popularity among gardeners
spanning several centuries. Perhaps this is due in part to their unusual appearance: more
often than not, they consist of swollen stems covered in spines. Unlike other plants, cacti
can squat in their pots, apparently in (42. SUSPEND) ________ animation, for months,
showing little sign of growth and development; then suddenly, their flowers will burst
forth, dazzling observers with their gloriously vibrant colours. Added to this is the fact
that they come in a huge variety of shapes, sizes and forms, so many gardeners, myself
included, find themselves irresistibly drawn to these extraordinary plants.
You do not have to be an expert to grow cacti, and the (43. INITIATE) ________
needn’t be concerned about cultivating them because they are among the easiest of plants
to care for. Their requirements are simple and few. Plenty of light, a little compost and
occasional watering will keep them happy and healthy. Also, their hardy constitution
enables them to withstand harsh (44. CLIMATIZE) ________ conditions in the wild. So
should you neglect to water them, they are unlikely to object. For this reason, I
recommend them to the young enthusiasts who ask me about starting their own (45.
WINDOW) ________ gardens.

Your answers:
41. 42. 43.

44. 45.

SECTION 3: READING COMPREHENSION (6 points)

Part 1: For questions 46-55, fill each of the following numbered blanks with ONE
suitable word. Write your answers in the corresponding numbered boxes provided.

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 GENERATING ELECTRICITY FROM HEAT
What if (0) every single gallon of gas in our cars and lump of coal in our power
plants did extra duty? What if we could get even more out of our fuel? (46) _________
is the basic idea of waste heat recovery systems. A young business called Alphabet
Energy based in California aims to take the well-known idea of generating electricity
from captured heat, and use (47) __________ on a massive scale with a little help from
nanotechnology.
Alphabet hopes to make its name (48) __________ providing a tiny chip that can be
inserted into any exhaust pipe or engine to convert heat into electrical power. This tiny
chip is a clever device that can make use of heat to (49) __________ power without
needing any moving parts at all (in much the same way (50) __________ a solar cell
generates electricity from light). It is based on the familiar principle that it is possible to
use heat to push electrons through a material. Alphabet says its innovation lies not (51)
___________ in its choice of material but also in its special technology, all of (52)
___________ makes it highly suitable for use in small pipes as (53) __________ as in
large factory chimneys. The device is connected by wire to the plant’s electrical system
or to the grid so that it is able to feed in power (54) ___________ by heat in real time.
Still only a year old, Alphabet has the ambitious goal of leading (55) ___________ it
believes could be a $ 200 billion global market.
Your answers:
46. 47. 48. 49. 50.
______________ ____________ ____________ __________ ___________

51. 52. 53. 54. 55.

______________ ____________ ____________ ____________ _______________
Part 2: For questions 56-66, read the following passage and do the tasks that follow.

HELIUM’S FUTURE UP IN THE AIR

A- In recent years we have all been exposed to dire media reports concerning the
impending demise of global coal and oil reserves, but the depletion of another key non-
renewable resource continues without receiving much press at all. Helium - an inert,
odorless, monatomic element known to lay people as the substance that makes balloons
float and voices squeak when inhaled - could be gone from this planet within a
generation.

B- Helium itself is not rare; there is actually a plentiful supply of it in the cosmos. In
fact, 24 per cent of our galaxy’s elemental mass consists of helium, which makes it the
second most abundant element in our universe. Because of its lightness, however, most
helium vanished from our own planet many years ago. Consequently, only a miniscule
proportion - 0.00052%, to be exact - remains in earth’s atmosphere. Helium is the by-
product of millennia of radioactive decay from the elements thorium and uranium. The
helium is mostly trapped in subterranean natural gas bunkers and commercially extracted
through a method known as fractional distillation.
C- The loss of helium on Earth would affect society greatly. Defying the perception of it
as a novelty substance for parties and gimmicks, the element actually has many vital

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applications in society. Probably the most well-known commercial usage is in airships
and blimps (non-flammable helium replaced hydrogen as the lifting gas du jour after the
Hindenburg catastrophe in 1932, during which an airship burst into flames and crashed to
the ground killing some passengers and crew). But helium is also instrumental in deep-
sea diving, where it is blended with nitrogen to mitigate the dangers of inhaling ordinary
air under high pressure; as a cleaning agent for rocket engines; and, in its most prevalent
use, as a coolant for superconducting magnets in hospital MRI (magnetic resonance
imaging) scanners.

D- The possibility of losing helium forever poses the threat of a real crisis because its
unique qualities are extraordinarily difficult, if not impossible to duplicate (certainly, no
biosynthetic ersatz product is close to approaching the point of feasibility for helium,
even as similar developments continue apace for oil and coal). Helium is even cheerfully
derided as a “loner” element since it does not adhere to other molecules like its cousin,
hydrogen. According to Dr. Lee Sobotka, helium is the “most noble of gases, meaning
it’s very stable and non-reactive for the most part ... it has a closed electronic
configuration, a very tightly bound atom. It is this coveting of its own electrons that
prevents combination with other elements’. Another important attribute is helium’s
unique boiling point, which is lower than that for any other element. The worsening
global shortage could render millions of dollars of high-value, life-saving equipment
totally useless. The dwindling supplies have already resulted in the postponement of
research and development projects in physics laboratories and manufacturing plants
around the world. There is an enormous supply and demand imbalance partly brought
about by the expansion of high-tech manufacturing in Asia.
E- The source of the problem is the Helium Privatization Act (HPA), an American law
passed in 1996 that requires the U.S. National Helium Reserve to liquidate its helium
assets by 2015 regardless of the market price. Although intended to settle the original
cost of the reserve by a U.S. Congress ignorant of its ramifications, the result of this fire
sale is that global helium prices are so artificially deflated that few can be bothered
recycling the substance or using it judiciously. Deflated values also mean that natural gas
extractors see no reason to capture helium. Much is lost in the process of extraction. As
Sobotka notes: "the government had the good vision to store helium, and the question
now is: Will the corporations have the vision to capture it when extracting natural gas,
and consumers the wisdom to recycle? This takes long-term vision because present
market forces are not sufficient to compel prudent practice”. For Nobel-prize laureate
Robert Richardson, the U.S. government must be prevailed upon to repeal its
privatization policy as the country supplies over 80 per cent of global helium, mostly
from the National Helium Reserve. For Richardson, a twenty- to fifty-fold increase in
prices would provide incentives to recycle.

F- A number of steps need to be taken in order to avert a costly predicament in the

coming decades. Firstly, all existing supplies of helium ought to be conserved and
released only by permit, with medical uses receiving precedence over other commercial
or recreational demands. Secondly, conservation should be obligatory and enforced by a
regulatory agency. At the moment some users, such as hospitals, tend to recycle
diligently while others, such as NASA, squander massive amounts of helium. Lastly,
research into alternatives to helium must begin in earnest.

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Questions 56-60: There are six paragraphs marked A-F in the passage. In which
paragraph is the following mentioned. Write your answers in the corresponding
numbered boxed provided.
56. a use for helium which makes an activity safer.
57. the possibility of creating an alternative to helium.
58. a term which describes the process of how helium is taken out of the ground.
59. a reason why users of helium do not make efforts to conserve it.
60. a contrast between helium’s chemical properties and how non-scientists think about
it.

Your answers:
56. __________ 57. __________ 58. _______ 59. _______ 60. ___________

Questions 61-66: Complete the following summary. Choose NO MORE THAN TWO
WORDS from the passage for each answer. Write your answers in the corresponding
numbered boxed provided.
Sobotka argues that big business and users of helium need to help look after (61)
_______ stocks because (62) ________will not be encouraged through buying and
selling alone. Richardson believes that the (63) _______needs to be withdrawn, as the
U.S. provides most of the world’s helium. He argues that higher costs would mean people
have (64) _________to use the resource many times over. People should need a (65)
_________ to access helium that we still have. Furthermore, a (66)____________ should
ensure that helium is used carefully.
Your answers:

61. _________________ 62. _______________ 63. ______________

64. _____________________ 65. ___________________ 66. _______________

Part 3: In the passage below, six paragraphs have been removed. For questions 67-
72, read the passage and choose from the paragraphs A-G 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 boxed provided.
BABY TALK
As much as you may want to believe it, there is no basis to the feeling that your infant is
smiling at you, and smiling because he knows you are his mother. He might look as wise
as the ages when he gazes into your eyes- but face up to the facts. There is nothing in
there, unless we count the blank slate. And don’t read too much about babbling either. He
is just learning how to use his face muscles. That’s what my doctor told me when I took
the baby for his check-ups. I doubted this, but I knew science was on her side so I kept
my opinion to myself.
67. _____________________________

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This is not just hopeful theorizing. Thanks to new technology that allows scientists to
study living brains, the bank of evidence is growing fast. Another great advance was
made last week with the publication of research by neuroscientist Laura Ann Petitto of
Dartmouth College. The aim of the study was to challenge the traditional understanding
of early language development, which holds babies must develop motor skills before the
can begin to connect sounds to meanings.
68. _______________________________
They look at the way babies moved their mouths when babbling (making sound with a
consonant-vowel repetition) and contrasted this with the movements when they smile or
made non-babbling noises. They studied five English infants, five France infant and five
Spanish to be sure they weren’t studying mouth movements specific to one language.
69. ________________________________
‘The mouth is being carved out depending on the function of what’s coming out.’ Petitto
explains. ‘ And this function could only occur if different parts of the brain are
participating in the control of different functions.’ Her researcher deduced that ‘ the right
side of the face – used for smiling – is controlled by the left hemisphere of the brain,
where the emotional control centers are located.’ But babbling’ is a left-side mouth
function and controlled by the right side of the brain – the centre for speech.’
70. ________________________________
And that is not all it can do. According to other researchers in the field, babies can ‘
distinguish human faces and voices from other sights and sounds and prefer them.’
Although they are born short-sighted, they can see people and items clearly at a distance
of about 30cms. Their preference for stripes and other patterns show they are imposing
order on their perceptions in early infancy. Long before they can crawl, they can tell the
difference between happy features and sad features.
71. ________________________________
They can grasp simple arithmetic by using the same capacity, according to Petitto. ‘ It is
well established that infants look longer at things that are unexpected or surprising to
them. In a recent study, the researchers built up the expectation that a puppet would
jump, say two times.’ When the infants lost interest, they continued to show one group of
infants what they had already been watching. Another group was shown a puppet that
jumped three times. Petitto explains, ‘the infants looked longer at the puppet when it
jumped three times, showing they had detected the changed in number.
72. _______________________________
But this is not the end of the story, as the nature side of the nature/nurture divide has
claimed for so long. Despite this standard capacity, babies depend on their vast reserves
of innate knowledge in the way you and I depend on the programs we put into our
computers. What matters most is what we do with these programs, and it’s the same with
babies. They are born with powerful learning tools that allow them to explore and learn

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about the world around them. And what they learn goes on to determine the way their
brains are wired, and how they think.
A. ‘What this tells us”, says Petitto, is that language processing starts far earlier than
we ever thought and without much language experience. As young as five months,
the brain is already discriminating between a purely physical response and an oral
one.’
B. But they depend on more than innate knowledge and learning abilities. People
instinctively want to help babies learn. A lot of this tuition is, they claim,
unconscious and unwilled. The typical example would be the stern businessman
who, if left holding the baby, lapse into the baby talk.
C. The results showed uniformity in all cases. When the babies smiled, they opened
the left sides of the mouths, using more muscles on the left side of the face. When
they were making ‘non-babbling’ noises they used the middle of the mouth, when
they babbled they pulled down on the right side of the mouth, using more right-
side muscles.
D. Now at last it is science that is having second thoughts. It turns out that babies
know a lot more than our best minds previously suspected. If they smiled, it may
well be because they recognize your voice. When they babble, they are probably
not speaking nonsense but practicing speech.
E. This is born out by the fact that they can imitate these same expressions, and by
the time they are old enough to pick up a phone they can mimic what they have
seen others doing with it. This means they can learn how to use things just by
watching people.
F. So much for the blank slate then. Much of this research would seem to disapprove
many of our oldest and fondest assumptions, not just about speech but about how
we are like other people. It appears that our brains all start out with the same
approach to learning development.
G. Petitto and her team take a different view. ‘ When a child babbles, it’s not just
trying to get control over its facial muscles,’ she says. Babies are ‘literally trying
to say the sounds’ they hear, and trying to make sense of ‘the patterns of sounds in
the world around them.’
Your answers:
67. 68. 69. 70. 71. 72.
_________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________
Part 4. For questions 73-82, Read the passage and choose the best option A, B, C or
D to answer the following questions. Write your answers in the corresponding
numbered boxes provided.
While the Panama Canal continues to stand as one of the greatest human
achievements in history, its locks and canals were not built overnight. Its ultimate
completion in 1914 was the result of decades of planning, preparation, and construction,
not to mention loss of human life. Two countries, France and the United States, were the
main players in its construction, and both faced numerous hardships during the project, so
many hardships that France, the instigator of the project, eventually had to sell out to the
U.S, the country that finally completed the canal. Still, the United States faced a trio of

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major hurdles that threatened its completion. These obstacles were environmental,
political, and geographical. Yet, through perseverance and will, the United States was
ultimately able to create the canal, a vital link between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.
One of the major reasons France had to abandon the Panama Canal project was that it
underestimated the environs of the local area. The region of Panama within which the
French worked was a dense, tropical jungle. Intense heat and humidity did not help their
situation either. Before long, many workers began to succumb to diseases like yellow
fever and malaria. Proper measures were not taken to reduce their exposure and
vulnerability, and many died as the workforce and the project as a whole suffered greatly.
However, once the Americans took over the canal project, they immediately implemented
better living conditions and infrastructure for the workforce, including better healthcare
facilities. With a stronger workforce and more extensive healthcare system in place, the
Americans stood a better chance of completing the project than the French ever did.
But, before the United States could continue with the canal project the French had
begun, it had to receive permission from Colombia. At the time, Panama was within the
borders of the country of Colombia. President Theodore Roosevelt offered the
Colombian government ten million dollars which it immediately rejected. Ever patient,
Roosevelt did not press the issue, and before long, the Panamanians revolted against
Colombia for independence. This gave Roosevelt the opportunity he had been waiting
for. He immediately sent in a substantial military presence to the area to guarantee
Panama's independence and to ensure the future construction of the Panama Canal. With
Panama free, the door was open for the Americans to continue building a canal, which
would save 18,000 miles on a trip from San Francisco to New York and open trade in the
Pacific realm.
Once the U.S. was able to get its hands on the area, the next immediate obstacle
became a geological one. While the verdant hills of Panama looked benign enough, the
diversity and makeup of the underlying sediment made it an engineering nightmare.
Initially, landslides regularly destroyed weeks or even months of digging and
construction as they did to the French. Yet, in a stroke or two of engineering brilliance,
through the implementation of a system of dams, this issue was reduced and all but
alleviated. Also, as the tidal levels of the Pacific and Atlantic were vastly different, a new
canal system, unlike the sea-level canal attempted by the French, had to be erected. The
American engineers decided to install a system of locks to raise and lower ships to the
designated sea level. This way in which they were able to manipulate water helped the
Americans overcome the tough geological conditions which had thwarted the French.
Once completed, the Panama Canal stretched for fifty-one miles across Central
America, connecting the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans by sheer human ingenuity and
patience. The canal opened endless new possibilities for trade and commerce between
Asia and the Americans, which still exist today. But the canal did not come about without
severe difficulties and tragedy. It took two countries two separate attempts and over
twenty years of backbreaking labor to achieve. One of these countries, France, had to
pack up and go home in failure. The other, the United States, could relish the milestone it
had achieved. Still, in the end, over thirty thousand men lost their lives directly or
indirectly in the building of the Panama Canal, which proves once and for all what a
monumental task it truly was, especially for the age in which it was attempted.
73. The word perseverance in the passage is closest in meaning to _________.
A. determination B. procrastination C. cooperation D. precision
74. According to paragraph 1, which of the following is true of the Panama Canal?

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 A. It was finally completed in the first decade of the twentieth century.
B. The United States and France worked in unison on its construction.
C. The original construction of the canal faced few difficult issues.
D. The United States eventually purchased the project from France.
75. Which of the following can be inferred from paragraph 2 about the Americans?
A. They tried to prevent the laborers from deserting the construction sites.
B. They destroyed the dense jungle first to eliminate any form of disease.
C. They were able to learn from the shortcomings that had affected France.
D. They were not prepared for the punishing climate in Central America.
76. According to paragraph 3, politics became a problem because _________.
A. Roosevelt was not aggressive enough when dealing with the canal
B. the presence of the U.S. military frightened many of the workers
C. Panama wished to remain a territory of the country of Colombia
D. Colombia did not wish to give up the right to the land for the canal
77. In stating that Roosevelt did not press the issue, the author means that Roosevelt did not
_________.
A. care about the canal B. want to force the project
C. resort to the media D. wish to abandon his goal
78. The author discusses the geological obstacle in paragraph 4 in order to _________.
A. note the natural beauty of Panama, which was destroyed by the canal's construction
B. suggest that the workers had to spend a lot of time and effort on reconstruction
C. contrast the geological issues with the oceanic ones the engineers of the project
faced
D. show how landslides were more of a problem for the French than they were for
Americans.
79. The word thwarted in the passage is closest in meaning to _________.
A. defeated B. protected C. frustrated D. destroyed
80. According to paragraph 5, the completion of the Panama Canal _________.
A. created a forty-one-mile link between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans
B. helped allow for greater economic benefits between the East and West
C. took much longer than original planned by the first French engineers
D. resulted from the United States having better funding than the French
81. Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the sentence
in bold at the end of the passage?
A. Tens of thousands of men died during the construction of the Panama Canal.
B. Though the project caused many fatalities, it stands as a lofty achievement.
C. The Panama Canal could have been completed later with less loss of life.
D. Men were killed on the job and by residual effects such as disease and injury
82. According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true of the construction of the Panama
Canal?
A. It helped save thousands of miles from trips between the eastern and western United
States.
B. It incorporated dams to accelerate the construction process, helping to make it
successful.

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 C. It was able to proceed when Panama decided to fight for freedom against
Colombia.
D. It was easier to achieve because of the similar tidal levels of the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.
Your answers:
73. 74. 75. 76. 77.
______________ ____________ ____________ __________ _______________

78. 79. 80. 81. 82.

______________ ____________ ____________ ____________ _______________

Part 5: : You are going to read an extract from an article about modern art and
whether it can be called 'art'. For questions 1-10, choose from the people (A, B, C or
D). The people may be chosen more than once.
Is it Art?
Corinne
Art is the result of an artist using her or his skill or creative imagination for a creative
purpose, to give pleasure to the viewer through its aesthetic qualities, or to get a reaction
from the audience to a wider more significant issue outside of the work of art itself. That
work of art might be a painting, a sculpture, an installation of some kind or an example
from the performing arts like dance or mime. I think we sometimes get bogged down by
the notion of 'skill'. For many in the anti modern art camp, there needs to be evidence of
the artist's craft on show before the work is taken seriously and can merit the term 'art', be
it intricate drawing skills, expert use of form or an artist's eye for colour. I'm not
suggesting that an artist need not have these credentials but hand in hand with craft is, as
I said earlier, creative imagination, the ability to see the value or beauty of something
unremarkable which would often go unnoticed by the untrained eye. Much of modern art
I think possesses this second quality which is why I often leave an exhibition of modern
art feeling that I've had the chance to reflect on something that I wouldn't normally have
given the time of day to. The art has engaged me, has had an impact, made me think
about something in a way that I wouldn't have thought about before.
Michael
I would certainly call myself an art enthusiast and have been for many years and in my
opinion the modern art world is full of second-rate junk which most of us, if we were
being totally honest, would agree a 4-year-old child could do. The idea that a slept-in bed
such as that 'produced' by Tracy Emin or many of the pieces by Damien Hirst and his ilk

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are works of art is hard to justify as is the huge price tag that accompanies their work. I
find it particularly galling when extremely talented people out there who have spent years
honing their skills and learning the craft of drawing or painting are completely ignored.
What's more, one of the dangers of this kind of 'art' is that it serves to alienate the mass of
the population from the visual arts. The man in the street viewing one of these pieces is
left thinking the world of modern art has no value; worse still, that he lacks the
intellectual ability to understand the meaning of the piece when in fact there is little to
interpret. Thankfully, one or two great artists make it through, but I'm afraid many are
lost amongst the deluge of dross the art-world deems 'art'. For me, the first measure of the
worth of an artist must be the degree of skill exhibited in the work or at the very least a
pedigree of fine art preceeding any more abstract pieces produced by the artist such as
was the case with Picasso.
Robert
The idea that modern art is some kind of mass deception and that all modern artists are
talentless fraudsters just doesn't hold water. And I'm not talking here about the painters
who for centuries have made a living out of copying works of art and selling them on as
originals. I'm talking about abstract art and the idea that the great art collectors such as
the Saatchis or Rockefellas and the great museums of art around the world, would
somehow allow themselves to be duped into paying a fortune for an abstract painting or
sculpture. Are these artists really tricking these people into paying huge sums of money
for something worthless? Of course not. Though some of these works may not appear to
the layman as having any artistic merit, neither did the great impressionists or the more
abstract works of Picasso or Rothko when they were first exhibited. In the same way that
great poetry can speak to us in a way that prose never can, abstract art can engage with
the audience in more subtle and effective ways than is the case with art of a more realistic
nature. So, they may get their fingers burnt now and again but I don't think the Saatchis
will be cursing the day they spent huge sums on works of abstract art. Quite the opposite
in fact and in the process of making a canny investment they have helped further raise the
profile of some of our great modern artists.
Janet
Here we go again: the media are once more up in arms about the latest 'is it art' shock-
horror editorials following the latest Turner Prize shortlisting. When will they learn? For
decades art in many forms has moved away from realism and towards abstraction. Ever

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since the invention and popularisation of photography, art has had to reinvent itself.
Patrons who wanted a perfect representation of themselves no longer needed to turn to
the artist. Artists started to struggle with the challenge of catching the essence of the thing
depicted rather than simply its external appearance. Abstract artists try to convey a pure
idea, not the exact replica of the subject concerned. It's true that some works of art are so
obscure that you may need to read up on the theory behind the creation, which is usually
helpfully supplied in art galleries. But this isn't always necessary. Take Guernica by
Picasso. To get a full understanding of this painting it could be argued the audience needs
to appreciate the historical context, the bombing of the Basque city during the Spanish
Civil War. It would also probably help to have a good understanding of the techniques of
abstraction that Picasso had used to create the effect. However, I think most people
viewing this masterpiece would be struck by the horror it depicts even without this
background knowledge. And I would argue it is the effect of this abstraction that adds to
the impact on us compared to a realistic portrayal of such a scene.
Which person gives each of these opinions about modern art?
A. Corinne B. Michael C. Robert D. Janet
83. Some practices have been going on for hundreds of years.
84. Some people may not have the knowledge to understand a work of art fully.
85. Certain aesthetic qualities can be invisible until brought to our attention by the artist.
86. Picasso is an example of an artist who proved his craftsmanship.
87. Appreciation of the work itself is not always the artist's aim.
88. The purpose of Art has undergone change.
89. People don't always appreciate the works of great artists initially.
90. Abstract art is generally overpriced.
91. Abstract art isn't always a good investment.
92. We can be touched by a work of art without knowing the context.

Your answers:
83. 84. 85. 86. 87.
______________ ____________ ____________ __________ _______________

88. 89. 90. 91. 92.

______________ ____________ ____________ ____________ _______________

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D. WRITING (7 points)
Part 2. Graph description

The graph below shows the quantities of goods transported in the UK between
1974 and 2002 by four different modes of transport.

Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features and make
comparisons where relevant. You should write at least 150 words.

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Part 2: Read the following passage and use your own words to summarise it. You
MUST NOT copy or re-write the original. Your summary should be about 120
words long.
For many years, the preferred option for refuse disposal in Britain has been the
landfill. In fact, the UK, more than any other European country, makes use of landfills to
get rid of its biodegradable waste. However, problems have arisen with this method and
alternative solutions have had to be researched.
One of the biggest drawbacks to landfills is the cost. In the past this was not the case
as land was plentiful and cheap with abandoned quarries and mines often being utilized.
But by 2015, since space for approved and licensed landfills will have run out, viable
alternatives to waste disposal have to be found. Another disadvantage is the
environmental impact made by the acids and hazardous chemicals that are leaked from
the landfills. Older sites depended on these substances being diluted naturally by rain but
this often did not occur and surrounding agricultural land was affected and livestock
poisoned. Nowadays, more modern landfills use liners within the pits to contain any
dangerous material and the liquid is then collected, treated and discharged within the site
itself. But perhaps the most apparent annoyance for the general public living in the
immediate vicinity of the landfill is the nuisance that results from the traffic, the noise,

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the dust and the unpleasant odors emanating from the site. Although no risks to human
health have been verified, symptoms such as headaches, drowsiness and exhaustion have
been reported by people living close to landfills. These may have been caused by toxic
emissions from the site but they may be connected to the impact that living next to the
sites can have on stress and anxiety.
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Part 3. Write an essay of 350 words on the following topic:

The internet has transformed the way information is shared and consumed, but it
has also created problems that did exist before.

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What are the most serious problems associated with the internet and what solutions
can you suggest?
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own
knowledge or experience.
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