Like the fall of the Berlin Wall, the coronavirus pandemic as a world-shattering event that has disrupted

markets and exposed the competence or lack of governments will lead to possibilities of shifts in political
and economic power.
Stephen M. Walt, a professor of international affairs, has predicted the pandemic will reinforce
nationalism. The shift in power and influence from West to East will also accelerate. South Korea and
Singapore have responded best, and China has reacted well after its early mistakes. The response in
Europe and America has been slow and haphazard by comparison, further tarnishing the aura of the
Western “brand.” What won’t change is the fundamentally conflictive nature of world politics. Previous
plagues did not end great-power rivalry. Neither will COVID-19. We will see a further retreat from
hyperglobalization.
A British specialist in international relations Robin Niblett believes the pandemic could be the
straw that breaks the camel’s back of economic globalization. China’s growing economic and military
power had already provoked a bipartisan determination in the United States to decouple China from U.S.-
sourced high technology and intellectual property and try to force allies to follow suit. Increasing public
and political pressure to meet carbon emissions reduction targets had already called into question many
companies’ reliance on long-distance supply chains. Now, COVID-19 is forcing governments,
companies, and societies to strengthen their capacity to cope with extended periods of economic self-
isolation. It seems highly unlikely that the world will return to the idea of globalization.
Kishore Mahbubani, a Singaporean academic, sees the pandemic will only accelerate a change
that had already begun: a move away from U.S.-centric globalization to a more China-centric
globalization. The U.S. has two choices. If its goal is to maintain global primacy, it will have to engage in
a zero-sum geopolitical contest, politically and economically, with China. However, if the goal is to
improve the well-being of the American people, it should cooperate with China.

1. What does the idiom “the straw that breaks the camel’s back” in paragraph 3 mean?
a. The last event following other events that causes extreme reaction
b. The cumulative effect of small actions
c. The small burden that worsens the current problems
d. The shocking occurence that provokes a sudden strong action
e. The problem which is too complex to deal with

2. What is the main idea of the passage?

a. The coronavirus pandemic has worse effects than the fall of the Berlin Wall did
b. China is growing in its economic and military power
c. The coronavirus pandemic gives a view of the world leaders’ competence
d. The coronavirus pandemic offers possible shifts in politics and economy
e. China has the most effective methods for treating COVID-19 pandemic

3. With the sentence “Neither will COVID-19” in paragraph 2, the writer intends to …
a. illustrate the danger of COVID-19
b. emphasize that the world politics won’t change
c. prove that COVID-19 is similar with previous plagues
d. reveal a fact that the previous plagues didn’t end the world
e. explain the reason why the great-power rivalry didn’t end

4. What most possibly becomes the main motivation for the writer to write the passage?
a. Globalization is considered ineffective to secure the world economy
b. Some experts have different views of the impacts of COVID-19
c. People’s knowledge about the world rivalry is still limited
d. The society needs information about the progress of COVID-19 pandemic
 e. Not many people know that China has successfully managed the COVID-19 pandemic

5. What can we conclude from the passage, especially about the process of economic globalization after
the pandemic?
a. Stephen M. Walt and Robin Niblett have a same view
b. Robin Niblett and Kishore Mahbubani have a same view
c. Stephen M. Walt and Kishore Mahbubani have a same view
d. Kishore Mahbubani and Stephen M. Walt think it will continue
e. Stephen M. Walt believes South Korea and Singapore will dominate its process

One hundred years ago, a world recovering from a global war that had killed some 20 million people
suddenly had to contend with something even more deadly: the Spanish flu outbreak. It is thought to
have begun in cramped and crowded army training camps on the Western Front. The unsanitary
conditions helped it incubate and then spread. The war ended in November 1918, but as the soldiers
returned home, bringing the virus with them, an even greater loss of life was just around the corner;
between 50 million and 100 million people are thought to have died.
Now, as the world reacts to the outbreak of Covid-19, caused by a new coronavirus, we can look
back to Spanish Flu to see what we learned from one of the most devastating diseases in recent history.
Pneumonia is often the killer. Many of the people dying from Covid-19 are succumbing to a form
of pneumonia, which takes hold as the immune system is weakened from fighting the virus. This is
something that it shares with Spanish flu, though it must be said that the death rate from Covid-19 is
many times lower than that of Spanish flu.
Air travel was in its infancy when Spanish flu struck. But there were few places on Earth that
escaped its horrific effects. Their passages across the world were slower, carried by railway and passenger
steamer rather by airliners. Some places held out for months, or even years, before the flu arrived. In
Alaska, one community on Bristol Bay escaped the flu almost unscathed. They closed public places and
shut off access to the village from the main road. It was a low-tech version of the travel restrictions that
have been used in some areas today in an effort to stop the coronavirus spreading.
Doctors have described the Spanish flu as the “greatest medical holocaust in history”. It was not
just the fact it killed so many, it was that so many of its victims were young and healthy. The flu struck so
quickly that it overwhelmed the immune system, causing a massive over-reaction known as a cytokine
storm, flooding the lungs with fluid which became the perfect reservoir for secondary infections. Older
people, interestingly, were not as susceptible, perhaps because they had survived a very similar strain of
flu which had started to spread through human populations in the 1830s. On the contrary, with the new
coronavirus, the elderly and people with pre-existing illnesses are considered to be most at risk.

6. In which paragraph does the writer explain that Spanish Flu and Covid-19 target different
populations?
a. 1
b. 2
c. 3
d. 4
e. 5

7. Whic one is true about the Spanish Flu based on the passage?
a. It spread during the war
b. It appeared around 100 years ago
c. Its victims were all young and healthy people
d. It killed less people than the flu that had appeared in 1830s
e. It appeared because of the unsanitary condition
8. What can we conclude from the passage?
a. A new virus will come out every 100 years
b. The covid-19 is already worse than the Spanish Flu
c. Alaska has been the safest place from viruses
d. We can learn how to stop the spread of covid-19 from history
e. We won’t find any place on earth that is not severely affected by viruses

9. With the sentence, “This is something that it shares with Spanish flu” (paragraph 3), the writer
intends to ...
a. explain the cause of Covid-19
b. show the similarity between the two viruses
c. stress the danger of the Spanish Flu
d. compare the two viruses
e. tell the history of the Spanish Flu

10. Which group of readers will benefit the most from the passage?
a. Biology teachers
b. World leaders
c. Doctors specialist in pneumonia
d. Covid-19 patients
e. Overseas pilots