CHU VAN AN HIGH SCHOOL FOR THE GIFTED PRACTICE TEST 1

Time: 180 minutes

Name: __________________________
Class: __________________________
(The test paper consists of 18 pages)

I. LISTENING
Part 1: You will hear an interview with Maria Stefanovich, co-founder of a creativity group which
organises workshops for executives. For questions 1-5, choose the answer (A, B, C or D) which fits
best according to what you hear.
1. Corporations appreciate mask-making workshops because
A. no one wants negative faces at the office.
B. unhappy employees won’t come to work.
C. they realise how their employees see them.
D. their employees change their approach.
2. Companies are turning to creative workshops because they have acknowledged that
A. unproductive employees are a financial burden.
B. the traditional work environment has its limitations.
C. there is an increase in absenteeism.
D. employees are working too hard without enjoying it.
3. The employees at the firm ‘Play’
A. change positions frequently to lessen boredom.
B. have business cards indicating their jobs.
C. dress up like comic book characters.
D. do not have stereotyped ideas about their jobs.
4. The companies that show most interest in creative workshops are surprising because
A. they usually have creative employees to begin with.
B. their employees are the ones who have to present regularly.
C. there are many other exciting workshops they would prefer.
D. their employees should be used to being funny.
5. Maria mentions the traditional companies that have held workshops in order to
A. boast about the clients her company has helped.
B. show that they have a narrow list of clients.
C. downplay the serious reputations of the firms.
D. point out the diversity of those trying different approaches.
Part 2: You will hear part of a lecture about the artist Franz Marc.
Write:
Yes if the statement agrees with the information in the passage
No if the statement contradicts the information in the passage
6. A few years ago in London, some paintings by Franz Marc were sold at record prices
7. Almost all of Marc’s paintings feature a purple and blue horse standing in a landscape of primary colours
8. In The Fate of the Animals Marc seems to offer a warning of the impending Great War.
9. The art group The Blue Rider were aiming to capture the purity of style often found in paintings by
children.
10. Marc’s life ended tragically in the war in 1960 when he was killed by a grenade in France.

Part 3: You will hear an radio talk about ley line. Answer the following questions, write NO MORE
THAN FIVE WORDS for each answer.
11. Which part of many ley lines is the location of the Glastonbury Tor?
_____________________________
12. What did ancient peoples mark by building structures along them?
_____________________________
13. What is believed to be an indication of the Earth’s geomagnetic energy by Ruth?
_____________________________

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14. Why may ancient peoples have been drawn to ley lines?
Because there were _____________________________
15. What are ancient civilizations claimed to have made when erecting monuments in order to represent the
position of certain groups of stars?
_____________________________
Part 4: For questions 16-25, listen to a piece of news from the BBC and fill in the missing information.
Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS taken from the recording for each answer in the spaces
provided.
Recently in the Great Pyramids, a 100-feet long space, which is called a (16) __________, has been
discovered lately. According to the “Nature”, this is a significant discovery to the archaeology because since
the 1800s, there has no other significant discovery like this (17) ____________________ . However,
whether this can help to unravel the ancient mysteries is (18) ____________________. There is no proof
that a/an (19) ____________________ or burial chamber can be found from this space. There may be more
others like this in the pyramid and this discovery is expected to help the researchers find out how it was
built. To identify this space, not allowed to track (20) ____________________ or use cameras, they had to
take use of some appliances to (21) ____________________ inside the structure. That’s not the only way
the modern technology is helping archaeologists.
Adam Low, an archaeologist, admitted to being a man with (22) ____________________ the tomb of a
Pharaoh, Seti I. It can be learnt from the tomb how ancient people have different thoughts, different values
and (23) ____________________. He can read the way they thought through the (24)
___________________ on the walls. With the help of technology, a dialogue crossing time can be built and
become one of the most exciting moment. “the Hall of Beauties” is, in fact, only a (25)
____________________ built in a museum in Switzerland.
II. LEXICO GRAMMAR:
Part 1: For questions 26-35, choose the best answer (A, B, C or D) to each of the following questions
26. Mr Smith ate his breakfast in great ________ so as not to miss the bus to Liverpool.
A. speed B. pace C. rush D. haste
27. The whole situation is getting out of ________. Let’s do something before it turns into a bitter row.
A. capacity B. charge C. hand D. discipline
28. The weekend is over, so tomorrow morning it’s back to the________ .
A. grind B. labour C. drudgery D. toil
29. I really admire the hero of the film. He’s so ________.
A. reckless B. adventurous C. foolhardy D. instinctive
30. The experimental play was only a________ success, which disappointed the playwright.
A. local B. qualified C. reserved D. cautious
31. It takes time to get a financial system up and ________ after the introduction of a new currency.
A. walking B. proceeding C. running D. going
32. Life is so full of both good fortune and misfortunes that you have to learn to take the rough with
the________.
A. smooth B. ready C. calm D. tough
33. Stephen really lost his________ when his dental appointment was cancelled yet again.
A. head B. voice C. calm D. rag
34. Don’t take it as ________ that you’ll be promoted in your job; other colleagues stand a good chance too
A. fixed B. standard C. read D. word
35. When my new motor kept breaking down, I knew I’d been taken for a________ by the second-hand car
salesman.
A. drive B. ride C. walk D. stroll

Part 2: The passage below contains 5 errors in spelling, grammar, word form. For questions 36-40,
underline the errors and write the corrections
EAR INFECTIONS
One of the most prevalent illnesses in children under three is ear infections. These can be quite painful and
will often result in inccessant crying. Ear infections are caused when bacteriums or viruses get into the
inside of the ear. The Eustachian tubes, which supply the ear with air, become swollen or inflaming. The
adenoids, cell clusters near these tubes that fight infections, can also become infected and the block tubes.

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Children’s Eustachian tubes are smaller but straighter, and their adenoids are large. This means that the
tubes do not drain as well, that often results in the adenoids impeding flow through the tubes.
36. 37. 38. 39. 40.

Part 3: For question 41-45, fill in the gaps in the following sentences with suitable particles.
41. You shouldn’t live ____ ______ your means
42. His wife took ___________ her new neighbours at once.
43. Because of the falling orders, the company has been forced to lay _____ _____ several hundred workers.
44. The company has been sitting ___________my letter for weeks without dealing with my complaint.
45. We must size_____ ______ the situation before we decide what to do.

Part 4: Read the text below. Use the word given in capitals at the end of some of the lines to form a
word that fits in the space in the same line.
Cacti
Cacti have enjoyed an (46) _____endurable_____ popularity among ENDURE
gardeners spanning several centuries. Perhaps this is due in part to their
unusual appearance: more often than not, they consist of (47) SWELL
______________stems covered in spines. Unlike other plants, cacti can squat
in their pots, (48) ______________ in suspended animation, for months, APPEAR
showing little sign of growth or development; then suddenly, their flowers will
burst forth, dazzling observers with their (49) ______________ vibrant GLORY
colours. Added to this is the fact that they come in a huge (50) VARIOUS
______________of shapes, sizes and forms, so many gardeners, myself RESIST
included, find themselves (51) ______________ drawn to these extraordinary
plants.
You do not have to be an expert to grow cacti, and the (52) INITIATE
______________needn't be concerned about cultivating them because they are REQUIRE
among the easiest of plants to care for. Their (53) ______________ are simple
and few. Plenty of light, a little compost and occasional watering will keep ABLE
them happy and healthy. Also, their hardy constitution (54) ______________
them to withstand harsh climatic conditions in the wild. So should you neglect LIKE
to water them, they are (55) ______________to object. For this reason, I
recommend them to the young enthusiasts who ask me about starting their own
windowsill gardens.

III. READING:
Part 1. Read the following passage and decide which answer (A, B, C or D) best fits each gap.
DIAGNOSING DYSLEXIA
Approximately five per cent of the population (0) __ suffer__ from dyslexia. The cause of the disorder is
unknown and it is (56) ________ found in people of otherwise normal intectual ability. The condition is (57)
________ by severe reading difficulties, with dyslexics frequently confusing letters or words. They may, for
example, read or write letters, words or sentences in the wrong (58) ________. Although the problem can be
overcome with intensive instruction, sufferers usually continue to read and write poorly throughout their
lives.
Traditionally, diagnosis has been made by reading experts, which means that many (59) ________ are not
formally (60) ________ until a child is around ten years of age. Now, however, a group of psychologists in
the United States believe that they have found a way of identifying in their first days of life children who
will develop dyslexia. This is exciting news as early identification and (61) ________ make early instruction
possible, perhaps avoiding later problems altogether.
The research team has identified (62) ________ differences between the brain (63) ________ patterns of
dyslexics and those of better readers. Attaching electrodes to the heads of babies just 36 hours old, they
measured the size and speed of their brain responses to selected stimuli. The children were (64) ________
and given IQ and comprehension tests every two years. At eight, reading tests were administered to identify
those who were dyslexic. More than 90 percent diagnosed as dyslexic could have been singled out at birth.

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This research is still in its (65) ________ but may result in a future in which dyslexia no longer causes life
long distress.

56. A naturally B commonly C customarily D Actually

57. A characterized B distinguished C marked D Identified
58. A arrangement B series C sequence D Order
59. A instances B cases C times D Occurrences
60. A picked up B noted down C shown up D put down
61. A interference B intrusion C intervention D Recognition
62. A frank B evident C distinct D precise
63. A pace B wave C pulse D Signal
64. A monitored B viewed C followed D Inspected
65. A beginnings B infancy C outset D Origins

Part 2: For questions 66- 75, read the text again and think of the word which best fits each gap. Use
only one word in each gap.
Getting ready for Mars
The 'Mars 500 project' (66) __is___ an experiment that simulated a return mission to Mars. Spending 18
months in a sealed facility in Moscow (67) __getting____ access to natural light or fresh air, six men were
monitored as they attended (68) __to____ their daily duties. A study into (69) ______ each of them coped
with the psychological and physical constraints of the mission has found that there were wide differences in
their wake-sleep patterns. For example, (70) __when____ most of the crew began to sleep for longer
periods as the mission progressed and boredom set in, one individual slept progressively less, resulting (71)
___in___ him becoming chronically sleep-deprived towards the end of the (72) ______ . Identifying bad
sleepers could be important on a real Mars mission, during (73) ______ people are required to be
constantly alert even when days are tediously similar. Researchers warn that for any astronaut heading to
Mars, exciting as the trip might initially seem, (74) ______ could be problems with stress brought on by the
monotony of routine. However, they also report that (75)______ some personal tensions between crew
members, there was overall harmony within the group.

Part 3. Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C or D) according to the text.
Write your answers in the corresponding numbered boxes.
Orientation and Navigation
To South Americans, robins are birds that fly north every spring. To North Americans, the robins simply
vacation in the south each winter. Furthermore, they fly to very specific places in South America and will
often come back to the same trees in North American yards the following spring. The question is not why
they would leave the cold of winter so much as how they find their way around. The question perplexed
people for years, until, in the 1950s, a German scientist named Gustavo Kramer provided some answers and.
in the process, raised new questions.
Kramer initiated important new kinds of research regarding how animals orient and navigate. Orientation is
simply facing in the right direction; navigation involves finding ones way from point A to point B.
Early in his research, Kramer found that caged migratory birds became very restless at about the time they
would normally have begun migration in the wild. Furthermore, he noticed that as they fluttered around in
the cage, they often launched themselves in the direction of their normal migratory route. He then set up
experiments with caged starlings and found that their orientation was, in fact, in the proper migratory
direction except when the sky was overcast, at which times there was no clear direction to their restless
movements. Kramer surmised, therefore, that they were orienting according to the position of the Sun. To
test this idea, he blocked their view of the Sun and used mirrors to change its apparent position. He found
that under these circumstances, the birds oriented with respect to the new "Sun." They seemed to be using
the Sun as a compass to determine direction. At the time, this idea seemed preposterous. How could a bird
navigate by the Sun when some of us lose our way with road maps? Obviously, more testing was in order.
So, in another set of experiments, Kramer put identical food boxes around the cage, with food in only one of
the boxes. The boxes were stationary, and the one containing food was always at the same point of the

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compass. However, its position with respect to the surroundings could be changed by revolving either the
inner cage containing the birds or the outer walls, which served as the background. As long as the birds
could see the Sun, no matter how their surroundings were altered, they went directly to the correct food box.
Whether the box appeared in front of the right wall or the left wall, they showed no signs of confusion. On
overcast days, however, the birds were disoriented and had trouble locating their food box.
In experimenting with artificial suns, Kramer made another interesting discovery. If the artificial Sun
remained stationary, the birds would shift their direction with respect to it at a rate of about 15 degrees per
hour, the Sun's rate of movement across the sky. Apparently, the birds were assuming that the "Sun" they
saw was moving at that rate. When the real Sun was visible, however, the birds maintained a constant
direction as it moved across the sky. In other words, they were able to compensate for the Sun's movement.
This meant that some sort of biological clock was operating-and a very precise clock at that.
What about birds that migrate at night? Perhaps they navigate by the night sky. To test the idea, caged night-
migrating birds were placed on the floor of a planetarium during their migratory period. A planetarium is
essentially a theater with a domelike ceiling onto which a night sky can be projected for any night of the
year. When the planetarium sky matched the sky outside, the birds fluttered in the direction of their normal
migration. But when the dome was rotated, the birds changed their direction to match the artificial sky. The
results clearly indicated that the birds were orienting according to the stars.
There is accumulating evidence indicating that birds navigate by using a wide variety of environmental
cues. Other areas under investigation include magnetism, landmarks, coastlines, sonar, and even smells. The
studies are complicated by the fact that the data are sometimes contradictory and the mechanisms apparently
change from time to time. Furthermore, one sensory ability may back up another.
76. Which of the following can be inferred about bird migration from paragraph 1?
A. Birds will take the most direct migratory route to their new habitat.
B. The purpose of migration is to join with larger groups of birds.
C. Bird migration generally involves moving back and forth between north and south.
D. The destination of birds' migration can change from year to year.
77. The word ‘perplexed’ in the passage is closest in meaning to _____.
A. defeated B. interested C. puzzled D. occupied
78. Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the underlined sentence in the
passage? Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.
A. Experiments revealed that caged starlings displayed a lack of directional sense and restless movements.
B. Experiments revealed that caged starlings were unable to orient themselves in the direction of their
normal migratory route.
C. Experiments revealed that the restless movement of caged starlings had no clear direction.
D. Experiments revealed that caged starlings' orientation was accurate unless the weather was overcast.
79. The word ‘preposterous’ in the passage is closest in meaning to _____.
A. unbelievable B. inadequate C. limited D. creative
80. According to paragraph 3, why did Kramer use mirrors to change the apparent position of the Sun?
A. To test the effect of light on the birds' restlessness
B. To test whether birds were using the Sun to navigate
C. To simulate the shifting of light the birds would encounter along their regular migratory route
D. To cause the birds to migrate at a different time than they would in the wild
81. According to paragraph 3, when do caged starlings become restless?
A. When the weather is overcast
B. When they are unable to identify their normal migratory route
C. When their normal time for migration arrives
D. When mirrors are used to change the apparent position of the Sun
82. Which of the following can be inferred from paragraph 4 about Kramer’s reason for filling one food box
and leaving the rest empty?
A. He believed the birds would eat food from only one box.
B. He wanted to see whether the Sun alone controlled the birds' ability to navigate toward the box with food.
C. He thought that if all the boxes contained food, this would distract the birds from following their
migratory route.
D. He needed to test whether the birds preferred having the food at any particular point of the compass.
83. According to paragraph 5, how did the birds fly when the real Sun was visible?

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A. They kept the direction of their flight constant.
B. They changed the direction of their flight at a rate of 15 degrees per hour.
C. They kept flying toward the Sun.
D. They flew in the same direction as the birds that were seeing the artificial Sun.
84. The experiment described in paragraph 5 caused Kramer to conclude that birds possess a biological
clock because _____.
A. when birds navigate they are able to compensate for the changing position of the Sun in the sky
B. birds innate bearings keep them oriented in a direction that is within 15 degrees of the Suns direction
C. birds' migration is triggered by natural environmental cues, such as the position of the Sun
D. birds shift their direction at a rate of 15 degrees per hour whether the Sun is visible or not
85. According to paragraph 6, how did the birds navigate in the planetarium's nighttime environment?
A. By waiting for the dome to stop rotating
B. By their position on the planetarium floor
C. By orienting themselves to the stars in the artificial night sky
D. By navigating randomly until they found the correct orientation
Part 4. Read the passage and do the tasks that follow
Party Labels in Mid-Eighteenth Century England
A. Until the late 1950s the Whig interpretation of English history in the eighteenth century prevailed. This
was successfully challenged by Lewis Namier, who proposed, based on an analysis of the voting records
of MPs from the 1760 intake following the accession to the throne of George III, that the accepted
Whig/Tory division of politics did not hold. He believed that the political life of the period could be
explained without these party labels, and that it was more accurate to characterise political division in
terms of the Court versus Country.
B. An attempt was then made to use the same methodology to determine whether the same held for early
eighteenth century politics. To Namier’s chagrin this proved that at the end of Queen Anne’s reign in
1714 voting in parliament was certainly based on party interest, and that Toryism and Whiggism were
distinct and opposed political philosophies. Clearly, something momentous had occurred between 1714
and 1760 to apparently wipe out party ideology. The Namierite explanation is that the end of the Stuart
dynasty on the death of Queen Anne and the beginning of the Hanoverian with the accession of George I
radically altered the political climate.
C. The accession of George I to the throne in 1715 was not universally popular. He was German, spoke little
English, and was only accepted because he promised to maintain the Anglican religion. Furthermore, for
those Tory members of government under Anne, he was nemesis, for his enthronement finally broke the
hereditary principle central to Tory philosophy, confirming the right of parliament to depose or select a
monarch. Moreover, he was aware that leading Tories had been in constant communication with the
Stuart court in exile, hoping to return the banished King James II. As a result, all Tories were expelled
from government, some being forced to escape to France to avoid execution for treason.
D. The failure of the subsequent Jacobite rebellion of 1715, where certain Tory magnates tried to replace
George with his cousin James, a Stuart, albeit a Catholic, was used by the Whig administration to identify
the word “Tory” with treason. This was compounded by the Septennial Act of 1716, limiting elections to
once every seven years, which further entrenched the Whig’s power base at the heart of government
focussed around the crown. With the eradication of one of the fundamental tenets of their philosophy,
alongside the systematic replacement of all Tory positions by Whig counterparts, Tory opposition was
effectively annihilated. There was, however, a grouping of Whigs in parliament who were not part of the
government.
E. The MPs now generally referred to as the “Independent Whigs” inherently distrusted the power of the
administration, dominated as it was by those called “Court Whigs”. The Independent Whig was almost
invariably a country gentleman, and thus resisted the growth in power of those whose wealth was being
made on the embryonic stock market. For them the permanency of land meant patriotism, a direct interest
in one’s nation, whilst shares, easily transferable, could not be trusted. They saw their role as a check on
the administration, a permanent guard against political corruption, the last line of defence of the mixed
constitution of monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy. The reaction against the growing mercantile class
was shared by the Tories, also generally landed country gentlemen. It is thus Namier’s contention, and
that of those who follow his work, that by the 1730s the Tories and the Independent Whigs had fused to

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 form a Country opposition to the Court administration, thus explaining why voting records in 1760 do not
follow standard party lines.
F. It must be recognised that this view is not universally espoused. Revisionist historians such as Linda
Colley dispute that the Tory party was destroyed during this period, and assert the continuation of the
Tories as a discrete and persistent group in opposition, allied to the Independent Whigs but separate.
Colley’s thesis is persuasive, as it is clear that some, at least, regarded themselves as Tories rather than
Whigs. She is not so successful in proving the persistence either of party organisation beyond family
connection, or of ideology, beyond tradition. Furthermore, while the terms “Tory” and “Whig” were used
frequently in the political press, it was a device of the administration rather than the opposition. As Harris
notes in his analysis of the “Patriot” press of the 1740s, there is hardly any discernible difference between
Tory and Whig opposition pamphlets, both preferring to describe themselves as the “Country Interest”,
and attacking “the Court”.
Questions 86- 90
Reading Passage has 6 paragraphs (A-F). Choose the most suitable heading for each paragraph from
the List of headings below.
One of the headings has been done for you as an example.
NB. There are more headings than paragraphs, so you will not use all of them.
86. Paragraph A
87. Paragraph B
88. Paragraph C
89. Paragraph D
90. Paragraph E
Example: Paragraph F Answer: iii
List of headings
i. The Whig/Tory division discounted
ii. Maintaining the Anglican religion
iii. The fusion theory challenged and supported
iv. The consequences of George I’s accession
v. The Tory landowners
vi. Political divisions in the early 1700s
vii. The failure of the Jacobean rebellion
viii. The Tory opposition effectively destroyed
ix. The fusion of the Independent Whigs and the Tory landowners
x. The Whig interpretation of history
Questions 91-95
Do the statements below agree with the information in Reading Passage?
Write:
Yes if the statement agrees with the information in the passage
No if the statement contradicts the information in the passage
Not Given if there is no information about the statement in the passage
Example: Until the late 1950s the Whig interpretation of English history was the one that was widely
accepted.
Answer: Yes.
91. According to Namier, political divisions in the mid18th century were not related to party labels.
92. According to Namier, something happened between 1714 and 1760 to affect party ideology.
93. George I was not liked by everyone.
94. The Independent Whigs were all landowners with large estates.
95. Neither the Independent Whigs, nor the Tories trusted the mercantile classes.

Part 5. Read the extract from a review of a book about the English langage For questions 1-10. choose
from the sections A-E. The sections maybe chosen more than once.
In which section are the following mentioned?
96. the view that the global influence of a language is nothing new
97. a return to the global use of not one but many languages
98. explanations as to what motivates people to learn another language

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 99. the view that a language is often spoken in places other than its country of origin
100. an appreciation of a unique and controversial take on the role of the English language
101. a query about the extent to which people are attached to their own first language
102. an optimistic view about the long-term future of the English language
103. the hostility felt by those forced to learn another language
104. a derogatory comment about the English language
105. a shared view about the ultimate demise of English in the future
The Last Lingua Franca by Nicholas Ostler
Deborah Cameron predicts an uncertain future for English
A. The Emperor Charles V is supposed to have remarked in the 16th century that he spoke Latin with God,
Italian with musicians, Spanish with his troops, German with lackeys, French with ladies and English
with his horse. In most books about English, the joke would be turned on Charles, used to preface the
observation that the language he dismissed as uncultivated is now a colossus bestriding the world.
Nicholas Ostler, however, quotes it to make the point that no language's triumph is permanent and
unassailable. Like empires (and often with them), languages rise and fall, and English, Ostler contends,
will be no exception.
B. English is the first truly global lingua franca, if by 'global' we mean 'used on every inhabited continent’.
But in the smaller and less densely interconnected world of the past, many other languages had similar
functions and enjoyed comparable prestige, is Modern lingua francas include French, German, Latin,
Portuguese, Russian and Spanish. Yet these once-mighty languages are now largely confined to those
territories where their modern forms are spoken natively. Though at the height of their power some
acquired - and have kept - large numbers of native speakers outside their original homelands (as with
Spanish and Portuguese in South America), few retain their old status.
C. To understand why the mighty fall, Ostler suggests we must look to the factors that enabled them to rise:
most commonly these are conquest, commerce and conversion. Conquered or subordinated peoples learn
(or are obliged to learn) the languages of their overlords; traders acquire the languages that give them
access to markets; converts adopt the languages of their new religion. But these ways of recruiting
speakers are not conducive to permanent attachment. The learned language is not valued for its own
sake, but only for the benefits that are seen to flow from it, and only for as long as those benefits
outweigh the costs. When new conquerors arrive, their subjects switch to new lingua francas. Old
empires break up and their lingua francas are abandoned, while the spread of a new religion may
advance a language or conversely weaken it. And always there is the resentment generated by
dependence on a language which has to be learned, and therefore favours elites over those without
access to schooling. Prestigious lingua francas are socially divisive, and therefore unstable.
D. English in the global age is often portrayed as an exceptional case. Writers who take this view point out
that English differs from previous lingua francas in two important ways; first, it has no serious
competition, and second, although it was originally spread by conquest, commerce and missionaries, its
influence no longer depends on coercion. Because of this, the argument runs, it will not suffer the fate of
its predecessors. But Ostler thinks this argument underplays both the social costs of maintaining a lingua
franca (it is not true that English is universally loved) and the deep, enduring loyalty people have to their
native so tongues. For millennia we have been willing to compromise our linguistic loyalties in exchange
for various rewards; but if the rewards could be had without the compromise, we would gladly lay our
burden down. Ostler believes that we will soon be able to do that. English, he 65 suggests, will be the
last lingua franca. As Anglo-American hegemony withers, the influence of English will decline; but
what succeeds it will not be any other single language. Rather we will see a technologically-enabled
return to a state of Babel. Thanks to advances in computer translation, 'everyone will speak and write in
whatever language they choose, and the world will understand'.
E. Here it might be objected that Ostler's argument depends on an unrealistic techno-optimism, and puts too
much emphasis on the supposed primeval bond between speakers and their mother tongues, which some
would say is largely an invention of 19th-century European nationalism. But even if he is wrong to
predict the return of Babel, I do not think he is wrong to argue that English's position as the premier
medium of global exchange will not be maintained for ever. In the future, as in the past, linguistic
landscapes can be expected to change in line with so political and economic realities. The Last Lingua
Franca is not the easiest of reads: Ostler does not have the popularizer's gift for uncluttered storytelling,
and is apt to pile up details without much regard for what the non-specialist either needs to know or is

8
 capable of retaining. What he does offer, however, is a much- 85 needed challenge to conventional
wisdom: informative, thought- provoking and refreshingly free from anglocentric cliches.
From The Guardian Review section
IV. WRITING
Part 1: Write a summary of about 140 words
Ever seen Indians spitting out red substances from their mouths and having their lips conspicuously stained
red? Those red substances are actually chewed betel nuts. The betel nuts are chewed mainly by the Indians
and Malays, from countries like India, Malaysia and Thailand.
The nuts are usually removed from the betel or areca palm fruits. Softened by boiling, the nuts are then
sliced, dried in the sun before being grated into fine, thin shreds. To enjoy betel chewing, one must spread
lime on the betel leaf, then sprinkle some grated betel nuts on it, fold up the leaf and chew in the mouth. The
gums, teeth and lips will then be stained red and later turn black if the habit is continued with no proper
cleansing methods.
Long ago in the past, betel nuts had already proven their usefulness. Before the emergence of cosmetics,
women used to color their lips red with betel nuts. It was only after the invention of lipsticks that betel nuts
were used as nerve soothing medicine instead.
In India, betel nuts are chewed during important occasions like births, marriages and death ceremonies. It
was believed that Emperors long ago sent betel nuts as tributes to other foreign kings. Before carrying out
capital punishment, prisoners were also given betel nuts, probably as "farewell gifts". Even in some
countries now, betel nuts are offered as gifts of apology or as hints from hosts to their guests about their
overstay.
The preparation and serving of betel nuts are also viewed significantly in India. The skills are used
to gauge and choose ideal daughter-in-laws. The more skilful the lady is, the better the family background
she has and of course, the more ideal she is. To bless a bride with good fortune, betel leaves are often used
to cover her lap during the wedding ceremony. By pouring the juice of betel leaves upon the expecting
mother's navel and observing the direction of the liquid flow, the sex of the foetus could be predicted too.
In more developed countries, doctors have claimed that betel leaves are rich in vitamin C. They are also
good for relieving patients with breathing difficulties. On the other hand, there are some medical experts
who discovered that the betel-chewing may lead to mouth cancer. Whatever the conclusion is, I am sure that
the traditional chewing of betel leaves and nuts will still be practiced by Indians in India and other parts of
the world.

Part 2. The line graph shows visit to and from the UK from 1979 to 1999. The bar chart show the most
popular countries visited by the UK residents in 1999.
Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features and make comparisons
where relevant.

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The line graph illustrates the numbers of UK residents going abroad and visitors traveling to the UK,
meanwhile, the bar chart gives information about 5 countries most visited by UK residents including
Turkey, Greece, the USA, Spain, and France.
Overall, there was a growth in the number of visits to and from the UK between 1979 and 1999.
Additionally, the amount of UK residents going abroad is far higher than that of the visitors to the UK. Also,
France was the most popular country for UK visitors in 1999.
In detail, the number of UK residents visiting abroad climbed dramatically over the period given (from over
10 million people in 1979 to eventually reached more than 50 million in 1999). Besides, the number of visits
to the UK by overseas tourists rose steadily (from 10 million in 1979 to approximately 30 million in 1999).
In the second graph, France was the most popular country visited by UK residents in 1999 with over 10
million visitors, followed by Spain (nearly 9 million). USA and Greece were visited by 4 million and 3
million respectively. Last, Turkey was the least popular, with only 2 million UK tourists traveling there.

Part 3. More and more businesses as well as individuals are choosing to communicate either
professionally or socially using technology rather than being face to face. Discuss the advantages and
disadvantages of using technology for communicating
Nowadays, we are living in an era in which we have advanced greatly. Thanks to the help of technology,
most people use numerous different ways to interact with others instead of directly meeting face to face.
However, using technology for communication has its own benefits and drawbacks which we will discuss in
this essay.
On the one hand, one of the most significant advantages of using technology for communication is that it
helps to cross the geographical barrier. For example, a person sitting in Vietnam is able to contact one in
Belgium by using emails, video conference, or facetime, etc. This will be a huge convenience when it comes
to business due to the fact that managers in a particular company can interact with their customers around
the world. Moreover, communicating by using high tech helps to reduce the cost of traveling and time to
organize a face-to-face meeting. One other advantage of using an online system is its versatility. It allows to
send messages or share information to any location immediately as compared to the traditional way like
writing letters and send to a specific place, for instance.
On the other hand, using technology for communication may have some drawbacks. First of all, significant
documents can easily be transferred by someone to others in order to ask for a bribe. This situation happens
commonly in the advanced technology period which can affect the existence of a particular organization.
Second, Internet hackers are capable of stealing your personal information anytime. Consequently, you can
lose important things or reveal your secret that you do not want anyone to know.
In conclusion, both sides have their positive and negative effects. Always make sure that you use technology
wisely and securely.

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