Mark

TEST FOR GIFTED STUDENTS – Round 3

Name: …………………………………………………. Class: ……. Total: …… / 100
I. Questions 01-05: Choose the word whose underlined part is pronounced differently from the others.
01. A. impecunious B. ignominious C. envious D. pernicious
02. A. malachite B. chide C. chiasmus D. chiropodist
03. A. gigantic B. gaga C. tragic D. gable
04. A. turquoise B. tortoise C. equipoise D. counterpoise
05. A. adequate B. narrate C. phosphate D. colligate
II. Questions 06-10: Choose the word which has different stress pattern from the others.
06. A. medicinal B. preferential C. atmospheric D. circumstantial
07. A. affricate B. fricative C. explosive D. monochrome
08. A. archaic B. historic C. presentable D. tactical
09. A. existentialism B. utilitarianism C. hypothyroidism D. intellectualism
10. A. jeopardy B. catastrophe C. avalanche D. industry
III. Questions 11-20: Read the passage and choose the best option (A, B, C or D) for each question below.
A. When I first arrived in Australia at the age of 16 to go to High School for one year and live with a host
family, I was completely over the moon with everything – and I mean everything! When the plane from
Germany finally touched down in Sydney, I was so exhilarated that I was finally in Australia. I would soon
discover that even though I had participated in a one-day preparatory meeting, no kind of preparation
could have prevented the inevitable culture shock I was experiencing – and I’m glad it didn’t!
B. Many people confuse the term culture shock with a phase of feeling discomfort, confusion, frustration and
homesickness before adjusting to a foreign culture. However, culture shock is so much more! It also
includes those first weeks or months of a kind of “novelty phase” where you are ecstatic to be in that
other culture and everything you experience seems exotic, new and exciting. You are, so-to-speak,
wearing your rose-coloured culture glasses and cosily floating on a cultural cloud nine!
C. However, as I was to soon find out, this feeling didn’t last forever. After about two months, things started
to feel odd. Differences became more apparent and I started missing home more and more. Frustrating
thoughts increasingly populated my head: “Nobody really understands me, my English is not good
enough. I wish people would just be able to speak German for one day! I wish public transportation would
work the same way as at home!” And so on. These thoughts were of course highly unproductive and I
knew that it was an unhelpful mindset. However, these are part of the process that heralds the
negotiation phase”. Feelings of anxiety would creep up on me from nowhere and initial feelings of
excitement and exhilaration would alternate with feelings of disorientation and frustration.
D. Over the next few months, though, my sense of belonging superseded that of displacement as I learned
to adapt to stress, and made many new friends while venturing out into new social situations. I had slowly
and unknowingly entered the “adjustment phase” and my English had also improved dramatically - not
only had my vocabulary expanded significantly, but I also thought and dreamt exclusively in English!
E. Things started to make sense and I understood Australian culture better and better. That was a major
breakthrough for me personally. Every day I felt more and more comfortable with my new home and was
avoiding making unfortunate faux pas. I adopted many new traits while also keeping earlier ones from my
home country. This process which occurred over my last few months abroad is called the “mastery
phase”. My happiest moment was when my friend one day remarked during a conversation: ‘You are
Australian now, Jude! You sound just like us!’ I finally knew that I’d reached that point!
F. So how did I do it? How did I go from a timid German who could hardly follow a conversation to an almost
accent-free bicultural person with a solid grasp of the language? Here’s what helped me deal with culture
shock: try to really put yourself out there and make friends! Talk, even when you make mistakes! Develop
a routine! Think about how you dealt with stress at home and apply it to the new culture. Try to be positive
and see the good aspect in everything, and use humour to make light of a situation. All in all, I believe that
the benefits of acquiring intercultural skills during a culture shock make the previous feelings of
disconnection and anxiety well worth it. Maybe if we all did an exchange of some sort, we would live in a
more understanding, peaceful world.
1. The phrase over the moon in paragraph A is closest in meaning to
A. happy B. hesitant C. depressed D. moody
2. The word exhilarated in paragraph A is NOT closest in meaning to
 A. excited B. zestful C. depressed D. ebullient
3. The word novelty in paragraph B is closest in meaning to  
A. book B. newness C. habit D. stagnation
14. The word superseded in paragraph D is closest in meaning to  
A. accept B. supplant C. submit D. retain
15. The word faux pas in paragraph E is closest in meaning to  
 A. appropriateness B. correction C. mistake D. soundness.
16. What point does the writer make about culture shock?
A. The emotions felt by those experiencing it are often exaggerated.
B. There are misconceptions regarding its meaning.
C. Initial negative emotions evolve into a type of unique euphoria.
D. It develops out of a provisional state of excitement.
17. What does the writer reveal about her feelings in paragraph C?
A. She was unaware of their negative effects.
B. Her negative feelings became progressively worse overtime
C. They were unpredictable and varied constantly
D. They stemmed from her struggles with the language
18. The writer believes her friend’s comment
A. motivated her to overcome her cultural struggles.
B. demonstrated how well she has assimilated into the culture.
C. proved that she no longer makes any regrettable social blunders.
D. showed disbelief at the level of her communicative ability
19. What suggestion does the writer give for overcoming culture shock?
A. Re-evaluate and question old coping techniques for difficult situations.
B. Try to avoid mistakes and disconnect from negative feelings.
C. Leave your previous habits behind and recreate yourself.
D. Engage in your surroundings and don’t take things too seriously?
20. What does the writer imply in the last paragraph?
A. Cultural interaction leads to a more compassionate world.
B. The ends justify the means when assimilating into a new social group.
C. The negative aspects of culture shock should not be underestimated.
D. Peaceful coexistence depends on our ability to express ourselves proficiently
IV. Questions 21-30: Read the passage and write ONE word which best fits each blank.
The French Review didn’t confirm a “free speech crisis” in Australian universities. But (21. _NOR__) did its report
last year confirm free speech was “alive and well”, as Universities Australia would have it. In many university
policies the report found vague language, (22. _WHICH__) could rule out voicing a view deemed offensive.
Most universities have updated their policies (23. __IN__) response to the French Review’s Model Code on
Freedom of Speech and Academic Freedom, and related amendments to higher education legislation are before
(24. _THE___) parliament. On Wednesday, the Walker Review of universities’ implementation of the code
reported (25. __THAT____) many don’t fully reflect the code yet.
(26. __OF___) course, universities promote respect for others’ rights, and civility more generally. They have a
duty to foster the well-being of students and staff. But in the model code this doesn’t “extend to a duty to protect
any person from feeling offended or shocked or insulted (27. __BY__) the lawful speech of another”.
Like the Chicago Principles, the model code reflects legal limits on free expression, but doesn’t seek to enforce
civility (28. __AS___) a formal campus rule. It recognizes universities as institutions (29. _WHERE____)
disagreement runs deep and where diverse views - even those some find offensive - should be exchanged freely
and challenged openly. So, (30. _APART__) from clarifying policy, how can universities promote a “free to
disagree” culture on campus? Not just in name, but in norms?
V. Questions 31-45: Choose the best options to complete the following sentences.
31. After their interview with the Prime Minister, questions were coming at them_______.
A. thick and thin B. here and then C. fast and thin D. thick and fast
32. It is surely beyond ________that soap opera is the most consistently popular type of television program in
the world.
A. dispute B. argument C. dissent D. challenge
33. Many artefacts of ____cultural significance from the last century were made from plastic.
A. lingering B. enduring C. unceasing D. perennial
34. Researcher at Harvard University have ____a cosmic directory which has the names of all planets and
moons most likely to harbor alien life.
A. dispatched B. launched C. commenced D. embarked
35. ‘Pastry,’ once wrote a cookery expert, ‘like horses and children, seems to ____if you are afraid of it and
plays up accordingly.’
A. distinguish B. sense C. feel D. identify
36. A combination of new technology and shifting student expectations is ____altering the job of a college or
university librarian.
 A. radically B. centrally C. sweepingly D. rationally
37. Law firm Reynolds and Reynolds is a _____example of a business using art to revamp its public image.
A. bright B. polished C. shining D. glossy
38. Some photographers who have worked so close to volcanoes that their clothes started to burn come
within stroking _____of tigers in the wild.
A. interval B. space C. distance D. reach
39. The car had again failed to start, and Elizabeth was again ____ to take the train.
A. compelled B. enforced C. necessitated D. restricted
40. The best travel books of this year are informational, narrative, and what, for ____of a better term, I’ll call ‘anecdotal’.
A. want B. absence C. shortage D. need
41. I hadn’t met his new wife before, but my cousin had been _____to everyone about her warm and caring personality.
A. acclaiming B. plugging C. raving D. promoting
42. At first she thought her new boss was wonderful, but she went ______ him when he continually
criticized her work.
A. on B. down C. off D. out
43. He made _____ the property to his daughter last week.
A. out B. up C. over D. down
44. I've been ill in bed for a while, but I'm _____ and _____ again.
A. about/around B. up/about C. up/down D. about/down
45. Just ignore him - he's only trying  to put your  ___________ up.
A. back B. arm C. leg D. throat
VI. Questions 46-50: Think of ONE word which can be used appropriately in all three sentences.
46. It is possible to _MAKE____ a hypothesis on the basis of this graph.
We were in a hurry so we had to ___________ do with a quick snack.
It's my first trip abroad so I'm going to __________ the most of it
47. A White House spokesman said that civilian casualties were an inevitable _CONSEQUENCE__of war.
It had been a humiliating day for Flora and she bore the director a grudge in _________.
Two hundred people lost their jobs as a direct _________ of the merger.
48. You can't_WANT _ it both ways. If you can afford to go out all the time, you can afford to pay off your debts.
I've tried to ask her advice, but she doesn't ________ to know about my problems.
If he doesn't manage to convince them, it won't be for _________of trying.
49. If you criticize him, it’s like a_RED___ rag to a bull; he gets absolutely furious.
My old friend's coming to visit, so this weekend we're going to go out and paint the town _________.
He said something and she went __________as a beetroot.
50. He was always there with a sympathetic __EAR______, I believed.
Everything I tell them just goes in one ___________ and out the other.
The agent had no suitable properties on his books but promised to keep an _______ to the ground for us.
VII. Questions 51-60: Complete the passage, using the correct form of the words in parentheses.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer the stuff of science fiction. In the form of machine (51. LEARN)
_LEARNING___tools and decision-making algorithms, it’s all around us. AI often appears both omniscient and
neutral, but on closer (52. INSPECT) _INSPECTION___we find AI learns from and adopts human (53.
BIAS)__BIASES__. As a result, algorithms replicate familiar forms of discrimination but hide them in a “black
box” that makes (54. SEEM) _SEEMINGLY___objective decisions. But as the use of AI grows and its drawbacks
become more clear, workers in the very companies that make the tools of (55. ALGORITHM)
_ALGORITHMIC___management are beginning to push back. Earlier this month, one of Google’s lead (56.
RESEARCH) _RESEARCHERS___on AI ethics and bias, Timnit Gebru, abruptly left the company. Gebru says
she was fired after an internal email sent to colleagues about racial discrimination and toxic (57. WORK)
_WORKING____conditions at Google, while senior management maintains Gebru resigned over the (58.
PUBLISH) _PUBLICATION___ of a research paper. Here is one example of how algorithms can recycle and
reinforce (59. EXIST) __EXISTING___prejudices: (60. PLACE) _MISPLACED___trust in algorithms lay at the
heart of Australia’s Robodebt debacle in which the assumption of a regular week-to-week wage packet was
baked into the system.
VIII. Questions 61-70: Read the passage and answer the questions below.
 A. Natural variations in ultraviolet radiation influence the spread of COVID-19, but the influence is modest
compared to preventive measures such as physical distancing, mask wearing, and quarantine, according
to new research from Harvard University. “Understanding the potential seasonality of COVID-19
transmission could help inform our response to the pandemic in the coming months,” said Jonathan
Proctor, a postdoctoral fellow at the Harvard Data Science Initiative and the Harvard Center for the
Environment. “These findings suggest that the incidence of COVID-19 may have a seasonal pattern,
spreading faster in the winter when it’s darker than in the summer.”
B. Analyzing daily COVID-19 and weather data from over 3,000 administrative regions in more than 170
countries, Proctor, together with co-authors Peter Huybers, also at Harvard University, Tamma Carleton
and Kyle Meng from the University of California Santa Barbara and Jules Cornetet at France’s École
Normale Supérieure Paris-Saclay, found that the spread of COVID-19 through a population tended to be
lower in the weeks following higher UV exposure. Findings were published in the Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences.The seasonality of COVID-19 has been a mystery since the disease first
emerged one year ago, though there have been some clues that UV could play a role. Related species of
coronaviruses such as SARS and MERS were found to be sensitive to UV radiation and recent laboratory
studies show that UV inactivates SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, on surfaces.
C. Attempts to understand the influence of UV in the real world, however, have been limited by scarce data
and the difficulty of isolating climate variables from other drivers of transmission. To test for an
environmental signal within the noise of the pandemic, the team compiled and cleaned data from
statistical agencies around the world. To avoid potentially confounding factors that differ across regions,
such as healthcare infrastructure or population density, the team examined how transmission within a
particular population changed according to variations in sunlight, temperature, precipitation and humidity
experienced by that same population. “We basically ask whether daily fluctuations in environmental
conditions experienced by a population affect new COVID-19 cases up to two weeks later,” Meng
explained.
D. The researchers diagnosed the relationship between UV and COVID-19 using data from the beginning of
the pandemic and then used that relationship to simulate how seasonal changes might influence the
spread of COVID-19. They found that changes in UV between winter and summer led to a seven
percentage point decrease in the COVID-19 growth rate on average across the Northern Hemisphere,
which is about half the average daily growth rate at the beginning of the pandemic. While this research
shows that COVID-19 exhibits a seasonal pattern due to changes in UV, the full seasonality of COVID-19
remains unclear because of uncertain influences from other environmental factors such as temperature
and humidity. “We are confident of the UV effect, but this is only one piece of the full seasonality picture,”
Carleton said.
E. The team noted that environmental influences are just one of many determinants of COVID-19
transmission, and that the estimated effects of UV seasonality in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres
are a fraction of the size of previously estimated effects of anti-contagion policies including quarantines
and travel bans. “As we saw in the U.S. this summer, UV exposure alone is unlikely to stop the spread of
the virus without strong social distancing policies,” said Proctor. “Regardless of the weather, additional
measures appear to be necessary to substantially slow the spread.”
F. The team analyzed the data in multiple ways and consistently found that the higher the UV, the lower the
spread of COVID-19, but it remains unclear what mechanism is driving that effect. It may be that UV
destroys the virus on surfaces or in aerosols, or that on sunny days people go outside more where there
is less transmission. It is even possible that UV reduces susceptibility to COVID-19 by stimulating
production of vitamin D and boosting the immune system. “There’s still so much that we don’t know about
how environmental factors both directly and indirectly, though human behavior, influence the spread of the
virus,” said Huybers. “But a better understanding of the environmental influences on COVID-19 could
allow for seasonal adjustment of containment policies and may help inform vaccination strategies.”
Which paragraph mentions the following information? (You may use any letters more than once.)
__D____ 61. explanations about how UV helps kill the virus
__C____ 62. the venues for data collection of the research
__A____ 63. the institution that the researchers published their results
__F_____ 64. the problems the researchers had to face when doing the research
__D_____ 65. a region where the number of Covid 19 changed from one season to another
__B_____ 66. names of all the researchers who conducted the project
__E_____ 67. the need for social policies besides UV exposure in an attempt to contain the virus
__F_____ 68. other factors from nature, not only UV, likely to contribute to the Covid 19 reduction
__B_____ 69. two other kinds of viruses that are sensitive to UV
__E_____ 70. emphasis on the prominent role of actions that need taking to prevent, delay the occurrence of or
reduce further transmission or exposure to the disease
IX. Questions 71-90: Complete the second sentence so that it means the same as the first.
71. ‘Researchers’ interest in space exploration has dropped significantly in the last decade. (DECLINE)
There __________________________ researchers’ interest in space exploration in the last decade.
72. He got very impatient when the company offered unbelievable excuses for the delay. (LITTLE)
He______________________________ the company’s unbelievable excuses regarding the delay.
73. Train ticket prices are now considerably higher than they were a few years ago. (RISEN)
Train ticket prices ______________________________________________________ few years.
74. I have been visiting this resort for twenty years and I haven’t seen it in such a bad condition as this.
(WORST)
The condition of the resort ________________________________ twenty years of staying here.
75. The principal refused to lay off any staff despite the school’s problems. (INTENTION)
The principal has ________________________________ any staff despite the school’s problems.
76. The multinational cooperation is about to sign the new contract. (VERGE)
The multinational cooperation is______________________________________ the new contract.
77. I never thought I’d try bungee jumping, but I did despite being very nervous about it. (PLUNGE)
I never thought I’d try bungee jumping, but I finally ____________________________despite being
very nervous about it.
78. “I’m sorry I didn’t inform the clients of the failure when they visited Main,” said Miley. (REGRETTED)
Miley said___________________________________________ the failure when they visited Main.
79. The site may be in an isolated spot, but it’s well worth a visit if you want a great day out. (TRACK)
The site may be _______________________, but it’s well worth a visit if you want a great day out.
80. The international leaders failed to agree about the environmental targets for 2021. (REACH)
The international leaders_________________________ about the environmental targets for 2021.
81. I has spent almost an hour trying to calm him down. (BEST)
I spent ______________________________________________________trying to calm him down.
82. Her scathing criticism showed the depth of her resentment towards the social changes. (DEEPLY)
Her scathing criticism showed _____________________________________ the social changes.
83. When Eleni was younger, she got excited just thinking about meeting her parents. (EXCITING)
When Eleni was younger, there was nothing _______________________of meeting her parents.
84. Our time management skill is much better than it used to be. (COMPARISON)
There _________________________________________________________and our current one.
85. The seller thought he’d fooled me, but I knew the bracelet wasn’t real gold and told him so. (PUT)
The seller thought he’d____________________ but I knew the bracelet wasn’t real gold and told him so.
86. Buying an expensive rug at the souk greatly reduced their budget, and they regretted it. (DENT)
Buying an expensive rug at the souk_______________________________ and they regretted it.
87. The hotel room was tiny, and to make a bad situation worse, the air con didn’t work. (INSULT)
The hotel room was tiny, and___________________________________, the air con didn’t work.
88. The city would have never been such a great metropolis without the regeneration scheme. (FOR)
Had __________________________________the regeneration scheme, the city would have never been
such a great metropolis.
89. Volunteers are going to man stalls at the church fête. (HAVE)
The church_______________________________________________volunteers at the church fête.
90. Do you mind working alone in the shop today? (BY)
Are you sure you can________________________________________________________today?

X. Write an essay of at least 250 words on the following topic:

Success in life is more a matter of luck than of ability. To what extent to you agree or disagree? Use
specific reasons and examples to support your answer.