You are on page 1of 12

SỞ GD-ĐT NINH THUẬN ĐỀ THI HỌC SINH GIỎI CẤP TRƯỜNG

TRƯỜNG THPT CHUYÊN Năm học 2020-2021


LÊ QUÝ ĐÔN Môn: Tiếng Anh
Thời gian làm bài: 180 phút
(Đề thi gồm 12 trang) (không kể thời gian giao đề)
Ngày thi: 21 / 01 / 2021
__________________________________________________
I. LISTENING (60 points)
HƯỚNG DẪN PHẦN THI NGHE HIỂU
 Bài nghe gồm 3 phần; mỗi phần được nghe 02 lần, mỗi lần cách nhau 05 giây.
 Mọi hướng dẫn cho thí sinh (bằng tiếng Anh) đã có trong bài nghe.
A. SECTION 1 Questions 1-10 (20 points)
Complete the notes below. Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.
The George and Dragon
BOOK FORM
DETAILS
Name: Carla 1 …………………
Phone number: 2 …………………
Type of event: retirement party
Date: 3 …………………
Number of people: 16-17
(Please note that the upstairs room has a capacity of no more than 4 ……………people)
MENU
Seven 5 …………………
Two ham and cheese and two 6 …………………
7…………………platters
One Caesar and one 8 …………………salad
PRICE
Venue will be needed for a total of 9 …………………hours
Final price: 10 £ …………………
B. SECTION 2 Questions 11-20 (20 points)
Questions 11, 12 Choose the correct letter A, B or C.
11. Sally Jackson is ……………
A. a university lecturer. B. a university student. C. a secretary at the university.
12. What does Sally say about bank accounts?
A. You are obliged to open a new one at the university.
B. The matter should be discussed with the Director of Studies.
C. Some students may not have to worry about opening one.

Questions 13-17 Complete the table below.


Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.
Day Event Time Notes

Monday – Friday Orientation & 10 am Tour of campus, Sessions to develop 


Welfare 13 ……………………..

Monday – Friday Tour of Upton 5 pm Visits to 14 …………………….. and Ghost walk

Monday Academic Fair 1 pm Talk to students and 15 ……………………..

Tuesday Societies Fair 1 pm More than 16 …………………….. societies and


sports clubs

Wednesday 17…………….. 2-5 pm Lots of bargains and free gifts

Page 1 of 12
Questions 18-20
Which THREE statements are true about the entertainment programme? Choose THREE letters A-F.

A. Sally cannot reveal the name of the band for the first party.
B. Students can bring a guest to the opening party.
C. There will be a concert in the Cotswold Theatre on Monday.
D. There is an important event on Thursday.
E. There is no formal dress code for the Freshers’ Ball.
F. Students should check the notice board for changes to the announced programme.

C. SECTION 3
For questions 21-30, listen to the news about Twitter Permanently Suspends Trump. Write NO MORE
THAN THREE WORDS taken from the recording in each blank. (20 points)

o Twitter suspends accounts which 21……………………..…….. the Twitter rules.


o Two days after that attack on the U.S. Capitol, the president of the United States is without his
preferred method of 22……………………..……...
o Twitter said it made the decision in order to prevent the president from 23……………………..……..
around the country.
o Twitter banning Trump for life only really came after a 24……………………..……..said Trump is
not just spreading false claims.
o A lot of people have viewed Trump's tweets and his rhetoric as egging on the 25……………………
that attacked the Capitol.
o Trump, like you said, has 12 days left in office, and Democrats are about to 26……………………in
Washington.
o The president has created a long record on Twitter of misleading, disparaging and just straight-up
27…………………….
o Many experts say Trump as a 28…………………….could never have existed without Twitter.
o Not having 88 million 29……………………. to directly speak to is unquestionably going to be a
major hit to Trump’s relevancy.
o Donald Trump Jr. quote, "We are living in Orwell's "1984," where 30……………………. no longer
exists in America."
II. LEXICO-GRAMMAR (20 points)
Part 1. For question 31-45, choose the correct answer for each of the following question and write your
answers in the corresponding numbered boxes provided. (15 points)
31. My brother found it impossible to __________his anger and started shouting.
A. restrict B. inhibit C. reserve D. contain
32. We don’t have a secretary __________, but we do have a student who comes in to do a bit of filing.
A. as such B. the least bit C. whatsoever D. little more
33. The problem __________because neither side was prepared to compromise.
A. amassed B. escalated C. proliferated D. enhanced
34. A meeting was held so that staff could__________their view freely.
A. divulge B. vent C. utter D. air
35. This evidence should prove __________ that he was telling the truth.
A. once and for all B. now and then C. over and above D. from time to time
Page 2 of 12
36. Not even losing all the time could __________his enthusiasm for tennis.
A. recede B. dampen C. erode D. belittle
37. It was a _________lie and nobody at all believed it.
A. blatant B. salient C. conspicuous D. pronounced
38. You’ll just have to __________yourself to the fact that you can’t always have what you want.
A. acknowledge B. reconcile C. concede D. allow
39. We were under no __________ about how difficult it would be to achieve our aims.
A. fantasies B. daydreams C. illusions D. deceptions
40. _________ in front of a camera lens changes the color of the light that reaches the film.
A. Placed a filter B. A filter is placed C. A filter placed D. When a filter placed
41. ___ relations with friends and acquaintances, play a major role in the social development of adolescents.
A. What are called peer group relations are B. Peer group relations, the
C. Peer group relations are D. By peer group relations, we mean
42. _______ towards shore, its shape is changed by its collision with the shallow sea bottom.
A. During a wave rolls B. As a wave rolls C. A wave rolls D. A wave’s rolling
43. ________ so incredible is that these insects successfully migrate to places that they have never even seen.
A. That makes the monarch buttertlies’ migration
B. The migration of the monarch butterflies is
C. What makes the monarch butterflies’ migration
D. The migration of the monarch butterflies, which is
44. Reinforced concrete is concrete that is strengthened by metal bars __________.
A. in it that are embedded B. are that it embedded in
C. embedded that are in it D. that are embedded in it
45. Could you possibly __________ me at the next committee meeting?
A. stand in for B. make up for C. go back on D. keep in with
Your answers:
31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38.
39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45.

Part 2. For question 46-50, write the correct form of each bracketed word in the numbered space
provided. (0) has been done as an example. (5 points)
INTERNET JOBS
Contrary to popular belief, one does not have to be a trained programmer to work online. Of course,
there are plenty of jobs available for people with high-tech computer skills, but the growth of new media has
opened up a wide range of Internet career opportunities requiring only a (46. MINIMIZE) __________ level
of technical (47. EXPERT) _________. Probably one of the most well-known online job opportunities is the
job of webmaster. However, it is hard to define one basic job description for this (48. POSE) __________
The qualifications and responsibilities depend on what tasks a (49. PART) ___________ organization needs
a webmaster to perform.
To (50. SPECIAL) ____________ the job description of a webmaster, one needs to identify the
hardware and software the website the webmaster will manage is running on. Different type of hardware and
software require different skill sets to manage them. Another key factor is whether the website will be
running internally (at the firm itself) or externally (renting shared space on the company servers). Finally, the
responsibilities of a webmaster also depend on whether he or she will be working independently, or whether
the firm will provide people to help. All of these factors need to be considered before one can create an
accurate webmaster job description.

Your answers:
46. MINIMAL 47. EXPERTISE 48. POSITION
49. PARTICULAR 50. SPECIFY

III. READING (60 points)

Part 1. For question 51-60, read the text below and decide which answer (A, B, C or D) best fits each
gap. Write your answers in the corresponding numbered boxes provided. (10 points)

Page 3 of 12
The quality of life these days is something most of us take for (51)_____ it takes some radically
different experience to (52)_____ this fact home to people. In my (53)_____ , it was spending three weeks
aboard on a yacht with twelve other people, completing in a major sailing race. (54)_____ I was officially a
guest, it was (55)_____ clear to me from the start that there was to be no room for passengers, and that I’d
have to (56)_____ my weight.
For the first few nights, none of us was able to sleep for more than a couple of hours at a (57)_____
before being rudely awoken by an aggressive command. Then we’d do physically exhausting work in total
darkness. Every few minutes we’d be completely soaked to the (58)_____ by a large wave we couldn’t see
coming. I shared sleeping (59)_____ with six other women, with barely enough room to stretch my legs.
Soon I found myself (60)_____ for my comfortable sheets back home, a hot chocolate and a warm bath.
51. A. given B. accepted C. granted D. read
52. A. bring B. push C. sweep D. carry
53. A. example B. instance C. case D. experience
54. A. Although B. However C. But D. Therefore
55. A. done B. taken C. made D. announced
56. A. offer B. move C. use D. pull
57. A. piece B. time C. period D. moment
58. A. flesh B. skin C. bone D. stone
59. A. quarters B. premises C. dormitories D. digs
60. A. desiring B. yearning C. dreaming D. considering
Your answers:
51. 52. 53. 54. 55.
56. 57. 58. 59. 60.

Part 2. For question 61-73, Read the text below and think of the word which best fits each space. Use
only one word in each space. Write your answers in the corresponding numbered boxes
provided. (13 points)
HARD ROAD TO SUCCESS
In today’s music industry it is hard to (61) ___________ out in the crowd but the band, Makeover Mayhem,
seem to have done just that. They only got together a (62) ___________ of months ago, but their first album,
which was ready for downloading only a week ago, is already speeding up the charts. It looks as if they are
(63) __________to become the biggest success story of the year. If this continues, they stand (64) ________
reach number one and (65) ___________ their fortunes. Their music harks (66) ___________ to the early
rock and roll of the fifties and the reason for their success is probably (67) ___________ to two main things:
first, the modern twist which they have put on rock and roll music and, secondly, the wave of nostalgia that
seems to be sweeping through the music-buying public.

In (68) ___________ contrast to the band, Josh Logan is an actor who has been struggling for years to make
(69) ___________ for himself. But, finally, he has just finished his first lead role in a film at the age of 32.
(70) ___________ he loves working on films, he finds it difficult to tap into the emotional recall required
when the scenes do not follow on from each other as they do in a stage play. The film (71) ___________ to
have been released in spring next year, but that has now changed to the autumn, mainly because of the
director’s pedantic obsession with a perfection that only exists in his head. However, Josh knows that
tenacity and belief in (72) ___________ you are doing is a prerequisite for an actor and he is prepared to
work long hours to be the (73) ___________ he can be.

Your answers:
61. 62.COUPLE 63.SET 64. TO 65. MAKE 66. BACK 67. DUE
STAND
68. SHARP 69. NAME 70. 71. WAS 72. WHAT 73. BEST
ALTHOUGH

Part 3: For questions 74-86, read the following passage and do the following tasks. Write your answers
in the corresponding numbered boxes provided. (13 points)

Page 4 of 12
Information theory – the big idea
Information theory lies at the heart of everything - from DVD players and the genetic code of DNA to the
physics of the universe at its most fundamental. It has been central to the development of the science of
communication, which enables data to be sent electronically and has therefore had a major impact on our
lives.

A. In April 2002 an event took place which demonstrated one of the many applications of information
theory. The space probe, Voyager I, launched in 1977, had sent back spectacular images of Jupiter and
Saturn and then soared out of the Solar System on a one-way mission to the stars. After 25 years of exposure
to the freezing temperatures of deep space, the probe was beginning to show its age. Sensors and circuits
were on the brink of failing and NASA experts realised that they had to do something or lose contact with
their probe forever. The solution was to get a message to Voyager I to instruct it to use spares to change the
failing parts. With the probe 12 billion kilometres from Earth, this was not an easy task. By means of a radio
dish belonging to NASA’s Deep Space Network, the message was sent out into the depths of space. Even
travelling at the speed of light, it took over 11 hours to reach its target, far beyond the orbit of Pluto. Yet,
incredibly, the little probe managed to hear the faint call from its home planet, and successfully made the
switchover.

B. It was the longest-distance repair job in history, and a triumph for the NASA engineers. But it also
highlighted the astonishing power of the techniques developed by American Communications engineer
Claude Shannon, who had died just a year earlier. Born in 1916 in Petoskey, Michigan, Shannon showed an
early talent for maths and for building gadgets, and made breakthroughs in the foundations of computer
technology when still a student. While at Bell Laboratories, Shannon developed information theory, but
shunned the resulting acclaim. In the 1940s, he single-handedly created an entire science of communication
which has since inveigled its way into a host of applications, from DVDs to satellite communications to bar
codes - any area, in short, where data has to be conveyed rapidly yet accurately.

C. This all seems light years away from the down-to-earth uses Shannon originally had for his work, which
began when he was a 22-year-old graduate engineering student at the prestigious Massaehuaetts Institute of
Technology in 1939. He set out with an apparently simple aim: to pin down the precise meaning of the
concept of ‘information’. The most basic form of information, Shannon argued, is whether something is true
or false - which can be captured in the binary unit, or 'bit', of the form 1 or 0. Having identified this
fundamental unit, Shannon set about defining otherwise vague ideas about information and how to transmit it
from place to place. In the process he discovered something surprising: it is always possible to guarantee
information will get through random interference - 'noise’ - intact.

D. Noise usually means unwanted sounds which interfere with genuine information. Information theory
generalises this idea via theorems that capture the effects of noise with mathematical precision. In particular,
Shannon showed that noise sets a limit on the rate at which information can pass along communication
channels while remaining error-free. This rate depends on the relative strengths of the signal and noise
travelling down the communication channel, and on its capacity (its ‘bandwith’). The resulting limit, given in
units of bits per second, is the absolute maximum rate of error-free communication given signal strength and
noise level. The trick, Shannon showed, is to find ways of packaging up - ‘coding’ - information to cope with
the ravages of noise, while staying within the information-carrying capacity - 'bandwidth' - of the
communication system being used.

E. Over the years scientists have devised many such coding methods, and they have proved crucial in many
technological feats. The Voyager spacecraft transmitted data using codes which added one extra bit for every
single bit of information; the result was an error rate of just one bit in 10,000 - and stunningly clear pictures
of the planets. Other codes have become part of everyday life - such as the Universal Product Code, or bar
code, which uses a simple error-detecting system that ensures supermarket check-out lasers can read the price
even on, say, a crumpled bag of crisps. As recently as 1993, engineers made a major breakthrough by
discovering so-called turbo codes - which come very close to Shannon's ultimate limit for the maximum rate
that data can be transmitted reliably, and now play a key role in the mobile videophone revolution.
Page 5 of 12
F. Shannon also laid the foundations of more efficient ways of storing information, by stripping out
superfluous (‘redundant') bits from data which contributed little real information. As mobile phone text
messages like ‘I CN CU’ show, it is often possible to leave out a lot of data without losing much meaning.
As with error correction, however, there’s a limit beyond which messages become too ambiguous. Shannon
showed how to calculate this limit, opening the way to the design of compression methods that cram
maximum information into the minimum space.

Questions 74-79
Reading Passage 3 has six paragraphs, A-F. Which paragraph contains the following information? Write
your answers (A-F) in the numbered boxes. Write the correct letter, A-F, in boxes 74-79 below.

74. an explanation of the factors affecting the transmission of information


75. an example of how unnecessary information can be omitted
76. a reference to Shannon’s attitude to fame
77. details of a machine capable of interpreting incomplete information
78. a detailed account of an incident involving information theory
79. a reference to what Shannon initially intended to achieve in his research
Your answers:
74. 75. 76. 77. 78. 79.

Questions 80-86
Complete the notes below. Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 80-86 below.
The Voyager 1 Space Probe
• The probe transmitted pictures of both (80) _____________ and (81) _______________, then left the
(82) _____________.
• The freezing temperatures were found to have a negative effect on parts of the space probe.
• Scientists feared that both the (83) ___________and (84) ___________ were about to stop working.
• The only hope was to tell the probe to replace them with (85) _____________ but distance
made communication with the probe difficult.
• A (86) _______________was used to transmit the message at the speed of light.
• The message was picked up by the probe and the switchover took place.

Your answers:
80. 81. 82. 83.
84. 85. 86.

Part 4: For questions 87 - 96, read the passage and write the best answer among A, B, C or D in the
corresponding numbered boxes provided. (10 points)
It is often helpful when thinking about biological processes to consider some apparently similar yet better
understood non-biological process. In the case of visual perception an obvious choice would be color
photography. Since in many respects eyes resemble cameras, and percepts photographs, is it not reasonable
to assume that perception is a sort of photographic process whereby samples of the external world become
spontaneously and accurately reproduced somewhere inside our heads? Unfortunately, the answer must be
no. The best that can be said of the photographic analogy is that it points up what perception is not. Beyond
this it is superficial and misleading. Four simple experiments should make the matter plain.

In the first a person is asked to match a pair of black and white discs, which are rotating at such a speed as to
make them appear uniformly grey. One disc is standing in shadow, the other in bright illumination. By
adjusting the ratio of black to white in one of the discs the subject tries to make it look the same as the other.
The results show him to be remarkably accurate, for it seems he has made the proportion of black to white in
the brightly illuminated disc almost identical with that in the disc which stood in shadow. But there is
nothing photographic about his perception, for when the matched discs, still spinning, are photographed, the
resulting print shows them to be quite dissimilar in appearance. The disc in shadow is obviously very much

Page 6 of 12
darker than the other one. What has happened? Both the camera and the person were accurate, but their
criteria differed. One might say that the camera recorded things as they look, and the person things as they
are. But the situation is manifestly more complex than this, for the person also recorded things as they look.
He did better than the camera because he made them look as they really are. He was not misled by the
differences in illumination. He showed perceptual constancy. By reason of an extremely rapid, wholly
unconscious piece of computation he received a more accurate record of the external world than could the
camera.

In the second experiment a person is asked to match with a color card the colors of two pictures in dim
illumination. One is of a leaf, the other of a donkey. Both are colored an equal shade of green. In making his
match he chooses a much stronger green for the leaf than for the donkey. The leaf evidently looks greener
than the donkey. The percipient makes a perceptual world compatible with his own experience. It hardly
needs saying that cameras lack this versatility.

In the third experiment hungry, thirsty and satiated people are asked to equalize the brightness of pictures
depicting food, water and other objects unrelated to hunger or thirst. When the intensities at which they set
the pictures are measured it is found that hungry people see pictures relating to food as brighter than the rest
(i.e. to equalize the pictures they make the food ones less intense), and thirsty people do likewise with
“drink” pictures. For the satiated group no differences are obtained between the different objects. In other
words, perception serves to satisfy needs, not to enrich subjective experience. Unlike a photograph the
percept is determined by more than just the stimulus.

The fourth experiment is of a rather different kind. With ears plugged, their eyes beneath translucent goggles
and their bodies either encased in cotton wool, or floating naked in water at body temperature, people are
deprived for considerable periods of external stimulation. Contrary to what one might expect, however,
such circumstances result not in a lack of perceptual experience but rather a surprising change in what is
perceived. The subjects in such an experiment begin to see, feel and hear things which bear no more
relationship to the immediate external world than does a dream in someone who is asleep. These people are
not asleep yet their hallucinations, or so-called “autistic” perceptions, may be as vivid, if not more so, than
any normal percept.
87. In the first paragraph, the author suggests that ………….
A. color photography is a biological process. B. vision is rather like color photography.
C. vision is a sort of photographic process. D. vision and color photography are very different.
88. What does the word “it”, underlined in the first paragraph, refer to?
A. perception B. the photographic process
C. the comparison with photography D. the answer
89. In the first experiment, it is proved that a person ………….
A. makes mistakes of perception and is less accurate than a camera.
B. can see more clearly than a camera.
C. is more sensitive to changes in light than a camera.
D. sees colors as they are in spite of changes in the light.
90. What does the word “that”, underlined in the second paragraph, refer to?
A. the proportion of black to white B. the brightly illuminated disc
C. the other disc D. the grey color
91. The second experiment shows that ………….
A. people see colors according to their ideas of how things should look.
B. colors look different in a dim light.
C. cameras work less efficiently in a dim light.
D. colors are less intense in larger objects.
92. What does the word “satiated”, underlined in the fourth paragraph, means?
A. tired B. bored C. not hungry or thirsty D. nervous
93. What does “to equalize the brightness", underlined in the fourth paragraph, mean?
A. to arrange the pictures so that the equally bright ones are together
B. to change the lighting so that the pictures look equally bright
C. to describe the brightness
D. to move the pictures nearer or further away
Page 7 of 12
94. The third experiment proves that ………….
A. we see things differently according to our interest in them.
B. pictures of food and drink are especially interesting to everybody.
C. cameras are not good at equalizing brightness.
D. satiated people see less clearly than hungry or thirsty people.
95. The expression “contrary to what one might expect” occurs the fifth paragraph. What might one expect?
A. that the subjects would go to sleep. B. that they would feel uncomfortable and disturbed.
C. that they would see, hear and feel nothing. D. that they would see, hear and feel strange things.
96. The fourth experiment proves ………….
A. that people deprived of sense stimulation go mad.
B. that people deprived of sense stimulation dream.
C. that people deprived of sense stimulation experience unreal things.
D. that people deprived of sense stimulation lack perceptual experience.

Your answers:
87. 88. 89. 90. 91. 92. 93. 94. 95. 96.

Part 5: For questions 97-110, read the following passage and do the following tasks. Write your
answers in the corresponding numbered boxes provided. (14 points)
Homeopathy
A. An international protest against homeopathy this week aims to demonstrate the truth about homeopathy –
that there is literally nothing in it, says Martin Robbins at 10.23 am on 30 January, and more than 300
activists in the UK, Canada, Australia and the US will take part in a mass homeopathic "overdose". Skeptics
will publicly swallow an entire bottle of homeopathic pills to demonstrate to the public that homeopathic
remedies, the product of a scientifically unfounded 18th-century ritual, are simply sugar pills. Many of the
skeptics will swallow 84 pills of arsenicum album, a homeopathic remedy based on arsenic which is used to
treat a range of symptoms, including food poisoning and insomnia. The aim of the "10:23" campaign, led by
the Merseyside Skeptics Society, based in Liverpool, UK, is to raise public awareness of just exactly what
homeopathy is, and to put pressure on the UK's leading pharmacist, Boots, to remove the remedies from sale.
The campaign is called 10:23 in honor of the Avogadro constant (approximately 6 x 1023, the number of
atoms or molecules in one mole of a substance).

B. That such a protest is even necessary in 2010 and is remarkable, but somehow the homeopathic industry
has not only survived into the 21st century, but prospered. In the UK alone more than £40 million is spent
annually on homeopathic treatments, with £4 million of this being sucked from the National Health Service
budget. Yet the basis for homeopathy defies the laws of physics, and high-quality clinical trials have never
been able to demonstrate that it works beyond the placebo effect.

C. The discipline is based on three "laws"; the law of similars, the law of infinitesimals and the law of
succession. The law of similars states that something which causes your symptoms will cure your symptoms,
so that, for example, as caffeine keeps you awake, it can also be a cure for insomnia. Of course, that makes
little sense, since drinking caffeine, well, keeps you awake. Next is the law of infinitesimals, which claims
that diluting a substance makes it more potent. Homeopaths start by diluting one volume of their remedy -
arsenic oxide, in the case of arsenicum album - in 99 volumes of distilled water or alcohol to create a
"centesimal". They then dilute one volume of the centesimal in 99 volumes of water or alcohol, and so on, up
to 30 times. Application of Avogadro's constant tells you that a dose of such a "30C" recipe is vanishingly
unlikely to contain even a single molecule of the active ingredient. The third pillar of homeopathy is the law
of succession. This states - and I'm not making this up - that by tapping the liquid in a special way during the
dilution process, a memory of the active ingredient is somehow imprinted on it. This explains how water is
able to carry a memory of arsenic oxide, but apparently not of the contents of your local sewer network.

D. The final preparation is generally dropped onto a sugar pill which the patient swallows. Homeopaths
claim that the application of these three laws results in a remedy that, even though it contains not a single
molecule of the original ingredient, somehow carries an "energy signature" of it that nobody can measure or

Page 8 of 12
detect. Unsurprisingly, when tested under rigorous scientific conditions, in randomized, controlled and
double-blind trials, homeopathic remedies have consistently been shown to be no better than a placebo. Of
course, the placebo effect is quite powerful, but it's a bit like justifying building a car without any wheels on
the basis that you can still enjoy the comfy leather seats and play with the gear shift.

E. Even some retailers who sell the treatments have admitted there is no evidence that they work. In
November, Paul Bennett, the superintendent pharmacist at Boots, appeared before the UK parliament's
Commons Science and Technology Committee's "evidence check" on homeopathy. He was questioned by
Member of Parliament Phil Willis, who asked: "Do they work beyond the placebo effect?" "I have no
evidence before me to suggest that they are efficacious," Bennett replied. He defended Boots' decision to sell
homeopathic remedies on the grounds of consumer choice. "A large number of our consumers actually do
believe they are efficacious, but they are licensed medicinal products and, therefore, we believe it is right to
make them available," he said.

F. You might agree. You might also argue that homeopathy is harmless: if people want to part with their
money for sugar pills and nobody is breaking the law, why not let them? To some extent that's true - there's
only so much damage you can do with sugar pills short of feeding them to a diabetic or dropping a large crate
of them on someone's head. However, we believe there is a risk in perpetuating the notion that homeopathy is
equivalent to modem medicine. People may delay seeking appropriate treatment for themselves or their
children.

G. We accept that we are unlikely to convince the true believers. Homeopathy has many ways to sidestep
awkward questions, such as rejecting the validity of randomized controlled trials, or claiming that
homeopathic remedies only work if you have symptoms of the malady they purport to cure. Our aim is to
reach out to the general public with our simple message: "There is nothing in it". Boots and other retailers are
perfectly entitled to continue selling homeopathic remedies if they so wish and consumers are perfectly
entitled to keep on buying them. But hopefully the 10:23 campaign will ram home our message to the public.
In the 21st century, with decades of progress behind us, it is surreal that governments are prepared to spend
millions of tax pounds on homeopathy. There really is nothing in it.

Questions 97-103
The reading passage has seven paragraphs, A-G. Choose the correct heading for paragraphs A-G from the list
below. Write the correct number, i-ix, in boxes 97-103 below.
List of Headings
i. The definition of three laws
ii. Quoting three laws against the homeopathy
iii. There are many methods of avoiding answering ambiguous questions.
iv. The purpose of illustrating the symptoms of homeopathy
v. The constant booming of homeopathy
vi. Some differences between homeopathy and placebo
vii. Placebo is probably better than homeopathy
viii. An example of further demonstrating the negative effect of homeopathy
ix. The purpose of staging a demonstration against homeopathy

97. Paragraph A _____ 101. Paragraph E _____


98. Paragraph B _____ 102. Paragraph F _____
99. Paragraph C _____ 103. Paragraph G _____
100. Paragraph D _____
Your answers:
97. 98. 99. 100. 101. 102. 103.

Questions 104-110
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the reading passage? In boxes 104-110
below, write

Page 9 of 12
YES if the statement agrees with the information given in the passage
NO if the statement contradicts the information given in the passage
NOT GIVEN if there is no information about this in the passage
104. Skeptics are planning to hold a demonstration in "10.23" campaign to protest against UK's leading
pharmacist, Boots.
105. National Health Service budget gained a small portion of homeopathic industry.
106. The example of Caffeine is to present that homeopathy resists the laws of similars.
107. Instilling the idea to people that homeopathy is equal to modern medicine poses danger.
108. Paul Bennett claimed effectiveness of taking the homeopathic medicine is proved.
109. The adoption of homeopathy mainly contributes to the delay of seeking appropriate treatment for
themselves or their children.
110. The campaign has exerted pressure on Boots and other retailers
Your answers:

104. 105. 106. 107. 108. 109. 110.


IV. WRITING (60 points)
PART 1 : Read the following passage and use your own words to summarize it. You MUST NOT copy
or re-write the original. Your summary should be about 120 words long. (15 points)

The child who is too aggressive is usually revealing tow difficulties. Firstly, far from being too confident, he
is actually not confident enough of himself. Secondly, he has not learnt, or is afraid to trust, the acceptable
ways of getting what he wants and defending his rights.

Why the child lacks confidence may not be apparent. In a young child, a lack of confidence can be readily
understood. He has not yet had enough experience to know what he can do. An older child may be bullying
and aggressive because he is too strictly held down at home, or equally because he is too laxly handled and
has not been helped to self-control. Too much and too little parental authority often have similar troubling
effects on children of different temperaments.

The same may be said of the second difficulty the child reveals by his aggressive behavior. A young child
does not yet know that here are better ways than fighting. An older child may not have been given much
guidance, or through circumstances he may not have had much experience in getting along with other
children. When parents or other adults have not been on hand to teach and show children by their example, or
have been too protective of their children in the pre-school years, it may take both time and experience for
the children to learn to get along with others, once they are in school and on their own.

The child who is too aggressive needs his confidence build up in good and wholesome ways. His boldness,
his energy, his desire to lead and manage others can be directed into useful channels. At home and in school,
the aggressive child can be given more responsibility and more praise for his real achievements.
Bài làm

The child who is too aggressive may lack two qualities: confidence and trust. This may be
due to either strict or lenient parental control. Both have troubling effects on the child who
does not know how to control himself. Besides, the child may not have been given guidance
on how to behave. He may not have much experience in getting along with other children.
His parents may be too protective or have not taught him by example. what they should do si
to give him more responsibility and praise to build up his confidence. Direct his energy and
boldness into useful channels.

Page 10 of 12
PART 2 (15 points)
The table below shows the worldwide market share of the notebook computer market for manufacturers in
the years 2006 and 2007. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make
comparisons where relevant. You should write about 150 words.

The table gives information about the percentage of the laptop for creates in years 2006 and
2007.
It is clear that the largest proportion of comsumer choosing HP to buy. On the other hand,
Fujitsu-Siemens has the lowest percentages in the table.

Out of the six brands and others, we can see the rising trend in three specific manufacturers.
HP accounted for 31.4% of the market in 2006 and increased its market share to 34% in
2007. Meanwhile, Dell saw a great
year of manufacturing with 3.6% increased from 16.6% in 2006 to 20.6% in 2007.
Similarly,Toshiba
increased its market slightly from 6.2% in 2006 to 7.3% in the following year.

On the other hand, Acer and Lenovo’s market share decreased slightly from 11.6% and 6.6%
in 2006 to 10.7% and 6.2% in 2007, respectively. Fujitsu-Siemens saw a dramatic decline
with more than half of its market from 4.8% to 2.3% after just one year from 2006. In terms
of other companies, their proportion of the market share fall 3.6% from 22.8% in 2006 to
19.3% in the year after.

Page 11 of 12
PART 3 (30 points) Write an essay of 300 words on the following topic:
Technological development leads to a lot of environmental issues. Some people think a simple lifestyle
can preserve the environment, while others argue that technology itself can solve it.
Discuss both sides and give your opinion.

It would be argued that many problems of the environment can be solved by technology. In
my opinion, however, an uncomplicated lifestyle can protect the environment.

On the one hand, there are a number of reasons why some believe that the development of
technology can solve numerous environmental issues. The first reason is that people should
walk or cycle rather than drive cars or motorbikes. This is because the current number of cars
being manufactured and used is increasing, which causes high levels of exhaust fumes and
makes air pollution become serious. Another reason is that people should try to reduce their
electricity consumption to minimize the exploitation of natural resources such as fossil fuels
or nuclear power. An example of this idea is the annual event called Earth Hour where
everyone is asked to turn their lights off for sixty minutes.

On the other hand, I would argue that the developments of technology can greatly contribute
to environmental protection. Firstly, because of those improvements, people are able to come
up with ways to recycle materials such as paper or glass, which reduces the problem of waste
disposal. Secondly, technology can also help to create electricity using renewable resources.
For example, many countries in the world have built plants that utilize solar energy to
generate power. As a result, it is not necessary to rely on non-renewable resources, and
people can create electricity without significantly damaging the environment.

In conclusion, although some people think they should live simpler lives to prevent
environmental issues, I believe that technological improvements can deal with these
problems.

Page 12 of 12

You might also like