H

H N NH NH
ỈNH H N Ấ
H ,N H 2019-2020
ôn thi : ẾN ANH
Ngày thi: 04/10/2019
Ề HÍNH HỨ h i gi n: ph t (không kể thời gian giao đề)

i ng i ng h
PRACTICE
H t n à h
TEST
H t n à h ã ph h
i h 1 i h 2 (Do Chủ tịch HĐ chấm thi
ghi)

Đề thi có 12 trang. Thí sinh làm bài trên đề thi. Giám thị không giải thích gì thêm.

LISTENING
HƯỚNG DẪN PHẦN THI NGHE HIỂU
- Bài nghe gồm 3 phần. Mỗi phần được nghe 2 lần, mỗi lần cách nhau 5 giây.

I. Answer the questions below. Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER for
each question. (10 points)
1. What time does the museum open on Thursday morning?
……………………………………………………
10am
2. How much does it cost to hire a multi-media guide?
……………………………………………………
4.50 pounds
3. Where should visitors leave their coats and bags?
……………………………………………………
clothes room
4. How much does it cost to leave a package there?
……………………………………………………
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5. Where can visitors buy a cup of tea?
……………………………………………………
gallery cafe

II. You will hear two students, Bella and Tom, discussing an article they have read about a woman
astronaut. For questions 6-11, choose the answer (A, B, C or D) which fits best according to what
you hear. (12 points)
6. The speakers agree that being an astronaut
A. requires a specific personality type.
B. is not a career that appeals to them.
C. is an unexpected job for a woman.
D. would be very challenging work.
7. Bella particularly admires the astronaut Ellen Ochoa because of
A. her ability to put her experiences into words.
B. her determination to fulfil a childhood dream.
C. her scientific and technical skills.
D. her attitude towards her colleagues.

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8. Tom was surprised to learn that people who want to become astronauts should
A. have experience as aeroplane pilots.
B. have more than one university degree.
C. be a specific height.
D. be good at sports.
9. What does Bella think is the most interesting part of Ellen‟s life?
A. spacewalking
B. working in mission control
C. coping with unexpected problems
D. working in conditions of weightlessness
10. Tom was sorry the article did not say more about
A. any negative aspects of being an astronaut.
B. the experiments carried out on board.
C. what the earth looks like from space.
D. how well the crew got on in space.
11. Tom and Bella both now decide to
A. do a project on Ellen Ochoa as part of their coursework.
B. do a study of the first people in space.
C. find out more about the current state of space research.
D. go to some talks on space travel in films and literature.
Your answers
6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11.

III. You will hear an interview with a man called Jack Brown, a chef and restaurant owner who has
also written a cookery book. For questions 12-21, complete the sentences. (20 points)
Jack Brown: Chef, Restaurant owner and Writer
Jack says that in the area where he lived there were no (12) ____________
colleges offering training for chefs.
Jack uses the word (13) ____________
sharing to describe what cooking is all about for him.
When planning his menus, what‟s available in the (14) ____________
season determines Jack‟s choice of
ingredients.
customers
Jack says his (15) ____________ are the most important people in his restaurant.
taste
Jack believes people return to his restaurant because the (16) ____________ of what they eat leaves
them with good memories.
experience
When Jack decided to write a book, his aim was to write about his (17) ____________ of cooking as
well as give good recipes.
lemon pie
Jack mentions his (18) ____________ as an example of a recipe which has remained the same over
time.
market
Jack advises readers of his book to try to get some of the ingredients in their local (19) ____________.
Jack says that the way meals are served in his restaurant is similar to a (20) ____________
Japanese style of
serving food.
Jack admits that his book sells well partly because of the (21) ____________
50 recipes in it.

VOCABULARY
I. Choose the best answer (A, B, C or D) to each of the following questions and write your answers
in the corresponding numbered boxes. (10 points)
22. Copies of this old books are very hard to____________.
A. come by B. follow up C. come along D. make up
23. Let‟s face it, Tom‟s just not____________ menial work – he‟s much too ambitious.
A. made up to B. cut out for C. opened up to D. gone in for
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24. She felt an ____________ pain in her side.
A. accurate B. acute C. astute D. incisive
25. He____________ to know nothing about the subject, but he was only being modest.
A. professed B. implied C. implicated D. projected
26. Santa Claus is always perceived as a very____________ figure who brings happiness to others.
A. jumpy B. stingy C. jolly D. sloppy
27. The security guards were called to____________ the vagrant out of the store.
A. fire B. escort C. emit D. bully
28. Her____________ to my criticism was extremely sharp.
A. renouncement B. retreat C. retort D. recoil
29. The____________ of the company came as a surprise because it had been doing very well.
A. dissolution B. delegation C. desolation D. dissertation
30. She always speaks____________ about her ex-husband.
A. abusively B. abundantly C. abstractly D. absurdly
31. He felt like a____________ among all those famous people.
A. fish out of water B. horse‟s mouth C. cat‟s meow D. kettle of fish
Your answers
22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31.

II. Use the word given in capital to form a word that fits in the space and write your answers in the
corresponding numbered boxes. (10 points)
TROUBLED WATERS
There is a swift-moving dangerous current in the Arctic Ocean which flows back and forth
between Moskenesoya and Masken, two of the Logoten Islands off the north-western coast of Norway.
It is this phenomenon which causes the Maelstrom, or Moskenstraumen in Norwegian, which has
(32.DESTROY) ___________
destroyed (33. NUMBER) ___________
numerous small ships.
The Maelstrom is a whirlpool, a mass of water which spins round rapidly in a
(34.CIRCLE)___________
circular motion and which is formed by rocks and tides that oppose the current. It is
5 miles (8 km) wide and alternates in flow between the open sea to the west and Vestfjorden to the east,
its current attaining a velocity of 7 miles (11 km) an hour as the tides change.
Strong local winds add to the hazard of a sea-crossing here, blowing against the current between
high and low tide, which is when (35. TREACHERY) ___________
treacherOUS whirlpools are created. It was the
French (36. NOVEL) ___________
novelist Jules Verne, in conjunction with the American poet Edgar Allan
Poe, who brought the term „maelstrom‟ into common parlance, exaggerating it to the
(37.EXTEND)___________
extent that it means a cataclysmic whirlpool (38.GULF)___________
ENGULFING
everything in its path. With the passage of time, it has come to have a meaning that is
figurative
(39.FIGURE)___________ as well as literal, so that now we can use the (40.EXPRESS)___________
expression
„maelstrom‟ to speak of conflicting feelings, or (41.EMOTION)___________
emotional turmoil.
Your answers
32. 33. 34. 35. 36.
37. 38. 39. 40. 41.

READING
I. Read the text and decide which answer (A, B, C or D) best fits each gap. (6 points)
Becoming a pop idol
Reality TV programmes like Big Brother have become (42) ____________ popular. The latest, Pop
Idol, attracted an audience of more than thirteen million viewers. Each week, a new batch of young
hopefuls were seen auditioning for the chance to become a pop star and to be (43) ____________ up
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for a lucrative record contract. Viewers were invited to phone in and vote for the contender they
(44)____________ most as the next pop superstar. Suddenly, it seemed as if the whole nation had
become caught (45) ____________ in the drama. Families took sides as the two young finalists, Will
and Gareth, slogged it out for the title. Will triumphed in the end, but only by the skin of his
(46)____________. But as he was whisked away from the studio last night, questions were being asked
about the exploitative nature of such programmes. Was the real winner the lad on the screen or the
puppet masters behind the scenes, who have no doubt (47) ____________ a fortune out of the show?
42. A. largely B. hugely C. greatly D. grossly
43. A. made B. written C. bought D. signed
44. A. fancied B. longed C. craved D. yearned
45. A. out B. through C. up D. on
46. A. teeth B. nose C. nails D. feet
47. A. profited B. got C. acquired D. made
Your answers
42. B 43. D 44. A 45. C 46. A 47. D

II. Read the text below and think of the word which best fits each space. Use only one word in each
space. (16 points)
Tasteless tomatoes
The average supermarket tomato is a depressing specimen: perfectly round, uniformly red, full
of water, and almost without exception, utterly devoid (48) ____________ taste. In one consumer
survey after (49) ____________, these mass-produced fruits rate among the (50) ____________
disappointing contents of our shopping bags. Supermarkets care about four things: size, weight,
sameness and colour; (51) ____________ taste. They consider flavour an irrelevance. But a properly
grown, raw fruit, served (52) ____________ nature intended – and what I (53) ____________ by that is
fresh off a vine and preferably still warm from the sun – is one of life‟s great pleasures. It should
explode (54) ____________ impact with your mouth and be eatable only by slurping! It should be
(55)____________ fragile as to be impossible to handle without causing damage. Herein lies the
problem for a commercial producer. To arrive on a supermarket shelf, a tomato must survive roughly a
week of picking, packing and shipping. Unsurprising, then, that the supermarket version is not the real
thing.
Your answers
48. OF ANOTHER 50.MOST
49. 51. NEVE 52. AS 53. MEAN 54. ON 55. SO
R
III. Read the following text and do the tasks. (20 points)
Venus Flytrap
A. From indigenous myths to John Wyndham‟s Day of the Triffids and the off-Broadway musical
Little Shop of Horrors, the idea of cerebral, carnivorous flora has spooked audiences and readers for
centuries. While shrubs and shoots have yet to uproot themselves or show any interest in human beings,
however, for some of earth‟s smaller inhabitants – arachnids and insects – the risk of being trapped and
ingested by a plant can be a threat to their daily existence. Easily the most famous of these predators is
the Venus Flytrap, one of only two types of „snap traps‟ in the world. Though rarely found growing
wild, the Flytrap has captured popular imagination and can be purchased in florists and plant retailers
around the world.
B. Part of the Venus Flytrap‟s mysterious aura begins with the title itself. While it is fairly clear that the
second-half of the epithet has been given for its insect-trapping ability, the origin of „Venus‟ is
somewhat more ambiguous. According to the International Carnivorous Plant Society, the plant was
first studied in the 17th and 18th Centuries, when puritanical mores ruled Western societies and
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obsession was rife with forbidden human impulses and urges. Women were often portrayed in these
times as seductresses and temptresses, and botanists are believed to have seen a parallel between the
behaviour of the plant in luring and devouring insects, and the imagined behaviour of women in luring
and „trapping‟ witless men. The plant was thus named after the pagan goddess of love and money –
Venus.
C. The Venus Flytrap is a small plant with six to seven leaves growing out of a bulb-like stem. At the
end of each leaf is a trap, which is an opened pod with cilia around the edges like stiff eyelashes. The
pod is lined with anthocynin pigments and sweet-smelling sap to attract flies and other insects. When
they fly in, trigger hairs inside the pod sense the intruder‟s movement, and the pod snaps shut. The
trigger mechanism is so sophisticated that the plant can differentiate between living creatures and non-
edible debris by requiring two trigger hairs to be touched within twenty seconds of each other, or one
hair to be touched in quick succession. The plant has no nervous system, and researchers can only
hypothesize as to how the rapid shutting movement works. This uncertainty adds to the Venus Flytrap‟s
allure.
D. The pod shuts quickly, but does not seal entirely at first; scientists have found that this mechanism
allows miniscule insects to escape, as they will not be a source of useful nourishment for the plant. If
the creature is large enough, however, the plant‟s flaps will eventually meet to form an airtight
compress, and at this point the digestive process begins. A Venus Flytrap‟s digestive system is
remarkably similar to how a human stomach works. For somewhere between five and twelve days the
trap secretes acidic digestive juices that dissolve the soft tissue and cell membranes of the insect. These
juices also kill any bacteria that have entered with the food, ensuring the plant maintains its hygiene so
that it does not begin to rot. Enzymes in the acid help with the digestion of DNA, amino acids and cell
molecules so that every fleshy part of the animal can be consumed. Once the plant has reabsorbed the
digestive fluid- this time with the added nourishment – the trap re-opens and the exoskeleton blows
away in the wind.
E. Although transplanted to other locations around the world, the Venus Flytrap is only found natively
in an area around Wilmington, North Carolina in the United States. It thrives in bogs, marshes and
wetlands and grows in wet sand and peaty soils. Because these environments are so depleted in
nitrogen, they asphyxiate other flora, but the Flytrap overcomes this nutritional poverty by sourcing
protein from its insect prey. One of the plant‟s curious features is resilience to flame – it is speculated
that the Flytrap evolved this to endure through periodic blazes and to act as a means of survival that its
competition lacks.
F. While the Venus Flytrap will not become extinct anytime soon (an estimated 3-6 million plants are
presently in cultivation) – its natural existence is uncertain. In the last survey, only 35,800 Flytraps
were found remaining in the wild, and some prominent conservationists have suggested the plant be
given the status of „vulnerable‟. Since this research is considerably dated, having taken place in 992,
the present number is considerably lower. The draining and destruction of natural wetlands where the
Flytrap lives is considered to be the biggest threat to its existence, as well as people removing the
plants from their natural habitat. Punitive measures have been introduced to prevent people from doing
this. Ironically, while cultural depictions of perennial killers may persist, the bigger threat is not what
meat-eating plants might do to us, but what we may do to them.
Questions 56-61
The Reading Passage has six paragraphs, A-F.
Which paragraph contains the following information?
Write the correct letter, A-F, in boxes 56-61.
56. An overview of how the Flytrap eats its prey
57. A comparison between human and plant behaviour
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58. A measure designed to preserve Flytraps in their native environment
59. An example of a cultural and artistic portrayal of meat-eating plants
60. A characteristic of the Venus Flytrap that is exceptional in the botanical world
61. A reference to an aspect of the Venus Flytrap‟s biology that is not fully understood
Your answers
56. D 57. B 58. F 59. A 60. E 61. C
Questions 62-64
Complete the sentences below with words taken from the Reading Passage.
Use NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS for each answer.
useful nourishment
62. If they are too small to provide____________, the closing pod allows insects to get out.
exoskeleton is left after the Flytrap has finished digesting an insect.
63. Only the____________
64. Many plants cannot survive in bogs and wetlands owing to the lack of____________.nitrogen
Questions 65-68
Do the following statements agree with the information given in The Reading Passage? In box 65-68,
write
TRUE if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this
65. The Venus Flytrap can withstand some exposure to fire.
66. Many botanists would like the Venus Flytrap to be officially recognised as an endangered plants
species.
67. Only 35,800 Venus Flytraps now survive in their natural habitats.
68. Human interference is a major factor in the decline of wild Venus Flytraps.
Your answers
65. T 66. NG 67. F 68. T

IV. For questions 69-73, choose the answer (A, B, C or D) which you think fits best according to the
text. (10 points)
Do you ever feel as though you spend all your time in meetings? It‟s a cry you hear all too often
from harassed people at work. In large organisations, managers spend 22% of their time at their desks,
6% on the telephone, 3% on other activities (including time spent in the toilet), but a whopping 69% in
meetings. That means that most managers spend more of their waking hours from Monday to Friday in
meetings at work than with their families at home.
There is a widely-held but mistaken belief that meetings are for „solving problems‟ and „making
decisions‟. For a start, the number of people attending a meeting tends to be inversely proportional to
their collective ability to reach conclusions and make decisions. As anyone who spends time in
meetings can testify, these are the least important elements.
Instead hours are devoted to side issues, playing elaborate games with one another, and getting
involved in a wide variety of red herrings. It seems, therefore, that meetings serve some purpose other
than just making decisions.
All meetings have one thing in common: role-playing. The most formal role is that of chairman.
He (and it is usually a he) is in a position to set the agenda, and a good chairman will keep the meeting
running on time and to the point. Sadly, chairing a meeting well is an art that many chairmen lack.
Sadly, because the other, informal, role-players are then able to gain the upper hand. Chief is the
„constant talker‟, who just loves to hear his or her voice. It is often a man whose criteria of success are
determined by the percentage of total conversation he can dominate. Another key role is what Freud

6
would have called the „anal retentive‟ type. This is the „dot the i and cross the t‟ type, the kind of
person who bores everybody present, with the exception of fellow anal retentives.
Then there are the „can‟t do‟ types, the people who always find reasons why something can‟t be
done, usually based on some minor technical problem. These people are cunning, wanting to maintain
the status quo. Since they have often been in the organisation for a long time, they frequently quote
historical experience as a ploy to block change. A more subtle version of the „can‟t do‟ type, the „yes,
but …‟ has emerged recently. They have learnt about the need to sound positive, but they still can‟t
bear to have things change.
Another whole sub-set of characters are the „red herrings‟ types. These are people who love
meetings and want them to continue until 5.30 p.m. or beyond. Irrelevant issues are their speciality.
They are also relatively cunning, and need to call or attend meetings, either to avoid work, or to justify
their lack of performance, or simply because they do not have enough to do. One character present in
all groups is the „silent‟ type. Most other members of the group project on to them lofty motives or
objectives, such as, „they are above this juvenile exercise‟ or „they will only speak if they have
something significant to say‟. Usually the silent type is just shy, insecure or plain bored.
Because so many meetings end in confusion, and without a decision, another more communal
game is played at the end of meetings, called reaching a false consensus. Since it is important for the
chairman to appear successful in problem-solving and making a decision, the group reaches a false
consensus. It couches its so-called decision in such a vague way that a number of interpretations are
possible. Everyone is happy, having spent their time productively. The reality is that the decision is so
ambiguous that it is never acted upon, or, if it is, there is continuing internecine conflict, for which
another meeting is necessary, to the absolute delight of the red herring types and the regular attenders.
In the end, meetings provide the opportunity for social intercourse, to engage in battle in front
of our bosses, to avoid unpleasant or unsatisfying work, to highlight our social status and identity. They
are, in fact, a necessary, though not necessarily productive, psychological side-show. Perhaps it is our
civilised way of moderating, if not preventing, change.
69. The large number of people at a meeting
A. is usually efficient. B. is important for making decisions.
C. means problems are solved more quickly. D. doesn‟t help with reaching conclusions.
70. Many chairmen
A. are not good in their roles. B. run meetings well.
C. keep good control of the other participants. D. talk a lot of the time.
71. Which role-player would be most concerned about the record of a meeting being absolutely
accurate?
A. The red-herring type. B. The can‟t do type.
C. The anal retentive type. D. The yes-but type.
72. The most important purpose of meetings seems to be
A. to give people an opportunity to make suggestions.
B. to provide an outlet for people‟s emotional needs.
C. to change things.
D. to make decisions.
73. Which word best describes the author‟s view of meetings?
A. Social. B. Vague. C. Productive. D. Necessary.
Your answers
D
69. 70.A 71. B 72. 73. D
D

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V. For questions 74-81, you must choose which of the paragraphs A-I match the numbered gaps in
the magazine article. There is one extra paragraph, which does not belong in any of the gaps.
(16 points)
The big picture
Paul Sieveking
Simon English always thought big. Several years ago when he was a fine arts student he started
a series of works in which he wrote the names of things on the things themselves as a statement of the
obvious. “I thought of writing „universe‟ on the universe,” he told the Salt Lake Tribune.
74. _________
D
The following year he began to write “Earth” on the Earth, starting with a 2,000 kilometre long
“E” across North America, marked out by 10 cairns (piles of stones) with explanatory plaques. Seven
cairns are now complete, as well as two in South America plotting out the start of a vast “A”. The
remaining letter, “R,T,H” (across Africa, India and Australia) remain to be done, but he has the rest of
his life to complete the word.
F
75. _________
In the Eighties, English got involved in landscape gardening which inspired his first complete
work. In 9 9, he created a 2 ft flying swan in a neighbour‟s field near Stratford-upon-Avon. “For
four years I knew there was a swan figure in the camomile field, in the same way an artist can see a
figure in a lump of stone or a block of wood,” he said. “It was the most appropriate bird to be seen
along the river Avon as the river flows alongside the sculpture.”
A
76. _________
“For these few midsummer days the swan shone white all day and gold at night,” said the artist.
“It was a joyful celebration of a hot and perfect English summer.”
E
77. _________
In 99 , the swan‟s “skeleton” could still be seen, lying in a scrub of daisies like the remains of
an old flowerbed taken over by lawn. “I see gardening as a higher art form to balance shapes, colour
and time,” said English. “One can use time as a sculptural medium.”
78. _________B
This negative image was reversed when the plastic was removed and the hay set on fire, turning
it into ash. “It was an extremely powerful piece of work,” Simon told the local newspaper. “It would be
pompous to try and make these things permanent. They are not really transient, not when 20 million
people can see them through the mass media. My greatest delight is hearing the ordinary person in the
pub telling his mate all about it. It becomes part of the common culture, like a good joke.”
79. _________
H
The work was completed just in time to be filmed from the air by a Japanese television
company. “Seen from the air they seem to be flying, hunting along the hedgerow,” said the artist.
G
80. _________
The brown wings were created from dead grass, the black spots from lime and sawdust, and the
body from compost. The antennae and label were burnt into the grass with paraffin and sawdust. The
image was still visible in April 1994.
81. _________C
This involves creating an image of a horse, a plough and a man, ploughed in the landscape in one
day using a horse, a plough and a man. The image will be an acre in area, an acre being defined
originally as the area ploughed by one man in one day.
8
 A. He mowed the field by hand for four days and nights. The figure was finished in time for the
sun to rise directly over the swan‟s beak on a cloudless 21 June, Midsummer Day, and set over
the left wing.
B. In 1992, English created a zebra, 90 metres long and 70 metres high, to mark the last year when
farmers were allowed to burn straw, a practice which leaves strips of black and yellow. After
marking the shape, his team of volunteers raked the wet, ungathered straw into strips and laid
black plastic between to bleach the grass.
C. Simon English now lectures at Mid Warwickshire College in Leamington. His landscape
figures have been self-financed, although he has recently landed a grant of £ , from the
West Midlands Arts Council for a project called “All in a Day‟s Work”.
D. Unfortunately, terrestrial technology couldn‟t match his vision. Instead, English hitch-hiked
round England between June and September 1971 writing “England” in letters each measuring
more than 40 miles in length (as seen from the air), marked out every 10 miles with 75 small
flags. With each flag was an information sheet explaining the project, and a small map
indicating the location of all the flags.
E. “It wasn‟t simply a pretty picture. The swan was a cross-shape with the field as wing space.
There was an axis point that went right through the middle. It was mathematically balanced,
with the swan bisecting the field as the summer solstice bisects the year.”
F. Anonymous earth artists, over the centuries, have created large-scale figures in the landscape,
many of which are still visible today. Simon English is keeping this age-old tradition alive with
200ft swans and giant zebras in the wheat fields of Britain.
G. The composition for the summer of 1993 was a brown meadow butterfly, 250ft wide and an
acre in area. It took three weeks in August to define the outline with sticks and tape and then
mow the two-acre meadow.
H. The artwork in January 1993 was two magpies with 3 ft wingspans, entitled “Thieves of
Time”, on a field in Warwickshire. Magpies are traditionally associated with stealing: hence
one of the birds holds “a bright object”. The title also reflected the amount of time the project
took to complete, what with the difficulty of the terrain and the dreadful weather.
I. Like the ancient Nazca earth artists of the Peruvian high plateaux, Simon English creates shapes
on the surface of the Earth to be seen from the air; when he was in Peru he met Dr Maria
Reiche, who had spent many years studying the layout of the Nazca figures and pondering their
significance. Here he learned something of the mechanics of large-scale land art.

WRITING
I. Read the following texts on weather. In a paragraph of 50-70 words, summarise in your own
words as far as possible what both texts say about the effect that weather has on people. (15 points)

Text A
Floods, gales and blizzards alarm as well as harm us now because they seem to be
incontrovertible proof of global warming. Even a small rise in the prevailing temperature of the world‟s
atmosphere changes the geography and severity of weather events, increasing the risk of floods in low-
lying areas, threatening to shift the flow of ocean currents which govern continental climate and
triggering droughts elsewhere.
Residents of countries with stable weather patterns once had little call to discuss the subject. It
was only in places with unreliable, changeable weather, like Britain, that the art of earnest and endless
9
 debate about it was fully developed. Now everywhere people squint at the sky and comment on the
unusual quantity or dearth of rain, or the increased ferocity of winds and the rising height of tides.
Global trends in weather seem remote until unusual storm demolish or engulf our surroundings,
but daily weather is intimately present, influencing our lives, like a member of the family. Drawing
back the curtains gives some people a first frame to the day: from what they see outside, they deduce
their feelings. Most think that a sparkling sun in a blue sky is a prompt for happiness, whereas weeks of
cloud make them feel trapped and boxed in. On the other hand, it has been said that „for the man sound
in body and serene of mind, there is no such thing as bad weather: every sky has its beauty‟.

Text B
The fact of the matter is that climate and weather can‟t be ignored when looking into people‟s
mental states. The most obvious impact is revealed in spring and autumn, when, in temperate latitudes
at least, the amount of light available is changing. This change sends you up or down and sometimes
even sideways. Whether you describe this as „spring fever‟ or „the winter blues‟, it is profound, hinting
at the deep roots of our evolutionary adaptation and showing how our brains are finely tuned to the
tailoring of activities to the seasons around us.
The most obvious condition highlighting our meteorological susceptibility is „seasonal affective
disorder‟ syndrome. The nearer you live to the North Pole, the more common it is. Moving south can
help, as can using artificial light. But the symptoms, such as needing more sleep, losing concentration
and feeling gloomy, may in fact be a form of primitive protection. Semi-hibernating when there wasn‟t
much food around could, for our distant ancestors, have been a useful way of getting through winter.
Reduced physical activity would have helped you get by, despite poor nutrition. Such natural
depression may even have left reserves of energy for the summer when there was hunting or crop-
gathering to be done.
Since we can‟t dissociate ourselves, our moods and temperaments, from the weather, we must
adapt to the seasons. We need our quiet periods, our hibernations, and we can‟t expect to be storming
along all the time.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
The two texts both elaborate on the impact associated with climate change on human beings' adaptations.
Writer of text A is of the opinion that certain kinds of weather would made alterations to people's mood while
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that of the other text contends that physical activities and seasons are inextricably linked.
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Both of the text focus on different impacts of climate change on humans' life yet both play a supplementary role
to each other so as to give an insight to climate change and its effects on global citizens.
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I agree with text A that the drastical shift in climate has drawn attention of people around the world as to the
strange difference of natural phenomena such as sky, winds, rains and tides. In other words, it is the
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devastating effects of such natural catastrophe on humans' lives which have aroused great awareness of
global citizens. Moreover, one of the aforementioned effects is the common but important aspect of our mental
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health - the mood. The writer has pointed out the reactions of our mood to which kind of weather we witness
first-hand, revolving around joy and the sense of cramp with regard to beautiful blue sky versus dark cloudy
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one. However, I am of the writer's opinion that with a strong frame of mind and a sound body, each weather
has its own perks.
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Text B gives a vivid account of the inexorable physical adaptations to different seasons to overcome the
difficulties brought about by, in particular, such change in the amount of light and temperature. The writer of
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this text attach great importance to the term "seasonal affective disorder" which can be observed between
living without much artificial light in the North and the South vice versa. The writer also suggests aother
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symptom which are not resulted from climate change - needing more sleep, a reaction to gloomy weather and
may stem from humans primitive protection. As for the ancient method of overcoming the bittering cold weather
of winter, reduced physical activities such as semi-hibernating are applied to store up energy for an upswing in
summer practices like hunting or crop-gathering.
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II. The graph below shows predictions about the number of people who will study three major world
languages between 2020 and 2030. Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main
features, and make comparisons where relevant. Write about 150 words. (15 points)

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The line graph illustrates the estimated number of students opting for three different languages during a period of 10
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years starting from 2020.
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Overall, English will still be the most popular language in the world. Moreover, the number of people who choose to
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study Mandarin is predicted to upswing and gain much popularity in 2030.

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Starting from 2020, there are about 100 million students over the world acquiring Mandarin, approximately less than
five times as many as those taking up English and half the number of people studying Spanish. After six years
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onward, English language will have witnessed a gradual increase of about 150 million students by 2024 despite a
dip of nearly 90 million in 2026. However, the figures for Spanish and Mandarin are predicted to experience an
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upward trend over the first six years and will equal each other in 2026, at approximately 350 million.
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In terms of the last four years, while Spanish and English are estimated to undergo a marginal rise of about 150
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million and 100 million in the number of global language learners respectively, Mandarin will record an upswing to
nearly over 200 million people in the last year of the period and will become the runner-up in the total of language
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learners across the globe at the same time.
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III. Write an essay of about 250 words to express your opinion on the following topic: (20 points)
“We re li ing in thi pl net if we h d n ther ne t g t .”
(Terry Swearingen, Winner of Goldman Environmental Prize in 1997)
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Our planet - the Earth is changing dramatically due to several devastating issues around the globe. I would completely
disagree with Mr. Swearingen's saying "We are living in this planet as if we had another one to go to".

It is understandable why the speaker believe people should make use of and exploit the potential of the Earth as if there
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would be another else to take advantage of. The pressure of economic burden and the urgency to develop are l likely to
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force people to make full use of every single potential of the Earth. Due to the need to develop the economy of many
nations, multiple great investments in the exploitation of natural resources would be launched to meet their aims. As a
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result, should any remained resources run out, several nations would opt for other planets where they can thrive on the
abundant resources supplied in the outer place, such as Mars where invaluable resources have been discovered by
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NASA in recent years. This is synonymous with the urge to compete with other countries between many nations in
taking advantage of any existed valuable items on the Earth.
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Despite the untouched resources provided by many planets beyond the sky, theirs unveiled danger and the unique
environment of humans homeland would eclipse the necessity to rely on such asteroids. In terms of the dangerous
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features exposed by other planets, a great amount of carbon dioxide and high levels of acid rains on Mars particularly
recorded by many space adventurers previously would drastically affect human beings lives, which means every person
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the Earth may have to spend considerable amount of time to get themselves acclimatized to thrive on such planets.
Moreover, the Earth would have nurtured humans for several millennia and probably offer people a sense of familiarity
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since human beings have harmonized with every living things since our birth. Therefore, even if humans could rely on
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other planets for survival, they still can encounter emotional breakdown, such as homesickness.

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conclusion, potential benefits offered by distant planets may sound irresistible, humans should protect the Earth as
there would be no new lands could replace people's familiar homeland.
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THE END
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