THANG LONG UNIVERSITY 2nd MIDTERM TEST

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT MODULE: READING

Time allowance: 60 minutes
Student’s name: ..........................................................................
Student’s code: ...........................................................................
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READING PASSAGE 1
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-14, which are based on Reading passage 1
below.
Questions 1-4
Complete the sentences below.
Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each
answer. Write your answers in boxes 1-4 on your answer sheet.
1. The affluence, grandeur, and talent of the Egyptian civilization are presented in numerous
.....................
2. For ages, people all over the world have been impressed by the......................of Ancient Egyptian
men whose works have shown incredible durability.
3. Ordinary Egyptians expected to receive.....................for their hard work.
4. In order to ensure the secure conduct of the soul after death,.....................belongings were put into
sunken or sealed tombs.
Questions 5-8
Label the diagram below.
Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR NUMBERS from the passage for
each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 5-8 on your answer sheet.
 8
6

Questions 9-13
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the
passage? In boxes 9-13 on your answer sheet, write
TRUE if the statement is true according to the passage
FALSE if the statement is false according to the passage
NOT GIVEN if the information is not given in the passage

9. It is the mysterious precision of the measurements and proportions of the pyramids rather than
their design that has caused keen interest among millions of people.
10. King Khafra died before King Cheops.
11. The carvings about things found in nature were scorned by Egyptian people.
12. One feature of the Egyptian art is its focus on details instead of the big picture.
13. The art of neighboring cultures had a great influence on Egyptian art.

Question 14
Choose the correct letter A, B, C or D.
Write the correct letter in box 14 on your answer sheet.
What is the main idea of the passage?
A A theory about how pyramids were constructed.
B A sketch of early Egyptian society.
C An interpretation of Egyptian artistic works.
D An explanation of the ancient Egyptians’ beliefs.

READING PASSAGE 2.
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 15-27, which are based on Reading passage 2
below.
Mike Hettwer, a photographer in the team, was attracted by the amazing scenes and walked to
several dunes to take photos of the amazing landscape. When reaching the first slope of the dune,
he was shocked by the fact that the dunes were scattered with many bones. He photographed these
bones with his digital camera and went to the Land Rover in a hurry. ‘I found some bones.’
HeMver said to other group members, ‘to my great surprise, they do not belong to the dinosaurs.
They are human bones.’

One day in the spring of 2005, Paul Sereno got in touch with Elena Garcea, a prestigious
archaeologist at the University of Cassino in Italy, asking her to return to the site with him
together. After spending 30 years in researching the history of Nile in Sudan and of the mountains
in the Libyan Desert, Garcea got well acquainted with the life of the ancient people in Sahara. But
she did not know Sereno before this exploration, whose claim of having found so many skeletons
in Tenere desert was unreliable to some archaeologists, among whom one person considered
Sereno just as a ‘moonlighting palaeontologist’. However, Garcea was so obsessive with his
perspective as to accept his invitation willingly.

In the following three weeks, Sereno and Garcea (along with five excavators, five Tuareg guides,
and five soldiers from Niger’s army) sketched a detailed map of the destined site, which was
dubbed Gobero after the Tuareg name for the area, a place the ancient Kiffian and Tuareg nomads
used to roam. After that, they excavated eight tombs and found nventy pieces of artefacts for the
above mentioned two civilizations. From these artefacts, it is evidently seen that Kiffian
fishermen caught not only the small fish, but also some huge ones: the remains of Nile perch, a
fierce fish weighing about 300 poimds, along with those of the alligators and hippos, were left in
the vicinity of domes.

Sereno went back with some essential bones and artefacts, and planned for the next trip to the
Sahara area. Meanwhile, he pulled out the teeth of skeletons carefully and sent them to a
researching laboratory for radiocarbon dating. The results indicated that while the smaller ‘sleeping
bones might date back to 6,000 years ago (well within the Tenerian period), the bigger compactly
tied artefacts were approximately 9.000 years old, just in the heyday of Kiffian era. The scientists
now can distinguish one culture from the other.

In the fall of 2006, for the purpose of exhuming another 80 burials, these people had another trip to
Gobero, taking more crew members and six extra scientists specializing in different areas. Even at
the site, Chris Stojanowski, bio-archaeologist in Arizona State University, foimd some clues by
matching the pieces. Judged from the bones, the Kiffian could be a people of peace and
hardworking. ‘No injuries in heads or forearms indicate that they did not fight too much,’ he said.
‘And they had strong bodies.’ He pointed at a long narrow femur and continued, ‘From this muscle
attachment, we could infer the huge leg muscles, which means this individual lived a strenuous
lifestyle and ate much protein. Both of these two inferences coincide with the lifestyle of the
people living on fishing.’ To create a striking contrast, he displayed a femur of a Tenerian male.
This ridge was scarcely seen. ‘This individual had a less laborious lifestyle, which yoti might
expect of the herder.’
Questions 15-18
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage
2? In boxes 15-18 on your answer sheet, write
TRUE if the statement is true
FALSE if the statement is false
NOT GIVEN if the information is not given in the passage

15 Tenere Desert was quite an arid area in Sahara Desert.

16 Paul Sereno and his team came to Tenera Desert with the hope of uncovering the mystery
of this sterile area.
17 The human remnants in the desert were accidentally discovered by Hettwer.
18 Sereno have partnered with Garcea in several archaeological projects before starting
their research into ancient Sahara people.

Questions 19-21
Answer the questions below.
Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER from the passage for
each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 19-21 on your answer sheet.
What did Sereno and Garcea prepare before starting their excavation?
19……………………………….
What was the purpose of sending the teeth of skeletons to the research center?
20……………………………….
How old were the smaller skeletons estimated to be?
21……………………………….

Questions 22-27
Complete the notes below.
Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each
answer. Write your answers in boxes 22-27 on your answer
sheet.
A comparative study of two ancient cultures
The Kiffian
—They seemed to be peaceful and industrious since the researcher did not find
22..................................................on their heads and forearms.
—Their lifestyle was 23……………………………….
—Through the observation on the huge leg muscles, it could be inferred that their diet had plenty of
24 ………………………………
The Tenerian
—Stojanowski presumed that the Tenerian preferred herding to 25……………………………….
—But only the bones of individual animals such as 26.................................................were found.
—Sereno supposed the Tenerian in Gobero lived in a 27.................................................group at that
time

READING PASSAGE 3.
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 28-40 which are based on Reading Passage 3
below.
Questions 28-32
Reading Passage 3 has seven sections, A-G.
Choose the correct heading for sections B-E and G from the list of headings
below. Write the correct number, i-ix, inboxes 28-32 on your answer sheet.
 List of
Headings i An increase in profit due to TV-texting
ii A growth in concerns over profitable games
iii Factors relevant to the rapid increase in interactive TV
iv The mind change of set-top box providers
v A fresh look at the act of sharing the business opportunities
vi A general look into a fast-growing business
vii How short codes on the TV screen can be applied
viii Factors contributing to the leading role of Netherlands
ix The probability of the simple technology taking the place of the more complex ones

Example

Answer Section A
ii
28 Section B ……..
29 Section C ……..
30 Section D ……..
Example

Answer Section E
v
31 Section F ……..
32 Section G ……..

Questions 33-35
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.
Write the correct letter in boxes 33-35 on your answer sheet.
33. According to research, what change has happened in Europe?
A. Young audience is contacted via emails.
B. Compared to France, more British teenagers have taken part in reality shows through
texting messages.
C. Internet has been replaced by text messaging as a means of responding to TV program.
D. France, Britain, and Germany have become the top three countries using text messaging
to interact with TV programs.
34. What is one attractive feature of interactive reality TV shows?
A. Viewers have a chance to play a more active role in the programs
B. Viewers have a strong influence on the performance of the contestants
C. Viewers can watch the programs and relax at the same time
D. Viewers have a chance to win big prizes through votes
35. Providers of set-top box technology are aiming to……………..
A. increase their share in the market.
B. establish a modified set-top box.
C. develop an embedded message platform.
D. make their way into the European market.

Questions 36-40
Match the sentence beginnings with the correct endings, A-F.
Write the correct letter, A-F, in boxes 36-40 on your answer
sheet. 36 A man in Gartner
37 Mm02, which is a British operator,
38 Endemol, the producer of “Big Brothers”,
39 Lars Becker of Flytxt
40 CMG is a company which

List of endings
A has started developing its own mobile phone operating applications.
B stated that short codes are convenient to memorize when turning up.
C provides mobile phone message technology.
D expressed the view that text messaging in an interactive TV is not a challenge.
E made huge profits thanks to a renowned program.

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