SỞ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO LÀO CAI KỲ THI CHỌN ĐỘI TUYỂN HỌC SINH GIỎI THPT

QUỐC GIA NĂM 2020

I. LISTENING (50 points)

Part 1: You will hear a radio interview about the problems of the homeless in London. For
questions 1 - 5, answer the questions below with NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS.

1. What is Mary Graham working for?

_______________________________________________________________

2. According to many people, what should be done by the government to improve the situation?
_______________________________________________________________

3-4. What does the lack of available property causes?

___________________________ and _________________________________

5. What is the space of the headquarters used for to help the homeless?
_______________________________________________________________

Part 2: You will hear five speakers talking about climate change. Listen and decide which
points of view match with each speaker. Write the answer in the box below.

Speaker Points of view

A. The implications of climate change are not always what you might expect.
6. Speaker 1 B. Research into climate change is less conclusive than some people claim.
7. Speaker 2 C. Climate change may bring some advantages.
8. Speaker 3 D. People talk too much about climate change and neglect other environmental
problems.
9. Speaker 4 E. International organizations are not doing enough to combat climate change.
10. Speaker 5 F. Each individual should do all they can to reduce their carbon footprint.
G. The younger generation has a more responsible attitude to climate change
than their parents
H. Claims about climate change have been exaggerated.

Your answer
6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

Part 3: You will hear a radio interview with Judy Simpkins who works with Northbrook
Children’s Theatre. For question 11-15, choose the answer (A, B, C, or D) which fits best
according to what you hear.

11. What initially attracted Judy to the acting life?

A. her many enjoyable childhood visits to the theatre
B. her parents’ positive tales of working in the theatre business
C. her observation of some actors’ colorful lifestyle.
D. her desire to travel and avoid a conventional work routine.

12. Why didn’t Judy leave her previous job sooner?

A. She was waiting to hear whether she had got into drama school.
B. She wanted to finish something she was involved in there first.
C. It took time for her to realize she had chosen the wrong career.
D. Her mind was focused on preparing for a local theatre production.
13. Why did Judy prefer playing secondary roles to lead roles?
A. There was a greater choice of roles close to home.
B. She really didn’t enjoy being the focus of attention.
C. She found them generally a more reward experience.
D. They were easier to get but still paid adequately.
14. How did Judy feel about becoming a director?
-1-
 A. grateful for the opportunity to try something new
B. unenthusiastic about taking on more responsibility.
C. resigned to making the best of a bad situation.
D. anxious about her ability to do the job well.
15. According to Judy, what is one advantage of working with child actors?
A. They always do exactly what she tells them to.
B. They work very hard as they always want to be the best.
C. They are generally more enthusiastic than adults.
D. Their main concern is the success of the production.

Your answer
11. 12. 13. 14. 15.

Part 4. For questions 16-25, listen to part of a talk and complete the sentences with NO
MORE THAN FOUR WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER taken from the recording for each answer in
the space provided.

Getting dressed for work may not mean "dressing up."

There really is no single definition of "business attire" these days. The era of "Big Business" with fine
clothes and tailored suits is largely gone, except in (16)______________. It is easily for people to toss out
all the starched, buttoned-up conformity of (17)______________. The questioned posed is what we use to
replace office clothes. While bankers are (18)____________, techy-types in all industries tend to dress
down. The issues associated with (19)_____________ isn’t new in this 21 st century though it seems to be
more casual. Interestingly, in the prewar period, half of men’s suit were (20)______________. From
1940s to 1950s, all styles remain the same, except the fact that men’s suits change from
(21)_______________. Between the time of 1960s and 1970s, traditional men’s suit remains unchanged,
however a new type of suit called the (22)__________ or Nehru jackets were introduced.
Thanks to Silicon Valley, a term called “business casual” was used in the 1980s. Originally, it referred to
khaki pants, sensible shoes and (23)______________. However, this term today is rather ambiguous. The
Atlantic grappled with this by defining the casual workplace basing on (24)______________ business
culture instead of a "process-oriented" culture obsessed with employees' looks. Mark Zuckerberg's gray T-
shirt and gray hoodie is one exception to casual workplace. Some business are still creased and pleated
and tailor. We are left to suss out the suitability of (25) ______________ and Allbirds, which don’t match
with shoulder pads. Final words given after all is “Dressing for success is as hard to define as business
casual”. 
Your answer
16. 17. 18. 19. 20.

21. 22. 23. 24. 25.

II. LEXICO – GRAMMAR (20 points)

Part 1: Choose the best answer (A, B, C or D) to each of the following questions and write
your answer (A, B, C or D) in the corresponding numbered boxes.
26. Andrew began the race quite well but later went out of _______________.
A. steam B. power C. force D. effort
27. You will have ___________ opportunity to ask questions after the talk.
A. superfluous B. virtuous C. lavish D. ample
28. I know you never lend things, but ______ and let me borrow your book. I will take good care of it.
A. stretch a point B. have it in for me
C. take your pick D. come to the point
-2-
29. When the lecturer _______ the issue related to shadow puppetry, all of the students remained in
embarrassed silence.
A. mount up B. brought up C. put up D. clock up
30. It is impossible to miss the _______________ of the Generation X in America.
A. manifestation B. propriety C. depreciation D. coalescence
31. The accountant _____________ the company fund and ran away to another country.
A. swallowed B. confiscated C. embezzled D. annulled
32. My cousin is so _________________. Whatever we find challenging, we can ask her to clarify it.
A. irksome B. erudite C. didactic D. cynical
33. They ___________ and hawed for weeks before deciding to buy the house.
A. blared B. dined C. hummed D. thudded
34. Numbers at the evening class have __________ rather badly. In fact, if attendance gets any worse,
we may have to cancel the course altogether.
A. lessened B. dwindled C. deteriorated D. crumbled
35. It was only when I saw Manhattan __________ into the distance beneath and behind me that I
finally began to relax.
A. abating B. withdrawing C. receding D. reversing
36. It is _________ possible to spend all of your life in this city.
A. purely B. perfectly C. starkly D. solidly
37. He was engrossed in the paperwork to the __________ of this own interests and the annoyance of
everybody concerned.
A. damage B. harm C. detriment D. disadvantage
38. Smoker prefer not to know what’s happening to their insides. For most of them, ignorance is _____.
A. ecstasy B. rapture C. primeval D. bliss
39. All the employees were asked to _________ 20 dollars to pay for the meal they had last night.
A. chip in B. fork out C. even out D. hype up
40. We will have to economize ___________ heating or we’ll won’t be able to pay the bill.
A. about B. in C. on D. over

Your answers:
26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33.
34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40.

Part 2: Write the correct form of each bracketed word in the corresponding numbered boxes.

The courteous smile of an author selling books, singing copies or chatting on television shows can be
(41. DECEIVE) ________________. Behind the scenes of the book tour that has become as much a part
of the modern bestseller as print and paper, the writer may be a (42. CONTEND) ______________ for a
Golden Dartboard Award. This is the Oscar for authors (43. ALLEGE) ______________ behaving badly,
an informal award nominated by the weary, sometimes (44. TRAUMA) ______________, publicists who
travel from city to city garnering publicity and sales. They call themselves ‘babysitters’ as they tend to the
fragile egos and (45. CONVENTION) ______________ demands of authors.
Among the most feared assignments for the publicists are the feminist writer who is remembered for
yelling at her publicists in public and in colorful language, and the thriller writer whose publicists report
that they have instructions from his publisher to speak only when spoken to. One survivor of a tour with
him, who nominated him for a Golden Dartboard, says: ‘He treats us all as his inferiors’
Your answers:
41. 42. 43. 44. 45.

III. READING (50 points)

Part 1: Read the text below and think of the word which best fits each gap. Use only ONE
word in each gap. Write your answers in corresponding numbered boxes.
With obesity having shot (46)___________ across the globe to dangerously high levels in recent years,
it is little wonder that people have started to ask why. True, diets have changed; we all know that we live
in a McWorld, hunting and gathering our food from fast-food outlets and supermarket aisles, but it can't all
be down to diet, can it? Technology has changed modern life to (47)___________ an extent that few
aspects of life today show any (48)___________ to lives only a couple of generations ago. Just taking
jobs as an example, how many of us today spend twelve hours a day on our feet (49)___________
slogging ourselves into the ground? Or how many families could you imagine living without a car? Kids

-3-
walking to school, parents going to half a dozen local shops, on foot, to buy the week’s food, family
holidays by bus to the nearest seaside town. (50)___________ Tina Jameson, a mother of two who has
to juggle home and a part-time job. She says 'I haven’t got time to walk anywhere. But I’d have even less
time (51)___________ a washing machine or dishwasher’. We now have so many conveniences in our
lives that allow us such drastically better lifestyle choices that at (52)___________ it can be difficult to
picture these in a negative way. Without doubt there are positives to (53)___________ changes. The
number of people who suffer debilitating injuries at work is miniscule in comparison to the past.
(54)___________ hours working and more efficient transport are all to our benefit in allowing us a
greater amount of leisure time. At what cost though? We may save a few hours a day travelling and enjoy
less physically demanding working conditions, but is this really (55)___________ it when the cost to our
health and life expectancy is so high? Modern lifestyles have become shockingly sedentary and in
combination with the deterioration in diet this is surely creating a ticking time bomb for modern humanity.

Your answers:
46. 47. 48. 49. 50.
51. 52. 53. 54. 55.

Part 2: Read the reading passage and do the tasks that follow.

INDIVIDUALISM OR SOCIETY

The human trait known as individualism can be understood in two distinct ways. The first implies an
individual’s aspiration to self-reliance or independence, and the need to exist as individual human beings.
The second, by contrast, is understood as a social theory which prioritizes freedom of action by individuals
over the authority of an all-powerful state. As far as the second conception is concerned, individualism as
a discrete construct of Western thought really came to the fore with the onset of capitalism in the late
seventeenth century. The two most influential English political philosophers of that period - and since —
Hobbes and Locke, outlined ideal models of government of a distinctly individualist hue. In their view, the
state’s function was to protect a citizen’s individual liberties and interfere with any citizen’s actions only
when those actions violated another individual’s right to act freely. For both, society is nothing more than
an agglomeration of individuals; it has no reality independent of the individuals that make it up.

In practice, in the context of late twentieth and early twenty-first century developed societies, the term
‘individualism’ is generally congruent with a world view whose adherents wage a metaphorical low-level
war against what they perceive to be the incessant and incremental growth in the power of the state. True
individualists would undoubtedly arẹue that society’s attempts to regulate the individualist’s two most
closely guarded spheres of personal liberty - economic and civil - will always represent individualism’s most
keenly fought over battlegrounds. This strongly individualistic view of the role of society is often referred
to as ‘libertarianism’.

An intriguing characteristic of those professing to be libertarians is that they can happily disagree, equally
vehemently, with a government policy on, say, education, from either a distinctly ‘left’ or a distinctly ‘right’,
libertarian perspective. Indeed, commentators and opinion formers in the mass media readily admit that
one of the most fascinating aspects of these manifestations of modern individualism of either kind is just
how frequently both claim to be the authentic standard bearers of libertarianism. Thus anarchists arguing
for their particular vision of libertarianism would never be seen dead breaking bread with right wing neo-
liberal libertarians - or vice versa.

In the 1980s ， champions of ‘deregulation’ announced their mission to ‘set the people free’ from the
suffocating yoke of ‘big ‘government’ or the ‘stranglehold of regulation’. So it was that in Britain
enterprises once state-owned were privatized and public utilities such as telecoms, gas, electricity ， and
water were rapidly sold off. Moreover, unified transport systems took on multiple identities when the
networks of trains and buses, most of which had previously been owned by the state, were put up for sale
and then snapped up by a host of individual private companies.

It is fair to say that notwithstanding the social and political manifestations of individualism, which are still
pillars of orthodoxy in many developed western countries - such as the USA and Britain 一 probably the
most striking evidence of the enduring strength of individualism, and just how deeply this view of society
has permeated all fields and forms of the contemporary arts, is the celebrity culture that surrounds us
nowadays. Being famous, or better, being famous for just being famous, has become almost an article of

-4-
faith for wannabes everywhere. The seemingly insatiable public appetite for reality TV and tabloid
newspapers, in addition to the all-pervasive celebrity photo journalism that fills a plethora of ubiquitous
glossy magazines, are living testimony to Andy Warhol’s dictum that anyone ‘can be famous for fifteen
minutes’ these days.

But the cult of celebrity alone does not convey the enduring power of individualism. Pause to reflect for a
moment, and try to think of one truly great film, play, or popular song that could ever have achieved such
universal acclaim without an individual voice at its narrative core. Surely, this is why Frank Sinatra
timelessly strikes a chord with the individualist in all of us when he sings ‘I did it my way’.

Do the following statements agree with the views of the writer in the Reading Passage?

YES ifthe statement agrees with the views of the writer.

NO ifthe statement contradicts the views of the writer.
NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this.

56. There are two discrete interpretations of the term individualism

57. The rise of individualism caused disquiet among governments in Europe.
58. The prominence of individualism as a concept coincided with the rise of capitalism.
59. Hobbes and Locke had little impact in the late 1700s.
60. Hobbes and Locke's ideas about the state were not pro-individualist.
61. Individual liberties must be preserved because they guarantee protection against the state.
56. 57. 58. 59. 60. 61.

Answer the questions below using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each
answer.
62. According to individualists, which two areas of personal freedom must be protected from state
regulation? _____________________________
63. What name is given to the view that society should not limit individuals' rights to do as they wish?
64. Before the 1980s, who owned most of the transport networks in Britain?
65. According to the writer, what is the clearest evidence of the continuing importance of individualism in
society? _____________________________
66. According to the writer, what feature must a film or song have to make it popular?
______________________________
Choose the correct answer for the following questions.
67. What strange trait does the writer mention about individualists?
A. They can hold completely opposite political positions.
B. They do not often disagree with government policy.
C. Their opinions are shaped by the mass media.
D. They have different views on the role of the government in education.
68. Which of the following statements best summarizes the writer's view of individualism?
A. Individualism has become less important since its conception in the late seventeenth century.
B. The adherents of individualism disagree over how much the government should regulate personal
liberty.
C. The strength of individualism is reflected in many aspects of contemporary politics and culture.
D. Individualism is the cause of most conflicts in society today.

62. 63. 64. 65.

66. 67. 68.
Part 3: You are going to read a newspaper article about great explorations. Seven paragraphs
have been removed from the extract. Choose from the paragraphs A-H the one which fits
each gap (69-75). There is one extra paragraph which you do not need to use.

GREAT EXPLORATIONS

When I left that nautical shop in Ushuaia, Argentina with just a few postcards, I had no idea how much I
would regret it later. I couldn't imagine the real need for a human being to have a nautical chart of Cape
Horn, the southernmost point on the whole planet. Mainly since this would only become a reality after
three intense days of navigating the waters that changed the history of the world and viewing the same

-5-
landscapes that Charles Darwin and Ferdinand Magellan saw.
69. ________
There was nothing ordinary about that chart. The pen scratches showed the exact route that the vessel
had taken in the first stretch of the course, which went from the capital of the archipelago to Cape Horn in
Drake Passage where fearsome waters must be overcome to reach the Antarctic. There were over ten
nationalities occupying the sixty-four cabins on the boat, which, with its siblings, exclusively covers the
extreme south of Patagonia. They’ve known as expedition cruises and feature lectures on fauna and flora
and documentaries on Shackleton's expedition to Antarctica.
70. ________
'Ninety dollars,’ said the Frenchman. He was on his honeymoon and his reason for wanting to buy the map
was a strong one. His bride, who had always dreamed of spending her post-nuptial days in Madagascar,
wasn't able to hold him back since she was napping in the cabin.
71. ________
The first expedition to reach Cape Horn in 1616 was composed of two ships and eighty-seven men. It left
from Holland in 1615 with the mission of finding a passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific that could serve
as an alternative to the Strait of Magellan, discovered in 1520 and monopolized by the East India
Company.
72. ________
The island where we disembarked on that morning didn't seem like the kind of place where no less than
500 shipwrecks took place. It was cold and windy but the sun provided a more hospitable atmosphere. On
one of its extremities there was a monument; on the other, a lighthouse which is home to traffic controller
Patricio Ubal, his wife and their children.
73. ________
A seasick Charles Darwin did not disembark at Cape Horn. It was 1832 and the young, inexperienced
British naturalist had joined the second expedition of Captain Robert Fitzroy on his frigate, the Beagle, in
exchange for financial help from his father. On board were also three natives of Tierra del Fuego whom
Fitzroy had taken to England on his last voyage. The most famous of these was Yamana Jeremy Button.
74. ________
The glaciers there remain in the same place, however, exactly as Darwin saw them. The deep blue of the
millennial ice is as impressive as the ferocious noise coming from the huge chunks that break off that
living mass. It is an unforgettable spectacle.
75. ________
The auction had come to an end, but our voyage had not. The next morning, hours before the boat
docked in Punta Arenas, we visited the Magellanic penguins on Isla Magdalena. This was the moment Sao
Paulo native Lidia Senatore had been waiting for. Coincidentally, the nautical chart auctioned off had been
purchased by her for $150. Luckily for Francois, Valentine never heard about that.

MISSING PARAGRAPHS

A. Ushuaia is an unusual place. Half an hour from the city center, the Cerro Castor ski station is the
southernmost in the world and runs until the end of October, when all the others in South America have
already closed and the European stations haven’t even opened.

B. ‘Going once, going twice..." In a fit of obsession, Francois raises his hand, ‘sold to the gentleman for
$250.’ Afterwards Valentine snorts: ‘How can you pay $250 for a piece of paper?

C. All the people gathered that night in one of the lounges of the Chilean boat Mare Australis had been
through this experience and now, on the last night of our journey, were staring at the auctioneer with a
genuine greed for that tube with the paper inside. I couldn’t help myself. I started off the bidding.

D. These are fascinating people. The coldness with which his mother received her son two years after his
disappearance provoked reports of amazement from Darwin，who witnessed this at Isla Navarino, where
we disembarked that afternoon. But, instead of the people who used to live there, we only came across
the tracks of beavers.

E. ‘How much is the chart of such an historic voyage worth?’ chanted the auctioneer in order to raise the
bidding, which had already passed $200. I’d stopped at 150 but the Frenchman and the table of
Americans showed no signs of giving up.

F. ‘Cape Horn was a dream for me. You can’t go any further. It’s difficult and dangerous to get there and I
wanted to share this with her,’ lawyer Francois Marty told me later. He only told his new wife Valentine
-6-
that they were going to South America. ‘Pack a bag for every season, everything from a bikini to ski
clothes,’ he advised her.

G. This is just a temporary position - it lasts less than a year - but a solitary one. It means having to pass
the entire time isolated from the world, without seeing civilization and not even being visited by it during
the winter months.

H. More common for visitors are the itineraries which peruse the Patagonian canals further north. Other
ships cover an even wider course but they don’t pass by Cape Horn. And it was this mythical little island
that had attracted those who were in that room.

Your answers:
69. 70. 71. 72. 73. 74. 75.

Part 4: For question 76-85, read an article on desert formation and choose the answer A, B, C
or D which you think fits best according to the text. Write your answers in the corresponding
numbered boxes provided.
DESERT FORMATION
The deserts ， which already occupy approximately a fourth of the Earth's land surface, have in recent
decades been increasing at an alarming pace. The expansion of desertlike conditions into areas where
they did not previously exist is called desertification. It has been estimated that an additional one-fourth of
the Earth’s land surface is threatened by this process.

Desertification is accomplished primarily through the loss of stabilizing natural vegetation and the
subsequent accelerated erosion of the soil by wind and water. In some cases the loose soil is blown
completely away, leaving a stony surface. In other cases, the finer particles may be removed, while the
sand-sized particles are accumulated to form mobile hills or ridges of sand.

Even in the areas that retain a soil cover, the reduction of vegetation typically results in the loss of the
soil’s ability to absorb substantial quantities of water. The impact of raindrops on the loose soil tends to
transfer fine clay particles into the tiniest soil spaces, sealing them and producing a surface that allows
very little water penetration. Water absorption is greatly reduced, consequently runoff is increased,
resulting in accelerated erosion rates. The gradual drying of the soil caused by its diminished ability to
absorb water results in the further loss of vegetation ，so that a cycle of progressive surface deterioration
is established.

In some regions, the increase in desert areas is occurring largely as the result of a trend toward drier
climatic conditions. Continued gradual global warming has produced an increase in aridity for some areas
over the past few thousand years. The process may be accelerated in subsequent decades if global
warming resulting from air pollution seriously increases.

There is little doubt, however, that desertification in most areas results primarily from human activities
rather than natural processes. The semiarid lands bordering the deserts exist in a delicate ecological
balance and are limited in their potential to adjust to increased environmental pressures. Expanding
populations are subjecting the land to increasing pressures to provide them with food and fuel. In wet
periods, the 丨 and may be able to respond to these stresses. During the dry periods that are common
phenomena along the desert margins, though, the pressure on the land is often far in excess of its
diminished capacity, and desertification results.

Four specific activities have been identified as major contributors to the desertification processes:
overcultivation, overgrazing, firewood gathering ， and overirrigation. The cultivation of crops has
expanded into progressively drier regions as population densities have grown. These regions are especially
likely to have periods of severe dryness, so that crop failures are common. Since the raising of most crops
requires the prior removal of the natural vegetation, crop failures leave extensive tracts of land devoid of a
plant cover and susceptible to wind and water erosion.

[A] The raising of livestock is a major economic activity in semiarid lands, where grasses are generally the
dominant type of natural vegetation. [B] The consequences of an excessive number of livestock grazing in
an area are the reduction of the vegetation cover and the trampling and pulverization of the soil. [C] This
is usually followed by the drying of the soil and accelerated erosion. [D].

-7-
Firewood is the chief fuel used for cooking and heating in many countries. The increased pres sures of
expanding populations have led to the removal of woody plants so that many cities and towns are
surrounded by large areas completely lacking in trees and shrubs. The increasing use of dried animal
waste as a substitute fuel has also hurt the soil because this valuable soil conditioner and source of plant
nutrients is no longer being returned to the land.

The final major human cause of desertification is soil salinization resulting from overirrigation. Excess
water from irrigation sinks down into the water table. If no drainage system exists, the water
table rises ， bringing dissolved salts to the surface. The water evaporates and the salts are left behind,
creating a white crustal layer that prevents air and water from reaching the underlying soil.

The extreme seriousness of desertification results from the vast areas of land and the
tremendous numbers of people affected, as well as from the great difficulty of reversing or
even slowing the process. Once the soil has been removed by erosion, only the passage of centuries or
millennia will enable new soil to form. In areas where considerable soil still remains, though, a rigorously
enforced program of land protection and cover-crop planting may make it possible to reverse the present
deterioration of the surface.

Question 76: According to paragraph 3 ， the loss of natural vegetation has which of the
following consequences for soil?
A. Increased stony content B. Reduced water absorption
C. Increased numbers of spaces in the soil D. Reduced water runoff

Question 77: The word delicate in the passage is closest in meaning to ______________.
A. fragile B. predictable C. complex D. valuable

Question 78: According to paragraph 5 ， in dry periods, border areas have difficulty
________.
A. adjusting to stresses created by settlement B. retaining their fertility after desertification
C. providing water for irrigating crops D. attracting populations in search of food and fuel

Question 79: According to paragraph 6 ， which of the following is often associated with
raising crops?
A. Lack of proper irrigation techniques B. Failure to plant crops suited to the particular area
C. Removal of the original vegetation D. Excessive use of dried animal waste
Question 80: The phrase devoid of in the passage is closest in meaning to
A. consisting of B. hidden by C. except for D. lacking in
Question 81: According to paragraph 9, the grounds absorption of excess water is a factor in
desertification because it can ______________
A. interfere with the irrigation of land B. limit the evaporation of water
C. require more absorption of air by the soil D. bring salts to the surface
Question 82: All of the following are mentioned in the passage as contributing to
desertification EXCEPT ________
A. soil erosion B. global warming
C. insufficient irrigation D. the raising of livestock
Question 83: Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the
highlighted sentence in the passage? Incorrect answer choices change the meaning in
important ways or leave out essential information.

A. Desertification is a significant problem because it is so hard to reverse and affects large areas of land
and great numbers of people.
B. Slowing down the process of desertification is difficult because of population growth that has spread
over large areas of land.
C. The spread of deserts is considered a very serious problem that can be solved only if large numbers of
people in various countries are involved in the effort.
D. Desertification is extremely hard to reverse unless the population is reduced in the vast areas affected.

Question 84: It can be inferred from the passage that the author most likely believes which of
the following about the future of desertification?
-8-
A. Governments will act quickly to control further desertification.
B. The factors influencing desertification occur in cycles and will change in the future.
C. Desertification will continue to increase.
D. Desertification win soon occur in all areas of the world.
Question 85: Look at the four squares [ ■] that indicate where the following sentence can be
added to the passage.
This economic reliance on livestock in certain regions makes large tracts of land susceptible
to overgrazing.
Where would the sentence best fit?
A. [A] B. [B] C. [C] D. [D]

Your answer
76. 77. 78. 79. 80.
81. 82. 83. 84. 85.

Part 5: You are going to read about the experiences and opinions of five educators on online
courses and learning. For questions 86-95, choose from the sections (A-E). The sections may
be chosen more than once.
ONLINE STUDIES
A.
Educators have known for 30 years that students perform better when given one-on-one tutoring and
mastery learning – working on a subject until it is mastered, not just until a test is schedules. Success also
requires motivation, whether from an inner drive or from parents, mentors or peers. For years my
colleagues and I have given artificial-intelligence courses: we lectured, assigned homework and gave
everyone the same exam at the same time. Each semester just 5 to 10 percent of students regularly
engaged in deep discussion; the rest were more passive. We felt there had to be a better way, so we
created a free online course, which was completed by only 23,000 participants of an initial ‘intake’ of
100,000. Our second scheme was more successful as we made learning happen actively. This helped us
increase motivation and keep attention from wavering, both of which led to a much lower dropout rate.
For our class, teachers analysed the data generated by student participation, but an artificial-intelligence
system could perform this function and then make recommendations for what a student could try next to
improve.

B.
Today students in most classroom sit, listen and take notes while a professor lectures. Despite there being
20 to 300 students in the room, there is little or no human interaction. Exam often offer the first
opportunity to get real information on how well the students digested the knowledge. If the exam
identifies a lack of understanding of a basic concept, the class still moves on to a more advanced concept.
Virtual tools are providing an opportunity to rethink this methodology. If a lecture is removed from class
rime and we have on-demand adaptive exercises and diagnostics, we can enter the realm of ‘blended
learning’. In the blended learning reality, the professor’s role is moved up the value chain. Rather than
spending the bulk of the time lecturing, writing exams and grading them, the can interact with their
students. Rather than enforcing a sit-and-listen passivity, teacher will mentor and challenge their students
to take control of their rate of learning – the most valuable skill of all.

C.
Digital technologies have the potential to transform Indian higher education. A new model built around
massive open online courses (MOOCs) that are developed locally and combined with those provided by too
universities abroad could deliver higher education on a scale and at a quality not possible before. India has
experimented with online classes before, but their impact has been marginal. A decade ago, the country
began using the Internet to distribute video and Web-based courses under a government-funded initiative,
the National Program on Technology Enhanced Learning. Developers created over 900 courses, focused
mainly on science and engineering with about 40 hours of instruction each. With limited interactivity and
uneven quality, these courses failed to attract a large body of students. Now, though, MOOCs have given
Indian academics a better sense of how a lecture could be restructured into short, self-contained
segments with high interactivity to engage students more effectively. This appears to be a step in the right
direction, but what is really needed is the right model to use MOOCs in an Indian context. With a decade

-9-
of experience in this space and a vibrant technology ecosystem, India will most likely find its way very
soon.

D.
The rapid evolution of digital resources like video, interactive multimedia and new modes of assessment
challenges us to reimage what we can and should do when we are face-to-face with our students. As I
develop online courses on cellular metabolism, for instance, I hypothesize that the blend of animation and
appropriate embedded assessments will communicate the intricacies of electron transfer more effectively
than that portion of my traditional lecture. After rebalancing class assignments to include both reading and
online materials, while maintaining the same overall workload, I nonetheless gain time with my students in
the classroom to discuss and critically analyze the metabolic consequences of experimentally disrupting
electron transfer. Underlying this progress is the awareness that experimentation is the key and that we
do not yet know how best to harness the enormous positive potential of the online revolution for on-
campus learning. This is why every course or module should have associated research component where
student progress is measured.

E.
Technology is transforming education for the worse and one of its dubious uses is to grade essays. Major
testing companies are using software to score written test answers as machines can work faster than
teachers. However, they cannot evaluate the imaginative use of language. Thus, students will learn to
write according to the formula that the machine responds to best at the expense of accuracy, creativity
and imagination. Worse, the teacher will abandon the important job of reading what the students write
and will be less informed about how they think. That is a loss for the quality of education. A more
worrisome use of technology is the accumulation and storage of personal, confidential data on a cloud.
Who needs all this personal information and why is it being shared? Advocates say that the goal is believe
that the information will be given or sold to vendors, who will use it to market products to children and
their parents.

In which section are the following mentioned?

A strategy that helped the learners focus 86. ______

The reason why more data is required to make the best use of 87. ______
computer-based learning
Digital resources leading to the standardization of student learning 88. ______
The necessity to adapt online courses to a specific culture 89. ______
A claim that information will be used to enhance product quality 90. ______
Personally combining digital and traditional tools to provide a more 91. ______
effective learning experience
The problem of gaps in students’ knowledge not being addressed 92. ______
Humans undertaking a task that machines could carry out 93. ______
The importance of students progressing at their own pace 94. ______
Computer-based courses that attracted a disappointing number of 95. ______
participants.

Your answer
86. 87. 88. 89. 90.
91. 92. 93. 94. 95.

IV. WRITING (60 points)

Part 1: Read the following extract and use your own words to summarize it. You MUST NOT
copy or rewrite the original. Your summary should be about 120 words long.
A recent study on the effect of tea drinking towards people had been led by researchers from the National
University of Singapore (NUS). The research team made this discovery after examining neuroimaging data
of 36 older adults. "Our results offer the first evidence of positive contribution of tea drinking to brain
structure, and suggest that drinking tea regularly has a protective effect against age-related decline in

-10-
brain organisation," explained team leader Assistant Professor Feng Lei, who is from the Department of
Psychological Medicine at the NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine. The research was carried out together
with collaborators from the University of Essex and University of Cambridge, and the findings were
published in scientific journal Aging on 14 June 2019. Past studies have demonstrated that tea intake is
beneficial to human health, and the positive effects include mood improvement and cardiovascular disease
prevention. In fact, results of a longitudinal study led by Asst Prof Feng which was published in 2017
showed that daily consumption of tea can reduce the risk of cognitive decline in older persons by 50 per
cent. Following this discovery, Asst Prof Feng and his team further explored the direct effect of tea on
brain networks. The research team recruited 36 adults aged 60 and above, and gathered data about their
health, lifestyle, and psychological well-being. The elderly participants also had to undergo
neuropsychological tests and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The study was carried out from 2015 to
2018. Upon analysing the participants' cognitive performance and imaging results, the research team
found that individuals who consumed either green tea, oolong tea, or black tea at least four times a week
for about 25 years had brain regions that were interconnected in a more efficient way. "Take the analogy
of road traffic as an example -- consider brain regions as destinations, while the connections between
brain regions are roads. When a road system is better organised, the movement of vehicles and
passengers is more efficient and uses less resources. Similarly, when the connections between brain
regions are more structured, information processing can be performed more efficiently," explained Asst
Prof Feng. He added, "We have shown in our previous studies that tea drinkers had better cognitive
function as compared to non-tea drinkers. Our current results relating to brain network indirectly support
our previous findings by showing that the positive effects of regular tea drinking are the result of improved
brain organisation brought about by preventing disruption to interregional connections. As cognitive
performance and brain organisation are intricately related, more research is needed to better understand
how functions like memory emerge from brain circuits, and the possible interventions to better preserve
cognition during the ageing process. Asst Prof Feng and his team plan to examine the effects of tea as
well as the bioactive compounds in tea can have on cognitive decline.

Your answer:
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
Part 2: Writing description

The graph below shows in percentage terms the changing patterns of domestic access to
modern technology in homes in the UK.
-11-
Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make
comparisons where relevant.

Write at least 150 words

............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
-12-
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................

Part 3: Write an essay of about 350 words about the following issue.
Some people say that young people today only seem to aspire to fame and fortune, which
they expect to be handed to them on a plate. However, others believe that the youth are
currently inspiring more and more people with their personal success and contribution to the
community. To what extent, do you agree with this statement?
Give reasons and specific examples to support your opinion(s).

............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
-13-
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
-The end-

-14-