SỞ GIÁO DỤC & ĐÀO TẠO TỈNH LÀO CAI KỲ THI CHỌN ĐỘI TUYỂN HSGQG

 NĂM HỌC 2020-2021 (Vòng 1)

ĐỀ THI CHÍNH THỨC Môn thi: Tiếng Anh
(Đề thi gồm 16 trang) Thời gian làm bài: 180 phút
(không kể thời gian giao đề)
Điểm bài thi Số phách
Giám khảo 1 Giám khảo 2
(Do chủ tịch HĐ
(Kí, ghi rõ họ tên) (Kí, ghi rõ họ tên)
Bằng số Bằng chữ chấm thi ghi)

 Thí sinh không được sử dụng tài liệu, kể cả từ điển.

 Giám thị không giải thích gì thêm.

I. LISTENING (5.0 POINTS)

HƯỚNG DẪN PHẦN THI NGHE HIỂU
 Bài nghe gồm 4 phần; mỗi phần được nghe 2 lần, mỗi lần cách nhau 05 giây; mở đầu và kết thúc mỗi
phần nghe có tín hiệu. Thí sinh có 20 giây để đọc mỗi phần câu hỏi.
 Mở đầu và kết thúc bài nghe có tín hiệu nhạc. Thí sinh có 03 phút để hoàn chỉnh bài trước tín hiệu
nhạc kết thúc bài nghe.
 Mọi hướng dẫn cho thí sinh (bằng tiếng Anh) đã có trong bài nghe.
Part 1: For questions 1-6, listen to an interview with Karen Simpson and Jason Todd, two fashion
designers and decide whether the following statements are TRUE (T) or FALSE (F). (1.2 points)
1. According to Karen, consumers of fashion are ununiformed about many issues. t
2. Combining different approaches to fashion design is more difficult than Jason had expected. t
3. When developing their design style, both Karen and Jason do things that other designers don’t. f
4. Karen thinks her priority in clothes is that they have a sensible rationale. t
5. Jason regards the production process as challenging due to the pressures of time. f
6. Both Jason and Karen think that in the future fashion could influence the wider business world. f
Your answers
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
Part 2: For questions 7-11, you will hear a talk about laughter in psychological therapy. Listen and
answer the following questions with NO MORE THAN FIVE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER for
each question. (1.0 point)
7. What does the speaker say laughter particularly pertains to, besides psychological therapy?
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
treatment of physiological disorders

8. What do people need when they seek treatment and resort to psychological therapy?
professional help
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
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9. What is laughter assumed to be related to when people normally laugh at something funny?
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
humor

10. What do many people in the medical world think laughter is frequently dismissed as?
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
cathartic healing process

11. If we understand laughter and pain are related, how will we no longer feel by someone laughing
unexpectedly?
shocked
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Your answers:
7. 10.
8. 11.
9.
Part 3: You will hear two nutritionists, Fay Wells and George Fisher, discussing methods of food
production. For questions 12-16, choose the correct answer A, B, C, or D which best fits what you
hear. (1.0 point)
12. Looking at reports on the subject of GM foods, Fay feels _______
A. pleased to read that the problem of food shortages is being addressed.
B. surprised that the fears of the public are not allayed by them.
C. frustrated by contradictory conclusions.
D. critical of scientists’ methodology.
13. What does George suggest about organic foods?
A. Consumers remain surprisingly poorly informed about them.
B. People need to check out the claims made about them.
C. They need to be made more attractive to meat-eaters.
D. They may become more affordable in the future.
14. What is George’s opinion of ‘vertical farming’?
A. It could provide a realistic alternative to existing methods.
B. It's a highly impractical scheme dreamt up by architects.
C. It's unlikely to go much beyond the experimental stage.
D. It has the potential to reduce consumption of energy.
15. George and Fay agree that the use of nanotechnology in food production will_______
A. reduce the need for dietary supplements. B. simplify the process of food-label ling.
C. complicate things for the consumer. D. introduce potential health risks.
16. In Fay's view, returning to self-sufficiency is only an option for people who _______
A. have no need to get a return on their investment. B. are willing to accept a high level of regulation.
C. reject the values of a consumer society. D. already have sufficient set-up funds.
Your answers:
12. 13. 14. 15. 16.
Part 4: You will hear a man called Jerome Wilby talking about CycleAware, an organization to
promote cycling as a way of commuting to work. For questions 17-25, complete the sentences with a
word or short phrase. (1.8 points)
CycleAware
CycleAware initially sends people called 17._________ to companies to discuss how to encourage cycling to
ambassadors
work.
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Jerome sees concerns about 18._________
safety as the greatest barrier in convincing people to cycle to work.
CycleAware mentors take on the role of 19._________ escort for people cycling to work for the first time.
CycleAware recommends that cyclists use a(n) 20._________ whistle
to attract the attention of other road users.
Adjustments to 21._________ is the commonest maintenance issue dealt with by CycleAware teams.
brakes
Jerome uses the term 22._________to
one-stop shop
stress the comprehensiveness of the service CycleAware provides.
Jerome sees the provision of 23._________
lockers as a crucial first step for a company wishing to promote cycling
to work.
easily accessible
Jerome emphasizes the need for cycle racks to be 24._________ as well as clean and secure.
A firm which gave additional 25._________to employees cycling to work is given as an example of good
annual leave
practice.
Your answers:
17. 22.
18. 23.
19. 24.
20. 25.
21.
II. LEXICO AND GRAMMAR (2.0 pts)
Part 1: Choose the answer A, B, C, or D that best completes each of the following sentences. Write
your answers in the corresponding numbered boxes. (1.5 points)
26. Homework is an_________ part of school life in most countries in the world.
A. ingrained B. accomplished C. organized D. established
27. The point _________ is how to help students develop their critical thinking.
A. at heart B. at length C. at issue D. at best
28. Some TV channels are ________their programmes in an attempt to increase their audience ratings.
A. dumbing down B. turning down C. boiling down D. playing down
29. The coach hoped that the team's unexpected victory was not just a________ in the pan.
A. fire B. flame C. fan D. flash
30. Just before the elections, the outgoing mayor produced plans for a new bridge which had been
_________dust for several years.
A. gathering B. collecting C. accruing D. piling
31. Unfortunately, there are no __________rules related to English spelling.
A. one and only B. hard and fast C. high and dry D. fair and square
32. Ancient healing recipes have been researched as a means of identifying potential curing__________ of
flowers and plants.
A. properties B. abilities C. capacities D. opportunities
33. You could see that she was hurt - she wears her heart __________!
A. on her head B. on her pocket C. on her sleeve D. on her face
34. We must have got our wires _______. I thought we were to meet at the hotel.
A. twisted B. coiled C. tangled D. crossed
35. Dance can take many forms: whether it comes as a (n) _________release of energy and emotion, or
within a skilful display of choreography after much rehearsal.
A. assertive B. impulsive C. attentive D. expressive
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36. The status of_________ species and habitats chosen for action under the Government’s Biodiversity
Action Plan is increasing.
A. flagpole B. flagstaff C. flagship D. flagstone
37. The consequences of mass overconsumption should __________ fear into the hearts of everyone.
A. engage B. strike C. instill D. cause
38. The authorities have announced zero _________for smoking in public buildings.
A. acceptance B. negligence C. ignorance D. tolerance
39. I expected to negotiate with the sales manager, but the chairman turned up - now he's a (n) ________of a
different color.
A. eagle B. horse C. hawk D. wolf
40. The offer sounds good, but keep your _________open until you're sure it's the best choice.
A. options B. decisions C. selections D. conclusions
Your answers:
26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35.
36. 37. 38. 39. 40.
Part 2: Give the correct form of each given word to complete the following sentences. Write your
answers in the numbered boxes. (0.5 point)
41. The abuse of technology has led to a state of _________; employees are becoming addicted to checking
email and text messages during meetings. INFORM
42. Gold is attractive in color and durable to the point of virtual _________. DESTROY
43. The humble burger has been elevated to such a point that many people no longer see it as simple,
_________ food. GO
44. She is fine when she has __________herself to the cold. CLIMATE
45. Due to the recent crisis, there are more people on the _________than ever before. BREAD
Your answers:
41. 42. 43.
44. 45.
III. READING (5.0 pts)
Part 1: Read the text below and think of the word which best fits each space. Use only ONE word in
each space. Write your answers in the space provided.
The future of journalism?
Like anything else, participatory journalism has its critics and in 46.__________ there are those who
claim that news reporting on social media is used to manipulate people and even spread misinformation or
‘fake news’. Whilst this is no doubt true in some cases, it is a 47.__________generalization. For example,
during the 2011 London riots, it is widely reported on mainstream media that the rioters and looters used
social media to spread news about what was happening and to incite others 48.__________violence and
protest. However, what is interesting is that the event has now been studied in detail and it has been revealed
that this was not the 49.__________. In actual fact, citizen journalists played a positive role as the situation
unfurled. They were the first to alert the authorities to early incidents of rioting 50.__________ place, and
help the police identify offenders by photographing them in the 51.___________ and sharing the photos on
social media.

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 The evidence so far is that participatory journalism is here to stay and set to develop in ways as
52.__________ unimagined. The ‘publish then filter’ model necessitates all readers and viewers honing their
critical faculties and verifying reports by independent means before accepting and sharing them. This will be
a positive trend if it develops the thinking skills of the population as a whole. An educated citizenry who do
not believe what they read without question is surely an 53.__________ to any society.
Your answers:
46. 47. 48. 49.
50. 51. 52. 53.
Part 2: Read the following passage and read the text below and decide which answer (A, B, C or D)
best fits each gap. Write your answers in the corresponding numbered boxes.
Touchscreen teething problems
The advent of touchscreen typing didn’t suit everyone initially. Some people who had grown
54.__________ to using a conventional keyboard, missed the physical feedback on whether they had the
correct key or not. They found the touchscreen slow to use, whilst the text they produced was 55. _________
with errors, a situation that was 56.__________ if the text was produced on the 57._________using a
smartphone.
Researchers at Maryland University found that many of these errors resulted from 58._________ in
each individual’s typing style. For example, a user might be 59. _________to hitting the bottom of a key
rather than the center, increasing the likelihood that they would also hit the key below by mistake,
60._________ producing so-called ‘fat-finger’ errors. They also found that if typing and walking
simultaneously, there was a tendency for people to hit a different part of the key if the tap coincided with
their foot striking the ground. The data produced by the team eventually allowed designers to 61.
_________these very human characteristics into account in the next generation of touchscreen keyboards.
54. A. familiar B. accustomed C. comfortable D. convenient
55. A. strewn B. caked C. stashed D. clogged
56. A. amplified B. deteriorated C. exacerbated D. intensified
57. A. haste B. travel C. foot D. move
58. A. whims B. kinks C. glitches D. quirks
59. A. prone B. likely C. inclined D. liable
60. A. therein B. otherwise C. thereby D. likewise
61. A. hold B. take C. put D. bring
Your answers:
54. 55. 56. 57.
58. 59. 60. 61.
Part 3: Read the article below and choose the answer (A, B, C or D) which you think fits best
according to the text.
At home with books
In an age when literature is increasingly going digital, books hold a curious role in some people’s
homes. There are few purchases which, once used, are placed on proud display and carted round as families
move from place to place. And yet that’s precisely what sometimes happens with books, despite the
existence of a digital equivalent. After all, both the music industry and other aspects of the print media have
felt the heat of virtual competition-why not books? Part of the explanation for this may lie in the fact that,

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when it comes to the crunch, nosing around someone’s bookshelves is interesting. ‘You can tell a lot about
someone by their collection of books,’ says Doug Jeffers, owner of a London bookstore.
It’s not just the quantity of titles on display, however, that speaks volumes; generation, occupation,
political leanings, leisure pursuits (even where they go on holiday) - clues to all of these abound, if you care
to analyze the contents of someone’s bookshelves, and even casual visitors aren’t slow to form judgments.
Evidence of this manifested itself when the President of the USA made an informal call on the English
Prime minister at home recently, and for some reason the pair posed for photos in the kitchen. One of the
snapshots was subsequently released to the press, and widely published. There then ensued much
speculation as to how the complete works of Shakespeare had ended up on the shelf in the background rather
than a cookery book.
Household stylist Abigail Hall agrees. ‘I often style houses for sale and you’d be amazed how
important the contents of the bookcase can be.’ Apparently, people use such clues to form judgments about
the type of person who lives in a property that’s up for sale, and this may affect how they feel about going
ahead with the purchase. Perhaps we all seek out others whose tastes in such matters match our own, and we
can imagine living happily in a space that like-minded people have made homely. And even if we’re not
thinking of putting our home on the market, instinct tells us that however much they were enjoyed,
paperbacks read on the beach might be better put away in a cupboard, whilst the unopened
classics are destined for display.
For the interior designer, however, the art of reputation management-via-bookshelf is not the only
issue. Books can also become an interactive display tool. ‘They can almost be sculptural in that they offer a
physical presence,’ explains Abigail Hall. ‘It’s not just about stacking them on a bookcase, it’s how you
stack them. I’ve seen books arranged by color, stacked on top of each other. Once I saw a load of coffee
table books piled up to become a coffee table in themselves. Books define a space, if you have some books
and a comfy chair, you’ve immediately created an area.’ It’s a trick of which countless hotels, cafes and
waiting rooms for fee-paying clients are only too aware. Placing a few carefully-chosen books atop coffee
tables is about creating an ambiance. No one actually engages with the content.
And this principle can be transferred to the home ‘I’ve not actually read any of them. I just love the
bindings.’ So said the actress, Davinia Taylor, earlier this year when she decided to put her house on the
market - complete with its carefully-sourced collection of classic books. Rarely removed from their perch on
a bookcase in the living room, their primary purpose was to disguise Taylor’s walk-in fridge. And so, with
the fridge no longer destined to be a feature in her life, the books were deemed redundant.
Perhaps, then, the future of books lies in this. With more and more being bought in the undeniably
handier digital format, the first casualties of the tangible variety are likely to be the beach-read paperbacks-
the ones that, if you invite Abigail Hall around, would be relegated to the garage anyway. But given the uses
to which we put our other tomes-whether they’re deployed to show off, look pretty, or create an atmosphere-
the odds of them hanging around look good. The kudos of great work is still there, and there’s nothing like
being, and being seen to be, in possession of the real thing.
62. In the first paragraph, the writer is __________
A. outlining the reasons for changing priorities.
B. drawing our attention to an ongoing process.
C. seeking to account for a seemingly illogical attitude.
D. questioning our assumptions about people’s behavior.
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63. What does the mention of political figures in the second paragraph serve to illustrate?
A. the public’s curiosity about celebrity lifestyles
B. the importance of background detail in photography
C. the extent to which books tend to attract people’s attention
D. the false impression that can be gained from books on display
64. Abigail Hall’s experience suggests that the books on show in a house for sale _________
A. may not be as representative of the owners’ taste as people assume.
B. can create an affinity between sellers and prospective buyers.
C. might help buyers to assess how keen the owners are to sell.
D. could mislead people into buying an unsuitable property.
65. What is implied about interior designers in the fourth paragraph?
A. They regard books as little more than additional pieces of furniture.
B. They are likely to underestimate the impact of the content of books.
C. They sometimes show a lack of respect for the true function of books.
D. They understand the effect of books on the users of spaces they create.
66. Davinia Taylor no longer wants her books because_________
A. she has no use for them beyond their current purpose.
B. she accepts that they don't reflect her taste in reading.
C. she realizes she selected the titles for the wrong reasons.
D. she feels they are an integral part of the house she’s selling.
67. In the final paragraph, the writer expresses ___________
A. a personal preference for books in digital format.
B. optimism regarding the future of non-digital books.
C. regret that the content of all books is not more valued.
D. a hope that attitudes towards books will be different in the future.
Your answers:
62. 63. 64. 65. 66. 67.
Part 4: Read the passage and do the tasks that follow.
Worldly Wealth
Can the future population of the world enjoy a comfortable lifestyle, with possessions, space and mobility,
without crippling the environment?
The world’s population is expected to stabilize at around nine billion. Will it be possible for nine
billion people to have the lifestyle enjoyed today only by the wealthy? One school of thought says no: not
only should the majority of the world’s people resign themselves to poverty forever, but rich nations must
also revert to simpler lifestyle in order to save the planet.
Admittedly, there may be political or social barriers to achieving a rich world. But in fact there seems
to be no insuperable physical or ecological reason why nine billion people should not achieve a comfortable
lifestyle, using technology only slightly more advanced than that which we now possess. In thinking about
the future of civilization, we ought to start by asking what people want. The evidence demonstrates that as
people get richer they want a greater range of personal technology, they want lots of room (preferably near
or in natural surroundings) and they want greater speed in travel. More possessions, more space, more
mobility.

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 In the developed world, the personal technologies of the wealthy, including telephones, washing
machines and cars, have become necessities within a generation or two. Increasing productivity that results
in decreasing costs for such goods has been responsible for the greatest gains in the standard of living, and
there is every reason to believe that this will continue.
As affluence grows, the amount of energy and raw materials used for production of machinery will
therefore escalate. But this need not mean an end to the machine age. Rather than being thrown away,
materials from old machinery can be recycled by manufacturers. And long before all fossil fuels are
exhausted, their rising prices may compel industrial society not only to become more energy efficient for the
demands of an advanced technological civilization – nuclear fission, nuclear fusion, solar energy, chemical
photosynthesis, geothermal, biomass or some yet unknown source of energy.
The growth of cities and suburbs is often seen as a threat to the environment. However, in fact the
increasing amount of land consumed by agriculture is a far greater danger than urban sprawl. Stopping the
growth of farms is the best way to preserve many of the world’s remaining wild areas. But is a dramatic
downsizing of farmland possible? Thanks to the growth of agricultural productivity, reforestation and ‘re-
wilding’ has been under way in the industrial countries for generations. Since 1950 more land in the US has
been set aside in parks than has been occupied by urban and suburban growth. And much of what was
farmland in the nineteenth century is now forest again. Taking the best Iowa maize growers as the norm for
world food productivity, it has been calculated that less than a tenth of present cropland could support a
population of 10 billion.
In The Environment Game, a vision of a utopia that would be at once high-tech and environmentalist,
Nigel Calder suggested that ‘nourishing but unpalatable primary food produced by industrial techniques–
like yeast from petroleum-may be fed to animals, so that we can continue to eat our customary meat, eggs,
milk, butter, and cheese-and so that people in underdeveloped countries can have adequate supplies of
animal protein for the first time.’
In the long run, tissue-cloning techniques could be used to grow desired portions of meat by
themselves. Once their DNA has been extracted to create cowless steaks and chickenless drumsticks,
domesticated species of livestock, bred for millennia to be stupid or to have grotesquely enhanced traits,
should be allowed to become extinct, except for a few specimens in zoos. However, game such as wild
deers, rabbits and wild ducks will be ever more abundant as farms revert to wilderness, so this could
supplement the laboratory-grown meat in the diets of tomorrow’s affluent.
With rising personal incomes come rising expectations of mobility. This is another luxury of today’s
rich that could become a necessity of tomorrow’s global population – particularly if its members choose to
live widely dispersed in a post-agrarian wilderness. In his recent book Free Flight, James Fallows, a pilot as
well as a writer, describes serious attempts by both state and private entrepreneurs in the USA to promote an
‘air taxi’ system within the price range of today’s middle class – and perhaps tomorrow’s global population.
Two of the chief obstacles to the science fiction fantasy of the personal plane or hover car are price
and danger. While technological improvements are driving prices down, piloting an aircraft in three
dimensions is still more difficult than driving a car in two, and pilot error causes more fatalities than driver
error. But before long our aircraft and cars will be piloted by computers which are never tired or stressed.
So perhaps there are some grounds for optimism when viewing the future of civilization. With the
help of technology, and without putting serious strains on the global environment, possessions, space and
mobility can be achieved for all the projected population of the world.
Questions 68-73: In boxes 68-73 on your answer sheet, write ______
YES if the statement agrees with the claims of the writer
NO if the statement contradicts the claims of the writer
NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this
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68. Today’s wealthy people ignore the fact that millions are living in poverty.
69. There are reasons why the future population of the world may not enjoy a comfortable lifestyle.
70. The first thing to consider when planning for the future is environmental protection.
71. As manufactured goods get cheaper, people will benefit more from them.
72. It may be possible to find new types of raw materials for use in the production of machinery.
73. The rising prices of fossil fuels may bring some benefits.
For questions 73-79, complete the summary below. Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for
each answer.
Space of an increasing population
According to the writer, the use of land for 74._________ is the most serious threat to the
environment. However, in the US, there has already been an increase in the amount of land used for
75._________ and forests. Far less land would be required to feed the world’s population if the
76._________ of the land could be improved worldwide. It has also been claimed that the industrial
production of animal foods could allow greater access to animal 77._________ by the entire world’s
population. Scientists could use 78._________ from domesticated animals to help produce meat by tissue
cloning, and these species could then be allowed to die out. In addition to this type of meat, 79._________
will also be widely available.
Your answers:
68. 69. 70. 71.
72. 73. 74. 75.
76. 77. 78. 79.

Part 5: Read the text. Six paragraphs have been removed. Choose from the paragraphs A- H the one
which fits each gap (80-85). There is one extra paragraph which you do not need to use.
Your guide to virtual worlds
Virtual worlds are online three-dimensional spaces where you can interact with other people, collect
items and build structures, and communicate via a virtual representative of yourself called an avatar. They
have been influenced by various science fiction writers, along with the move The Matrix.
80.__________
The origin of virtual worlds goes back to early games such as Maze War, which was developed in the
early 1970s. The game included eyeballs as avatars, there were maps showing the levels, and it was one of
the first games played on linked computers and eventually on a forerunner of the internet.
81.__________
In a research paper they wrote: ‘at the core of our vision is the idea that cyberspace is multiple-
participant environment. It seems to us that the things that are important to the inhabitants of such an
environment are the capabilities available to them, the characteristics of the other people they encounter
there, and the ways in which these various participants can affect one another.’
82.__________
Most early virtual worlds like these faded because the hardware and bandwidth requirements were
too stringent, and they never established hard-core user bases as dot-com funding dried up at the turn of the
millennium.
83.__________
It was this range of creative possibilities that grabbed the attention of the media and marketers, who
saw it as a new way of communicating and selling online. BusinessWeek ran a cover story called My Virtual

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Life, explaining breathlessly that ‘big advertisers are taking notice’. Wired magazine ran a special travel
guide to Second Life, while Reuters assigned a full-time reporter to cover news that unfolded there.
84.__________
The fact is that even though computer hardware and bandwidth have improved over the years,
Second Life still requires sophisticated computer systems and a lot of practice to master the interface. The
number of registered avatars is misleading many people simply try it out and give up, while others have
multiple avatars. A more representative number of regular users is the number of who have logged in during
the past seven days, which is quite low.
85.__________
Despite these difficulties, media companies are still fascinated with virtual worlds and continue to
develop them. For example, MTV created a whole range of virtual worlds based on the content of its
original television shows and other companies have created worlds for students and teens. Even if today’s
Second Life doesn’t satisfy the mass market, dozens of other virtual worlds will certainly spring up,
designed to cater for specific tastes and interests.
A. However, while other worlds were withering, Linden Labs was developing their new virtual
world, Second Life, which still exists today. Here you can create your own objects and buildings, and you
have ownership rights over them. ‘Linden dollars’ are a currency which you can trade with real dollars.
Real-world businesses can sell just about anything you could possibly want in the virtual world. Universities
offer courses through Second Life, and bands play live shows and chat with fans in special in-world venues.
B. That presents a problem for many marketers such as Coca-Cola and Adidas who set up virtual
spaces in Second Life, only to have them largely vacant. These businesses spent money – in the tens of
thousands of dollars – to build a virtual island as an experiment, but then got little payoff. Residents are
dispersed throughout the virtual world, making it hard for companies to get their attention en masse, and
there’s a limit to the number of people who can congregate in one place without crashing Linden’s servers.
C. Later, with the rise of the web, virtual worlds started booming. The Active Worlds platform
allowed people to join for free or pay a monthly fee for premium features, while The Palace was a more
chat-oriented world that became popular in entertainment circles.
D. Second Life is built from user-generated content: its software provides the tools to design a dress,
construct a building or carry out a range of other real-world activities. Its population includes a pet
manufacturer, a nightclub, owner, a car maker, a fashion designer, an architect, a tour guide and a property
speculator.
E. The media buzz led many more people to explore virtual worlds for the first time and Linden
claims to have registered nearly 10 million avatars for Second Life since its inception. But many users ended
up disappointed.
F. The next stage was when Lucas Film Games, a video game publishers, developed Habitat, a more
two-dimensional environment that included humanoid avatars, and people could assess the game through an
early online service called Quantum Link. Developers Morningstar and Farmer, who still maintain a blog
about their experience, say they generally allow Habitat residents to set their own rules governing the world
– as long as they couldn’t hack into the system.
G. These worlds differ from massive multi-layer online games (MMOGs) because they don’t offer
battles against monsters or have an overriding mission for layers. For example, a resident of the virtual
world Second Life might spend time in that space accumulating virtual land, rather than striving to complete
quests as they would in many popular MMOGs.
Your answers:
80. 81. 82. 83. 84. 85.

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Part 6: Read the text, identify which section A–E each of the following is mentioned. Write ONE letter
A–E in the corresponding numbered space provided. Each letter may be used more than once.
Which writer __________
86. ________suggests that places retain their essential identity despite the passage of time?
87. ________refers to a tendency for each generation of travellers to look down on the next?
88. ________expresses a personal feeling of nostalgia for some of the hardships in the past?
89. ________feels that travel can still be spontaneous and unpredictable in the age of the internet?
90. ________explains how even seemingly pointless journeys can have a worthwhile outcome?
91. ________questions the use of a term in relation to one type of traveller?
92. ________reveals a slight sense of guilt in an attitude towards the modern traveller?
93. ________offers a word of caution for those who want to get the most out of a trip?
94. ________mentions valuable insights gained from observing other travellers?
95. ________insists that modern travellers can do without modern technology if they so desire?
Has technology robbed travel of its riches?
A. Jan Morris
I began travelling professionally just after the Second World War, and I travelled mostly in Europe,
where famous old cities lay ravaged. Travelling in this disordered region was not easy. Currencies were hard
to come by, visas were necessary almost everywhere, food was often scarce, trains were grimy and
unreliable and air travel was reserved largely for privileged officialdom. I'm sorry to have to say it, because
those times were cruel indeed for many Europeans, but I greatly enjoyed my travelling then. The comfort
and safety of modern transport means that while travel is a lot less fraught than it used to be, it has lost some
of its allure for me. Partly, I am almost ashamed to admit, this is because everybody else does it tool.
Travelling abroad is nothing unusual, and even if we haven't actually been to the forests of Borneo or the
Amazon jungle, most of us have experienced them via television or the internet.
B. Pico Iyer
The world is just as interesting - as unexpected, as unvisited, as diverse - as it ever was, even though
the nature of its sights and our experience of them have sometimes changed. I once spent two weeks living
in and around Los Angeles airport - that hub of modern travel - and, although it wasn’t a peaceful holiday, it
offered as curious and rich a glimpse into a new era of crossing cultures as I could imagine. Places are like
people for me and, as with people, the wise, rich, deeply rooted places never seem to change too much, even
though they might lose some hair or develop wrinkles. Though the tides of history keep washing against a
Havana or a Beirut, for instance, their natural spiritedness or resilience or sense of style never seems greatly
diminished. My motto as a traveller has always been that old chestnut from the writings of Marcel Proust:
‘The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new sights, but in seeing with new eyes’.
C. Benedict Allen
Now, the world is open to us all. Grab your camera or smartphone and hike! So these couldn't be
better times for the average person - we may all share in the privilege. Is it exploration? Well, if it’s not
advancing knowledge, no. Those who today flog to the Poles are not explorers, they are simply athletes. Yet,
exploration isn’t entirely about assembling proven fact. Dr David Livingstone made many discoveries in
Africa but his biggest role was actually as communicator, giving nineteenth-century Europeans a picture of
the continent. Take Ed Stafford’s recent walk along the length of the Amazon. Not a greatly significant
journey in itself, with two-thousand miles of it along what is essentially a shipping lane. Yet the journey was
saved from irrelevance and self-indulgence because along the way he documented the Amazon for his time,
which is our time.

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D. Vicky Baker
Personally, I relish the fact that we can forge new contacts all around the world at the click of a
button and a quick email can result in the type of welcome usually reserved for a long lost friend. I also
relish the fact that we’re less likely to lose touch with those whose paths we cross on the road and that we
get to explore places we wouldn't have stumbled across had we left it all to chance. Does all this detract
from the experience? I hardly think so. There's nothing to stop you following a random tip you saw on an
obscure blog and ending up who knows where. Sure, it's a far cry from what came before, but one day these
will be the current generation’s ‘good old days’. And if you have the time and the money to go off into the
back of beyond without so much as a guidebook let alone a smartphone, if haphazard wandering is your
thing, those days aren't over either.
E. Rolf Potts
Many of the older travellers I met when I first started vagabonding fifteen years ago - some of them
veterans of the 1970s hippy trail across Asia – argued that my travel experiences were tainted by luxuries
such as email and credit cards. These days I am myself tempted to look at younger travellers and suggest
that smartphones and micro-blogging are compromising their road experiences. Any technology that makes
travel easier is going to connect aspects of the travel experience to the comforts and habits one might seek
back home - and can make travel feel less like travel. There are times when a far-flung post office encounter
or directions scribbled onto a scrap of paper can lead a person into the kind of experiences that make travel
so surprising and worthwhile. That means 21st-century travellers must be aware of when their gadgets are
enhancing new experiences, and when those gadgets are getting in the way.
Your answers:
86. 87. 88. 89. 90. 91. 92. 93. 94. 95.
VI. WRITING (6.0 pts)
Part 1: Read the following extract and use your own words to summarize it. Your summary should be
about 120 words long. (1.5 pts)
Video and computer games, like many other popular, entertaining and addicting kid’s
activities, are looked down upon by many parents as time-wasters, and worse, parents think that these games
rot the brain. Violent video games are readily blamed by the media and some experts as the reason why
some youth become violent or commit extreme anti-social behavior. However, many scientists and
psychologists have recently found that video games actually have many benefits – the main one being
making kids smart. Video games may actually teach kids high-level thinking skills that they will need in the
future.
Video games change your brain. Video games change the brain’s physical structure the same way as
do learning to read, playing the piano, or navigating using a map. Much like exercise can build muscle, the
powerful combination of concentration and rewarding surges of neurotransmitters like dopamine, which
strengthens neural circuits, can build the player’s brain.
Video games give your child’s brain a real workout. In many video games, the skills required to win
involve abstract and high level thinking. These skills are not even taught at school. Some of the mental skills
trained by video games include: following instructions, problem solving, logic, hand-eye coordination, fine
motor and spatial skills. Research also suggests that people can learn iconic, spatial, and visual attention
skills from video games.
The players learn to manage resources that are limited, and decide the best use of resources, the same
way as in real life. In strategy games, for instance, while developing a city, an unexpected surprise like an
enemy might emerge. This forces the player to be flexible and quickly change tactics. Sometimes the player
does this almost every second of the game giving the brain a real workout. Games simulating stressful
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events such as those found in battle or action games could be a training tool for real-world situations.
Playing action video games primes the brain to make quick decisions. Gamers must deal with immediate
problems while keeping their long-term goals on their horizon. Young gamers force themselves to read to
get instructions, follow storylines of games, and get information from the game texts.
Many games are played online and involve cooperation with other online players in order to win.
Video and computer games also help children gain self-confidence and many games are based on history,
city building, and governance and so on. Such games indirectly teach children about aspects of life on earth.

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Part 2: Graph description (1.5 pts)
The table below gives details of world electricity production by renewable sources in the four years
between 2015 and 2018.
World electricity production by renewable soures in Trillion Watt Hour (TWh)
Source 2015 2016 2017 2018
Geothermal 87 88.5 89 90
Wind 296 371.5 471.5 554
Solar 41 53.5 73.1 124
Hydraulic 3429 3614 3650 3763
Bio-mass 266 308 327 346
Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons
where relevant.
You should write at least 150 words.
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Part 3: Essay writing (3.0 pts)
Write an essay of 350 words on the following topic.
Some people believe that individuals are responsible for their own personal happiness. Do you
agree or disagree?
Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.
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_THE END_

Thí sinh không được sử dụng tài liệu. Cán bộ coi thi không giải thích gì thêm.
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