CỤM TRƯỜNG THPT ĐỀ THI KSCL ĐỘI TUYỂN HỌC SINH GIỎI

Q. LƯU-HM-DC TỈNH LỚP – LẦN 3

NĂM HỌC 2019 – 2020
NAME: ................................................................
SECTION A – LISTENING

PART 1. Listen to a Bulletin of sports news on the radio. For questions 1- 10, complete the following
sentences by writing NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS OR A NUMBER in the spaces provided. Write
your answers in the corresponding numbered boxes.
1. Diego Garcia (1)… reached…….. thesemi finals of the French Open.
2. The (2)…… 26-year-old………..from Sao Paulo, ..., managed to overcome Swiss player Heinz Gruller in
four sets.
3. The two Americans Rod Langer and Brad Wilson will play in the second (3)……… ……..tomorrow to
decide who will play Garcia.
4. We stay in France where today the fifth stage of the Tour De France (4)………………..
5. Baresi now leads the (5)………  tour  ……………… by over six minutes ...
6. Stormy weather played its part and the players didn't (6)……… tee off…..until around 2 o'clock in the
afternoon.
7. Shot of the day, however, went to the unknown Canadian Ross Whirter who made an unbelievable (7)
……………….. on the short 12th hole.
8. the final (8)……………………..for tomorrow's Japanese Grand Prix took place in rainy conditions.
9. Gert Kruger, driving for Ferrari, finished the day in pole position and looks in a great position to (9)……
consolidate ……. his lead in the world championship standings.
10. Pittsburgh were beaten (10)…… 10-2 ………………. by a strong Milwaukee side.
11. Boston (11)…… overcame …………………..the Yankees by 7-3.
12. The Chicago White Sox (12)…… shaded ………. a close game 4-3 against Cleveland.
13. Tampa Bay (13)… came out on …………. top 8-5 in Toronto...
14. ...and Houston (14)…… saw off ……….St. Louis by 4-1.
Your answers:
1. 4. 7. 10.
2. 5. 8. 11.
3. 6. 9. 12.
13. 14.
Part 2. For questions 15- 20, you will listen to the presentation about a new product designand then decide
whether the following statements are true (T) or false (F).
15. They have redesigned an old product. T
16. The product is aimed at men and women aged 18–40. F
17. The new design means you don't need two hands to use it. T
18. There's only one size now. Another one will follow in a few months. F
19. They will make a Gantt chart for the project next month. F
20. He finished the presentation with enough time to take some questions. T
TRANSCRIPT:
Hi, everyone. Thanks for coming to this short presentation on our new product design. As you know,
we’ve already redeveloped our ‘Adventure’ shampoo to make it more modern and appealing. And
we’ve renamed it ‘Adventure Tech’. Our market research established the target market as men in the
18–40 age range who like to be outdoors and also like technical gadgets, such as smartwatches, drones
and things like that. We needed to create a bottle which appeals to that market. So, today, I’m happy to
unveil our new bottle design. As you can see, it’s designed to look like a black metal drinking flask,
with some digital features printed on it. I’d like to talk you through the following three points: the key
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features, sizing and our timeline for production. Firstly, you’ll notice it has an ergonomic design. That
means it fits smoothly into your hand and can be easily opened and squeezed using one hand. And, it
looks like a flask you might use when hiking outdoors. The imitation digital displays are designed to
remind the user of other tech devices they may have, such as a smartwatch or smart displays in their
home. I’d now like to tell you about the sizes. It comes in two sizes: the regular size and a small travel
size. The travel size is the same type of design – a flask, also with imitation digital displays on the
bottle. We were thinking of starting with one and following with the travel-size in a few months, but
we’ve worked hard and both are ready now. Finally, I’m going to talk to you about our timeline for
production. You’ve probably heard that we’re launching in two months. In preparation for that, we’re
starting the marketing campaign next month. You can see the complete overview of all phases in this
Gantt chart. In summary, the bottle’s been designed for men who like adventure and technology, and it
comes in two sizes. The marketing campaign is starting next month and we’re launching the product in
two months. OK. So, any questions? Feel free to also email me for further information in case we run
out of time.
Part 3: For questions 21- 28, you will listen to Carolina talking about her relationship with Enrico and then
choose a correct option for each question.
21. Where did Enrico's family move to?
A. The south of Italy B. The USA C. The north of Italy
22. How does Carolina describe Enrico when he was young?
A. Quiet and funny B. Intelligent C. Quite funny
23. What did she study at university?
A. Law B. Economics C. European languages
24. Where was she when she saw 'the handsome guy'?
A. In the university B. In the cinema C. In a bar
25. What was he doing?
A. Talking on his phone B. Chatting to friends at the table C. Eating
26. What did they arrange to do?
A. Go to a disco B. Go out for a pizza C. Go to see a movie
27. What did they actually do?
A. They went to the cinema B. They talked in a bar C. They went to a park
28. How old is their daughter?
A. 6 months B. 3 months C. 6 years
SECTION B – VOCABULARY & GRAMMAR
Part 1: Choose the best answer to complete each of the following sentences. Write A, B, C or D in your
answers.
1. Last year she earned _______ her brother.
A. twice as much as B. twice more than C. twice as many as D. twice as more as
2. I could not _____ the peak of the mountain in the foggy weather.
A. get over  B. make out  C. see through  D. go into
3. Growing the same _____ year after year makes the soil poor.
A. crop B. tree C. soil D. field
4. Maria: “Can I borrow your umbrella for a day?” Ann: “___________”
A. With pleasure B. Ready C. Welcome D. Yes, I can
5. _______ is to forget all about it.
A. At best you can do B. The best thing you can do
C. What best you can do D. You can do the best
6. No matter _______, Mozart was an accomplished composer while still a child.
A. how it seems remarkable B. how remarkable it seems
C. it seems remarkable how D. how seems it remarkable
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7. I couldn’t receive the picture very clearly because of _____ caused by weather conditions.
A. blocks B. blockage C. leakage D. interference
8. If you put your money in a bank now, you mayget 12%___________annually.
A.interest B.profit C.money D.income
9. The virus, which is believed to have _________ from the city in Hubei province, has killed 132 and infected
nearly 6,000 people around the world.
A.located B.emanated C.broken D.spread
10. The school was closed for a month because ofaserious ___________offever.
A. outset B.outburst C.outbreak D.outcome
Part 2.Read the passage below which contains 10 mistakes. Identify the mistakes and write the corrections
in the corresponding numbered boxes.
1 MTV stands for Music Television . It’s television channel dedicating to pop music. It was
2 born on 1st August 1981 in the United State. Because of MTV’ s instant succeed in the
3 US,the company expanded into other areas.MTV Europe began operating on 1st August
4 1987.MTV Europe broadcast 24 hours a day from it London studios. It can be seen in 33
5 countriesand reaches an estimated audiences of 110 million viewers. People of 19
6 different nationalities work at London headquarters, and they try to offer a mixture of
7 music from all over Europe.The channel broadcasts in English but Germany provides the
8 bigger number of viewers.Currently, one five of the music is by German artists.Most of
9 TV output is video and concerts, but there is also a programme calling Unplugged , where
10 major artists play live and acoustic in front of a small studio audience. In addition on
11 music, the channel’s programmes deal with news, movie information and comedy.MTV
12 has also broadcasted special report on racism, immigrate and unemployed teenagers.
Your answers:
Lin Mistake Correction Line Mistake Correction
e
11. 16
.
12. 17
.
13. 18
.
14. 19
.
15. 20
.
SECTION C – READING
Part 1. Read the following passage and decide which answer (A, B, C, or D) best fits each gap. Write your
answers in corresponding numbered boxes.
The role of the translator in enabling literature to pass beyond its natural frontiers is receiving growing
recognition. In view of the general increase in this (1) _____, it is not surprising that many people with literary
interests and a knowledge of languages should think of adopting translating as a full-or part-time (2) _____.
Some advice may usefully be (3)__________ to such would-be translators.
The first difficulty the beginner will (4) _____ is the unwillingness of publishers to entrust a translator to
anyone who has not already (5) _____ a reputation for sound work. The least publishers will (6) _____ before
commissioning a translator is a fairly lengthy (7)_________ of the applicant's work, even if unpublished.
Perhaps the best way the would-be translator can begin is to select some books of the type which he or she
feels competent and (8)__________ to translate, translate a (9) _____ section of the book and then submit the
book and the translation to a (10)________ publisher. If he or she is extremely lucky, this may (11)_______ in
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a commission to translate the book. More (12)______, however, publishers will (13) _____ the book as such
but if they are favorably (14) _____ by the translation, they may very possibly commission some other books
of a (15) _____ nature which they already have in mind.
1. A. field           B. category            C. class         D. group
2. A. occupation      B. employment         C. line          D. work
3. A. made B. given C. told D. shown
4.A. reveal         B. encounter           C. involve        D. introduce
5. A. formed         B. set                C. found         D. established
6. A. direct          B. instruct             C. oblige         D. demand
7. A. instance B. model C. case D. specimen
8. A. agitated B. nervous C. eager D. excited
9.A. plentiful        B. large               C. grand         D. substantial
10. A. fit B. suitable C. right D. convenient
11. A. result B. finish C. effect D. lead
12. A. surely B. probably C. certainly D. expectedly
13. A. reject          B. exclude            C. disapprove      D. object
14. A. affected        B. convinced           C. taken          D. impressed
15. A. joint           B. same              C. common        D. similar
Part 2. Read the text below and think of the word which best fits each space. Use only ONE word in each
space. Write your answers in the corresponding numbered boxes.
I have returned(16)_______ my hometown of Wilson Creek after an absence of 10 years.
So many things have changed around here. When I (17)__________Wilson Creek, there was a small pond on
the right as you left town. They have filled in (18)________pond and they have built a large shopping mall
there. A new post office has also been built just across from my old school.
There is a baseball stadium on the outskirts of Wilson Creek (19)______has been changed completely. They
have (20)______added a new stand where probably a few thousand people could sit. It looks really great.The
biggest changes have (21)_________place in the downtown area. They have pedestrianised the centre and you
can't drive there anymore. A European-style fountain has been built and some benches have also been added
(22)_________with a grassy area and a new street cafe.
My street looks just the same as it always has but a public library has been built in the next street along.
(23)___________used to be a great park there but they have cut down all the trees which is a pity. The library
now has a large green area in front of it (24)____________it's not the same as when the park was there.
Another improvement is the number of new restaurants that have opened in Wilson Creek. A Chinese and an
Italian restaurant have opened in the town centre and a Mexican (25)_________has opened near my home.
Which is where I am going tonight!
Part3: You are going to read a passage and choose the answer (A, B, C or D) which you think fits best
according to the text.
Being aware of one's own emotions - recognizing and acknowledging feelings as they happen - is at the very
heart of Emotional Intelligence. And this awareness encompasses not only moods but also thoughts about those
moods. People who are able to monitor their feelings as they arise are less likely to be ruled by them and are
thus better able to manage their emotions.
Managing emotions does not mean suppressing them; nor does it mean giving free rein to every feeling.
Psychologist Daniel Goleman, one of several authors who have popularized the notion of Emotional
Intelligence, insisted that the goal is balance and that every feeling has value and significance. As Goleman
said, "A life without passion would be a dull wasteland of neutrality, cut off and isolated from the richness of
life itself." Thus, we manage our emotions by expressing them in an appropriate manner. Emotions can also be
managed by engaging in activities that cheer us up, soothe our hurts, or reassure us when we feel anxious.
Clearly, awareness and management of emotions are not independent. For instance, you might think that
individuals who seem to experience their feelings more intensely than others would be less able to manage
them. However, a critical component of awareness of emotions is the ability to assign meaning to them - to
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know why we are experiencing a particular feeling or mood. Psychologists have found that, among individuals
who experience intense emotions, individual differences in the ability to assign meaning to those feelings
predict differences in the ability to manage them. In other words, if two individuals are intensely angry, the
one who is better able to understand why he or she is angry will also be better able to manage the anger.
Self-motivation refers to strong emotional self-control, which enables a person to get moving and pursue
worthy goals, persist at tasks even when frustrated, and resist the temptation to act on impulse. Resisting
impulsive behavior is, according to Goleman, "the root of all emotional self-control."
Of all the attributes of Emotional Intelligence, the ability to postpone immediate gratification and to persist in
working toward some greater future gain is most closely related to success - whether one is trying to build
abusiness, get a college degree, or even stay on a diet. One researcher examined whether this trait can predict a
child's success in school. The study showed that 4-year-old children who can delay instant gratification in order
to advance toward some future goal will be "far superior as students" when they graduate from high school
than will 4-year-olds who are not able to resist the impulse to satisfy their immediate wishes.
26. Which of the following can we infer from paragraph 1?
A. Some people can understand their feelings better than others.
B. If people pay attention to their feelings, they can control their emotions better.
C. People who can manage their emotions will be controlled by them.
D. If people pay attention to their feelings, they will not be able to manage them.
27. The word "soothe" in paragraph 2 could be best replaced by __________.
A. reduce   B. relieve   C. weaken   D. worsen 
28. According to paragraphs 1 to 3, people should be aware of their emotions so that they can  ___________.
A. explain their emotions to others   B. stop feeling angry 
C. manage their emotions appropriately  D. experience feelings more intensively 
29. From paragraph 2, we can see that Daniel Goleman ___________.
A. wrote about Emotional Intelligence 
B. trained people to increase their Emotional Intelligence
C. treated patients who had emotional problems 
D. studied how people manage their  emotions
30. All of the following are mentioned in paragraph 2 about our emotions EXCEPT ________. 
A. every feeling is important    B. we can manage our emotions
C. we should ignore some feelings   D. emotions are part of a satisfying life
31. The word "critical" in paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to___________.
A. important  B. indecisive  C. dynamic  D. inessential 
32. The word "them" in paragraph 3 refers to ___________.
A. intense emotions  B. individuals  C. individual differences D. psychologists
33. In paragraph 3, the author explains the concept of awareness and management of   emotions by______.
A. describing how people learn to control their emotions
B. giving an example of why people get angry
C. comparing how two people might respond to an intense emotion
D. explaining why some people are not aware of their emotions
34. The word "pursue" in paragraph 4 mostly means ___________.
A. find out about something  B. try to achieve something
C. be involved in something  D. improve or develop something
35. According to paragraph 5, children might be more successful in school if they can resist impulses because
they can ___________.
A. have more friends at school     B. be more popular with their teachers
C. focus on their work and not get distracted   D. easily understand new information
Part 4. Read the text and do the following tasks.
For questions 36-41, choose the correct heading for paragraphs A-F from the list of headings below. Write
your answers in the corresponding numbered boxes.
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 Why being bored is stimulating – and useful, too
This most common of emotions is turning out to be more interesting than we thought
A
We all know how it feels – it’s impossible to keep your mind on anything, time stretches out, and all the things
you could do seem equally unlikely to make you feel better. But defining boredom so that it can be studied in
the lab has proved difficult. For a start, it can include a lot of other mental states, such as frustration, apathy,
depression and indifference. There isn’t even agreement over whether boredom is always a low-energy, flat
kind of emotion or whether feeling agitated and restless counts as boredom, too. In his book, Boredom: A
Lively History, Peter Toohey at the University of Calgary, Canada, compares it to disgust – an emotion that
motivates us to stay away from certain situations. ‘If disgust protects humans from infection, boredom may
protect them from “infectious” social situations,’ he suggests.
B
By asking people about their experiences of boredom, Thomas Goetz and his team at the University of
Konstanz in Germany have recently identified five distinct types: indifferent, calibrating, searching, reactant
and apathetic. These can be plotted on two axes – one running left to right, which measures low to high
arousal, and the other from top to bottom, which measures how positive or negative the feeling is. Intriguingly,
Goetz has found that while people experience all kinds of boredom, they tend to specialise in one. Of the five
types, the most damaging is ‘reactant’ boredom with its explosive combination of high arousal and negative
emotion. The most useful is what Goetz calls ‘indifferent’ boredom: someone isn’t engaged in anything
satisfying but still feels relaxed and calm. However, it remains to be seen whether there are any character traits
that predict the kind of boredom each of us might be prone to.
C
Psychologist Sandi Mann at the University of Central Lancashire, UK, goes further. ‘All emotions are there for
a reason, including boredom,’ she says. Mann has found that being bored makes us more creative. ‘We’re all
afraid of being bored but in actual fact it can lead to all kinds of amazing things,’ she says. In experiments
published last year, Mann found that people who had been made to feel bored by copying numbers out of the
phone book for 15 minutes came up with more creative ideas about how to use a polystyrene cup than a control
group. Mann concluded that a passive, boring activity is best for creativity because it allows the mind to
wander. In fact, she goes so far as to suggest that we should seek out more boredom in our lives.
D
Psychologist John Eastwood at York University in Toronto, Canada, isn’t convinced. ‘If you are in a state of
mind-wandering you are not bored,’ he says. ‘In my view, by definition boredom is an undesirable state.’ That
doesn’t necessarily mean that it isn’t adaptive, he adds. ‘Pain is adaptive – if we didn’t have physical pain, bad
things would happen to us. Does that mean that we should actively cause pain? No. But even if boredom has
evolved to help us survive, it can still be toxic if allowed to fester.’ For Eastwood, the central feature of
boredom is a failure to put our ‘attention system’ into gear. This causes an inability to focus on anything, which
makes time seem to go painfully slowly. What’s more, your efforts to improve the situation can end up making
you feel worse. ‘People try to connect with the world and if they are not successful there’s that frustration and
irritability,’ he says. Perhaps most worryingly, says Eastwood, repeatedly failing to engage attention can lead
to state where we don’t know what to do any more, and no longer care.
E
Eastwood’s team is now trying to explore why the attention system fails. It’s early days but they think that at
least some of it comes down to personality. Boredom proneness has been linked with a variety of traits. People
who are motivated by pleasure seem to suffer particularly badly. Other personality traits, such as curiosity, are
associated with a high boredom threshold. More evidence that boredom has detrimental effects comes from
studies of people who are more or less prone to boredom. It seems those who bore easily face poorer prospects
in education, their career and even life in general. But of course, boredom itself cannot kill – it’s the things we
do to deal with it that may put us in danger. What can we do to alleviate it before it comes to that? Goetz’s
group has one suggestion. Working with teenagers, they found that those who ‘approach’ a boring situation –

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in other words, see that it’s boring and get stuck in anyway – report less boredom than those who try to avoid it
by using snacks, TV or social media for distraction.
F
Psychologist Francoise Wemelsfelder speculates that our over-connected lifestyles might even be a new source
of boredom. ‘In modern human society there is a lot of overstimulation but still a lot of problems finding
meaning,’ she says. So instead of seeking yet more mental stimulation, perhaps we should leave our phones
alone, and use boredom to motivate us to engage with the world in a more meaningful way.
Questions 36-41
Reading Passage 2 has six paragraphs, A-F
Choose the correct heading for each paragraph from the list of headings below.
Write the correct number, i-viii, in boxes 36-41 on your answer sheet.
List of Headings
i           The productive outcomes that may result from boredom
ii          What teachers can do to prevent boredom
iii         A new explanation and a new cure for boredom
iv         Problems with a scientific approach to boredom
v          A potential danger arising from boredom
vi         Creating a system of classification for feelings of boredom
vii        Age groups most affected by boredom
viii        Identifying those most affected by boredom

Your answers:
36   Paragraph A….. 37   Paragraph B........... 38   Paragraph C………..
39   Paragraph D ….. 40   Paragraph E …….. 41   Paragraph F………

Questions 42-45
Complete the summary below.
Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 42-45 on your answer sheet.
Responses to boredom
For John Eastwood, the central feature of boredom is that people cannot 42_________, due to a failure in what
he calls the ‘attention system’, and as a result they become frustrated and irritable. His 43_________ suggests
that those for whom 44________ is an important aim in life may have problems in coping with boredom,
whereas those who have the characteristic of 45_______ can generally cope with it.
Your answers:
42. 43.
44. 45.

SECTION D – WRITING
Part 1: Complete the second sentence so that it has the same meaning as the first one.
1. After the delivery of her baby, she felt extremely happy.( WALKING)
→……………..…………………..…………............................................................
2. The boy looks nothing like his father. ( TAKE)
→ …………………..…………………..…………....................................................
3. The desk was too crowded for him to put his book down. (ROOM)
→………..…………………..………….................................................................

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 4. When I make my complaint, I hope that you will say you agree with me. (BACK)
→ …………..…………………..…………............................................................
5. They could not warn people by electronic mail because that might spread the computer virus. (FEAR)
→ ………….…………………………………………………………………………
Part 2: You have seen an advertisement in an English newspaper for a job working in the City Museum
shop during the holidays. You have decided to apply for the job.
Write a letter about 120 -150 wordsto the director of the Museum. In your letter:
 introduce yourself
 explain what experience and special skills you have
 explain why you are interested in the job
Use your name and address as Mary Baker, 67 Nguyen Thi Minh Khai, Vinh City.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Part 3. Writing an essay on the following topic:
Some people think that the Government’s banning the use of alcohol while driving will affect our country’s
economy while others claim that this ban will help our country develop.
In about 350 words, write an essay to express your opinion on this issue. Use reasons and examples to
support your position.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
…………………………………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………

Part 5. You are going to read a magazine article in which four young people talk about running their own business. For Questions 46 - 60,
choose from the people A - D. The people may be chosen more than once, when more than one answer is required, these may be given in any
order. There is an example at the beginning (0). Mark your answers on the separate answer sheet.
Which person
went directly from studying into business? 0 ………. D …
was refused a bank loan? 46 ……….
was unemployed for a while? 47 ……….
is thinking of expanding their business? 48 ……….
borrowed money from their family? 49 ……….
has a small staff of people working for them? 50 ……….
gave their original work away as gifts? 51 ……….
discovered the factory by reading about it? 52 ………. 53 ………
works on other designers’ products? 54 ……….
mentions the amount of time their work takes? 55 ……….
has already expanded their working space? 56 ……….
chose their career while learning something else? 57 …….… 58 ……….
doesn’t mention the cost of their product? 59 ……….
sells their product to the theatrical world? 60 ……….
YOUNG BUSINESSES
An old factory was empty for 30 years until young people started moving in and setting up their businesses
A Stuart C Euan
I started up my own business basically because I was out of I tried to get a loan from a bank in order to start up my
work, I was fed up with applying for jobs and not even business. I spent hours producing a business plan, but the
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 making it to the interview stage. Anyway, I saw an article in
the local newspaper about renting work space in an old
factory. You could get a loan for any equipment and you only
needed to repay the money once your business was making a
profit. Added to which the rent was very low.
So, that’s exactly what I did. I borrowed some money and
bought a computer and a colour printer. I’ve always been
interested in art and design and I love music and watching
videos. I set about designing covers for music CDs and
videos and sent off some of my work to various music
companies, entertainment magazines and so on and within a
year I had more orders than I could cope with by myself.
Now two years down the line, I employ a staff of three and
we’ve branched out into designing the covers for computer
games. I’ve been incredibly lucky and my business has really
taken off.
B Sonya
My parents told me about the factory when I was looking for
a studio to set up my own business. I had left art college full
of ideas as to what I was going to do. But I was horrified
when I saw the cost of renting even a tiny studio.
I produce hand-made gift-boxes and wrapping paper. Each
box is individually designed and decorated with gold flowers
and butterflies. The wrapping paper is made to match and I
will also take customers’ requests if they something special.
So, because everything is hand-made my products are quite
expensive. But you can’t buy them in shops or supermarkets
so they really are special.
Actually as the demand for my work has increased, I’ve now
got someone working for me and I’m thinking of setting up a
mail order business, probably using the internet.
If it hadn’t been for the opportunity to rent a space in the
factory, I would still be waiting and hoping!
--- The end---
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manager turned me down because she thought it would take
years for me to make any kind of profit. Well, how wrong she
was! My parents lent me the money for the first year’s rent
and I started work in one of the factory’s smallest rooms.
Now, my business has grown to such an extent that I actually
rent three rooms. I make wigs for people in show business.
It’s not that these people are bald, they’ve all got their own
hair. It’s just that most of them are ion stage after night and
they don’t always have time to look after their hair or get to a
hairdresser. So they rely on being able to wear a wig that
exactly matches their own hair colour.
A wig is very expensive – anything from £1000 upwards for
just a small hairpiece. The raw material to make a wig is very
costly and then every hair has to be threaded by hand so it’s
hours of work. And then you have to look after a wig very
carefully; it needs to be repaired quite often which takes time.
For that reason a lot of people actually have two.
D Meryl
I moved into the factory straight after leaving university. I
studied history but ever since I was a small child I’ve been
interested in sewing. And Halfway through my degree course
I realized that although I was enjoying the subject, what I
really wanted to do as a career was embroidery – that’s
stitching with silk and threads and suchlike. I used to
embroider scarves for friends for birthday presents and
people loved them So I sent some scarves to a couple of top
London stores and they placed orders almost straightaway.
They send me the scarves made by their own design team and
I embroider and decorate each scarf so that it’s completely
unique and individual. As it’s a very expensive decorative
technique and takes hours to do, the scarves are only found at
the top end of the fashion market. Recently, I’ve been asked
to embroider the necklines of jackets and the bottom edges of
trousers and skirts, so business continues to expand