PHẦN 2: ĐỌC HIỂU – VSTEP

Thời gian: 60 phút

Số câu hỏi: 40

Directions: In this section of the test, you will read FOUR different passages, each followed by 10 questions
about it. For questions 1-40, you are to choose the best answer A, B, C or D, to each question. Then, on
your answer sheet, find the number of the question and fill in the space that corresponds to the letter of the
answer you have chosen. Answer all questions following a passage on the basis of what is stated or implied
in that passage.

You have 60 minutes to answer all the questions, including the time to transfer your answers to the answer
sheet.

Example

Read the following passage:

FALL WEATHER

One of the first things we look for in fall is the first frost and freeze of the season,
killing or sending into dormancy the beautiful vegetation you admired all summer long.
For some locations along the Canadian border, and in the higher terrain of the West,
Line the first freeze typically arrives by the middle part of September. Cities in the South
5 may not see the first freeze until November, though a frost is very possible before then.
A few cities in the Lower 48, including International Falls, Minnesota and Grand Forks,
North Dakota, have recorded a freeze in every month of the year.

0. When does the first freeze often arrive in the South?

A. Early September
B. Mid September
C. November
D. Before November

You will read in the passage that “Cities in the South may not see the first freeze until November”, so the
correct answer is option C. November.

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 PASSAGE 1- Questions 1-10

Another early Native American tribe in what is now the southwestern part of the United States was the
Anasazi. By A.D. 800 the Anasazi Indians were constructing multistory pueblos-massive, stone apartment
compounds. Each one was virtually a stone town, which is why the Spanish would later call them pueblos,
the Spanish word for tons. These pueblos represent one of the Anasazi’s supreme achievements. At least a
dozen large stone houses took shape below the bluffs of Chiaco Canyon in northwest New Mexico. They
were built with masonry walls more than a meter thick and adjoining apartments to accommodate dozens,
even hundreds, of families. The largest, later named Pueblo Bonito (Pretty Town) by the Spanish, rose in
five terraced stories, contained more than 800 rooms, and could have housed a population of 1,000 or more.

Besides living quarters, each pueblo included one or more kivas-circular underground chambers faced with
stone. They functioned as sanctuaries where the elders met to plan festivals, perform ritual dances, settle
pueblo affairs, and impart tribal lore to the younger generation. Some kivas were enormous. Of the 30 or
so at pueblo Bonito, two measured 20 meters across. They contained niches for ceremonial objects, a central
fire pit, and holes in the floor for communicating with the spirits of tribal ancestors.

Each pueblo represented an astonishing amount of well-organized labor. Using only stone and wood tools,
and without benefit of wheels or draft animals, the builders quarried ton upon ton of sandstone from the
canyon walls, cut it into small blocks, hauled the blocks to the construction site, and fitted them together
with mud mortar. Roof beams of pine or fir had to be carried from logging areas in the mountain forests
many kilometers away. Then, to connect the pueblos and to give access to the surrounding tableland, the
architects laid out a system of public roads with stone staircases for ascending cliff faces. In time, the roads
reached out to more than 80 satellite villages within a 60-kilometer radius.

1. What is the main topic of the passage?

A. The Anasazi pueblos
B. Anasazi festivals of New Mexico
C. The organization of the Anasazi tribe
D. The use of Anasazi sanctuaries

2. The word ‘supreme’ in paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to

A. most common
B. most outstanding
C. most expensive
D. most convenient

3. The word ‘They’ in paragraph 1 refers to

A. houses
B. bluffs
C. walls
D. families

4. The author mentions that Pueblos bonito had more than 800 rooms as an example of which of the
following?
A. How overcrowded the pueblos could be
B. How many ceremonial areas it contained
C. How much sandstone was needed to build it
D. How big a pueblo could be

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5. The word ‘settle’ in paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to
A. sink
B. decide
C. clarify
D. locate

6. It can be inferred from the passage that building a pueblo probably

A. required many workers
B. cost a lot of money
C. involved the use of farm animals
D. relied on sophisticated technology

7. The word ‘ascending’ in paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to

A. arriving at
B. carving
C. connecting
D. climbing

8. It can be inferred from the passage that in addition to pueblos, the Anasazi were skilled at building which
of following?
A. Barns
B. Water systems
C. Monuments
D. Roads

9. The pueblos are considered one of the Anasazi’s supreme achievements for all of the following reasons
EXCEPT that they were
A. very large
B. located in forests
C. built with simple tools
D. connected in a systematic way

10. The paragraph preceding the passage is possibly about

A. how pueblos were built
B. another Native American tribe
C. Anasazi crafts and weapons
D. Pueblo village in New Mexico

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 PASSAGE 2- Questions 11-20

Early mariners gradually developed ways of observing and recording in their journals their position, the
distances and directions they traveled, the currents of wind and water, and the hazards and havens they
encountered. [A] The information in these journals enabled them to find their way home and, for them or
their successors, to repeat and extend the recorded voyages. Each new observation could be added to an
ever- increasing body of reliable information.

Ship captains and navigators were not concerned about running into other vessels, but as heavy traffic
developed along shipping routes, avoiding such collisions became a serious matter. In all fields of
navigation, keeping a safe distance between ships moving in different directions at different speeds became
as important as knowing how to reach one’s destination. [B]

The larger the ship, the easier it is to see, but the larger a ship, the more time it requires to change its speed
or direction. When many ships are in a small area, an action taken by one ship to avoid colliding with
another might endanger a third. [C] In busy seaports, such as Hamburg and New York, this problem has
been solved by assigning incoming and outgoing ships to separate lanes, which are clearly marked and
divided by the greatest practical distance.

The speed of jet airplanes makes collision a deadly possibility. [D] Even if two pilots see one another in
time to begin evasive action, their maneuvers may be useless if either pilot incorrectly predicts the other’s
move. Ground-based air traffic controllers assign aircraft to flight paths that keep airplanes a safe distance
from one another. When steam engines began to replace sails during the first half of the nineteenth century,
a ship’s navigator had to compute fuel consumption as well as course and location. Today, in airplanes as
well as in ships, large amounts of fuel, needed for long trips, reduce the cargo capacity, and economy
requires that its consumption be kept to a minimum.

In modern air and sea navigation, a schedule has to be met. A single voyage or flight is only one link in a
complicated and coordinated transportation network that carries goods and people from any starting place
to any chosen destination. Modern navigation selects a ship’s course, avoids collision with other moving
ships, minimizes fuel consumption, and follows an established timetable.

11. What is the main topic of the passage?

A. Historical records of navigation
B. Airplane navigation in Europe
C. Schedules and shipping long distances
D. The growing importance of navigation

12. The word ‘hazards’ in paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to

A. Dangerous obstacles
B. Safe seaports
C. Whales and large fish
D. Inaccurate navigation

13. Which of the following has the same meaning as the word ‘collisions’ as used in paragraph 2?
A. Other vessels
B. Running into
C. Grave consequences
D. Serious matters

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14. The word ‘it in paragraph 1 refers to
A. Ship
B. Time
C. Speed
D. Direction

15. In which space (marked A, B, C and D in the passage) will the following sentence fit?

In fact, many harbors were burned down from fires begun as a result of ships’ colliding in port.
A. A
B. B
C. C
D. D

16. How are ships kept apart in the ports of Hamburg and New York?
A. The port controllers guide ship captains by radio.
B. Incoming and outgoing ships are assigned to clearly marked lanes.
C. Ships are not allowed to change their course or their speed while in port.
D. Captains use their journals to determine the hazards in port.

17. What does the author imply about the speed of jet airplanes?
A. Air traffic is now safer than it was with planes with piston-driven engines.
B. Radio communication between ships and planes help schedules.
C. Collisions of jet airplanes almost always result in the deaths of passengers and crew.
D. Pilots are now able to predict evasive maneuvers that others will take.

18. What can be inferred about fuel consumption in the nineteenth century?
A. A ship’s captain had to decide how many sails would be used on a ship.
B. A navigator had to determine how much fuel a ship needed for a voyage.
C. A large amount of fuel made room for extra cargo space.
D. A journal was kept about the amount of coal a steam engine used during a voyage.

19. The word ‘timetable in paragraph 5 is closest in meaning to

A. Navigation
B. Network
C. Schedule
D. Standard

20. Which of the following statements is supported by the passage?

A. Information in mariners’ journals is better than modern navigation techniques.
B. Collisions in the air are more dangerous than those at sea.
C. Mariners today have to compute more things than those in the past did.
D. Air traffic controllers use the same navigation techniques as sea captains.

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 PASSAGE 3- Questions 21-30

Off the northeastern shore of North America, from the island of Newfoundland in Canada south to New
England in the United States, there is a series of shallow areas called banks. Several large banks off
Newfoundland are together called the Grand Banks, huge shoals on the edge of the North American
continental shelf, where the warm waters of the Gulf Stream meet the cold waters of the Labrador Current.
As the currents brush each other, they stir up minerals from the ocean floor, providing nutrients for plankton
and tiny shrimp-like creatures called krill, which feed on the plankton. Herring and other small fish rise to
the surface to eat the krill. Groundfish, such as the Atlantic cod, live in the ocean’s bottom layer,
congregating in the shallow waters where they prey on krill and small fish. This rich environment has
produced cod by the millions and once had a greater density of cod than anywhere else on Earth.

Beginning in the eleventh century, boats from the ports of northwestern Europe arrived to fish the Grand
Banks. For the next eight centuries, the entire Newfoundland economy was based on Europeans arriving,
catching fish for a few months in the summer, and then taking fish back to European markets. Cod laid out
to dry on wooden “flakes” was a common sight in the fishing villages dotting the coast. Settlers in the
region used to think the only sea creature worth talking about was cod, and in the local speech the word
“fish” became synonymous with cod. Newfoundland’s national dish was a pudding whose main
ingredient was cod.

By the nineteenth century, the Newfoundland fishery was largely controlled by merchants based in the
capital at St. John’s. They marketed the catch supplied by the fishers working out of more than 600 villages
around the long coastline. In return, the merchants provided fishing equipment, clothing, and all the food
that could not be grown in the island’s thin, rocky soil. This system kept the fishers in a continuous state of
debt and dependence on the merchants.

Until the twentieth century, fishers believed in the cod’s ability to replenish itself and thought that
overfishing was impossible. However, Newfoundland’s cod fishery began to show signs of trouble during
the 1930s, when cod failed to support the fishers and thousands were unemployed. The slump lasted for the
next few decades. Then, when an international agreement in 1977 established the 200-mile offshore fishing
limit, the Canadian government decided to build up the modem Grand Banks fleet and make fishing a viable
economic base for Newfoundland again. All of Newfoundland’s seafood companies were merged into one
conglomerate. By the 1980s, the conglomerate was prospering, and cod were commanding excellent prices
in the market. Consequently, there was a significant increase in the number of fishers and fish-processing
plant workers.

However, while the offshore fishery was prospering, the inshore fishermen found their catches dropping
off. [A] In 1992 the Canadian government responded by closing the Grand Banks to groundfishing. [B]
Newfoundland’s cod fishing and processing industries were shut down in a bid to let the vanishing stocks
recover. [C] The moratorium was extended in 1994, when all of the Atlantic cod fisheries in Canada were
closed, except for one in Nova Scotia, and strict quotas were placed on other species of groundfish. [D]
Canada’s cod fishing industry collapsed, and around 40,000 fishers and other industry workers were put
out of work.

Atlantic cod stocks had once been so plentiful that early explorers joked about walking on the backs of the
teeming fish. Today, cod stocks are at historically low levels and show no signs of imminent recovery, even
after drastic conservation measures and severely limited fishing. Fishermen often blame the diminishing
stocks on seals, which prey on cod and other species, but scientists believe that decades of overfishing are
to blame. Studies on fish populations have shown that cod disappeared from Newfoundland at the same
time that stocks started rebuilding in Norway, raising the possibility that the cod had migrated. Still, no one
can predict whether and when the cod will return to the Grand Banks.

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21. The word ‘shoals’ in paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to
A. shallows
B. mountains
C. currents
D. islands

22. What physical process occurs in the region of the Grand Banks?
A. Warm and cold currents come together.
B. Nutrient-rich water flows in from rivers.
C. Tides transport plankton and small fish.
D. Underwater hot springs heat the water.

23. Which sentence below best expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence in paragraph
1?

This rich environment has produced cod by the millions and once had a greater density of cod than
anywhere else on Earth
A. The Grand Banks used to have the world’s largest concentration of cod because of favorable natural
conditions.
B. The Grand Banks is the only place on Earth where cod are known to come together in extremely large
groups.
C. Millions of cod come to the Grand Banks every year to feed on the abundant supplies of herring and
other small fish.
D. The environmental resources of the Grand Banks have made many people wealthy from cod fishing.

24. The phrase ‘the region’ in paragraph 2 refers to

A. Newfoundland
B. northwestern Europe
C. New England
D. the Grand Banks

25. Why does the author mention ‘Newfoundland′s national dish’ in paragraph 2?
A. To show that Newfoundland used to be a separate country
B. To describe the daily life of people in Newfoundland
C. To stress the economic and cultural significance of cod
D. To encourage the development of tourism in Newfoundland

26. All of the following statements characterized Newfoundland′s cod fishery in the past EXCEPT
A. Cod were the foundation of the island’s economy.
B. Cod were placed on wooden “flakes” for drying.
C. Fishers competed with farmers for natural resources.
D. Fishers were dependent on merchants in the capital.

27. What event first signaled the overfishing of the Atlantic cod?
A. The failure of cod to support thousands of fishers in the 1930s
B. An increase in the number of fishers and fish-processing plants
C. The government moratorium on cod fishing during the 1990s
D. The merging of seafood companies into one huge conglomerate

28. Why did the Canadian government decide to build up the Grand Banks fishing fleet?
A. Canada faced stiff competition from other fishing nations.
B. The 200-mile limit was seen as an economic opportunity.
C. There had not been enough boats to handle all the fish.
D. The shipbuilding sector of the economy was in a slump.

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29. The word ‘commanding’ in paragraph 4 is closest in meaning to
A. suggesting
B. receiving
C. defying
D. missing

30. In which space (marked A, B, C and D in the passage) will the following sentence fit?

They suspected this was because the offshore draggers were taking so many cod that the fish did not
have a chance to migrate inshore to reproduce.
A. A
B. B
C. C
D. D

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 PASSAGE 4- Questions 31-40

In the 1980s the United States Department of Energy was looking for suitable sites to bury radioactive
waste material generated by its nuclear energy programs. The government was considering burying the
dangerous wastes in deep underground chambers in remote desert areas. The problem, however, was that
nuclear waste remains highly radioactive for thousands of years. The commission entrusted with tackling
the problem of waste disposal was aware that the dangers posed by radioactive emissions must be
communicated to our descendants of at least 10,000 years hence. So the task became one of finding a way
to tell future societies about the risk posed by these deadly deposits.

Of course, human society in the distant future may be well aware of the hazards of radiation. Technological
advances may one day provide the solutions to this dilemma. But the belief in constant technological
advancement is based on our perceptions of advances made throughout history and prehistory. We cannot
be sure that society won’t have slipped backward into an age of barbarism due to any of several catastrophic
events, whether the result of nature such as the onset of a new ice age or perhaps mankind’s failure to solve
the scourges of war and pollution. In the event of global catastrophe, it is quite possible that humans of the
distant future will be on the far side of a broken link of communication and technological understanding.

The problem then becomes how to inform our descendants that they must avoid areas of potential
radioactive seepage given that they may not understand any currently existing language and may have no
historical or cultural memory. So, any message indicated to future reception and decipherment must be as
universally understandable as possible.

It was soon realized by the specialists assigned the task of devising the communication system that material
in which the message was written might not physically endure the great lengths of time demanded. The
second law of thermodynamics shows that all material disintegrates over time. Even computers that might
carry the message cannot be expected to endure long enough. Besides, electricity supplies might not be
available in 300 generations. Other media storage methods were considered and rejected for similar reasons.

The task force under the linguist Thomas Sebeok finally agreed that no foolproof way would be found to
send a message across so many generations and have it survive physically and be decipherable by a people
with few cultural similarities to us. Given this restriction, Sebeok suggested the only possible solution was
the formation of a committee of guardians of knowledge. Its task would be to dedicate itself to maintaining
and passing the knowledge of the whereabouts and dangers of the nuclear waste deposits. This so-called
atomic priesthood would be entrusted with keeping knowledge of this tradition alive through millennia and
developing the tradition into a kind of mythical taboo forbidding people to tamper in a way with the nuclear
waste sites. Only the initiated atomic priesthood of experts would have the scientific knowledge to fully
understand the danger. Those outside the priesthood would be kept away by a combination of rituals and
legends designed to warn off intruders.

This proposal has been criticized because of the possibility of a break in continuity of the original message.
Furthermore, there is no guarantee that any warning or sanction passed on for millennia would be obeyed,
nor that it could survive with its original meaning intact. To counterbalance this possibility, Sebeok’s group
proposed a “relay system” in which information is passed on over relatively short periods of time, just three
generations ahead. The message then to be renewed and redesigned if necessary for the following three
generations and so on over the required time span. In this way information could be relayed into the future
and avoid the possibility of physical degradation.

A second defect is more difficult to dismiss, however. This is the problem of social exclusiveness brought
about through possession of vital knowledge. Critics point out that the atomic priesthood could use its secret
knowledge to control those who are scientifically ignorant. The establishment of such an association of
insiders holding powerful knowledge not available except in mythic form to nonmembers would be a
dangerous precedent for future social developments.

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31. The word ‘chambers’ in paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to
A. partitions
B. openings
C. cavities
D. fissures

32. What problem faced the commission assigned to deal with the burial of nuclear waste?
A. How to reduce the radioactive life of nuclear waste materials
B. How to form a committee that could adequately express various nuclear risks
C. How to notify future generations of the risks of nuclear contamination
D. How to choose burial sites so as to minimize dangers to people

33. In paragraph 2, the author explains the possible circumstances of future societies
A. to warn about the possible natural catastrophe
B. to question the value of advances
C. to highlight humankind’s inability to resolve problems
D. to demonstrate the reason nuclear hazards must be communicated

34. The word ‘scourges’ in paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to

A. pressures
B. afflictions
C. worries
D. annoyances

35. In paragraph 4, the author mentions the second law of thermodynamics

A. to support the view that nuclear waste will disperse with time
B. to show that knowledge can be sustained over millennia
C. to give the basic scientific reason behind the breakdown of material objects
D. to contrast the potential life span of knowledge with that of material objects

36. The word ‘Its’ in paragraph 5 refers to

A. knowledge
B. committee
C. solution
D. guardians

37. In paragraph 5, why is the proposed committee of guardians referred to as the “atomic priesthood”?
A. Because they would be an exclusive group with knowledge about nuclear waste sites
B. Because they would use rituals and legends to maintain their exclusiveness
C. Because they would be an exclusive religious order
D. Because they would develop mythical taboos surrounding their traditions

38. According to the author, why did the task force under Sebeok propose a relay system for passing on
information?
A. To show that Sebeok ‘s ideas created more problems than they solved
B. To support the belief that breaks in communication are inevitable over time
C. To contrast Sebeok’s ideas with those proposed by his main critics
D. To compensate for the fact that meaning will not stable over long periods of time

39. According to paragraph 7, the second defect of the atomic priesthood proposal is that it could lead to
A. the nonmembers turning knowledge into dangerous mythical forms
B. the possible misuse of exclusive knowledge
C. the establishment of a scientifically ignorant society
D. the priesthood’s criticism of points concerning vital knowledge

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40. All of the following are mentioned in the passage as difficulties in devising a communication system
with the future EXCEPT
A. the failure to maintain communication link
B. the loss of knowledge about today’s civilization
C. the inability of materials to endure over time
D. the exclusiveness of priesthood

This is the end of the reading paper.

Now please submit your test paper and your answer sheets.

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