TEST 1

A. According to the great English lexicographer Samuel Johnson, knowledge is of

two kinds. We know a subject ourselves or we know where we can find information
upon it (Boswell Life vol. 2 p, 383 18 April 1775). In the information-driven world we
now inhabit, the latter has assumed a much greater level of importance. It Is not
surprising to see people overwhelmed by the unlimited stream of Information. There
is simply too much of it to assimilate, and it is difficult to know what to do with the
data once it is received; which brings us back to Johnson’s words. But we need to
add another dimension to his dictum, one which was probably true in his time, but is
even more pertinent today: people need to be able to live the knowledge they
acquire and not just know it or know where to find it. Our deficiency in this regard is,
perhaps, the most singular failure of the modern information age.

B. Acquisitiveness is a natural human Instinct. Children collect cards of footballers,

or whatever is the latest fad, Stamps, coins and books are targets for children and
adult collectors (dike, as their basic instincts are played upon and nurtured by market
forces. The desire to gather knowledge is nothing new. What is astonishing,
however, is the way in which people treat the knowledge once it has been collected.
It is as if the collection were an end in Itself; and herein lies the great deception, We
have turned the world into a large machine of information, a veritable vortex into
which we are all being Inexorably sucked, People beaver away amassing raw data,
labouring under the misapprehension that they are doing something worthwhile
when all that is really happening is the movement of information from one place to
another, We should hardly be surprised that, as this becomes apparent,
disillusionment and stress in the workplace are becoming sadly the all too common
consequences.

Answer the questions below. Use NO MORE THAN SIX WORDS from the
passage for each answer.
Write your answers next to 1-4 on your answer sheet.

1. What exactly overwhelms people?

2. What is the singular failure of the modern information age?
3. According to the author, what has the world turned into?
4. What are the consequences in the workplace of moving large amounts of raw
data around?
TEST 2

A. Adults and children are frequently confronted with statements about the
alarming rate of loss of tropical rainforests. For example, one graphic illustration
to which children might readily relate is the estimate that rainforests are being
destroyed at a rate equivalent to one thousand football fields every forty minutes
– about the duration of a normal classroom period. In the face of the frequent and
often vivid media coverage, it is likely that children will have formed ideas about
rainforests – what and where they are, why they are important, what endangers
them – independent of any formal tuition. It is also possible that some of these
ideas will be mistaken. Many studies have shown that children harbour
misconceptions about ‘pure’, curriculum science. These misconceptions do not
remain isolated but become incorporated into a multifaceted, but organised,
conceptual framework, making it and the component ideas, some of which are
erroneous, more robust but also accessible to modification. These ideas may be
developed by children absorbing ideas through the popular media. Sometimes
this information may be erroneous. It seems schools may not be providing an
opportunity for children to re-express their ideas and so have them tested and
refined by teachers and their peers.

B. Despite the extensive coverage in the popular media of the destruction of

rainforests, little formal information is available about children’s ideas in this area.
The aim of the present study is to start to provide such information, to help
teachers design their educational strategies to build upon correct ideas and to
displace misconceptions and to plan programmes in environmental studies in
their schools. The study surveys children’s scientific knowledge and attitudes to
rainforests. Secondary school children were asked to complete a questionnaire
containing five open-form questions. The most frequent responses to the first
question were descriptions which are self-evident from the term ‘rainforest’. Some
children described them as damp, wet or hot. The second question concerned the
geographical location of rainforests. The commonest responses were continents
or countries: Africa (given by 43% of children), South America (30%), Brazil
 (25%). Some children also gave more general locations, such as being near the
Equator.

Questions 1-3

Using NO MORE THAN FIVE WORDS, answer the following questions.

Write your answers in boxes 1-3 on your answer sheet.

1. What are the statements that adults and children often come across
nowadays?
2. What is the rate equivalent at which rainforests are being destroyed?
3. What did children describe rainforests as?
TEST 3

The Economic Importance Of Coral Reefs

A. A lot of people around the world are dependent, or partly dependent, on coral
reefs for their livelihoods. They often live adjacent to the reef, and their livelihood
revolves around the direct extraction (exploit = khai thác), processing and sale of
reef resources such as shell fish and seaweeds. In addition, their homes are
sheltered (covered = bảo vệ) by the reef from wave action.
B. Reef flats and shallow reef lagoons are accessible on foot, without the need for a
boat, and so allow women, children and the elderly to engage directly in
manual (handmade = thủ công) harvesting, or ‘reef-gleaning’. This is a significant
factor distinguishing reef-based fisheries from near-shore sea fisheries. Near-shore
fisheries are typically the domain of (the area of = miền) adult males, in particular
where they involve the use of boats, with women and children restricted mainly to
shore-based activities. However, in a coral-reef fishery the physical accessibility of
the reef opens up opportunities for direct participation by women, and consequently
increases their independence and the importance of their role in the community. It
also provides a place for children to play, and to acquire important skills and
knowledge for later in life. For example, in the South West Island of Tobi, in the Pacific
Ocean, young boys use simple hand lines with a loop and bait at the end to develop the art
of fishing on the reef. Similarly, in the Surin Islands of
Thailand, young Moken boys spend much of their time playing, swimming and diving
in shallow reef lagoons, and in doing so build crucial skills for their future daily
subsistence.

Questions 1-4

Using NO MORE THAN FOUR WORDS, answer the following questions.

Write your answers in boxes 1-4 on your answer sheet.

1. From the passage, what exactly are people depending upon for their
livelihoods? Coral reefs
2. How does the reef protect homes? Shelter from wave action
3. What does near shore fisheries involve? The use of boats
 4. How do Moken youngsters spend their time?
Playing, swimming and diving
TEST 4

Peter L. Falkingham and his colleagues at Manchester University are developing

techniques which look set to revolutionize our understanding of how dinosaurs and
other extinct animals behaved.
A. The media image of palaeontologists who study prehistoric life is often of field
workers camped in the desert in the hot sun, carefully picking away at the rock
surrounding a large dinosaur bone. But Peter Falkingham has done little of that for a
while now. Instead, he devotes (dedicate = cống hiến) himself to his computer. Not
because he has become inundated (full= tràn ngập) with paperwork, but because he
is a new kind of paleontologist: a computational paleontologist. What few people may
consider is that uncovering a skeleton, or discovering a new species, is where the
research begins, not where it ends. What we really want to understand is how the
extinct animals and plants behaved in their natural habitats. Dr Bill Sellers and Phil
Manning from the University of Manchester use a ‘genetic algorithm’ – a kind of
computer code that can change itself and ‘evolve’ – to explore how extinct animals
like dinosaurs, and our own early ancestors, walked and stalked.
B. The fossilized bones of a complete dinosaur skeleton can tell scientists a lot about
the animal, but they do not make up the complete picture and the computer can try
to fill the gap. The computer model is given a digitized skeleton and the locations of
known muscles. The model then randomly activates the muscles. This, perhaps
unsurprisingly, results almost without fail in the animal falling on its face. So the
computer alters the activation pattern and tries again … usually to similar effect. The
modelled dinosaurs quickly ‘evolve’. If there is any improvement, the computer
discards (remove = loại bỏ) the old pattern and adopts the new one as the base (cơ
sở) for alteration. Eventually, the muscle activation pattern evolves a stable way of
moving, the best possible solution is reached, and the dinosaur can walk, run, chase
or graze. Assuming natural selection evolves the best possible solution too, the
modelled animal should be moving in a manner (method = cách thức) similar to its
now-extinct counterpart (bản đối chiếu, đối tác). And
indeed, using the same method for living animals (humans, emu and ostriches)
similar top speeds were achieved on the computer as in reality. By comparing their
cyberspace results with real measurements of living species, the Manchester team
of paleontologists can be confident in the results computed showing how extinct
prehistoric animals such as dinosaurs moved.
Questions 1-4

Using NO MORE THAN FIVE WORDS, answer the following questions.

Write your answers in boxes 1-4 on your answer sheet.

1. What would you call somebody who studies prehistoric life? A palaeontologists
2. How does a paleontologist begin the research? Devotes himself to computer
Uncovering skeleton and discovering species
3. What does a genetic algorithm explore? Extinct animals and ancestors
behavior
4. What is the computer model provided with? Digitized skeleton, known muscle
locations
 TEST 5

A. Close up, plastic packaging can be a marvellous thing. Those who make a living
from it call it a forgotten infrastructure that allows modem urban life to exist. Plastics
have helped society defy natural limits such as the seasons, the rotting of food and
the distance most of us live from where our food is produced. And yet we do not like
it. Partly we do not like waste, but plastic waste, with its hydrocarbon roots and
industrial manufacture, is especially galling. In 2008, the UK, for example, produced
around two million tonnes of plastic waste, twice as much as in the early 1990s. The
very qualities of plastic – its cheapness, its indestructible aura – make it a
reproachful symbol of an unsustainable way of life.
B. The facts, however, do not justify our unease. All plastics are, at least
theoretically, recyclable. Plastic packaging makes up just 6 to 7 per cent of the
contents of British dustbins by weight and less than 3 percent of landfills.
Supermarkets and brands, which are under pressure to reduce the quantity of
packaging of all types that they use, are finding good environmental reasons to turn
to plastic: it is lighter, so requires less energy for transportation than glass, for
example; it requires relatively little energy to produce, and it is often re-usable. An
Austrian study found that if plastic packaging were removed from the tire supply
chain, another packaging would have to increase fourfold to make up for it. So are
we just wrong about plastic packaging?

Questions 1-3

Using NO MORE THAN FIVE WORDS, answer the following questions.

Write your answers in boxes 1-3 on your answer sheet.

1. How does plastic help society? defy natural limits

2. What makes plastic unsustainable? Cheapness and indestructible aura
3. Why do supermarkets prefer plastic over glass? requires less energy for
transportation
 TEST 6
Communicating In Colour

A. There are more than 160 known species of chameleons. The main distribution is
in Africa and Madagascar, and other tropical regions, although some species are
also found in parts of southern Europe and Asia. There are introduced populations in
Hawaii and probably in California and Florida too.
B. New species are still discovered quite frequently. Dr. Andrew Marshall, a
conservationist from York University, was surveying monkeys in Tanzania.
Accidently, he stumbled across a twig snake in the Magombera forest, which,
frightened, coughed up a chameleon and fled. Though a colleague persuaded him
not to touch it because of the venom’s risk, Marshall suspected it might be a new
species and took a photograph to send to colleagues, who confirmed his suspicions.
Kinyongia Magombera, literally “the chameleon from Magombera,” is the result, and
the fact it was not easy to identify is precisely what made it unique. The most
remarkable features of chameleons are their ability to change colour and ability
rivalled only by cuttlefish and octopi in the animal kingdom. Because of this, colour is not
the best thing for telling chameleons apart, and different species are usually
identified based on the patterning and shape of the head, and the arrangement of
scales. In this case, it was the bulge of scales on the chameleon’s nose.

Questions 1-3

Using NO MORE THAN FIVE WORDS, answer the following questions.

Write your answers in boxes 1-3 on your answer sheet.

1. Where can you find the main species of chameleon? Africa and Madagascar
2. How did Dr. Andrew discover a new chameleon species? Survey monkey in
Tanzania
3. How are different species of chameleons identified?partterning and shape
head
 TEST 7

The Brooklyn Bridge

Looming majestically over New York City’s East River, the Brooklyn Bridge is one of the
most remarkable engineering feats of the nineteenth century. At its opening
ceremony, it was proclaimed the eighth wonder of the world because of its two
stately towers and unprecedented length. Suspension bridges are generally
measured by the length of their main span, which is the distance between their two
supporting towers. The Brooklyn Bridge is dwarfed by modern suspension bridges,
the longest of which is 1,991 metres, but at the time of its construction, it was the
longest suspension bridge in the world at 480 metres. That was substantially longer
than the previous record holder, which was 322 metres in length.

Prior to its completion in 1883, commuters had only been able to travel between the
then-separate cities of Brooklyn and New York by ferry. A range of proposals for a
bridge spanning the East River were put forward as early as 1800, but none were
accepted by city officials due to the technical difficulty or prohibitive cost involved. It
was not until 1867 that permission to build the Brooklyn Bridge as we know it today
was finally granted by New York legislators. The designer of the Brooklyn Bridge,
German-born immigrant John A. Roebling, was a pioneer in the design of steel
suspension bridges, having previously designed and built others including the John
A. Roebling Suspension Bridge. Opened in 1866, this bridge is still standing today and
crosses the Ohio River between Cincinnati, Ohio and Covington, Kentucky.

Unfortunately, John A. Roebling did not live to see the completion of his bridge.
While conducting final surveys of the site of the Brooklyn tower in June 1869, he
sustained an injury when an incoming ferry crushed his foot against the dock. The
injury itself was not life-threatening, but apart from allowing a surgeon to amputate
his injured toes, he refused medical treatment, opting to treat his wound himself. His
condition deteriorated when he contracted tetanus, which claimed his life three
weeks later. His 32-year-old son, Washington A. Roebling, also a trained engineer, took
over his father’s role.

Construction of the Brooklyn Bridge began in January 1870. In order to dig solid
foundations for the bridge’s stone towers, massive wooden boxes with no bottoms
called caissons were used. The caissons allowed workers to dig away at the sand
and rock on the riverbed without being flooded by the river water. The stone towers
were built on top of the caissons, which sank deeper into the riverbed as the workers
dug. Water was kept out of the chamber at the base of the caisson where the
workers dug by means of compressed air, which was pumped in through a special duct in
the roof of the caisson. Workers entered via a series of ladders, passing through an
air lock on the way down. This had a door on each side, only one of
which could be opened at any one time. Had both doors been opened, compressed
air would have escaped, with dire consequences for the workers. The sand, rock and
boulders that workers excavated were hoisted out of the caisson in huge buckets via
a shaft. This was filled with water in order to maintain the correct air pressure. When
the caissons had reached the desired depth, concrete was pumped into them until
they formed solid blocks. These then become part of the permanent foundations.

Caisson work was extremely difficult, and the men who worked in the caissons took
great risks. Not only was flooding a possibility, but fire was also a very real threat. In
1870, the timber roof of the Brooklyn caisson caught fire from a worker’s candle. This
fire, nicknamed the “Great Blowout”, delayed construction for several months
because repairs had to be carried out. The Manhattan caisson, which was built after
the Brooklyn one, was lined with plate iron to ensure that it would not become
engulfed in flames like its counterpart had. Many of the workers were also struck
down by a mysterious ailment. Poorly understood at the time, the bends killed at
least three workers, and caused joint pain, speech impediments and paralysis in
many others. The high toll that the caisson work was taking on workers ultimately led
Washington A. Roebling to halt construction, but that was not before Roebling
himself had succumbed to the illness. His condition left him unable to supervise the
project in person. He was forced to remain in his home, but his wife Emily, also a
trained engineer, relayed his instructions to site workers, and eventually took over
day-to-day supervision and project management.

Once the caissons were completed, the masonry towers continued to be built on top,
a complex process that took four years. The weight of the blocks meant that a pulley
system had to be used to transport them to the base of each tower. They were then
carried up a timber track and manoeuvred into position with the help of a derrick. The
next stage was the cabling. Work began on the four enormous cables that would
support the roadway in 1877. Work was well underway when it was discovered that
the cable manufacturer had been selling them faulty wires. This could have caused
the bridge to collapse had it not been for the over-engineering in John A. Roebling’s
design. It was too late to replace the cables, but they were able to reinforce them
with additional wires, and the roadway was then suspended from the cables.

The Brooklyn Bridge was officially opened on 24 May 1883, connecting the cities of
Brooklyn and New York for the first time in history. The project had taken 15 years,
claimed the lives of 27 workers, and cost almost half a billion dollars in today’s
money.

Questions 1 – 5
Answer the questions. Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER
from the text in each gap.
1. How long is the Brooklyn Bridge’s main span? 1,991 metres

2. In what year was the design of the Brooklyn Bridge officially approved? 1867

3. What was the cause of John A. Roebling’s death? tetanus

4. What was used to fill the caissons once they were deep enough? water

5. What was used to protect the Manhattan caisson from fire? Plate iron
TEST 8

The Dingo - An Australian Pest

The origins of the dingo are obscure (mơ hồ), and there is much controversy

connected with this. It is not truly native to Australia but is thought to have arrived

between 3,500 and 4,000 years ago. Whatever its origins, the dingo was a highly

valued companion (bạn đồng hành) to the aborigines. They were hunting

companions, guard dogs, and they kept them warm at night.

Some believe they were brought here on rafts (bè) or boats by the ancestral

aborigines. It has also been suggested that they came with Indonesian or South-

East Asian fishermen who visited the northern coast of Australia.

The dingo can be found in all areas of Australia - from harsh deserts to lush (tươi tốt)

rainforest The highly adaptable dingo is found in every habitat and every state of

Australia,except Tasmania. In deserts, access to drinking water determines where

the animal can live. Purebred dingo numbers in the wild are declining as man

encroaches (lấn chiếm) deeper and deeper into wilderness areas, often

accompanied by his domestic dog.

The dingo is different from the modern dog in several ways: it does not bark, it has a

different gait(lấn chiếm), and its ears are always erect. Dingoes are naturally lean,

and they are usually cream to reddish-yellow with white points, some are black with

tan points. An adult dingo stands more than 60cm high and weighs about 15kg. It is

slightly smaller than a German Shepherd.

In its natural state, the dingo lives either alone or in a small group, unlike many other

wild dog species which may form packs. Dingoes have a clearly defined territory

which they rarely leave and which they protect from other dingoes, but which may be
shared with dingoes when they form a group to hunt larger prey. The size of the

home territory varies according to the food supply. Dingoes hunt mainly at night.

Groups are controlled by dominant male. Members of a group maintain contact by

marking rocks and trees within the territory, and by howling, particularly in the

breeding season.

The dingo's diet consists of native mammals, including kangaroos, although

domestic animals and some farm stock are also on the menu. This makes the animal

unpopular with farmers. The dingo is thought to have contributed to the mainland

extinction of the thylacine (Tasmanian tiger) through increased competition for food.

The dingo is an intelligent animal. It is no more dangerous to man than any other

feral dog. The natural prey of the dingo is small mammals and ground-dwelling birds,

but with the introduction of white settlement, they became such a menace (mối đe

dọa) to sheep, calves and poultry (gia cầm) that measures had to be taken in an

attempt to control them, such as dog-proof fences.

Dingoes start breeding when they reach the age of one or two but only the dominant

members within an established group breed. They breed only once a year. Mating

usually occurs in autumn/early winter, and after a gestation (mang thai) of nine

weeks (same as domestic dogs), a litter averaging 4-5 pups is born, which are

reared in a hollow log, a rock-shelter, or an old rabbit warren. Both parents take part

in raising the pups.

The pups are fully grown at seven months of age. A dingo may live for up to ten

years.

Wild dingoes are wary of humans and do not attack unless provoked (khiêu khích).

They will approach camps in the bush looking for food or perhaps out of curiosity.

Dingoes can be kept as pets but should be obtained at a very young age to enable

them to bond with humans. Even when raised from pups they never seem to lose their

instinct for
killing poultry or small animals. Not all states in Australia allow dingoes to be kept as

pets and a permit is required. The export of dingoes is illegal.

Dingoes and domestic dogs interbreed freely resulting in very few pure-bred,

southern or eastern Australia. This threatens the dingo's ability to survive as a

separate species. Public hostility is another threat to the dingo. Because it takes

some livestock, the dingo is considered by many to be a pest.

Questions 1-8

Answer the questions below.

Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.

1. What factor decides where the dingo can live in a desert?

2. Which physical characteristic distinguishes a dingo from a domesticated dog?
3. What term refers to a group of wild dogs?
4. What determines the vastness of the area occupied by the dingoes? Which
landscape features are used by the group to remain connected?
5. Which landscape features are used by the group to remain connected?
6. What animal might have been wiped out due to the dingo?
7. What has been made to protect the livestock from the dingoes?
8. What do many people regard the dingo as?
TEST 9

The Halifax Explosion

Before the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima in 1945, the largest-ever non-

naturl explosion had taken place in 1917 in the eastern Canadian port city of Halifax.

With the outbreak of World War I, Halifax was effectively transformed into a

boomtown. Convoys gathered weekly in Bedford Basin (the north-western end of

Halifax Harbour) to traverse the Atlantic, and Halifax Harbour became heavy with

vessels of one variety or another. This spike in boat traffic was not dealt with

efficiently, and collisions became almost normal.

On December 1st, 1917, the French vessel Mont Blanc left New York to join a

convoy in Halifax after being loaded with 226,797 kilograms of TNT (an explosive),

223,188 kilograms of benzol (a type of gasoline), 1,602,519 kilograms of wet picric

acid (an explosive), and 544,311 kilograms of dry picric acid (another explosive). On

December 6", the Mont Blanc was ushered into Halifax's harbour after the U-boat

nets had been raised.

At the same time, the cargoless Norwegian ship, Imo, left Bedford Basin en route to

New York in order to pick up relief items for transport to war-torn Belgium. Imo was

behind schedule and attempting to remedy that. She passed a boat on the wrong

side before sending a tugboat retreating to port. By the time she reached the

Narrows, she was in the wrong channel and going too fast. The Mont Blanc sounded

her whistle, but the Imo sounded back twice, refusing to alter course. At the last

moment, the Mont Blanc veered, and the Imo reversed, but it was too late. From the

gash formed in the French boat's hull seeped a noxious spiral of oily, orange-dappled

smoke. Mont Blanc's crew rowed to shore on the Dartmouth side, but no one could

decipher their warnings. Their fiery vessel then casually drifted toward the Halifax

side where it came to rest against one of the piers.

This spectacle drew thousands of onlookers. People crowded docks and windows

filled with curious faces. As many as 1,600 died instantly when the boat exploded.

Around 9,000 were injured, 6,000 seriously so. Approximately 12,000 buildings were

severely damaged; virtually every building in town was damaged to some extent;

1,630 were rendered nonexistent. Around 6,000 people were made homeless, and

25,000 people (half the population) were left without suitable housing.

The Halifax Explosion, as it became known, was the largest manmade detonation to

date, approximately one-fifth the ferocity of the bomb later dropped on Hiroshima. It

sent up a column of smoke reckoned to be 7,000 metres in height. It was felt more

than 480 kilometres away. It flung a ship gun barrel some 5.5 kilometres, and part of

an anchor, which weighed 517 kilograms, around 3 kilometres. The blast absolutely

flattened a district known as Richmond. It also caused a tsunami that saw a wave 18

metres above the highwater mark deposit (lắng đọng) the Imo onto the shore of the

Dartmouth side. The pressure wave of air that was produced snapped trees, bent

iron rails, and grounded ships. That evening, a blizzard commenced, and it would

continue until the next day, leaving 40 centimetres of snow in its wake.

Consequently, many of those trapped within collapsed structures died of exposure.

Historians put the death toll of the Halifax Explosion at approximately 2,000.

(Adapted from a passage in: A Sort of Homecoming – In Search of Canada by Troy

Parfitt)

Questions 1-7

Answer the questions below.

Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER from the passage

for each answer.

1. What cargo, apart from explosives, was the Mont Blanc carrying? Benzol
2. What was the final intended destination of the Imo?
3. What part of the Mont Blanc was damaged due to the collision (va chạm)?
4. What was the number of immediate fatalities (vụ chết) due to the explosion?
5. Where has the most massive human-made explosion taken place to date?
6. What place was entirely devastated by the explosion?
7. What threw (ném) the Imo off to the shore?
TEST 10

Vancouver

Vancouver is quite different from virtually any other city in North America. Despite the

fact it is a large modern cosmopolitan city, it seems to have a relaxed, small-town,

close-to-nature feel about it. There is little comparison with other large Canadian

cities such as Toronto or Montreal, which are more akin to the large eastern US

centres like New York and Chicago. Vancouver, like all large North American cities, is

a conglomerate (khối liên kết) of high-rise(tòa nhà cao tầng) cubic office towers,

although urban planners have kept the heights down. There are, however, some

notable exceptions such as the Marine Building at the north foot of Burrard Street,

once the tallest structure in the British Empire, the courthouse at Howe & Robson,

and the library at Georgia & Hamilton.

Vancouver offers a wide range of attractions catering to all tastes but those with only

a day to spare cannot be better advised than to take one of the many organised

excursions recommended by the Vancouver Tourist Office.

Stanley Park, a 1,000-acre nature preserve, is Vancouver’s best-known landmark

and a must for any visitor. It was established in 1887 and, in the opinion of many, is

the most beautiful urban park in the world. Contrary to popular belief, this park was

not established through the foresight of the city council of the day, but at the urging

of a real estate developer called Oppenheimer. He is now considered the father of

Stanley Park. All areas of the park are accessible to the public except for Dead

Man’s Island, which has a small naval base.

The Eco Walk is a fun and informative way to see the park. The guide gives

information on the trees, plants, birds and animals as well as on the rich aboriginal

culture and legends of the park. The walking is medium paced, taking 3 hours to

complete and covering 5 miles of relatively flat paved and gravelled trails over the

selected seawall and forest paths. This walk is suitable for families, including active

seniors.

There is also a world-class aquarium in the park and was the first to have killer

whales in captivity and probably the first one to stop making them into a side-show.

The aquarium feels the purpose of keeping the whales, namely re-educating the

public and stopping the hunting of them, has been accomplished. In 2000, the last

remaining killer whale at the aquarium was sold to Sealand in California, where it

died shortly after arriving. The main threat to the park is the sheer volume of people

who want to be in it. Efforts are being made to restrict the amount of automobile

traffic passing through it. One of the ultimate goals is to eliminate the causeway (bờ

đê) leading to Lions Gate Bridge, but this will not likely occur until well into the 21st

century.

Beaches are also a big attraction and temperatures are usually high enough to tempt

most people to have a swim. However, one of the biggest days on these beaches is

on New Year’s Day when the annual “Polar Bear Swim” attracts several hundred die-

hard individuals out to prove that Vancouver is a year-round swimming destination.

Chinatown is North America’s third largest, in terms of area, after San Francisco and

New York. It is steeped in history and is well worth walking around. It is most active
on Sundays when people head to any of a wide selection of restaurants that offer

dim sum. Chinatown also contains the world’s thinnest building at only 1.8 metres

wide.

Questions 1-6

Answer the questions below.

Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER from the passage

for each answer.

1. What makes Vancouver similar to the big cities of North America?

2. What famous building was once the highest in the British Empire?
3. What was the profession of the park’s founding father?
4. What is one of the final aims of the park?
5. What event tries to encourage people to swim?
6. What can you eat in Chinatown?