ĐỀ LUYỆN HỌC SINH GIỎI 12 – 2023 By Mr.

Miura 4/10/2023

Part 2: There are 8 mistakes in the following passage. Underline the mistakes and write the correct
answers in the space provided.
Let us suppose that you are in the position of a parent. Would you allow your children read any
book they wanted to without first checking its content? Would you take them to see any film without first
finding whether it is suitable for them? If your answer of these questions is yes, then you are either
extremely permissive, or just plain irresponsible. If your answer is not, then you are exercising your right
as a parent to protect your children from what you consider to be desirable influences. In other words, by
acting as a censor yourself, you are admitting that there is a strong case for censorship.
Children need protection and it is the parents' responsible to provide it. But what about adults?
Aren't they old enough to decide that is good for them? The answer is that many adults are, but don't make
the mistake of thinking that all adults are as yourself. Censorship is for the good of society as a whole.
Highly civilized people might find it possible to live together without laws of any kind: they would just
rely on good sense to solve their problems. But imagine what chaos there would be if we live in a society
without laws! Like the law, censorship contributes to the common good.

Section 1: Choose the best option (A, B, C or D) to complete each of the following sentences.
1. Much of what he said had little _______ to the issue we were discussing.
A. accordance B. involvement C. concern D. relevance
2. The restless lion kept pacing _________ along the front of its cage.
A. back and fort B. up and down C. on and off D. back and out
3. You can have _______ for the meals during your package vacation.
A. vouchers B. tags C. checks D. records
4. A new motorcycle model has just been _______ on the Internet.
A. delivered B. designed C. launched D. exploited
5. Why don’t you _______ a go? - It’s not difficult!
A. do B. have C. set D. make
6. The Prime Minister has _______ from the dogmatic position he adopted a few days ago.
A. backed out B. backed down C. backed up D. backed on
7. At the South Pole _______, the coldest and most desolate region on Earth.
A. Antarctica lies where B. Antarctica lies and
C. where Antarctica lies D. lies Antarctica
8. _______ in the diet is especially important for vegetarians.
A. Enough protein is obtained B. Obtaining enough protein
C. They obtain enough protein D. By obtaining enough protein
9. _______ over long distances is a fact.
A. That electricity can be transmitted B. That electricity transmitting
C. That electricity D. That can be transmitted
10. Don’t leave paraffin heaters in a draught or where they’re _______
A. dangerously knocked over B. in danger knocked over
C. in danger of being knocked over D. in danger of knocking over
11. My father took _______ of the fine weather to a day’s work in his garden.
A. chance B. advantage C. interest D. charge
12. By 2050, medical technology _______ many diseases.
A. has conquered B. will conquer C. will have conquered D. is conquering
13. I realized _______ that he was a thief.
A. sooner or later B. all along C. at the beginning D. eventually
14. _______ his assistance in those days, I would not be so successful now.
A. If it had not for B. Had it not been for
C. If there were not D. Unless I had
15. They thought they could deceive me but they were wrong. I could ________.
A. see them off B. see off them C. see through them D. see them through
16. Janet will see you if you use the computer without permission. She has eyes like a _______.
A. hawk B. bird C. goose D. fox
17. My sister remained very calm. She _______.
 A. kept her temper B. kept her soul C. kept her head D. lost her head
18. A network of railroads to unite the continent and encourage Western settlement _______ before the
Civil War by Asa Whitney.
A. when proposed B. to propose C. was proposed D. a proposal
19. Farmers are at the _______ of the bad weather that can destroy their crop.
A. change B. influence C. force D. mercy
20. He showed his _______ for the TV programme by switching it off.
A. distaste B. discontent C. annoyance D. boredom

Section 2: Word form

OBSESSED WITH YOUR INBOX?

It was not so long ago that we dealt with colleagues through face-
to-face interaction and with counterparts and customers by phone or
letter. But the world of communication has (1) ________ a dramatic 1. GO
transformation, not all for the good. Email, while (2) _______ a swift 2. DOUBT
means of communication providing your server is fully (3) ________ 3. FUNCTION
and that the address you have contains no (4) _________ has had a 4. ACCURATE
(5) _______ effect on certain people's, both at home and in business. 5. SIGNIFY
For these people, the use of email has become (6) _______ addictive 6. RESIST
to the extent that it is (7) ________ their mental and physical health. 7. THREAD
Addicts spend their day (8) ________ checking for email and have a 8. COMPULSION
(9) ________ to panic if their server goes down. It is estimated that 9. TEND
one in six people spend four hours a day sending and receiving
messages the equivalent to more than two working days a week. The
negative effect on (10) ________ is something employers are well 10. PRODUCE
aware of.

Section 1: Fill each of the following numbered blanks with ONE suitable word and write your answers
in the corresponding boxes provided below the passage.
How to win friends and influence colleagues
The worst sins that office workers can commit in the eyes of colleagues are interrupting people on the
phone, talking loudly in front of someone’s desk and arriving late (1) _______ a meeting. It is almost (2)
_______ bad to eat at your desk, make personal phone calls or leave coffee cups (3) _______ around,
according to Bodytalk, a guide published by the Industrial Society, (4) _______ lists the 30 traits most likely
to annoy colleagues.
High on the list are signing on at someone else’s computer terminal (5) _______ signing off afterwards,
messing up the photocopier by jamming the paper or leaving it set to produce multiple copies. Reading
newspaper, doodling, chewing gum, keeping cuddly toys or ornaments on your desk, and putting up postcards
or supposedly witty slogan (6) _______ invite disapproval. Also unpopular are (7) _______ who never fetch a
colleague a drink from the machine, or who (8) _______ to hold the lift door open when others are approaching.
(9) _______ conduct, according to the guide’s author, Judi James, not only gives you an unprofessional image
but is downright anti-social and could result (10) _______ dismissal.
Section 2: Fill the gaps in the passage by choosing the best phrases from A-M.
A few years ago one enlightened city decided to ease traffic congestion by (1) _______. People would
just take a bike, ride it to where they were going and leave it (2) _______. The trouble was the citizens naturally
found it (3) _______ to have their own free bicycle and (4) _______.
That slight detail of human nature apart, it was a good idea and (5) _______. The electric cars buzzing
round the streets of La Rochelle in France are seen (6) _______ and, it is clamed, will make it easier (7)
_______ within the city centre.
The idea is based on the belief that people like their own space, the freedom to drive a vehicle
themselves (8) _______. It’s also based on the fact that cars in towns usually carry just one person. In effect, it’s
(9) _______. At the moment, it’s a slightly utonpian view but the concept has grown (10) _______.

A. to end the use of private cars H. supplying sufficient communal bicycles

 B. rather than crowd on to a bus or train I. taking the place of bicycles
C. to encourage their use J. a sort of do-it-yourself taxi
D. stock swiftly dwindled K. as a supplement to conventional cars
E. out of a practical study L. instead of car
F. for someone else to use M. it’s now the basic of a new scheme
G. even more convenient

Section 4: Choose the best answer (A, B, C or D) to complete each numbered gap in the passage below.
Identify your answer by writing the corresponding letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet.
CARNIVOROUS PLANTS
All plants rely on nutrients taken from the soil in order to survive. However, in areas where the soil does not
contain enough (1) _______ nutrients, some plants have adapted to (2) _______ their diets from another source:
living organisms. Though they are few in number, carnivorous plants are (3) _______ fascinating beings that
“eat” anything from one-celled organisms to insects in order to survive. They are commonly found in
marshlands. Carnivorous plants feature one of several types of “traps” to ensnare prey, which they consume to
make up for nutrients that may be missing from the soil. While there are over 400 species of carnivorous plants
in the world today, some are more (4) _______ than others.
The most well-known of these plants are the snap traps, which include the Venus flytrap. Snap traps are
easily identified by their leaves, which are separated into two lobes that have the ability to fold together. Inside
the lobes, the surface is covered with tiny hairs that are (5) _______ to movement. When the plant’s prey
brushes against the hairs, it triggers a closing mechanism that rapidly brings the two lobes together, trapping the
prey (6) _______ inside. The response of the traps is phenomenal (7) _______ speed: the time between
triggering the hairs and snapping shut is less than a second. As the prey struggles inside the trap, it only triggers
more hairs, causing the leaves to tighten their (8) _______. The plant then secrets liquid chemicals from special
glands into the trap to dissolve the prey and absorb all of its nutrients. Besides the Venus flytrap, only one other
type of snap trap exists today, (9) _______ to as the waterwheel plant. The two share a common ancestor and
differ only in a few ways. For instance, the waterwheel is an aquatic plant, while the flytrap is exclusively
terrestrial. In addition, the flytrap feeds primarily on arthropods like spiders, while the waterwheel lives (10)
_______ simple invertebrates, like certain types of plankton.
1. A. critical B. vital C. crucial D. indispensable
2. A. modify B. enlarge C. augment D. supplement
3. A. nonetheless B. though C. contradictorily D. yet
4. A. prevalent B. current C. domineering D. prevailing
5. A. vulnerable B. liable C. prone D. sensitive
6. A. closely B. securely C. irreplaceably D. steadily
7. A. in accordance with B. in preference to C. in regard to D. on merits of
8. A. fist B. hold C. seizure D. grip
9. A. denoted B. referred C. indicated D. implicated
10. A. off B. onto C. though D. with
Exercise 2. There are 10 errors in the following passage. Identify and correct them like the example
provided.
Example: success (Line 1) → succeed
It is very difficult to success in the music business; nine out of Line 1 …………………..
ten bands that release a first record fail to produce the second. Line 2 …………………..
Surviving in the music industry requires luck and patience, but most Line 3 …………………..
of all it requires and intricate knowledge of how a record company is Line 4 …………………..
functioned. The process begins when a presenter of a company’s Line 5 …………………..
Artist and Repertoire (A&R) department visits bars and night clubs, Line 6 …………………..
scouting for young, talented bands. After the representative identifies Line 7 …………………..
a promised band, he or she will work to negotiate a contract with that Line 8 …………………..
band. The signature of this recording contract is a slow process. A Line 9 …………………..
company will spend a long time to investigate the band itself as well Line 10 …………………..
as current trends for popular music. During this period, it is important Line 11 …………………..
that a band reciprocates with an investigation of its own, learning as Line 12 …………………..
much as possible about the record company and making personnel Line 13 …………………..
connections within the different departments that will handle their Line 14 …………………..
recordings.

Exercise 3. Supply the correct FORM of the word in capital letters.

Before going to an interview, it is advisable to go through a mock interview. This will give you the
opportunity to try out your technique and answers live. It is also a chance to receive feedback that is (1.
BENEFIT) __________ in guiding you towards improving your interview style and general (2. PRESENT)
__________. Just one mock interview will result in a (3. NOTICE) ______ improvement in your interview
skill. Why? For the same reason that a (4. SPEAK) _______ doesn’t exist while it is still on paper or
floating in your head. It only exists when you give it (5. ORAL)_______. The first time you give it in
front of an audience, it will come out nothing like the one you prepared.
It is the same with being interviewed. It is not enough to look at a question and say, ‘Yeah, I know
the answer to that one.’ You need to practise your answer live; this is not the time to talk to yourself in
front of a mirror. Seek out a (6. PROFESSION) _______ and have the session videotaped. Then you will
have two opinions – the interview’s and your own. You will find you get a completely different (7.
IMPRESS)________ when listening to yourself than when you are watching yourself saying something.
Just as your voice always sounds different on tape, so do your (8. RESPOND) _______. You will be glad
the image is captured on tape and not in a potential employer’s mind. For maximum effect, you should (9.
VISIT)________ your answers and go through a second mock interview. This should help with any (10.
EASE)________ and give you more confidence for the real interview.

Exercise 3. Read the passage then choose the best answer to each question that follows.
The symptoms of hay fever include watery and itchy eyes and a runny, congested nose. People
suffering from hay fever may experience occasional wheezing and repeated bouts of sneezing and may
even lose their sense of smell. Some victims of hay fever may also have stopped-up ears. About 30 percent
of those who suffer from hay fever may develop the symptoms associated with periodic asthma or a sinus
infection. The allergen-antibody theory does not fully explain allergic reactions because the membranes
and glands in eyes and ears are controlled by the independent nervous system, which keeps these organs in
balance. But the independent nervous system itself is part of the emotional- response center and may cause
the feelings of anger, fear, resentment, and lack of self-confidence in reaction to allergy-causing
substances.
The most common cause of hay fever is the pollen of ragweed, which blossoms during the summer
and autumn. When airborne pollen particles, as well as mold, come into contact with the victim’s
membranes, they can cause allergic reactions that release histamine and result in virtual blockage of air
passages. To prevent hay fever or to decrease the severity of its symptoms, contact with the ragweed pollen
should be reduced. Although some communities have attempted to eliminate the plants that cause the
reactions, elimination programs have not been successful because airborne pollen can travel considerable
distances. Antihistamine can help with short but severe attacks. Over extended periods of time, however,
patients are prescribed a series of injections of the substance to which they are sensitive in order to increase
immunity and thus be relieved of the seasonal allergy.
(Resource: Toefl test strategies by Eli Hinkel, Ph.D)
1. It can be inferred from the passage that the phrase “hay fever” refers to________.
A. fodder for cattle B. a seasonal discomfort C. viral bacteria D. a lung disease
2. According to the passage, the symptoms of the allergy are predominantly________.
A. abdominal B. intestinal C. respiratory D. chronic
3. What can be inferred from the first paragraph?
A. Hay fever may cause severe allergic reactions and even death.
B. The cause of allergic reactions has not been determined.
C. The nervous system balances allergic reactions.
D. People should not have an emotional response to allergic reactions.
4. According to the passage, patients suffering from hay fever may also experience________.
A. hunger pains B. mood swings
C. nervous blockages D. sensory perceptions
5. The word “resentment” is closest in meaning to________.
A. reprieve B. reprisal C. irritation D. grief
 6. According to the passage, the irritants are transported by________.
A. wind B. food C. travelers D. air passages
7. The word “blockage” in the passage is closest in meaning to________.
A. obstruction B. bleeding C. enlargement D. dryness
8. According to the passage, to avoid incidents of hay fever, patients need to________.
A. avoid interactions with other patients B. avoid exposure to pollen
C. increase their self-confidence D. take doses of prescribed medicine.
9. Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage as a cause of allergies?
A. pollen B. mold C. flowers D. injections
10. A paragraph following this passage would most probably discuss________.
A. how the nervous system alerts patients. B. how the immune system reacts to allergens.
C. what other diseases can be relieved by vaccines. D. what flowers are harmless to hay fever patients.
Exercise 1. Rewrite the following sentences without changing their meaning.
1. Return the product to the shop if you have any complaint about it.
Should ______________________________________________________
2. It’s almost nine months since I stopped subscribing to that magazine.
I cancelled ______________________________________________
3. Her success went beyond her expectation.  Never ________________________________
4. His fondness for the game increased with his proficiency.
The more ____________________________________________
5. Simon hadn’t expected that he would feel so weak after the operation.
The operation left ___________________________________
6. I am sure he recognized us at the airport.  He must __________________________________
7. The journalists only heard about the changes to the wedding plans when they arrived at the avenue.
Not _______________________________
8. “Why can’t you do your work more carefully?” Helen’s boss said to her.
Helen’s boss criticized ____________________________________________
8. Someone has suggested raising the parking fees in the city.
It __________________________________________
9. That dress is a third of the cost of the blue one.
The blue dress is three________________________________
II. Fill in each blank space with an appropriate word.
THE BIRTH OF THE T-SHIRT
The T-shirt, or at least the T-shirt as we know it, was born in the theatre. When Tennessee William's
play A Streetcar Named Oesire opened in New York in December 1947, a young actor (1) ____________
Marlon Brando went (2) __________ stage wearing a (3) _________ of blue jeans and a bright, white,
capped-sleeve T-shirt. It was the first time the T-shirt had been seen publicly as anything (4)
____________ an item of underwear and it set a fashion trend that was to last through (5) _____________
the end of the century. The idea for the T-shirt came (6) __________ Brando himself. He had worn one at
rehearsals for the play. The director was so impressed by the look that was created that he asked Brando to
wear the shirt in the play itself. Brando may have seen the shirt being advertised by the American company
Sears Roebuck. They had decided to market the shirt (7) ___________ a fashionable garment in its (8)
____________ right, rather than just something to be worn (9) __________ warmth beneath a denim
workshirt (10) ___________ an army uniform. It was Brando, however, who popularized it, especially with
the release of the film version of Streetcar in 1951. A short leather jacket completed the look that was to be
adopted by teenage rebels in many countries for decades afterwards.
Part 2: Read the text below and think of the word which best fits each gap.
Parents- as you are probably (0) __________ aware- are easily shockable. No matter (1) __________
hard they try to be trendy and to keep up to date with modern fads, they (2) ____________ never quite help
being a generation removed. Life simply moves too quickly for them. They will in (3) ____________
likelihood attempt to maintain some sort of dialogue with you by going out and buying the latest CDs, only
(4) ____________ find a few months later the charts are filled by acts (5) _____________ names they have
never heard of. Then they get frustrated and it all comes pouring out during an edition of some chart show
on TV when they moan that there has never been anything (6) ___________ listening to since their day-
whenever that happened to be.
Other parents don’t even try to understand their kids. They occupy the moral high (7) ___________ and
dismiss anything that has happened since their youth (8) ____________ decadent. Naturally, as lovers of
folk music or slushy ballads, their principal complaint against rock music is that they can’t make (9)
____________ the words. Hardly a day seems to go by (10) _____________ you incurring their
displeasure one way or (11) ______________, whether it’s your hair, your clothes (12) ____________ the
fact that you stayed out till three. So (13) ____________ bother trying to please them? You might just
(14) ____________ well wind them (15) ___________ even more.
Part 1: (5pts) Writing0.
0. Jane regretted speaking so rudely to the old lady. (MORE)
Jane … WISHED SHE HAD SPOKEN MORE …..politely to the old lady.
1. Inefficient treatment of customers creates a bad impression of the company. (REFLECTS)
Treating customers with a lack ………………………………………. ………..the company.
2. Daniel didn’t get the job because he was considerably less experienced than Hannah. (DEAL)
Hannah got the job because she had ………………………………………… Daniel.
3. Although Rudy really didn’t want to play cricket on Sunday, he agreed in the end. (DEAD)
Despite ……………………………………………….cricket on Sunday, Rudy agreed in the end.
4. Josh doesn’t usually tell lies. (LIKE)  It………………………….…………………lies.
5. Francis chose computing rather than marketing for his next course. (PREFERENCE)
Francis opted …………………………………………….. for his next course.
6. Smokers are more likely to be affected by heart attacks than non-smokers. (SUBJECT)
Smokers………………………………………..non-smokers..
7. The decision was made while I was not there. (ABSENCE)
The decision …………………………………………………………….
8. She didn’t even make the effort to find out how to spell my name. (TROUBLE)
She didn’t even ……………………………………………find out how to spell my name.
9. Why didn’t you search everywhere for your wallet? Then you might have found it. (LOW)
Had ……………………………………………………., you might have found it.
10. It was not until the storm subsided that we knew how much damage had been done. (EXTENT)
Only when the storm subsided ……………………………………………………damage.

Part 3. Complete the following sentences with suitable prepositions or particles. (10 points)
1. He’s sometimes bad tempered but he’s a good fellow _________ heart.
2. Don’t quote me. What I am about to say is _________ the record.
3. I was taken _________ when Michaela said I’d hurt her feelings.
4. If it starts to rain, make _________ a nearby cave to wait for it to pass.
5. Capital punishment was done ________ _________ in Britain nearly half a century ago.
6. When the funds finally petered _________, they had to abandon the scheme.
7. The dentist told me that when the effect of the anaesthetic wore _________, I might feel a little pain. But
it was more than a little.
8. Everyone approved of the scheme but when we asked for volunteers they all hung _________.
9. Their predictions were not borne _________ by subsequent events. In fact, the very opposite occurred.
10. To prevent soldiers from rebelling, the commander splits them into groups to play them ________
_________.

Part 4. Read the text and do the following tasks. (15 points)
 HOW DOES THE BIOLOGICAL CLOCK TICK?
A. Our life span is restricted. Everyone accepts this as ‘biologically’ obvious. ‘Nothing lives for
ever!’ However, in this statement we think of artificially produced, technical objects, products which are
subjected to natural wear and tear during use. This leads to the result that at some time or other the object
stops working and is unusable (‘death’ in the biological sense). But are the wear and tear and loss of
function of technical objects and the death of living organisms really similar or comparable.
B. Our ‘dead’ products are ‘static’, closed systems. It is always the basic material which constitutes
the object and which, in the natural course of things, is worn down and becomes ‘older’. Ageing in this
case must occur according to the laws of physical chemistry and of thermodynamics. Although the same
law holds for a living organism, the result of this law is not inexorable in the same way. At least as long as
a biological system has the ability to renew itself it could actually become older without ageing; an
organism is an open, dynamic system through which new material continuously flows. Destruction of old
material and formation of new material are thus in permanent dynamic equilibrium. The material of which
the organism is formed changes continuously. Thus our bodies continuously exchange old substance for
new, just like a spring which more or less maintains its form and movement, but in which the water
molecules are always different.
C. Thus ageing and death should not be seen as inevitable, particularly as the organism possesses
many mechanisms for repair. It is not, in principle, necessary for a biological system to age and die.
Nevertheless, a restricted life span, ageing, and then death are basic characteristics of life. The reason for
this is easy to recognise: in nature, the existent organisms either adapt or are regularly replaced by new
types. Because of changes in the genetic material (mutations) these have new characteristics and in the
course of their individual lives they are tested for optimal or better adaptation to the environmental
conditions. Immortality would disturb this system — it needs room for new and better life. This is the basic
problem of evolution.
D. Every organism has a life span which is highly characteristic. There are striking differences in
life span between different species, but within one species the parameter is relatively constant. For
example, the average duration of human life has hardly changed in thousands of years. Although more and
more people attain an advanced age as a result of developments in medical care and better nutrition, the
characteristic upper limit for most remains 80 years. A further argument against the simple wear and tear
theory is the observation that the time within which organisms age lies between a few days (even a few
hours for unicellular organisms) and several thousand years, as with mammoth trees.
E. If a life span is a genetically determined biological characteristic, it is logically necessary to
propose the existence of an internal clock, which in some way measures and controls the ageing process
and which finally determines death as the last step in a fixed programme. Like the life span, the metabolic
rate has for different organisms a fixed mathematical relationship to the body mass. In comparison to the
life span this relationship is ‘inverted’: the larger the organism the lower its metabolic rate. Again this
relationship is valid not only for birds, but also, similarly on average within the systematic unit, for all
other organisms (plants, animals, unicellular organisms).
F. Animals which behave ‘frugally’ with energy become particularly old, for example, crocodiles
and tortoises. Parrots and birds of prey are often held chained up. Thus they are not able to ‘experience life’
and so they attain a high life span in captivity. Animals which save energy by hibernation or lethargy (e.g.
bats or hedgehogs) live much longer than those which are always active. The metabolic rate of mice can be
reduced by a very low consumption of food (hunger diet). They then may live twice as long as their well-
fed comrades. Women become distinctly (about 10 per cent) older than men. If you examine the metabolic
rates of the two sexes you establish that the higher male metabolic rate roughly accounts for the lower male
life span. That means that they live life ‘energetically’ — more intensively, but not for as long.
G. It follows from the above that sparing use of energy reserves should tend to extend life. Extreme
high performance sports may lead to optimal cardiovascular performance, but they quite certainly do not
prolong life. Relaxation lowers metabolic rate, as does adequate sleep and in general an equable and
balanced personality. Each of as can develop his or her own ‘energy saving programme’ with a little self-
observation, critical self-control and, above all, logical consistency. Experience will show that to live in
this way not only increases the life span but is also very healthy. This final aspect should not be forgotten.
A. Choose the correct heading for paragraphs B-G from the list of headings below.
List of Headings
i. The biological clock
ii. Why dying is beneficial
 iii. The ageing process of men and women
iv. Prolonging your life
v. Limitations of life span
vi. Modes of development of different species
vii. A stable life span despite improvements
viii. Energy consumption
ix. Fundamental differences in ageing of objects and organisms
x. Repair of genetic material
Example answer: Paragraph A v
B. Complete the notes below. Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each
answer.
• Objects age in accordance with principles of (7) _________ and of (8) _________.
• Through mutations, organisms can (9) _________ better to the environment.
• (10) _________ would pose a serious problem for the theory of evolution.

THE TRADE IN RHINO HORN

Last year thieves broke into a Scottish castle and stole only one thing: a rhino horn, which is at 1.5 metres,
was the longest in the world. In China, pharmaceutical factories have been building up (1) ______ of
antiques made from rhino horn, for the sole purpose of smashing them to powder to make the (2) ______
ingredient of many of their medicines. And in Africa poachers continue to die in the (3) ______ for the
black rhino.
Recently, conservationists have met to (4) ______ a campaign to persuade countries where rhino horn is
still a part of the traditional medicine to switch to substitutes. The biggest (5) ______ to the survival of the
rhinoceros is the refusal of certain countries to enforce a ban on domestic (6) ______ in rhino horn.
The rhino horn is included in many aids for disorders ranging from fevers to nosebleeds. Horn, like
fingernails, is made of keratin and has no proven medicinal (7) ______ . Traditional substitutes, such as
horn from buffalo or antelope, are regarded as second best.
The battle is (8) ______ to be winnable. But it may be harder than the battle against the trade in ivory, for
there is a (9) ______ between the two commodities. Ivory is a luxury, while rhino horn, people believe
could (10) ______ the life of their child.
1. A. bundles B. collections C. amounts D. groups
2. A. real B. actual C. essential D. true
3. A. tight B. chance C. search D. race
4. A. design B. plan C. programme D. form
5. A. threat B. danger C. disaster D. menace
6. A. business B. commerce C. selling D. trading
7. A. capacity B. property C. control D. powers
8. A. thought B. dreamed C. imagined D. viewed
9. A. variation B. comparison C. gap D. difference
10. A. make B. save C. help D. survive

D. WRITING (50 points)

1. They say this company is one of the most reliable in the country. (REPUTED)
This company _____________________________ of the most reliable in the country.
2. We were all surprised when she announced that she was engaged to be married. (ANNOUNCEMENT)
The _____________________________________________________ all by surprise.
3. Finding the survivors is our number one priority. (UTMOST)
It is of the _________________________________________________ the survivors.
4. Whatever happens, I will never trust him again. (EVER)
Under ___________________________________________________ trust him again.
5. Tom didn’t feel like dancing that night. (MOOD)
Tom _________________________________________________ dancing that night.
Part 2
1. Absolute secrecy was crucial to the success of the mission.
Without _____________________________________________________________.
2. The two sides never looked likely to reach an agreement.
At no time was ________________________________________________________.
3. He is a complete hypocrite; in public he condemns smokers, yet he smokes a packet a day himself.
So __________________________________________________________________.
4. Ruth never asks anyone for a loan as she doesn’t like to admit she has financial problems.
Ruth is ______________________________________________________________.
5. He loses his temper at all things, even the slightest one.
He flies ______________________________________________________________.

Section 2: Write an essay of around 250 words on the following topic.

The idea of going overseas for university study is an exciting prospect for many people. But while it may offer
some advantages, it is probably better to stay home because of the difficulties a student inevitably encounters
living and studying in a different culture.
To what extent do you agree or disagree this statement?
Give reasons for your answer.

Part 2: (10pts) The pie graphs below show the results of a survey of children’s activities.
The first graph shows the cultural and leisure activities that boys participate in, whereas the second graph
shows the activities in which girls participate.
Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where
relevant.
Write about 150 words.