SỞ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO KỲ THI CHỌN HỌC SINH GIỎI LỚP 12 – VÒNG 1

LONG AN Môn thi: TIẾNG ANH – BẢNG A

ĐỀ CHÍNH THỨC Ngày thi: 07/10/2016
Thời gian: 180 phút (không kể thời gian phát đề)
(Đề thi gồm có 08 trang)
LƯU Ý: THÍ SINH LÀM BÀI TRÊN PHIẾU TRẢ LỜI,
KHÔNG LÀM BÀI TRÊN ĐỀ THI NÀY.
PART 1: LISTENING (20 points)
You will hear people talking in five different situations. For questions 1-5, choose the best
answer (A, B or C). You will hear each piece twice.
1. You are in the service department of an electrical store when you overhear this
technician speaking on the telephone. What does he want the caller to do?
A. wait for a trained technician
B. try adjusting the TV himself
C. bring the TV to the shop

2. You are in a railway waiting room when you overhear this man speaking.
What is he describing?
A. the weather
B. his working conditions
C. a recent illness

3. You are standing at the bar of an English pub when you overhear this exchange.
What does the man want the woman to do?
A. let him have the menu
B. get him some food
C. bring the food to his table

4. You are visiting the offices of a construction company when you overhear a woman
answering the telephone. What is the caller complaining about?
A. noise late at night
B. damage done to his property
C. noise early in the morning

5. You overhear this exchange in an office.

What does the woman want the man to do?
A. type the letter
B. check the letter for spelling
C. give his opinion of the letter

PART 2. READING (28 points)

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 For questions 1-7, read the following passage and choose the correct answer (A, B, C or D).
JOHN PAUL STAPP: THE FASTEST MAN ON EARTH
Captain John Paul Stapp, already a medical doctor, began his scientific career in the
1940s studying the negative effects of high altitude flight, issues absolutely critical to the
future of aviation. How could men survive these conditions? The problem of the bends, the
Line
deadly formation of bubbles in the bloodstream, proved the toughest, but after 65 hours in the
air, Stapp found an answer. If a pilot breathed pure oxygen for thirty minutes prior to take-off,
6 symptoms could be avoided entirely. This was an enormous breakthrough. The sky now truly
was the limit. The discovery pushed Stapp to the forefront of the Aero Med Lab and he
abandoned his plans to become a pediatrician, instead deciding to dedicate his life to research.
The Lab’s mandate, to study medical and safety issues in aviation, was a perfect match for his
talents. It was the premiere facility in the world for the new science of biomechanics.
Stapp was assigned the Lab’s most important research project: human deceleration.
This was the study of the human body’s ability to withstand G forces, the force of gravity,
when bailing out of an aircraft. In April 1947, Stapp traveled to Los Angeles to view the
‘human decelerator’, a rocket sled designed to run along a special track and then come to a
halt with the aid of 45 sets of normal hydraulic brakes, which slowed it from 150 miles per
hour to half of that speed in one fifth of a second. When it did, G forces would be produced
equivalent to those experienced in an airplane crash. The sled was called the “Gee Whiz”.
Built out of welded tubes, it was designed to withstand 100 Gs of force, way beyond the 18
Gs that accepted theory of the time thought survivable. Early tests were conducted using a
dummy called Oscar Eightball, but Stapp soon insisted that conditions were right to use
himself as a human guinea pig.
Exercising a modicum of caution on the first ride in December 1947, Stapp used only
one rocket. The Gee Whiz barely reached 90 miles an hour, and the deceleration was only
about 10 Gs. So Stapp began to increase the number of rockets, and by August 1948, he had
completed sixteen runs, surviving not just 18 Gs but a bone-jarring 35 Gs. Beaten, bruised
and battered though he was by the tests, Stapp was reluctant to allow anyone else to ride the
Gee Whiz. He feared that if certain people, especially test pilots, were used, their hot-
headedness might produce a disaster. Volunteers made some runs, but whenever a new
approach was developed, Stapp was his own one and only choice as test subject. There was
one obvious benefit: Stapp could write extremely accurate physiological and psychological
reports concerning the effects of his experiments.
Yet while the Gee Whiz allowed Stapp to answer the existing deceleration questions,
new ones emerged. What could be done to help pilots ejecting from supersonic aircraft to
survive? Stapp set out to find the answer on a new sled called Sonic Wind No. 1, which could
travel at upwards of 750 miles per hour, and withstand an astonishing 150 Gs. In January
1954, Stapp embarked on a series of runs leading to his 29 th and final ride, which took him to
above the speed of sound, protected only by a helmet and visor. And when the sled stopped,
which it did in a mere 1.4 seconds, Stapp was subjected to more Gs than anyone had ever
willingly endured. He wasn’t just out to prove that people could survive a high speed ejection,
he was trying to find the actual limit of human survivability to G force. As Stapp’s friend,
pilot Joe Kittinger put it: ‘It was a point of departure – a new biological limit he was going to
be establishing on that run’.
Stapp’s life was never the same after that successful run on 10 December 1954.
Dubbed ‘The Fastest Man on Earth’ by the media, his celebrity rose to dazzling heights. Stapp
graced the pages of magazines, and became the subject of a Hollywood movie. If the attention
was a bit much for the soft spoken Lt. Colonel Stapp, it nevertheless provided him with an
opportunity he had longed for – to promote the cause of automobile safety.

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 For even in the earliest days of the Gee Whiz tests, Stapp had realized that his research
was just as applicable to cars as it was to airplanes. At every opportunity, Stapp urged the car
industry to examine his crash data, and to design their cars with safety in mind. He lobbied
hard for the installation of seat belts and improvements such as soft dashboards, collapsing
steering wheels, and shock absorbing bumpers. “I’m leading a crusade for the prevention of
needless deaths,” he told Time magazine in 1955.
Stapp’s work in aeronautics and automobiles continued right up until his death in 1999
at age 89. He had received numerous awards and honors. But the best was the knowledge that
his work had helped to save many lives, not just in aviation, but on highways around the
world.

1. What does the writer mean when he says ‘The sky now truly was the limit’
(lines 6-7)?
A. Stapp had set an unassailable scientific record.
B. All previous restrictions on flight had been removed.
C. Pilots could now be trained to fly at greater altitude.
D. A new design was needed for high-altitude planes.

2. What assessment of Stapp’s skills does the writer make in the first paragraph?
A. His scientific skills were superior to those of his contemporaries.
B. He was able to solve scientific problems at great speed.
C. He was able to prove a theory set out by others.
D. He was ideally qualified for employment at Aero Med Lab.

3. What was surprising about the construction of Gee Whiz?

A. It incorporated a revolutionary new kind of brakes.
B. It was initially designed to function without a passenger.
C. It could withstand exceptionally high G forces.
D. It was not built of conventional materials.

4. Why did Stapp usually insist on doing test runs on Gee Whiz himself?
A. He felt his powers of observation were superior to those of other people.
B. He was aware that some people were psychologically unsuited to the tests.
C. He had little faith in the overall safety of the equipment.
D. He thought it was unethical to recruit people for a dangerous task.

5. What was the significance of the experiments on Sonic Wind No. 1?

A. They broke all previous speed records.
B. They gradually improved deceleration times.
C. They set new limits to human potential.
D. They proved that people could survive high speeds.
6. How did Stapp respond to becoming a celebrity?
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 A. He avoided appearing in public if he could.
B. He was embarrassed by the extent of his fame.
C. He responded gracefully to the demands of fame.
D. He made use of his fame to achieve a goal.

7. In this text, the writer implies that Stapp’s main motivation was
A. a desire to minimize loss of life.
B. a spirit of adventure.
C. a quest for knowledge.
D. a wish to be remembered after his death.

PART 3. USE OF ENGLISH (52 points)

1. For questions 1-12, read the text below and decide which answer (A, B, C or D) best fits
each gap. (12 points)
NEREA DE CLIFFORD
Nerea de Clifford, who has died aged 82, was a doughty champion of British cats and a
pillar of The Cat Protection League which she (1) _____ shortly after its foundation in 1927 and
served as president from the 1970s until the time of her death.
Among her many (2) _____ to the welfare of cats – and to our knowledge of their ways –
were the establishment of a sanctuary for them at New Malden, and the publication of such
reports as What British Cats Think About Television, in which she noted that ‘most cats (3) _____
an interest of some kind, though it is often of hostility’; ‘a significant reaction … is the display of
excitement when any picture, especially of birds, moves quickly across the screen.
Nerea Elizabeth de Clifford was born in West London in 1905, and as a young woman
was a distinguished (4) _____ of cats. During the Second World War she devoted herself to the
rescue of cats, trapped in the rubble of the blitz, and (5) _____ to vigorous campaigns for free
feline birth (6) _____.
She (7) _____ an adoption scheme for which her ‘Homes Wanted’ list contained some
notably frank character (8) _____ – ‘a little fiend in feline form’; ‘willing to do light mouse-work
and very good at it, non-union’; ‘a rough old (9) _____’, and so on – and made a point of feeding
London’s cats at Christmas, a favorite repast apparently being fish and chips. She also plumbed
the mysteries of why cats (10) _____ – some because they have just murdered the Pekinese next
door, others ‘for no good (11) _____ at all’.
De Clifford was also a much respected (12) _____ at cat shows around the country, and
gave a series of lecture tours at schools on the training and care of cats.

1. A. met B. enrolled C. joined D. entered

2. A. contributions B. donations C. gifts D. dedications
3. A. make B. give C. show D. have
4. A. farmer B. grower C. trainer D. breeder
5. A. therein B. thereby C. thereafter D. therefore
6. A. control B. check C. limitation D. restriction
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 7. A. made B. ran C. held D. gave
8. A. sketches B. drawings C. pictures D. paintings
9. A. drifter B. ranger C. rover D. stray
10. A. snore B. hum C. purr D. rumble
11. A. purpose B. use C. reason D. point
12. A. judge B. referee C. arbitrator D. umpire

2. For questions 13-22, read the text below and think of the word which best fits each gap.
Use ONLY ONE word in each gap. (10 points)
You’re in a crowd of people who are all asking for the same thing. (13) _____ do you
make your voice heard above the rest? Be different. Don’t shout. Lisa, 25, was waiting to board a
plane flying to Austria, when the flight was cancelled.
‘There were about a hundred of us stranded,’ she says. ‘(14) _____ else was yelling at the
airport staff. I didn’t join in. I walked up to the man behind the ticket desk very quietly and said,
“This (15) _____ be so awful for you! I don’t know how you deal with these situations – it’s not
even your fault. I could never handle it as well as you are.” Without my even asking, he found
me a seat on another airline with an upgrade to first class. He was happy to do a favor for
someone who was appreciative (16) _____ of hostile.’
Flattery is an essential element of the sweet-talk strategy. ‘It’s human psychology that
stroking a person’s ego with a (17) _____ well-directed compliments makes them want to prove
you right,’ says a psychologist. ‘Tell someone they’re pretty and they’ll instantly fix (18) _____
hair; praise their sense of humor and they’ll tell you a joke. So, if you give someone the
opportunity to be your hero, they’ll rise to the role.’
You need help and there’s absolutely (19) _____ reason the person will want to lend a
hand. Allison, 26, a solicitor, realized she’d made a huge mistake on a batch of documents she
needed for a client meeting that began (20) _____ two hours. “The only way I could fix the
problem was to enlist the aid of a colleague who I knew didn’t like me,” she says.
Blatant bribery is difficult to offer – slipping someone cash (21) _____ trying to strike a
bargain will usually backfire, but you can usually gain back some power if you subtly offer a
little payback. Allison went to the woman’s office, wearing a panicked expression and explained
her dilemma. Then she offered the oh-so-subtle bribe. ‘I said, “As I was saying to the boss the
other day, you’re the only person who would know how to handle a situation like this. What
would you suggest I do?” Feeling confident, she set about helping me and we finished the job on
time. The trick was acknowledging (22) _____ as the pro – then she was happy to help.’

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3. For questions 23-32, choose one of these words to fill in the blanks. There are more words
than needed. (10 points)

team spirit defeats relegated hooligans spectators

qualifies outdistance opposition stadium match fixing
professional grossly overpaid sent off sponsorship

For many people, football is more than just a game. Whether they’re (23) _____ on the
terraces, cheering on their favorite team, or whether they’re (24) _____ players taking part in a
major match, football is a way of life. They could not conceive of a world in which the ‘beautiful
game’ does not exist. For them, nothing can match that magical moment when their team (25)
_____ for a major competition like the World Cup, reaches the final then (26) _____ the
opposition in a resounding victory. And, apart from seeing their team lose, nothing can be worse
for them than seeing their favorite team (27) _____ at the end of the season: to see your team
moved down from the first division can be a heartbreaking experience. Anyone who has ever
been inside a (28) _____ during a major match can testify to the passion people have for the
game.
However, there is an ugly side to football. It only takes a few (29) _____ throwing bottles,
invading the pitch and jeering at the players to ruin a match. This has been a problem for a long
time, but evidence suggests that it is getting worse. There is criticism, too, that many top players
are (30) _____. People cannot understand how they can justify their huge salaries simply for
kicking a ball around a pitch. They get even angrier when these extremely wealthy young men
are caught using performance-enhancing drugs or are (31) _____ in disgrace during a match for
committing professional fouls against other players. There is also the more recent problem of
(32) _____ committed by players, coaches, officials and corrupt referees. Acting dishonestly to
get the result you want not only goes against the spirit of the game, people say, but also gives the
game a bad reputation.

4. For questions 33-42, choose the underlined word or phrase in each sentence that needs
correction. (10 points)
33. Just when the city had finished rebuilding from a devastating hurricane of
A B C
three years earlier, came along another hurricane that created further damage.
D
34. The police are trying to locate Smith’s brother in order to ask him some questions.
A B
But nobody seems to be familiar to his whereabouts.
C D
35. Craftsmen are people who provide services in return of money.
A B C D

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 36. I am afraid that your sales performance has fallen shortly of expectations.
A B C D
37. The organizers of the charity were more than surprised at how many people lined
A B
up to receive the clothes donating by the outgoing mayor.
C D
38. Mike persisted doing everything himself, even though it was quite clear that he
A B C
wasn’t capable of doing anything proper.
D
39. Public opinion polling aims to obtain a close-to-exact analyzing of the distribution
A B
of opinions on any issue within a specific population.
C D
40. Luxembourg owes its high standard of living, in part, by the fact that
A B
the labor force makes up almost half of its population.
C D
41. By showing the salesman the flaw in the china vase, I asked him to make a small
A B C
discount in the price.
D
42. Green coffee keeps for a long time, while roasted and ground coffee quickly loses
A B
its flavor and aroma if exposing to air.
C D

5. For questions 43-52, complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the
first sentence, using the word given. Do not change the word given. You must use between
THREE and SEVEN words, including the word given. (10 points)
43. My application for the job was turned down because I didn’t have
the right qualifications.
GROUNDS
My application for the job was turned down __________ I didn’t have
the right qualifications.
44. Scientists have made an unexpected discovery in the treatment of cancer.
BREAKTHROUGH
There ___________ in the treatment of cancer.

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45. The irate customer refused to speak to anyone other than the store manager.
ON
The irate customer __________ to the store manager and no one else.
46. There’s no need to feel superior to everyone else!
NOSE
You shouldn’t __________ everyone else.
47. Everything turned out all right in the end, despite some initial problems.
PLACE
Despite some initial problems, __________ eventually.
48. Paul meant well so you mustn’t be offended by his comments.
AMISS
Please __________ because he meant well.
49. Diane finds that creating things stops her from thinking about her work.
MIND
Diane finds that being __________ her work.
50. I realized that I was in a terrible position and I wasn’t to blame for it.
FAULT
Through __________ myself in a terrible position.
51. He made a very quick decision and he didn’t think about the matter enough.
WITHOUT
He made a very quick decision __________ to the matter.
52. I’ve been too busy to answer my emails, but I’ll do it soon.
ROUND
I __________ my emails yet, but I’ll do it soon.

**** HẾT ****

Họ và tên thí sinh:………………………………………….. Số báo danh:……………...

Chữ ký giám thị 1:…………………………… Chữ ký giám thị 2:………………………

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