HỘI CÁC TRƯƠNG THPT CHUYÊN KÌ THI HỌC SINH GIỎI NĂM 2022

VÙNG DUYÊN HẢI VÀ ĐÔNG BẮC MÔN: TIẾNG ANH LỚP 11

BẮC BỘ Thời gian: 180 phút
TRƯỜNG THPT CHUYÊN HÙNG Đề thi gồm 18 trang
VƯƠNG
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ĐỀ THI ĐỀ XUẤT

SECTION I. LISTENING (50pts)

HƯỚNG DẪN PHẦN THI NGHE HIỂU

 Bài nghe gồm 4 phần; mỗi phần được nghe 2 lần, mỗi lần cách nhau 05 giây; mở đầu
và kết thúc mỗi phần nghe có tín hiệu. Thí sinh có 20 giây để đọc mỗi phần câu hỏi.

 Mở đầu và kết thúc bài nghe có tín hiệu nhạc. Thí sinh có 03 phút để hoàn chỉnh bài
trước tín hiệu nhạc kết thúc bài nghe.

 Mọi hướng dẫn cho thí sinh (bằng tiếng Anh) đã có trong bài nghe.

Part 1: For questions 1-5, listen to a talk about private education and decide whether
these statements are True (T), False (F), or Not Given (NG). Write your answers in the
corresponding numbered boxes provided. (10pts)
1. Enrollment in private primary schools has registered greater increase compared with

that in private secondary schools over the last 15 years.

2. The demand for private schools stems from profound socio-economic changes.

3. Private education plays an important role in solving illiteracy in several massive states
in Pakistan.

4. Inclusivity is one noticeable factor that many private schools lack.

5. High levels of tuition fee in the private sector are understandable considering the high
quality of education that private schools offer.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Part 2: For questions 6-10, listen to a talk about Neptune and answer the questions.
Write NO MORE THAN FOUR WORDS taken from the recording for each answer in
the corresponding numbered boxes provided. (10pts)
6. What is the distance between Neptune and the Sun?
7. What is Neptune’s core made up of besides water ice?
8. What gives Neptune blue color?
9. What can strong winds recorded on Neptune do?
10. What is the name of the spacecraft that has visited Neptune?

6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

Part 3: For questions 11-15, listen to a radio interview in which two academics called
John Farrendale and Lois Granger, taking part in a discussion on the subject of
attitudes to work and choose the answer (A, B, C or D) which fits best according to what
you hear. Write your answers in the corresponding numbered boxes provided. (10pts)
11. Lois agrees with John's point that
A most people dread the prospect of unemployment.

B the psychological effects of unemployment can be overstated.

C some people are better equipped to deal with unemployment than others.

D problems arise when unemployment coincides with other traumatic events.

12. Lois agrees with the listener who suggested that

A work is only one aspect of a fulfilling life.

B voluntary work may be more rewarding than paid work.

C not everybody can expect a high level of job satisfaction.

D people should prepare for redundancy as they would for retirement.

13. What is John's attitude towards people who see work as a 'means to an end'?
A He doubts their level of commitment to the job.
B He accepts that they have made a valid choice.

C He fears it will lead to difficulties for them later.

D He feels they may be missing out on something important.

14. When asked about so-called 'slackers' at work, John points out that
A they accept the notion that work is a necessary evil.

B people often jump to unfair conclusions about them.

C their views are unacceptable in a free labour market.

D such an attitude has become increasingly unacceptable.

15. Lois quotes the psychologist Freud in order to

A show how intellectual ideas have shifted over time.

B provide a contrast to the ideas of Bertrand Russell.
C question the idea that a desire to work is a natural thing.
D lend weight to John's ideas about increased social mobility

11. 12. 13. 14. 15.

Part 4: For questions 16-25, listen to a recording about a medical robot named Grace
and complete the summary below using words taken from the recording. Write NO
MORE THAN THREE WORDS in each blank. (20pts)
- Both Grace and her sister – the well-known (16) __________ Sophia – was created by a
company called Hanson Robotics.
- Grace is only capable of determining your (17) __________ and also your temperature with
a(n) (18) __________.
- In terms of mental health treatment, Grace can socially stimulate patients’ mood, entertain
them or do (19) __________.

- According to David Hanson Grace’s (20) ___________, which gives her the ability to
socially interact by making natural engagement easier, was designed with the goal of
preventing (21) __________ from being overwhelmed.
- Grace is the result of a(n) (22) __________ between Hanson Robotics and another company
called Singularity Studio.

- Once Grace is mass produced, production costs – currently (23) ___________ the prices of
luxury cars – will begin to drop.
- In July or August, the beta version of Grace will be produced on the (24) _________ before
testing and deployment, all of which is part of the (25) ___________.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

SECTION II. GRAMMAR & VOCABULARY (30pts)

Part 1: Choose the correct answer A, B, C or D to each of the following questions and
write your answers in the corresponding numbered boxes provided. (20 pts)
1. Rescuers cast a _____ to the drowning man and hauled him out of the sea.
A. lifeline B. lifeboat C. lifeguard D. lifesaver
2. Although citizen-centred schemes involve residents in debates, full political _____ is kept
by local councillors and MPs.
A. autonomy B. autarchy C. autocracy D. authority
3. He answered the teacher’s question so quickly that it seemed as though he had _____ the
answer out of the air.
A. grabbed B. snatched C. seized D. plucked
4. This curtain material _____ easily.
A. hangs itself B. makes itself C. creases D. bend
5. There is no need to get so _____ about being turned down. There are other advertising
agencies out there, you know.
A. destitute B. descendant C. despondent D. despicable
6. He likes nothing better than to spend his Sunday mornings _____ in the gardens.
A. pottering about B. hanging around C. whiling away D. winding down
7. Having lost her home, Lucy got _____ a gang of people who hang around causing trouble.
A. in with B. up to C. on with D. by on
8. Julie felt unfairly _____ when she spoke out against a company proposal and the entire staff
team turned against her.
A. prosecuted B. persecuted C. oppressed D. suppressed
9. It is impossible to miss the _____ of the Generation X in America.
A. manifestation B. propriety C. depreciation D. coalescence
10. Apart from one or two _____ of brilliance from Owen, England put on a rather poor
performance.
A. spells B. flashes C. storms D. spells
11. The way people store their emotions if more corporeal than _____.
A. telegenic B. asymmetric C. psychogenic D. telepathic
12. His fight to _____ four black men of the rape of a seventeen-year-old white girl two years
ago partially inspired the group to protest.
A. exculpate B. exonerate C. bereave D. misappropriate
13. After the hurricane, all that was left of our house was a pile of _____.
A. rabble B. rubble C. ramble D. rumble
14. Having sacked three employees, the boss was obliged to provide each with _____ pay.
A. retirement B. unemployment C. dismissal D. severance
15. Don’t get yourself _____ up over such a trivial matter
A. done B. worried C. whipped D. worked
16. I _____ with the performances but I got the flu the day before.
A. Was to have helped B. helped C. was to help D. had helped
17. She_____ fainted when she heard her father died.
A. Rather than B. nothing but C. all but D. near
18. Three candidates will be short-listed for the post but we do not know _____.
A. whom B. those C. which D. what ones
19. Stars differ differently from planets _____ they are self-luminous whereas planets shine
by reflected lights.
A. From which B. when C. and D. in that
20. Owning and living in a freestanding house is still a goal of young adults, _____ earlier
generations.
A. as did B. as it was of C. like that of D. so have

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20.

Part 2: Use the correct FORM of the word in capitals to fit each gap. Write your answer
in the numbered box. (10 pts)
1. A couple of victories would improve the team's _____ enormously. (MORAL)

2. What the _____ army lacked was not discipline, but numbers, and a coherent strategy.
(SUFFRAGE)

3. “People” is a _____ word. (SYLLABLE)

4. Questions were asked at the eye clinic but these are said to have brought merely a brisk
and _____ response. (OFFICIAL)

5. His _____ gains are all safely stashed away in a Swiss bank. (GET)
6. If a screen does not contain everything one wants, further lexicographic information can be
obtained by clicking on a _____. (LINK)

7. _____ is the transplantation of living cells, tissues or organs from one species to another.
(TRANSPLANTATION)

8. For major grain crops such as wheat, rice, jowar, and bajra, the _____ prices functioned as
the minimum support prices. (CURE)
9. The documented differences between men and women in scientific career paths do not
match what would be expected in a true _____ (MERIT)

10. In Paris, proud _____ never went out of fashion. (INTELLECT)

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

SECTION III. READING COMPREHENSION (60pts)

Part 1: Read the passage below and fill each of the following numbered spaces with
ONE suitable word. Write your answers in the corresponding boxes provided. (15pts)

Striking Back at Lightning With Lasers

Seldom is the weather more dramatic than when thunderstorms strike. Their electrical fury
inflicts death or serious injury on around 500 people each year in the United States (1) _____.
As the clouds roll in, a leisurely round of golf can become a terrifying dice with death - out in
the (2) _____, a lone golfer may be a lightning bolt’s most inviting target. And (3) _____ is
damage to property too. Lightning damage costs American power companies more than $100
million a year.
(4) _____ researchers in the United States and Japan are planning to hit back. Already in
laboratory trials they have tested strategies for neutralising the (5) _____ of thunderstorms,
and this winter they will brave real storms, equipped with an armoury of lasers that they will
be pointing towards the heavens to discharge thunderclouds before lightning can (6) _____.
The idea of forcing storm clouds to discharge their lightning on command is not new. In the
early 1960s, researchers tried firing rockets trailing wires into thunderclouds to (7) _____ up
an easy discharge path for the huge electric charges that these clouds generate. (8) _____
technique survives to this day at a test site in Florida run by the University of Florida, with
support from the Electrical Power Research Institute (EPRI), based in California. EPRI,
which is funded by power companies, is looking at (9) _____ to protect the United States’
power grid from lightning strikes. “We can cause the lightning to strike where we want it to
using rockets,” says Ralph Bernstein, manager of lightning projects at EPRI. The rocket site
is providing precise measurements of lightning voltages and allowing engineers to check how
(10) _____ equipment bears up.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

Part 2: Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C or D) according
to the text. Write your answers (A, B, C or D) in the corresponding numbered boxes.
(10pts)
Undercover journalism
Journalism is too small or too distant a word to cover it. It is theatre; there are no second
takes. It is drama – it is improvisation, infiltration and psychological warfare. It can be
destructive in itself before any print has seen the light of day. It is exhilarating, dangerous and
stressful. It is the greatest job. It is my job.

I am an undercover reporter. For the past year or so, I have been a football hooligan, a care
worker, a bodyguard and a fashion photographer. It is a strange life and difficult one. In the
course of a day, I have assumed four different personalities, worn four different wardrobes
and spoken four different street dialects, and left a little of me behind in each of those worlds.
More important than this, though, are the experiences and emotions I’ve taken away with me.
It’s hard to put a label on them. They have seeped in and floated out of my psyche, but
somewhere in the backyard of my mind the footprints of this strange work are left behind.
I have as yet no real notion as to what, if any, long-term impact they will have. For the
moment, I relish the shooting gallery of challenges that this madness has offered me. In the
midst of all these acting roles and journalistic expeditions, I have endeavoured not to sacrifice
too much of my real self. I have not gone native and I am still sane. At least for the moment.

In the course of any one investigation, you reveal yourself in conversation and etiquette,
mannerism and delivery – of thousands of gesticulations and millions of words – and cover
yourself with the embroidery of many different disguises. If one stitch is loose or one word
misplaced, then everything could crash, and perhaps violently so.
Certainly, as a covert operator, the journalistic safe line is a difficult one to call. Every word
you utter is precious, every phrase, insinuation and gesture has to be measured and
considered in legal and ethical terms. Even the cadence of your voice has to be set to
appropriate rhythms according to the assumed role, the landscape and the terrain of your
undercover patch.
The golden rule is this: as an undercover reporter you must never be the catalyst for events
that would not otherwise have occurred, had you not been there. The strict guidelines within
broadcasting organisations about covert filming mean that, every time I go into the field, a
BBC committee or compliance officer has to grant permission first. It’s a strange but
necessary experience for someone like me, who operates on instinct and intuition, but it’s a
marriage that works well.

The undercover reporter is a strange breed. There is no blueprint that exists. It is your own
journalistic ethos and within those parameters you try to tread a safe line, both in terms of
your journalism and personal safe-keeping. And of course, there’s a high price you pay for
this kind work, home is now a BBC safe house. The only visitors to my bunker are work
colleagues. It’s not a pleasant lifestyle, but I have taken on all the stories in the full
knowledge of the risks involved.

Though I embarked upon my journey with enthusiasm and determination, the climate in
which we undertake this journalistic and documentary mission is an increasingly hostile one.
It is one in which covert filming has come under scrutiny because of concerns about fakery
and deception and the featuring of hoax witnesses. Issues concerning privacy, the use of
covert filming techniques across the media – from current affairs to the tabloid newspapers –
and the way journalists work with these tools have been rigorously appraised. I personally
welcome this scrutiny.
Hi-tech surveillance equipment allows me to tell the story as it unfolds, surrounded by its
own props, revealing its own scars and naked sinews, and delivered in its own dialect. There
is no distortion and only one editorial prism – mine. While the sophisticated technology
allows a visual and aural presentation of events, mentally I rely on the traditional method of
jotting things down to rationalise my thoughts and gain a coherent picture of all that I was
involved in. This is my delivery system – how I narrate.
Inevitably the spotlight has shone on me but those who have worked on either paper trail
investigation in newspapers or in television will know that it will fade. I am happy to return
to the career of a desk journalist because I recognise that the tools we have used are tools of
last resort. I’ll be returning to the more usual journalistic methods: telephone and computer
notebook rather than secret cameras and hidden microphones. But the aim will be the same:
to shed light into the darker corners of society where the vulnerable are most at risk.
1. Which of the following does the writer NOT suggest about his job in general?

A. Journalism is not truly a word to represent it.

B. Those involved hail from various occupations.
C. It entails people to act in different roles.

D. It has a miscellaneous collection of characteristics.

2. As implied by the author, what distinguishes undercover journalism from regular kinds?

A. the range of subjects it touches on

B. the effects of its destructive power
C. the degree of spontaneity in it
D. the harm that it can cause

3. What does the writer suggest about his attitude towards his job?
A. He has a recollection of most emotions triggered by it.

B. He attaches much of his own personality to the roles he assumes.

C. His interest in the job has been retained.

D. He abominates the ordeals involved in it.

4. What does the writer imply about undercover investigators?

A. They are required to be circumspect so as not to conceal their identities.

B. They have to be cautious in order not to cling to a preplanned set of actions.

C. They should try not to be factors causing changes in events.

D. They need to be observant to the reactions of other people while conducting tasks.
5. The writer suggests that undercover investigators:

A. have to live with the consequences of exposing themselves.

B. resent sticking to rules laid down by their employers.

C. tend to be a similar kind of person.

D. operate according to a similar code of conduct.

6. As indicated by the writer, tribulations arise within the profession because

A. the application of cutting-edge technologies is conducive to attempts to falsify
information.

B. covert filming has been put into question following worries about the effects of
documentaries.
C. deceptive testimonies have emerged to degrade the quality of covert filming.

D. how journalists make use of their equipment has come under scrutiny.
7. Regarding the harsher working environment in his profession, it can be implied that the
author:

A. harbours feelings of repulsion at it.

B. displays embrace of it.

C. finds it rather disconcerting.

D. expresses insouciance towards it.
8. What can be inferred about the method used by the author while working as a reporter?
A. He embellishes the stories with details not clearly reflecting what happened

B. He allows technology to cater for every stage of the process.

C. He uses writing as a way of brainstorming ideas and approaching what he would like to
include.

D. He lets the events speak for themselves with the aid of modern technology.
9. What does the passage suggest about the author’s intentions for the future?

A. He will adopt the more traditional work as a journalist.

B. He will make attempts to return to normalcy after all events.

C. He will have recourse to the tools used when there are no alternatives.
D. He will go to some lengths to direct the limelight away from him.

10. The writer sees the primary aim of journalism as:

A. combating the corruption within the society.

B. enlightening people about the disadvantage of the weak.

C. highlighting causes of present-day issues.
D. unraveling the mystery of criminal cases.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

Part 3: Read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B, C or D) according
to the text. Write your answers (A, B, C or D) in the corresponding numbered boxes. (13
pts)

Company innovation

A. In a scruffy office in midtown Manhattan, a team of 30 artificial-intelligence programmers

is trying to simulate the brains of an eminent sexologist, a well-known dietician, a celebrity
fitness trainer and several other experts. Umagic Systems is a young firm, setting up websites
that will allow clients to consult the virtual versions of these personalities. Subscribers will
feed in details about themselves and their goals; Umagic’s software will come up with the
advice that the star expert would give. Although few people have lost money betting on the
neuroses of the American consumer, Umagic’s prospects are hard to gauge (in ten years’
time, consulting a computer about your sex life might seem natural, or it might seem absurd).
But the company and others like it are beginning to spook large American firms, because they
see such half-barmy “innovative” ideas as the key to their own future success.
B. Innovation has become the buzz-word of American management. Firms have found that
most of the things that can be outsourced or re-engineered have been (worryingly, by their
competitors as well). The stars of American business tend today to be innovators such as
Dell, Amazon and Wal-Mart, which have produced ideas or products that changed their
industries

C. A new book by two consultants from Arthur D. Little records that, over the past 15 years,
the top 20% of firms in an annual innovation poll by Fortune magazine have achieved double
the shareholder returns of their peers. Much of today’s merger boom is driven by a desperate
search for new ideas. So is the fortune now spent on licensing and buying others’ intellectual
property. According to the Pasadena-based Patent & Licence Exchange, trading in intangible
assets in the United States has risen from $15 billion in 1990 to $100 billion in 1998, with an
increasing proportion of the rewards going to small firms and individuals.

D. And therein lies the terror for big companies: that innovation seems to work best outside
them. Several big established “ideas factories”, including 3M, Procter & Gamble and
Rubbermaid, have had dry spells recently. Gillette spent ten years and $1 billion developing
its new Mach 3 razor; it took a British supermarket only a year or so to produce a reasonable
imitation. “In the management of creativity, size is your enemy,” argues Peter Chemin, who
runs the Fox TV and film empire for News Corporation. One person managing 20 movies is
never going to be as involved as one doing five movies. He has thus tried to break down the
studio into smaller units—even at the risk of incurring higher costs.

E. It is easier for ideas to thrive outside big firms these days. In the past, if a clever scientist
had an idea he wanted to commercialise, he would take it first to a big company. Now, with
plenty of cheap venture capital, he is more likely to set up on his own. Umagic has already
raised $5m and is about to raise $25m more. Even in capital-intensive businesses such as
pharmaceuticals, entrepreneurs can conduct early-stage research, selling out to the big firms
when they reach expensive, risky clinical trials. Around a third of drug firms’ total revenue
now comes from licensed-in technology.

F. Some giants, including General Electric and Cisco, have been remarkably successful at
snapping up and integrating scores of small companies. But many others worry about the
prices they have to pay and the difficulty in hanging on to the talent that dreamt up the idea.
Everybody would like to develop more ideas in-house. Procter & Gamble is now shifting its
entire business focus from countries to products; one aim is to get innovations accepted
across the company. Elsewhere, the search for innovation has led to a craze for
“intrapreneurship”—devolving power and setting up internal ideas-factories and tracking
stocks so that talented staff will not leave.

G. Some people think that such restructuring is not enough. In a new book Clayton
Christensen argues that many things which established firms do well, such as looking after
their current customers, can hinder the sort of innovative behaviour needed to deal with
disruptive technologies. Hence the fashion for cannibalisation—setting up businesses that
will actually fight your existing ones. Bank One, for instance, has established Wingspan, an
Internet bank that competes with its real branches (see article). Jack Welch’s Internet
initiative at General Electric is called “Destroyyourbusiness.com”.

H. Nobody could doubt that innovation matters. But need large firms be quite so pessimistic?
A recent survey of the top 50 innovations in America, by Industry Week, a journal, suggested
that ideas are as likely to come from big firms as from small ones. Another skeptical note is
sounded by Amar Bhidé, a colleague of Mr Christensen’s at the Harvard Business School and
the author of another book on entrepreneurship. Rather than having to reinvent themselves,
big companies, he believes, should concentrate on projects with high costs and low
uncertainty, leaving those with low costs and high uncertainty to small entrepreneurs. As
ideas mature and the risks and rewards become more quantifiable, big companies can adopt
them.

I. At Kimberly-Clark, Mr Sanders had to discredit the view that jobs working on new
products were for “those who couldn’t hack it in the real business.” He has tried to change the
culture not just by preaching fuzzy concepts but also by introducing hard incentives, such as
increasing the rewards for those who come up with successful new ideas and, particularly, not
punishing those whose experiments fail. The genesis of one of the firm’s current hits,
Depend, a more dignified incontinence garment, lay in a previous miss, Kotex Personals, a
form of disposable underwear for menstruating women.

J. Will all this creative destruction, cannibalisation and culture tweaking make big firms
more creative? David Post, the founder of Umagic, is sceptical: “The only successful
intrapreneurs are ones who leave and become entrepreneurs.” He also recalls with glee the
looks of total incomprehension when he tried to hawk his “virtual experts” idea three years
ago to the idea labs of firms such as IBM though, as he cheerfully adds, “of course, they
could have been right.” Innovation unlike, apparently, sex, parenting and fitness is one area
where a computer cannot tell you what to do.

Questions 1 – 6. Which section contains the following information? Write the correct
number on the given boxes.
i The unpredictability of the public’s viewpoints about a certain topic in the future
ii A list of certain institutions that are having fewer business activities

iii A type of firms that are resorted to compulsive consumption for new ideas
iv The insatiable thirst for outstanding innovations being an impetus to big impacts on the
market.

v Some moguls which expressed financial concerns when investing in the acquisition of
smaller companies.
vi The reason why American business trends are highlighting the importance of initiatives

vii A company that is able to going through economic falters itself.

viii Small firms that can make certain impacts on bigger ones when the former possesses
more potential ideas.

ix Example of three famous American companies’ innovation

x A type of firms that are regarded fly-by-night when investing in entrepreneurship.

1. Section A 4. Section D

2. Section B 5. Section E

3. Section C 6. Section F

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Questions 7-13. In boxes 7-13, write: Y (Yes), N (No), NG (Not Given)

Yes if the statement agrees with the claims of the writer
No if the statement contradicts the claims of the writer
Not Given if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this

7. Peter infers his unwillingness to invest more in restructuring his organization in return for
better creativity management.

8. Some small organizations have a craving for ideas that are regarded as an admixture of
“innovative” and “strange”.
9. Umagic is head and shoulders above other competitors in such a new field.

10. A new trend that has already superseded “entrepreneurship” in one area may directly
impact living organizations.
11. Big giants prioritize innovations with low certainty on the understanding that big risks are
parallel to big profits.

12. It takes many years for Mr Sanders to successfully ditch preconceived ideas in his
organization.
13. The author expressed a positive attitude towards the development of innovations at the
end of the passage.

7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13.

Part 4: In the passage below, seven paragraphs have been removed. For questions 1-7,
read the passage and choose from paragraphs A-H the one which fits each gap. There is
ONE extra paragraph which you do not need to use. Write your answers in the
corresponding numbered boxes provided. (7pts)
How satisfying to pull a chain again. Something went out of British plumbing with the arrival
of the integrated cistern, but everything that went out of British plumbing with the Victorians
has been reinstated in the stateliest form in the bathroom of our suite at the Pool House Hotel.
If only for that achievement alone, it deserves its AA accolade, awarded last Thursday, of
Scottish Hotel of the Year.

1.
In Wester Ross, the old parish of Gairloch - a glorious body of country clasped between the
long sea arms of Loch Torridon and Loch Broom - has all the classic components of the West
Highland landscape. It has the mighty Torridon range, the oldest rock in Britain; the moor-
and-mountain wilderness of Letterewe and the island-studded mirror of Loch Maree - an
inland loch more beautiful than any other, including Loch Lomond. It also has a lonely coast,
sandy bays, leafy glens, Hebridean vistas and numerous whitewashed villages.
2.

The Pool House building on the loch's foreshore, where the River Ewe enters the lake after a
short but vigorous journey from Loch Maree, doesn't look like a traditional Highland lodge.
But scrape away the white paint and roughcast and you will expose pink Torridonian
sandstone - the preferred building blocks of local lairds for three centuries.
3.

Osgood Mackenzie, who caused thin, acid layers of peat on a windswept headland to bloom
with the trees, shrubs and flowers of the temperate world from Chile to Tasmania, lived for a
time in Pool House while he worked obsessively on his horticultural masterpiece. Meanwhile,
his English wife whiled away the hours by carving a chain of Tudor roses in the banisters of
the central staircase.

4.
When the present owners, the Harrison family, made the decision to replace their 13
bedrooms with four themed suites it was Liz Miles who became the creative force. Liz
tracked down the extravagant wallpapers - putto friezes, Michelangelo ceilings, celestial
maps - and sourced most of the antique fittings and furniture.
5.

With some reluctance my husband and I jump ship - forcing ourselves out of the sumptuous
fantasy of Campania, with its 130-year-old cast iron and brass four-poster, to confront the
reality of the weather. As enthusiasts for the elemental challenge of the West Highland
seaboard, we have a busy programme: a rugged walk, a wildlife cruise and, as the softest
option locally available, a visit to Inverewe Garden.
6.

The headland couldn't be more exposed, but the squalls of rain beating in from the Atlantic
sail over our heads en route to the mountains. We flush grouse and snipe from the heather on
our three-hour walk and glimpse red deer. By the time we reach the great sea stacks of Stack
Dubh and Stac Buidhe, there are shafts of sunshine striking the wings of gannets, fulmars and
shags.
7.
We don't. But we do see grey seals, harbour porpoises, great skuas and - quite a spot for a
trainee birdwatcher like me - a huddle of rare, black-throated divers. Warblers and other
songbirds attend our visit to Inverewe Garden, now owned and maintained by the National
Trust for Scotland and not, perhaps, at their best on the cusp between summer and autumn.
But they are still remarkable.
Missing paragraph:

A. The Mackenzie country was dominant in this part of country. Pool House's golden age was
Victorian, when the Highlands became a sporting playground for the gentry. There was
salmon to pull from the River Ewe, deer to stalk and grouse to pot, but for a time the lodge
was home to one of the less predatory Mackenzies: a man who liked to let things grow rather
than cut them down.

B. There was only one willow tree on the promontory where Osgood Mackenzie began his
project in 1862. Now there is a prodigious stand of Scots pine and other native woodland,
planted to supply the windbreak for his exotic trees and shrubs. The contrast is beautiful.
C. Some visitors say they would be willing to pay merely to tour the rooms. Many are
especially fascinated with Diadem, which is modelled on the style of a first-class cabin on the
Titanic. Margaret Harrison's grandfather was a cousin of Captain Smith, the liner's master;
but Peter Harrison, who takes a keen interest in military history, has named all the suites after
warships as a tribute to Pool House's function during the Second World War, when it was the
Navy's headquarters for co-ordinating the North Atlantic and Murmansk convoys.

D. Not all the cottages in these old crofting townships are second homes or self-catering
units. The scattered "capital" of the parish, Gairloch, is something of a boom community,
with energetic young locals raising new houses on scenic building plots. At nearby Poolewe,
which has the botanical curiosity and tourist honeypot of Inverewe Garden, an old shooting
lodge is turning back the clock to find a future.
E. We usually do our own route finding but we want to investigate Rua Reidh Lighthouse,
where Fran Cree and Chris Barrett run residential walking and activity holidays on one of the
most remote headlands of the mainland. Just getting there is an adventure; and the airy nature
of the clifftop paths, with their views to the Outer Hebrides and dizzy drops into empty
beaches, makes us glad of the expert presence of Chris, who is a member of the local
mountain rescue team. "We get called out about a dozen times a year," she tells us.
F. Seldom has washing been such a treat. As I wallow beneath the cascading canopy of the
Shanks Independent Spray Bath (built in Glasgow in 1875 on a scale comparable to the boiler
of a Clyde steamship), I feel a certain kinship with the grey seal idling in the water outside.
From the bathroom window I can see the glassy surface of Loch Ewe - and much of its
wildlife.
G. Our tally of wildlife soars on the sturdy Starquest, which skipper Ian Birks steers to the
wide mouth of Loch Gairloch and the first tugging of the Atlantic. It's the whale-watching
season - the Minch is part of the minke's larder - and it's part of Ian's purpose to monitor their
movements for the Sea Watch Foundation. "But I never advertise these trips as whale-
watching cruises, otherwise people expect to see whales."

H. The carvings are still there, one of the few remnants of the 19th century to survive. How
can this be? From the outside Pool House may look like a made-over inn with 1960s add-ons;
step inside and you enter into the rich, decorative and occasionally camp interior of a
Victorian country house. Yet almost all its finest features, from huge, wood-panelled
bathrooms to marble and polished steel fireplaces, have been retrieved from architectural
salvage yards and put in place over the past three years.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

Part 5: You are going to read an article containing reviews of computer games. Choose
from the reviews (A-E). The reviews may be chosen more than once. Write your
answers in the corresponding numbered boxes provided. (15pts)
A. The retreat was a hasty as it was disorganized, and the fall of Galdor was completed. Had
they held out until the bitter end matching their foes blow for blow with conviction and
strength, they could at least have held their heads high, but Ruan knew all semblance of hope
had evaporated with the battle pressure, and that was what worried him the most, for Oldark
had yet to unleash his full wrath upon the people of Appleton. Though overcome with
frustration, Ruan knew in his heart of hearts that he couldn’t hold Redhorn and the others to
account for their wimpishness; after all, in much the same wat as Rome was not built in a
day, nor were farmers reshaped into warriors overnight. Weary, tired and near broken, Ruan
new the task ahead of him was gargantuan, yet, he told himself, again and again, that he must
succeed.
B. At least their numbers were little depleted, he thought. Such had been the haste to flee that
his men had largely escaped unscathed. Perhaps a handful, he estimated, had fallen, and
perhaps six dozen more had been wounded. Then, momentarily, he almost lost all his
composure as the realization hit him hard like a knife delivered heart-bound with deadly
accuracy. Orlach was not amongst the motley assemblage regrouping around him. What fate
had befallen him? His dearest brother – not kin, it’s true, but their bond to succeed bereft of
the courage Orlach imbued in him? He was, he thought, leader in but name only, for it was
Orlach’s fearlessness that had always driven him forth, sustained him and helped him keep
faith despite the faintest of hopes. Without Orlach, all was lost.

C. Ruan collected himself, eyeing its hapless followers and knowing he must deliver a
rousing message of hope with convincing, albeit false conviction. He held him arm aloft and
a hush descended over the gathering crowd. He gestured towards the woods, where his own
precious spouse and the other brave women of Appleton stood ready to defend their children
to the last; safe as yet, but for how long? He knew they would never abandon their post and
their responsibilities so pitifully as he and his men just had. There would beat no hasty retreat
if it came to it, though he hoped it never would, for that would surely be the end, and he and
his brethren would have utterly failed. So he told his weary listeners they were farmhands no
more and he gestured again towards the hidden dwelling in the woods.

D. Meanwhile, the plumes of smoke coming from what had once been their beloved village
were already evident on the distant horizon. Oldark had razed it to the ground. But Appleton
was alive, he told them, in their hearts and souls. And it would be resurrected. Oldark could
not destroy Appleton: not while a single Appletonian heart was yet beating. Indeed, so far, he
had not even come close. He had but peeled away the surface layter. Houses could be rebuilt.
Yes, the first layer of skin was gone, and it felt raw and bitter now, Ruan ceded. But there
were two more layers, were there not? The body of Appleton had not even been pierced the
once as yet. He stared at his men and thundered his words. They were the skin and bones; the
veins and the arteries; the muscle and sinew, he told them. Their brave spouses, the child
protectorate, the vital organs, the beating heart of Appleton. And the soul, what else could it
be? The younglings. It ran and played and skipped and screamed and smiled everyday; it
brought them love and happiness and completion. What else could it be indeed?
E. Suddenly, this hapless band of farmers realized that, really, the battle had barely begun.
What was lost was nothing, and all was yet to fight for. No less cowed than before, from
somewhere deep inside rumbled the warrior soul and their bellies fired with a primeval sense
of purpose. They would stand and fight yet, and do so with every last sinew of strength they
could muster from their bones, and Oldark would be dethroned. His reign of terror would and
as surely as the harshest winter must eventually retreat and give way to spring, and Appleton
would blossom again. And there would be running and playing and skipping and screaming
and smiling once more. Ruan felt Orlach’s strength within him as though he were still there
and his words no longer carried false conviction. He and his brethren were as men possessed,
and they would prevail.

In which extract…

does Ruan almost panic and lose control? 1. .............

is one of Ruan’s close relatives mentioned? 2. .............
is the nature of a defeat described? 3. .............
does the loss of the close friend leave Ruan feeling dejected? 4. .............
does Ruan compare the different genders of his people unfavourably? 5. .............
are children attributed a sort of spiritual significance? 6. .............
do we learn the fate of Appleton village? 7. .............
does the memory of someone give Ruan more resolve? 8. .............
does Ruan liken his people’s suffering to a wound? 9. .............
does Ruan find some relief in the fact that defeat was not heavy in 10. .............
casualities?

SECTION IV. WRITING (60pts)

Part 1: Read the following extract and use your own words to summarize it. Your
summary should be about 140 words. You MUST NOT copy the original. (15pts)
 The Nature of Genius

There has always been an interest in geniuses and prodigies. The word ‘genius’, from the
Latin gens (=family) and the term ‘genius’, meaning ‘begetter’, comes from the early Roman
cult of a divinity as the head of the family. In its earliest form, genius was concerned with the
ability of the head of the family, the paterfamilias, to perpetuate himself. Gradually, genius
came to represent a person's characteristics and thence an individual's highest attributes
derived from his ‘genius’ or guiding spirit. Today, people still look to stars or genes,
astrology or genetics, in the hope of finding the source of exceptional abilities or personal
characteristics.

The concept of genius and of gifts has become part of our folk culture, and attitudes are
ambivalent towards them. We envy the gifted and mistrust them. In the mythology of
giftedness, it is popularly believed that if people are talented in one area, they must be
defective in another, that intellectuals are impractical, that prodigies burn too brightly too
soon and burn out, that gifted people are eccentric, that they are physical weaklings, that
there's a thin line between genius and madness, that genius runs in families, that the gifted are
so clever they don't need special help, that giftedness is the same as having a high IQ, that
some races are more intelligent or musical or mathematical than others, that genius goes
unrecognised and unrewarded, that adversity makes men wise or that people with gifts have a
responsibility to use them. Language has been enriched with such terms as ‘highbrow’,
‘egghead’, ‘blue-stocking’, ‘wiseacre’, ‘now-all’, ‘boffin’ and, for many, ‘intellectual’ is a
term of denigration.

The nineteenth century saw considerable interest in the nature of genius, and produced not a
few studies of famous prodigies. Perhaps for us today, two of the most significant aspects of
most of these studies of genius are the frequency with which early encouragement and
teaching by parents and tutors had beneficial effects on the intellectual, artistic or musical
development of the children but caused great difficulties of adjustment later in their lives, and
the frequency with which abilities went unrecognised by teachers and schools. However, the
difficulty with the evidence produced by these studies, fascinating as they are in collecting
together anecdotes and apparent similarities and exceptions, is that they are not what we
would today call norm-referenced. In other words, when, for instance, information is collated
about early illnesses, methods of upbringing, schooling, etc., we must also take into account
information from other historical sources about how common or exceptional these were at the
time. For instance, infant mortality was high and life expectancy much shorter than today,
home tutoring was common in the families of the nobility and wealthy, bullying and corporal
punishment were common at the best independent schools and, for the most part, the cases
studied were members of the privileged classes. It was only with the growth of paediatrics
and psychology in the twentieth century that studies could be carried out on a more objective,
if still not always very scientific, basis.

Part 2: CHART DESCRIPTION (15pts)

The bar chart below shows the percentage of government spending on roads and
transport in 4 countries in the years 1990, 1995, 2000, 2005.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make
comparisons where relevant.

Percentage of government spending on road and transport (1990 -

2005)
30

25

20
Percentage

1990
15 1995
2000
10
2005
5

0
Italia Portugal UK USA

Part 3: ESSAY WRITING (30pts)

Some people believe that no one should do the same job for all their working life. Others
argue that doing the same job brings advantages for individuals, companies, and
society. Discuss both views and give your opinion.
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own
knowledge and experience. Write at least 250 words.

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