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Part 1: Read the texts below and choose the best answer to each question. (Trích từ
đề thi Olympic 30/4 Lớp 11 Năm 2017)
Psychologists are interested in the reasons why some people like taking part in
risky sports. When they studied people who were learning to jump from a plane with
a parachute, they found that parachutists' bodies produced large amounts of two
hormones, adrenaline and nor adrenaline, just before they made their jump.
These hormones help to prepare us for any sudden activity. Adrenaline
increases the heart rate and provides more sugar for the muscles, while nor
adrenaline does make us react more quickly. However, nor adrenaline also stimulates
a part of the brain which controls feelings of pleasure. Some psychologists have
concluded that it is a feeling of pleasure caused by this hormone which makes
certain people want to participate in dangerous sports.
Another possible reason is the level of arousal in part of the brain. According
to some psychologists, the brain tries to maintain a certain level of arousal. They
believe that people who normally have a low level of arousal look for excitement and
new experience in order to stimulate themselves, whereas people who usually have a
high level of arousal try to avoid risks and unfamiliar situations in order not to
become overexcited. If the psychologists are right, people with a low arousal are the
ones who enjoy participating in dangerous sports and activities.
It is thought that people with low levels of arousal have a slower-reacting
nervous system than people with higher arousal levels. It may therefore be possible
to find out your level of arousal by testing your nervous system. A quick way of
doing this is to put some lemon juice on your tongue. If you produce a lot of saliva,
your nervous system has been affected by the lemon and so you probably have a
high level of arousal; if you produce little of saliva, you probably have a low arousal
level. If you have a low level, you might enjoy taking part in risky sports. However,
this does not mean that you have to try parachuting!
1. Why did the parachutists’ bodies produce a lot of adrenaline and nor adrenaline
before they jumped from a plane?
A. It is a natural reaction which guards them against the effects of accidents.
B. This is a natural reaction which helps to prepare one for sudden activity.
C. Because they had high arousal levels.
D. Because they had taken drugs which led to the production of these two
hormones.
2. What two possible reasons are given for some people’s desire to participate in
dangerous sports?
A. The pleasure that results from the production of nor adrenaline, and a low
level of arousal.
B. A low level of arousal, and an inborn desire for adventure.
C. A lack of common sense, and a high level of arousal.
D. A desire to show off, and a lack of common sense.
3. What does the brain try to maintain, according to some psychologists?
A. A certain level of arousal. B. A high temperature
C. A sense of safety. D. A low temperature.
4. What does the word “they” in bold refers to?
A. people who were learning to jump from a plane
B. parachutists’ bodies
C. parachutists
D. psychologists
5. What is shown by putting lemon juice on your tongue?
A. It indicates your level of arousal by the amount of saliva that is produced.
B. It shows that you have a high level of arousal if no saliva is produced.
C. It is a good test of your sense of taste.
D. It can indicate whether your saliva is more acidic or more alkaline.
6. What kinds of substances are adrenaline and nor adrenaline?
A. Vitamins B. Minerals C. Hormones D. Subatomic particles
7. What substance is thought to stimulate the brain to make us feel pleasure?
A. Adrenaline B. Nor adrenaline C. Lemon juice D. Manganese dioxide
8. Which of the following does adrenaline do?
A. It makes the heart beat more quickly.
B. It makes the heart beat more slowly.
C. It makes people afraid.
D. It weakens the muscles.
9. Where were the parachutists when, according to the passage, they produced large
amount of the two hormones?
A. On the ground B. In the air C. At sea D. On an airplane
10. According to some psychologists, what kind of people try to avoid unfamiliar
situations?
A. People who do not like lemon juice.
B. People who normally have a high level of arousal.
C. People who have a low hormone content.
D. People who normally have a low level of arousal.

Part 2: You are going to read weather reports for five different countries. Choose the
correct report (A-E). The Reports may be chosen more than once.

In which weather reports is the following stated?

the remains of a big storm may be felt at the weekend 11.

the weather is unusually good for this time of the year 12. 13.

people going outside should wear extra clothes to stay warm 14.

it would be wise to wear sunscreen if outside a lot 15.

nights will be cold due to lack of cloud cover 16.

there may be a serious danger of water levels rising 17.

there will be a very significant temperature drop 18.

there is an increases risk of stormy weather at this time of year 19.

the risk of severe rainstorms has probably passed 20.

there is a possibility of snow over high ground 21.

the prospects for a certain type of winter activity look poor 22.

different weather may be experienced inland and near the sea 23.

record-high temperatures were experienced recently 24.

a certain area of the country may experience prolonged heavy 25.

rain again this week

Weather Reports
A - Japan
We have come to the end of the monsoon season now and, indeed, winter is fast
approaching. Right on cue, we can expect a band of Arctic air to sweep down over
the country from Siberia. It’s a little early in the season yet for snow, but expect the
next few days to be markedly colder than recent weeks. Daytime temperatures could
fall by as much as 10 degrees, so do make sure you put on an extra layer if you are
going out. This will be especially important in the late evening as the clear skies will
see night-time temperature plummet below freezing and we may experience our
first frosts of the year so care on the roads is also advised. Towards the latter half of
the week, however, a warm front will encroach from the south, so southerly regions
can expect increased levels of precipitation towards the weekend. The warmer air
will nudge its way slowly upwards and begin to dominate weather patterns, so we
are likely to see a return to milder weather for the whole country by the end of the
week.

B - Ireland
It’s certainly been an autumn to remember by Irish standards, and the “Indian
summer” looks set to continue for the foreseeable future with above-average
temperatures and clear skies the theme for the week. There is a depression lurking to
the southwest of the country at the moment, but the signs are that the high pressure
system that has been giving us such glorious sunshine looks set to hold its ground
over the country. There could be a change on Saturday, however, as the remnants of
Hurricane Wilfred move in from the Atlantic.

C - Scotland
The British Isles are having an unusually good spell of weather at the moment, and
there doesn’t seem to be a sign that you should pack away those swimming trunks
yet. In fact, our weather model for the next ten days shows continued fine weather.
It would be too much to ask for the temperatures to remain at their record high;
however, it will stay dry and calm, and unseasonably mild. Top daytime temperature
will reach about 21 degrees and the temperature won’t fall any lower than 14 or 15 at
night. Of course, we’d like to remind everyone that the UV Index is still quite high, so
please ensure that you apply protection to your skin if you are going to go outside
during the day for any significant length of time.

D - Australia
Spring is finally upon us in the Southern Hemisphere and we can look forward to
some good weather towards the start of the week. However, remember that with the
warmer temperatures comes an increased risk of tropical storms and we are
heading into the typhoon season. There are signs that a depression lying to the
south of Melbourne could intensify and develop into something more sinister
towards the end of the week. We are therefore monitoring the situation carefully, but
no weather warnings are being issued for the moment. It is clear, however, that the
fine weather will be interrupted midweek by a band of heavy rain sweeping over the
country from the south. This could fall as snow over the mountains and prolong the
bumper season for you lucky winter sports enthusiasts out there - you’ve really been
spoiled this year!
E - Canada
The signs are not good for the winter sports industry, which took a battering last
season. It will continue wet and windy, but temperatures will remain at or above
normal, so there is little chance of an early dusting of snow on the mountains.
Unfortunately, all our long-range forecasts seem to suggest a mild winter, so there is
not much cause for optimism, it would seem. Getting back to the week ahead, we will
have a break from the rain midweek when high pressure moves in from the west/ By
Thursday, most of central Canada will be dry, though the coastal regions can still
expect to experience some light shoes from time to time. Newfoundland will be the
exception; as the depression holds on here, so islanders can expect to see a
continuation of the miserable wet weather they’ve had up to now. In fact, a flood
warning is in place as the rain is expected to be heavy and persistent and there is a
high risk of the already swollen rivers breaking their banks.

Part 3: You are going to read a magazine article. Six paragraphs have been
removed from the article. Choose from the paragraphs A-G the one which fits each
gap. There is one extra paragraph which you do not need to use.
Mind your languages
Thousands of the world's languages are dying, taking to the grave not just words but
records of civilisations and cultures that we may never fully know or understand.
Linguists have calculated that of the 6,000 languages currently spoken worldwide
most will disappear over the next 100 years. As many as 1,000 languages have died
in the past 400 years. Conversely, a handful of major international languages are
forging ahead.

26

But the vast majority of the world never had need of phrases in Heiltsuk, a Native
Indian language from British Columbia in Canada, which is now dead. Nor will most
people be interested in learning any of the 800 languages spoken on the island of
Papa New Guinea, many of which are threatened. Frederik Kortlandt, from Leiden
University in Holland, is one of several linguists around the world who are
determined to document as many of the world's remaining endangered languages
as possible.

27

Periodically, linguists and other interested parties meet to discuss their work. One
such conference held in Nepal focused on the issue of how to save some Himalayan
languages spoken by just a handful of people. A great number of languages in the
greater Himalayan region are endangered or have already reached the point of no
return.

28

The trouble is, such materials often do not exist. Kortlandt knows a language is
disappearing when the younger generation does not use it any more. When a
language is spoken by fewer than 40 people, he calculates that it will die out.
Occasionally, however, researchers get lucky. Kamassian, a language from the Upper
Yenisei region of Russia, was supposed to have died out, until two old women who
still spoke it turned up at a conference in Tallinn, Estonia in the early 1970s.

29

Would you ask this to a biologist looking for disappearing species?' Kortlandt asks.
'Why should languages, the mouthpiece of threatened cultures, be less interesting
than unknown species? Language is the defining characteristic of the human
species. These people say things to each other which are very different from the
things we say, and think very different thoughts, which are often incomprehensible
to us.'

30

Take, for example, the vast potential for modern medicine that lies within tropical
rainforests. For centuries, forest tribes have known about the healing properties of
certain plants, but it is only recently that the outside world has discovered that the
rainforests hold potential cures for some of the world's mair diseases. All this
knowledge could be lost if the tribes and their languages die out without being
documented.

31

We will only be able to find them and benefit from their properties through one or
more of the 300 languages and dialects spoken on the islands. If the languages die,
so too will the medicinal knowledge of naturally occurring tonics, rubs and potions.
Science could be left wondering what we might have found.

A This is one of the things worrying linguists working in Fiji in the South
 Pacific. There are hundreds of known remedies in Fiji's forests. The guava
leaf relieves diarrhoea, the udi tree eases sore throats, and hibiscus leaf tea
is used by expectant mothers. There are possibly several more yet to be
discovered.

B 'I accept this,' says Kortlandt, 'but at the very least, we can record as much
as we can of these endangered languages before they die out altogether.
Such an undertaking naturally requires support from international
organisations.' But what progress is being in this respect?

C Kortlandt elaborates further: 'If you want to understand the human species,
you have to take the full range of human thought into consideration. The
disappearance of a language means the disappearance of a culture. It is
not only words that disappear, but also knowledge about many things.'

D To non-linguists, while particular stories like this can be fascinating, it must

seem odd to get worked up about the broader issue. Why waste so much
time saving languages spoken by so few? Why look back instead of
forward?

E For example, Chinese is now spoken by 1,000 million people and English by
350 million. Spanish is spoken by 250 million people and growing fast.

F 'There are about 200 languages spoken in this area, but only a few have
been properly described,' says Kortlandt. The problem is it can take years to
document a language. 'We are generally happy when we have a group of
texts we can read and understand with the help of a reliable grammar and
dictionary.

G This often means trekking to some of the most inaccessible parts of the
Earth and can require consummate diplomacy in dealing with remote tribes,
some of which may be meeting outsiders for the first time and may be wary
of strangers asking for so much information about their language.

Part 4: Below the extract you will find the seven removed sentences PLUS one
sentence which doesn't fit. Choose from the sentences (A-H) the one which fits each
gap (1-7)

Rachel Mills teaches and does research into marine geochemistry, which
means she studies the chemical processes happening in the sea. (32)
_______________ When she is not teaching, she lowers herself into a steel
vehicle, a vessel for underwater exploration the size of a small car, and dives three
kilometres down into the Atlantic Ocean to study underwater volcanoes.
 “Inside,” she says, “space is so limited that I can reach out and touch the two
pilots.” (33) _______________ A dive can last for 16 hours – three hours to reach
the ocean floor, ten hours gathering samples of rock and water and then three hours
to get back up to the surface again.
“If anything happens, and you have a problem and have to get to the top
quickly, you can hit a panic button.” The outside drops away leaving a small circular
escape vessel that gets released, and it is like letting go of a ping-pong ball in the
bath – it goes rapidly to the surface. (34) _______________ “I didn’t know how I
was going to react the first time I climbed into the vehicle. It was on the deck of a
ship and I got in with an instructor. (35) _______________ They were testing me
to see how I would react to being in such a small place.”
Now Rachel has made six dives. Last year she dived with a Russian crew. “We
went to a site which was a five-day sail west of the Canary Islands in the Atlantic.
(36) _______________ It is where the Atlantic Ocean comes alive. The Russian
team were dropping off some scientific equipment there to discover the effect of a
multinational programme that would make a hole 150 metres through a volcano.”

A. Here, on the ocean floor, is a huge area of underwater volcanoes, their chimneys
all blowing out black smoke.
B. Here I am on the bottom of the sea, and no one else on this planet has ever before
seen them.
C. “No one has tested it yet, but I do not think it would be a very pleasant journey.”
D. He then talked me through the emergency procedures, including what to do if the
pilot has a heart attack!
E. They are used to these conditions, which mean they cannot stand up or move, and
they must stay inside until someone opens the door from the outside.
F. When it did not happen, we could not believe it.
G. She is a lecturer at the Oceanography Centre at Southampton University.

Part 5: You are going to read weather reports for five different countries. Choose the
correct report (A-E). The Reports may be chosen more than once.

Scientists and their emotions

A. Steven Greene, biologist
Not long ago, I had a long argument with a fellow biologist about a particular
set of experiments. Things got pretty loud and heated, and harsh words were said. A
week later, we sent mutually apologetic texts and made up. This sort of thing doesn't
find its way into scientific papers. We have to present our data, analysis and
interpretation in a way that allows another scientist to understand each step. I am
sometimes jealous of artists for whom sharing and explaining the emotional journey
of a piece of work is celebrated. The absence of a natural forum for scientists to
describe their emotions in their work can lead to the erroneous view that we don't
have any. In fact, we usually make a huge emotional investment in our work.
Science is not for the faint-hearted. I remember attending a talk years ago, at
which the speaker, a distinguished biologist, was continually challenged by the
audience. At one point, a fierce debate broke out at which the speaker was a mute
bystander. This lack of deference is by no means exceptional.
B. Catherine Edwards, oceanographer
Writing a proposal is where most new science begins these days and it's set
out like a business case. After all, your fabulous new idea needs money: equipment,
salaries, overheads. The funding bodies are tough to impress. So the excitement of
having a big new idea is only the first step. The first proposal I ever wrote was for a
three-year project. Initially, writing about why my research topic mattered cheered
me up no end. It's easy to forget the bigger picture when you're working on details,
and it was reassuring to be reminded of the importance of my research subject.
Working out the project details was fiddly and time consuming. Then it slowed down
even more, to a dull plod, as I checked and rechecked things. This was my idea and I
desperately wanted it to be good, to deserve funding. Months after the deadline, an
email told me my project would be funded. My idea wasn't rubbish! Others wanted it
too!
C. Dominika Gajewska, neuroscientist
While doing my postgraduate studies in psychology, I got temporarily
side-tracked by the question of why certain serious psychological problems that
afflict some people always seem to emerge at the end of adolescence. You can make
it through childhood and adolescence and then suddenly become affected. Does
something happen in brain development during adolescence that acts as a trigger?
As I read the existing literature, I became increasingly frustrated that there didn't
seem to be many answers. I talked to my psychology professor, an expert on child
development, and she said: 'Why don't you fill the gap yourself? Apply for funding
and start some new research in developmental neuroscience focusing on human
adolescence?' As she said those words, I remember feeling excited and slightly
apprehensive. It wasn't until then that I realised it was exactly what I wanted to do
— move into a subject that was rather unknown territory to me. I was taking a risk
by moving into developmental work with so little experience, but my mentor's
encouragement made all the difference. Ten years later, I'm pleased with the
outcome.
D. Arif Shah, chemist
In a lab recently, a student of mine excitedly showed me a flask containing a
dark solution. She shone a torch and it lit up, in a vivid bright green. 'Fluorescence,' I
said. The glow attracted a small crowd. Although not a research-changing
observation, it sparked off excited speculation. What was the structure? How was
the light being generated? What spectrums and measurements should be recorded
to understand the observation?
 That buzz was a faint echo of the moment, over 200 years ago, when the
pioneering chemist Humphry Davy first electrolysed molten potash and was
rewarded with a spray of brilliant flashing droplets of potassium. Davy apparently
danced round the room in delight. Few of us are likely to come close to a discovery
of that importance, though it's something many yearn for. There is, however,
something profoundly pleasurable in going over results and observations with
students and colleagues. The unexpected turns up in little ways in day-to-day
research and each time a miniature brainstorming session ensues, where
adjustments are made to the way research is going.

Which scientist…
37. acknowledges the role another scientist has had in the development of their
career?
38. draws a parallel between significant and less well-known scientific findings?
39. points out how unimpressed by reputation scientists tend to be?
40. mentions the desire scientists have to achieve a major breakthrough?
41. says that certain aspects of their work can be tedious?
42. comments on the impact discussion can have on the generation of new ideas?
43. draws attention to a common misconception?
44. mentions the satisfaction derived from thinking about the value of their work?
45. mentions a reconciliation with a colleague?
46. describes the anxiety involved in switching from one field of study to another?
True/False/Not Given:
The Science of Imagination
How do you quantify creativity? Is it different from intelligence? Among
academics, there is no agreement about what intelligence is, yet IQ measures of
aptitude in memory, logic and comprehension seem to capture something useful
about the brain's processing ability that is a good predictor of both academic and
other types of achievement. The speed of this explains why different intelligence
subtests, such as verbal and nonverbal reasoning, correlate with each other fairly
well. Thus “g”, the general intelligence factor believed by Charles Spearman in the
1920s to underlie all other intellectual attributes, is most likely explained by the
speed and effective exchange of data between the front and back, and left and right
hemispheres of an individual's brain.
The efficiency of this interchange, which is mediated by synchronisation of the
rhythms of the brain, is a product of both genetic and environmental aspects.
Temporal processing seems to be even more heritable than intelligence itself but
environmental factors play just as important a role in intelligence. For example, the
specialised neurons which mediate the synchronising rhythms are especially
vulnerable to dietary deficiencies, particularly during childhood. General
improvement in diet is one explanation for the "Flynn effect": the increase in the
average IQ in all developed countries by 30 points over the past century.
 It is widely agreed that intelligence tests only capture verbal and spatial
reasoning and other 'left hemisphere’ traits, such as linear and 'convergent' thinking.
In order to include other attributes, such as emotional, holistic, lateral and
imaginative thinking, generally deemed to be characteristic of right hemisphere
processing, Spearman used a factor "s". This assumed difference is, however,
misleading as in reality both hemispheres work collectively in dealing with any one
task. Whilst differing kinds of thinking do involve activity in diverging parts of the
brain, they do not do so in the clearly compartmentalised way envisaged by early
phrenologists. Even simple thought processes tend to involve several parts of the
brain and the intricate nature of the systems involved in creative thought range
widely over both hemispheres. Creative people are those who have the ability to
think unexpected new thoughts and produce innovative concepts. They are highly
likely to be the fortunate ones and to have both inherited and developed methods
which enable their brains' two hemispheres to work optimally together.
Where highly creative people are concerned, four different stages in their
pattern of work can be discerned. For which preparation, namely immersion in the
problem, can take many years. Often, preparation involves deliberately instigating
crazy ideas so as to provide the raw material for the mind to then work on. This is
why creative people tend to be highly impulsive and possess a more easily activated
right prefrontal cortex: the part of the brain involved in divergent open-ended
thinking. Incubation, when a problem is deliberately set aside to allow for imaginings
and ideas to interweave subconsciously, with luck will naturally lead to the third
stage, whereby insight and illumination will burst forth in your mind with wonderful
clarity, In the case of Mendeleev, sleep gave rise to his imagination, logically
ordering all the chemical elements into what we now refer to as the periodic table.
The fourth and final stage, that of recording ideas on paper, requires the left
hemisphere's strengths. Mozart said 'It rarely differs on paper from what it was in my
imagination." Others are not so lucky; Einstein spent huge amounts of time
attempting to capture in symbolic form the visuo-spatial intuitions that had come to
him in a flash.
We can all profit from our perception of the creative process by consciously
facilitating each of these stages: deliberately giving our imagination free rein,
brain-storming, allowing lateral thinking by free association and then sleeping on the
new ideas or changing tasks completely. It is surprising how often ideas will arrange
themselves into coherent plans and how a flash of insight will make clear how to
convey the information so others can understand it. A widely believed urban myth
claims only 10% of our brain is generally in use and suggests that if we used more,
we could all aspire to be a Leonardo da Vincy. However, Nature would not allow us to
expend 20% of all the energy generated by the body on the brain (which is 2% of our
body weight) if 90% of it is likely to be wasted. But this conjecture has a grain of
truth: if we could learn - as we can through practise - to optimise the connections
between the different parts of our brains to increase its efficiency, we can only
speculate how much more creativity would be released.
Meanwhile, ensuring that our educational systems foster rather than stifle
creativity is vital. Modern education quite properly stresses the importance of
developing reasoning, verbal and literacy skills, which are of supreme importance in
this technological age. However, the nonverbal, holistic, emotional right hemisphere
is necessary if we are to generate any new concepts or innovative ideas, as will be
required if we are to cope with the rapid pace of change in the 21st century. It has
been found that creative people are quite often deficient in logical, literate left-brain
skills, but superior in holistic, visuo-spatial right-brain ones. A disproportionate
number of creative artists, engineers and architects fall into this category. The
implication of this is that we must create space for arts, fantasy and imagination -
our future may well depend on it.
(47) A typical indication of a high IQ is the speed at which someone can handle
information.
(48) The proven link between better food intake and higher intelligence
demonstrates that genetic factors are not the proper consideration.
(49) The complexity involved in the creative process involves different parts of the
brain interacting together perfectly.
(50) It is often the case that the process experienced by creative people leads to a
form of mental illness.
(51) Creative people unfailingly struggle to transfer ideas from the brain to the
written word.
(52) The urban myth that the writer mentions is scientifically improbable.
(53) Students whose right and left-brain thinking is imbalanced fail to achieve
academic success.
(54) It is essential for the modern age that creativity is nurtured at school.

ĐÁP ÁN Ở TRANG SAU

 ĐÁP ÁN
1. B 2. A 3. A 4. D 5. A 6. C

7. B 8. A 9. D 10. B 11. B 12/13. B and C

14. A 15. C 16. A 17. E 18. A 19. D

20. A 21. D 22. E 23. E 24. C 25. E

26. E 27. G 28. F 29. D 30. C 31. A 32. G

33. E 34. C 35. D 36. A 37. C 38. D 39. A

40. D 41. B 42. D 43. A 44. B 45. A 46. C

47. T 48. F 49. T 50. NG 51. T 52. NG 53. T

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