29.09.

2023
Reading passage 1
What are you laughing at
A
We like to think that laughing is the height of human sophistication. Our big brains let us
see the humour in a strategically positioned pun, an unexpected plot twist or a clever
piece of wordplay. But while joking and wit are uniquely human inventions, laughter
certainly is not. Other creatures, including chimpanzees, gorillas and even rats, chuckle.
Obviously, they don’t crack up at Homer Simpson or titter at the boss’s dreadful jokes,
but the fact that they laugh in the first place suggests that sniggers and chortles have been
around for a lot longer than we have. It points the way to the origins of laughter,
suggesting a much more practical purpose than you might think.
B
There is no doubt that laughing typical involves groups of people. ‘Laughter evolved as a
signal to others – it almost disappears when we are alone,’ says Robert Provine, a
neuroscientist at the University of Maryland. Provine found that most laughter comes as a
polite reaction to everyday remarks such as ‘see you later’, rather than anything
particularly funny. And the way we laugh depends on the company we’re keeping. Men
tend to laugh longer and harder when they are with other men, perhaps as a way of
bonding. Women tend to laugh more and at a higher pitch when men are present, possibly
indicating flirtation or even submission.
C
To find the origins of laughter, Provine believes we need to look at the play. He points
out that the masters of laughing are children, and nowhere is their talent more obvious
than in the boisterous antics, and the original context plays,’ he says. Well-known
primate watchers, including Dian Fossey and Jane Goodall, have long argued that chimps
laugh while at play. The sound they produce is known as a panting laugh. It seems
obvious when you watch their behavior – they even have the same ticklish spots as we
do. But remove the context, and the parallel between human laughter and a chimp’s
characteristic pant laugh is not so clear. When Provine played a tape of the pant laughs to
119 of his students, for example, only two guessed correctly what it was.
D
These findings underline how chimp and human laughter vary. When we laugh the sound
is usually produced by chopping up a single exhalation into a series of shorter with one
sound produced on each inward and outward breath. The question is: does this pant
laughter have the same source as our own laughter? New research lends weight to the
idea that it does. The findings come from Elke Zimmerman, head of the Institute for
Zoology in Germany, who compared the sounds made by babies and chimpanzees in
response to tickling during the first year of their life. Using sound spectrographs to reveal
the pitch and intensity of vocalizations, she discovered that chimp and human baby
laughter follow broadly the same pattern. Zimmerman believes the closeness of baby
laughter to chimp laughter supports the idea that laughter was around long before humans
arrived on the scene. What started simply as a modification of breathing associated with
enjoyable and playful interactions has acquired a symbolic meaning as an indicator of
pleasure.
E.
Pinpointing when laughter developed is another matter. Humans and chimps share a
common ancestor that lived perhaps 8 million years ago, but animals might have been
laughing long before that. More distantly related primates, including gorillas, laugh, and
anecdotal evidence suggests that other social mammals nay do too. Scientists are
currently testing such stories with a comparative analysis of just how common laughter is
among animals. So far, though, the most compelling evidence for laughter beyond
primates comes from research done by Jaak Panksepp from Bowling Green State
University, Ohio, into the ultrasonic chirps produced by rats during play and in response
to tickling.
F
All this still doesn’t answer the question of why we laugh at all. One idea is that laughter
and tickling originated as a way of sealing the relationship between mother and child.
Another is that the reflex response to tickling is protective, alerting us to the presence of
crawling creatures that might harm us or compelling us to defend the parts of our bodies
that are most vulnerable in hand-to-hand combat. But the idea that has gained most
popularity in recent years is that laughter in response to tickling is a way for two
individuals to signal and test their trust in one another. This hypothesis starts from the
observation that although a little tickle can be enjoyable if it goes on too long it can be
torture. By engaging in a bout of tickling, we put ourselves at the mercy of another
individual, and laughing is a signal that we laughter is what makes it a reliable signal of
trust according to Tom Flamson, a laughter researcher at the University of California, Los
Angels. ‘Even in rats, laughter, tickle, play and trust are linked. Rats chirp a lot when
they play,’ says Flamson. ‘These chirps can be aroused by tickling. And they get bonded
to us as a result, which certainly seems like a show of trust.’
G
We’ll never know which animal laughed the first laugh, or why. But we can be sure it
wasn’t in response to a prehistoric joke. The funny thing is that while the origins of
laughter are probably quite serious, we owe human laughter and our language-based
humor to the same unique skill. While other animals pant, we alone can control our
breath well enough to produce the sound of laughter. Without that control, there would
also be no speech – and no jokes to endure.
Questions 1-6
Look at the following research findings (questions 1-6) and the list of people below.
Match each finding with the correct person A, B, C or D.
Write the correct letter, A, B, C or D, in boxes 1-6 on your answer sheet.
NB You may use any letter more than once.
A Tom Flamson
B Elke Zimmerman
C Robert Provine
D Jaak Panksepp
1 Babies and chimps produce similar sounds of laughter.
2 Primates are not the only animals who produce laughter Pan.
3 Laughter also suggests that we feel safe and easy with others.
4 Laughter is a response to a polite situation instead of humour.
5 Animal laughter evolved before human laughter
6 Laughter is a social activity.
Questions 7-10
Complete the summary using the list of words, A-K, below.
Write the correct letter, A-K, in boxes 7-10 on your answer sheet.
Some researchers believe that laughter first evolved out of 7............... . The investigation
has revealed that human and chimp laughter may have the same 8............... . Besides,
scientists have been aware that 9............... laugh, however, it now seems that laughter
might be more widespread than once we thought. Although the reasons why humans
started to laugh are still unknown, it seems that laughter may result from the 10...............
we feel with another person.
A evolution B chirps C origins D voice
E confidence F rats G primates H response
I play J children K tickling
Questions 11-13
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1?
In boxes 11-13 on your answer sheet, write
TRUE if the statement is true
FALSE if the statement is false
NOT GIVEN if the information is not given in the passage
11 Both men and women laugh more when they are with members of the same sex.
12 Primates lack sufficient breath control to be able to produce laughs the way humans
do.
13 Chimpanzees produce laughter in a wider range of situations than rats do.
Reading Passage 2
The Dollar-a-Year Man
How John Lomax set out to record American folk music
A In the early 1930s, folklorist, platform lecturer, college professor and former banker
John Avery Lomax was trying to recapture a sense of direction for his life. For two
decades he had enjoyed a national reputation for his pioneering work in collecting and
studying American folk songs; no less a figure than President Theodore Roosevelt had
admired his work, and had written a letter of support for him as he sought grants for his
research. He had always dreamed of finding a way of making a living by doing the thing
he loved best, collecting folk songs, but he was now beginning to wonder if he would
ever realise that dream.
B Lomax wanted to embark on a nationwide collecting project, resulting in as many as
four volumes, and ‘complete the rehabilitation of the American folk-song’. Eventually
this was modified to where he envisioned a single book tentatively called American
Ballads and Folk Sojigs, designed to survey the whole field. It called for firsthand field
collecting, and would especially focus on the neglected area of black folk music.
C In 1932, Lomax travelled to New York, and stopped in to see a man named H.S.
Latham of the Macmillan Company. He informally outlined his plan to Latham, and read
him the text of an earthy African American blues ballad called ‘Ida Red’. Latham was
impressed, and two days later Lomax had a contract, a small check to bind it, and an
agreement to deliver the manuscript about one year later. The spring of 1932 began to
look more green, lush and full of promise.
D Lomax immediately set to work. He travelled to libraries at Harvard, the Library of
Congress, Brown University and elsewhere in order to explore unpublished song
collections and to canvas the folk song books published over the past ten years. During
his stay in Washington, D.C., Lomax became friendly with Carl Engel, Music Division
chief of the Library of Congress. Engel felt that Lomax had the necessary background
and energy to someday direct the Archive of Folk Song. Through funds provided by the
Council of Learned Societies and the Library of Congress, Lomax ordered a state-of-the-
art portable recording machine. More importantly, the Library of Congress agreed to
furnish blank records and to lend their name to his collecting; Lomax simply had to agree
to deposit the completed records at the Library of Congress. He did so without hesitation.
On July 15, 1933, Lomax was appointed an ‘honorary consultant’ for a dollar a year-.
E Together with his eighteen-year-old son Alan, he began a great adventure to collect
songs for American Ballads and Folk Songs, a task that was to last for many months.
Lomax’s library research had reinforced his belief that a dearth of black folk song
material existed in printed collections. This fact, along with his early appreciation of
African American folk culture, led Lomax to decide that black folk music from rural
areas should be the primary focus. This bold determination resulted in the first major trip
in the United States to capture black folk music in the field. In order to fulfill their quest,
the two men concentrated on sections of the South with a high percentage of blacks. They
also pinpointed laboring camps, particularly lumber camps, which employed blacks
almost exclusively. But as they went along, prisons and penitentiaries also emerged as a
focal point for research.
F The recordings made by the Lomaxes had historical significance. The whole idea of
using a phonograph to preserve authentic folk music was still fairly new. Most of John
Lomax’s peers were involved in collecting-songs the classic way: taking both words and
melody down by hand, asking the singer to perform the song over and over until the
collector had ‘caught’ it on paper. John Lomax sensed at once the limitations of this kind
of method, especially when getting songs from African-American singers, whose quarter
tones, blue notes and complex timing often frustrated white musicians trying to transcribe
them with European notation systems.
G The whole concept of field recordings was, in 1933 and still is today, radically
different from the popular notion of recording. Field recordings are not intended as
commercial products, but as attempts at cultural preservation. There is no profit motive,
nor any desire to make the singer a ‘star’. As have hundreds of folk song collectors after
him, John Lomax had to persuade his singers to perform, to explain to them why their
songs were important, and to convince the various authorities - the wardens, the trusties,
the bureaucrats - that this was serious, worthwhile work. He faced the moral problem of
how to safeguard the records and the rights of the singers - a problem he solved in this
instance by donating the discs to the Library of Congress. He had to overcome the
technical problems involved in recording outside a studio; one always hoped for quiet,
with no doors slamming or alarms going off, but it was always a risk. His new state-of-
the-art recording machine sported a new microphone designed by NBC, but there were no
wind baffles to help reduce the noise when recording outside. Lomax learned how to
balance sound, where to place microphones, how to work echoes and walls, and soon was
a skilled recordist.
Questions 14-5
Complete the summary below.
Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 14-18 on your answer sheet.
JOHN LOMAX’S PROJECT
Lomax began the research for this project by looking at 14 ...............that were not
available in book form, as well as at certain books. While he was doing this research, he
met someone who ran a department at the 15............... in Washington. As a result of this
contact, he was provided with the very latest kind or 16............... for his project.
Lomax believed that the places he should concentrate on were 17............... in the South
of the US. While he and his son were on their trip, they added 18............... as places
where they could find what they were looking for.
Questions 19-23
Reading Passage 1 has seven sections labelled A-G.
Which section contains the following information?
Write the correct letter A-G in boxes 19-23 on your answer sheet.
NB: You may use any letter more than once.
19 a reference to the speed with which Lomax responded to a demand
20 a reason why Lomax doubted the effectiveness of a certain approach
21 reasons why Lomax was considered suitable for a particular official post
22 a reference to a change of plan on Lomax’s part
23 a reference to one of Lomax’s theories being confirmed.

Questions 24-26
Choose THREE lecters A-F.
Write your answers in boxes 24-26 on your answer sheet.
Which THREE of the following difficulties for Lomax are mentioned by the writer of the
text?
A finding a publisher for his research
B deciding exactly what kind of music to collect
C the scepticism of others concerning his methods
D the reluctance of people to participate in his project
E making sure that participants in his project were nor exploited
F factors resulting from his choice of locations for recording

Reading Passage 3

Questions 27-30
The reading passage has seven paragraphs, A-G
Choose the correct heading for paragraphs A-G from the list below.
Write the correct number, i-xi, in boxes 1-4 on your answer sheet.
List of headings
i The famous moai
ii The status represented symbols of combined purposes
iii The ancient spots which indicate the scientific application
iv The story of the name
v Early immigrants, rise and prosperity
vi The geology of Easter Island
vii The begin of Thor Heyerdahl’s discovery
viii The countering explanation to the misconceptions politically manipulated
ix Symbols of authority and power
x The Navel of the World
xi The Norwegian Invaders’ legacy
Example: Paragraph A iv
27 Paragraph B
Example: Paragraph C i
28 Paragraph D
29 Paragraph E
30 Paragraph G

Reading passage 3
Mystery in Easter Island
A
One of the world’s most famous yet least visited archaeological sites, Easter Island is a
small, hilly, now treeless island of volcanic origin. Located in the Pacific Ocean at 27
degrees south of the equator and some 2200 miles (3600 kilometers) off the coast of
Chile, it is considered to be the world’s most remote inhabited island. The island is,
technically speaking, a single massive volcano rising over ten thousand feet from the
Pacific Ocean floor. The island received its most well-known current name, Easter Island,
from the Dutch sea captain Jacob Roggeveen who became the first European to visit
Easter Sunday, April 5, 1722.
B
In the early 1950s, the Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl popularized the idea that the
island had been originally settled by advanced societies of Indians from the coast of
South America. Extensive archaeological, ethnographic and linguistic research has
conclusively shown this hypothesis to be inaccurate. It is now recognized that the original
inhabitants of Easter Island are of Polynesian stock (DNA extracts from skeletons have
confirmed this), that they most probably came from the Marquesas or Society islands,
and that they arrived as early as 318 AD (carbon dating of reeds from a grave confirms
this). At the time of their arrival, much of the island was forested, was teeming with land
birds, and was perhaps the most productive breeding site for seabirds in the Polynesia
region. Because of the plentiful bird, fish and plant food sources, the human population
grew and gave rise to a rich religious and artistic culture.
C
That culture’s most famous features are its enormous stone statues called moai, at least
288 of which once stood upon massive stone platforms called ahu. There are some 250 of
these ahu platforms spaced approximately one-half mile apart and creating an almost
unbroken line around the perimeter of the island. Another 600 moai statues, in various
stages of completion, are scattered around the island, either in quarries or along ancient
roads between the quarries and the coastal areas where the statues were most often
erected. Nearly all the moai are carved from the tough stone of the Rano Raraku
volcano. The average statue is 14 feet and 6 inches tall and weighs 14 tons. Some moai
were as large as 33 feet and weighed more than 80 tons. Depending upon the size of the
statues, it has been estimated that between 50 and 150 people were needed to drag them
across the countryside on sledges and rollers made from the island’s trees.
D
Scholars are unable to definitively explain the function and use of the moai statues. It is
assumed that their carving and erection derived from an idea rooted in similar practices
found elsewhere in Polynesia but which evolved in a unique way on Easter Island.
Archaeological and iconographic analysis indicates that the statue cult was based on an
ideology of male, lineage-based authority incorporating anthropomorphic symbolism.
The statues were thus symbols of authority and power, both religious and political. But
they were not only symbols. To the people who erected and used them, they were actual
repositories of sacred spirit. Carved stone and wooden objects in ancient Polynesian
religions, when properly fashioned and ritually prepared, were believed to be charged by
a magical spiritual essence called mana. The ahu platforms of Easter Island were the
sanctuaries of the people, and the moai statues were the ritually charged sacred objects of
those sanctuaries.
E
Besides its more well-known name, Easter Island is also known as Te-Pito-O-Te-
Henuab, meaning ‘The Navel of the World’, and as Mata-Ki-Te-Rani, meaning ‘Eyes
Looking at Heaven’. These ancient name and a host of mythological details ignored by
mainstream archaeologists point to the possibility that the remote island may once have
been a geodetic marker and the site of an astronomical observatory of a long-forgotten
civilization. In his book, Heaven’s Mirror, Graham Hancock suggests that Easter Island
may once have been a significant scientific outpost of this antediluvian civilization and
that its location had extreme importance in a planet-spanning, mathematically precise
grid of sacred sites. Two other alternative scholars, Christopher Knight and Robert
Lomas, have extensively studied the location and possible function of these geodetic
markers. In their fascinating book, Uriel’s Machine, they suggest that one purpose of the
geodetic markers was as part of a global network of sophisticated astronomical
observatories dedicated to predicting and preparing for future commentary impacts and
crystal displacement cataclysms.
F
In the latter years of the 20th century and the first years of the 21st century, various
writers and scientists have advanced theories regarding the rapid decline of Easter
Island’s magnificent civilization around the time of the first European contact. Principal
among these theories, and now shown to be inaccurate, is that postulated by Jared
Diamond in his book Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Survive. Basically,
these theories state that a few centuries after Easter Island’s initial colonization the
resource needs of the growing population had begun to outpace the island’s capacity to
renew itself ecologically. By the 1400s the forests had been entirely cut, the rich ground
cover had eroded away, the springs had dried up, and the vast flocks of birds coming to
roost on the island had disappeared. With no logs to build canoes for offshore fishing,
with depleted bird and wildlife food sources, and with declining crop yields because of
the erosion of good soil, the nutritional intake of the people plummeted. First famine,
then cannibalism, set in. Because the island could no longer feed the chiefs, bureaucrats
and priests who kept the complex society running, the resulting chaos triggered a social
and cultural collapse. By 1700 the population dropped to between one-quarter and one-
tenth of its former number, and many of the statues were toppled during supposed “clan
wars” of the 1600 and 1700s.
G
The faulty notions presented in these theories began with the racist assumptions of Thor
Heyerdahl and have been perpetuated by writers, such as Jared Diamond, who do not
have sufficient archaeological and historical understanding of the actual events which
occurred on Easter Island. The real truth regarding the tremendous social devastation
which occurred on Easter Island is that it was a direct consequence of the inhumane
behavior of many of the first European visitors, particularly the slavers who raped and
murdered the islanders, introduced smallpox and other diseases, and brutally removed the
natives to mainland South America.
Questions 31-36
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage?
In boxes 31-36 on your answer sheet write
TRUE if the statement is true
FALSE if the statement is false
NOT GIVEN if the information is not given in the passage
31 The first inhabitants of Easter Island are Polynesian, from the Marquesas or Society
islands.
32 Construction of some moai statues on the island was not finished.
33 The Moai can be found not only on Easter Island but also elsewhere in Polynesia.
34 Most archaeologists recognised the religious and astronomical functions for an ancient
society.
35 The structures of Easter Island work as an astronomical outpost for extraterrestrial
visitors.
36 the theory that depleted natural resources leading to the fail of Easter Island actual
have a distorted perspective.

Questions 37-40
Complete the following summary of the paragraphs of Reading Passage
Using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the Reading Passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 37-40 on your answer sheet.
Many theories speculated that Easter Island’s fall around the era of the initial European
contact. Some say the resources are depleted by a 37............... ; The erroneous theories
began with a root of the 38............... advanced by some scholars. Early writers did not
have adequate 39............... understandings to comprehend the true nature of events on the
island. The social devastation was, in fact, a direct result of 40............... of the first
European settlers.

Passage 3 Đáp án:

1. v 8. FALSE
2. ii 9. NOT GIVEN
3. iii 10. TRUE
4. viii 11. growing population
5. NOT GIVEN12. racist assumption
6. TRUE 13. archeological and historical
7. FALSE 14. inhuman behavior

Passage 1 Đáp án:

1. B 8. C
2. D 9. G
3. A 10. E
4. C 11. NOT GIVEN
5. B 12. TRUE
6. C 13. NOT GIVEN
7. I

Passage 2 Đáp án:

1. song collections 8. D
2. Library of Congress 9. B
3. portable recording machine10. E
4. rural areas 11. D/E/F (in any order)
5. prisons and penitentiaries 12. D/E/F (in any order)
6. D 13. D/E/F (in any order)
7. F