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Table of contents

HƯỚNG DẪN SỬ DỤNG TÀI LIỆU ................................................... 3

TOPIC 1: CULTURE ............................................................................ 5

TOPIC 2: ART ..................................................................................... 10

TOPIC 3: ECONOMY ........................................................................ 17

TOPIC 4: EDUCATION ..................................................................... 24

TOPIC 5: ENTERTAINMENT .......................................................... 33

TOPIC 6: ENVIRONMENT ............................................................... 40

TOPIC 7: HEALTH ............................................................................ 46

TOPIC 8: LANGUAGE ....................................................................... 53

TOPIC 9: MEDIA ................................................................................ 60

TOPIC 10: PSYCHOLOGY ............................................................... 67

TOPIC 11: HISTORY ......................................................................... 75

TOPIC 12: AGRICULTURE .............................................................. 82

TOPIC 13: WORK .............................................................................. 89

TOPIC 14: TECHNOLOGY ............................................................... 96

TOPIC 15: TOURISM....................................................................... 102

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 HƯỚNG DẪN SỬ DỤNG TÀI LIỆU

Nội dung: Để bật Band điểm IELTS Reading nhanh chóng, chúng ta cần trau
dồi và củng cố thêm nhiều từ vựng khó theo từng chủ đề. Sau đó, chúng ta lại
cần có cách để ôn luyện với bài tập thực hành theo chuẩn IELTS để có thể hiểu
rõ nghĩa và cách sử dụng của các từ đó.

Bộ tài liệu này cung cấp cho các bạn khoảng 300-400 từ/ cụm từ vựng được chọn
lọc cẩn thận theo 15 chủ đề IELTS Reading phổ biến. Trong mỗi chủ đề sẽ bao
gồm bảng từ vựng chi tiết, cùng với đó là phần bài luyện tập được tổng hợp từ
các nguồn ôn luyện IELTS kèm đáp án để các bạn có thể ghi nhớ và hiểu sâu
hơn về các từ vựng trên.

Học viện rất mong các bạn có thể tận dụng tối đa tài liệu này để có thể luyện tập
để có được kết quả tốt nhất cho phần thi Reading của mình.

Chúc các bạn học tập thật tốt!

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4
 TOPIC 1: CULTURE
I. VOCABULARY

WORDS MEANING

Social convention Quy ước xã hội

Cultural norms Chuẩn mực văn hóa

The fabric of society Cấu trúc của xã hội

Inheritance Di sản

Fine art Mỹ nghệ

Rituals Nghi lễ

Brain drain Chảy máu chất xám

Gender imbalance Mất cân bằng giới tính

Illegal immigration Nhập cư bất hợp pháp

Integrate Hòa nhập

Pass down Truyền lại

Inclusive Bao gồm

The erosion of communal values Sự xói mòn các giá trị cộng đồng

Revitalize Hồi sinh

Social bond Mối ràng buộc xã hội

Cultural behaviour/ conduct Hành vi văn hóa

Cultural assimilation Sự đồng hoá văn hoá

Cultural identity Bản sắc văn hóa

Cultural appropriation Chiếm đoạt văn hóa

Harmonious Hài hòa

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 WORD MEANING

Core values Những giá trị cốt lõi

Anthropologists Nhà nhân chủng học

Seniority Thâm niên

Genealogist Người viết gia phả

Custom Phong tục

II. PRACTICE
A. Culture is a term for which it is very difficult to give a precise meaning. The word means
so many different things to different people, so devising a single acceptable definition is
more problematic than may be first thought. The idea of culture as something shared is
inherently complex. Even people neighboring each other, or sharing a common language,
or possessing certain common core values may actually have as many differences as
similarities.

B. Anthropologists have proposed over one hundred different definitions. A number of

these are variations on the idea that culture consists of 'shared patterns of behavior' as may
be observed by the researcher. This is the definition put forward by Margaret Mead, for
example, in her study of indigenous ritual in Samoa. This kind of definition, however, does
not take account of the fact that studying culture is not just a question of observation. It
also involves studying the meaning of this observed behaviour.

C. Accordingly, other anthropologists, such as Max Weber, speak of culture as consisting

of a system of shared meaning; as he puts it, 'man is an animal suspended in webs of
significance he himself has spun.' Similarly, Claude Levi-Strauss also speaks of culture as
a product of the implicit beliefs which underlie it. The problem with this approach is that
the meaning of cultural behaviour is not always easy to establish. Explanations may be
offered up to a point, but the underlying assumptions often remain obscure. Indeed, they
are often not understood by insiders. As Chris Argyris and Donald Schon point out, what
people say to explain their cultural behaviour and what really drives this behaviour are
other widely different. The search for meaning can therefore be a long and painstaking

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process, involving long periods of observation and interviews in order to build possible
theories.

D. While there are some cultures which have remained isolated for long periods of time,
many others have built up commercial links with other groups. Eventually, this may lead
to adopting elements of the other group's rituals and behaviour which then become
integrated into those of the original group. Some cultures have clashed with less powerful
neighbours only to find that over time their culture became heavily influenced by these
subordinates, like the Romans by the Greeks. In this way, the original meaning of an aspect
of cultural behaviour may be lost in history and may originally have been part of a belief
system very different from that which prevails in the culture today. This dynamism is,
perhaps, the major reason why researching the meaning behind cultural behaviour is far
from easy.

Question 1-4
Choose the correct heading for sections A-D from the list of headings below. Write the
correct number i-vi in boxes 1-4 on your answer sheet.
List of headings
i. Various interpretations of culture based on meaning
ii. The problem of explaining what culture means
iii. A definition of culture based on shared behavior
iv. Defining a culture is not only a matter of observation
v. The main reason for difficulty in investigating culture
vi. The discrepancy between personal explanations and the real reasons for cultural behavior

1. Section A
2. Section B
3. Section C
4. Section D

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 Question 5-8
Match each person 5-8 with the correct statement from the list of statements below. Write
the correct letter, A-G in boxes 5-8 on your answer sheet.
List of statements
A Finding a definition of culture can take a long time.
B Culture is something which is embodied in the way groups behave.
C Cultures are often affected by their more powerful neighbors.
D The reasons people give for their behavior are often different from why it originally developed.
E Societies create networks of meaning within which their members live.
F Culture is practically impossible to define.
G Culture is something which arises from a group's beliefs.

5. Margaret Mead
6. Chris Argyris and Donald Schon
7. Claude Levi-Strauss
8. Max Weber

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III. KEY

1. ii 2. iv

3. v 4. vi

5. A 6. D

7. G 8. E

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 TOPIC 2: ART
I. VOCABULARY

WORD MEANING

Works of art Tác phẩm nghệ thuật

An expression of culture Một biểu hiện của văn hóa

The evolution of Sự tiến hóa của

Visual effects Hiệu ứng hình ảnh

Cultural heritage Di sản văn hóa

Artistic mastery Tinh thông nghệ thuật

A naturalistic approach Một cách tiếp cận tự nhiên

A reflection of Sự phản ánh của

A respectable art form Một loại hình nghệ thuật đáng kính

Mainstream musicals Nhạc kịch chính thống

Provide insights into Cung cấp những hiểu biết về

Aesthetic principles Nguyên tắc thẩm mỹ

Visual composition Bố cục hình ảnh

Artistic establishment Cơ sở nghệ thuật

Emotional sensitivity Sự nhạy cảm về mặt cảm xúc

Symbolic meaning Ý nghĩa tượng trưng

Artistic expression Biểu đạt nghệ thuật

Have a positive influence on Có ảnh hưởng tích cực đến

The graphic depiction of Sự miêu tả đồ họa của

Spiritual aspects Khía cạnh tinh thần

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 WORD MEANING

An imaginative embodiment of Một hiện thân giàu trí tưởng tượng của

A desire for realism Khao khát chủ nghĩa hiện thực

The defining characteristics of art Những đặc điểm xác định của nghệ thuật

A fervent outcry Một sự phản đối kịch liệt

II. PRACTICE
Is Photography Art?

This may seem a pointless question today. Surrounded as we are by thousands of

photographs, most of us take for granted that, in addition to supplying information and
seducing customers, camera images also serve as decoration, afford spiritual enrichment,
and provide significant insights into the passing scene. But in the decades following the
discovery of photography, this question reflected the search for ways to fit the mechanical
medium into the traditional schemes of artistic expression.

The much-publicized pronouncement by painter Paul Delaroche that the daguerreotype*

signalled the end of painting is perplexing because this clever artist also forecast the
usefulness of the medium for graphic artists in a letter written in 1839. Nevertheless, it is
symptomatic of the swing between the outright rejection and qualified acceptance of the
medium that was fairly typical of the artistic establishment. Discussion of the role of
photography in art was especially spirited in France, where the internal policies of the time
had created a large pool of artists, but it was also taken up by important voices in England.
In both countries, public interest in this topic was a reflection of the belief that national
stature and achievement in the arts were related.

From the maze of conflicting statements and heated articles on the subject, three main
positions about the potential of camera art emerged. The simplest, entertained by many
painters and a section of the public, was that photographs should not be considered ‘art’
because they were made with a mechanical device and by physical and chemical
phenomena instead of by human hand and spirit; to some, camera images seemed to have

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more in common with fabric produced by machinery in a mill than with handmade
creations fired by inspiration. The second widely held view, shared by painters, some
photographers, and some critics, was that photographs would be useful to art but should
not be considered equal in creativeness to drawing and painting. Lastly, by assuming that
the process was comparable to other techniques such as etching and lithography, a fair
number of individuals realized that camera images were or could be as significant as
handmade works of art and that they might have a positive influence on the arts and on
culture in general.

Artists reacted to photography in various ways. Many portrait painters - miniaturists in

particular - who realized that photography represented the ‘handwriting on the wall’
became involved with daguerreotyping or paper photography in an effort to save their
careers; some incorporated it with painting, while others renounced painting altogether.
Still other painters, the most prominent among them the French painter, Jean- Auguste-
Dominique Ingres, began almost immediately to use photography to make a record of their
own output and also to provide themselves with source material for poses and backgrounds,
vigorously denying at the same time its influence on their vision or its claims as art.

The view that photographs might be worthwhile to artists was enunciated in considerable
detail by Lacan and Francis Wey. The latter, an art and literary critic, who eventually
recognised that camera images could be inspired as well as informative, suggested that they
would lead to greater naturalness in the graphic depiction of anatomy, clothing, likeness,
expression, and landscape. By studying photographs, true artists, he claimed, would be
relieved of menial tasks and become free to devote themselves to the more important
spiritual aspects of their work.

Wey left unstated what the incompetent artist might do as an alternative, but according to
the influential French critic and poet Charles Baudelaire, writing in response to an
exhibition of photography in 1859, lazy and untalented painters would become
photographers. Fired by a belief in art as an imaginative embodiment of cultivated ideas
and dreams, Baudelaire regarded photography as ‘a very humble servant of art and
science’; a medium largely unable to transcend ‘external reality’. For this critic,
photography was linked with ‘the great industrial madness’ of the time, which in his eyes
exercised disastrous consequences on the spiritual qualities of life and art.

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Eugene Delacroix was the most prominent of the French artists who welcomed
photography as help-mate but recognized its limitations. Regretting that ‘such a wonderful
invention’ had arrived so late in his lifetime, he still took lessons in daguerreotyping, and
both commissioned and collected photographs. Delacroix’s enthusiasm for the medium can
be sensed in a journal entry noting that if photographs were used as they should be, an artist
might ‘raise himself to heights that we do not yet know’.

The question of whether the photograph was document or art aroused interest in England
also. The most important statement on this matter was an unsigned article that concluded
that while photography had a role to play, it should not be ‘constrained’ into ‘competition’
with art; a more stringent viewpoint led critic Philip Gilbert Hamerton to dismiss camera
images as ‘narrow in range, emphatic in assertion, telling one truth for ten falsehoods’.

These writers reflected the opposition of a section of the cultural elite in England and
France to the ‘cheapening of art’ which the growing acceptance and purchase of camera
pictures by the middle class represented. Technology made photographic images a
common sight in the shop windows of Regent Street and Piccadilly in London and the
commercial boulevards of Paris. In London, for example, there were at the time some 130
commercial establishments where portraits, landscapes, and photographic reproductions of
works of art could be bought. This appeal to the middle class convinced the elite that
photographs would foster a desire for realism instead of idealism, even though some critics
recognized that the work of individual photographers might display an uplifting style and
substance that was consistent with the defining characteristics of art.

* the name given to the first commercially successful photographic images.

Questions 1-4
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D for questions 1-4.
1. What is the writer’s main point in the first paragraph?
A. photography is used for many different purposes.
B. photographers and artists have the same principal aims.
C. Photography has not always been a readily accepted art form.
D. photographers today are more creative than those of the past.

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2. What public view about artists was shared by the French and the English?
A. that only artists could reflect a culture’s true values
B. that only artists were qualified to judge photography
C. that artists could lose work as a result of photography
D. that artist success raised a country’s international profile
3. What does the writer mean by “the handwriting on the wall” in the second line of
paragraph 4?
A. an example of poor talent
B. a message that cannot be trusted
C. an advertisement for something new
D. a signal that something bad will happen
4. What was the result of the widespread availability of photographs to the middle classes?
A. The most educated worried about its impact on public taste.
B. It helped artists appreciate the merits of photography.
C. Improvements were made in photographic methods.
D. It led to a reduction in the price of photographs.

Questions 5-8
Complete the summary of Paragraph 3 using the list of words, A-G, below.
Camera art
In the early days of photography, opinions on its future were 5 ............................, but three
clear views emerged. A large number of artists and ordinary people saw photographs as 6
............................ to paintings because of the way they were produced. Another popular
view was that photographs could have a role to play in the art world, despite the
photographer being less 7............................... Finally, a smaller number of people
suspected that the impact of photography on art and society could be 8...........................

A. inventive C. beneficial E. mixed G. inferior

B. similar D. next F. justified

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III. KEY

1. C 2. D

3. D 4. A

5. E 6. G

7. A 8. C

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 TOPIC 3: ECONOMY
I. VOCABULARY

WORD MEANING

Economic turbulence Bất ổn kinh tế

Financially stretched Khó khăn về mặt tài chính

Abnormally fat profits Lợi nhuận béo bở bất thường

Economic windfall Kinh tế thất bại

A sales spike Sự tăng đột biến doanh số bán hàng

Trade flows Dòng chảy thương mại

Trade liberalization Tự do hóa thương mại

Financial ties Ràng buộc tài chính

Hobble economic growth Cản trở tăng trưởng kinh tế

Enormous supply and demand

Sự bất cân bằng khổng lồ giữa cung cầu
imbalance

Dwindling supplies Nguồn cung cạn kiệt

Mutually-gratifying outcomes Kết quả đôi bên cùng hài lòng

Seize the revenue-generating prospects Nắm bắt triển vọng tạo ra doanh thu

Financial upheaval Biến động tài chính

Socio-economic problems Vấn đề kinh tế xã hội

Marketable Dễ bán được, dễ tiêu thụ

Economic viability Khả năng phát triển kinh tế

Dodge taxes Trốn thuế

Sustainable business models Mô hình kinh doanh bền vững

Sink money into Đầu tư tiền vào làm gì

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 WORD MEANING

Drum up demand for Thúc đẩy nhu cầu cho cái gì

Create a business opportunity Tạo ra cơ hội kinh doanh

Maximise the benefits Tối đa hóa các lợi ích

Hiring extra personnel Thuê thêm nhân sự

Economic recovery Phục hồi kinh tế

Stagnate Trì trệ

Diminishing returns Lợi nhuận giảm dần

II. PRACTICE
A Workaholic Economy

For the first century or so of the industrial revolution, increased productivity led to
decreases in working hours. Employees who had been putting in 12-hour days, six days a
week, found their time on the job shrinking to 10 hours daily, then finally to eight hours,
five days a week. Only a generation ago social planners worried about what people would
do with all this new-found free time. In the US, at least it seems they need not have
bothered.

Although the output per hour of work has more than doubled since 1945, leisure seems
reserved largely for the unemployed and underemployed. Those who work full-time spend
as much time on the job as they did at the end of World War II. In fact, working hours have
increased noticeably since 1970 — perhaps because real wages have stagnated since that
year. Bookstores now abound with manuals describing how to manage time and cope with
stress.

There are several reasons for lost leisure. Since 1979, companies have responded to
improvements in the business climate by having employees work overtime rather than by
hiring extra personnel, says economist Juliet B. Schor of Harvard University. Indeed, the
current economic recovery has gained a certain amount of notoriety for its “jobless” nature:
increased production has been almost entirely decoupled from employment. Some firms

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are even downsizing as their profits climb. “All things being equal, we'd be better off
spreading around the work," observes labour economist Ronald G. Ehrenberg of Cornell
University.

Yet a host of factors pushes employers to hire fewer workers for more hours and at the
same time compels workers to spend more time on the job. Most of those incentives involve
what Ehrenberg calls the structure of compensation: quirks in the way salaries and benefits
are organised that make it more profitable to ask 40 employees to labour an extra hour each
than to hire one more worker to do the same 40-hour job.

Professional and managerial employees supply the most obvious lesson along these lines.
Once people are on salary, their cost to a firm is the same whether they spend 35 hours a
week in the office or 70. Diminishing returns may eventually set in as overworked
employees lose efficiency or leave for more arable pastures. But in the short run, the
employer’s incentive is clear. Even hourly employees receive benefits - such as pension
contributions and medical insurance - that are not tied to the number of hours they work.
Therefore, it is more profitable for employers to work their existing employees harder.

For all that employees complain about long hours, they too have reasons not to trade money
for leisure. “People who work reduced hours pay a huge penalty in career terms,” Schor
maintains. “It's taken as a negative signal’ about their commitment to the firm.’ [Lotte]
Bailyn [of Massachusetts Institute of Technology] adds that many corporate managers find
it difficult to measure the contribution of their underlings to a firm’s well-being, so they
use the number of hours worked as a proxy for output. “Employees know this,” she says,
and they adjust their behaviour accordingly.

“Although the image of the good worker is the one whose life belongs to the company,”
Bailyn says, “it doesn't fit the facts.’ She cites both quantitative and qualitative studies that
show increased productivity for part-time workers: they make better use of the time they
have and they are less likely to succumb to fatigue in stressful jobs. Companies that employ
more workers for less time also gain from the resulting redundancy, she asserts. "The extra
people can cover the contingencies that you know are going to happen, such as when crises
take people away from the workplace." Positive experiences with reduced hours have
begun to change the more-is-better culture at some companies, Schor reports.

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Larger firms, in particular, appear to be more willing to experiment with flexible working
arrangements...

It may take even more than changes in the financial and cultural structures of employment
for workers successfully to trade increased productivity and money for leisure time, Schor
contends. She says the U.S. market for goods has become skewed by the assumption of
full-time, two-career households. Automobile makers no longer manufacture cheap
models, and developers do not build the tiny bungalows that served the first postwar
generation of home buyers. Not even the humblest household object is made without a
microprocessor. As Schor notes, the situation is a curious inversion of the “appropriate
technology” vision that designers have had for developing countries: U.S. goods are
appropriate only for high incomes and long hours. --- Paul Walluh.

Questions 1-6
Do the following statements agree with the views of the writer in the reading passage?
In boxes 1-6 on your answer sheet write:
YES if the statement agrees with the writer
NO if the statement contradicts the writer
NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this

Example Answer
During the industrial revolution, people worked harder NOT GIVEN

1. Today, employees are facing a reduction in working hours.

2. Social planners have been consulted about US employment figures.
3. Salaries have not risen significantly since the 1970s.
4. The economic recovery created more jobs.
5. Bailyn’s research shows that part-time employees work more efficiently.
6. Increased leisure time would benefit two-career households.

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Questions 7-10
The writer mentions a number of factors that have resulted in employees working
longer hours. Which FOUR of the following factors are mentioned? Write your
answers (A-H) in boxes 7-10 on your answer sheet.

List of Factors
A Books are available to help employees cope with stress.
B Extra work is offered to existing employees.
C Increased production has led to joblessness.
D Benefits and hours spent on the job are not linked.
E Overworked employees require longer to do their work.
F Longer hours indicate a greater commitment to the firm.
G Managers estimate staff productivity in terms of hours worked.
H Employees value a career more than a family.

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III. KEY

1. NO 6. NOT GIVEN

2. NOT GIVEN 7. B

3. YES 8. D

4. NO 9. F

5. YES 10. G

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 TOPIC 4: EDUCATION
I. VOCABULARY

WORD MEANING

Boost on-campus enrolment Tăng cường tuyển sinh trong trường

Put a high premium Đánh giá cao

Pick up new skills Tiếp thu những kỹ năng mới

Appraisal Lời khen

Course curriculums Chương trình giảng dạy

Effective learning strategies Phương pháp học tập hiệu quả

Credentials Chứng chỉ

Drop-out rates Tỉ lệ bỏ học

Accreditation Sự công nhận

The unbundling of educational content Sự phân nhóm trong nội dung giáo dục

Tertiary-education institution Cơ sở giáo dục đại học

Round oneself out Hoàn thiện bản thân

Innate ability Khả năng bẩm sinh

Standardized assessment Đánh giá được tiêu chuẩn hoá

Earn a degree Kiếm một tấm bằng

Provide an incentive Tạo động lực, khích lệ

Dampen motivation Làm giảm động lực

Assert one’s confidence Khẳng định sự tự tin

In earnest Một cách nghiêm túc

Education reform Cải cách giáo dục

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 WORD MEANING

Literacy demands Nhu cầu biết chữ

Trường học chọn lọc học sinh dựa trên

Academically selective schools
thành tích học tập

Pedagogical paradigm Mô hình sư phạm

Collaborative learning environment Môi trường học tập hợp tác

Literacy support Hỗ trợ đọc viết

II. PRACTICE

The case for mixed-ability classes

Picture this scene. It’s an English literature lesson in a UK school, and the teacher has just
read an extract from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet with a class of 15-year-olds. He’s
given some of the students copies of No Fear Shakespeare, a kid-friendly translation of the
original. For three students, even these literacy demands are beyond them. Another girl
simply can’t focus and he gives her pens and paper to draw with. The teacher can ask the
No Fear group to identify the key characters and maybe provide a tentative plot summary.
He can ask most of the class about character development, and five of them might be able
to support their statements with textual evidence. Now two curious students are wondering
whether Shakespeare advocates living a life of moderation or one of passionate
engagement.

As a teacher myself, I’d think my lesson would be going rather well if the discussion went
as described above. But wouldn’t this kind of class work better if there weren’t such a huge
gap between the top and the bottom? If we put all the kids who needed literacy support into
one class, and all the students who want to discuss the virtue of moderation into another?

The practice of ‘streaming’, or ‘tracking’, involves separating students into classes

depending on their diagnosed levels of attainment. At a macro level, it requires the
establishment of academically selective schools for the brightest students, and
comprehensive schools for the rest. Within schools, it means selecting students into a

26
‘stream’ of general ability, or ‘sets’ of subject-specific ability. The practice is intuitively
appealing to almost every stakeholder.

I have heard the mixed-ability model attacked by way of analogy: a group hike. The fittest
in the group take the lead and set a brisk pace, only to have to stop and wait every 20
minutes. This is frustrating, and their enthusiasm wanes. Meanwhile, the slowest ones are
not only embarrassed but physically struggling to keep up. What’s worse, they never get a
long enough break. They honestly just want to quit. Hiking, they feel, is not for them.

Mixed-ability classes bore students, frustrate parents and bum out teachers. The brightest
ones will never summit Mount Qomolangma, and the stragglers won’t enjoy the lovely
stroll in the park they are perhaps more suited to. Individuals suffer at the demands of the
collective, mediocrity prevails. So: is learning like hiking?

The current pedagogical paradigm is arguably that of constructivism, which emerged out
of the work of psychologist Lev Vygotsky. In the 1930s, Vygotsky emphasised the
importance of targeting a student’s specific ‘zone of proximal development’ (ZPD). This
is the gap between what they can achieve only with support – teachers, textbooks, worked
examples, parents and so on – and what they can achieve independently. The purpose of
teaching is to provide and then gradually remove this ‘scaffolding’ until they are
autonomous. If we accept this model, it follows that streaming students with similar ZPDs
would be an efficient and effective solution. And that forcing everyone on the same hike –
regardless of aptitude – would be madness.

Despite all this, there is limited empirical evidence to suggest that streaming results in
better outcomes for students. Professor John Hattie, director of the Melbourne Education
Research Institute, notes that ‘tracking has minimal effects on learning outcomes’. What is
more, streaming appears to significantly – and negatively – affect those students assigned
to the lowest sets. These students tend to have much higher representation of low
socioeconomic class. Less significant is the small benefit for those lucky clever students in
the higher sets. The overall result is that the smart stay smart and the dumb get dumber,
further entrenching the social divide.

27
In the latest update of Hattie’s influential meta-analysis of factors influencing student
achievement, one of the most significant factors is the teachers’ estimate of achievement.
Streaming students by diagnosed achievement automatically limits what the teacher feels
the student is capable of. Meanwhile, in a mixed environment, teachers’ estimates need to
be more diverse and flexible.

While streaming might seem to help teachers effectively target a student’s ZPD, it can
underestimate the importance of peer-to-peer learning. A crucial aspect of constructivist
theory is the role of the MKO – ‘more knowledgeable other’ – in knowledge construction.
While teachers are traditionally the MKOs in classrooms, the value of knowledgeable
student peers must not go unrecognised either.

I find it amazing to watch students get over an idea to their peers in ways that I would never
think of. They operate with different language tools and different social tools from teachers
and, having just learnt it themselves, they possess similar cognitive structures to their
struggling classmates. There is also something exciting about passing on skills and
knowledge that you yourself have just mastered – a certain pride and zeal, a certain
freshness to the interaction between ‘teacher’ and ‘learner’ that is often lost by the expert
for whom the steps are obvious and the joy of discovery forgotten.

Having a variety of different abilities in a collaborative learning environment provides

valuable resources for helping students meet their learning needs, not to mention improving
their communication and social skills. And today, more than ever, we need the many to
flourish – not suffer at the expense of a few bright stars. Once a year, I go on a hike with
my class, a mixed bunch of students. It is challenging. The fittest students realise they need
to encourage the reluctant. There are lookouts who report back, and extra items to carry for
others. We make it – together.

28
Questions 1-4
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.
Write the correct letter in boxes 1-4 on your answer sheet.
1. The writer describes the Romeo and Juliet lesson in order to demonstrate
A how few students are interested in literature.
B how a teacher handles a range of learning needs.
C how unsuitable Shakespeare is for most teenagers.
D how weaker students can disrupt their classmates’ learning.
2. What does the writer say about streaming in the third paragraph?
A It has a very broad appeal.
B It favours cleverer students.
C It is relatively simple to implement.
D It works better in some schools than others.
3. What idea is suggested by the reference to Mount Qomolangma in the fifth paragraph?
A students following unsuitable paths
B students attempting interesting tasks
C students not achieving their full potential
D students not being aware of their limitations
4. What does the word ‘scaffolding’ in the sixth paragraph refer to?
A the factors which prevent a student from learning effectively
B the environment where most of a student’s learning takes place
C the assistance given to a student in their initial stages of learning
D the setting of appropriate learning targets for a student’s aptitude

Questions 5-9
Complete the summary using the list of phrases, A-l, below.
Write the correct letter, A-l, in boxes 31-35 on your answer sheet.
Is streaming effective?
According to Professor John Hattie of the Melbourne Education Research Institute
there is very little indication that streaming leads to 5………………… . He points out
that, in schools which use streaming, the most significant impact is on those students
placed in the 6…………………, especially where a large proportion of them have

29
7………………… . Meanwhile, for the 8…………………, there appears to be only
minimal advantage. A further issue is that teachers tend to have 9………………… of
students in streamed groups.

A wrong classes B lower expectations

C average learners D bottom sets
E brightest pupils F disadvantaged backgrounds
G weaker students H higher achievements
I positive impressions

30
III. KEY

1. B 2. A

3. C 4. C

5. H 6. D

7. F 8. E

9. B

31
32
 TOPIC 5: ENTERTAINMENT
I. VOCABULARY

WORD MEANING

Blockbuster film releases Sự phát hành phim bom tấn

Receive much higher press coverage Nhận được mức độ phủ sóng báo chí cao

Frivolous pastimes Thú tiêu khiển phù phiếm

On-site enthusiasts Những người tham gia sự kiện trực tiếp

Pursue stardom Theo đuổi sự nổi tiếng

Kindle interest Gây ra sự hứng thú

Outdoor recreational activities Các hoạt động giải trí ngoài trời

Pursue one’s interest in Theo đuổi sở thích

Be obsessed with Thích cái gì đó một cách quá mức

A movie geek Người ham phim điện ảnh

Music ensembles Nhóm nhạc

Hợp đồng đại diện thương hiệu có giá trị

Lucrative endorsement deals
cao

The proliferation of cable television Sự phát triển của truyền hình cáp

The staple form of entertainment Hình thức giải trí chủ yếu

Entertainment firms Công ty giải trí

Sought-after musical ability Khả năng âm nhạc tuyệt vời, hiếm có

Recreational/ leisure spending Chi tiêu giải trí

Enjoy leisure pursuits Tận hưởng các hoạt động giải trí

Streaming service Dịch vụ phát trực tuyến

Personal enjoyment Giải trí cá nhân

33
 WORD MEANING

Target audience Khán giả mục tiêu

Home entertainment Giải trí tại nhà

Gaming platform Nền tảng chơi game

Game-based activity Hoạt động dựa trên trò chơi

Game interactions Tương tác trò chơi

II. PRACTICE

Video game research

Although video games were first developed for adults, they are no longer exclusively
reserved for the grown-ups in the home. In 2006, Rideout and Hamel reported that as many
as 29 percent of preschool children (children between two and six years old) in the United
States had played console video games, and 18 percent had played hand-held ones. Given
young children’s insatiable eagerness to learn, coupled with the fact that they are clearly
surrounded by these media, we predict that preschoolers will both continue and
increasingly begin to adopt video games for personal enjoyment. Although the majority of
gaming equipment is still designed for a much older target audience, once a game system
enters the household it is potentially available for all family members, including the
youngest. Portable systems have done a particularly good job of penetrating the younger
market.

Research in the video game market is typically done at two stages: sometimes close to the
end of the product cycle, in order to get feedback from consumers, so that a marketing
strategy can be developed; and at the very end of the product cycle to ‘fix bugs’ in the
game. While both of those types of research are important, and may be appropriate for
dealing with adult consumers, neither of them aids in designing better games, especially
when it comes to designing for an audience that may have particular needs, such as
preschoolers or senior citizens. Instead, exploratory and formative research has to be
undertaken in order to truly understand those audiences, their abilities, their perspective,
and their needs. In the spring of 2007, our preschool-game production team at Nickelodeon

34
had a hunch that the Nintendo DS - with its new features, such as the microphone, small
size and portability, and its relatively low price point - was a ripe gaming platform for
preschoolers. There were a few games on the market at the time which had characters that
appealed to the younger set, but our game producers did not think that the game mechanics
or design were appropriate for preschoolers. What exactly preschoolers could do with the
system, however, was a bit of a mystery. So we set about doing a study to answer the query:
What could we expect preschoolers to be capable of in the context of hand-held game play,
and how might the child development literature inform us as we proceeded with the
creation of a new outlet for this age group?

Our context, in this case, was the United States, although the games that resulted were also
released in other regions, due to the broad international reach of the characters. In order to
design the best possible DS product for a preschool audience, we were fully committed to
the ideals of a ‘user-centered approach’, which assumes that users will be at least
considered, but ideally consulted during the development process. After all, when it comes
to introducing a new interactive product to the child market, and particularly such a young
age group within it, we believe it is crucial to assess the range of physical and cognitive
abilities associated with their specific developmental stage.

Revelle and Medoff (2002) review some of the basic reasons why home entertainment
systems, computers, and other electronic gaming devices, are often difficult for
preschoolers to use. In addition to their still-developing motor skills (which make
manipulating a controller with small buttons difficult), many of the major stumbling blocks
are cognitive. Though preschoolers are learning to think symbolically, and understand that
pictures can stand for real-life objects, the vast majority are still unable to read and write.
Thus, using text-based menu selections is not viable. Mapping is yet another obstacle since
preschoolers may be unable to understand that there is a direct link between how the
controller is used and the activities that appear before them on screen. Though this aspect
is changing, in traditional mapping systems real-life movements do not usually translate
into game-based activity.

35
Over the course of our study, we gained many insights into how preschoolers interact with
various platforms, including the DS. For instance, all instructions for preschoolers need to
be in voice-over, and include visual representations, and this has been one of the most
difficult areas for us to negotiate with respect to game design on the DS. Because the game
cartridges have very limited memory capacity, particularly in comparison to console or
computer games, the ability to capture large amounts of voice-over data via sound files or
visual representations of instructions becomes limited. Text instructions take up minimal
memory, so they are preferable from a technological perspective. Figuring out ways to
maximise sound and graphics files, while retaining the clear visual and verbal cues that we
know are critical for our youngest players, is a constant give and take. Another of our
findings indicated that preschoolers may use either a stylus, or their fingers, or both
although they are not very accurate with either. One of the very interesting aspects of the
DS is that the interface, which is designed to respond to stylus interactions, can also
effectively be used with the tip of the finger. This is particularly noteworthy in the context
of preschoolers for two reasons. Firstly, as they have trouble with fine motor skills and
their hand-eye coordination is still in development, they are less exact with their stylus
movements; and secondly, their fingers are so small that they mimic the stylus very
effectively, and therefore by using their fingers they can often be more accurate in their
game interactions.

Questions 1-5
Do the following statements agree with the claims of the writer in Reading Passage?
In boxes 1-5 on your answer sheet write:
YES if the statement agrees with the writer
NO if the statement contradicts the writer
NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this

1. Video game use amongst preschool children is higher in the US than in other countries.
2. The proportion of preschool children using video games is likely to rise.
3. Parents in the US who own gaming equipment generally allow their children to play
with it.

36
4. The type of research which manufacturers usually do is aimed at improving game
design.
5. Both old and young games consumers require research which is specifically
targeted.

Questions 6-10
Complete the summary using the list of words/phrases, A-I, below.
Problems for preschool users of video games
Preschool children find many electronic games difficult, because neither their motor
skills nor their 6 ................... are sufficiently developed.
Certain types of control are hard for these children to manipulate, for example, 7
................... can be more effective than styluses.
Also, although they already have the ability to relate 8 ................... to real-world
objects, preschool children are largely unable to understand the connection between
their own 9 ................... and the movements they can see on the screen. Finally, very
few preschool children can understand 10 ................... .

A. actions
B. buttons
C. cognitive skills
D. concentration
E. fingers
F. pictures
G. sounds
H. spoken instructions
I. written menus

37
III. KEY

1. NOT GIVEN 2. YES

3. NOT GIVEN 4. NO

5. YES 6. C

7. E 8. F

9. A 10. I

38
39
 TOPIC 6: ENVIRONMENT
I. VOCABULARY

WORD MEANING

Logging Chặt phá rừng

Dwindling numbers Số lượng giảm dần

Famine Nạn đói

Food supply Nguồn thức ăn

Habitat loss Mất môi trường sống

Forage Tìm kiếm thức ăn

Poaching Săn bắt trộm

Tainted Bị nhiễm độc

Water mass Khối nước

Migration paths Đường di cư

Threaten De dọa

Renewable energy Năng lượng tái tạo

On the verge of extinction Trên bờ vực tuyệt chủng

Food-rich Giàu thức ăn

Contract respiratory disease Bị bệnh hô hấp

Particulate articles Vật chất dạng hạt

Go green Bảo vệ môi trường

Ocean acidification Acid hóa đại dương

Sanctuary Khu bảo tồn

Environmental degradation Suy thoái môi trường

40
 WORD MEANING

Biodegradable Phân hủy sinh học

Leach Lọc

Ecoterrorism Khủng bố sinh thái

Eco-anxiety Thương cảm trước biến đổi khí hậu

Green audit Kiểm toán môi trường

II. PRACTICE
Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D to indicate the correct answer
to each of the questions 1-10.

Plants and animals will find it difficult to escape from or adjust to the effect of global
warming, scientists have already observed shifts in the life cycles of many plants and
animals, such as flowers blooming earlier and birds hatching earlier in the spring. Many
species have begun shifting where they live or their annual migration patterns due to
warmer temperatures.

With further warming, animals will tend to migrate toward the poles and up mountain sides
toward higher elevations. Plants will also attempt to shift their ranges, seeking new areas
as old habitats grow too warm. In many places, however, human development will prevent
these shifts. Species that find cities or farmland blocking their way north or south may
become extinct. Species living in unique ecosystems, such as those found in polar and
mountaintop regions, are especially at risk because migration to new habitats is not
possible. For example, polar bears and marine mammals in the Arctic are already
threatened by dwindling sea ice but have nowhere farther to go.

Projecting species extinction due to global warming is extremely difficult. Some scientists
have estimated that 20 to 50 percent of species could be committed to extinction with 2 to
3 Celsius degrees of further warming. The rate of warming, not just the magnitude, is
extremely important for plants and animals. Some species and even entire ecosystems, such
as certain types of forest, may not be able to adjust quickly enough and may disappear.

41
Ocean ecosystems, especially fragile ones like coral reefs, will also be affected by global
warming. Warmer ocean temperatures can cause coral to “bleach”, a state which if
prolonged will lead to the death of the coral. Scientists estimate that even 1 Celsius degree
of additional warming could lead to widespread bleaching and death of coral reefs around
the world. Also increasing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere enters the ocean and increases
the acidity of ocean waters. This acidification further stresses ocean ecosystems.
1. Scientists have observed that warmer temperatures in the spring cause flowers to...
A. die instantly
B. bloom earlier
C. become lighter
D. lose color
2. According to paragraph 2, when their habitats grow warmer, animals tend to move.
A. south – eastwards and down mountainsides toward lower
B. north – westwards and up mountainsides toward higher
C. toward the North Pole and down mountainsides toward lower
D. toward the poles and up mountainsides toward higher
3. The pronoun “those” in paragraph 2 refers to.
A. species
B. ecosystems
C. habitats
D. areas
4. The phrase “dwindling sea ice” in paragraph 2 refers to.
A. the frozen water in the Artie.
B. the violent Arctic Ocean.
C. the melting ice in the Arctic.
D. the cold ice in the Arctic.
5. It is mentioned in the passage that if the global temperature rose by 2 or 3 Celsius degrees.
A. half of the earth’s surface would be
B. the sea level would rise by 20
C. water supply would decrease
D. by 5020 to 50 percent of species could become

42
6. According to the passage, if some species are not able to adjust quickly to warmer
temperatures, ...
A. they may be endangered
B. they can begin to develop
C. they will certainly need water.
D. they move to tropical forests.
7. The word “fragile” in paragraph 4 most probably means...
A. very large
B. easily damaged
C. rather strong
D. pretty hard
8. The bleaching of coral reefs as mentioned in paragraph 4 indicates...
A. the water absorption of coral reefs.
B. the quick growth of marine mammals.
C. the blooming phase of sea weeds.
D. the slow death of coral reefs.
9. The level of acidity in the ocean has increased by...
A. the rising amount of carbon dioxide entering the
B. the decrease of acidity of the pole
C. the extinction of species in coastal
D. the loss of acidity in the atmosphere around the
10. What does the passage mainly discuss?
A. Influence of climate changes on humans
B. Effects of global warming on animals and
C. Global warming and possible solutions
D. Global warming and species

43
III. KEY

1. B 2. D

3. A 4. C

5. D 6. A

7. B 8. D

9. A 10. B

44
45
 TOPIC 7: HEALTH
I. VOCABULARY

WORD MEANING

Obesity Bệnh béo phì

Cure Cách chữa bệnh

Metabolic rate Tỷ lệ trao đổi chất

Burn off energy Đốt cháy năng lượng

On the threshold of something Trên ngưỡng cửa mới

Medical conditions Tình trạng sức khỏe

Subtle change Sự thay đổi nhỏ

Behaviour modification Sửa đổi hành vi

Severe side effects Tác dụng phụ nghiêm trọng

Turn off the appetite Làm ngừng cơn thèm ăn

Một khiếm khuyết di truyền

A genetic defect
(một sự thiếu hụt gen)

Depression and anxiety Lo âu và trầm cảm

Cognitive behavioural therapy Liệu pháp nhận thức hành vi

Personalized nutrition Dinh dưỡng cá nhân hoá

Hobble economic growth Cản trở tăng trưởng kinh tế

Sustainable eating Ăn uống bền vững

Convert into Chuyển đổi thành

Spikes in blood glucose Tăng đường huyết

A panoply of metabolic disorders Các bệnh rối loạn chuyển hoá

Utility Tính thiết thực

46
 WORD MEANING

A personal medical-data hub Trung tâm dữ liệu y tế cá nhân

Detrimental to Có hại cho

Mechanical operation of the body Hoạt động cơ học của cơ thể

Unhealthy eating habits Thói quen ăn uống không lành mạnh

Socio-ecological view of health Quan điểm sức khỏe xã hội- sinh thái

II. PRACTICE

Changing Our Understanding of Health

A The concept of health holds different meanings for different people and groups. These
meanings of health have also changed over time. This change is no more evident than in
Western society today, when notions of health and health promotion are being challenged
and expanded in new ways.

B For much of recent Western history, health has been viewed in the physical sense only.
That is, good health has been connected to the smooth mechanical operation of the body,
while ill health has been attributed to a breakdown in this machine. Health in this sense has
been defined as the absence of disease or illness and is seen in medical terms. According
to this view, creating health for people means providing medical care to treat or prevent
disease and illness. During this period, there was an emphasis on providing clean water,
improved sanitation and housing.

C In the late 1940s the World Health Organisation challenged this physically and
medically oriented view of health. They stated that 'health is a complete state of physical,
mental and social well-being and is not merely the absence of disease' (WHO, 1946).
Health and the person were seen more holistically (mind/body/spirit) and not just in
physical terms.

D The 1970s was a time of focusing on the prevention of disease and illness by
emphasizing the importance of the lifestyle and behaviour of the individual. Specific
behaviours which were seen to increase the risk of diseases, such as smoking, lack of fitness

47
and unhealthy eating habits, were targeted. Creating health meant providing not only
medical health care, but health promotion programs and policies which would help people
maintain healthy behaviours and lifestyles. While this individualistic healthy lifestyle
approach to health worked for some (the wealthy members of society), people experiencing
poverty, unemployment, underemployment or little control over the conditions of their
daily lives benefited little from this approach. This was largely because both the healthy
lifestyles approach and the medical approach to health largely ignored the social and
environmental conditions affecting the health of people.

E During the 1980s and 1990s there has been a growing swing away from seeing lifestyle
risks as the root cause of poor health. While lifestyle factors still remain important, health
is being viewed also in terms of the social, economic and environmental contexts in which
people live. This broad approach to health is called the socio-ecological view of health.
The broad socio-ecological view of health was endorsed at the first International
Conference of Health Promotion held in 1986, Ottawa, Canada, where people from 38
countries agreed and declared that:

The fundamental conditions and resources for health are peace, shelter, education, food, a
viable income, a stable ecosystem, sustainable resources, social justice and equity.
Improvement in health requires a secure foundation in these basic requirements. (WHO,
1986).

It is clear from this statement that the creation of health is about much more than
encouraging healthy individual behaviours and lifestyles and providing appropriate
medical care. Therefore, the creation of health must include addressing issues such as
poverty, pollution, urbanisation, natural resource depletion, social alienation and poor
working conditions. The social, economic and environmental contexts which contribute to
the creation of health do not operate separately or independently of each other. Rather, they
are interacting and interdependent, and it is the complex interrelationships between them
which determine the conditions that promote health. A broad socio-ecological view of
health suggests that the promotion of health must include a strong social, economic and
environmental focus.

48
F At the Ottawa Conference in 1986, a charter was developed which outlined new
directions for health promotion based on the socio-ecological view of health. This charter,
known as the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion, remains as the backbone of health
action today. In exploring the scope of health promotion it states that:

Good health is a major resource for social, economic and personal development and an
important dimension of quality of life. Political, economic, social, cultural, environmental,
behavioural and biological factors can all favour health or be detrimental to it. (WHO,
1986) .

The Ottawa Charter brings practical meaning and action to this broad notion of health
promotion. It presents fundamental strategies and approaches in achieving health for all.
The overall philosophy of health promotion which guides these fundamental strategies and
approaches is one of 'enabling people to increase control over and to improve their health'
(WHO, 1986).

Questions 1-5
The reading passage has six paragraphs, A-F. Choose the most suitable headings for
paragraphs B-F from the list of headings (i-ix) below.
Write the appropriate numbers (i-ix) in boxes 1-5 on your answer sheet.
NB: There are more headings than paragraphs, so you will not use them all.
List of Headings
i) Ottawa International Conference on Health Promotion
ii) Holistic approach to health
iii) The primary importance of environmental factors
iv) Healthy lifestyles approach to health
v) Changes in concepts of health in Western society
vi) Prevention of diseases and illness
vii) Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion
viii) Definition of health in medical terms
ix) Socio-ecological view of health

49
Example Answer
Paragraph A v
1. Paragraph B
2. Paragraph C
3. Paragraph D
4. Paragraph E
5. Paragraph F
Questions 6-9
Using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage, answer the following
questions.
Write your answers in boxes 6-9 on your answer sheet.
6. In which year did the World Health Organization define health in terms of mental,
physical and social well-being?
7. Which members of society benefited most from the healthy lifestyles approach to health?
8. Name the three broad areas which relate to people's health, according to the socio-
ecological view of health.
9. During which decade were lifestyle risks seen as the major contributors to poor health?

50
III. KEY

1. viii 2. ii

3. iv 4. ix

5. vii 6. 1946

7. (the) wealthy (members) (of) (society) 8. social, economic, environmental

9. (the) 1970s

51
52
 TOPIC 8: LANGUAGE
I. VOCABULARY

WORD MEANING

Save a language from extinction Cứu 1 ngôn ngữ khỏi sự tuyệt chủng

Pass the language on to Truyền ngôn ngữ cho

Minority languages Ngôn ngữ thiểu số

Get on with Làm quen với

Language resources Tài nguyên ngôn ngữ

Dialect Phương ngữ

Extinct languages Ngôn ngữ tuyệt chủng

Body language Ngôn ngữ cơ thể

Non-verbal behaviour/communication Hành vi/giao tiếp không lời

Facial expressions Biểu cảm khuôn mặt

Eye contact Giao tiếp bằng mắt

In-person/online interactions Tương tác trực tiếp/trực tuyến

Polyglot Người nói được nhiều thứ tiếng

Gesture Cử chỉ, điệu bộ

Infuse ... With Truyền

Posture Tư thế

Multilingual Đa ngôn ngữ

Bilingual Song ngữ

Reasoning powers Khả năng lập luận

Mother tongue Tiếng mẹ đẻ

Syllable Âm tiết

53
II. PRACTICE

Language diversity

One of the most influential ideas in the study of languages is that of universal grammar
(UG). Put forward by Noam Chomsky in the 1960s, it is widely interpreted as meaning that
all languages are basically the same, and that the human brain is born language-ready, with
an in-built programme that is able to interpret the common rules underlying any mother
tongue. For five decades this idea prevailed, and influenced work in linguistics, psychology
and cognitive science. To understand language, it implied, you must sweep aside the huge
diversity of languages, and find their common human core.
Since the theory of UG was proposed, linguists have identified many universal language
rules. However, there are almost always exceptions. It was once believed, for example, that
if a language had syllables [1] that begin with a vowel and end with a consonant (VC), it
would also have syllables that begin with a consonant and end with a vowel (CV). This
universal lasted until 1999, when linguists showed that Arrernte, spoken by Indigenous
Australians from the area around Alice Springs in the Northern Territory, has VC syllables
but no CV syllables.
Other non-universal universals describe the basic rules of putting words together. Take the
rule that every language contains four basic word classes: nouns, verbs, adjectives and
adverbs. Work in the past two decades has shown that several languages lack an open
adverb class, which means that new adverbs cannot be readily formed, unlike in English
where you can turn any adjective into an adverb, for example, ‘soft’ into ‘softly’. Others,
such as Lao, spoken in Laos, have no adjectives at all. More controversially, some linguists
argue that a few languages, such as Straits Salish, spoken by indigenous people from north-
western regions of North America, do not even have distinct nouns or verbs. Instead, they
have a single class of words to include events, objects and qualities.
Even apparently indisputable universals have been found lacking. This includes recursion,
or the ability to infinitely place one grammatical unit inside a similar unit, such as ‘Jack
thinks that Mary thinks that ... the bus will be on time’. It is widely considered to be the
most essential characteristic of human language, one that sets it apart from the
communications of all other animals. Yet Dan Everett at Illinois State University recently
published controversial work showing that Amazonian Piraha does not have this quality.

54
But what if the very diversity of languages is the key to understanding human
communication? Linguists Nicholas Evans of the Australian National University in
Canberra, and Stephen Levinson of the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in
Nijmegen, the Netherlands, believe that languages do not share a common set of rules.
Instead, they say, their sheer variety is a defining feature of human communication -
something not seen in other animals. While there is no doubt that human thinking
influences the form that language takes, if Evans and Levinson are correct, language, in
turn, shapes our brains. This suggests that humans are more diverse than we thought, with
our brains having differences depending on the language environment in which we grew
up. And that leads to a disturbing conclusion: every time a language becomes extinct,
humanity loses an important piece of diversity.
If languages do not obey a single set of shared rules, then how are they created? ‘Instead
of universals. you get standard engineering solutions that languages adopt again and again,
and then you get outliers.' says Evans. He and Levinson argue that this is because any given
language is a complex system shaped by many factors, including culture, genetics and
history. There are no absolutely universal traits of language, they say, only tendencies. And
it is a mix of strong and weak tendencies that characterises the ‘bio-cultural’ mix that we
call language.
According to the two linguists, the strong tendencies explain why many languages display
common patterns. A variety of factors tend to push language in a similar direction, such as
the structure of the brain, the biology of speech, and the efficiencies of communication.
Widely shared linguistic elements may also be ones that build on a particularly human kind
of reasoning. For example, the fact that before we learn to speak we perceive the world as
a place full of things causing actions (agents) and things having actions done to them
(patients) explains why most languages deploy these grammatical categories.
Weak tendencies, in contrast, are explained by the idiosyncrasies of different languages.
Evans and Levinson argue that many aspects of the particular natural history of a
population may affect its language. For instance, Andy Butcher at Flinders University in
Adelaide, South Australia, has observed that indigenous Australian children have by far
the highest incidence of chronic middle-ear infection of any population on the planet, and
that most indigenous Australian languages lack many sounds that are common in other

55
languages, but which are hard to hear with a middle-ear infection. Whether this condition
has shaped the sound systems of these languages is unknown, says Evans, but it is
important to consider the idea.
Levinson and Evans are not the first to question the theory of universal grammar, but no
one has summarised these ideas quite as persuasively, and given them as much reach. As
a result, their arguments have generated widespread enthusiasm, particularly among those
linguists who are tired of trying to squeeze their findings into the straitjacket of ‘absolute
universals’. To some, it is the final nail in UG’s coffin. Michael Tomasello, co-director of
the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, has been a
long-standing critic of the idea that all languages conform to a set of rules. ‘Universal
grammar is dead,’ he says.
[1] a unit of sound.

Questions 1-6
Do the following statements agree with the views of the writer in Reading Passage?
In boxes 1-6 on your answer sheet, write:
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
1. In the final decades of the twentieth century, a single theory of language learning was
dominant.
2. The majority of UG rules proposed by linguists do apply to all human languages.
3. There is disagreement amongst linguists about an aspect of Straits Salish grammar.
4. The search for new universal language rules has largely ended.
5. If Evans and Levinson are right, people develop in the same way no matter what
language they speak.
6. The loss of any single language might have implications for the human race.

Questions 7-11
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D. Write your answers in boxes 7-11 on your
answer sheet.
7. Which of the following views about language are held by Evans and Levinson?

56
A. Each of the world’s languages develops independently.
B. The differences between languages outweigh the similarities.
C. Only a few language features are universal.
D. Each language is influenced by the characteristics of other languages.
8. According to Evans and Levinson, apparent similarities between languages could
be due to
A. close social contact.
B. faulty analysis.
C. shared modes of perception.
D. narrow descriptive systems.
9. In the eighth paragraph, what does the reference to a middle-ear infection serve
as?
A. A justification for something.
B. A contrast with something.
C. The possible cause of something.
D. The likely result of something.
10. What does the writer suggest about Evans’ and Levinson’s theory of language
development?
A. It had not been previously considered.
B. It is presented in a convincing way.
C. It has been largely rejected by other linguists.
D. It is not supported by the evidence.
11. Which of the following best describes the writer’s purpose?
A. To describe progress in the field of cognitive science.
B. To defend a long-held view of language learning.
C. To identify the similarities between particular languages.
D. To outline opposing views concerning the nature of language.

57
III. KEY

1. YES 2. NO

3. YES 4. NOT GIVEN

5. NO 6. YES

7. A 8. C

9. C 10. B

11. D

58
59
 TOPIC 9: MEDIA
I. VOCABULARY

WORD MEANING

Social-media influencer Người có ảnh hưởng trên mạng xã hội

Dubbed or subtitled viewing Xem thuyết minh hoặc phụ đề

Propagate Tuyên truyền

A source of topical information Một nguồn thông tin thời sự

Dire media reports Những tin tức truyền thông tồi tệ

Widespread confusion Sự hoang mang lan rộng

Blockbuster movies Phim bom tấn

Trước mắt công chúng, được theo dõi bởi

Be in the public eye
Công chúng

Provide a premium experience Cung cấp trải nghiệm chất lượng cao

Fast-moving contents Nội dung chuyển động nhanh

Seamless access Sự truy cập liền mạch, liên tục

A viral hit Một bản hit phổ biến

Shot one to fame Đột nhiên làm ai nổi tiếng

Infringe on privacy Xâm phạm quyền riêng tư

Abuse one’s privilege Lạm dụng đặc quyền

Age-verification registry Sự đăng ký có xác nhận độ tuổi

Salacious sites Những trang web tục tĩu

Streaming service Dịch vụ phát trực tuyến

Stale content Nội dung cũ rích

Synchronous and asynchronous sound Hiệu ứng âm thanh đồng bộ và không đồng
effects bộ

60
 WORD MEANING

Subtle Tế nhị

Banal Tầm thường

Emotional nuance Sắc thái cảm xúc

Ubiquitous Phổ biến

Salient motif Mô-típ dễ thấy

II. PRACTICE
An Introduction to Film Sound

Though we might think of film as an essentially visual experience, we really cannot afford
to underestimate the importance of film sound. A meaningful sound track is often as
complicated as the image on the screen, and is ultimately just as much the responsibility of
the director. The entire sound track consists of three essential ingredients: the human voice,
sound effects and music. These three tracks must be mixed and balanced so as to produce
the necessary emphases which in turn create desired effects. Topics which essentially refer
to the three previously mentioned tracks are discussed below. They include dialogue,
synchronous and asynchronous sound effects, and music.

Let us start with dialogue. As is the case with stage drama, dialogue serves to tell the story
and expresses feelings and motivations of characters as well. Often with film
characterization the audience perceives little or no difference between the character and
the actor. Thus, for example, the actor Humphrey Bogart is the character Sam Spade; film
personality and life personality seem to merge. Perhaps this is because the very texture of
a performer’s voice supplies an element of character.

When voice textures fit the performer’s physiognomy and gestures, a whole and very
realistic persona emerges. The viewer sees not an actor working at his craft, but another
human being struggling with life. It is interesting to note that how dialogue is used and the
very amount of dialogue used varies widely among films. For example, in the highly
successful science-fiction film 2001, little dialogue was evident, and most of it was banal
and of little intrinsic interest. In this way the film-maker was able to portray what Thomas

61
Sobochack and Vivian Sobochack call, in An Introduction to Film, the ‘inadequacy of
human responses when compared with the magnificent technology created by man and the
visual beauties of the universe’.

The comedy Bringing Up Baby, on the other hand, presents practically non-stop dialogue
delivered at breakneck speed. This use of dialogue underscores not only the dizzy quality
of the character played by Katherine Hepburn, but also the absurdity of the film itself and
thus its humor. The audience is bounced from gag to gag and conversation to conversation;
there is no time for audience reflection. The audience is caught up in a whirlwind of activity
in simply managing to follow the plot. This film presents pure escapism – largely due to
its frenetic dialogue.

Synchronous sound effects are those sounds which are synchronized or matched with what
is viewed. For example, if the film portrays a character playing the piano, the sounds of the
piano are projected. Synchronous sounds contribute to the realism of film and also help to
create a particular atmosphere. For example, the ‘click’ of a door being opened may simply
serve to convince the audience that the image portrayed is real, and the audience may only
subconsciously note the expected sound. However, if the ‘click’ of an opening door is part
of an ominous action such as a burglary, the sound mixer may call attention to the ‘click’
with an increase in volume; this helps to engage the audience in a moment of suspense.

Asynchronous sound effects, on the other hand, are not matched with a visible source of
the sound on screen. Such sounds are included so as to provide an appropriate emotional
nuance, and they may also add to the realism of the film. For example, a film-maker might
opt to include the background sound of an ambulance’s siren while the foreground sound
and image portrays an arguing couple. The asynchronous ambulance siren underscores the
psychic injury incurred in the argument; at the same time the noise of the siren adds to the
realism of the film by acknowledging the film’s city setting.

We are probably all familiar with background music in films, which has become so
ubiquitous as to be noticeable in its absence. We are aware that it is used to add emotion
and rhythm. Usually not meant to be noticeable, it often provides a tone or an emotional
attitude toward the story and /or the characters depicted. In addition, background music

62
often foreshadows a change in mood. For example, dissonant music may be used in film
to indicate an approaching (but not yet visible) menace or disaster.

Background music may aid viewer understanding by linking scenes. For example, a
particular musical theme associated with an individual character or situation may be
repeated at various points in a film in order to remind the audience of salient motifs or
ideas.

Film sound comprises conventions and innovations. We have come to expect an

acceleration of music during car chases and creaky doors in horror films. Yet, it is
important to note as well that sound is often brilliantly conceived. The effects of sound are
often largely subtle and often are noted by only our subconscious minds. We need to foster
an awareness of film sound as well as film space so as to truly appreciate an art form that
sprang to life during the twentieth century – the modern film.

Questions 1-5
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.
Write the correct letter in boxes 1-5 on your answer sheet.
1. In the first paragraph, the writer makes a point that
A. the director should plan the sound track at an early stage in filming.
B. it would be wrong to overlook the contribution of sound to the artistry of films.
C. the music industry can have a beneficial influence on sound in film.
D. it is important for those working on the sound in a film to have sole responsibility
for it.
2. One reason that the writer refers to Humphrey Bogart is to exemplify
A. the importance of the actor and the character appearing to have similar
personalities.
B. the audience’s wish that actors are visually appropriate for their roles.
C. the value of the actor having had similar feelings to the character.
D. the audience’s preference for dialogue to be as authentic as possible.
3. In the third paragraph, the writer suggests that
A. audiences are likely to be critical of film dialogue that does not reflect their own
experience.
B. film dialogue that appears to be dull may have a specific purpose.

63
C. filmmakers vary considerably in the skill with which they handle dialogue.
D. the most successful films are those with dialogue of a high Quality.
4. What does the writer suggest about Bringing Up
A. The plot suffers from the filmmaker’s wish to focus on humorous dialogue.
B. The dialogue helps to make it one of the best comedy films ever produced.
C. There is a mismatch between the speed of the dialogue and the speed of actions.
D The nature of the dialogue emphasises key elements of the film.
5. The writer refers to the ‘click’ of a door to make the point that realistic sounds
A. are often used to give the audience a false impression of events in the film.
B. may be interpreted in different ways by different members of the audience.
C. may be modified in order to manipulate the audience’s response to the film.
D. tend to be more significant in films presenting realistic situations.
Questions 6-10
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 2?
In boxes 6-10 on your answer sheet, write
TRUE if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this
6. Audiences are likely to be surprised if a film lacks background music.
7. Background music may anticipate a development in a film.
8. Background music has more effect on some people than on others.
9. Background music may help the audience to make certain connections within the
film.
10. Audiences tend to be aware of how the background music is affecting them.

64
III. KEY

1. B 2. A

3. B 4. D

5. C 6. TRUE

7. TRUE 8. NOT GIVEN

9. TRUE 10. FALSE

65
66
 TOPIC 10: PSYCHOLOGY
I. VOCABULARY

WORD MEANING

Tìm cách để tránh điều khó khăn, phá vỡ

Circumvent
quy tắc

Tình huống gây thiệt hại và phá hủy

Apocalypse
nghiêm trọng

Adverse reactions Các phản ứng trái ngược

Human psychology Tâm lý con người

Psychological scientist nhà tâm lý học

The neuroscience of social perception Khoa học thần kinh về nhận thức xã hội

Cognitive capality/ ability Khả năng nhận thức

Psychophysiological responses Phản ứng thần kinh học

Cognitive dissonance Sự bất đồng trong nhận thức

Analytical psychology Tâm lý học phân tích

Comparative psychology Tâm lý học so sánh

Subjective perception Nhận thức chủ quan

Dysfunctional conflict Xung đột bất thường

The replenishment of mental resources Sự bổ sung cho nguồn lực tinh thần

Hallucination Ảo giác

Personality trait Đặc điểm tính cách

Optimal Tối ưu

Bounce back Phục hồi, hồi phục

Paradox of choice Nghịch lý của lựa chọn

Neurotransmitters Chất truyền thần kinh

67
 WORD MEANING

Defense mechanism Cơ chế phòng vệ

Hierarchy of needs Tháp nhu cầu

Intrapersonal intelligence Trí thông minh nội tâm

Pathologies Bệnh lý

Human social hierarchies Hệ thống phân cấp xã hội của con người

II. PRACTICE
Having a laugh
The findings of psychological scientists reveal the importance of humour

Humans start developing a sense of humour as early as six weeks old, when babies begin
to laugh and smile in response to stimuli. Laughter is universal across all human cultures
and even exists in some form in rats, chimps, and bonobos. Like other human emotions
and expressions, laughter and humour provide psychological scientists with rich resources
for studying human psychology, ranging from the development of language to the
neuroscience of social perception.

Theories focusing on the evolution of laughter point to it as an important adaptation for

social communication. Take, for example, the recorded laughter in TV comedy shows.
Back in 1950, US sound engineer Charley Douglass hated dealing with the unpredictable
laughter of live audiences, so started recording his own ‘laugh tracks’. These were intended
to help people at home feel like they were in a social situation, such as a crowded theatre.
Douglass even recorded various types of laughter, as well as mixtures of laughter from
men, women, and children. In doing so, he picked up on a quality of laughter that is now
interesting researchers: a simple ‘haha’ communicates a remarkable amount of socially
relevant information.

In one study conducted in 2016, samples of laughter from pairs of English-speaking

students were recorded at the University of California, Santa Cruz. A team made up of
more than 30 psychological scientists, anthropologists, and biologists then played these
recordings to listeners from 24 diverse societies, from indigenous tribes in New Guinea to

68
city-dwellers in India and Europe. Participants were asked whether they thought the people
laughing were friends or strangers. On average, the results were remarkably consistent:
worldwide, people’s guesses were correct approximately 60% of the time.

Researchers have also found that different types of laughter serve as codes to complex
human social hierarchies. A team led by Christopher Oveis from the University of
California, San Diego, found that high-status individuals had different laughs from low-
status individuals, and that strangers’ judgements of an individual’s social status were
influenced by the dominant or submissive quality of their laughter. In their study, 48 male
college students were randomly assigned to groups of four, with each group composed of
two low-status members, who had just joined their college fraternity group, and two high-
status members, older student took a turn at being teased by the others, involving the use
of mildly insulting nicknames. Analysis revealed that, as expected, high-status individuals
produced more dominant laughs and fewer submissive laughs relative to the low-status
individuals. Meanwhile, low-status individuals were more likely to change their laughter
based on their position of power; that is, the newcomers produced more dominant laughs
when they were in the ‘powerful’ role of teasers. Dominant laughter was higher in pitch,
louder, and more variable in tone than submissive laughter.

A random group of volunteers then listened to an equal number of dominant and

submissive laughs from both the high- and low-status individuals, and were asked to
estimate the social status of the laughter. In line with predictions, laughers producing
dominant laughs were perceived to be significantly higher in status than laughers producing
submissive laughs. ‘This was particularly true for low-status individuals, who were rated
as significantly higher in status when displaying a dominant versus submissive laugh,’
Oveis and colleagues note. ‘Thus, by strategically displaying more dominant laughter when
the context allows, low-status individuals may achieve higher status in the eyes of others.’
However, high-status individuals were rated as high-status whether they produced their
natural dominant laugh or tried to do a submissive one.

Another study, conducted by David Cheng and Lu Wang of Australian National University,
was based on the hypothesis that humour might provide a respite from tedious situations
in the workplace. This ‘mental break’ might facilitate the replenishment of mental
resources. To test this theory, the researchers recruited 74 business students, ostensibly for

69
an experiment on perception. First, the students performed a tedious task in which they had
to cross out every instance of the letter ‘e’ over two pages of text. The students then were
randomly assigned to watch a video clip eliciting either humour, contentment, or neutral
feelings. Some watched a clip of the BBC comedy Mr. Bean, others a relaxing scene with
dolphins swimming in the ocean, and others a factual video about the management
profession.

The students then completed a task requiring persistence in which they were asked to guess
the potential performance of employees based on provided profiles, and were told that
making 10 correct assessments in a row would lead to a win. However, the software was
programmed such that it was nearly impossible to achieve 10 consecutive correct answers.
Participants were allowed to quit the task at any point. Students who had watched the Mr.
Bean video ended up spending significantly more time working on the task, making twice
as many predictions as the other two groups.

Cheng and Wang then replicated these results in a second study, during which they had
participants complete long multiplication questions by hand. Again, participants who
watched the humorous video spent significantly more time working on this tedious task
and completed more questions correctly than did the students in either of the other groups.

‘Although humour has been found to help relieve stress and facilitate social relationships,
traditional view of task performance implies that individuals should avoid things such as
humour that may distract them from the accomplishment of task goals,’ Cheng and Wang
conclude. ‘We suggest that humour is not only enjoyable but more importantly,
energising.’

Questions 1-5
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.
1. When referring to laughter in the first paragraphs, the writer emphasises
A. its impact on language.
B. its function in human culture.
C. its value to scientific research.
D. its universality in animal societies.

70
2. What does the writer suggest about Charley Douglass?
A. He understood the importance of enjoying humour in a group setting.
B. He believed that TV viewers at home needed to be told when to laugh.
C. He wanted his shows to appeal to audiences across the social spectrum.
D. He preferred shows where audiences were present in the recording studio.
3. What makes the Santa Cruz study particularly significant?
A. the various different types of laughter that were studied
B. the similar results produced by a wide range of cultures
C. the number of different academic disciplines involved
D. the many kinds of people whose laughter was recorded
4. Which of the following happened in the San Diego study?
A. Some participants became very upset.
B. Participants exchanged roles.
C. Participants who had not met before became friends.
D. Some participants were unable to laugh.
5. In the fifth paragraph, what did the results of the San Diego study suggest?
A. It is clear whether a dominant laugh is produced by a high- or low-status person.
B. Low-status individuals in a position of power will still produce submissive laughs.
C. The submissive laughs of low- and high-status individuals are surprisingly similar.
D. High-status individuals can always be identified by their way of laughing.
Questions 6-10
Complete the summary using the list of words, A-H, below.
The benefits of humour
In one study at Australian National University, randomly chosen groups of participants
were shown one of three videos, each designed to generate a different kind of
6………………….. . When all participants were then given a deliberately frustrating task
to do, it was found that those who had watched the 7…………………….. video persisted
with the task for longer and tried harder to accomplish the task than either of the other two
groups.
A second study in which participants were asked to perform a particularly
8……………………… task produced similar results. According to researchers David

71
Cheng and Lu Wang, these findings suggest that humour not only reduces
9…………………… and helps build social connections but it may also have a
10……………………. Effect on the body and mind.

A laughter B relaxing C boring

D anxiety E stimulating F emotion
G enjoyment H amusing

72
III. KEY

1. C 2. A

3. B 4. B

5. D 6. F

7. H 8. C

9. D 10. E

73
74
 TOPIC 11: HISTORY
I. VOCABULARY

WORD MEANING

Old-fashioned Cổ

An international historic landmark Một địa danh lịch sử quốc tế

Keep out hostile invaders Ngăn chặn quân xâm lược thù địch

Intense battles Trận chiến căng thẳng

Descend from Có nguồn gốc từ

Territorial defence Bảo vệ lãnh thổ

Hurdle Thăng trầm

A remarkable feat Một chiến công đáng nể

Brutal dictatorship Chế độ độc tài tàn bạo

The historic mould Khuôn mẫu lịch sử

Unprecedented Chưa từng có

Explode into a dispute Nổ ra một tranh chấp

Celebrate a milestone Kỷ niệm một cột mốc quan trọng

A critical precursor Một tiền thân quan trọng

Unseating deep-rooted prejudices Định kiến đã ăn sâu không thể gỡ bỏ

At the dawn of the digital age Khi thời đại kỹ thuật số bắt đầu

The digital revolution Cuộc cách mạng kỹ thuật số

Sovereign Chủ quyền

The empire Đế chế

Intense political reform Cải cách chính trị mạnh mẽ

75
 WORD MEANING

Reclaim one’s throne Lấy lại ngai vàng

Monarchy Chế độ quân chủ

Conservatives Phe bảo thủ

Allied forces Lực lượng đồng minh

Conquer Xâm chiếm

II. PRACTICE

One Hundred Days of Reform

The term "one hundred days" has been used in politics to indicate a short period of intense
political reform since the early 1800s. This phase typically begins when a new leader
obtains power in a country. When Napoleon fled Elba and King Louis XVIII reclaimed his
throne, the first Hundred Days happened between March and June 1815. This was one of
the outcomes of the Battle of Waterloo. The Hundred Days of Reform of China (also
referred to as the Wuxu Reform) was influenced by a similar event. Emperor Guangxu
found his nation in a tough situation following the defeat of the Sino-Japanese War.
Desperate for change, the emperor recruited help from a young political activist called
Kang Yu-Wei. K'ang graduated with the highest qualification (chin-shih), published two
books on reform, and started many of his own political reform projects at the age of 27.
K'ang impressed the court and persuaded the king that China, similar to Japan, ought to
establish a constitutional government and remove the monarchy.

Emperor Guwangu handed the reform work to Kang on June 11, 1898, and placed a
progressive scholar-reformer in the control of the government. K'ang started working
immediately to transform China into a more modern nation with the help of some other
reformers. In a brief amount of time, the imperial court issued several statutes related to
the country's social and political structure. K'ang first intended to reform China's
educational system. Instead of the Neo-Confucian orthodoxy, the edicts proposed a
universal educational system that prioritized practical and Western studies. The new
government also aimed to modernize the country's examination methods as well as send

76
more students abroad to learn firsthand how technology was evolving in other countries.
Another demand made by K'ang was the establishment of a national parliamentary
government with elected officials and ministries. Modernization of agriculture and
medicine was also on the agenda, along with military reform and the establishment of a
new defense system.

These edicts created a threat to Chinese institutions and ideologies, particularly the army,
that at the time had been controlled by a small group of governors-general. At every level
of society, there was strong opposition to the reform, and only one out of fifteen provinces
attempted to implement the edicts. The Manchus recommended more gradual adjustments
since they thought the reform was a radical and unrealistic proposal. Three months into the
reform, Yuan Shikai and Empress Dowager Cixi organized a coup d'état to remove
Guangxu and the youthful reformers from power and confine them in seclusion. Some of
the reformers' top advocates that refused to quit were executed. The new edicts were
abolished after September 21st, and the conservatives reclaimed power.

Many Chinese citizens believed that the consequences of the One Hundred Days of Reform
were worse for their country than the reform attempts' short but failed rule. Anti-foreign,
as well as anti-Christian secret societies, ripped through northern China immediately after
the conservative takeover, attacking foreign concessions and missionary establishments.
The brutality of these "Boxer bands" provoked revenge from the offended nations,
compelling the government to declare war on the invaders. By the end of August, a group
of Allied forces consisting of armies from nine different European countries, the United
States, and Japan had arrived in Peking. North China had been conquered with little effort,
and foreign troops had established themselves within the border. Under the Protocol of
1901, the court was ordered to either kill or punish several of its prominent officials. The
Allies decided on an "open door" trade plan rather than dividing the conquered area among
the countries. Numerous of these original reform plans, such as the modernization of
educational and military systems, were ordered by the court within a decade.

Empress Dowager Cixi, who refused to reform despite the reality that change was
inevitable was portrayed as the villain in the traditional depiction of the One Hundred Days
of Reform, while Emperor Guwangxu and K'ang Yu-wei were portrayed as heroes.
However, as the One Hundred Days became a symbol of political failures, historians of the

77
20th century often symbolizes the Wuxu Reform as an impractical dream. The conservative
elites might have been more hostile to the immediacy of the planned edicts than the changes
themselves, which can be seen by the fact that the reforms were implemented in the span
of decades rather than months.

Questions 1 - 4
What were some of the reforms planned during the One Hundred Days of Reform in China?
Choose four answers from the list below, and write the correct letters, A-G, in boxes 1-4
on your Answer Sheet.
A. Modernization of the school system
B. Establishment of a parliament
C. Focus on the study of Confucianism
D. Reorganization of the military
E. Abolition of elections
F. Improvement of farming
G. Initiation of foreign trade

Questions 5 - 9
Complete the sentences below about the reading passage. Choose your answers from the
box below, and write them in boxes 5-9 on your Answer Sheet.
There are more choices than spaces, so you will not use them all.

A. overthrew the government after the reforms were introduced

B. in charge of the reform movement

C. were voted in D. in prison E. were abolished

F. lost a war G. began trade H. foreigners in China

I. were executed J. reform supporters K. occupied China

L. were initiated M. opposed the reforms N. were re-established

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5. China ___________ with Japan.

6. After June 11, 1898, the reforms _____________.

7. Emperor Guangxu put K'ang Yu-wei ______________.

8. Yuan Shikai and Empress Dowager Cixi ______________.

9. Secret societies attacked ______________.

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III. KEY

1. A 2. B

3. D 4. F

5. F 6. B

7. L 8. M

9. A

80
81
 TOPIC 12: AGRICULTURE
I. VOCABULARY

WORD MEANING

Food and agricultural systems Hệ thống lương thực và nông nghiệp

Market supply Nguồn cung thị trường

Food security An ninh lương thực

Irrigation systems Hệ thống tưới tiêu

Genetic modification Sửa đổi gen

Agroecology Sinh thái học nông nghiệp

The supply and demand Nguồn cung và cầu

Drought-resistant crops Cây trồng chống hạn

Cây trồng chống hạn Ứng dụng phân bón

Mechanized farming Nông nghiệp cơ khí

Biosecurity measures Biện pháp bảo vệ sinh học

Land use planning Quy hoạch sử dụng đất

Crop yield Năng suất mùa vụ

Subsistence farming Nông nghiệp tự cung tự cấp

Diversification of crops Đa dạng hóa cây trồng

Poor agricultural infrastructure Cơ sở hạ tầng nông nghiệp kém

Sustainable resource management Quản lý tài nguyên bền vững

Greenhouse gas emissions Phát thải khí nhà kính

Boost soil fertilizer/yields Tăng độ phù nhiêu, màu mỡ của đất

Intensive farming Thâm canh

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 WORD MEANING

Labor-saving machinery Máy móc tiết kiệm lao động

State intervention Sự can thiệp của nhà nước

Staple food Lương thực cơ bản

Farming and agricultural practices Các phương thức canh tác nông nghiệp

II. PRACTICE
The risks agriculture faces in developing countries

Synthesis of an online debate*

A Two things distinguish food production from all other productive activities: first,
every single person needs food each day and has a right to it; and second, it is hugely
dependent on nature. These two unique aspects, one political, the other natural, make food
production highly vulnerable and different from any other business. At the same time,
cultural values are highly entrenched in food and agricultural systems worldwide.

B Farmers everywhere face major risks, including extreme weather, long-term climate
change, and price volatility in input and product markets. However, smallholder farmers
in developing countries must in addition deal with adverse environments, both natural, in
terms of soil quality, rainfall, etc., and human, in terms of infrastructure, financial systems,
markets, knowledge and technology. Counter-intuitively, hunger is prevalent among many
smallholder farmers in the developing world.

C Participants in the online debate argued that our biggest challenge is to address the
underlying causes of the agricultural system’s inability to ensure sufficient food for all, and
they identified as drivers of this problem our dependency on fossil fuels and unsupportive
government policies.

D On the question of mitigating the risks farmers face, most essayists called for greater
state intervention. In his essay, Kanayo F. Nwanze, President of the International Fund for
Agricultural Development, argued that governments can significantly reduce risks for
farmers by providing basic services like roads to get produce more efficiently to markets,

83
or water and food storage facilities to reduce losses. Sophia Murphy, senior advisor to the
Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, suggested that the procurement and holding of
stocks by governments can also help mitigate wild swings in food prices by alleviating
uncertainties about market supply.

E Shenggen Fan, Director General of the International Food Policy Research Institute,
help up social safety nets and public welfare programmes in Ethiopia, Brazil and Mexico
as valuable ways to address poverty among farming families and reduce their vulnerability
to agricultural shocks. However, some commentators responded that cash transfers to poor
families do not necessarily translate into increased food security, as these programmes do
not always strengthen food production or raise incomes. Regarding state subsidies for
agriculture, Rokeya Kabir, Executive Director of Bangladesh Nari Progati Sangha,
commented in her essay that these ‘have not compensated for the stranglehold exercised
by private traders. In fact, studies show that sixty percent of beneficiaries of subsidies are
not poor, but rich landowners and non-farmer traders.’

F Nwanze, Murphy and Fan argued that private risk management tools, like private
insurance, commodity futures markets, and rural finance can help small-scale producers
mitigate risk and allow for investment in improvements. Kabir warned that financial
support schemes often encourage the adoption of high-input agricultural practices, which
in the medium term may raise production costs beyond the value of their harvests. Murphy
noted that when futures markets become excessively financialised they can contribute to
short-term price volatility, which increases farmers’ food insecurity. Many participants and
commentators emphasized that greater transparency in markets is needed to mitigate the
impact of volatility, and make evident whether adequate stocks and supplies are available.
Others contended that agribusiness companies should be held responsible for paying for
negative side effects.

G Many essayists mentioned climate change and its consequences for small-scale
agriculture. Fan explained that ‘in addition to reducing crop yields, climate change
increases the magnitude and frequency of extreme weather events, which increase
smallholder vulnerability.’ The growing unpredictability of weather patterns increases
farmers’ difficulty in managing weather-related risks. According to this author, one
solution would be to develop crop varieties that are more resilient to new climate trends

84
and extreme weather patterns. Accordingly, Pat Mooney, co-founder and executive
director of the ETC Group, suggested that ‘if we are to survive climate change, we must
adopt policies that let peasants diversify the plant and animal species and varieties/breeds
that make up our menus.’

H Some participating authors and commentators argued in favour of community-based

and autonomous risk management strategies through collective action groups, co-
operatives or producers’ groups. Such groups enhance market opportunities for small-scale
producers, reduce marketing costs and synchronise buying and selling with seasonal price
conditions. According to Murphy, ‘collective action offers an important way for farmers
to strengthen their political and economic bargaining power, and to reduce their business
risks.’ One commentator, Giel Ton, warned that collective action does not come as a free
good. It takes time, effort and money to organise, build trust and to experiment. Others,
like Marcel Vernooij and Marcel Beukeboom, suggested that in order to ‘apply what we
already know’, all stakeholders, including business, government, scientists and civil
society, must work together, starting at the beginning of the value chain.

I Some participants explained that market price volatility is often worsened by the
presence of intermediary purchasers who, taking advantage of farmers’ vulnerability,
dictate prices. One commentator suggested farmers can gain greater control over prices and
minimise price volatility by selling directly to consumers. Similarly, Sonali Bisht, founder
and advisor to the Institute of Himalayan Environmental Research and Education
(INHERE), India, wrote that community-supported agriculture, where consumers invest in
local farmers by subscription and guarantee producers a fair price, is a risk-sharing model
worth more attention. Direct food distribution systems not only encourage small-scale
agriculture but also give consumers more control over the food they consume, she wrote.

* The personal names in the text refer to the authors of written contributions to the online
debate

Questions 1-3
Reading Passage has nine paragraphs, A-I.
Which paragraph contains the following information?
1 a reference to characteristics that only apply to food production

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2 a reference to challenges faced only by farmers in certain parts of the world
3 a reference to difficulties in bringing about co-operation between farmers
Questions 4-9
Look at the following statements (4-9) and the list of people below.
Match each statement with the correct person, A-G.
NB You may use any letter more than once.
4 Financial assistance from the government does not always go to the farmers who most
need it.
5 Farmers can benefit from collaborating as a group.
6 Financial assistance from the government can improve the standard of living of
farmers.
7 Farmers may be helped if there is financial input by the same individuals who buy
from them.
8 Governments can help to reduce variation in prices.
9 Improvements to infrastructure can have a major impact on risk for farmers.
List of People
A Kanayo F. Nwanze
B Sophia Murphy
C Shenggen Fan
D Rokeya Kabir
E Pat Mooney
F Giel Ton
G Sonali Bisht

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III. KEY

1. B 2. C

3. D 4. C

5. B 6. A

7. E 8. B

9. D

87
88
 TOPIC 13: WORK
I. VOCABULARY

WORD MEANING

A prolonged period of high unemployment Thời kỳ tỉ lệ thất nghiệp cao kéo dài

Labour-market bounceback Sự phục hồi thị trường lao động

Seek a decent job Tìm một công việc lương cao

Furloughed Bị buộc phải thôi việc

Wage growth Sự tăng lương

Low-skilled workers Lao động kỹ năng thấp

Labour-intensive Thâm dụng lao động

Land a job Có một công việc

A prospective employee Nhân viên triển vọng

Be engaged in work Cống hiến cho công việc

Follow orders Nghe lệnh

Be disowned Bị từ chối

Play one’s part Làm việc của mình

Social welfare Phúc lợi xã hội

Social status Địa vị xã hội

Discontented Không hài lòng

Work my guts out Làm việc cật lực

Workforce Lực lượng lao động

Switch to a different occupation Đổi việc

Knowledge economy Nền kinh tế tri thức

Job security Bảo đảm việc làm

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II. PRACTICE
The future of work

According to a leading business consultancy, 3-14% of the global workforce will need to
switch to a different occupation within the next 10-15 years, and all workers will need to
adapt as their occupations evolve alongside increasingly capable machines. Automation –
or ‘embodied artificial intelligence’ (AI) – is one aspect of the disruptive effects of
technology on the labour market. ‘Disembodied AI’, like the algorithms running in our
smartphones, is another.

Dr Stella Pachidi from Cambridge Judge Business School believes that some of the most
fundamental changes are happening as a result of the ‘algorithmication’ of jobs that are
dependent on data rather than on production – the so-called knowledge economy.
Algorithms are capable of learning from data to undertake tasks that previously needed
human judgement, such as reading legal contracts, analysing medical scans and gathering
market intelligence.

‘In many cases, they can outperform humans,’ says Pachidi. ‘Organisations are attracted
to using algorithms because they want to make choices based on what they consider is
“perfect information”, as well as to reduce costs and enhance productivity.’

‘But these enhancements are not without consequences,’ says Pachidi. ‘If routine cognitive
tasks are taken over by AI, how do professions develop their future experts?’ she asks.
‘One way of learning about a job is “legitimate peripheral participation” – a novice stands
next to experts and learns by observation. If this isn’t happening, then you need to find new
ways to learn.’

Another issue is the extent to which the technology influences or even controls the
workforce. For over two years, Pachidi monitored a telecommunications company. ‘The
way telecoms salespeople work is through personal and frequent contact with clients, using
the benefit of experience to assess a situation and reach a decision. However, the company
had started using a[n] … algorithm that defined when account managers should contact
certain customers about which kinds of campaigns and what to offer them.’

The algorithm – usually built by external designers – often becomes the keeper of
knowledge, she explains. In cases like this, Pachidi believes, a short-sighted view begins

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to creep into working practices whereby workers learn through the ‘algorithm’s eyes’ and
become dependent on its instructions. Alternative explorations – where experimentation
and human instinct lead to progress and new ideas – are effectively discouraged.

Pachidi and colleagues even observed people developing strategies to make the algorithm
work to their own advantage. ‘We are seeing cases where workers feed the algorithm with
false data to reach their targets,’ she reports.

It’s scenarios like these that many researchers are working to avoid. Their objective is to
make AI technologies more trustworthy and transparent, so that organisations and
individuals understand how AI decisions are made. In the meantime, says Pachidi, ‘We
need to make sure we fully understand the dilemmas that this new world raises regarding
expertise, occupational boundaries and control.’

Economist Professor Hamish Low believes that the future of work will involve major
transitions across the whole life course for everyone: ‘The traditional trajectory of full-time
education followed by full-time work followed by a pensioned retirement is a thing of the
past,’ says Low. Instead, he envisages a multistage employment life: one where retraining
happens across the life course, and where multiple jobs and no job happen by choice at
different stages.

On the subject of job losses, Low believes the predictions are founded on a fallacy: ‘It
assumes that the number of jobs is fixed. If in 30 years, half of 100 jobs are being carried
out by robots, that doesn’t mean we are left with just 50 jobs for humans. The number of
jobs will increase: we would expect there to be 150 jobs.’

Dr Ewan McGaughey, at Cambridge’s Centre for Business Research and King’s College
London, agrees that ‘apocalyptic’ views about the future of work are misguided. ‘It’s the
laws that restrict the supply of capital to the job market, not the advent of new technologies
that causes unemployment.’

His recently published research answers the question of whether automation, AI and
robotics will mean a ‘jobless future’ by looking at the causes of unemployment. ‘History
is clear that change can mean redundancies. But social policies can tackle this through
retraining and redeployment.’

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He adds: ‘If there is going to be change to jobs as a result of AI and robotics then I’d like
to see governments seizing the opportunity to improve policy to enforce good job security.
We can “reprogramme” the law to prepare for a fairer future of work and leisure.’
McGaughey’s findings are a call to arms to leaders of organisations, governments and
banks to pre-empt the coming changes with bold new policies that guarantee full
employment, fair incomes and a thriving economic democracy.

‘The promises of these new technologies are astounding. They deliver humankind the
capacity to live in a way that nobody could have once imagined,’ he adds. ‘Just as the
industrial revolution brought people past subsistence agriculture, and the corporate
revolution enabled mass production, a third revolution has been pronounced. But it will not
only be one of technology. The next revolution will be social.’
Questions 1– 4
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.
Write the correct letter in boxes 1-4 on your answer sheet.
1. The first paragraph tells us about
A. the kinds of jobs that will be most affected by the growth of AI.
B. the extent to which AI will alter the nature of the work that people do.
C. the proportion of the world’s labour force who will have jobs in AI in the future.
D. the difference between ways that embodied and disembodied AI with impact on
workers.
2. According to the second paragraph, what is Stella Pachidi’s view of the ‘knowledge
economy’?
A. It is having an influence on the number of jobs available.
B. It is changing people’s attitudes towards their occupations.
C. It is the main reason why the production sector is declining.
D. It is a key factor driving current developments in the workplace.
3. What did Pachidi observe at the telecommunications company?
A. staff disagreeing with the recommendations of AI.
B. staff feeling resentful about the intrusion of AI in their work.
C. staff making sure that AI produces the results that they want.
D. staff allowing AI to carry out tasks they ought to do themselves.

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4. In his recently published research, Ewan McGaughey
A. challenges the idea that redundancy is a negative thing.
B. shows the profound effect of mass unemployment on society.
C. highlights some differences between past and future job losses.
D. illustrates how changes in the job market can be successfully handled.
Questions 5– 8
Complete the summary using the list of words, A-G, below.
Write the correct letter, A-G, in boxes 5-8 on your answer sheet.
The ‘algorithmication’ of jobs
Stella Pachidi of Cambridge Judge Business School has been focusing on the
‘algorithmication’ of jobs which rely not on production but on 5............................ .
While monitoring a telecommunications company, Pachidi observed a growing
6............................ . on the recommendations made by AI, as workers begin to learn
through the ‘algorithm’s eyes’. Meanwhile, staff are deterred from experimenting
and using their own 7............................ ., and are therefore prevented from achieving
innovation.
To avoid the kind of situations which Pachidi observed, researchers are trying to
make AI’s decision-making process easier to comprehend, and to increase users’
8............................ .with regard to the technology.
A pressure B satisfaction C intuition
D promotion E reliance F confidence
G information

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III. KEY

1. B 2. D

3. C 4. D

5. G 6. E

7. C 8. F

94
95
 TOPIC 14: TECHNOLOGY
I. VOCABULARY

WORD MEANING

Labour-saving Tiết kiệm lao động

Bot Người máy

Navigate and avoid obstacles Định vị và tránh chướng ngại vật

Telemonitoring Giám sát từ xa

Ground-breaking contributions Những đóng góp đột phá

Autonomous mode Chế độ lái tự động

Scientific revolution Cuộc cách mạng khoa học

High-tech equipment Thiết bị công nghệ cao

Computer age Kỷ nguyên máy tính

Lifelike intelligence Trí thông minh giống như con người

Tech giant Ông lớn công nghệ

Tech-focused courses Những khóa học tập trung vào công nghệ

Collective intelligence Trí tuệ tập thể

Lay a foundation for Đặt nền móng cho điều gì

Software tweaks Những điều chỉnh nhỏ trong phần mềm

Microprocessor Bộ vi xử lý

Virtual reality Thực tế ảo

Humanoid robot Rô bốt hình người

Pool their talents Tập hợp tài năng của họ

Cunning tools Công cụ xảo quyệt

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 WORD MEANING

Database Cơ sở dữ liệu

Labor-intensive (Công việc) Cần nhiều lao động

Human drudgery Sự vất vả của con người

Human operators Người vận hành con người

The incessant miniaturisation of

Sự thu nhỏ không ngừng của thiết bị điện tử
electronics

II. PRACTICE
ROBOTS
Since the dawn of human ingenuity, people have devised ever more cunning tools to cope
with work that is dangerous, boring, onerous, or just plain nasty. That compulsion has
culminated in robotics - the science of conferring various human capabilities on machines.

A. The modern world is increasingly populated by quasi-intelligent gizmos whose presence

we barely notice but whose creeping ubiquity has removed much human drudgery. Our
factories hum to the rhythm of robot assembly arms. Our banking is done at that thank us
with rote politeness for the transaction. Our subway trains are controlled by tireless robo-
drivers. Our mine shafts are dug by automated moles, and our nuclear accidents - such as
those at Three Mile Island and Chernobyl - are cleaned up by robotic muckers fit to
withstand radiation. Such is the scope of uses envisioned by Karel Capek, the Czech
playwright who coined the term ‘robot’ in 1920 (the word ‘robota’ means ‘forced labour’
in Czech). As progress accelerates, the experiment becomes exploitable at record pace.

B. Other innovations promise to extend the abilities of human operators. Thanks to the
incessant miniaturisation of electronics and micro-mechanics, there are already robot
systems that can perform some kinds of brain and bone surgery with submillimeter
accuracy - far greater precision than highly skilled physicians can achieve with their hands
alone. At the same time, techniques of long-distance control will keep people even farther
from hazard. In 1994 a ten- foot-tall NASA robotic explorer called Dante, with video-
camera eyes and with spider-like legs, scrambled over the menacing rim of an Alaskan

97
volcano while technicians 2,000 miles away in California watched the scene by satellite
and controlled Dante’s descent.

C. But if robots are to reach the next stage of labour-saving utility, they will have to operate
with less human supervision and be able to make at least a few decisions for themselves -
goals that pose a formidable challenge. ‘While we know how to tell a robot to handle a
specific error,’ says one expert, ‘we can’t yet give a robot enough common sense to reliably
interact with a dynamic world.’ Indeed the quest for true artificial intelligence (Al) has
produced very mixed results. Despite a spasm of initial optimism in the 1960s and 1970s,
when it appeared that transistor circuits and microprocessors might be able to perform in
the same way as the human brain by the 21st century, researchers lately have extended their
forecasts by decades if not centuries.

D. What they found, in attempting to model thought, is that the human brain’s roughly one
hundred billion neurons are much more talented - and human perception far more
complicated - than previously imagined. They have built robots that can recognise the
misalignment of a machine panel by a fraction of a millimeter in a controlled factory
environment. But the human mind can glimpse a rapidly changing scene and immediately
disregard the 98 percent that is irrelevant, instantaneously focusing on the woodchuck at
the side of a winding forest road or the single suspicious face in a tumultuous crowd. The
most advanced computer systems on Earth can’t approach that kind of ability, and
neuroscientists still don’t know quite how we do it.

E. Nonetheless, as information theorists, neuroscientists, and computer experts pool their

talents, they are finding ways to get some lifelike intelligence from robots. One method
renounces the linear, logical structure of conventional electronic circuits in favour of the
messy, ad hoc arrangement of a real brain’s neurons. These ‘neural networks’ do not have
to be programmed. They can ‘teach’ themselves by a system of feedback signals that
reinforce electrical pathways that produced correct responses and, conversely, wipe out
connections that produced errors. Eventually the net wires itself into a system that can
pronounce certain words or distinguish certain shapes.

F. In other areas researchers are struggling to fashion a more natural relationship between
people and robots in the expectation that someday machines will take on some tasks now

98
done by humans in, say, nursing homes. This is particularly important in Japan, where the
percentage of elderly citizens is rapidly increasing. So experiments at the Science
University of Tokyo have created a ‘face robot’ - a life-size, soft plastic model of a female
head with a video camera embedded in the left eye - as a prototype. The researchers’ goal
is to create robots that people feel comfortable around. They are concentrating on the face
because they believe facial expressions are the most important way to transfer emotional
messages. We read those messages by interpreting expressions to decide whether a person
is happy, frightened, angry, or nervous. Thus the Japanese robot is designed to detect
emotions in the person it is ‘looking at’ by sensing changes in the spatial arrangement of
the person’s eyes, nose, eyebrows, and mouth. It compares those configurations with a
database of standard facial expressions and guesses the emotion. The robot then uses an
ensemble of tiny pressure pads to adjust its plastic face into an appropriate emotional
response.

G. Other labs are taking a different approach, one that doesn’t try to mimic human
intelligence or emotions. Just as computer design has moved away from one central
mainframe in favour of myriad individual workstations - and single processors have been
replaced by arrays of smaller units that break a big problem into parts that are solved
simultaneously - many experts are now investigating whether swarms of semi-smart robots
can generate a collective intelligence that is greater than the sum of its parts. That’s what
beehives and ant colonies do, and several teams are betting that legions of mini-critters
working together like an ant colony could be sent to explore the climate of planets or to
inspect pipes in dangerous industrial situations.
Question 1-5
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage?
In boxes 1-5 on your answer sheet, write
TRUE if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this

1 Karel Capek successfully predicted our current uses for robots.

2 Lives were saved by the NASA robot, Dante.

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3 Robots are able to make fine visual judgements.
4 The internal workings of the brain can be replicated by robots.
5 The Japanese have the most advanced robot systems.
Question 6-8
Complete the summary below with words taken from paragraph F.
Use NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.

The prototype of the Japanese ‘face robot’ observes humans through a (6) ________
which is planted in its head. It then refers to a (7) ________ of typical ‘looks’ that
the human face can have, to decide what emotion the person is feeling. To respond to this
expression, the robot alters its own expression using a number of (8) ________.

100
III. KEY

1. YES 5. NOT GIVEN

2. NOT GIVEN 6. video camera

3. YES 7. database

4. NO 8. (tiny/small) pressure pads

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102
 TOPIC 15: TOURISM
I. VOCABULARY

WORD MEANING

Eco-friendly holiday Kỳ nghỉ thân thiện sinh thái

Well-meaning traveler Khách du lịch có ý nghĩa tốt

Surge in environmental awareness Sự tăng vọt về ý thức về môi trường

Have a negative impact Có tác động tiêu cực

The hottest marketing tag Mác quảng cáo thu hút nhất

Ecotourism label Nhãn hiệu du lịch sinh thái

Cultural interaction Sự tương tác văn hóa

Natural beauty spots Điểm đến thiên nhiên đẹp

Overflowing ecotourism folder Thư mục du lịch sinh thái tràn ngập

Make informed choices Lựa chọn sáng suốt

The lack of regulations Thiếu quy định

The accelerating bandwagon Đoàn xe tăng tốc

Investigate the credentials Điều tra thông tin đăng nhập

Sự phổ biến của các tour du lịch sinh thái

The proliferation of fake ecotours
giả

Minimize impact on Giảm tác động đến

A genuine tool for conservation Một công cụ đích thực cho bảo tồn

Create inherent economic value Tạo ra giá trị kinh tế mang tính kế thừa

Wilderness environments and threatened Môi trường hoang dã và các nền kinh tế bị
cultures đe dọa

Undergo teething pains Trải qua vấn đề nhỏ ban đầu

A committed and unified approach Cách tiếp cận cam kết và thống nhất

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 WORD MEANING

Long-haul flight Chuyến bay dài

Itineraries and travel packages Lịch trình và các gói du lịch

A once-in-a-lifetime visit Chuyến đi đáng nhờ

II. PRACTICE

Case Study: Tourism New Zealand website

New Zealand is a small country of four million inhabitants, a long-haul flight from all the
major tourist-generating markets of the world. Tourism currently makes up 9% of the
country’s gross domestic product and is the country’s largest export sector. Unlike other
export sectors, which make products and then sell them overseas, tourism brings its
customers to New Zealand. The product is the country itself – the people, the places and
the experiences. In 1999, Tourism New Zealand launched a campaign to communicate a
new brand position to the world. The campaign focused on New Zealand’s scenic beauty,
exhilarating outdoor activities and authentic Maori culture, and it made New Zealand one
of the strongest national brands in the world.

A key feature of the campaign was the website www.newzealand.com, which provided
potential visitors to New Zealand with a single gateway to everything the destination had
to offer. The heart of the website was a database of tourism services operators, both those
based in New Zealand and those based abroad which offered tourism services to the
country. Any tourism-related business could be listed by filling in a simple form. This
meant that even the smallest bed and breakfast address or specialist activity provider could
gain a web presence with access to an audience of long-haul visitors. In addition, because
participating businesses were able to update the details they gave on a regular basis, the
information provided remained accurate. And to maintain and improve standards, Tourism
New Zealand organized a scheme whereby organizations appearing on the website
underwent an independent evaluation against a set of agreed national standards of quality.
As part of this, the effect of each business on the environment was considered.

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To communicate the New Zealand experience, the site also carried features relating to
famous people and places. One of the most popular was an interview with former New
Zealand All Blacks rugby captain Tana Umaga. Another feature that attracted a lot of
attention was an interactive journey through a number of the locations chosen for
blockbuster films which had made use of New Zealand’s stunning scenery as a backdrop.
As the site developed, additional features were added to help independent travelers devise
their own customized itineraries. To make it easier to plan motoring holidays, the site
cataloged the most popular driving routes in the country, highlighting different routes
according to the season and indicating distances and times.

Later, a Travel Planner feature was added, which allowed visitors to click and ‘bookmark’
places or attractions they were interested in, and then view the results on a map. The Travel
Planner offered suggested routes and public transport options between the chosen
locations. There were also links to accommodation in the area. By registering with the
website, users could save their Travel Plan and return to it later, or print it out to take on
the visit. The website also had a ‘Your Words’ section where anyone could submit a blog
about their New Zealand travels for possible inclusion on the website.

The Tourism New Zealand website won two Webby awards for online achievement and
innovation. More importantly, perhaps, the growth of tourism in New Zealand was
impressive. Overall tourism expenditure increased by an average of 6.9% per year between
1999 and 2004. From Britain, visits to New Zealand grew at an average annual rate of 13%
between 2002 and 2006, compared to a rate of 4% overall for British visits abroad.

The website was set up to allow both individuals and travel organizations to create
itineraries and travel packages to suit their own needs and interests. On the website, visitors
can search for activities not solely by geographical location, but also by the particular
nature of the activity. This is important as research shows that activities are the key driver
of visitor satisfaction, contributing 74% to visitor satisfaction, while transport and
accommodation account for the remaining 26%. The more activities that visitors undertake,
the more satisfied they will be. It has also been found that visitors enjoy cultural activities
most when they are interactive, such as visiting a marae (meeting ground) to learn about
traditional Maori life. Many long-haul travelers enjoy such learning experiences, which
provide them with stories to take home to their friends and family. In addition, it appears

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that visitors to New Zealand don’t want to be ‘one of the crowd’ and find activities that
involve only a few people more special and meaningful.

It could be argued that New Zealand is not a typical destination. New Zealand is a small
country with a visitor economy composed mainly of small businesses. It is generally
perceived as a safe English-speaking country with a reliable transport infrastructure.
Because of the long-haul flight, most visitors stay for longer (average 20 days) and want
to see as much of the country as possible on what is often seen as a once-in-a-lifetime visit.
However, the underlying lessons apply anywhere – the effectiveness of a strong brand, a
strategy based on unique experiences and a comprehensive and user-friendly website.
Questions 1-7
Complete the table below.
Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 1-7 on your answer sheet.

Sections of website Comments

Database of tourism services • easy for tourism-related businesses to get on

the list
• allowed businesses to
1…………………………… information
regularly
• provided a country-wide evaluation of
businesses, including their impact on the
2………………………..

Special features on local topics • e.g. an interview with a former sports

3……………………………., and an
interactive tour of various locations used in
4……………………….v

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 Information on driving routes • varied depending on the
5……………………………

Travel Planner • included a map showing selected places,

details of public transport and local
6………………………….

‘Your Words’ • travelers could send a link to their

7…………………………

Questions 8-13
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage?
In boxes 8-13 on your answer sheet, write
TRUE if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this

8 The website www.newzealand.com aimed to provide ready-made itineraries and

packages for travel companies and individual tourists.
9 It was found that most visitors started searching on the website by geographical
location.
10 According to research, 26% of visitor satisfaction is related to their accommodation.
11 Visitors to New Zealand like to become involved in the local culture.
12 Visitors like staying in small hotels in New Zealand rather than in larger ones.
13 Many visitors feel it is unlikely that they will return to New Zealand after their visit.

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III. KEY

1. update 8. False

2. environment 9. Not given

3. captain 10. False

4. flims 11. True

5. season 12. Not given

6. accommodation 13. False

7. blog

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