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mei

A. EXERCISE:
I. Lexico - Grammar:
1. You can not believe this, Tina accidentally swallowed the ________ when she ate a
peach yesterday!
A. nut B. seed C. stone D. core
2. Unfortunately, no agreement was reached. The strikers decided to ________ for a
better deal.
A. hold B. keep C. watch D. draw
3. Why are all your clothes in a ________ on the floor? Go and tidy the room now!
A. batch B. bulk C. sum D. heap
4. The job you’ve been offered is a(n) ________ opportunity to travel and meet people.
A. sole B. only C. unique D. single
5. A: “Oh, I’m exhausted! I’ve been doing homework all day.”
B: “Come and put your ________ up for 5 minutes and I’ll make you a cup of tea.”
A. hands B. hair C. heart D. feet
6. He showed us the house ________ he was born. To be honest, it was a little different
from what we had expected when considering his prestige at that moment.
A. which B. where C. in where D. in that
7. What’s all this crying ________ ?
A. without the aid of B. in aid of
C. with the aid of D. within the aid of
8. On second thoughts, I believe I will go with you to the art gallery.
A. Upon reflection B. After discussing with my husband
C. For this time only D. For the second time
9. When it is very hot and stuffy, you may ________ the top button of your shirt.
A. undress B. unwrap C. untie D. undo
10. John: “Our teacher, Mr. Jones, is not very flexible. He always requires us to submit
his assignments on time.”
Jack: “ ________. He should know that we have to learn many subjects.”
A. I can’t agree with you more B. I can’t disagree with you more
C. That can be true D. I am not with you here

II. Reading
1. Guided cloze test
The problems of racial minorities make the headlines occasionally when one
group or another (1)____________ to (2)_____________ their protests against the
oppressive treatment of their authorities. The native Indians have been living within
the (3)____________ of their reserves, the Australian Aborigines have a hard time
of integrating with the descendants of the European colonizers and the African
Movement keeps (4)____________ its war against the concealed racial
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discrimination in America. There are also cultures and nations whose heritage and
history has only remained alive (5)____________ chronicles and museums. Vast
numbers of indigenous populations have been slaughtered by merciless invaders or
persecuted by acquisitive colonizers, then, deprived of their lands, rights and
properties. Many of them have (6)__________ with their oppressors to be finally
(7)___________ 'non-existent'.
One example of such a community is represented by the Ainu people - the
original inhabitants of the Japanese Archipelago whose independent existence was
ruined by an extremely rapid assimilation with Japanese culture. The Ainu are
believed to have possessed very distinct characteristics from those that
(8)__________ the Japanese people. Theirs was a light complexion and thick wavy
hair as well as a totally isolated language. They adored many spirits (9)_________
by natural phenomena like animals, plants or climatic forces. Once a year they would
sacrifice a bear cub at a religious festival which was a sign of reverent worship for
the gods. Now, they are claimed to be no longer existent in their pure form.
By similar means, dozens of other cultures have vanished leaving behind only
a trait of their (10)_________imprinted in the character of the societies that have
absorbed them.
1. A. pursues B. resolves C. undergoes D. embarks
2. A. place B. stage C. assure D. expose
3. A. boundaries B. realms C.margins D. zones
4. A. deploying B. engaging C.waging D.tackling
5. A. in lieu of B. in the way of C. by dint of D. for the sake of
6. A. intermingled B. exchanged C. intertwined D. incorporated
7. A. decided B. nicknamed C. presupposed D. classified
8. A. divulge B. typify C. relate D. sport
9. A. embodied B. displayed C. ingrained D. defaced
10. A. legacy B. heredity C. remnant D. Heirloom

2. Open cloze test

The second-time saga
It was so simple (0) __the__ first time round, my main anxieties being what dress to
wear to the wedding and (1) _______to invite. Twenty years ago, it never (2)
occurred to me to worry about money or to contemplate what would happen if it all
fell apart.
However, this time, all (3) _______aware of the failure rate or second marriages, and
with children from our previous relationships to think about, we’ve prepared for the
worst, spending the last month absorbed in the (4) ________than romantic details of
wills and life assurance. I have to say (5) ________hasn’t been much fun. We’ve
asked all sorts of morbid questions, such as What if one of us falls under a bus? What
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if (6) _______of us do? Our main priority has been to produce wills dealing with (7)
________possible eventuality, though this hasn’t been easy.
The other nightmare scenario was splitting up. What if we decided we couldn’t stand
each other within the first couple of years? The administrative answer to this was
fairly simple, involving us (8)_________signing a prenuptial contract, stating our
intention to walk away with (9) ________resources we had brought into the
marriage. Pre-nuptial contracts have (10) _________actual force at all in English
law, but we certainly felt better after we had signed. We were at long last ready to
enjoy our wedding!

3. Multiple choice
COMMUNICATING WITH THE FUTURE
In the 1980s the United States Department of Energy was looking for suitable
sites to bury radioactive waste material generated by its nuclear energy programs.
The government was considering burying the dangerous wastes in deep underground
chambers in remote desert areas. The problem, however, was that nuclear waste
remains highly radioactive for thousands of years. The commission entrusted with
tackling the problem of waste disposal was aware that the dangers posed by
radioactive emissions must be communicated to our descendants of at least 10,000
years hence. So the task became one of finding a way to tell future societies about the
risk posed by these deadly deposits.
Of course, human society in the distant future may be well aware of the
hazards of radiation. Technological advances may one day provide the solutions to
this dilemma. But the belief in constant technological advancement is based on our
perceptions of advances made throughout history and prehistory. We cannot be sure
that society won’t have slipped backward into an age of barbarism due to any of
several catastrophic events, whether the result of nature such as the onset of a new
ice age or perhaps mankind’s failure to solve the scourges of war and pollution. In
the event of global catastrophe, it is quite possible that humans of the distant future
will be on the far side of a broken link of communication and technological
understanding.
The problem then becomes how to inform our descendants that they must
avoid areas of potential radioactive seepage given that they may not understand any
currently existing language and may have no historical or cultural memory. So, any
message indicated to future reception and decipherment must be as universally
understandable as possible.
It was soon realized by the specialists assigned the task of devising the
communication system that material in which the message was written might not
physically endure the great lengths of time demanded. The second law of
thermodynamics shows that all material disintegrates over time. Even computers that
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might carry the message cannot be expected to endure long enough. Besides,
electricity supplies might not be available in 300 generations. Other media storage
methods were considered and rejected for similar reasons.
The task force under the linguist Thomas Sebeok finally agreed that no
foolproof way would be found to send a message across so many generations and
have it survive physically and be decipherable by a people with few cultural
similarities to us. Given this restriction, Sebeok suggested the only possible solution
was the formation of a committee of guardians of knowledge. Its task would be to
dedicate itself to maintaining and passing the knowledge of the whereabouts and
dangers of the nuclear waste deposits. This so-called atomic priesthood would be
entrusted with keeping knowledge of this tradition alive through millennia and
developing the tradition into a kind of mythical taboo forbidding people to tamper in
a way with the nuclear waste sites. Only the initiated atomic priesthood of experts
would have the scientific knowledge to fully understand the danger. Those outside
the priesthood would be kept away by a combination of rituals and legends designed
to warn off intruders.

This proposal has been criticized because of the possibility of a break in

continuity of the original message. Furthermore, there is no guarantee that any
warning or sanction passed on for millennia would be obeyed, nor that it could
survive with its original meaning intact. To counterbalance this possibility, Sebeok’s
group proposed a “relay system” in which information is passed on over relatively
short periods of time, just three generations ahead. The message then to be renewed
and redesigned if necessary for the following three generations and so on over the
required time span. In this way information could be relayed into the future and
avoid the possibility of physical degradation.
A second defect is more difficult to dismiss, however. This is the problem of
social exclusiveness brought about through possession of vital knowledge. Critics
point out that the atomic priesthood could use its secret knowledge to control those
who are scientifically ignorant. The establishment of such an association of insiders
holding powerful knowledge not available except in mythic form to non-members
would be a dangerous precedent for future social developments.
1. The word "chambers" in the passage is closest in meaning to________.
A. partitions B. openings C. cavities D. fissures
2. What problem faced the commission assigned to deal with the burial of nuclear
waste?
A. How to reduce the radioactive life of nuclear waste materials
B. How to form a committee that could adequately express various nuclear
risks
C. How to notify future generations of the risks of nuclear contamination
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D. How to choose burial sites so as to minimize dangers to people

3. In paragraph 2, the author explains the possible circumstances of future
societies________.
A. to warn about the possible natural catastrophe
B. to question the value of advances
C. to highlight humankind's inability to resolve problems
D. to demonstrate the reason nuclear hazards must be communicated
4. The word "scourges" in the passage is closest in meaning to ________.
A. pressures B. afflictions C. worries D. annoyances
5. In paragraph 4, the author mentions the second law of thermodynamics________.
A. to support the view that nuclear waste will disperse with time
B. to show that knowledge can be sustained over millennia
C. to give the basic scientific reason behind the breakdown of material objects
D. to contrast the potential life span of knowledge with that of material objects
6. The word "Its" in the passage refers to ________
A. knowledge B. committee C. solution D. guardians
7. In paragraph 5, why is the proposed committee of guardians referred to as the
"atomic priesthood"?
A. Because they would be an exclusive group with knowledge about nuclear
waste sites.
B. Because they would use rituals and legends to maintain their exclusiveness
C. Because they would be an exclusive religious order
D. Because they would develop mythical taboos surrounding their traditions
8. According to the author, why did the task force under Sebeok propose a relay
system for passing on information?
A. To show that Sebeok 's ideas created more problems than they solved
B. To support the belief that breaks in communication are inevitable over time
C. To contrast Sebeok's ideas with those proposed by his main critics
D. To compensate for the fact that meaning will not stable over long periods
of time
9. According to paragraph 7, the second defect of the atomic priesthood proposal is
that it could lead to________.
A. the nonmembers turning knowledge into dangerous mythical forms
B. the possible misuse of exclusive knowledge
C. the establishment of a scientifically ignorant society
D. the priesthood's criticism of points concerning vital knowledge
10. All of the following are mentioned in the passage as difficulties in devising a
communication system with the future EXCEPT________.
A. the failure to maintain communication link
B. the loss of knowledge about today's civilization
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C. the inability of materials to endure over time

D. the exclusiveness of priesthood

4. Bài đọc IELTS ( Matching headings và Yes/No/Not given)

This Marvellous Invention

A
Of all mankinds manifold creations, language must take pride of place. Other
inventions -the wheel, agriculture, sliced bread - may have transformed our material
existence, but the advent of language is what made us human. Compared to
language, all other inventions pale in significance, since everything we have ever
achieved depends on language and originates from it. Without language, we could
never have embarked on our ascent to unparalleled power over all other animals, and
even over nature itself.

B
But language is foremost not just because it came first. In its own right it is a tool of
extraordinary sophistication, yet based on an idea of ingenious simplicity: ‘this
marvellous invention of composing out of twenty-five or thirty sounds that infinite
variety of expressions which, whilst having in themselves no likeness to what is in
our mind, allow us to disclose to others its whole secret, and to make known to those
who cannot penetrate it all that we imagine, and all the various stirrings of our
soul’ .This was how, in 1660, the renowned French grammarians of the Port-Royal
abbey near Versailles distilled the essence of language, and no one since has
celebrated more eloquently the magnitude of its achievement. Even so, there is just
one flaw in all these hymns of praise, for the homage to languages unique
accomplishment conceals a simple yet critical incongruity. Language is mankind s
greatest invention - except, of course, that it was never invented. This apparent
paradox is at the core of our fascination with language, and it holds many of its
secrets.

C
Language often seems so skillfully drafted that one can hardly imagine it as anything
other than the perfected handiwork of a master craftsman. How else could this
instrument make so much out of barely three dozen measly morsels of sound? In
themselves, these configurations of mouth p,f,b,v,t,d,k,g,sh,a,e and so on - amount to
nothing more than a few haphazard spits and sputters, random noises with no
meaning, no ability to express, no power to explain. But run them through the cogs
and wheels of the language machine, let it arrange them in some very special orders,
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and there is nothing that these meaningless streams of air cannot do: from sighing the
interminable boredom of existence to unravelling the fundamental order of the
universe.

D
The most extraordinary thing about language, however, is that one doesn’t have to be
a genius to set its wheels in motion. The language machine allows just about
everybody from pre-modern foragers in the subtropical savannah, to post-modern
philosophers in the suburban sprawl - to tie these meaningless sounds together into
an infinite variety of subtle senses, and all apparently without the slightest exertion.
Yet it is precisely this deceptive ease which makes language a victim of its own
success, since in everyday life its triumphs are usually taken for granted. The wheels
of language run so smoothly that one rarely bothers to stop and think about all the
resourcefulness and expertise that must have gone into making it tick. Language
conceals art.

E
Often, it is only the estrangement of foreign tongues, with their many exotic and
outlandish features, that brings home the wonder of languages design. One of the
showiest stunts that some languages can pull off is an ability to build up words of
breath-breaking length, and thus express in one word what English takes a whole
sentence to say. The Turkish word çehirliliçtiremediklerimizdensiniz, to take one
example, means nothing less than ‘you are one of those whom we can’t turn into a
town-dweller’. (In case you were wondering, this monstrosity really is one word, not
merely many different words squashed together - most ol its components cannot even
stand up on their own.)

F.

And if that sounds like someone-off freak, then consider Sumerian, the language
spoken on the banks of the Euphrates some 5,000 years ago by the people who
invented writing and thus enabled the documentation of history. A Sumerian word
like munintuma'a (‘when he had made it suitable for her’) might seem rather trim
compared to the Turkish colossus above. What is so impressive about it, however, is
not its lengthiness but rather the reverse - the thrifty compactness of its construction.
The word is made up of different slots, each corresponding to a particular portion of
meaning. This sleek design allows single sounds to convey useful information, and in
fact even the absence of a sound has been enlisted to express something specific. If
you were to ask which bit in the Sumerian word corresponds to the pronoun ‘it’ in
the English translation ‘when he had made it suitable for her’, then the answer would
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have to be nothing. Mind you, a very particular kind of nothing: the nothing that
stands in the empty slot in the middle. The technology is so fine-tuned then that even
a non-sound, when carefully placed in a particular position, has been invested with a
specific function. Who could possibly have come up with such a nifty contraption?

Choose the correct heading for paragraphs A-F from the list of headings below.
List of Headings

i Differences between languages highlight their impressiveness

ii The way in which a few sounds are organised to convey a huge range of meaning
iii Why the sounds used in different languages are not identical
iv Apparently incompatible characteristics of language
v Even silence can be meaningful
vi Why language is the most important invention of all
vii The universal ability to use language
1. Passage A:
2. Passage B:
3. Passage C:
4. Passage D:
5. Passage E:
6. Passage F:

Do the following statements agree with the views of the writer in the Reading
Passage?
YES if the statement agrees with the views of the writer
NO if the statement contradicts the views of the writer
NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this

7 Human beings might have achieved their present position without language.
8 The Port-Royal grammarians did justice to the nature of language.
9 A complex idea can be explained more clearly in a sentence than in a single
word.
10 The Sumerians were responsible for starting the recording of events.
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B. ANSWER KEY:
I. Lexico - Grammar:
1. C
2. A
3. D
4. C
5. D
6. B
7. B
8. A
9. D
10. A
II. Reading:
1. Guided cloze test:
1.B
2.B
3.A
4.C
5.C
6.A
7.D
8.B
9.A
10.A
2. Open cloze test:
1.who
2.occurred
3.too
4.less
5.it
6.all
7.what
8.in
9.whatever
10.no
3. Multiple choice
1.C
2.C
3.D
4.B
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5.D
6.B
7.A
8.D
9.D
10.D
4. Bài đọc IELTS ( Matching headings và Yes/No/Not given)
1.vi
2.iv
3.ii
4.vii
5.i
6.v
7.No
8.Yes
9.Not Given
10.Yes