Exercises 2 - No Key
Exercises 2 - No Key
33. Customers are tempted to break _______ with so many alluring products available online.
A. the ice B. the mold C. the cycle D. the bank
Break the ice = phá vỡ bầu không khí yên lặng
Break the mold = phá vỡ khuôn mẫu
Break the cycle = chấm dứt bad habit
34. The smell of freshly baked bread _______ fond memories of her childhood days.
A. evicted đuổi/thu hồi B. evoked C. evolved D. evaded
35. One of the defendants _______ and was on the run until his arrest.
A. jumped bail trốn toà B. made bail bảo lãnh C. stood bail bão lãnh1 thời gian D. posted bail trả tiền bảo lãnh
36. The business started off small, but now has become a large media and entertainment _______.
A. metropolis B. conglomerate tập đoàn C. coalition D. alliance
37. The corporation is _______ for damages if there is an accident at the workplace.
A. bound B. obliged C. liable D. charged
38. Shakespeare’s _______ is still evident today; his plays are performed all over the world.
A. legacy B. inheritance C. thesis D. heritage
39. The crowd of environmentalists_______ their slogans all day long at the protest march.
A. shrilled chói tai B. murmured C. chanted D. grumbled càu nhàu
40. _______ taxes is considered to be an illegal offense.
A. Defying B. Evading C. Expelling D. Renouncing
41. An increase in consumer demand has made selling computer software extremely _______.
A. booming B. blossoming C. financial D. lucrative lắm tiền
42. The builder _______ the walls of the house to keep the cold air out during the winter.
A. insulated cách nhiệt, cách âm B. isolated C. miscalculated D. suppressed
43. The military attempted to _______ the government and seize power on account of political corruption.
A. thwart cản trở B. topple cause to lose power C. tumble D. totter làm lung lay
44. Every athlete who qualifies for the Olympic games has _______ earned the privilege.
A. flawlessly B. faultlessly C. assuredly =confidently D. composedly =calmly
45. The political candidate always tries to _______ any difficult questions when talking to the press.
A. butter up B. fend off =defend oneself C. fawn over nịnh D. drive back repel
46. I'm tired of all these _______ meetings - let's discuss the issues openly.
A hair-raising B. heartrending C. cloak-and-dagger bí mật giấu diếm D. cliff-hanging
Hair-rising = sợ dựng tóc gáy
47. High blood pressure is a(n) _______ condition which has few symptoms. Xảo quyệt, quỷ quyệt
A. insidious (dung cho bệnh) B. sinuous quanh co C. notorious D. tortuous
48. The path to peace seems at last to be clear, although it may be a long and ______ one.
A. insidious B. sinuous C. notorious D. tortuous =lengthy and complex
49. Violation of the school’s code of conduct could result in a weeklong _______ for students.
A. expulsion trục xuất lưu đày B. discharge dismiss C. eviction D. suspension đình chỉ học
50. A great diplomat and a firm political leader is able to speak _______ about government legislation.
A. over the hump trải qua khó khan nhất B. out of breath C. out of line =inappropriate D. off
the cuff
51. In times of crisis_______ unity should be maintained.
A. common B. civil C. monarchical D. national
52. There's no reason to rent a furnished apartment if it is vulgar and _______ decorated.
A. stately B. blandly C. tastelessly D. flavorlessty
53. Although some banking institutions allow their customers to _______ payment, it is not advised. Trả chậm
A. defer B. deter C. deflect D. diverge
54. The student’s argument against private schools was so _______ that no one was convinced. Not convincing
A. feeble B. frail C. fickle hay thay lòng D. fallible
55. The interior decorator's idea to use Japanese designs for her patio was a _______ of genius. Ý tưởng tuyệt vời
A. knock B. stroke C. blow D. strike
56. The private corporation wanted to turn the property into an exclusive golf course but the deal _______.
A. skipped by B. moved under C. shot below D. fell through
57. It was very _______ of Bob to snap at his colleague when she was only trying to help.
A. incoherent B. inconsiderate ko tử tế C. insoluble D. insensible vô cảm/unconcious
58. The senator has been _______ recently since the unveiling of his tax frauds.
A. on cloud nine B in the spotlight C. over the moon D. up in the air
On cloud nine = a feeling of well-being
59. A new government report delivers _______ warnings about climate change and its impacts on the planet.
A. ominous điềm xấu B. fateful C. acute D. dire (cảnh báo về tai hoạ)
60. Universal health coverage will remain _______ unless countries take urgent steps to keep medical costs affordable.
A. exclusive B. allusive ám chỉ C. elusive D. conducive
61. The accuser issued an official _______ of the allegations, stating that the accused was innocent of all charges.
A. prohibition B. retraction C. disregard D. contempt
Retract = state something you said or wrote before is not true.
62. Promotions and raises are left to the _______ of the employees’ current supervisor.
A. diplomacy B. discretion C. disposition D. inclination
Leave to the discretion of = cho ai quyền làm gì
63. Greg _______ our conversation to tell us the breaking news.
A. broke in B. broke down C. broke up D. broke in on
64. Worldwide concern about the environment has undoubtedly _______ in recent decades.
A. strengthened B. expanded C. extended D. escalated
65. The law _______ companies to provide health insurance to their employees or face fines.
A. tempts B. compels C. entices D. coaxes
Coax into = persuade compel = ép buộc, bắt buộc
Tempt = dụ dỗ entice = dụ dỗ
66. I haven’t heard from Henry since he took that job in Minneapolis and I wonder how he’s _______.
A. taking on B. making cut C. coming about D. setting down
67. There's always a huge _______ of orders to process when employees return from their summer breaks.
A. backlog B. stockpile C. hoard D. cache
68. The judge _______ his driver’s license after he was charged with reckless driving.
A. overruled B. overrode C. aborted D. revoked
Overrule = bác bỏ abort = huỷ bỏ
Override= use authority to reject SMT revoke = thu hồi tịch thu
69. The people were happy to know that _______ was signed and the war was declared over.
A. a contract B. an armistice đình chiến C. a declaration D. a constitution
70. The driver _______ a car accident by slamming on the brakes in time.
A. diverted B. deflected C. redirected D. averted
71. Successful managers have the capacity to single out employees who _______ high for themselves.
A. set the pace B. set the tone C. set the stage D. set the bar
Set the stage = prepare for SMT to take place set the tone = establish a quality/feelign
Set the pace = tiên phong trong lĩnh vực j set the bar = set the standard.
72. The student was disciplined for breaking school rules and being _______ to his teacher.
A. indignant B. insolent rude/lack of respect C. incompliant ko phù hợp D. insurgent nổi loạn
73. Tom _______ went into work on his day off due to staff shortages.
A. grudgingly B. maliciously C. unanimously nhất trí D. covertly lén lút
74. The couple went through a few _______ years but still managed to stay together.
A. restless B. lawless C. thunderous D turbulent
75. The employee was dismissed because she _______ her boss’ signature on certain documents. Giả mạo chữ kí
A. forged B. purged C. counterfeited D. impersonated
II. Choose A, B, C or D that best fits each blank in the passage
AUSTRALIAN CINEMA
Thirty years ago, the New Australian cinema (1) ___ the attention of the world with heroic stories set in the late-
nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. They were tales of the formation of a national identity, of the recent European
settlers' transactions with their strange new world and its frighteningly mystical inhabitants. When this vein was (2) ___
local film makers left home or turned to the problematic present of people living lives of noisy desperation in the (3) ___
suburbs of the big coastal cities, home to most Australians. As television series, these cosy, unheroic stories (4) ___
worldwide popularity, but relatively few films of this sort have found success elsewhere, except for a small handful,
among which are these (5) ___ accomplished and calculatedly theatrical films. They are loving assemblages of
conventions and cliches from musicals of the past, produced with an exuberance that (6) ___ the audience up in uncritical
enjoyment.
1. A appropriated B captured C annexed D mastered
2. A exhausted B drained C emptied D squandered
3. A lounging B stooping khom lưng C stretching D sprawling ngổn ngang
4. A reached B achieved C fulfilled D managed
5. A deeply B heavily C highly D widely
6. A sweeps B lifts C brushes D carries
EUREKA!
Recent archeological studies of the isolated region have (1) ___ astounding evidence of Mesolithic hunter-gatherers,
Neolithic farmers and even an aristocratic dynasty which populated the area during the late Bronze (2) ___. The few
centuries before the time of Christ saw the area at its most remarkable. Artefacts, relics and the remains of dwellings,
bear (3) ___ to its importance. An extraordinary sequence of buildings (4) ___ in the erection of a gigantic wooden
structure, at least 40 metres in diameter, which was probably used for ceremonial (5) ___ before it was eventually burnt
to the (6) ___ and subsequently covered over with turf to create the huge mound which is still visible today.
1. A unburied B uncovered = discover C unfolded D unmasked
2. A Years B Period C Era D Age
3. A testimony = prove B evidence C witness D proof
4. A terminated B culminated C finalised D ceased
5. A aims B intentions C purposes D targets
6. A surface B ground C earth D field
AT LIMITED RISK
We believe that there are two types of people who will take the time and (1) ___ to read this advertisement, In the first
category are those unbelievers who, in all likelihood, will think to themselves, ‘sounds good, but I don’t think this is for
me. I could never manage to do that.' They then go back to doing the same (2) ___ job that they have (3) ___ been doing
for the past decade or so. Then, there is the second category. This group is made up of those people who believe in taking
(4) ___ but not at the expense of peace of mind. These individuals carefully (5) ___ the advantages against the
disadvantages. You know, those people who look before making the proverbial (6) ___.
1. A exertion B effort C struggle D stress
2. A substandard B unreliable C insufficient D unfulfilling
3. A distastefully khó chịu B reluctantly C hesitantly D adversely
4. A risks B dangers C hazards D stakes
5. A measure B weigh C compare D count COMPARE
6. A jump B vault C leap D spring
Có lẽ chuyển từ proverb “look before you leap” = suy nghĩ cẩn thận rồi hẵng hành động
HEW DEVELOPMENTS
After the war designers could experiment more (1) ___ with materials once regarded as substitutes - in particular plastics,
acrylics and nylon. In 1948. American architect Charles Eames (2) ___ knowledge gained during the war to design the
now ubiquitous Dar chair - a one-piece moulded plastic seat (3) ___ by wire legs.
However, in this era of optimism there were a few casualties. The BBC had extended its service with outside broadcasts
of major sporting events, plays, gardening and children s programmes. With such delights on (4) ___ in their homes,
people were increasingly (5) ___ to visit the cinema and as a result the film industry was struggling. By contrast, the
music industry was on the up. 'Micro-groove' seven-inch records, made of unbreakable vinylite, had begun to be
produced and for the first time, consumers could choose from a (6) ___ range of equipment on which to play them.
1. A copiously B freely C loosely D wildly
2. A exerted B allotted C applied D practised
3. A held B shouldered C supported D sustained
4. A offer B show C sale D approval
5. A disappointed B displeased C disconnected D disinclined =unwilling
6. A wide B lavish C plentiful D excessive
MAKING THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN
Akira Kurrosawa's 1954 classic Seven Samurai is about a bunch of down-on-their-luck warriors who agree to defend a
small village from a band of thieves in (1) ___ for three meals a day and much honour. Since Kurosawa’s (2) ___
influence was the epic Westerns of John Ford, it is ironic that in 1959 Hollywood thought Samurai would make a good
cowboy film - and The Magnificent Seven appeared on the screen. Originally, Yul Brynner was to direct the remake but
after much (3) ___ director John Sturges took the helm. Aside from Broadway actor Eli Wallach, Brynner was the only
famous name in the movie; Charles Bronson, Robert Vaughan and James Coburn got their career changing roles by (4)
___ of mouth. Now, in this digitally rejigged (5) ___ you can find out what happened on the action - filled set via an
exclusive new documentary and see how the film nearly did not become the (6) ___ classic it is today.
1. A reciprocity B trade C exchange D substitute
2. A deep B major C large D most
3. A argument B combat C brawling cãi lộn D jostling chen lấn
4. A talk B speech C word D claim
5. A edition B recital diễn xướng C variety D version
6. A idolized thần tượng B revered tôn kính C sacred D worshipped
UNUSUAL INSPIRATION
When I was a teenager studying literature, I used to be annoyed by the way my father, a doctor, would (1) ___ the
inspiration for great literature to various illnesses. Leontes in Shakespeare’s The Winter's Tale was a case study in
pathological jealousy. Monet and Turner achieved their great work because of (2) ___ eyesight, making things (3) ___
blurred, and so on. I realise now that such thinking is characteristic of the (4) ___ that doctors have for their subject.
Thomas Dormandy, a consultant pathologist is no exception to the (5) ___. He argues in his very (6) ___ book that
during the 19th and much of the 20th century, tuberculosis was a formative influence on art, music and literature.
1. A credit B ascribe = attribute to C account D suggest
2. A contracting B failing C deficient D short
3. A hardly B slightly C barely D narrowly
4. A passion B vigour sức sống/khí lực C fury D emotion
5. A law B principle C ethic D rule (exception to the
rule)
6. A informative B knowledgeable C informed D instructed
THE ROTHSCHILDS
When, in the 18th century, Mayer Anscher Rothschild (1) ___ his studies to join a banking firm in his native
Frankfurt, he took the first steps towards creating one of the most successful, and most influential banks. For nearly two
centuries, the fortunes of the British Government and those of the bank were fundamentally (2) ___. Thanks to the
Rothschilds, the Duke of Wellington was able to pay his army in 1814-15 (the bank received a two per cent commission
on the deal). Ten years later, the Rothschilds again came to the (3) ___ when 145 British banks failed, helping prevent
the (4) ___ of the whole UK banking system. The 19th century Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli (5) ___ one of his
great coups as buying enough shares in the Suez Canal to secure Britain a controlling interest - again thanks to a £4
million Rothschild loan. Today, the company (6) ___ among the world's largest privately-owned banks, with 40 offices
in 30 different countries.
1. A abdicated B abandoned C absconded tẩu thoát D discarded
2. A bound B fastened C bonded gắn chặt D linked có liên quan
3. A deliverance B rescue C salvation D relief
4. A subsidence B descent C collapse D demolition
5. A observed B beheld chứng kiến cái j C saw D watched
đó ngoạn mục
6. A ranks B classes C ranges D positions
AN ENGLISH VILLAGE
Down by the river lie the currant and gooseberry bushes - literally the fruit of the potter's field for the loam there is (1)
___ with Roman pottery. Just above, the bit of straight or the army path as the Saxon farmers called it - (2) ___ past
towards the coast. The heights are crowned with mill sites and within the village proper there exists an empty secondary
horse village, a deserted (3) ___ of packways, stables, harness rooms and tackle. Nothing has contributed more to the
swift destruction of the old pattern of life in Suffolk than the death of the horse. It (4) ___ with it a quite different
conception of time. The old farmsteads ride high on the hills. They must remain remote unless some huge (5) ___ project
thrusts up to meet them. And this is not likely. Akenfield itself has no development plans and even if Ipswicn's overspill
ever threatened it, it is doubtful if any preservationist society would launch an (6) ___ to save it. It is not that kind of
village.
Launch an appeal = đệ đơn xin thay đổi jj đấy
1. A splashed B spattered C littered D dispersed phân tán
2. A shoots B bolts C dashes D hurts
3. A scheme B collectivity C entirety D complex
4. A drew away B carried away C made away D ran away
5. A housing B sheltering C accommodating D dwelling
6. A attack B effort C appeal D order
III. Fill in each blank with a suitable word to complete the passage
Open University
Britain’s Open University is thirty years old, and its early critics have been taken (1) _aback_ by its success. The
Labour Government set it up in the mid-1960s to offer a second chance of (2) _ higher__ education to those who had
missed out, but many early recruits turned out to be trained teachers upgrading their qualifications. Now, after more than
a quarter of a century as the established source of lifelong learning, it is surprising (3) __ itself__. The last students it
expected were British school leavers, (4) _yet/but_ its numbers of 18- 24 year olds have tripled. Had the current trends
in British education been considered more closely, it would not have come as a surprise that this category of students in
Britain, for (5) _whom the possibility of graduating without debt has been created by the existence of the OU, would
prefer such an option. It is not only student demand pulling the OU overseas that marks (6) _ service___ for this
institution, but also the launching of a business school and the forging of links with other European colleges including
universities in three different continents. Even though the final (7) _feather__ in its cap must be its recognised authority
in awarding accreditation to overseas courses, it is still only a (8) _minnow(nhỏ)__ player in terms of student numbers
when compared to the distance-learning heavyweights in China, India, Indonesia and Turkey.
Smart Toys
If your kids easily become bored while watching the television or listening to music, a smart toy may help to
maintain their interest. The toy, which is controlled by signals hidden in the sound, can (1) __ respond__ to the TV or
dance around to the music. Ian Hosking, (2) _whose_ work at Scientific Generics on adopting spectrum technology has
led to the development of the technique of hiding control signals in sound, claims that the toy is (3) __ actually_ quite
simple. “It needs little more than the (4) __ability_ to decode signals and to respond to them.”
The (5) _idea_ of controlling devices with sound is nothing new. Some early television remote controls emitted
ultrasonic bleeps, but they were unreliable. Traffic (6) __noise__ could turn off the television, and the ultrasound (7)
__used to upset pets. In the new system, coded control signals are spread over a wide range of frequencies, so they are
too (8) _faint__ to be audible on a normal domestic sound system, (9) __thus_ avoiding problems of interference.
Not Just Making a Good Story
Media interest is (1) _greater__ in those situations where a communal or personal traumatic event fits the
working criteria of newsworthiness, with the result that some events will attract wide media attention (2) __while__
others are of little interest. Hence, those events which (3) ___involve__ elite or representative persons, unpredictable or
unusual tragedy, loss or sorrow, and that epitomise universal themes or failure of technology will be of greater interest
and attract greater media attention than recurring everyday traumas such as disease or car fatalities. Most print and
electronic journalists are under strong (4) __pressure__ to report what has happened in such a way that it tells a good
story and makes (5) _sense_ to readers and viewers so that they not only know what has happened, but feel it as well.
This is a pressure that derives from forces beyond the (6) _control_ of individual journalists imposed by the media
system and the demands of the consumers of media products. The extent to which these expectations can be met within
the practicalities of a trauma situation depends generally on a complex (7) _mix__ of the personal stature and judgement
of the journalist, the specific instructions of their managers and the practical situation in which they (8) _ find_
themselves.
Mummy Wrappings
The ancient Greeks believed that stone coffins were (1) RESPONSIBLE for the way bodies decomposed. They
called them sarcophagi or flesh eaters. The real culprits, of course, are enzymes. Cultures that desired to preserve the
dead had to stop enzyme activity. The Egyptians cracked the problem magnificently, with the unintended result of
bequeathing (2) THEMSELVES to an alien future as curiosities. Mummy unwrappings were all the (3) RAGE in
Victorian London, with the bandages being removed while a brass band played.
Spectacle (4) ASIDE, people found other uses for mummies. There was a plan in the United States to make
newsprint from Egypt’s abundant mummy wrappings, replacing them with rag paper, and there had earlier been a trade
in mummy remnants (5) AS medicine. Mummies were also used as an (6) INGREDIENT in paint. (7) WHILE the
Victorians could unwrap a mummy with a confident and uncomplicated appreciation of its strangeness and otherness, we
might more appropriately see it as an (8) IMAGE of our own cultural mortality, and the future relic status of our
vanished civilisation.
IV. You are going to read an extract from a magazine article. Seven paragraphs have been removed from the
extract. Choose from the paragraphs A - H the one which fits each gap (1 - 7).
Each week container ships leave British ports bound for China, India and the Far East. Their giant, 40-tonne metal
boxes are not full of new manufactured goods but with plastic waste from the great British food packaging industry.
British food containers, bags, bottles and trays are now big in Shanghai.
1. F. In a few years’ time, you can bet that these same ships will be exporting millions of old plastic 'pouches' - the
flexi, collapsible milk containers that have taken over from the glass bottle or cardboard container in America and are
now being tried out in England by Britain’s largest milk products company.
Jairy Crest loves its low-density polyethylene packaging, which is widely expected to take over from the ubiquitous rigid
plastic and cardboard containers in which milk usually comes. The industry claims the pouches use just over half as
much plastic as an equivalent rigid “jug”, about a third as much “material" as a carton, and 70 times less than a glass
bottle. They argue that they are greener, cheaper and easier for the consumer, the three essential bywords of the
packaging industry.
2. A. Well, up to a point. Food packaging today is really about marketing, and few people care much about what
happens to their food and drink containers after they have been binned.
Never mind the impact arising from the energy use, toxins and pollutants released at every stage in their production and
transport, they can be disposed of at expensive landfill sites, where they will take 300-odd years to biodegrade, or be
incinerated. Ultimately there may be little option but to export some waste items because their chemical composition
makes it economically unviable to recycle them in rich countries.
3. G. Because the 'pouches' cannot be re-used or refilled, they could end up travelling halfway round the globe to be
hand-sorted by some of the poorest people in the world and then sent back to undercut the West’s own recycling and
building industries.
But this is the wacky world of the global food packaging industry which, like world trade, has been on a roll for 50 years,
growing at the rate of 10-15% a year. Every extra deal brokered by the World Trade Organisation, every extra food
shipment, every new line of processed food means more packaging.
4. E. To put it in perspective, British farmers grow or rear about £100bn worth of food at farm-gate prices a year ,
and the food packaging industry is now thought to turn over about £11 bn. The gap is closing, and between 10% and 50%
of the price of food can now be in its packaging.
The British have become obsessed with food packaging, to the amusement of many visitors, for whom the idea of an
inferior tea being sold inside a square of perforated paper packed inside an envelope that is itself protected by
cardboard and in turn covered in Cellophane, to be served in a polystyrene cup, is quite ludicrous.
5. H. 'Why does a potato need to be sold on a big piece of polystyrene wrapped in polythene?' asks a baffled friend
from Guyana. 'In my country, a cup of tea at the railway station comes in a clay cup which will hold liquid for just 10
minutes. You throw it on to the lines, where it dissolves within weeks,' says an Indian.
However odd it may seem to outsiders, British shoppers are no longer astonished that a piece of fish can be brought half
way around the world to be sold on a tray inside two separate plastic bags which fit inside a Cellophane-wrapped
cardboard box. Never mind the bottle of mineral water that needs four or five separate pieces of plastic: only when single
oranges or bananas are found packed in thick, individual containers do some people think it has gone too far.
6. ____D_____
But that doesn't mean there has been an environmental gain. In fact, it has just multiplied the number and volume of
food-related packages putting more stress on collection systems and recycling programmes. And now the food Industry
is gearing up for 'hi-tech' packaging.
7. _____C____
The American Plastics Council emphasises the positive side of developments in packaging, glossing over the fact that
packaging represents 50% to 80% of all litter. ‘It makes perishable products more available in the hot, humid climate of
the developing world and dramatically improves the diet of the people who live there,' says a spokesman.
A. Well, up to a point. Food packaging today is really about marketing, and few people care much about what happens to
their food and drink containers after they have been binned.
B. The Department of Trade and Industry has been given little guidance as to what constitutes overpackaging and has
prosecuted only one person in the past three years - a Northamptonshire butcher, who was fined £35-for having a piece
of meat on an upside-down plastic tray inside another plastic tray.
C. The latest wheeze is ‘dynamic active' packaging that can modify the atmosphere in which food is sold. So, with your
plastic tray of meat may come a small capsule of carbon dioxide, which is released when the food is put on sale,
'enhancing' colour and flavour.
D. That, says the industry, totally misses the point. Food packaging today, it says, is indispensable, not just for keeping
produce 'fresh', or to give it a longer shelf life and protection, but to sell the product. The big trend in food packaging, say
US food technologists, is for it to be made thinner and lighter, which has led to a dramatic reduction in all countries food
packaging by weight.
E. To put it in perspective, British farmers grow or rear about £100bn worth of food at farm-gate prices a year, and the
food packaging industry is now thought to turn over about £11 bn. The gap is closing, and between 10% and 50% of the
price of food can now be in its packaging.
F. In a few years’ time, you can bet that these same ships will be exporting millions of old plastic 'pouches' - the flexi,
collapsible milk containers that have taken over from the glass bottle or cardboard container in America and are now
being tried out in England by Britain’s largest milk products company.
G. Because the 'pouches' cannot be re-used or refilled, they could end up travelling halfway round the globe to be hand-
sorted by some of the poorest people in the world and then sent back to undercut the West’s own recycling and building
industries.
H. 'Why does a potato need to be sold on a big piece of polystyrene wrapped in polythene?' asks a baffled friend from
Guyana. 'In my country, a cup of tea at the railway station comes in a clay cup which will hold liquid for just 10 minutes.
You throw it on to the lines, where it dissolves within weeks,' says an Indian.
You are going to read a newspaper article about language. Seven paragraphs have been removed from the
extract, choose from paragraphs A-H the one which fits each gap (1-7).
This language a daisy chain with words added on like flowers one after another? Or is it a wreath, with the overall
structure implicitly known beforehand? The chain versus wreath controversy has been chugging on for centuries,
swinging to and fro like the perpetual ding-dong battle between the brothers Tweedledum and Tweedledee in Lewis
Carroll's Through the Looking Glass.
1. F
Gradually Chomsky has honed his views, claiming that humans know not only underlying linguistic principles, such as
how far chunks of sentence can be moved, but, in addition, they are aware of crucial basic options that have to be
decided on: it is as if language learners had to discover whether to drive on the left of the road or the right, a choice
which has crucial consequences, such as which way to go round roundabouts.
2. A
Which view is right and does it matter? Well, yes, it matters for language learners. It's important to know how much pre-
ordained knowledge about language humans may possess, or whether they simply have to roll up their sleeves and string
together the daisies. Recent work is starting to solve the problem.
3. B
Increasingly those working on language origins are rolling the starting date back even further. Many now assume that a
pre-linguistic proto-language predated 'real' language by tens of thousands of years. And language, like the human race
itself, possibly originated in Africa.
4. D
At the very least, it is an ability to put oneself into another person's shoes, as it were. A so-called 'theory of mind',
converged with an ability to make distinct sounds, possibly enabled by waiting upright. This was backed up by an
interest in knowing who did what to whom. This plaiting together of different pieces allowed humans simultaneously to
talk about absent people and events, to place words in a consistent order, and to pronounce them clearly.
5. G
Increasingly, the brain is recognised as a gigantic beehive, with multiple bees buzzing simultaneously. Language areas
are now thought to be zones in which neurons relating to linguistic activity cluster to a greater extent than elsewhere, but
these areas are not totally isolated from the rest of the brain's activities.
6. C
Neurolinguistic research has confirmed that these behave in different ways. Blood surges in the brain when someone uses
language, just as extra blood is pumped into the legs when someone rides a bicycle: the brain. It appears, relies on tactics
similar to a cyclist's muscles, with an increase in oxygen in any area where neurons show extra activity. Regular and
irregular verbs show different blood-flow patterns and this can be captured on brain scans.
7. E
To return to Looking-Glass-Land, we are finding that as the White Queen asserted, much to Alice’s surprise, one’s
memory works in more than one way.
A. Once a linguistic decision has been made, then a number of consequences follow: if a language has verbs preceding
its objects, as in English, it will have auxiliaries in front of the main verb. A language such as Turkish does the reverse.
Is this pre-programmed language, as Chomsky argues, or do humans. Just prefer consistent solutions to puzzles?
B. Both sides are right it turns out. An outline wreath needs to be there, before the daisychainers can add the daisies.
Language, surprisingly, is a highly complex phenomenon. It is a patchwork quilt of different abilities, which emerged
around 100,000 years ago.
C. Yet all this simultaneous buzzing and whirring should not be such a surprise: for centuries, humans realised that
language is like an overactive octopus, with numerous different types of activity co-existing. Verbs have at least two
different modes of behaviour, for example. So-called regular verbs have predictable endings. These contrast with
irregular unpredictable ones such as 'sat' or 'stood'.
D. Our linguistic leap forward was a stitch and patch job. Language was cobbled together out of multiple existing bits
and pieces to form a coherent interlocking system, a true case of the whole being more than a sum of the parts.
Evolutionists sometimes use the term 'convergence' for this coming together of skills.
E. The variety of different activities pullulating in the mind at any one time show that no single solution applies to
something as complex as language. The mind works by means of massive parallel processing, and interweaves different
types of ability. Slowly, we are beginning to unravel the tangled web of language - but much remains to be done.
F. The debate heated up in the second half of the 20th century. In the 1950's, behaviourist psychologists took the daisy
chain view, claiming that language was a cumulative set of habits. In the 1960s Noam Chomsky disagreed. He argued
that we are all preprogrammed with an outline knowledge of language.
G. Language, then, is a complex tapestry that has been embroidered over the years, with its principles gradually
integrated into our minds. Recent brain scans show that multiple parts of the brain are active in any linguistic interaction:
verbs may be stored in the frontal lobe and nouns and adjectives in the temporal lobe.
H. Neurophysical tools, including brain scans, have revealed our skills with language to be far more complex than
linguists first imagined. In those individuals predisposed to right-handedness, it was originally believed that the totality
of their language processing was stored in the left side of the brain, the reverse being true for left-handers, but such is not
the case.
There are other businesses, conversely, which benefit from depressing conditions; for example, manufacturers of
fake tanning products and tanning salons. There may be several reasons for this, one being that people get a
psychological boost when tanned, and another, that people are now-aware of the health risks associated with over-
exposure to sunlight.
3. C. Greenpeace has long been campaigning for commercial enterprises to be more aware of the risks they take
with the environment, and commonly cites disasters to particular eco-systems when the main concern is profit .
Everyone bears some responsibility for the environment and should act accordingly, but people still persist in putting
their own interests first.
Eco-tourism might benefit from this trend, as more people might opt for a trip to Antarctica to view the wildlife, and
at least they will go prepared for the weather. Of course, this in turn may cause problems as, with the best will in the
world, hordes of tourists inevitably damage the environment, and an increase in the volume of shipping heightens the risk
of oil spillage, thus polluting the sea and endangering the lives of many marine creatures and birds.
4. F. Another tourist area which might stand to benefit is that of space tourism, with more people choosing to leave the
trials and tribulations of our planet behind them, if only for a short time. Eventually the cost of such journeys will
become less prohibitive, as has been the case with commodities such as DVDs, camcorders, and so on.
How many of us would not jump at the chance to orbit Earth and admire our planet from a different perspective? The
first space tourist was a millionaire who suffered certain physical hardships on his journey, but living conditions in space
capsules will undoubtedly improve as research and development continue. Space travel will become a viable alternative
holiday.
5. B. There are, however, more serious consequences of climate change - its impact on our physical well-being, for
example. Apart from the risks of skin cancer, research has shown that when the temperature rises above the
population's physiological threshold, accompanied by a high level of humidity, susceptible people (eg - the elderly) wall
die. The death rate increases two to three weeks after a heat wave, affecting city-dwellers most. This can probably be
attributed to the increase in smog caused by high temperatures and humidity levels.
Other threats to health may be caused by disease, for example, hepatitis in areas which have been affected by severe
flooding, especially if drinking water becomes infected by sewage. Mosquitoes may start transmitting malaria in some
European countries where summer conditions; are becoming more tropical. Even more worrying, perhaps, is the growing
incidence of the potentially fatal West Nile disease in the USA, and its related death toll.
6. H. Scientists are becoming increasingly concerned about the size of ice floes breaking away from the Arctic and
Antarctic, one of which was reported to be the size of a small country. It was carefully monitored, and alarm spread as it
began to melt at a much faster rate than had originally been calculated, causing more speculation about rising sea levels.
Many low-lying countries have responded to a worst-case scenario by erecting flood barriers and defences, whilst
others, in an ostrich-like fashion, ignore the possible dangers, adopting a wait-and-see stance. Countries which rely on
beach tourism need to maintain their beaches by replenishing them with sand, which may need to be imported, thus
preventing or at least delaying land erosion.
7. E. The future may not be all doom and gloom, however. Scientists believe that certain crops and other vegetation will
benefit from higher levels of humidity, as plants will respond positively and become more water-efficient, in this way
becoming resilient to the extremes of heat and drought that may occur more frequently, especially in Mediterranean
countries.
The human species has shown its versatility and adaptability throughout its long history. Unfortunately, those most
vulnerable to changes in climate would be those living in abject poverty where there are inadequate social and physical
infrastructures. A certain level of the political will needed to attempt to eradicate poverty has been demonstrated at the
international Earth Summits, and this could be spurred by global threats to the environment, thus helping to prevent the
deaths of millions from natural disasters.
A. Of course, if this change in climate continues, with bad weather affecting countries which previously basked in
sunshine, at least during the summer months, this will have a negative effect on those countries’ economies. Fewer
tourists will be attracted to once-popular haunts, and travel companies will have to be more ingenious, advertising
different types of holiday which are not focused on sun, sea and sand.
B. There are, however, more serious consequences of climate change - its impact on our physical well-being, for
example. Apart from the risks of skin cancer, research has shown that when the temperature rises above the
population's physiological threshold, accompanied by a high level of humidity, susceptible people (eg - the elderly) wall
die. The death rate increases two to three weeks after a heat wave, affecting city-dwellers most. This can probably be
attributed to the increase in smog caused by high temperatures and humidity levels.
C. Greenpeace has long been campaigning for commercial enterprises to be more aware of the risks they take with the
environment, and commonly cites disasters to particular eco-systems when the main concern is profit. Everyone bears
some responsibility for the environment and should act accordingly, but people still persist in putting their own interests
first.
D. Flooding on a wide scale caused havoc in Europe, Asia and the American continent. Prior to the torrential rain
in the USA, there had been droughts which threatened some farmers with a loss of livelihood. All over Europe, rivers
burst their banks, inundating some of the most historic cities. Billions of euros were needed to rebuild, renovate and
restore them to their former glory.
E. The future may not be all doom and gloom, however. Scientists believe that certain crops and other vegetation will
benefit from higher levels of humidity, as plants will respond positively and become more water-efficient, in this way
becoming resilient to the extremes of heat and drought that may occur more frequently, especially in Mediterranean
countries.
F. Another tourist area which might stand to benefit is that of space tourism, with more people choosing to leave the
trials and tribulations of our planet behind them, if only for a short time. Eventually the cost of such journeys will
become less prohibitive, as has been the case with commodities such as DVDs, camcorders, and so on.
G. This may seem contradictory, however, if we examine the facts, because although it is getting wetter, it is also getting
warmer. But people in northern Europe think that if it is raining and the sky is grey, winter is upon them, and rush out to
stock up on comfort food abandoning salads for foods high in carbohydrates. They feel less willing to eat in restaurants
or, indeed, to go anywhere that is not absolutely necessary in such atrocious weather conditions. As a result, there is a
drop in revenue for food and entertainment industries.
H. Scientists are becoming increasingly concerned about the size of ice floes breaking away from the Arctic and
Antarctic, one of which was reported to be the size of a small country. It was carefully monitored, and alarm spread as it
began to melt at a much faster rate than had originally been calculated, causing more speculation about rising sea levels.
V. For questions 1-10, choose the paragraphs (A - D). The paragraphs may be chosen more than once.
Which person gives each of these opinions about the internet?
1. Reservations (doubts) about the benefits of universal access to it are unfounded. C
2. It excels in its ability to disseminate (spread) facts. A
3. Its power to sidetrack (distract) us can be both positive and negative. B
4. It assists teaming by exposing people to a wider range of ideas than was previously possible. D
5. Much of the material on it is not original. A
6. It enables us to follow up on ideas that suddenly occur to us. B
7. It is only with time and practice that we can make best use of the internet. D
8. The quality of material on it is questionable. A
9. It still requires people to process the written word. A
10. It has reduced the need to memorise information. C
Is the internet changing our lives?
A. Sarah
The internet often tells us what we think we know, 8.spreading misinformation and nonsense while it's at it. It can
substitute surface for depth, 5.imitation for authenticity, and its passion for recycling would surpass the most
committed environmentalist. In 10 years, I’ve seen thinking habits change dramatically: if information is not
immediately available via a Google search, people are often completely at a loss. And of course a Google search merely
provides the most popular answer, not necessarily the most accurate. Nevertheless, there is no question, to my mind, that
2.the access to raw information provided by the internet is unparalleled. We've all read that the internet sounds the
death knell of reading, but 9.people read online constantly - we just call it surfing now. What's being read is changing,
often for the worse; but it is also true that the internet increasingly provides a treasure trove of rare documents and
images, and as long as we have free access to it. then the internet can certainly be a force for education and wisdom.
B. Geoff
Sometimes I think my ability to concentrate is being nibbled away (disappear) by the internet. In those quaint (cổ, là lạ)
days before the internet, once you made it to your desk there wasn’t much to do. 3.Now you sit down and there's a
universe of possibilities - many of them obscurely relevant to the work you should be getting on with - to tempt
you. To think that I can be sitting here, trying to write something about the Swedish film director Ingmar Bergman and, a
moment later, 6.on the merest whim, while I’m in Swedish mode, can be watching a clip from a Swedish
documentary about the jazz musician Don Cherry - that is a miracle (albeit one with a very potent side-effect,
namely that it's unlikely I’ll ever have the patience to sit through an entire Bergman film again). Then there's another
thing. From the age of 16, I got into the habit of compiling detailed indexes in the backs of books of poetry and drama.
So if there was a quote I needed for an assignment, I would spend hours going through my books, seeking it out. Now I
just google key words.
C. Colin
It’s curious that some of the most vociferous (om sòm) critics of the internet - those who predict that it will produce
generations of couch potatoes - are the very sorts of people who are benefiting most from this wonderful, liberating,
organic extension of the human mind. 1.They are academics, scientists, scholars and writers, who fear that the
extraordinary technology they use every day is a danger to the unsophisticated. They underestimate the capacity
of the human mind to capture and capitalise on new ways of storing and transmitting information. 10.When I was
at school I learned by heart great swathes of science textbooks. 10What a waste of my neurons, all clogged up with
knowledge and rules that I can now obtain with the click of a mouse. At its best, the internet is no threat to our
minds. It is another liberating extension of them, as significant as books, the abacus (bàn toán) or the pocket calculator.
D. Ian
The evidence that the internet has a deleterious effect on the brain is zero. In fact, by looking at the way human beings
gain knowledge in general, you would probably argue the opposite. 4.The opportunity to have multiple sources of
information or opinion at your fingertips, and to dip into these rather than trawl laboriously through a whole
book, is highly conducive to the acquisition of knowledge. It is being argued by some that the information coming into
the brain from the internet is the wrong kind of information. 7.1(time).It’s too short, it doesn’t have enough depth, so
there is a qualitative loss. It’s an interesting point, but the only way you could argue it is to say that people are misusing
the internet. It's a bit like saying to someone who’s never seen a car before and has no idea what it is: “Why don’t you
take it for a drive (go for a brief, leisurely outing in a vehicle) and you’ll find out?” 7.2(practice).If you seek
information on the internet like that, there’s a good chance you’ll have a crash. But that’s because your
experience has yet to grasp what a car is.
For questions 1-10, choose from the sections A-E. The sections may be chosen more than once.
In which section are the following mentioned?
1. the view that the global influence of a language is nothing newB
2. a return to the global use of not one but many languages D
3. explanations as to what motivates people to learn another language C
4. the view that a language is often spoken in places other than its country of origin D
5. an appreciation of a unique and controversial take on the role of the English language E
6. a query about the extent to which people are attached to their own first language E
7. an optimistic view about the long-term future of the English language D
8. the hostility felt by those forced to learn another language C
9. a derogatory comment about the English language D
10. a shared view about the ultimate demise of English in the future E
The Last Lingua Franca by Nicholas Ostler
Deborah Cameron predicts an uncertain future for English
A. The Emperor Charles V is supposed to have remarked in the 16th century that he spoke Latin with God, Italian with
musicians, Spanish with his troops, German with lackeys, French with ladies and English with his horse. In most books
about English, the joke would be turned on Charles, used to preface the observation that the language he dismissed as
uncultivated is now a colossus bestriding the world. Nicholas Ostler, however, quotes it to make the point that no
language's triumph is permanent and unassailable. Like empires (and often with them), languages rise and fall, and
English, Ostler contends, will be no exception.
B. English is the first truly global lingua franca, if by 'global' we mean 'used on every inhabited continent'. But in the
smaller and less densely interconnected world of the past, 1.many other languages had similar functions and enjoyed
comparable prestige. Modern lingua francas include French, German, Latin, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish. Yet
these once-mighty languages are now largely confined to those territories where their modern forms are spoken natively.
Though at the height of their power some acquired - and have kept - 4.large numbers of native speakers outside their
original homelands (as with Spanish and Portuguese in South America), few retain their old status.
C. To understand why the mighty fall, Ostler suggests we must look to the factors that enabled them to rise: most
commonly these are conquest, commerce and conversion. 3.Conquered or subordinated peoples learn (or are obliged
to learn) the languages of their overlords; traders acquire the languages that give them access to markets;
converts adopt the languages of their new religion. But these ways of recruiting speakers are not conducive to
permanent attachment. The learned language is not valued for its own sake, but only for the benefits that are seen to flow
from it, and only for as long as those benefits outweigh the costs. When new conquerors arrive, their subjects switch to
new lingua francas. Old empires break up and their lingua francas are abandoned, while the spread of a new religion may
advance a language or conversely weaken it. And 8.always there is the resentment generated by dependence on a
language which has to be learned, and therefore favours elites over those without access to schooling. Prestigious
lingua francas are socially divisive, and therefore unstable.
D. 7.English in the global age is often portrayed as an exceptional case. Writers who take this view point out that
English differs from previous lingua francas in two important ways: first, it has no serious competition, and
second, although it was originally spread by conquest, commerce and missionaries, its influence no longer depends
on coercion. Because of this, the argument runs, it will not suffer the fate of its predecessors. But Ostler thinks this
argument underplays both the social costs of maintaining a lingua franca (9.it is not true that English is universally
loved) and the deep, enduring loyalty people have to their native tongues. For millennia we have been willing to
compromise our linguistic loyalties in exchange for various rewards; but if the rewards could be had without the
compromise, we would gladly lay our burden down. Ostler believes that we will soon be able to do that. English, he
suggests, will be the last lingua franca. As Anglo-American hegemony withers, the influence of English will decline; but
what succeeds it will not be any other single language. Rather 2.we will see a technologically-enabled return to a state
of Babel. Thanks to advances in computer translation, 'everyone will speak and write in whatever language they choose,
and the world will understand'
E. Here 6.it might be objected that Ostler's argument depends on an unrealistic techno-optimism, and puts too
much emphasis on the supposed primeval bond between speakers and their mother tongues, which some would say
is largely an invention of 19th-century European nationalism. But even if he is wrong to predict the return of Babel , 10.I
do not think he is wrong to argue that English's position as the premier medium of global exchange will not be
maintained for ever. In the future, as in the past, linguistic landscapes can be expected to change in line with political
and economic realities. The Last Lingua Franca is not the easiest of reads: Ostler does not have the popularizer’s gift for
uncluttered storytelling, and is apt to pile up details without much regard for what the non-specialist either needs to know
or is capable of retaining. What he does offer, however, is 5.a much-85 needed challenge to conventional wisdom:
informative, thought-provoking and refreshingly free from anglocentric cliches.