Reading C1
Reading C1
Reading C1
35
There are a wide variety animals and plants due to the diverse climates in
addition to the diverse population. Reindeer, foxes, and wolves are found in the
tundra region, camels and lizards live in the desert, bears are found in the
coniferous forest, and the mountainous region of China is home to the giant
panda. Other animals include snow leopards, polar bears, Komodo dragons, and
Asian elephants, which are much smaller than African elephants.
13. Why does the author mention Mount Everest in the reading?
A. It belongs to the Tibetan region.
B. It is higher than the Himalayan Mountains.
C. Mount Everest makes Asia become the highest continent.
D. Mount Everest, the highest point on Earth, is in Asia.
15. In which space (marked A, B, C and D in the passage) will the following sentence
fit?
The desert, mountain, and tundra are the least populated.
A. A
B. B
C. C
D. D
16. According to the reading, what is true about the Gobi Desert?
A. It is the hottest desert in Asia.
B. It is a cold desert in southern Mongolia.
C. It stretches in the territory of two countries.
D. It is the world's largest desert.
20. Which animals could be found living in the desert areas of Asia?
A. Foxes and Komodo dragons
B. Wolves and elephants
C. Camels and lizards
D. Reindeers and pandas
PASSAGE 3 - Questions 21-30
USA TEEN SUMMER CAMPS
Would you like to spend the summer making great new friends in the USA? If
the answer is, 'Yes, you bet,' why not join us at Bold West for a summer of fun
and adventure? Read on to find out about the places we visit and the amazing
activities on offer.
1. Zion National Park
Zion National Park has deep canyons and huge red cliffs, and is the most
incredible place to go rock-climbing. This is the toughest, most exhilarating
activity on offer - and it is enormous fun, too! Our instructors teach you how to
climb - then you're on your own! After everyone's reached the top of the cliff, we
just zip back down again on ropes in a matter of minutes. If you're a thrill-seeker,
you'll adore the adrenaline rush! To chill out, we'll then go tubing gently down
the river in inflatable donuts.
2. Las Vegas
Las Vegas is the coolest place ever! We'll be staying at the famous Hotel Circus-
Circus, where acrobats and trapeze artists perform around the clock! Right beside
the hotel, you'll find the Adventure dome, an indoor theme park with the most
fantastic roller coaster, guaranteed to make you scream! We take in the bright
lights, casinos and shops at Caesar's Palace, and stop by the luxurious Bellagio
20 hotel, featured in many Hollywood films, with its fabulous dancing fountains.
3. Lower Kern
Lower Kern is our next destination and white-water rafting is on the menu! We
each take an oar as we shoot the rapids. It's a real white-knuckle ride and a must
for anyone who enjoys getting wet!
25
4. Sequoia National Forest
Sequoia National Forest is a magical place. It is home to the oldest living trees on
Earth, the giant sequoias, whose ancestors have been around for 175 million
years! Sequoias are mighty tall. In fact, the General Sherman Tree is the largest
living organism on Earth. It stands at over 1486.6 metres! You'll see plenty of
30 amazing wildlife in the forest, not all of it friendly! You'll need to use bear boxes
to store provisions, as bears are curious and have huge appetites!
5. Yosemite National Park
Yosemite National Park is one of the greatest wildernesses on Earth. Set on the
35 slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountains, the park has spectacular cliffs, huge
waterfalls and clear mountain streams. We visit the fantastic Yosemite Valley,
which was carved out by an enormous glacier. After a coach drive through the
park, we'll take a hike past awesome waterfalls and through the largest sub-alpine
40
meadow in the Sierra. Prepare for cool mountain air and the most stunning
sunsets you've ever seen!
In Santa Cruz, our next stop, you can learn the art of surfing. We wake early to
hit the best waves of the day. Later, we chill out in this typical California beach
town, complete with boardwalk and rides. Then, it's off to Muir Woods, where
we get a chance to give something back to the National Parks by planting notice
species or helping maintain trails.
We finish our holiday with a sightseeing trip round San Francisco. Then, sadly,
it’s back to the airport, after the most incredible summer of adventure.
Price includes: two leaders, airport pick-up and drop-off, camping equipment, all
activities and gear listed in the itinerary, all meals.
21. What activity can you do at Zion National Park to cool off?
A. Taking a float trip
B. Going rock-climbing
C. Going zipping on ropes
D. Seeing deep canyons and huge cliffs
22. What does the itinerary say you can see at the Bellagio?
A. A celebrated shopping mall
B. A well-known casino
C. A beautiful lake
D. A spectacular water feature
26. Where can you have a hair-raising time paddling down a fast-flowing river?
A. Muir Woods
B. Yosemite National Park
C. Santa Cruz
D. Lower Kern
27. Where can you be entertained by people doing tricks, twenty-four hours a day?
A. Hotel Circus-Circus
B. The Bellagio Hotel
C. Caesar's Palace
D. Santa Cruz
29. Which is the most difficult but exciting of all Bold West's activities?
A. Hiking
B. Rafting
C. Rock-climbing
D. Surfing
Xanthe was fun, lively and very close to her mother until she was fifteen.
Then she became a teenager from hell! Expelled from school, she hung around
the streets, getting into trouble. Sixteen-year-old Jemma was equally impossible.
She'd do anything to get what she wanted, including shoplifting! And Joe,
5 sixteen, was so badly-behaved he bullied his own mum! The teenagers were out
of control and heading for disaster. But their parents had one last trick up their
sleeves! As a last resort, they sent their kids off for three months’ behavior
therapy at Turn-about Ranch in the wilds of Utah, USA. With them went four
other spoiled 'brats'. Their time at the camp was filmed for the hit TV series Brat
Camp.
10
Life got worse when the teenagers reached Turn-about, an isolated cattle
ranch. At the camp there was neither electricity nor running water! Sitting
outside their log cabin that first night, the teenagers were given the rules of the
camp. ‘You must get up at 6.30 a.m.,’ You must not swear,' 'You must ask
15 permission before doing anything.' Confused and homesick, the teenagers begged
to go home. But it was a waste of time. A The ranch was in the middle of
nowhere and contact with parents and friends was forbidden. B There was no
escape!
20 Level one of the therapy began the next morning. It was designed to give the
teenagers a nasty shock. And it certainly did! The kids were forced to spend three
whole days sitting outdoors in small stone circles, in total silence. If any of them
needed to leave the circle, they had to ask for permission. They couldn't even go
to the toilet alone! C If they were disrespectful to the staff, they were punished,
and the rules got even stricter!
25
After three days the teenagers went on to the next level of the behavior
therapy. The staff at Turn-about Ranch are real-life cowboys, who believe hard
work is the best therapy for rebellious teens. The teenagers were expected to take
part in ranch activities, like rounding up cattle on horseback, harvesting and
30 mending fences. Work didn't stop, however hot and dusty or cold and snowy it
was. In fact, there was no free time at all! D They learned to light fires and trap
animals for food. They were given certain goals, which meant working in a team.
If they were disruptive, they had to stay at the ranch even longer.
As the weeks went by, the teenagers acquired a new outlook on life. Joe
35 changed a lot: in the cowboys, he found the strong male role models he'd lost
when his parents divorced and his father left home. Turn-about changed Xanthe,
too. Her mother had remarried when she was fifteen and she realized that envy of
her new stepfather had caused her bad behavior. Turn-about changed the other
teenagers too, at least for now…
32. Why was the main reason why the parents sent the teenagers to the camp?
A. Because they wanted to see their children on TV
B. Because everything else had failed
C. Because these teenagers often spent time doing nothing
D. Because the teenagers frightened and threatened other people
34. What were the teenagers NOT permitted to do at the Brat Camp?
A. Using bad language
B. Using electronic devices
C. Staying up late
D. Running away from the ranch
35. Why were the teenagers forced to sit in small stone circles?
A. To threaten them to keep silence.
B. To make them shocked.
C. To punish them for disobedience.
D. To train them respect the staff.
36. In which space (marked A, B, C and D in the passage) will the following sentence
fit?
At night the teenagers slept outdoors.
A. A
B. B
C. C
D. D
40. What did the teenagers change after returning from the Brat Camp?
A. Their male/female role models
B. Their positive point of view
C. Their lifestyle
D. Their attitude to the world
1 For recent graduates, internships may become a stepping stone to full-time, paid
employment. Before accepting an offer to work as an intern you should get some
information about the company’s reputation of procuring their interns and decide
accordingly. If they usually hire one intern but have tens of employees working day and
5 night, it is better to look for other companies. The best place to have an internship
position is an organization that gives you an opportunity to gain real work experience
and develop your skills instead of using you as a cheap worker.
Another thing that should be considered is the size of the company. Sometimes bigger
and more established organizations are better as they have a clear hierarchy and therefore
10 it gives you a clear idea of your position and the job description and most importantly, it
will be easier to get a mentor. Startups with only five employees are usually more flexible
in terms of job responsibilities and therefore it makes it harder to define your position and
get mentors.
After you choose a company, do a little research on the company including the people
15 who work there. You can do a Google search and comb social media such as LinkedIn,
Facebook and Twitter to dig deep about the company’s hiring managers and what they
expect from a new employee.
Social media is also very useful to keep in touch with as many people as you can and
build your network. Do not hesitate to maintain any personal connection you have
20 because those connections could be the first ones who inform you about a new job
opening or any vacant positions you can apply for.
If you aim for a dream job, do not overlook an entry-level position just because it offers
mediocre salary. Entry-level employees are more likely to be given room to grow and
learn from their mistakes. They will also be able to figure out the job routines and get
25 used to them when they actually get the position they have been dreaming about.
As your first few jobs might be very demanding yet less rewarding, remember to have
fun and enjoy your life. Working overtime may not always be a good idea to accelerate
your career, especially if you have to be more stressed than your seniors who earn bigger
salaries. Setting the time for exercise and social life will make your life more balanced
30 and stress free.
Adapted from https://www.excellentesl4u.com/esl-work-reading.html
1. The word ‘opportunity’ in line 6 could be best replaced by ___.
A. chance
B. time
C. procedure
D. organization
2. The word ‘they’ in line 9 refers to ___.
A. employees
B. responsibilities
C. working people
D. organizations
3. What should a fresh graduate consider when finding an internship?
A. company’s location
B. company’s worker union
C. company’s reputation of hiring interns
D. internship salary
4. Why is a more established organization a good choice for an intern?
A. It offers full-time positions.
B. It offers better policies.
C. It has clear job descriptions.
D. It has less working hours.
5. The word ‘employee’ in line 17 is closest in meaning to ___.
A. boss
B. worker
C. company
D. director
6. According to the passage, some social media sites for doing research on the company are
___.
A. Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook
B. Google scholar, LinkedIn, Twitter
C. Google search, Twitter, Gmail
D. Google search, Twitter, Yahoo
7. Why is networking important to recent graduates?
A. It helps them keep in touch with ex-employers.
B. It helps them get information about job security.
C. It helps them get information about job openings.
D. It helps them maintain a good relationship with fellow interns.
8. What is the benefit of taking an entry-level position?
A. understanding company’s policy
B. understanding job routines
C. getting promotion
D. getting mediocre salary
9. According to the passage, an intern should ___.
A. have a good work-life balance
B. try to work overtime
C. try to get a high salary
D. spend more time with his/her family
10. What is the purpose of this passage?
A. to give some advice to fresh graduates when finding internships
B. to warn fresh graduates when finding internships
C. to help fresh graduates find good jobs
D. to help fresh graduates find good companies
1 It began as a plan for a very normal 16th birthday party. Merthe Weusthuis wanted a
quiet celebration with a small group of friends in her family home in the small Dutch
town of Haren. Like many teenagers, she decided to send out invitations via a social
network site. But Merthe made one big mistake: she used open-access settings on
5 Facebook, so it wasn’t just her friends who could see details of the event, lots of strangers
could too. A
The number of invitation acceptances quickly snowballed into an avalanche. Not marking
the event as ‘private’ meant the electronic invitation was eventually seen by 240,000
people, of whom 30,000 confirmed online that they planned to attend. To make matters
worse, an unauthorised campaign was launched to promote the party by means of a
10 dedicated website and Twitter account, which received hundreds of thousands of hits. The
party become known as ‘Project X Haren’ after the 2012 American film Project X in
which three high school students throw a birthday party that spins out of control. Video
trailers for Merthe’s party were produced, with scenes from Project X edited in, and they
were posted on YouTube. B
15 Even after Merthe’s parents had cancelled the party, the publicity didn’t stop. Local
5 media reported on the forthcoming event and teenagers turned up to have their pictures
taken outside the Weusthuis family home. On the evening the party was to have taken
20
5
place, about 5,000 teenagers began gathering in Haren, many outside the Weusthuis
house. When it became clear that there was nothing to gatecrash, violence broke out and
500 riot police equipped with helmets, shields and batons were brought in to control the
crowd. Shops in the centre of Haren were vandalised and looted, journalists were
attacked, cars were set on fire or overturned and street signs and lamp posts were
damaged. C
25 However, Facebook was also involved in the clean-up effort in the days after the riot. A
5 group called ‘Project Clean-X Haren’ was set up to gather and organise volunteers.
Another group named ‘Suspect-X Haren’ was created to help police identify and arrest
the rioters by sharing photos and videos of the event. D
A number of other 'Facebook parties’ have spiralled out of control, including the 16th
birthday party of British teenager Bradley McAnulty in April 2012. Bradley had not
posted details of the event on the internet, and had been careful to ask his friends not to,
30 but somehow the news leaked out and appeared on Blackberry Messenger as well as
5 Facebook. More than 400 gatecrashers invaded his family home in Poole, Dorset, causing
extensive damage.
Adapted from https://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org
11. Which of the following would be the best title for this article?
A. The Facebook party that became a riot
B. The Facebook party that became an interesting event
C. The Facebook party that became a fight
D. The Facebook party that became a film
12. What’s Merthe’s mistake?
A. using Facebook to organise her birthday celebration
B. letting her friends invite their friends to her party
C. inviting people she did not really like to her party
D. not checking who could see her online invitation
13. The number of confirmed guests ___.
A. did not reflect the reality
B. got out of control almost immediately
C. was manageable until the Twitter campaign
D. suddenly shot up when people started watching the YouTube video trailers
14. What did local journalists do?
A. They gave the event publicity.
B. They tried to discourage people from attending.
C. They gathered outside the house.
D. They started the violence.
15. Why did violence break out?
A. Teenagers arrived in large numbers.
B. People realised there was no party.
C. Rival gangs turned up.
D. Gatecrashers saw the police.
16. What does the word ‘crowd’ in line 20 refer to?
A. Gatecrashers
B. journalists
C. teenagers
D. family members
17. In which space (marked A, B, C and D in the passage) will the following sentence fit?
T-shirts featuring Merthe’s face were also made, all without her knowledge or consent.
A. A
B. B
C. C
D. D
18. Which of the following words can best replace the word ‘arrest’ in line 25?
A. capture
B. take
C. control
D. involve
19. Bradley McAnulty ___.
A. made the same mistake as Merthe Weusthuis
B. sent invitation via Blackberry Messenger
C. had taken steps to prevent problems
D. posted details of the event online
20. What happened to Bradley McAnulty?
A. Only a small number of people arrived.
B. The gatecrashers were well behaved.
C. The gatecrashers caused a lot of damage to his home.
D. The gatecrashers caused a lot of damage to his town.
PASSAGE 3- Questions 21-30
1 The first drawings on walls appeared in caves thousands of years ago. Later the Ancient
Romans and Greeks wrote their names and protest poems on buildings. Modern graffiti
seems to have appeared in Philadelphia in the early 1960s, and by the late sixties it had
reached New York. The new art form really took off in the 1970s, when people began
5 writing their names, or ‘tags’, on buildings all over the city. In the mid seventies it was
sometimes hard to see out of a subway car window, because the trains were completely
covered in spray paintings known as ‘masterpieces’.
In the early days, the ‘taggers’ were part of street gangs who were concerned with
marking their territory. They worked in groups called ‘crews’, and called what they did
10 ‘writing’ – the term ‘graffiti’ was first used by The New York Times and the novelist
Norman Mailer. Art galleries in New York began buying graffiti in the early seventies.
But at the same time that it began to be regarded as an art form, John Lindsay, the then
mayor of New York, declared the first war on graffiti. By the 1980s it became much
harder to write on subway trains without being caught, and instead many of the more
15 established graffiti artists began using roofs of buildings or canvases.
The debate over whether graffiti is art or vandalism is still going on. Peter Vallone, a
New York city councillor, thinks that graffiti done with permission can be art, but if it is
20 on someone else’s property it becomes a crime. ‘I have a message for the graffiti vandals
out there,’ he said recently. ‘Your freedom of expression ends where my property
begins.’ On the other hand, Felix, a member of the Berlin-based group Reclaim Your
City, says that artists are reclaiming cities for the public from advertisers, and that graffiti
represents freedom and makes cities more vibrant.
For decades graffiti has been a springboard to international fame for a few. Jean-Michel
Basquiat began spraying on the street in the 1970s before becoming a respected artist in
25 the ’80s. The Frenchman Blek le Rat and the British artist Banksy have achieved
international fame by producing complex works with stencils, often making political or
humorous points. Works by Banksy have been sold for over £100,000. Graffiti is now
sometimes big business.
Adapted from https://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/skills/reading
21. Why was the seventies an important decade in the history of graffiti?
A. That was when modern graffiti first appeared
B. That was when modern graffiti first became really popular
C. That was when graffiti first reached New York
D. That was when graffiti first reached Philadelphia
22. What is a 'masterpiece' in graffiti?
A. a really high-quality piece of graffiti
B. a work of graffiti showing the artist's name
C. a full piece of graffiti, like those seen on subway trains
D. a really high-quality piece of drawing
23. What was the main motivation for the first taggers?
A. showing which streets belonged to which gangs
B. creating a strong visual identity for their 'crew'
C. sending coded messages to other gangs
D. showing their power
24. What does the word ‘crews’ in line 9 refer to?
A. street gangs
B. robbers
C. New Yorkers
D. novelists
25. Who coined the phrase 'graffiti'?
A. New York gangs
B. a councillor in New York
C. the mayor of New York
D. a newspaper and an author
1 As India and other energy importing countries struggle with runaway oil prices, Russia
earned more than $ 300 billion in oil export earnings. This has driven its economic
growth. Today, Russia is the eighth largest economy in the world in purchasing Power
Parity. According to the World Bank, it is poised to overtake France to become the
5 world’s sixth largest economy.
The oil industry was the prime target of a sweeping privatization drive launched after the
break-up of the Soviet Union. However not all Russians have been rolling in oil wealth.
The Russian government has failed to do for its people even a fraction of what the Soviet
Union, with twice the population, did with the revenue generated from oil. While the
10 Soviet Government bought grain and other foreign and other foreign consumer goods to
be sold in domestic markets at heavily subsidized rates, Russia rejected socialism. Instead
it embraced capitalism in which money earned from oil has enriched only tycoons and
corrupt government officials. Oil tycoons in Russia have made huge fortunes by using
gaping holes in tax legislation to pay far below the standard 24 percent corporate rate.
15 Recently, Russia introduced a stiff tax system in which the government takes eighty
percent of the oil revenues. With the oil wealth tricking down to the other sectors,
millions have been lifted out of poverty in the last ten years. Russia has also overtaken
Germany as Europe’s biggest car market. Demand has outpaced supply. With Russians
having to wait a year to get the car of their choice. But the gap between the rich and the
20 poor continues to widen with 19 million people still below the poverty line. The fact that
Russia has the second largest number of billionaires in the world does not measure up to
the size of the economy and level of the country’s development.
Revenue generated from oil is now going to play a key role in overcoming Russia’s oil
curse’ – over dependence on energy. Russia is one of the few places in the world with
25 significant unexplored and unexploited reserves of oil in order to lay a stable foundation
for the economy when the oil price boom comes to an end. Russia is slowly moving form
a resources dependent to a science based economy. The government has raised funding
for infrastructure (outmoded transport networks put a brake on the economy), aviation
and nuclear energy among other sectors. The biggest challenge is to manage this huge
30 investment programme without fuelling rapidly rising inflation. Driven by high global
energy and food prices, the Russian central bank has been forced to rise the interest rate
four times this year in order to keep inflation down.
http://gscsat.blogspot.com/2015/03/reading-comprehension-home-exercise-13_21.html
31. Which of the following factors is responsible for Russia’s economic growth?
A. Russia imports fuel from developing countries like India at low cost.
B. Receiving aid worth 300 billion dollars from energy importing countries.
C. Funding received from the “World Bank and developed countries like France.
D. The revenue Russia has earned from exporting oil.
32. Why are a large number of the world’s very rich people found in Russia?
A. Russia is one of the most developed countries in the world.
B. Russia is the world’s largest automobile supplier.
C. Russian oil businessmen took advantage of ambiguity in Russia’s tax laws.
D. Russia is the world’s largest supplier of oil.
33. What does the word ‘its’ in line 8 refer to?
A. Russia’s
B. Russian Government’s
C. Soviet Union’s
D. Soviet Government’s
34. What step(s) has the Russian Government taken to control inflation?
A. It has raised he amount of money allocated for exploring new oil reserves.
B. Taxes have been hiked.
C. Subsidies on essential commodities like food have been introduced.
D. Both (A) & (B)
35. What is the word ‘embraced’ in line 12 closest in meaning to?
A. espoused
B. encompassed
C. got over
D. enriched
36. Which of the following is / are impact(s) Russia’s economic growth?
A. Russia’ population has doubled.
B. Foreign consumer goods are heavily subsidized
C. There is a huge gap between the haves and the have not.
D. None of them
37. Which of the following is TRUE in the context of the passage?
A. Russia is a Communist country.
B. Most of Russia’s wealth has gone into exploring new oil fields.
C. There is a great demand for automobiles in Russia.
D. Privatizing the oil industry has lifted 19 million Russians out poverty.
38. Which of the following can be said about Russia’s economy?
A. Russia is the fastest growing economy in the world.
B. Russia’s economy is being transformed into a technology based one.
C. Oil wealth has been invested in Russia’s energy sector only.
D. Russia’s economy is more developed than that Germany.
39. Which of the following factors is responsible for inflation in Russia?
A. Depleted Russian oil reserves
B. Low investment in new Russian oilfields
C. Utilization of nuclear energy which is expensive
D. High prices of food all over the world
40. Why has Russia increased its spending on its transport system?
A. It is outdated and will hinder Russia’s economic growth.
B. To boost tourism which has been falling
C. To create jobs and reduce the high rate of unemployment
D. There have been a substantial number of accidents
TEST 3
PASSAGE 1- Questions 1-10
1 Shopping is a necessary part of life which very few people can avoid. It is a daily routine
for some people. Some people shop for pleasure while other people go shopping just to
buy the necessary items in order to survive. The weekend is usually a good time to go
shopping because people have free time from work. At this time the shops are usually
5 very busy because people try to get the best items for the lowest price before the item
runs out of stock.
Some people go shopping more regularly than other people to browse products in shops
even when they do not have much money. This is known as window shopping and allows
people to plan ahead and save for the things they want to buy in the future or wait for the
10 items to drop in price. Some people spend a lot of time looking for bargains while others
do not think of the price and are happy to spend a lot. Some people believe that the more
expensive the item, the better the quality, but this is not always true. It is sensible to buy
items which are affordable, but some people use a credit card or borrow money from the
15 bank so that they can buy the items they really want rather than wait for it.
Sometimes shopping can be stressful when choosing a gift to buy other people for a
special occasion. It is common to buy a gift voucher so that a friend or loved one can go
shopping themselves at their own convenience. Shopping online is often popular with
people who have a busy lifestyle. People are able to order their necessary and luxury
20 items from the comfort of their own home, or even on the move. Delivery is usually free
and items are often cheaper than in shops on the high street. The only real problem is that
the item description and quality may be different than what they hoped for. This could
mean the customer may become disappointed with the item they receive and will need to
return it at their own cost. People who go to shops to do their shopping often use self-
25 service payment machines. This usually saves time as the shopper does not need to join a
long queue. However, it can be frustrating when the machine has a problem and the sales
assistant is not always available to help.
Adapted from https://www.excellentesl4u.com/esl-shopping-reading.html
1. According to the first paragraph, people go shopping ___.
A. to meet their friends
B. to look for new products
C. for pleasure
D. for different purposes
2. Why is weekend a good time to go shopping?
A. It is very busy on the weekend.
B. People are free from work.
C. Things are usually cheaper.
D. The shops are closed.
3. The word ‘runs out’ in line 5 is closest meaning to ___.
A. gives out
B. go forward
C. hang out
D. walk around
4. What are people doing when they go shopping just to have a look and not to buy?
A. looking for the best quality
B. spending money
C. bargain hunting
D. window shopping
5. What do some people usually think about items of better quality?
A. They are more expensive.
B. They are harder to find.
C. They are cheaper.
D. They are on sale.
6. The word ‘items’ in line 15 could be best replaced by ___
A. bargains
B. credit cards
C. products
D. prices
7. When can shopping be stressful?
A. When shops are about to close
B. When buying a gift for someone
C. On the weekend
D. When it is very busy
8. The word ‘one’ in line 17 refers to ___.
A. friend
B. person (*)
C. voucher
D. item
1 Three-year-old Teddy Lasry was napping yesterday in his cowboy outfit yesterday at his
family's Fifth Ave. apartment when he shot up in bed screaming. A 3-foot-long black-
and-white snake was coiled around his left arm and had just bitten his pinky. "The baby-
sitter freaked out," said Teddy's father, David Lasry, who, along with his wife, Evelyn,
5 was at work when the reptile showed up about 4 p.m. A
The horrified nanny called 911 and the building's doorman. The doorman and two cable
TV workers helped pry the snake off the boy's arm and stow it in a garbage bag, Lasry
said.
Police rushed Teddy to Mount Sinai Medical Center, where his parents said he spent two
hours attached to a heart monitor as a precaution in case the snake was poisonous. B
10 It wasn't. Experts at the snakebite treatment center at Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx,
where cops took the critter, determined it was a non-venomous California king snake. But
how did it end up in Teddy's bed? A little sleuthing determined that the serpent had
escaped two weeks ago from its cage in the apartment of a doctor whose family lives four
floors below the Lasrys. The apologetic owner said his son's pet snake likely traveled up
15 the radiator pipes and into his neighbor's apartment. "It's a very docile, very harmless
snake," he said. C
Lasry, 42, a fine arts publisher, said he believed the pet was simply hungry after two
weeks of cruising. Teddy's mother, Evelyn Lasry, 37, said her son seems to have gotten
over his fright by thinking of himself as a hero cowboy as he rode in the back of the
20 police cruiser to the hospital.
"I told Teddy he's a pretty snake, a nice pet snake who got out of his cage," Evelyn Lasry
said. "But he asked, 'Why did he bite my finger, Mamma?' And I said, 'Because he saw
that you are a big boy, Teddy, in your cowboy outfit and he got scared.'" D
Adapted from https://www.esl-lounge.com/student/reading
11. Which of the following would be the best title for this article?
A. A child’s accident
B. A pretty snake
C. A cowboy story
D. A family story
12. What can be inferred from the first paragraph?
A. Teddy screamed when seeing the snake.
B. Teddy was angry when seeing the snake.
C. Teddy was frightened when seeing the snake.
D. Teddy was embarrassed when seeing the snake
13. Which of the following words can best replace the word ‘outfit’ in line 1?
A. hat
B. costume
C. gun
D. horse
14. What did the baby-sitter do?
A. She ran out of the apartment.
B. She took the snake off Teddy’s arms.
C. She called for help.
D. She called the television company.
15. What does the word ‘reptile’ in line 5 refer to?
A. snake
B. baby-sitter
C. wife
D. boy
16. What is the relationship between Teddy’s family and the snake’s owners?
A. Neighbors
B. doctors and patients
C. landlords and tenants
D. police and citizens
17. In which space (marked A, B, C and D in the passage) will the following sentence fit?
"It's handled by our family all the time."
A. A
B. B
C. C
D. D
18. What do we learn about the snake?
A. It was poisonous.
B. It had escaped from a zoo.
C. It was about a meter long.
D. It had escaped earlier in the afternoon.
19. Which of these statements is true?
A. Teddy was awake when the snake arrived.
B. Teddy’s father was working and his mother was at home.
C. Teddy needed a heart machine to stay alive for two hours.
D. The snake is used to being touched.
20. What does Teddy think now of the snake’s attack?
A. He was attacked because the snake was scared of him.
B. He was attacked because he was asleep.
C. He was attacked because his parents weren’t at home.
D. He was attacked because the snake was hungry
1 For years video games have been criticised for making people more antisocial,
overweight or depressed. But now researchers are finding that games can actually change
us for the better and improve both our body and mind.
Games can help to develop physical skills. Pre-school children who played interactive
5 games such as the ones available on Wii have been shown to have improved motor skills,
for example they can kick, catch and throw a ball better than children who don’t play
video games. A study of surgeons who do microsurgery in Boston found that those who
played video games were 27 per cent faster and made 37 per cent fewer errors than those
10
who didn't. Vision is also improved, particularly telling the difference between shades of
grey. This is useful for driving at night, piloting a plane or reading X-rays.
Games also benefit a variety of brain functions, including decision-making. People who
play action-based games make decisions 25 per cent faster than others and are no less
accurate, according to one study. It was also found that the best gamers can make choices
and act on them up to six times a second, four times faster than most people. In another
15 study by researchers from the University of Rochester in New York, experienced gamers
were shown to be able to pay attention to more than six things at once without getting
confused, compared with the four that most people can normally keep in mind.
Additionally, video games can also reduce gender differences. Scientists have found that
women who play games are better able to mentally manipulate 3D objects.
20 There is also evidence that gaming can help with psychological problems. At the
University of Auckland in New Zealand, researchers asked 94 young people diagnosed
25 with depression to play a 3D fantasy game called SPARX and in many cases, the game
reduced symptoms of depression more than conventional treatment. Another research
team at Oxford University found that playing Tetris shortly after exposure to something
very upsetting – in the experiment, a film of traumatic scenes of injury and death was
used – can actually prevent people having disturbing flashbacks.
The effects are not always so positive, however. Indiana University researchers carried
out brain scans on young men and found evidence that violent games can alter brain
function after as little as a week of play, affecting regions in the brain associated with
30 emotional control and causing more aggressive behaviour in the player. But Daphne
Bavelier, one of the most experienced researchers in the field, says that the violent action
games that often worry parents most may actually have the strongest beneficial effect on
the brain. In the future, we may see many treatments for physical and neurological
problems which incorporate the playing of video games.
Adapted from https://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/skills/reading
1 The wakeup call that China represents to India is not limited to its showpiece urban
centers or that New Delhi hopes India will experience the benefits that the Olympic
Games have brought to Beijing. More pertinent is the comparison of the agricultural
sectors of the two countries. Why and how has china managed to outstrip India in
5 agriculture when 25 years ago the two countries were on par on most parameters? Both
have traditionally been agrarian economies and over half their populations continue to
depend on the land for their livelihood. With large populations and histories of famine,
India and china share concern on issues such as food security.
However, while India’s agricultural sector is projected to grow by about 2.5 per cent this
10 year a slide from the previous year’s growth; China’s has been steadily growing at
between 4 per cent and 5 per cent over the last fifteen years. The widest divergence
between India and China is in the profitable horticultural sector with the production of
15 fruits and vegetables in china leaping from 60 million tones in 1980 compared to India’s
55 million tons at the same time, to 450 million tones in 2003 ahead of India’s
corresponding 135 million tones. China’s added advantage lies in the more diversified
composition of its agricultural sector with animal husbandry and fisheries which account
for close to 45 per cent growth compared to 30 per cent for India.
According to the latest report by the Economic Advisory council, the traditional excuses
for India’s substandard performance in the farm sector are inadequate since India is
20 placed favorably when compared to China in terms of quantity of arable land, average
farm size, farm mechanization etc. the reasons for China having outperformed India are
25
threefold: technological improvements accruing from research and development (china
has over 1,000 R &D centers devoted to agriculture), investment in rural infrastructure
and an increasingly liberalized agricultural policy moving away from self- sufficiency to
leveraging the competitive advantage with a focus on “efficiency as much as equity”.
Investment in rural infrastructure, roads, storage facilities marketing facilities are also
crucial but government support in India has mainly been through subsidies, not
investment. There has been much debate about subsidies and their utility: the opposing
view being that subsidies are against the market reforms and distort the market as well as
30 reduce resource efficiency. In contrast to the 2.046 applications for the registration of
new plant varieties in China over the past few years, data reveals that despite India having
the largest number of agricultural scientists in the world, India’s current research track
record is abysmal, equivalent to what china achieved in the 1980s. For from developing
new strains, the number of field crop varieties fell by 50 per cent between 1997 and 2001
35 despite the number of field crop varieties fell by 50 per cent between 1997 and 2001
despite the fact that there was sharp and sustained increase in funding.
One reason is that majority of the budget is eaten up by staff salaries with only 3 per cent
being allotted for research. In contrast, most agricultural research centers in China must
use Central government funding purely for research. Funds relating to salaries and other
40 administrative incidentals must be generated by the centers themselves. The centers and
scientists are thus encouraged to engage in joint ventures with private sector companies to
form commercial signoffs from their research. In fact, research staffs are now being hired
on a contract basis with pay based on performance and salaries raised proportionately for
those who perform well. India needs to learn from China’s example and adopt a
45 pragmatic approach if it has to meet its targets of the Eleventh Five year Plan.
Adapted from http://gscsat.blogspot.com/2015/
31. What has been the Major area of difference in the development of the agricultural sectors of
India and China?
A. Quantity of arable land in China is far greater than in India.
B. Food security is not a concern for China as the country is basically self- sufficient.
C. China has experienced substantial growth in production in allied agricultural activities
like horticulture.
D. India’s agricultural sector is too diversified so it is difficult to channel funds for
development
32. Which of the following is /are area / s in which China has not outdone India?
A. development of urban infrastructure
B. activities allied to agriculture like animal husbandry
C. successful bids for international sporting events
D. none of these
33. Which of the following is NOT TRUE in the context of the passage?
A. Agricultural status of China and India was equivalent a quarter of a century ago.
B. India current economic growth rate is half that in China.
C. China is traditionally an agrarian economy.
D. Agricultural research in India is inadequate.
34. What is the word ‘steadily’ in line 10 closest in meaning to?
A. Fixedly
B. remarkably
C. appropriately
D. accurately
35. According to the author, which of the following is a legitimate explanation for India’s
stagnating agricultural sector?
A. India diverts funds that should be spent on agricultural research to urban development.
B. Reforms are hampered because adequate subsidies are not provided by the
government.
C. The productive for registering new plant varieties is very tedious so research is
limited.
D. None of these
36. Which of the following is an advantage that India holds over China with respect to the
agricultural sector?
A. Lack of diversification of the agricultural sector
B. Superior technology and farming practices
C. Granter prevalence of farm mechanization
D. Provision of fertilizer and power subsidies
37. Why was there a drop in development of new crop varieties for five years from 1997?
A. Government funding for research fell during that period.
B. Funds were diverted during this period to agricultural mechanization.
C. The private sector was not allowed to fund research.
D. None of these
38. What argument has been post against implementation of subsidies?
A. Subsides sacrifice equity for efficiency.
B. Subsides hamper efficient resource utilization.
C. Subsides reduce private sector investment and involvement in agriculture.
D. Both (A) & (B)
39. What does the word ‘it’ in line 45 refer to?
A. India
B. China
C. economy
D. agriculture
40. Which of the following is not responsible for China’s successful transformation of its
agricultural sector?
A. Change in philosophy from self- sufficiency to competitiveness and efficiency
B. Grater allocation for subsidies
C. Increased internment marketing and distribution network greater allocation for
subsidies
D. All (A), (B), (C)
Beads were probably the first durable ornaments humans possessed, and the
intimate relationship they had with their owners is reflected in the fact that beads
are among the most common items found in ancient archaeological sites. In the
past, as today, men, women, and children adorned themselves with beads. In
some cultures still, certain beads are often worn from birth until death, and then
5
are buried with their owners for the afterlife. Abrasion due to daily wear alters
the surface features of beads, and if they are buried for long, the effects of
corrosion can further change their appearance. Thus, interest is imparted to the
bead both by use and the effects of time.
Besides their wear ability, either as jewelry or incorporated into articles of attire,
10
beads possess the desirable characteristics of every collectible: they are durable,
portable, available in infinite variety, and often valuable in their original cultural
context as well as in today's market. Pleasing to look at and touch, beads come in
shapes, colors, and materials that almost compel one to handle them and to sort
15
them.
Beads are miniature bundles of secrets waiting to be revealed: their history,
manufacture, cultural context, economic role, and ornamental use are all points
of information one hopes to unravel. Even the most mundane beads may have
traveled great distances and been exposed to many human experiences. The bead
20 researcher must gather information from many diverse fields. In addition to
having to be a generalist while specializing in what may seem to be a narrow
field, the researcher is faced with the problem of primary materials that have
little or no documentation. Many ancient beads that are of ethnographic interest
have often been separated from their original cultural context.
25 The special attractions of beads contribute to the uniqueness of bead research.
While often regarded as the "small change of civilizations,” beads are a part of
every culture, and they can often be used to date archaeological sites and to
designate the degree of mercantile, technological, and cultural sophistication.
How many adverts do you think you’ll see today? 10? 30? According to the
market research firm Yankelovich, some of US see as many as 2,000-5,000
adverts a day! There are adverts all around US. Most of the time we’re not even
5
consciously aware of them. But think about your town or city. How many
billboards, shop signs and posters does it have?
Tokyo, in Japan, takes urban advertising to the extreme. Although the city
temples may still lay claim to being more impressive, the explosion of sound and
colour in the commercial centre can take your breath away. Whether you find the
overall effect stunning or nightmarish is a question of personal taste. However, it
would be hard not to admire the advertisers’ ingenuity. Recent innovations
include interactive games projected onto walls for people to play.
“Smellvertising” is also catching on - that’s the idea of using pleasant smells like
chocolate to attract consumers’ attention!
Innovations in Tokyo are of huge significance in the world of
advertising because where Tokyo leads, other cities soon follow.
15 Big cities from New York to London already have outdoor
television screens. Although Tokyo is far from being universally
admired, many urban authorities find its approach to advertising
exciting and dynamic. So what’s the problem?
“If every city copied Tokyo, it would be absolutely terrible!”
20
exclaims Roberta Cal vino of the advertising watchdog group, Ad
Alert. “At the moment, Tokyo’s futuristic style sets it apart. It
invites our attention because there’s simply nothing like it. But we
don’t need 100 poor imitations. In many cities, advertising is as bad
as litter or vandalism - it spoils our environment. Go beyond the city
25
outskirts and you’ll find that advertising is taking over the
countryside, too. The world’s biggest advert was actually in a field
in Austria, below the flight path to Vienna airport. It was the size of
50 football pitches!”
30 According to Roberta, advertising can also influence the way we
think and feel. “Advertisers want to convince US that then products
will make us happy or successful. Unfortunately, that’s all an
illusion - you can’t simply “buy” a celebrity lifestyle at the shops!”
Nevertheless, advertisers work hard to get US to swallow this
35 message. For instance, fashion brands prefer to advertise using
images of glamorously made-up supermodels because they want
“ordinary” girls to feel inadequate in comparison as the more
dissatisfied we feel with our lives, the more we’ll spend to cheer
ourselves up! Although outdoor advertising may seem to make less
40
of an immediate impression than TV commercials, its message can have greater
force.
In 2007, one Brazilian city made a radical protest. Gilberto Kassab, the mayor of
São Paulo, ordered the removal of more than 15,000 adverts! In justification, he
condemned urban advertising in very strong terms as “visual pollution”
Unsurprisingly, this made many local businesses unhappy. One marketing
executive argued that adverts “are more like works of art, hiding grey office
blocks and industrial estates,” However, a more typical response can be summed
up in this statement from Isuara dos Santos, “If we’d known what a difference it
would make, we’d have got rid of the adverts years ago. Now we can see the real
Sào Paulo, and it’s wonderful!”
23. What do we learn about the writer's opinion of advertising in Tokyo in the second
paragraph?
A. It lacks a personal appeal for him.
B. He thinks that it is very creative.
C. It seems excessive to him.
D. He thinks it is Tokyo's main attraction.
27. What does Roberta tell us about urban advertising in the sixth paragraph?
A. It can be rather unconvincing.
B. It helps us to fulfil our dreams.
C. It particularly affects women.
D. It can lower our self-confidence.
28. What comparison does Roberta make between urban advertising and TV
advertising?
A. TV advertising is more effective in the long term.
B. It is easier to ignore urban advertising.
C. Urban advertising can have more impact.
D. There is greater variety in urban advertising.
30. What response did the mayor get when he removed advertising from Sao Paulo?
A. The majority of private individuals and commercial people supported him.
B. Advertisers were willing to display fewer advertisements in the city.
C. Local artists were unsure how attractive the office blocks would look.
D. Most of the people who lived in the city welcomed his decision.
COAST TO COAST
24. What made David fall off his skateboard several times in Australia?
A. thunderstorms in the Outback
B. the trains that race across the Outback
C. the injuries on his feet
D. the wind created by huge lorries going past
28. Why does David think surfing is a good thing to do after his journey
A. He can stay close to Brisbane.
B. He’s always wanted to surf on the Gold Coast.
C. He wants to strengthen the top half of his body.
D. He needs to keep his legs strong.
33. Which of the following statements is NOT true, according to the text?
A. Australia has always been an island since people existed.
B. Australian apes became extinct before human times.
C. Aborigines probably originated in Timor or Indonesia.
D. Aborigines must have arrived in Australia by sea.
35. What usually provides the explanation for the Aborigines' arrival in Australia?
A. their curiosity
B. bad weather
C. a desire for better fishing
D. hunger for land
38. What does the writer seem most surprised by at the end of this extract?
A. the way that Aborigines managed to establish themselves in Australia
B. how badly European settlers treated Australian Aborigines
C. how long Australian Aborigines have lived on the continent
D. the fact that so little attention is paid to this aspect of human history
39. In which space (marked (A), (B), (C)and (D)in the passage) will the following
sentence fit?
In other words, for the first 99.7 per cent of its inhabited history, the Aborigines
had Australia to themselves. They have been there an unimaginably long time.
A. (A)
B. (B)
C. (C)
D. (D)
40. What is the main point the writer is making in the last paragraph?
A. The Europeans had no right to take over Aborigine land in Australia.
B. No one can be exactly certain as to when the Aborigines first arrived in
Australia.
C. The Aborigines have inhabited Australia for much longer than the
Europeans have Europe.
D. The Aborigines were the only people in Australia for most of the time since
it was settled.
This is the end of the reading paper.
Now please submit your test paper and your answer sheet.