SỞ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO KỲ THI CHỌN ĐỘI TUYỂN

HẢI PHÒNG DỰ THI HỌC SINH GIỎI QUỐC GIA

NĂM HỌC 2019-2020
ĐỀ CHÍNH THỨC
ĐỀ THI MÔN: TIẾNG ANH
(Đề thi gồm 12 trang) Thời gian: 180 phút (không kể thời gian giao đề)
Ngày thi: 28/9/2019
ĐIỂM BÀI THI HỌ TÊN, CHỮ KÝ GIÁM KHẢO SỐ PHÁCH

Bằng số: ….......................... Giám khảo 1: …………………………………

Bằng chữ: …....................... Giám khảo 2: …………………………………

Chú ý: - Thí sinh làm bài vào đề thi.

- Thí sinh không được sử dụng bất kỳ tài liệu gì, kể cả từ điển.
- Giám thị không giải thích gì thêm.

SECTION A. LISTENING (25 pts)

HƯỚNG DẪN PHẦN NGHE HIỂU:
 Giám thị bật đĩa nghe một lần duy nhất. Đĩa nghe tự động chạy từ đầu đến hết.
 Bài nghe gồm 4 phần, mỗi phần được nghe hai lần, mỗi lần cách nhau 5 giây. Ở đầu và cuối
mỗi phần, thí sinh có 20 giây để đọc hướng dẫn và câu hỏi cũng như kiểm tra đáp án.
 Mở đầu và kết thúc từng phần có tín hiệu. Ở đầu và cuối bài thi nghe có tín hiệu nhạc.
 Mọi hướng dẫn cho thí sinh (bằng tiếng Anh) đã có trong đề bài nghe.

Part 1: You will hear a conversation and answer the questions. Write NO MORE THAN THREE
WORDS taken from the recording for each answer. (5 pts)

1. What is the speaker’s current field of study?

Cognitive psychology......................................................................................................
2. What was the focus of studies most compatible with her research?
Practical skills..................................................................................................................
3. Which term did she use to address the subjects of the experiment?
Real novices....................................................................................................................
4. What did the recorded videos help her create?
Transcriptions..................................................................................................................
5. What did she aim to augment the quality of her research with?
Subsequent data sets......................................................................................................

Part 2: You will hear a guide taking visitors around a museum. (5 pts)
Read the statements below. In boxes 1-5, write:
TRUE if the statement reflects the claims of the speaker
FALSE if the statement contradicts the claims of the speaker
NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the speaker claims or thinks about this

1. Many of the Cultural Society’s artifacts were stored in the museum.

2. The museum has attempted to appeal to adults.
3. Artworks are classified according to their period of creation.
4. The Rutland Dinosaur provides the most comprehensive sample of its kind.
5. The average pilosaur is as large as a human being.

Your answers:
1. T 2. NG 3. F 4. T 5. NG

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Part 3: You will hear part of an interview with Hal Jordan, who has recently written a book on
the history of music. Listen and choose the answer (A, B, C, or D) which fits best
according to what you hear. Write your answers in the boxes 1-5. (5 pts)
1. According to Hal, what is the disadvantage of using computer programmes when writing
music?
A. Composers may be tempted to experiment too much.
B. Composers have become too self-critical.
C. Composers have become too reliant on machines.
D. Composers may be dissatisfied with the results.
2. Hal thinks that getting a computer to select the notes in a composition is _____.
A. a labour-saving device
B. way to increase the sensitivity of the human ear
C. an idea that leads nowhere
D. an undemanding form of entertainment
3. One result of the invention of sound recording, according to Hal, was that ______.
A. people began to reassess familiar pieces of music
B. concert audiences slowly began to decline
C. the number of different music styles decreased
D. people disliked the unusual music they heard
4. According to Hal, how did the development of notation changed Western music?
A. It helped performers to develop their individual styles.
B. It allowed for greater complexity of musical form.
C. It encouraged composers to work more closely with musicians.
D. It gave rise to the need for skilled music instructors.
5. According to Hal, jazz is an example of ______.
A. pure spontaneity in modern music
B. a mixture of different approaches to music-making
C. music which is even less structured than it seems
D. the confusion which arises from improvisation

Your answers:
1. D 2. C 3. A 4. B 5. B

Part 4: You will hear a recording. In boxes 1-10, write NO MORE THAN FOUR WORDS AND/OR A
NUMBER to complete the sentences. (10 pts)
a. The video which showed a school principal (1) ______ a five-year-old student prompted a public
debate.
b. Corporal punishment was introduced by (2) ______
c. While adults inflicting pain on children may seem like a violation of their rights, it is actually (3)
______
d. It is estimated that black students receive corporal punishment approximately every (4) ______ in
school.
e. Myriad studies have shown that children who are subjected to corporal punishment are more likely
to (5) ______ and (6) ______
f. The majority of countries where the practice is unregulated are in the (7) ______
g. (8) ______ does not stop at corporal punishment.
h. Many schools, especially those in (9) ______ are in a state of instability.
i. According to the (10) ______ the occupying power should facilitate the proper working of all
institutions devoted to the care and education of children.

Your answers:
1. paddling 6. face psychological problems
2. British colonizers 7. Middle East and Africa
3. constitutional 8. Concern for students’ well-being
4. 10 seconds 9. war-torn countries
5. struggle academically 10. The 1949 Geneva Convention

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SECTION B. VOCABULARY AND GRAMMAR (30 pts)
Part 1: Choose the correct answer (A, B, C, or D) to each of the following questions. (10 pts)

1. He’s so lazy! We all have to work harder because he’s ______ his duties.
A. evading B. shirking C. ducking D. dodging
2. When threatened, the opossum often ______ death.
A. avoids B. feigns C. confronts D. withstands
3. I’ll be with you in a ______.
A. stroke B. beat C. tick D. chime
4. The teacher patted me on my head. I can’t stand people who treat me so ______.
A. patronizingly B. maternally C. pompously D. correctly
5. He was highly knowledgeable on the area. Many would say he was something of a ______.
A. veteran B. novice C. tenderfoot D. oldtimer
6. When the banker stole funds from the vault, he made a huge ______.
A. hindrance B. oversight C. negligence D. transgression
7. It doesn't make sense to let things that happened in the past drive a ______ between us now.
A. ledge B. plank C. beam D. wedge
8. As a student, he took an evening job to keep the ______ from the door..
A. rat B. wolf C. dog D. horse
9. The lecturer temporarily ______ from her subject to deal with a related theory.
A. dissected B. digested C. digressed D. diffused
10. The government seems confident that it will ride out the ______.
1. A. storm B. waves C. crisis D. wind
11. The manager ______ the team with a passionate pep talk.
A. fired up B. started up C. piqued up D. grazed up
12. My brother dabbled ______ trading antiques.
A. with B. into C. in D. at
13. A child appeared out of nowhere and I had to ______ the brakes.
A. jot down B. jostle on C. jack down D. jam on
14. He stowed ______ on a ship bound to Paris.
A. about B. over C. off D. away
15. Most women are forced to do a ______ act between work and family.
A. mediating B. balancing C. steadying D. leveling
16. ______ to interfere in your affairs but I would just like to give you some advice.
A. Far be it from me B. Far from it me
C. Far and wide for me D. It is far from clear
17. As he was rendered unconscious by the sudden attack. he had no clue about his ______.
A. adversary B. antagonist C. assailant D. ally
18. ______ by the policeman, his face went pale with fear.
A. His hands tied B. For being tied C. Having been tied D. To be tied
19. We hire this car ______.
A. by hours B. by the hour C. by an hour D. for hours
20. You must be careful not ______ anything insulting.
A. saying B. to have said C. to say D. to be saying

Your answers:
1. B 2. B 3. C 4. A 5. A 6. D 7. D 8. B 9. B 10. A
11. A 12. C 13. D 14. D 15. B 16. A 17. C 18. A 19. B 20. C

Part 2: Supply the correct form of the words in brackets to complete each of the following
sentences. (5 pts)

1. We (CENTRE) our operations last year and opened several regional offices.
2. He possesses a (TRANSCEND) ability to inspire people from all walks of life.
3. He had the (MAGNANIMOUS) to forgive her for lying about him.
4. As an actress she had been trained to (SIMULATE), so she had no trouble hiding her true feelings
offstage as well.
5. The (IDEA) pacifists firmly believed in the power of rational argument and mutual understanding in
the face of tyranny. .

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6. To save his family from famine, Tom set out on his quest for (IRRIGATE) land.
7. He grew to dislike the new comer, as her behavior was completely (FATHOM) to him.
8. The actor gave a (LACK) performance.
9. Our teacher is particularly (CAPTIVE) as a speaker, engaging us in his lectures.
10. The glass of wine I drank couldn’t (TOXIC) me; look, I’m completely sober!

Your answers:
1. decentralized 2. transcendental 3. magnanimity 4. dissimulate 5. idealist(ic)
6. irrigable 7. unfathomable 8. lackluster 9. captivating 10. intoxicate

Part 3: The following text contains 10 words that need correction. Identify these words and
write the corrections in the corresponding numbered boxes (1-10). There is an example
at the beginning (0). (10 pts)

Line 1 Insect’s lives are very short and they have many enemies, but they must survive long
Line 2 enough to breed and perpetuate their kind. The more insect-like they look, the better
Line 3 their chance of survival. To look “inedible” by imitating plants is a way frequently used
Line 4 by insects to survive. Mammals rarely imitate plants, but many fish and invertebrates
Line 5 do.
Line 6 The stick caterpillar is well named. It is hardly indistinguishable from a brown or green
Line 7 twig. This caterpillar is quite common and can be found almost anywhere in North
Line 8 America. It is also called “measuring worm” or “inchworm.” It walks by arching its body,
Line 9 then stretching out and grasping the branch with its front feet then loop its body again to
Line 10 bring the hind feet forward. When danger threatens, the stick caterpillar stretches its
Line 11 body away from the branch at an angle and remains rigid and still, as a twig, until the
Line 12 danger had passed.
Line 13 Walking sticks, or stick insects, do not have to assume a rigid, twig-like pose to find
Line 14 protection, as they look like inedible twig in any position. There are many kinds of
Line 15 walking sticks, ranging in size from the little inches of the North American variety to
Line 16 some tropical species that may be over a foot long. When at rest their front legs are
Line 17 stretched out, heightening their camouflage. Some of the tropical species adorned with
Line 18 spines or ridges, imitating the thorny bushes or trees in which they live.
Line 19 Leaves also seem to be a favorite object for insects to imitate. Many butterflies can
Line 20 suddenly disappear off view by folding their wings and sitting quietly among the plants
Line 21 that they resemble.

Your answers:
No. Lines Mistakes Corrections
1. 1 Insect’s Insects’
2. 2 more less
3. 6 indistinguishable distinguishable
4. 9 loop looping
5. 11 as like
6. 12 had has
7. 14 twig twigs
8. 15 little few
9. 18 adorned are adorned
10. 20 off from

Part 4: Read the passage and decide which answer (A, B, C, or D) best fits each gap. (5 pts)

Page 4 of 12
 GIRLS AND TECHNOLOGY
If you want your daughter to succeed, buy her a toy construction set. That is the advice from Britain's
(1) ______ female engineers and scientists. Marie-Noelle Barton, who heads an Engineering Council
campaign to encourage girls into science and engineering, maintains that some of Britain's most
successful women have had their careers (2) ______ by the toys they played with as children. Even
girls who end (3) ______ nowhere near a microchip or microscope could benefit from a better (4)
______ of science and technology.
“It's a (5) ______ of giving them experience and confidence with technology so that when they are (6)
______ with a situation requiring some technical know-how, they feel they can handle it and don't just
(7) ______ defeat immediately,” says Mrs Barton. “I believe that lots of girls feel unsure of themselves
when it comes to technology and therefore they might be losing out on jobs because they are
reluctant even to apply for them.”
Research recently carried out suggests that scientific and constructional toys should be (8) ______ to
girls from an early age otherwise the result is “socialization” into stereotypically female (9) ______,
which may explain why relatively few girls study science and engineering at university in Britain. Only
14% of those who have gone for engineering (10) ______ at university this year are women, although
this figure does represent an improvement on the 7% recorded some years ago.

1. A. foremost B. uppermost C. predominant D. surpassing

2. A. styled B. shaped C. built D. modelled
3. A. in B. by C. on D. up
4. A. hold B. grasp C. insight D. realisation
5. A. matter B. situation C. state D. cause
6. A. approached B. encountered C. presented D. offered
7. A. admit B. allow C. receive D. permit
8. A. accessible B. feasible C. reachable D. obtainable
9. A. characters B. parts C. states D. roles
10. A. options B. alternative C. selections D. preferences

Your answers:
1. A 2. B 3. D 4. B 5. A 6. C 7. A 8. A 9. D 10. A

SECTION C. READING (25 pts)

Part 1: Read the text below and think of a word which best fits each gap. (5 pts)

A new television program in America – Blind Hate – plans to show couples splitting up! The program í
already advertising in the papers for (1) ______ “contestants”. The makers of the program have come
up with a plan to tempt one partner into being unfaithful to the other – with them being chatted up by
an attractive “stranger” – so that the second partner then has a good (2) ______ for being able to get
rid of the first one! All of this will take place under the observation of a secret camera, (3) ______ both
the partners subsequently being invited into a television studio where the film will be shown to a
studio audience. Only one partner will know what the show is really (4) ______ about, with the
unfaithful one suddenly (5) ______ confronted with their own infidelity. The show boasts that it will
have special counsellors on (6) ______ to help deal with the split and its psychological impact.
However, it has already (7) ______ in for severe criticism from religious and other bodies who claim
that it is potentially very dangerous as well as in very bad (8) ______. The Church in particular says
that it damages the value of marriage and is highly immoral. Many psychologists too have condemned
it (9) ______ some of their colleagues taking part in the spectacle. Whether the show actually gets
(10) ______ go ahead remains to be seen, but its makers are optimistic.

Your answers:
1. potential 2. excuse 3. with 4. all 5. being
6. call 7. come 8. taste 9. despite 10. the

Part 2: Read the following passage and do the tasks that follow. (10 pts)

HOW MUCH HIGHER? HOW MUCH FASTER?

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 Limits to human sporting performance are not yet in sight
Since the early years of the twentieth century, when the International Athletic Federation
began keeping records, there has been a steady improvement in how fast athletes run, how high they
jump and how far they are bale to hurl massive objects, themselves included, through space. For the
so-called power events –that require a relatively brief, explosive release of energy, like the 100-metre
sprint and the long jump-times and distances have improved ten to twenty percent. In the endurance
events the results have been more dramatic. At the 1908 Olympics, John Hayes of the U.S. team ran
to marathon in a time of 2:55:18. In 1999, Morocco’s Khalid Khannouchi set a new world record of
2:05:42, almost thirty percent faster.
No one theory can explain improvements in performance, but the most important factor has
been genetics. ‘The athlete must choose his parents carefully,’ says Jesus Dapena, a sports scientist
at Indiana University, invoking an oftcited adage. Over the past century, the composition of the human
gene pool has not changed appreciably, but with increasing global participation in athletics-and
greater rewards to tempt athletes-it is more likely that individuals possessing the unique complement
of genes for athletic performance can be identified early. ‘Was there someone like [sprinter] Michael
Johnson in the 1920s?’ Dapena asks. ‘I’m sure there was, but his talent was probably never realized.’
Identifying genetically talented individuals is only the first step. Michael Yessis, an emeritus
professor of Sports Science at California State University at Fullerton, maintains that ‘genetics only
determines about one third of what an athlete can do. But with the right training we can go much
further with that one third than we’ve been going.’ Yesis believes that U.S. runners, despite their
impressive achievements, are ‘running on their genetics’. By applying more scientific methods,
‘they’re going to go much faster’. These methods include strength training that duplicates what they
are doing in their running events as well as plyometrics, a technique pioneered in the former Soviet
Union.
Whereas most exercises are designed to build up strength or endurance, plyometrics focuses
on increasing power-the rate at which an athlete can expend energy. When a sprinter runs, Yesis
explains, her foot stays in contact with the ground for just under a tenth of a second, half of which is
devoted to landing and the other half to pushing off. Plyometric exercises help athletes make the best
use of this brief interval.
Nutrition is another area that sports trainers have failed to address adequately. ‘Many athletes
are not getting the best nutrition, even through supplements,’ Yessis insists. Each activity has its own
nutritional needs. Few coaches, for instance, understand how deficiencies in trace minerals can lead
to injuries.
Focused training will also play a role in enabling records to be broken. ‘If we applied the
Russian training model to some of the outstanding runners we have in this country,’ Yessis asserts,
‘they would be breaking records left and right.’ He will not predict by how much, however: ‘Exactly
what the limits are it’s hard to say, but there will be increases even if only by hundredths of a second,
as long as our training continues to improve.’
One of the most important new methodologies is biomechanics, the study of the body in
motion. A biomechanic films an athlete in action and then digitizes her performance, recording the
motion of every joint and limb in three dimensions. By applying Newton’s law to these motions, ‘we
can say that this athlete’s run is not fast enough; that this one is not using his arms strongly enough
during take-off,’ says Dapena, who uses these methods to help high jumpers. To date, however,
biomechanics has made only a small difference to athletic performance.
Revolutionary ideas still come from the athletes themselves. For example, during the 1968
Olympics in Mexico City, a relatively unknown high jumper named Dick Fosbury won the gold by
going over the bar backwards, in complete contradiction of all the received high-jumping wisdom, a
move instantly dubbed the Fosbury flop. Fosbury himself did not know what he was doing. That
understanding took the later analysis of biomechanics specialists. who put their minds to
comprehending something that was too complex and unorthodox ever to have been invented through
their own mathematical simulations. Fosbury also required another element that lies behind many
improvements in athletic performance: an innovation in athletic equipment. In Fosbury’s case, it was
the cushions that jumpers land on. Traditionally, high jumpers would land in pits filled with sawdust.
But by Fosbury’s time, sawdust pits had been replaced by soft foam cushions, ideal for flopping.
In the end, most people who examine human performance are humbled by the
resourcefulness of athletes and the powers of the human body. ‘Once you study athletics, you learn
that it’s a vexingly complex issue,’ says John S.Raglin, a sports psychologist at Indiana University.
‘Core performance is not a simple or mundane thing of higher, faster, longer. So many variables enter
into the equation, and our understanding in many cases is fundamental. We’re got a long way to go.’
For the foreseeable future, records will be made to be broken.

Page 6 of 12
 Do the following statements reflect the claims of the writer in the reading passage?
In boxes 1-6, write:
YES if the statement reflects the claims of the writer
NO if the statement contradicts the claims of the writer
NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this

1. Modern official athletic records date from about 1900.

2. There was little improvement in athletic performance before the twentieth century.
3. Performance has improved most greatly in events requiring an intensive burst of energy.
4. Improvements in athletic performance can be fully explained by genetics.
5. The parents of top athletes have often been successful athletes themselves.
6. The growing international importance of athletics means that gifted athletes can be recognised at
a younger age.

Your answers:
1. Y 2. NG 3. N 4. N 5. NG 6. Y

Complete the sentences below with words taken from Reading Passage. Use ONE
WORD for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 7-10 on your answer sheet.

7. According to Professor Yessis, American runners are relying for their current success on ______.
8. Yessis describes a training approach from the former Soviet Union that aims to develop an
athlete’s ______.
9. Yessis links an inadequate diet to ______.
10. Yessis claims that the key to setting new records is better ______.

Your answers:
7. genetics 8. power 9. injuries 10. training

Part 3: You are going to read a newspaper article. For questions 1-5, choose the answer (A, B, C or
D) which you think fits best according to the text. (5 pts)

FAKE ART MEETS REAL MONEY

Christophe Petyt has turned the production of exact copies of masterpieces by the world's most
famous painters into big business.
Christophe Petyt is sitting in a Paris café, listing the adornments of his private art collection:
several Van Goghs, and a comprehensive selection of the better Impressionists. “I can,” he says
quietly, “really get to know any painting I like, and so can you.” Half an hour later I am sitting in his
office with Degas' “The Jockeys” on my lap. If fine art looks good in a gallery, believe me, it feels even
better in your hands. Petyt is the world's leading dealer in fake masterpieces, a man whose activities
provoke both admiration and exasperation in the higher levels of the art world. Name the painting and
for as little as £1,000 he will deliver you a copy so well executed that even the original artist might
have been taken in.
Petyt's company employs over eighty painters, each steeped in the style of a particular artist
or school. “We choose them very carefully,” he says. “They're usually people with very good
technique but not much creativity, who are unlikely to make it as artists in their own right. But they
love the great works and have real insight into what's gone into them.” Every work is individually
commissioned, using new canvases and traditional oil paints, before being artificially aged by a
variety of simple but ingenious techniques.
The notional value of the original is not the determining factor, however, when it comes to
setting the retail value of Petyt's paintings. This is actually linked to the amount of effort and expertise
that has gone into producing the copy. An obscure miniature may therefore cost much more than a
bigger, better-known painting by a grand master. The Degas I'm holding looks as though it came off
the artist's easel yesterday. Before being sold it has to be aged, and this, so to speak, is the real “art”
of the copy. A few minutes in a hot oven can put years on a canvas, black tea apparently stains it
beautifully and new frames can be buried underground, then sprayed with acid. The view when Petyt
started out was that very little of this could be legal. He was pursued through the French courts by
museums and by descendants of the artists, with several major French art dealers cheering from the
sidelines. This concern was perhaps understandable in a country that has been rocked by numerous

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art fraud scandals. The establishment was suspicious of us,' huffs Petyt, “but for the wrong reasons, I
think. Some people want to keep all the best art for themselves.” He won the case and as the law now
stands, the works and signatures of any artist who has been dead for seventy years can be freely
copied. The main proviso is that the copy cannot be passed off to dealers as the real thing. To
prevent this, every new painting is indelibly marked on the back of the canvas, and as an additional
precaution a tiny hidden piece of gold leaf is worked into the paint.
Until he started the business ten years ago, Petyt, a former business-school student, barely
knew one artist from another. Then one particular painting by Van Gogh caught his eye. At $10
million, it was well beyond his reach so he came up with the Idea of getting an art-student friend to
paint him a copy. In an old frame it looked absolutely wonderful, and Petyt began to wonder what
market there might be for it. He picked up a coffee-table book of well-known paintings, earmarked a
random selection of works and got his friend to knock them off. “Within a few months I had about
twenty good copies,” he says, “so I organised an exhibition. In two weeks we'd sold the lot, and got
commissions for sixty more.” It became clear that a huge and lucrative market existed for faux art.
Petyt's paintings are exhibited away from the traditional art centres - in places with lavish
houses in need of equally impressive works of art. Although their owners include rock stars, fashion
designers and top businesspeople, they either cannot afford or more likely simply cannot obtain great
works of art. Petyt is understandably reluctant to name any of his clients, but says that sometimes
even the owner of the original will occasionally commission a copy. “The best paintings are so
valuable,” he explains, “that it's risky to have them at home and the costs of security and insurance
are huge. So some collectors keep the original in a bank vault and hang our copy.”
Is it art? Petyt draws a parallel: “Take music, for example. Does Celine Dion compose her own
tunes - write her own lyrics? She's interpreting someone else's work, but she's still an artist. Classical
musicians often try to produce a sound as close as possible to what they think the composer
intended. Nobody's suggesting they're anything but artists. With us, maybe, it's the same.”

1. In the first paragraph, the writer indicates that he shares ______.

A. Petyt's enjoyment of the work of a range of painters
B. the art world's suspicious attitude towards Petyt's activities
C. the general inability to distinguish copies from real paintings
D. Petyt's desire to appreciate great works of art at close quarters
2. The price of one of Petyt's paintings tends to depend on______.
A. the status of the original artist
B. the time and skill needed to create it
C. the degree to which it has to be artificially aged
D. the extent to which the copy truly replicates the original
3. How does Petyt feel about the attempts to prove that his activities were illegal?
A. He suspects that they were not driven by public-spirited motives.
B. He accepts that they were useful in helping to establish his integrity.
C. He regrets that they gained the support of other art dealers in France.
D. He respects the right of the real artists' families to protect their interests.
4. As a result of the court case he won, Petyt ______.
A. no longer reproduces fake signatures on paintings he sells
B. has been able to copy the work of more contemporary artists
C. is obliged to make sure his products can be identified as copies
D. has agreed not to market his products through certain channels
5. What is implied about the majority of Petyt's customers?
A. They have little genuine interest in contemporary art.
B. They regard works of art as a lifestyle accessory.
C. They may buy the paintings purely as a form of financial investment.
D. They are wealthy enough to buy the original works of art if they wanted.

Your answers:
1. D 2. B 3. A 4. C 5. B

Part 4: You are going to read an article. Seven paragraphs have been removed from the
extract. Choose from paragraph A-H the one which fits each gap (1-7). There is one
extra paragraph which you do not need to use. (7 pts)

KIND OF BLUE
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 As two books celebrate Miles Davis's Kind of Blue, Martin Gaylord salutes a towering
achievement.
What is the greatest jazz album ever made? Perhaps it's an impossible question, but there is a strong
candidate in Kind of Blue, recorded by the Miles Davis Sextet in the spring of 1959. It is the one jazz
album owned by many people who don't really like jazz at all.
1. F
And for many who do love jazz, this is the one record that they would choose to take with them to a
desert island. If he had to select one record to explain what jazz is, producer and arranger Quincy
Jones has said, this would be it (he himself plays it every day — 'It's my orange juice').
2. C
What is so special about Kind of Blue? First, it was made by a magnificent band. Apart from Davis
himself, Kind of Blue features John Coltrane on tenor saxophone, Cannonball Adderley on alto, and
Bill Evans on piano — all among the finest performers of that era, and at the height of their powers.
And, unlike many all-star recordings, the players were at ease in each other's musical company, as
this was a working group (or almost).
3. H
Everybody was on the most inspired form. That does not happen every day, and is particularly
unlikely to happen in the tense and clinical atmosphere of the recording studio. Other jazz
performers, for example the saxophonist Sonny Rollins and the trumpeter Roy Eldridge, have spoken
of rare days on which some external force seems to take over their instrument, and they can do no
wrong.
4. G
Evans wrote about that spur-of-the-moment freshness in his original notes for the album. Each of the
five pieces on the album, he claimed, was recorded in a single take, and the musicians had never
seen the music before, as Miles was still working on it hours before the recording sessions Davis was
credited with all the compositions.
5. D
The key to Kind of Blue lies in the enigmatic personality of Davis, who died in 1991. He was an
irascible, contrary, foul-mouthed, aggressive man who, it seems, sheltered within an extremely
sensitive soul. 'Miles talks rough,' claimed trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, but his music reveals his true
character ... Miles is shy. He is super-shy.' As a young man, playing with Charlie Parker, Davis was
so paralysed with terror that he sometimes had to be pushed on stage. At that time he seriously
considered forsaking music for dentistry.
6. A
'I think; he said in 1958, that a movement in jazz is beginning, away from a conventional string of
chords — a return to an emphasis on melodic rather than harmonic variations. There will be fewer
chords, but infinite possibilities as to what to do with them.' 'Classical composers,' he went on, 'some
of them have been working that way for years.' Indeed, Davis's feeling for European music — Ravel,
Khachaturian, Rachmaninov — colours Kind of Blue. He disliked most attempts to blend classical and
jazz — so-called 'third stream music'.
7. E
It is a completely integrated, freely improvised album of unhackneyed, moving music. Davis never
sounded better — and in his heart, he knew it.

A. Over the years he developed a tough carapace. But in a music characterised by extroversion
and ostentatious virtuosity, he developed a style that became ever more muted, subtle, melodic and
melancholy.
B. Firstly, most of Davis's albums were largely recorded in one take per tune. He seems to have
believed that first thoughts were the freshest (the alternative, adopted by Bill Evans and Coltrane on
their own recordings, is to do takes by the dozen in a search for perfection). And the other point about
Kind of Blue is its musical novelty. As revered pianist Chick Corea has put it, 'It's one thing to play a

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tune or a programme of music, but it's another to practically create a new language of music, which is
what Kind of Blue did.'
C. Now comes another sign of renown. How many jazz recordings are the subject of even one
book? This spring, not one but two are being published on the subject of Kind of Blue. There is Kind
of Blue: The Making of a Jazz Masterpiece by Ashley Kahn and, published in the US, The Making of
Kind of Blue: Miles Davis and his Masterpiece.
D. On closer examination, these celebrated facts, which make Kind of Blue seem almost
supernatural, are only partially true. Two tracks, So What and All Blues, had been played previously
by the band, on the road, which Evans, not having been with them, probably didn't realise. And Evans
himself was largely responsible for the two mesmerisingly beautiful slow pieces, Blue in Green and
Flamenco Sketches — a fact that he modestly suppressed at the time, and then seems to have been
quietly resentful about.
E. But he did it himself on Sketches of Spain, and he loved the playing of Bill Evans, which
uniquely combined the feeling of classical piano and the freshness of jazz. The partnership of Davis
and Evans is at the heart of Kind of Blue, and gives it a wonderful unity of mood — romantic, delicate,
hushed on the slow pieces, more exuberant elsewhere.
F. The contemporary guitarist John Scofield remembers knocking on strangers' doors when he
was a student in the 1970s, and asking if he could borrow their copy. The point was, he knew they
would have one.
G. On Kind of Blue, all the principals seem to feel like that. Davis and Evans, I would say, never
played better. The result is something close to the philosopher's stone of jazz: formal perfection
attained with perfect spontaneity.
H. In fact, Evans had actually resigned the previous November — Kind of Blue was made on
March 2, and April 22, 1959 — and was invited back for the recording (his replacement, Wynton Kelly,
appears on one track).

SECTION D. WRITING (20 pts)

Part 1: Finish each sentence in such a way that it means exactly the same as the sentence
printed before it. Use the word given with its form unchanged. (5 pts)
1. Her being fired disappointed her tremendously. KICK
She was dismissed from her job, which was a kick in the teeth.
2. Retired musicians should play something occasionally to retain their skills. KEEP
Retired musicians should play something occasionally to keep their hands in.
3. He doesn’t really support capital punishment; he’s just trying to stimulate discussion. ADOCATE
He doesn’t really support capital punishment; he’s just playing devil’s advocate.
4. Although Anna was nervous in the beginning, she gave a wonderful performance. OCCASION
Despite her initial nervousness, Anna rose to the occasion.
5. Gas prices are astronomical, making it a difficult winter for poor families. CHARTS
Gas prices are off the charts, making it a difficult winter for poor families.
6. She is unorthodox, but she is also something of a genius. TOUCHED
She is unorthodox, but she is also touched with genius.
7. Instead of evading the problem, we should initiate fundamental change. PAPER
Rather than trying to paper over the cracks, we should initiate fundamental change.
8. His victory is, without any doubt, an incredible feat. . QUESTION
His victory is, beyond question, one for the books.
9. It hurt her deeply to hear him criticizing her family publicly. QUICK
It cut her to the quick to hear his public criticism of her family.
10. The police has come very close to identifying the criminal. SCENT
The police are on the scent of the criminal.

Part 2: Table description (5 pts)

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 Write a summary of the information. Select and report the main features, and make comparisons
where relevant. Write at least 150 words.

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Part 3: Essay writing (10 pts)

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 Write about the following topic from 250-300 words.
Do you agree or disagree with the following statement?
Education should be free for all.
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- THE END -

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