Đề luyện Đội tuyển dự thi học sinh giỏi Quốc gia THPT (có đáp án) - Assorted Test 24

ASSORTED TEST 024
SECTION ONE: LISTENING (50 POINTS)
Part 1: For question 1-5, listen to the recording and decide whether the following statements are
true (T) or false (F). Write your answers in the corresponding boxes provided. (10 points)
1. Although diversity is being dealt with, it is still an important concern for employers.
2. A growing number of people are suing employers because they feel discriminated against because of their age.
3. Insurance to cover discrimination claims is an enormous cost for companies.
4. Security firms sometimes discriminate against people because of their age.
5. Employers cannot discriminate against job applicants who have been convicted of any crime. Your answers: 1. T 2. T 3. F 4. F 5. T
Part 2: For question 6-10, you will hear a student called Mara Barnes giving a presentation about
the language of the Piraha people who live in the Amazon basin. Answer the following questions
with NO MORE THAN FIVE WORDS. Write your answers in the space provided. (10 points)
6.According to Mara, why isn’t the language of the Piraha under imminent threat?
…because its speakers are monolingual
7. According to Professor Everrett, what idea does the Piraha language have no words for?
… conveying basic ideas like colour
8. What part of speech of the Piraha language is thought to have originated in another local language? a set of personal pronouns
9. According to Mara, what does the Piraha language sound like?
………………………………………………………………………………………………
10. What expression does Mara use to describe her attitude towards Professor Everett’s theory of language? a compel ing argument
Part 3: For questions 11–15, you will hear two sports commentators called on the subject of gyms.
Choose the answer (A, B, C or D) which fits best according to what you hear. Write your answers in
the corresponding boxes provided. (10 points)
11. What do Rob and Heidi think about government proposals regarding the problem of obesity?
A. They over-emphasise the role of dietary factors.
B.They represent a radical solution that must be worth trying.
C.They over-estimate the extent to which the fitness industry can help.
D.They are attempting to accommodate too many varied perspectives.
12. Heidi agrees with the suggestion that regular gym attendance Page 1 of 14
A. can discourage people from keeping fit in other ways.
B. may lead to obsessive behaviour in some cases.
C. generally forms the basis of a healthy lifestyle.
D. could be harder to keep up in rural areas.
13. When asked about motivation, Rob suggests that many gym clients lose interest
A. if they don’t get good value for money.
B. if they don’t find it enjoyable on a social level.
C. if they don’t make it part of a wider fitness regime.
D. if they don’t perceive real gains in personal fitness.
14. What does Heidi suggest about membership levels in gyms?
A. The best ones restrict access at peak times.
B. Most recruit more people than they can cope with.
C. It is impossible to predict demand with any accuracy.
D. Over-recruitment can be counter-productive in the long run.
15. Rob thinks the key to successful gym marketing lies in
A. remaining true to the core values of fitness and strength.
B. appealing to a wide cross-section of the population.
C. joining forces with providers of related activities.
D. specialising in the needs of certain key groups. Your answers: 11. D 12. C 13. C 14.D 15B.
Part 4: For questions 16 – 25, listen to a piece of news about the US politics and complete the
following summary and complete the summary using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS OR
NUMBER for each gap. Write your answers in the space provided. (20 points)
Elijah Cummings, a member of the Democratic Party in the US, wants to make clear why Jared Kushner
and Michael Flynn have (1) ……security clearance……………….. even though they are still in touch
with Russian officials. In the US, as the law stands, if someone is being investigated allegations about
security clearance, they will face an (2) ………interim……………….. suspension. In Cummings’ letter,
he accused J. Kushner of not revealing his communications with a number of (3) ………………
contacts………............... on his security clearance form while this, according to Kushner’s attorney, was
done (4) ………………………… .The attorney claimed that Kushner was able to access classified
information despite his ongoing investigation because he was responsible for reaching out to (5)
………………FOREIGN OFFICIALS…………….. .In this letter, Cummings also emphasized that the
White House seemed to ignore (6) ………credible allegations……………………. of obvious security
concern related to General Flynn from the Acting Attorney General. Cummings alleged that M. Flynn
told a lie to the vice president about his contacts with Sergey Kizlyar – a (7) ……Russian Page 2 of 14
ambassador………………………… .Despite Cummings’ convincing evidence and reasonable demand,
no (8) ……subpoena…………… was issued because he is in the (9) …minority party…………………
.If the Republican chairman, Trey Gowdy, doesn’t help Cummings, the White House may (10) ………………… .
SECTION TWO: LEXICO – GRAMMAR (30 POINTS)
Part 1: Choose the correct answer to each of the following questions. Write your answers in the
corresponding numbered boxes provided. (10 points)
1. Demand for the product is expected to peak five years from now and then to ____. A. taper off B. fall down C. set back D. drift away
2. Alan's photo was slightly too large for the frame so he decided to ____ it. A. hack B. chop C. slice D. trim
3. Although the patient received intensive treatment, there was no ____ improvement in her condition. A. decipherable B. legible C. discernible D. intelligible
4. Lack of sleep over the last few months is finally ____ Jane. A. coming over B. getting on with C. putting on D. catching up with
5. During the evening football match the stadium was illuminated by ____. A. spotlights B. flashlights C. highlights D. floodlights
6. Members of the aristocracy don’t ____ a great deal of power nowadays. A. practice B. wield C. sway D. manage
7. I heard ____ that Jack has been dropped from the basketball team. A. in the woods B. on the grapevine C. under your feet D. on the olive branch
8. The weekend is over, so tomorrow morning, it’s back to the ____. A. grind B. labor C. drudgery D. toil
9. Unsalted butter is best for this recipe, but ____, margarine will do. A. except that B. for all of which C. failing that D. given that
10. Those men were appointed by the directors and are ____ only to them. A. dependable B. privileged C. controlled D. accountable Your answers: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
Part 2: Write the correct form of each bracketed word in the numbered space below. (10 points)
The (1. come) of (2. deceive) and the proof of (3. gullible), fakes are among the least loved and most
elusive products of the market in relics of the past. Makers and buyers are generally united in a (4.
conspire) of silence, the one to escape the penalties of wrong doing, the other to preserve his own
reputation, and that of the market as a whole. Occasionally fakes are caught in a brief blaze of (5.
famous), but even then they generally disappear, hastily disposed of by the collector, dealer or curator Page 3 of 14
caught in possession. For this reason it tends to be the museums and galleries that do not practise disposal
which have the best collections of fakes.
The general (6. visible) of fakes is regrettable, for, if (7. moral) and embarrassing, fakes are also
entertaining and (8. inform). As the products of endlessly varied (9.genuine), they reach the heights of
imagination and technical (10. virtuoso). Your answers: 1. coming 2. deception 3. gullibility 4. conspiracy 5. fame 6. vision 7. moralizing 8. informative 9. genuinity 10. virtuosity
SECTION THREE: READING (60 POINTS)
Part 1: Read the text and choose the correct answer A, B, C or D to fill in each blank. Write your
answers in the box below. (10 points)
Ask anyone over forty to make a comparison between the past and the present and nine out of ten people
will tell you that things have been getting (1) ____ worse for as long as they can remember. Take the
weather for example, which has been behaving rather strangely lately. Everyone remembers that in their
childhood the summers were (2) ____ hotter, and that winter always included (3) ____ falls of snow just
when the school holidays had started. Of course, the food in those days was far superior too, as nothing
was imported and everything was fresh. Unemployment was (4) ____, the pound really was worth
something, and you could buy a (5) ____ house even if your means were limited. And above all, people
were (6) ____ better in those days, far more friendly, not inclined to crime or violence, and spent their
free time making model boats and tending their stamp collections rather than gazing at the television
screen for hours on end. As we know that this picture of the past (7) ____ cannot be true, and there are
plenty of statistics dealing with health and prosperity which prove that it is not true, why is it that we all
have a (8) ____ to idealize the past? Is it simply nostalgia? Or is it rather that we need to believe in an
image of the world which is (9) ____ the opposite of what we see around us? Whichever it is, at least it
leaves us with a nagging feeling that the present could be better, and perhaps (10) ____ us to be a little
more critical about the way we live. 1. A. so B. especially C. virtually D. steadily 2. A. at least B. considerably C. not only D. rarely 3. A. abundant B. lavish C. bulky D. prolific 4. A. petty B. miniature C. negligible D. trivial 5. A. middling B. sizeable C. medium D. voluminous 6. A. whatsoever B. notwithstanding C. hitherto D. somehow 7. A. simply B. hardly C. even D. specifically 8. A. habit B. custom C. tendency D. practice 9. A. widely B. quite C. utterly D. rather Page 4 of 14 10. A. reassures B. supports C. makes D. encourages Your answers: 1. D 2. B 3. A 4. C 5. B 6. D 7. A 8. C 9. B 10. D
Part 2: Fill in each numbered blank with a suitable word to complete the following text. Write your
answers in the box below. (15 points)
Pompeii had been a Roman commercial centre situated some ten kilometres from Mount Vesuvius. It was
a beautiful and prosperous town. None of its (1) ____ were worried about the volcano because it was
considered to be extinct. There were no records of an (2) ____ in existence. Meanwhile, beautiful
grapevines grew up on the sides of the mountain in abundance. There were warnings of impending
volcanic activity, but the inhabitants did not seem to (3) ____ heed of them. Previously, there had been a
violent local earthquake with minor earthquakes following for the next several years. We know that earth
tremors are predictive of (4) ____ volcanic eruption. The Romans in Pompeii, however, did not seem to
sense the danger that was approaching them. Probably the first written eye witness account in history of a
(5) ____ eruption was noted in a letter. It described how a great cloud rose from Mount Vesuvius at about
noon on the 24th of August 79 A.D. Pompeii was covered by falling ash. We know (6) ____ what people
were doing when they were caught by this disaster. This is because they were mummified by the hot lava
that flowed down the mountainside and (7) ____ the surrounding land. Most of the people were running
away, trying to escape, when the lava caught them, but others were caught as they went about their (8)
____ work. A dog was mummified in the lava. It was curled up asleep on that day so long ago.
In one short afternoon, the (9) ____ town of Pompeii was reduced to ruins. The (10) ____ would not
have been so enormous if the Romans of the district had only known how to interpret the signs. Your answers: 1. residents 2. eruption 3. take 4. a 5. volcanic 6. little 7. all 8. daily 9. whole 10. damage
Part 3: Read the following passages and choose the best answer for each for the questions below. (10 points) DESERT PLANTS
On the surface, a desert appears to be one of the harshest environments on Earth yet a remarkable
variety or plants have adapted to thrive in this dry climate. Despite their origins in different locations
around the globe, desert plants have developed similar strategies for surviving in arid environments.
Some plants have adapted in such a way that it is hard to tell them apart, even though they belong to very
different biological families. One evolution of certain survival strategies, which are shared across
geographic and biological boundaries.
In general, the survival strategies of desert plants can be divided into two kinds: adaptation for quick
use of ephemeral resources ( “maximum variance behavior”) and adaptation for the best use of poor but
more permanent resources (“minimum variance behavior”). The former strategy involves adaptation to Page 5 of 14
environmental changes, such as seasonal availability of water. This is observed in desert annuals and
perennials alike. Such plants tend to grow rapidly and produce many seeds under the right conditions.
The patter strategy involves adaptation to the worst possible conditions, which can be seen in succulents,
true xerophytes, and grasses. These plants usually grow slowly, use water efficiently, and exhibit passive cooling.
Water scarcity and heat are the key factors limiting the survival of desert plants. Plants that have
adapted to the worst possible conditions have evolved ways for quickly acquiring and storing water to
ensure their survival. Depending on strategies and physical adaptations, they can be divided into either
succulents or drought-resistant plants. for the most part, succulents have evolved extensive, shallow root
systems to quickly absorb water during brief periods of heavy rainfall. Water is then stored in the fleshy
tissue of their thick trunks or lobes, as well as in the roots. The cactus is a good example of a succulent.
To retain water, succulents have waxy coatings on their skin and a modified system of respiration. The
stomata (surface pores), through which the plant takes in carbon dioxide and releases oxygen, open only
at night when temperatures are cooler and less water from the plant will evaporate. Unlike most other
plants, a succulent stores all or most of its chlorophyll, the chemical essential to photosynthesis, in its
stem, skin, or other outer tissues, rather than concentrating it in the leaves. Doing this places it in a strong,
well-watered part of the plant, rather than in an appendage susceptible to drying out and dropping off.
Drought-resistant plants, or xerophytes, come in many form including true xerophytes, deciduous
plants, and grasses. Xerophytic shrubs, such as the five species of creosote bush , are the most abundant
type of vegetation in most arid environments. They are able to withstand desiccation in severe droughts
without dying . Some have evolved small leaves with special coatings to reduce loss of water through
evaporation. Others have replaces leaves with thorns or spines. While succulent roots form shallow,
dense webs, xerophytes tend to develop deep root networks that pull water out of soil other desert
plants cannot reach. For example, the roots of the mesquite bush, said to have the deepest root systems
among desert plants, can reach depths of up to eighty feet.
Succulents and xerophytes, on one hand, have physically adapted to gather and retain water to
survive long periods of drought. Drought - avoiding plants, on the other hand, escape unfavorable
conditions by perishing. These include annuals and perennials. Because profuse seed development is
crucial to the survival of most annual species, they tend to produce far more flowers than other types of
desert plants. The desert marigold of the American southwest, for example, has adapted to seasonal
changes in rainfall by growing rapidly, bursting into a brilliant display of yellow flowers, and then
dropping a cascade of seeds before dying. In some cases, annuals complete their entire life cycle in a
matter of a few weeks or months. Their seeds may remain inactive for up to ten years while waiting for
wetter conditions. Perennials, such as the ocotillo, may go dormant during dry periods, spring to life
when it rains, and then return to dormancy in a process that may occur up to five times per year.
1. According to paragraph 1, which of the following is true of desert plants? Page 6 of 14
A. They are hard to see in the harsh desert landscape
B. They have evolved similar features, regardless of geographic origins
C. They have evolved from different families that exchanged survival strategies
D. They all look essentially the same.
2. The word ephemeral in the passage is closest in meaning to ___________. A. minimal B. yearly C. short- lived D. abundant
3. The word respiration in the passage is closest in meaning to___________. A. nutrition
B. breathing C. growing D. coloration
4. Why does the author mention the action of stomata in the passage?
A. to explain how chlorophyll works
B. To emphasize a unique adaptation of succulents
C. To illustrate that cacti have no leaves.
D. To describe the basic parts of a succulent
5. The word desiccation in the passage is closest in meaning to __________. A. destruction B. growth C. adaptation D. drying
6. The word others in the passage refers to ___________. A. grasses B. shrubs C. coatings D. leaves
7. Which of the following best expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence in the
passage? Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.
A. At the same time that xerophytes evolved their thick webs of low-lying roots, succulents formed thin
networks to reach surface water.
B. Both succulents and xerophytes form long, dense networks of roots in order to reach water within the
soil that non-developed plants could not reach.
C. Because of their long roots systems developed to reach water deep within the soil, xerophytes have
become more dominant in desert environments than succulents
D. In contrast to xerophytes, which produce long root systems to tap water deep within the soil,
succulents develop a thick web of roots just below the soil surface.
8. According to paragraph 4, thorns on xerophytes____________.
A. are similar to blades of grass.
B. can reach water very far underground
C. are what some plants have instead of leaves
D. help keep the plants from being eaten by animals
9. In what form do drought - avoiding annuals wait for wetter weather? A. stems B. flowers C. roots D. seeds
10. According to the author, all of the following are associated with plants that exhibit “minimum variance behavior” EXCEPT Page 7 of 14 A. slow growth B. modified respiration
C. rapid seed production D. deep root systems
Part 4: Read the passage and do the tasks that follow. (10 points)
Organic farming and chemical fertilizers
A. The world’s population continues to climb. And despite the rise of high-tech agriculture,800 million
people don’t get enough to eat. Clearly it’s time to rethink the food we eat and where it comes from.
Feeding 9 billion people will take more than the same old farming practices, especially if we want to do
it without felling rainforests and planting every last scrap of prairie. Finding food for all those people will
tax predicting farmers’- and researchers’-ingenuity to the limit. Yet already, precious aquifers that
provide irrigation water for some of the world’s most productive farmlands are drying up or filling with
seawater, and arable land in China is eroding to create vast dust storms that redden sunsets as far away as
North America. “Agriculture must become the solution to environmental problems in 50 years. If we
don’t have systems that make the environment better not just hold the fort-then we’re in trouble,” says
Kenneth Cassman, an agronomist at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. That view was echoed in
January by the Curry report, a government panel that surveyed the future of farming and food in Britain.
B. It’s easy to say agriculture has to do better, but what should this friendly farming of the future look
like? Concerned consumers come up short at this point, facing what appears to be an ever-widening
ideological divide. In one corner are the techno-optimists who put their faith in genetically modified
crops, improved agrochemicals and computerenhanced machinery; in the other are advocates of organic
farming, who reject artificial chemicals and embrace back-to-nature techniques such as composting. Both
sides cite plausible science to back their claims to the moral high ground, and both bring enough
passion to the debate for many people to come away thinking we’re faced with a stark between two mutually incompatible options.
C. Not so. If you take off the ideological blinkers and simply ask how the world can produce the food it
needs with the least environmental cost, a new middle way opens. The key is sustainability: whatever we
do must not destroy the capital of soil and water we need to keep on producing. Like today’s organic
farming, the intelligent farming of the future should pay much more attention to the health of its soil and
the ecosystem it’s part of. But intelligent farming should also make shrewd and locally appropriate use of
chemical fertilisers and pesticides. The most crucial ingredient in this new style of agriculture is not
chemicals but information about what’s happening in each field and how to respond. Yet ironically, this
key element may be the most neglected today.
D. Clearly, organic farming has all the warm, fuzzy sentiment on its side. An approach that eschews
synthetic chemicals surely runs no risk of poisoning land and water. And its emphasis on building up
natural ecosystems seems to be good for everyone. Perhaps these easy assumptions explain why sales of
organic food across Europe are increasing by at least 50 per cent per year. Page 8 of 14
E. Going organic sounds idyllic-but it’s naive, too. Organic agriculture has its own suite of environmental
costs, which can be worse than those of conventional farming, especially if it were to become the world
norm. But more fundamentally, the organic versuschemical debate focuses on the wrong question. The
issue isn’t what you put into a farm, but what you get out of it, both in terms of crop yields and pollutants,
and what condition the farm is in when you’re done.
F. Take chemical fertilisers, which deliver nitrogen, an essential plant nutrient, to crops along with some
phosphorus and potassium. It is a mantra of organic farming that these fertilisers are unwholesome, and
plant nutrients must come from natural sources. But in fact the main environmental damage done by
chemical fertilisers as opposed to any other kind is through greenhouse gases-carbon dioxide from the
fossil fuels used in their synthesis and nitrogen oxides released by their degradation. Excess nitrogen from
chemical fertilisers can pollute groundwater, but so can excess nitrogen from organic manures.
G. On the other hand, relying solely on chemical fertilisers to provide soil nutrients without doing other
things to build healthy soil is damaging. Organic farmers don’t use chemical fertilisers, so they are very
good at building soil fertility by working crop residues and manure into the soil, rotating with legumes
that fix atmospheric nitrogen, and other techniques.
H. This generates vital soil nutrients and also creates a soil that is richer in organic matter, so it retains
nutrients better and is hospitable to the crop’s roots and creatures such as earthworms that help maintain
soil fertility. Such soil also holds water better and therefore makes more efficient use of both rainfall and
irrigation water. And organic matter ties up C02 in the soil, helping to offset emissions from burning
fossil fuels and reduce global warming.
I. Advocates of organic farming like to point out that fields managed in this way can produce yields just
as high as fields juiced up with synthetic fertilisers. For example, Bill Liebhardt, research manager at the
Rodale Institute in Kutztown, Pennsylvania recently compiled the results of such comparisons for corn,
wheat, soybeans and tomatoes in the US and found that the organic fields averaged between 94 and 100
per cent of the yields of nearby conventional crops.
J. But this optimistic picture tells only half the story. Farmers can’t grow such crops every year if they
want to maintain or build soil nutrients without synthetic fertilisers. They need to alternate with soil-
building crops such as pasture grasses and legumes such as alfalfa. So in the long term, the yield of staple
grains such as wheat, rice and com must go down. This is the biggest cost of organic farming. Vaclav
Smil of the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Canada, estimates that if farmers worldwide gave up the
80 million tonnes of synthetic fertiliser they now use each year, total grain production would fall by at
least half. Either farmers would have to double the amount of land they cultivate- at catastrophic cost to
natural habitat-or billions of people would starve.
K. That doesn’t mean farmers couldn’t get by with less fertilizer. Technologically advanced farmers in
wealthy countries, for instance, can now monitor their yields hectare by hectares, or even more finely,
throughout a huge field. They can then target their fertilizer to the parts of the field where it will do the Page 9 of 14
most good, instead of responding to average conditions. This increases yield and decreases fertiliser use.
Eventually, farmers may - incorporate long-term weather forecasts into their planning as well, so that they
can cut back on fertiliser use when the weather is likely to make harvests poor anyway, says Ron Olson,
an agronomist with CargillFertilizer in Tampa, Florida.
L. Organic techniques certainly have their benefits, especially for poor farmers. But strict ”organic
agriculture”, which prohibits certain technologies and allows others, isn’t always better for the
environment. Take herbicides, for example. These can leach into waterways and poison both wildlife and
people. Just last month, researchers led by Tyrone Hayes at the University of California at Berkeley found
that even low concentrations of atrazine, the most commonly used weedkiller in the US, can prevent frog
tadpoles from developing properly. Questions 1 – 5
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage. In boxes, write
YES if the statement agrees with the information
NO if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this
1. Increasing population, draining irrigation, eroding farmland push agricultural industry to extremity. yes
2. There are only two options for farmers; they use chemical fertiliser or natural approach.no
3. Chemical fertilizers currently are more expensive than the natural fertilisers.not given
4. In order to keep nutrient in the soil, organic farmers need to rotate planting method.yes
5. “Organic agriculture” is the way that environment-damaging technologies are all strictly forbidden.no Questions 6-10
Complete the following summary of the paragraphs of Reading Passage, using no more than two
words from the Reading Passage for each answer. Write your answers in boxes.
Several(6)farming………………approaches need to be applied in order that global population wouldn’t
go starved. A team called (7)…curry………………repeated the viewpoint of a scholar by a survey in
British farming. More and more (8)…european farmers………………believe in (9)…
natural……………… farming these years. The argument of organic against (10)……chemical…………
seems in an inaccurate direction. Your answers: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
Part 5: Read the text, identify which section A–F each of the following is mentioned. Write ONE letter
A–F in the corresponding numbered space provided. Each letter may be used more than once. (15 points)
Book Reviews on Earth exploration
A. Complete Guide to Life in a Cold Climate by Richard Sale Page 10 of 14
This book is packed with information and deserves to be the ultimate Arctic wildlife guide for a long time
to come. lt begins well, with an introduction to Arctic geology, climate and habitats, an overview of all
the people living and working in the region. The ulk of the book is an extensive field guide to Arctic birds
and mammals, with distribution maps and information on confusing species. Its scope is broad and
generous, but I have a few niggles. lt should really include Arctic plants, fish and invertebrates. This
would have doubled the size of the book and made it unwieldy and impractical, but it's fair to say that the
title is misading. But I'm being picky here, and these minor shortcomings don't detract
from the overall value of the book.
B. Burton Holmes Travelogues
Burton Holmes was the greatest traveller not just of his own time but perhaps of all time. A pretty big
claim, but there's evidence to back it up. Over a 60-year period, Holmes visited nearly every country on
the planet, photographed all he saw, and invented the term 'travelogue'. His pictures are stunning, both as
social history and as art. Holmes photographed everything: the dead on battlelds; the running of bulls in
Spain; a mule train in Death Valley. A sequence of Vesuvius erupting in 1906 includes a shot of a woman
under an ash-strewn sky that is positively apocalyptic, but Holmes' work wasn't restricted to the large
canvas - he was as capable of capturing an intimate portrait of a chicken vendor in a Bangkok market as
he was revealing the vastness and intricacy of the construction of the Panama Canal.
C. No More Beyond by Simon Nasht
In Simon Nasht's brilliant biography of Sir Hubert Wilkins, he says that his subject isn't like other great
explorers, primarily because most of us have never heard of him. He had no lust for fame, instead being
driven by athirst that led him to remote environments and places that cried out for exploration, rather than
awards the popular challenges so desired by newspaper editors of the day. Nasht couldn't believe "a man
could achieve so much and yet be so little remembered." In 1917 Wilkins was under the command of
veteran polar explorer and photographer Frank Hurley in the Australian Flying Corps. Their mutual
interests were vital to the development of aerial photography as an integral part of modern geography.
D.Farmland Wildlife by James McCallum
As a refuge for wildlife, British farmland has had a bad press in recent years. Fortunately, the artist's
beautiful visual journey through the seasons presented in this book reveals that there is still an abundance
of wildlife if you know where to look for it and what to look for. McCallum shuns detailed portraiture in
favour of sketches capturing the spirit of his subjects-and hooray for that. If I need precise anatomical
detail, I can look at a photograph. But if I want to grasp how a stoat rolls an egg, how a male whitethroat
makes his fluttering display-flights or how long-tailed tits work together to build their nests, then I need
something more-and McCallum is stunningly good at translating these complex movements and
behaviours onto the page.His simple explanatory captions-taken from his field notebook-are a bonus.
E. Troubled Waters by Sarah Lazarus Page 11 of 14
Sometimes it seems as though the size of books on whales is led by the size of the subject matter. This,
however, is a small, readable book. There are no detailed species accounts and the text is almost entirely
devoted to the threats that whales and dolphins face, such as chemical and noise pollution, ship strikes
and entanglement in fishing nets. A careful read reveals factual errors but, on the whole, these do not
affect the thoughtful and concise discussion. lt is notoriously difficult to get to the bottom of the whaling
issue, and here Lazarus struggles a bit. The International Whaling Commission comes in for a lot of
criticism, which would perhaps have been better directed at the three of its members who have chosen not
to abide by the spirit of its conservation decisions.
F. The High Lowlands by Derek Ratcliffes
For some, the south of Scotland is the plainer and less charismatic sibling of the breathtaking Highlands
and the rugged West Coast. But it's every bit as wild as those famed areas, but with a gentler appeal. This
book describes an unexpected Eden, a place whose heart pulses to a different beat. This is an epic piece of
writing, its subject matter covered in a manner more akinto the journals of a Victorian chronicler than a
modern natural history book. Derek Ratcliffe's recordings of the natural goings-ons in this lonely land
spanned 50 years. His intimacy is apparent on every page. Everything is catalogued and described in
meticulous detail, and few questions are left unanswered. It's a great pity that Derek did not live to see his
life's work in print. This is a book for everyone, but it's a huge volume that you couldn't take with you on
holiday unless you've got a pretty hefty rucksack and a strong back. Your answers
Someone who left almost no stone unturned around the world. 1. ____b___
The surprising anonymity of someone. 2. _____c__
Disappointment that flora and other fauna are not mentioned. 3. ______a_
A book that is physically difficult to carry around with you. 4. _______f
Some details are inaccurate in this book. 5. _______e
Information written like an old-fashioned diary. 6. _______f
Text that adds something to the images. 7. _______d
A collaboration that produced great results. 8. _______c
A book that covers all of nature's seasons. 9. _______d
A wide variety of subject matter. 10. _______b SECTION FOUR: WRITING
Part 1: Describe the graph and table (15 points)
Graphs below provide the latest figures about the demographics of the United States, including ethnic
groups and the population, based on a census that was carried out and administered by US Census Bureau in 2006. Page 12 of 14
Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features and make comparisons where relevant.
US population by race and ethnicity Asian and Pacific White Black Hispanic Other Islander 1996 167.2 million 22.3 million 8.5 million 1.5 million 0.5 million (200 million) 2006 201 million 38.7 million 44.7 million 14.3 million 1.3 million (300 million) US Population growth Decade totals
Source: US Census Bureau
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Part 3: Essay writing (30 points)
Write an essay of 300 – 350 words long on the following topic:
While some say that increasing travels between countries enable people to learn about different
cultures, others say that increasing travels raise tensions between people from different countries.
Discuss your both views and give your opinions The end Page 14 of 14