Đề thi chọn đội tuyển học sinh giỏi quốc gia THPT năm 2020 môn Tiếng Anh (có đáp án)

KỲ THI CHỌN ĐỘI TUYỂN
HỌC SINH GIỎI QUỐC GIA THPT NĂM 2020 Môn: TIẾNG ANH
Thời gian: 120 phút (không kể thời gian giao đề)
Name: …………………………………
Class: …………………………….……
______________________________________________________________________________
SECTION I. LISTENING (50 points)
Part 1: Questions 1-4 Choose TWO letters, A-E.
Questions 1-2. Choose TWO letters, A-E.Which TWO characteristics apply to the bamboo oven?
A. It’s suitable for windy weather.
B. The fire is lit below the bottom end of the bamboo.
C. The bamboo is cut into equal lengths.
D. The oven hangs from a stick.
E. It cooks food by steaming it.
Questions 3-4 Choose TWO letters, A-E. Which TWO pieces of advice does the speaker give about eating wild fungi?
A. Cooking doesn’t make poisonous fungi edible.
B. Edible wild fungi can be eaten without cooking.
C. Wild fungi are highly nutritious.
D. Some edible fungi look very similar to poisonous varieties.
E. Fungi which cannot be identified should only be eaten in small quantities.
Part 2. For question 6-11, listen to a piece of news from BBC and supply the blanks with the missing
information. Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER taken from the
recording for each answer in the spaces provided
5. It is acknowledged that a (5) ______ from fossil fuels to renewable energy is easier to recommend than to achieve.
6. Coal provides nearly half the electricity In Germany. However, it is concluded that it's better to make the
change sooner rather than later because (6) ______ are building up in the atmosphere so rapidly.
7-8. According to Jim Skea, a (7) ______ on the panel, we need to start from 2020 onwards. If you wait as
long as 2030 to put in place measures, it is going to start to get difficult. We need to move much more quickly
as (8) ______ have risen more quickly in the last ten years than they have at any point in the past.
9. One surprise is a low estimate for the cost of (9) ______ fossil fuels and boosting wind and solar power.
The panel says that less than one tenth of 1% will be shaved off annual global growth.
10-11. However, this figure rests on a host of (10) ______, and for the moment, renewable energy still needs
(11) ______, which raises questions about public acceptance. Your answer:
5. ______transition_______________________________
6. ______greenhouse gases ________________________
7. ______leading figure ___________________________
8. ______emissions_______________________________
9. ______phasing out_____________________________
10. _____assumptions_____________________________
11. _____ subsidies _______________________________
Part 3. Listen and fill in the blank with NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS OR NUMBER.
On the news shows, we hear a near-constant refrain from economists and politicians about the importance of (12) _______ and (13) _______.
Around $150 billion are spent most years to embed consumer messages in every (14) _______.
But commercialization and consumerism also reach deeper, worming their way into people's (15) _______,
encouraging them to earn higher salaries and own more stuff.
Research consistently shows that the more people value materialistic (16) _______, the lower their happiness
and life satisfaction, and the fewer pleasant emotions they experience day to day.
Depression, anxiety and (17) _______ also tend to be higher among people who value the aims encouraged by consumer society
Strong materialistic values also influence our (18) _______, and thereby affect other people’s well-being.
Scientists have found that materialistic values and pro-social values are like a (19) _______ as materialistic
values go up, pro-social values tend to go down.
People act in less (20) _______ and cooperative ways when money is on their minds. Your answer:
12. _____consumer spending____________
17. _______substance abuse______________
13. _____economic growth______________
18. ____social relationships_______________
14. ___conceivable spaces_______________
19. _____seashore_______________________
15. __psyches___________________________
20. ___empathic________________________
16. _______aspirations and goals___________
Part 4. You will hear an interview with Sue Millins, who has recently introduced a new teaching
approach into her school. Listen to the recording and choose the best answer (A, B, C or D) which fits
best according to what you hear.
21. The original cause of the school's decline was ________.
A. the old-fashioned character of the school.
B. the transformation of the neighbourhood.
C. the number of families living in the area.
D. the low number of children in the area.
22. The school was not closed down thanks to________.
A. the parent's refusal to allow it.
B. the decision to follow the national curriculum.
C. the fact that the children were behaving better.
D. the bad conditions the children live in.
23. The traditional methods of teaching were abandoned because________.
A. the children were not able to read.
B. tests would be easier to mark.
C. they would have made things worse.
D. not enough research had been done.
24. The aim of the lesson involving the bear is to ________.
A. teach the children drama.
B. make the children feel more at ease.
C. teach the children about animals.
D. help the children to read and write.
25. The method is considered successful because ________.
A. the Department of Education wants to use it.
B. children are interested in the arts.
C. it allows teachers to use their intuition.
D. there is better achievement in all subjects Your answer: 21.B 22. A 23. C 24. D 25. D
SECTION II. LEXICO-GRAMMAR (60 points)
Part 1. Choose the best answer A, B, C, or D to complete the following sentences. (10 pts)
1. Just because we’ve had a good year, this does not mean that we cannot do better. we must not ______.
A. have our heads in the clouds B. bury our heads in the sand C. count on blessings D. rest on our laurels
2. Local police have promised to ______ on the rampant drug scene that is thought to have contributed to the
death of two teenagers last week. A. crack down B. weigh down C. put down D. come down
3. I’m hoping that this work experience will stand me in good ______ in my future career. A. stead B. grounding C. precedent D. footing
4. Despite the scandal, the leader emerged with his reputation ______. A. untarnished B. unpolluted C. unimpaired D. unfettered
5. The police accused the bank employee of ______ after financial irregularities were uncovered in his department’s accounts. A. fraud B. hoodwink C. swindle D. cheating
6. Due to the computer malfunction all our data was lost. So unhappily, we had to begin all the calculations from ______. A. onset B. source C. original D. scratch
7. I’ll just ______ an eye over these figures before you type them. A. cast B. fling C. toss D. throw
8. I don't agree with his policies but I'm going to ______ them for now. A. play along with
B. play cat and mouse with C. play havoc with D. play down
9. Don’t bother Alice with the problem - she’s in the ______ of moving house. A. anguish B. throes C. agony D. pains
10. In the last century, it was widely ______ that Indian fakirs were capable of superhuman feats. A. held B. grasped C. kept D. shaken
11. Chris was ______ between buying a new house and going on a round-the-world cruise. A. pulled B. torn C. moving D. leaning
12. Don’t quote me. What I am about to say is ______ the record. A. on B. off C. without D. above
13. The teacher obviously didn’t like me because she was always ______ on me. A. setting B. picking C. keeping D. getting
14. It may be raining but I’m ______ enjoying myself. A. thoroughly B. highly C. extremely D. desperately
15. She gave a/an ______ reading of the sonata that had the audience on their feet. A. impeccable B. rocketing C. eminent D. heavy-handed
16. The 5% wage increases they propose are ______. A. all for one B. by and large C. top to bottom D. across the board
17. The first amusement park in our city was a ______ success for its owners. Everybody would go there to have a good time. A. cracking B. ringing C. sparking D. roaring
18. I’d opt for a glass of mineral water just to ______ my thirst. A. quit B. quench C. quiver D. quieten
19. Burt knows his chances against the better skilled opponents are slim, but he is too much of a competitor to
give up making at least a ______ at it. A. stake B. start C. stab D. stack
20. Wait a minute, there is an answer from the Federal Bureau with ______ to your previous inquiry. A. consideration B. reflection C. attention D. regard Your answer 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Part 2. Read the following text which contains 5 mistakes. Identify the mistakes and write the corrections in
the corresponding numbered boxes. (5 points) Lin
The “credit card school” e 1.
The dark side of renewable energy is that any form of production carries its own environmental 2.
baggage. Without an ecological review, wind farms can put birds at risk. Solar farms can interrupt 3.
ecosystems by fencing off and shading swaths of desert acreage. And geothermal heat, which has 4.
some advantages than wind and solar, can jeopardize freshwater resources. 5.
In Hidalgo County, the deep geothermal water is dirty with naturally occurring contaminants – 6.
especially high levels of fluoride, a mineral that, when consuming in excess, is dangerous to bone 7. health. 8.
“Geothermal isn’t terribly new; we just don’t have a regulatory framework for most of this stuff,” 9.
said Ben Shelton, legislative director of Conservation Voters New Mexico, an environmental 10.
lobbying group based in Santa Fe. 11.
On the positive side, geothermal plants typically take up far less acreage than solar or wind farms, 12.
leaving a smaller environmental footprint on the surface. The energy, extracted from dry heat or hot 13.
water deep underground, generates power around the clock and isn’t subjected to changes in the 14. weather. Your answers: Line Mistakes Corrections 1 form forms 4 than over 6 consuming consumed 13 subjected subject
Part 3. Give the correct form of the words in brackets. Write your answers in the corresponding numbered boxes. (5 points)
The Role of Education in the Developing World
Levels of illiteracy and 1. (number) _____ remain startlingly high in the developing world, and will continue
to be so until the West provides or sponsors new education initiatives. These for young people as well as
lifelong learning programs will also help to breach the gulf that separates the working classes from their ruling
elite, a 2. (privilege) _____ few who enjoy the trappings of Western wealth and the lifestyle that goes with it,
while those in their midst are completely 3. (occupy) _____ with the daily struggle for survival. Furthermore,
we must promote a culture of 4. (tolerate) _____ of corruption, and help to create a new generation for whom
education rather than a(n) 5. (scruple) _____ nature will reap the true rewards. Education will also help to
bridge the cultural gap separating the West from its brethren in the developing world. The impoverished slums
and shanty towns are a hotbed of religious and political 6. (extreme) _____, but hopefully education will
serve to create a better sense of understanding between all the peoples of the world, 7. (respect) _____ of
background. Cooperation between people from the different cultures of the West and the developing world
will also, hopefully, help to reduce levels of prejudice, bigotry xenophobia and racial 8. (tense) _____ . And,
last but not by any means least, educating women will 9. (power) _____ them to claim their rightful place in
the social hierarchy in up-to-now male-dominated cultures. Their 10. (aspire) _____ can shift realistically
higher, and young female students can hope to go on to become tomorrow’s politicians, diplomats and
political leaders, or whatsoever they choose. Your answer:
1. _____innumeracy________________
6. _______extremism________________
2. _____privileged _________________
7. _______irrespective_______________
3. _____preoccupied________________
8. _______tensions__________________
4. _____intolerance_________________
9. _______empower_________________
5. _____unscrupulous ______________
10. ______aspirations________________
SECTION III. READING (60 points)
Part 1: For questions 1-10, fill each of the following numbered blanks with ONE suitable word. Write
your answers in the corresponding numbered boxes provided. (10 pts) ON THE OTHER HAND?
We left-handed people lack collective pride. We just try to get by, in our clumsy way. We make (1) ______
demands and we avoid a fuss. I used to say whenever someone watched me sign my name and remarked that
he or she was also left-handed: "You and me and Leonardo da Vinci!" That was a weak joke, but it contained
my often unconscious desire to (2) ______ to Left Pride, a social movement that doesn't (3) ______ exist but I
hope may one day come. There are many false stories about the left-handed in circulation: for example, a few
decades ago someone wrote that Picasso was left-handed, and others kept (4) ______ it, but the proof is all to the contrary.
The great genius Einstein is often still claimed as one of (5) ______, also without proof. And sadly, there is
also no truth in the myth that the left-handed (6) ______ to be smarter and more creative. Despite the amount
of research that has been carried out, researchers in the field are still in two (7) ______ about what we mean
by left-handed. Apparently a third of those who write with their left hand throw a ball with their right.
However, those using their right hand for (8) ______ rarely throw with their left. A difficult skill that becomes
crucial at a (9) ______ impressionable age, writing defines what you will call yourself. I have never used
scissors, baseball bat, hockey stick or computer mouse with anything but my right; even so, I think I'm left-
handed as (10) ______ everyone else. Your answer 1.few 2.belong 3.really 4.repeating 5.ours 6.tend 7.minds 8.writing 9.most 10.does
Part 2. Read the following passage and decide which answer (A, B, C or D) best fits each gap. Write
your answers in the corresponding numbered boxes. (10 pt)
Long hours and health don't mix
Women are much healthier when they take it easy, reveals a new survey. Those who work long hours are more
likely than men to (1) ____ in unhealthy behaviour such as eating snacks, smoking and drinking caffeine.
(Long hours have no such (2) ____ on men.) One positive benefit of long hours for both sexes, however, is
that alcohol (3) ____ is reduced.
The study, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, is part of a wider study by psychologists
from the University of Leeds, into the effects of stress on eating. 'Stress causes people to (4) ____ for
unhealthy high-fat and high-sugar snacks in (5) ____ to healthier food choices,' says researcher Dr Daryl
O'Connor of the University of Leeds. 'People under stress eat less than usual in their main meals, including
their vegetable (6) ____, but shift their preference to high-fat, high-sugar snacks instead.
'Our (7) ____ are disturbing in that they show stress produces harmful changes in diet and (8) ____ to
unhealthy eating behaviour,' continues Dr O'Connor. 'An overwhelming (9) ____ of evidence shows the
importance of maintaining a balanced diet in (10) ____ of reducing the risk of cancer and cardiovascular
diseases and that means eating a low-fat diet and five portions of fruit and vegetables a day. 1. A. indulge B. satisfy C. yield D. tempt 2. A. contact B. clash C. conflict D. impact 3. A. beverage B. consumption C. expenditure D. acceptance 4. A. choose B. select C. design D. opt 5. A. difference B. option C. preference D. priority 6. A. intake B. influx C. emission D. immersion 7. A. instructions B. rulings C. findings D. institutions 8. A. sends B. makes C. guides D. leads 9. A. lump B. body C. sack D. packet 10. A. moments B. sessions C. terms D. senses Your answer 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
Part 3: Read the following passage and choose the best answer. Write your answers in the
corresponding numbered boxes. (10 pt)
Ancient Egyptian Sculpture
In order to understand ancient Egyptian art, it is vital to know as much as possible of the elite
Egyptians' view of the world and the functions and contexts of the formal art produced for them. Without this
knowledge we can appreciate only the formal content of Egyptian art, and we will fail to understand why it
was produced or the concepts that shaped it and caused it to adopt its distinctive forms. In fact, a lack of
understanding concerning the purposes of Egyptian art has often led it to be compared unfavorably with the art
of other cultures: Why did the Egyptians not develop sculpture in which the body turned and twisted through
space like classical Greek statuary? Why do the artists seem to get left and right confused? And why did they
not discover the geometric perspective as European artists did in the Renaissance? The answer to such
questions has nothing to do with a lack of skill or imagination on the part of Egyptian artists and everything to
do with the purposes for which they were producing their art.
The majority of three-dimensional representations, whether standing, seated, or kneeling, exhibit what
is called frontality: they face straight ahead, neither twisting nor turning. When such statues are viewed in
isolation, out of their original context and without knowledge of their function, it is easy to criticize them for
their rigid attitudes that remained unchanged for three thousand years. Frontality is, however, directly related
to the functions of Egyptian statuary and the contexts in which the statues were set up. Statues were created
not for their decorative effect but to play a primary role in the cults of the gods, the king, and the dead. They
were designed to be put in places where these beings could manifest themselves in order to be the recipients of
ritual actions. Thus it made sense to show the statue looking ahead at what was happening in front of it, so that
the living performer of the ritual could interact with the divine or deceased recipient. Very often such statues
were enclosed in rectangular shrines or wall niches whose only opening was at the front, making it natural for
the statue to display frontality. Other statues were designed to be placed within an architectural setting, for
instance, in front of the monumental entrance gateways to temples known as pylons, or in pillared courts,
where they would be placed against or between pillars: their frontality worked perfectly within the architectural context.
Statues were normally made of stone, wood, or metal. Stone statues were worked from single
rectangular blocks of material and retained the compactness of the original shape. The stone between the arms
and the body and between the legs In standing figures or the legs and the seat in seated ones was not normally
cut away. From a practical aspect this protected the figures against breakage and psychologically gives the
images a sense of strength and power, usually enhanced by a supporting back pillar. By contrast, wooden
statues were carved from several pieces of wood that were pegged together to form the finished work, and
metal statues were either made by wrapping sheet metal around a wooden core or cast by the lost wax
process'. The arms could be held away from the body and carry separate items in their hands; there is no back
pillar. The effect is altogether lighter and freer than that achieved in stone, but because both perform the same
function, formal wooden and metal statues still display frontality.
1. The word "vital" in the passage is closest in meaning to _______. A. attractive B. essential C. usual D. practical
2. Paragraph 1 suggests that one reason ancient Egyptian art has been viewed less favorably than other art is
that ancient Egyptian art lacks_______.
A. realistic sense of human body proportion
B. a focus on distinctive forms of varying sizes
C. the originality of European art
D. examples of formal art that show the human body in motion
3. In paragraph 1, the author mentions all of the following as necessary in appreciating Egyptian art EXCEPT an understanding of _______.
A. the reasons why the art was made
B. the nature of aristocratic Egyptian beliefs
C. the influences of Egyptian art on later art such as classical Greek art D. how the art was used
4. According to paragraph 2, why are Egyptian statues portrayed frontally?
A. to create a psychological effect of distance and isolation
B. to allow them to fulfill their important role in ceremonies of Egyptian life
C. to provide a contrast to statues with a decorative function
D. to suggest the rigid, unchanging Egyptian philosophical attitudes
5. The word "context" in the passage is closest in meaning to_______. A. connection B. influence C. environment D. requirement
6. The author mentions "an architectural setting" in the passage in order to_______.
A. suggest that architecture was as important as sculpture to Egyptian artists
B. offer a further explanation for the frontal pose of Egyptian statues
C. explain how the display of statues replaced other forms of architectural decoration
D. illustrate the religious function of Egyptian statues
7. The word "they" in the passage refers to_______. A. statues B. gateways C. temples D. pillared courts
8. According to paragraph 3, why were certain areas of a stone statue left uncarved?
A. to prevent damage by providing physical stability
B. to emphasize that the material was as important as the figure itself
C. to emphasize that the figure was not meant to be a real human being
D. to provide another artist with the chance to finish the carving
9. The word "core" in the passage is closest in meaning to_______. A. material B. layer C. center D. frame
10. According to paragraph 3, which of the following statements about wooden statues is true?
A. Wooden statues were usually larger than stone statues
B. Wooden statues were made from a single piece of wood.
C. Wooden statues contained pieces of metal or stone attached to the front.
D. Wooden statues had a different effect on the viewer than stone statues. Your answer 1.B 2.D 3.C 4.B 5.C 6.B 7.A 8.A 9.C 10.D
Part 3: Read the following passage and answer question 1-7. (14 points)
Seven paragraphs have been removed from the passage. Choose from paragraphs A- H the one which fits
each gap. There is one extra heading which you do not need to use. Write your answers in the
corresponding numbered boxes.
SCIENCE FLYING IN THE FACE OF GRAVITY
Journalist Tom Mumford joins students using weightlessness to test their theories.
It looked like just another aircraft from the outside. The pilot told his young passengers that it was built in
1964, a Boeing KC-135 refuelling tanker, based on the Boeing 707 passenger craft. 1. ___H____
There were almost no windows, but is was eerily illuminated by lights along the padded walls. Most of the
seats had been ripped out, apart from a few at the back, where the pale-faced, budding scientists took their
places with the air of condemned men. 2. __E_____
Those with the best ideas won a place on this unusual flight, which is best described as the most extraordinary
roller-coaster ride yet devised. For the next two hours the Boeing’s flight would resemble that of an enormous
bird which had lost its reason, shooting upwards towards the heavens before hurling towards Earth. 3. ___A____
In the few silent seconds between ascending and falling, the aircraft and everything inside it become
weightless, and the 13 students would, in theory, feel themselves closer to the moon than the Earth. The
aircraft took off smoothly enough but any lingering illusions the young scientists and I had that we were on
anything like a scheduled passenger service were quickly dispelled when the pilot put the Boeing into a 45-
degree climb which lasted around 20 seconds. The engines strained wildly, blood drained from our heads, and
bodies were scattered across the cabin floor. 4. __G_____
We floated aimlessly; the idea of going anywhere was itself confusing. Left or right, up or down, no longer
had any meaning. Only gravity, by rooting us somewhere, permits us to appreciate the possibility of going somewhere else. 5. __C_____
Our first curve completed, there were those who turned green at the thought of the 29 to follow. Thirty curves
added up to ten minutes ‘space time’ for experiments and the Dutch students were soon studying the
movements of Leonardo, their robotic cat, hoping to discover how it is that cats always land on their feet. 6. __D_____
Next to the slightly stunned acrobatic robocat, a German team from the University of Aachen investigated
how the quality of joins in metal is affected by the absence of gravity, with an eye to the construction of tomorrow’s space stations.
Another team of students, from Utah State University, examined the possibility of creating solar sails from
thin liquid films hardened in ultraviolet sunlight. Their flight was spent attempting to produce the films under
microgravity. They believe that once the process is perfected, satellites could be equipped with solar sails that
use the sun’s radiation just as a yacht’s sails use the wind. 7. __B_____
This was a feeling that would stay with us for a long time. ‘It was an unforgettable experience’, said one of the
students. ‘I was already aiming to become an astronaut, but now I want to even more.’
A. The intention was to achieve a kind of state of grace at the top of each curve. As the pilot cuts the engines
at 2,000 metres, the aircraft throws itself still higher by virtue of its own momentum before gravity takes over
and it plummets earthwards again.
B. After two hours spent swinging, between heaven and Earth, that morning’s breakfast felt unstable, but the
predominant sensation was exhilaration, not nausea.
C. After ten seconds of freefall descent, the pilot pulled the aircraft out of its nose dive. The return of gravity
was less immediate than its loss, but was till sudden enough to ensure that some of the students came down with a bump.
D. At the appropriate moment the device they had built to investigate this was released floating belly-up, and
one of the students succeeded in turning it belly- down with radio- controlled movements. The next curve was
nearly its last, however, when another student landed on top of it during a less well managed return to gravitational pull.
E. For 12 months, they had competed with other students from across the continent to participate in the flight.
The challenge, offered by the European Space Agency, had been to suggest imaginative experiments to be
conducted in weightless conditions.
F. It was at that point that the jury of scientists were faced with the task of selecting from these experiments.
They were obviously pleased by the quality: ‘We need new ideas and new people like this in the space
sciences’, a spokesman said.
G. Then the engines cut out and the transition to weightlessness was nearly instantaneous. For 20 seconds we
conducted a ghostly dance in the unreal silence: the floor had become a vas trampoline, and one footstep was
enough to launch us headlong towards the ceiling.
H. But appearances were deceptive, and the 13 students from Europe and America who boarded were in for
the flight of their lives. Inside, it had become a long white tunnel. Your answer 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Part 5. Read the text, identify which section A–F each of the following is mentioned. Write ONE letter A–
D in the corresponding numbered space provided. Each letter may be used more than once. (15 pts)
THE SOCIAL PHENOMENON THAT IS FASHION A
Each day as we prepare to meet our world we perform a very popular ritual: getting dressed. This may
mean only adding a daub of war paint or freshening a grass girdle. Or it may be the painstaking ceremonious
robing of a monarch. For most of us, however, it means the exchange of nightwear for day clothes. Although
nakedness does still exist in some isolated communities, there appears to be no society that is entirely
composed of totally unadorned human beings. The desire to alter or to add to the original natural state is so
prevalent in the human species that we must assume it has become an inborn human trait. When did it begin?
It certainly precedes recorded history. Bodily covering was probably the first man-made shelter and the human
skin the earliest canvas. Standing erect with his arms and hands free to function creatively, man must have
soon discovered that his anatomical frame could accommodate a wide variety of physical self-improvements.
His shoulders could support a mantle to protect him from the elements. To stand out above his peers and
indicate his superior position, he found his head could be excellent foundation for adding stature and
importance. Intertwined with these motivating factors and building on them was the human instinct for
creative expression, an outlet for aesthetic spirit. B
Changes in needs and outlooks often blur the purposes that originally gave articles of human raiment a
raison d’être. Vestiges are relegated to tradition; others undergo a kind of mutation. The sheltering mantle, for
example, can become a magnificent but cumbersome robe of state. Amulets, their symbolism lost or forgotten,
become objects of decoration to show off the wearer’s wealth. Man is a gregarious creature. And although
innovations and changes may be initiated by individuals, the inspiration that triggers them grows out of the
innovator’s environment, and their acceptance or rejection is determined by his society. Nothing so
graphically reflects social and cultural patterns as the manner in which individuals within a society alter their original appearance. C
Fashion can be a powerful force. Societies evolve for themselves a set of rules, and most people,
consciously or subconsciously, do their best to conform. The nonconformists, those who do not wish to join in
this game, must either sever their relationship and go it alone or suffer the consequences. These regulations are
hardly capricious. Their roots are in the foundation of a society which, although composed of individuals,
develops an identity of its own and an instinct for self-preservation. A homogeneity in dress is a manifest
catalyst, a visible unifier of a social group. Because this is so, costume if read properly can give us an insight
not only into the class structure of a social organization but also into its religion and aesthetics, its fears, hopes
and goals. Today our clothes continue to reflect our anxieties and how we try to cope with them. Our society is
rapidly becoming global. The recent worldwide rage for jeans is an example of this new universality and the
wholesale movement to break down past barriers – geographical and social. D
“Fashion is the mirror of history,” King Louis XIV of France correctly observed. But if one were to
transpose a fashion into another era, it would be unlikely to make sense. How, for example, could an
Amazonian Indian or a Roman senator rationalize a hoop skirt, a starched ruff, or a powdered wig? Yet
scrutinized through the specialist’s lens, such vagaries of dress can help chart the course of social mores,
moral codes, the march of science and the progress of the arts. This would explain why the genealogy of
clothes receives the rapt attention of the psychologist, sociologist, economist, anthropologist and art historian,
each posing the same question: “Why do people wear what they wear?” Why, indeed, have human beings
chosen to transform themselves so astonishingly? For the sake of the flesh or the spirit? For themselves and
their own inquisitive nature or for the eyes of beholders? What has driven them? Ambition? Fear? Humility?
There is and can be no single adequate response. Which section Your answers
explains why non-mainstream fashion risks the possibility of social disapproval? 1. ___C_____
makes the point that fashion cannot be taken out of its historical context? 2. ____D____
suggests a temporal link between wearing clothes and painting the body? 3. ____A____
explains that certain clothes eventually become recognized as merely of historical interest? 4. ____C____
suggests that someone might dress in a particular way in order not to attact attention? 5. ___D_____
suggests that clothes could be used to assert social standing? 6. ___A_____
mentions a fashion item which reflects a trend in society? 7. ____C____
mentions clothes being put on in a very elaborate manner? 8. ___A_____
mentions satisfying one’s own curiosity as a positive motive for dressing in unusual way? 9. ___D_____
offers an explanation for the way in which dress codes originate? 10. ___B_____
That’s the end of the test
Document Outline

• Part 3: Read the following passage and choose the best answer. Write your answers in the corresponding numbered boxes. (10 pt)