Đề thi chọn học sinh giỏi lớp 12 THPT và đội tuyển dự thi học sinh giỏi Quốc gia THPT tỉnh Ninh Thuận năm học 2020-2021

Điểm bằng số Điểm bằng chữ Chữ ký G.khảo 1 Chữ ký G.khảo 2 Số phách Số T.tự bài thi
SỞ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO
KỲ THI CHỌN ĐỘI TUYỂN NINH THUẬN
THAM DỰ KỲ THI CHỌN HSG QUỐC GIA
NĂM HỌC 2020 – 2021
(Đề chính thức) Khóa ngày: 10 / 10 / 2020
(Đề thi gồm 19 trang/ 20 điểm) Môn thi: TIẾNG ANH
Thời gian làm bài: 180 phút
(Không kể thời gian phát đề)
SECTION I: LISTENING (50 POINTS)
Part 1. For questions 1-5, listen to a telephone conversation about a job vacancy and decide whether
these statements are True (T) or False (F). Write your answers in the corresponding numbered
boxes provided.
1. Steve phones the agency to find out about a permanent post at a call centre.
2. Ellen says the problem with some students is that they arrive late for work.
3. Steve would mainly take calls from customers who want information about their credit card accounts.
4. Men account for the majority of the total callers.
5. Ellen says that call centre operatives should be both experienced and intelligent. Your answers 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Part 2. For questions 6-12, listen to a report on the blockchain technology and supply the blanks with
the missing information. Write NO MORE THAN FOUR WORDS taken from the recording for each
answer in the space provided. WHAT IS BLOCKCHAIN?
While people normally rely on a third party to complete a financial transaction, blockchain technology
is challenging the status quo radically. By using math
and (6)______________________________________, blockchain provides an
(7)_____________________________________ of every transaction involving value.
The future global economy will move towards one of (8)_________________________________,
where blockchain based transactions are open to everyone with access to the internet.
Every transaction will be recorded on a(n) (9)_________________________________, which means
tax collection via this system is feasible in the next ten years and (10)___________________________
will be significantly reduced.
The new possibilities offered by the bitcoin network to bypass traditional financial intermediaries make
it difficult for public authorities to enforce traditional financial regulations. Your answers 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 1 | P a g e Chữ ký G.khảo 1 Chữ ký G.khảo 2 Số phách Số T.tự bài thi
Part 3. For questions 11-15, listen to a radio interview in which a psychologist, Colin Fraser, talks
about cultural identity and choose the correct answer A, B, C, or D which fits best according to what
you hear. Write your answers in the corresponding numbered boxes provided.
11. When discussing his own cultural identity, Colin reveals
A. his resilience to changing cultures.
B. his unorthodox family background. C. his ability to adapt. D. his feeling of alienation.
12. What does Colin regard as the defining aspect of a person’s cultural identity? A. the sense of birth right B. the emotion it generates
C. the physical proximity to heritage D. the symbols of tradition
13. What is the influence of a culture attributed to?
A. the dissemination of wisdom
B. connection between societies
C. knowledge of one’s background
D. the practice of archaic rituals
14. According to Colin, what makes a culture successful on the global scene? A. its capacity for tolerance
B. its isolation from the mainstream
C. its aptitude for resolving conflicts
D. its ability to be self-effacing
15. During the conversation, Colin is
A. distinguishing between birthplace and residence.
B. advocating the celebration of heritage.
C. highlighting the differences in societies.
D. addressing the issues raised by conflicting cultures. Your answers 11. 12. 13. 14. 15.
Part 4: For questions 16-25, listen to a presentation of a student and supply the blanks with the
missing information. Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS taken from the recording for each
answer in the space provided.
Saving the juniper plant Background
16. Juniper was one of the first plants to colonise Britain after the last____________________.
17. Its smoke is virtually ___________________, so juniper wood was used as fuel in illegal activities.
18. Oils from the plant were used to prevent _________________ spreading.
19. Nowadays, its berries are widely used to _______________ food and drink. 2 | P a g e Chữ ký G.khảo 1 Chữ ký G.khảo 2 Số phách Số T.tự bài thi Ecology
20. Juniper plants also support several species of insects and _______________. Problems
21. In current juniper populations, ratios of the __________________ are poor.
22. Many of the bushes in each group are of the same age so __________ of whole populations is rapid. Solutions
23. Plantlife is trialling novel techniques across __________________ areas of England.
24. One measure is to introduce _________________ for seedlings.
25. A further step is to plant ________________________ from healthy bushes. Your answers 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25.
SECTION II. LEXICO-GRAMMAR (20 POINTS)
Part 1: For questions 26-40, choose the correct answer A, B, C, or D to each of the following
questions. Write your answers in the corresponding numbered boxes provided.
26. I'd been living in this country for a few years, but it wasn't until I had kids that I felt like I had really put down ____________ here. A. roots B. seeds C. nuts D. fruits
27. Simon's business has been on the ____________ for some time and I understand he's going into liquidation. A. fire B. rocks C. wave D. clouds
28. There’s no doubt about the outcome of the trial. The man is a ______ criminal. A. self-conscious B. self-contained C. self-confessed D. self-centered
29. The number of people traveling by air has been growing _______. A. by leaps and bounds B. from time to time C. slow but sure D. by hook and crook
30. The office was closed for a week for refurbishment and now the staff have to deal with the _____
that built up during their absence. A backstage B backlash C backlog D backdrop
31. I don’t know if Ash would be right for the job; he’s a bit of an unknown ________. A. quality B. qualification C. quantity D. identity
32. The noise from the unruly fans celebrating their team’s victory didn’t _____ until early in the morning. A. shut off B. give away C. let up D. fall over
33. The statement from the ministers contrasts ______ with comments by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncke. A. sharply B. heavily C. utterly D. flatly
34. I know you’re upset about breaking up with Tom, but there are plenty more ______. A. horses in the stable B. cows in the shed C. tigers in the jungle D. fish in the sea. 3 | P a g e Chữ ký G.khảo 1 Chữ ký G.khảo 2 Số phách Số T.tự bài thi
35. The sound of his footsteps gradually ______ away. A. died B. passed C. vanished D. dwindled
36. The party was already ______ by the time we arrived. Everyone was singing and dancing. A. in full swing B. up in the air C. over the moon D. under a cloud
37. Various ecological issues have come to the ______ since the discovery of the hole in the earth's ozone layer. A. front B. back C. side D. fore
38. His performance is described in the paper as "a __________ display of physical agility". A. breathtaking B. gripping C. harrowing D. piercing
39. I get ______ pains up my spine whenever I try to move. A. splitting B. thumping C. shooting D. stinking
40. You’ll just have to _________ yourself to the fact that you can’t always have what you want. A. acknowledge B. reconcile C. concede D. allow
Your answers (Only write A, B, C or D in the box): 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40.
Part 2. For questions 41–45, write the correct FORM of each bracketed word in each sentence in the
numbered space provided in the boxes below.
41. Hospitals are on ________ ready to deal with casualties being flown in from the crash site. (STAND)
42. An entire society was ____ and destroyed, vanishing into the high mountains never to return. (ROOT)
43. The cold has made already ________ living conditions even worse. (STANDARD)
44. Reduction in government spending will ______________ further cuts in public services. (NECESSARY)
45. A bomb was _______ at the last moment, after the fuse had been lit. (ACT) Your answers: 41. 42. 43. 44. 45.
SECTION III. READING (50 POINTS)
Part 1: For questions 46-55, fill each of the following numbered blanks with ONE suitable word.
Write your answers in the corresponding numbered boxes provided.
There are techniques that exist which can improve memory, the most popular of which must be
mnemonics, or ways to 46.______ information into a form that aids retention in the brain. Those who
have difficulty memorising facts, for example, can 47.______ the information by using a memorable
phrase. A famous example is “Richard of York gave battle in vain”, 48.______ each word replaces a
colour of the rainbow starting with the same colour. Mnemonics 49.______ because our brains find it
easier to retain information that is surprising, personal or humorous, than that 50.______ is abstract and
impersonal. Association also plays an important part in helping us recall information. This technique 4 | P a g e Chữ ký G.khảo 1 Chữ ký G.khảo 2 Số phách Số T.tự bài thi
involves creating something memorable to 51.______ the information you want. For instance, by
52.______ a picture or word in your language to a word in the foreign language that you are trying to
learn, the visual or verbal 53.______ can help you remember the word. Recollection of facts is
obviously easier if you know your particular learning style so that you can 54.______ your clues. As
anyone who has had to create a password knows, easily-remembered information is information that is
personally meaningful. The best passwords are those that have a 55.______ significance for their users,
but whose meaning would baffle anyone else. There are lots of tricks to try; the most important thing is to remember to use them. * Your answers 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. 51. 52. 53. 54. 55.
Part 2: For questions 56-68, read the following passage and do the tasks that follow. The Mystery of Sleep
Sleep takes up precious time and leaves us vulnerable, so why do we do it? A.
The question of why we sleep has been on people’s minds at least since the time of Aristotle,
who believed that the warming and cooling of the body as a result of digestion caused sleep. Though we
know this is incorrect today, other early theories have held up better. The possibility of a ‘sleep toxin’ –
a substance that built up during the day, causing drowsiness, and was subsequently relieved by sleep –
was put forward by Henri Pieron in the early 1900s, and this concept is not unlike some contemporary
ideas about sleep that researchers are pursuing today. It was not until 1953 that Nathaniel Kleitman and
his colleagues identified two different kinds of sleep; REM and non-REM sleep. Many say that this
breakthrough paved the way for modern sleep research. But since then, despite the great deal of effort
that has been made to better understand sleep, it is still largely a mysterious phenomenon. B.
Among living things, sleep is practically universal. Even jellyfish, which have no brains,
experience something called sleep pressure – the need to rest longer after being kept awake. Tiny
worms, with only a few neurons, spend time in a sleep-like state and die more quickly when exposed to
stress if this state is prevented. Sharks and dolphins, which must keep moving at all times in order to
breathe, have the ability to sleep with one hemisphere of the brain at a time. Yet, when an animal sleeps,
it cannot protect itself from danger, it cannot eat or reproduce. Sleep is high-risk and costly, so why is it
such a universal phenomenon? Clearly, it must be important. C.
One theory about the reason for sleep is that it arose simply as a way to save energy. If there
were times when it was difficult or hazardous for an animal to move around, then it might make sense
for them to simply enter a sleep state when all of their physical systems slow down. That way, they
would require less food, and could hide away from danger. The observation that animals with few
natural predators, lions, for example, sleep up to 15 hours a day, while small prey animals seldom sleep
more than 5 hours a day, seems to contradict this, however. In addition, the objection has been raised
that sleep only lowers the metabolism by 10-15 per cent, so not much energy is, in fact, saved.
According to Serge Daan, a researcher who studied arctic ground squirrels, something else must be
taking place. He found that the ground squirrels would periodically come out of their suspended- 5 | P a g e Chữ ký G.khảo 1 Chữ ký G.khảo 2 Số phách Số T.tự bài thi
animation-like state of hibernation in order to sleep. For these animals, sleep was actually energetically
expensive, so it must serve some other essential purpose. D.
It is well established that the act of sleeping is important for essential brain functions such as
memory and learning. A rapidly increasing body of cognitive research suggests that sleep allows us to
consolidate and process information that has been acquired during the day. Sleep scientist Matthew
Walker used MRI scans to visualise activity in the brains of people who were learning a series of finger
movements. One group was allowed to sleep and the other was not. He found differences in the areas of
the brain that were activated when they recalled the movements; the group that had slept showed less
activity in the brain, and better recollection of the task. In other words, the way the memory was stored
had become more efficient. Walker believes that this could explain why toddlers, who are constantly
learning new motor skills, require so much more sleep than adults. Furthermore, Ted Abel, while
assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania, found that mice deprived of sleep for the first five
hours after learning did not remember their physical surroundings, while their memory of facts and
events was not affected. This result allowed him to specify that sleep regulates memory in a specific part
of the brain, the hippocampus, which is responsible for memories related to spatial and contextual
information. But despite numerous studies, there are still more questions than answers on the role of sleep in memory and learning. E.
Another theory about the role of sleep is that it is essential for cleanup and repair in the brain and
body. Support for this theory is provided by research that shows periods of REM sleep increase
following periods of sleep deprivation and strenuous physical activity. During sleep, the body also
increases its rate of cell division and protein synthesis, further suggesting that repair and restoration
occurs during sleeping periods. Recently, new evidence supporting the repair and restoration theory has
been uncovered. Research has shown that the cellular structure of the brain is altered during sleep, and
more space forms between cells. This allows fluid to move between the cells and flush out toxic waste
products. It is believed that these toxins increase in the central nervous system during waking times, and
the restorative function of sleep is a consequence of their removal. F.
It may seem that all of this new evidence is not making the question of why we sleep any clearer;
indeed, the evidence seems to point to different explanations. In this context, it seems important to
remember that there may not be one correct answer, but instead it could be a combination. While the
idea that sleep is a method of energy conservation seems to be falling out of favour, it seems more and
more likely that benefits for memory and learning, the cleanup of the brain and the repair of the body
can all be attributed to a good night’s sleep
Questions 56-61: There are six paragraphs marked A-F in the passage. In which paragraph is the
following mentioned? Write your answers in the corresponding numbered box provided.
56. how researchers can see what is happening inside the brain
57. how many reasons for sleep there might realistically be
58. an example of lack of sleep being deadly
59. a particular discovery that was essential for how we view sleep today
60. how sleep might have arisen from threatening conditions
61. how the brain physically changes during sleep 6 | P a g e Chữ ký G.khảo 1 Chữ ký G.khảo 2 Số phách Số T.tự bài thi Your answers 56. 57. 58. 59. 60. 61.
Questions 62-64: Look at the following statement and the list of researchers below. Match each
statement with the correct researcher, A-E. Write your answers in the corresponding numbered box provided. A. Henri Pieron B. Nathaniel Kleitman C. Serge Daan D. Matthew Walker E. Ted Abel
62. Sleep is essential for the recollection only of certain types of memory.
63. The fact that sleep requirements vary with age alludes to its role.
64. A chemical that promotes sleep accumulates throughout the day. Your answers 62. 63. 64.
Questions 65-66: Choose TWO letters, A-E. Which TWO theories does the writer question the
validity of? Write your answers in the corresponding numbered box provided.
A Sleep pressure is proof of the necessity of sleep.
B Animals’ sleeping habits are related to their place on the food chain.
C Sleep is related to changes in body temperature.
D Sleep prevents the unnecessary burning of calories.
E There are different types of sleep with different functions.
Questions 67-68: Choose TWO letters, A-E. Which TWO points does the writer mention in support of
the importance of sleep for memory? Write your answers in the corresponding numbered box provided.
A. During sleep, unimportant memories are removed.
B. Sleep makes recollection more effortless.
C. Sleep results in more activity throughout the brain.
D. The function of a specific brain region is affected by sleep.
E. Sleep duration modifies learning Your answers 65. 66. 67. 68. 7 | P a g e Chữ ký G.khảo 1 Chữ ký G.khảo 2 Số phách Số T.tự bài thi
Part 3. In the passage below, seven paragraphs have been removed. For questions 69-75, read the
passage and choose from the paragraphs A-H the one which fits each gap. There is ONE extra
paragraph which you do not need to use. Write your answers in the corresponding numbered box provided.
Is There A Limit To Our Intelligence?
Increasing IQ scores suggests that future generations will make us seem like dimwits by Tom Govern
Almost thirty years ago James R. Flynn, a researcher at the University of Otago in New Zealand,
discovered a phenomenon that social scientists still struggle to explain: IQ scores have been increasing
steadily since the beginning of the 20th century. Nearly 30 years of follow-up studies have confirmed
the statistical reality of the global uptick, now known as the Flynn effect. And scores are still climbing. 69.
The Flynn effect means that children will, on average, score just under 10 points higher on IQ tests than
their parents did. By the end of this century our descendants will have nearly a 30-point advantage over
us if the Flynn effect continues. But can it continue or is there some natural limit to the Flynn effect and to human intelligence? 70.
Most of the IQ gains come from just two subtests devoted to abstract reasoning. One deals with
“similarities” and poses questions such as “How are an apple and an orange alike?” A low-scoring
answer would be “They’re both edible.” A higher-scoring response would be “They’re both fruit,” an
answer that transcends simple physical qualities. The other subtest consists of a series of geometric
patterns that are related in some abstract way, and the test taker must correctly identify the relation among the patterns. 71.
“If you don’t classify abstractions, if you’re not used to using logic, you can’t really master the modern
world,” Flynn says. “Alexander Luria, a Soviet psychologist, did some wonderful interviews with
peasants in rural Russia in the 1920s. He would say to them, ‘Where there is always snow, bears are
always white. There is always snow at the North Pole. What colour are the bears there?’ They would say
they had never seen anything but brown bears. They didn’t think of a hypothetical question as meaningful.” 72.
A naive interpretation of the Flynn effect quickly leads to some strange conclusions. Extrapolating the
effect back in time, for example, would suggest that the average person in Great Britain in 1900 would
have had an IQ of around 70 by 1990 standards. “That would mean that the average Brit was borderline 8 | P a g e Chữ ký G.khảo 1 Chữ ký G.khảo 2 Số phách Số T.tự bài thi
mentally retarded and wouldn’t have been able to follow the rules of cricket,” says David Hambrick, a
cognitive psychologist at Michigan State University. “And of course, that’s absurd.” 73.
So, what will the future bring? Will IQ scores keep going up? One thing we can be sure of is that the
world around us will continue to change, largely because of our own actions. 74.
Therefore, our minds and culture are locked in a similar feedback loop. We are creating a world where
information takes forms and moves with speeds unimaginable just a few decades ago. Every gain in
technology demands minds capable of accommodating the change, and the changed mind reshapes the
world even more. The Flynn effect is unlikely to end during this century, presaging a future world where
you and I would be considered woefully premodern and literal. 75.
Perhaps we should not be so surprised by the existence of something like the Flynn effect. Its absence
would be more startling; it would mean we were no longer responding to the world we are creating. If
we are lucky, perhaps we will keep building a world that will make us smarter and smarter—one where
our descendants will contemplate our simplicity. Missing paragraphs:
A. The villagers were not stupid. Their world just required different skills. “I think the most fascinating
aspect of this isn’t that we do so much better on IQ tests,” Flynn says. “It’s the new light it sheds on
what I call the history of the mind in the 20th century.”
B. Of course, our minds are changing in ways other than those which can be measured by IQ tests.
“People are getting faster.” Hambrick says. “Previously, it had been thought that 200 milliseconds is
about the fastest that people can respond. But if you ask people who have done this sort of research,
they’re having to discard more trials. We text, we play video games, we do a lot more things that require really fast responses.
C. Almost as soon as researchers recognized the Flynn effect, they saw that the ascending IQ scores
were the result almost entirely of improved performances on specific parts of the most widely used
intelligence tests. It would seem more natural to expect improvements in crystallized intelligence—the
kind of knowledge picked up in school. This is not happening, though. The scores in the sections that
measure skills in arithmetic and vocabulary levels have remained largely constant over time.
D. A paradox of the Flynn effect is that these tools were designed to be completely nonverbal and
culture-free measurements of what psychologists call fluid intelligence—an innate capacity to solve
unfamiliar problems. Yet the Flynn effect clearly shows that something in the environment is having a
marked influence on the supposedly culture-free components of intelligence in populations worldwide.
Detailed studies of generational differences in performance on intelligence tests suspect that our
enhanced ability to think abstractly may be linked to a new flexibility in the way we perceive objects in the world.
E. Flynn likes to use a technological analogy to describe the long-term interaction between mind and
culture. “The speeds of automobiles in 1900 were absurdly slow because the roads were so lousy,” he 9 | P a g e Chữ ký G.khảo 1 Chữ ký G.khảo 2 Số phách Số T.tự bài thi
says. “You would have shaken yourself to pieces.” But roads and cars co-evolved. When roads
improved, cars did, too, and improved roads prompted engineers to design even faster cars.
F. “To my amazement, in the 21st century the increase is still continuing,” says Flynn, whose most
recent book on the subject—Are We Getting Smarter?— was published in 2012. “The latest data show
the gains in America holding at the old rate of three-tenths of a point a year.”
G. Consequently, we may not be more intelligent than our forebears, but there is no doubt our minds
have changed. Flynn believes the change began with the industrial revolution, which engendered mass
education, smaller families, and a society in which technical and managerial jobs replaced agricultural
ones. Education, in turn, became the driver for still more innovation and social change, setting up an
ongoing positive feedback loop between our minds and a technology-based culture that does not seem likely to end any time soon.
H. Formal education, though, cannot entirely explain what is going on. Some researchers had assumed
that most of the IQ increases seen over the 20th century might have been driven by gains at the left end
of the intelligence bell curve among those with the lowest scores, an outcome that would likely be a
consequence of better educational opportunities. However, a close examination of 20 years of data
revealed that the scores of the top 5 per cent of students were going up in perfect lockstep with the Flynn effect. Your answers 69. 70. 71. 72. 73. 74. 75.
Part 4. For questions 76-85, read an extract from a journal and choose the answer A, B, C or D that
fits best according to the text. Write your answers in the corresponding numbered boxes provided. Rising Sea Levels
Perhaps the most pervasive climatic effect of global warming is rapid escalation of ice melt. Mount
Kilimanjaro in Africa, portions of the South American Andes, and the Himalayas will very likely lose
most of their glacial ice within the next two decades, affecting local water resources. Glacial ice
continues its retreat in Alaska. NASA scientists determined that Greenland's ice sheet is thinning by
about 1 m per year. The additional melt water, especially from continental ice masses and glaciers, is
adding to a rise in sea level worldwide. Satellite remote sensing is monitoring global sea level, sea ice,
and continental ice. Worldwide measurements confirm that sea level rose during the last century.
Surrounding the margins of Antarctica, and constituting about 11% of its surface area, are numerous ice
shelves, especially where sheltering inlets or bays exist. Covering many thousands of square kilometres,
these ice shelves extend over the sea while still attached to continental ice. The loss of these ice shelves
does not significantly raise sea level, for they already displace seawater. The concern is for the possible
surge of grounded continental ice that the ice shelves hold back from the sea.
Although ice shelves constantly break up to produce icebergs, some large sections have recently broken
free. In 1998 an iceberg (150 km by 35 km) broke off the Ronne Ice Shelf, southeast of the Antarctic
Peninsula. In March 2000 an iceberg tagged B-15 broke off the Ross Ice Shelf (some 900 longitude west
of the Antarctic Peninsula), measuring 300 km by 40 km. Since 1993, six ice shelves have disintegrated
in Antarctica. About 8000 km of ice shelf are gone, changing maps, freeing up islands to
circumnavigation, and creating thousands of icebergs. The Larsen Ice Shelf, along the east coast of the
Antarctic Peninsula, has been retreating slowly for years. Larsen-A suddenly disintegrated in 1995. In 10 | P a g e Chữ ký G.khảo 1 Chữ ký G.khảo 2 Số phách Số T.tự bài thi
only 35 days in early 2002, Larsen-B collapsed into icebergs. This ice loss is likely a result of the 2.5°C
temperature increase in the region in the last 50 years. In response to the increasing warmth, the
Antarctic Peninsula is sporting new vegetation growth, previously not seen there.
A loss of polar ice mass, augmented by melting of alpine and mountain glaciers (which experienced
more than a 30% decrease in overall ice mass during the last century) will affect sea-level rise. The
IPCC assessment states that “between one-third to one-half of the existing mountain glacier mass could
disappear over the next hundred years.” Also, “there is conclusive evidence for a worldwide recession
of mountain glaciers ... This is among the clearest and best evidence for a change in energy balance at
the Earth's surface since the end of the 19th century.”
[A.] Sea-level rise must be expressed as a range of values that are under constant reassessment. [B.] The
2001 IPCC forecast for global mean sea-level rise this century, given regional variations, is from 0.11-
0.88 m. [C.] The median value of 0.48 m is two to four times the rate of previous increase. These
increases would continue beyond 2100 even if greenhouse gas concentrations are stabilized. [D.]
The Scripps Institute of Oceanography in La Jolla, California, has kept ocean temperature records since
1916. Significant temperature increases are being recorded to depths of more than 300 m as ocean
temperature records are set. Even the warming of the ocean itself will contribute about 25% of sea-level
rise, simply because of thermal expansion of the water. In addition, any change in ocean temperature has
a profound effect on weather and, indirectly, on agriculture and soil moisture. In fact, the ocean system
appears to have delayed some surface global warming during the past century through absorption of excess atmospheric neat.
A quick survey of world coastlines shows that even a moderate rise could bring changes of unparalleled
proportions. At stake are the river deltas, lowland coastal farming valleys, and low-lying mainland areas,
all contending with high water, high tides, and higher storm surges. Particularly tragic social and
economic consequences will affect small island states - being able to adjust within their present country
boundaries, disruption of biological systems, loss of biodiversity, reduction in water resources, among
the impacts. There could be both internal and international migration of affected human populations,
spread over decades, as people move away from coastal flooding from the sea-level rise.
76. There is more new plant life in Antarctica recently because ______.
A. the mountain glaciers have melted
B. the land masses have split into islands
C. the icebergs have broken into smaller pieces
D. the temperature has risen by a few degrees
77. It may be inferred from this passage that icebergs are formed ______.
A. by a drop in ocean temperatures
B. when an ice shelf breaks free
C. from intensely cold islands D. if mountain glaciers melt
78. The word ‘there’ in paragraph 3 refers to ______.
A. polar ice mass in the last 50 years B. the temperature increase C. new vegetation growth D. in the Antarctic Peninsula
79. The author explains the loss of polar and glacial ice by ______.
A. stating an educated opinion
B. referring to data in a study
C. comparing sea levels worldwide D. presenting his research
80. The word ‘conclusive’ in paragraph 4 is closest in meaning to ______. A. definite B. independent C. unique D. valuable
81. Why does the author mention the Scripps Institute of Oceanography?
A. The location near the coast endangers the Scripps facility. 11 | P a g e Chữ ký G.khảo 1 Chữ ký G.khảo 2 Số phách Số T.tự bài thi
B. Research at Scripps indicates that the ocean is getting warmer.
C. One-quarter of the rising sea levels has been recorded at Scripps.
D. Records at Scripps have been kept for nearly one hundred years.
82. Which of the sentences below best expresses the information in the bolded statement in the passage?
A. Global warming on the surface of the planet may have been retarded during the last hundred years
because heat in the atmosphere was absorbed by the oceans.
B. Global warming on the surface of the ocean was greater than it was on the rest of the planet during
the past century because of heat in the atmosphere.
C. Too much heat in the atmosphere has caused global warming on the surface of the planet for the
past hundred years in spite of the moderation caused by the oceans.
D. There is less heat being absorbed by the oceans now than there was a hundred years ago before the
atmosphere began to experience global warming.
83. Why will people move away from the coastlines in the future?
A. It will be too warm for them to live there.
B. The coastlines will have too much vegetation.
C. Flooding will destroy the coastal areas.
D. No agricultural crops will be grown on the coasts.
84. Which of the following statements most accurately reflects the author's opinion about rising sea levels?
A. Sea levels would rise without global warming.
B. Rising sea levels can be reversed.
C. The results of rising sea levels will be serious.
D. Sea levels are rising because of new glaciers.
85. Look at the four squares [.] that show where the following sentence could be inserted in the passage.
During the last century, sea level rose 10-20 cm; a rate 10 times higher than the average rate during the last 3000 years
Where could the sentence best be added? A. [A.] B. [B.] C. [C.] D. [D.] Your answers 76. 77. 78. 79. 80. 81. 82. 83. 84. 85.
Part 5: The passage below consists of five paragraphs marked A, B, C, D and E. For questions
86-95, read the passage and do the task that follows. Write your answers in the corresponding
numbered boxes provided.
LIFTING HIGHER EDUCATION TO LOFTIER HEIGHTS?
Academic John Brennan asks whether universities should leave on-the-job training to employers.
A. There is a lot of emphasis nowadays placed on the need for universities and business groups to get
graduates “work ready” through vocational workplace training. This is to be welcomed but it is also to
be questioned – about what it should mean in practice and how it should be applied. The concept is
nothing new. I remember some years back being at a meeting about higher education and employment,
attended by a number of employer representatives. I recall one employer remarking that of the many 12 | P a g e Chữ ký G.khảo 1 Chữ ký G.khảo 2 Số phách Số T.tự bài thi
thousands of graduates that he had hired what he really wanted and expected was for each of them to
have changed the nature of the job by the time they had left the role.
B. Rather than being concerned with how recruits would fit into existing organizational arrangements
and master existing ways of doing things, here was an employer who expected graduates to change
existing arrangements and ways of working. Who, rather than focusing on whether graduates had the
right kinds of skills and competencies, acknowledged that he didn’t know what skills and competencies
his workers would need in a few years’ time. The very point of hiring graduates was that he hoped to get
people who would themselves be able to work out what was required and be capable of delivering it and a bold new future.
C. Of course, starting any job requires some work-specific knowledge and capability and when
recruiting staff, graduate or non-graduate, employers have a responsibility to provide suitable induction
and training. The responsibilities of higher education are different. They are about preparing for work in
the long term, in different jobs and, quite possibly, in different sectors. This is preparation for work in a
different world, for work that is going to require learning over a lifetime, not just the first few weeks of
that first job after graduation. Current initiatives set out a perfectly reasonable set of objectives for the
ways in which higher education can help prepare students for their working lives. But much will depend
on the interpretation and on recognizing who – higher education or employer – is best equipped to contribute what.
D. In the rush to focus on “vocational training to improve graduate employability” academics need to
remember that all higher education is vocational in the sense that it can help shape a graduate’s capacity
to succeed in the workplace. In this way higher education is about life skills, not just job skills. Many
years ago, Harold Silver and I wrote a book entitled A Liberal Vocationalism. It was based on a project
we had just completed on the aims of degree courses in vocational areas such as accountancy, business
and engineering. The book’s title intentionally conveyed the message that even vocational degree
courses were about more than training for a job. There were assumptions about criticality, transferability
of skills, creating and adapting to change and, above all, an academic credibility.
E. Degree courses in subjects such as history and sociology are preparations for employment as much
as vocational degrees such as business and engineering. But the job details will not be known at the time
of study. Indeed, they may not be known until several years later. Thus, the relevance of higher
education to later working life for many graduates will lie in the realm of generic and transferable skills
rather than specific competencies needed for a first job after graduation. The latter competences are not
unimportant but the graduate’s employer is generally much better equipped than a university to ensure
that the graduate acquires them. Work experience alongside or as part of study can also help a lot.
Higher education is for the long term. Universities, employers and students should realize that.
In which paragraph is it stated that Your answers
new proposals require an appropriate level of scrutiny? 86 ……………
academic subjects have benefits beyond their syllabuses? 87 …………….
business is investing in an unknown quantity in the pursuit of an uncertain goal? 88 …………….
responsibility for service provision needs to be correctly allocated? 89 …………….
educators need to make sure that they don’t lose sight of an important point? 90 ……………. 13 | P a g e Chữ ký G.khảo 1 Chữ ký G.khảo 2 Số phách Số T.tự bài thi
the issues discussed are a recurring theme that is yet to be agreed upon? 91 …………….
beliefs about the key topics of a study were alluded to in the heading of a publication? 92 …………….
industry is better suited to cover some issues than educational institutions? 93 …………….
original thinking is key in finding solutions to future challenges? 94 …………….
while obligations vary, they are still present for both parties? 95 …………….
SECTION IV. WRITING (60 POINTS)
Part 1. Read the following extract and use your own words to summarize it. Your summary should be
between 100 and 120 words long.
The economic recession has brought about an abrupt change of mood on university campuses up and
down the country. A five-year boom in the graduate job market has been stopped in its tracks and salary
expectations. No wonder only one in five of 16,000 final year students questioned for a survey by High
Flyers Research said that they expected to get a job for which they are qualified by the time they
graduate this summer. Despite the gloom, the financial case for going to university remains compelling.
International surveys continue to show the salary premium enjoyed by UK graduates over those who
choose not to go to university as among the highest in the world. In the post-recession world, a
university degree is likely to be even more of an advantage to job-seekers than before.
But choosing the right degree course and the right university will also be more important than ever. This
does not necessarily mean that students should go only for job-related degrees, but it will put a premium
on marketable skills. And it may mean that more universities can be expected to follow the lead of
Liverpool John Moores University, which puts all of its undergraduates through a World of Work
(WoW) course designed to give them the problem-solving and communication skills they’ll need at work.
The Times Good University Guide 2010, published by HarperCollins, offers a wealth of essential
information to help candidates to navigate the maze of university choice, as well as advice on students’
life. It is the most authoritative guide to universities in the UK and is an essential and comprehensive
tool for students and parents.
The online version of the Guide allows students and parents to create their own individual university
rankings and to compare the strengths and weaknesses of different institutions by sorting universities
according to one of the eight criteria—from student satisfaction to research quality and degree results.
The table sees Oxford maintain its leadership, despite coming below Cambridge in most of the subject
tables. Cambridge has the better record on student satisfaction, research, entry standards, completion
and graduate destinations, but Oxford’s lead in staffing levels, degree classifications and particularly in
spending on libraries and other student facilities makes the difference.
The biggest climbers at the top of the table include Liverpool (up from 43 to 28), Leeds (up from 31 to
27), Sheffield (up from 22 to 18), Edinburgh (up from 18 to 14) and Exeter (up from 13 to 9). St
Andrews remains the top university in Scotland, while Cardiff is well clear in Wales.
The key information is contained in the 62 subject tables, which now cover every area of higher
education. The number of institutions in this year’s tables has increased by only one because a fourth
university - the West of Scotland - has instructed the Higher Education Statistics Agency not to release 14 | P a g e Chữ ký G.khảo 1 Chữ ký G.khảo 2 Số phách Số T.tự bài thi
its data. It joins Swansea Metropolitan, London Metropolitan and Liverpool Hope universities in
blocking the release of data to avoid appearing in league tables.
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Part 2: The bar chart below shows the percentage of Australian men and women in different
age groups who did regular physical activity in 2010.
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Part 3: Write an essay of 350 words on the following topic
“The surest indicator of a great nation is not the achievements of its rulers, artists, or
scientists but the general welfare of all its people.”
Present your perspective on this issue, using relevant reasons and examples to support your views.
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