Kì thi chọn đội tuyển chính thức dự thi HSG quốc gia lớp 12 THPT tỉnh Vĩnh Long năm học 2019-2020 môn thi Tiếng Anh

SỞ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO
KÌ THI HỌC SINH GIỎI THPT CẤP TỈNH VĨNH LONG
VÀ CHỌN ĐỘI TUYỂN THI HỌC SINH GIỎI CẤP QUỐC GIA NĂM HỌC 2019 - 2020 ĐỀ CHÍNH THỨC MÔN THI : TIẾNG ANH
Thời gian : 180 phút (không kể thời gian giao đề)
(Đề thi gồm có 14 trang)
Ngày thi : 22 / 9 / 2019 Chữ ký Chữ ký Tổng điểm Tổng điểm Số phách Giám khảo 1 Giám khảo 2 (Bằng số) (Bằng chữ) Số thứ tự Điểm từng phần: I. ……………….
Hướng dẫn thi Nghe hiểu: II. ……………… 
Thí sinh có 3 phút để nghiên cứu các câu hỏi. 
Bài nghe gồm 3 phần , mỗi phần được nghe 2 lần. III. ……………… 
Bắt đầu mỗi phần đều có thông báo (bằng tiếng Anh) 
Bắt đầu và kết thúc phần thi nghe là đoạn nhạc. IV. ………………
Cộng: ………….….....
I. LISTENING (5 points) Part 1: Questions 1-10
You will hear five short extracts in which different people are talking about things that have recently happened at work.
You will hear the recording twice. While you listen, you must complete BOTH TASKS. Task 1
For questions 1-5, match the extracts with the situations, listed A-H. Write your answer (A-H) in the blanks (1-5).
A. receiving an unwelcome visitor Speaker 1: ________ (1)
B. being unfairly blamed for something
C. making a terrible mistake Speaker 2: ________ (2)
D. receiving an unexpected offer Speaker 3: ________ (3)
E. doing something uncharacteristic Speaker 4: ________ (4)
F. resolving a misunderstanding G. avoiding an argument Speaker 5: ________ (5)
H. changing an opinion of someone Trang 1 / 14 Task 2
For questions 6-10, match the extracts with the feeling each speaker expresses, listed A-H. Write your
answer (A-H) in the blanks (6-10). A. amusement B. anger
Speaker 1: _________ (6) C. guilt
Speaker 2: _________ (7) D. confusion E. resignation
Speaker 3: _________ (8) F. shock
Speaker 4: _________ (9) G. suspicion
Speaker 5: _________ (10) H. sadness Part 2: Questions 11-19
You will hear a talk given by a journalist who is interested in a type of insect called the damselfly. For
questions 11-19, complete the sentences with a word or short phrase.
___________________________________________________________________________________
There is a lack of information about both the number and _________________ (11) of damselflies
across different locations in Britain.
The damselfly has been badly affected by recent changes in the countryside, for example,
(12)____________________ and the filling-in of ponds.
An observer can identify a damselfly by the position of its (13) _________________ while it is resting.
Because of their colours, some damselflies are described as resembling types of
(14)_____________________.
The commonest species of damselfly in the speaker’s area is called the (15) _________________.
The most endangered species of damselfly in the speaker’s area is called the (16) _________________.
The best place to find damselflies is near water which is (17) _______________, and which supports plant life.
Damselflies are easiest to see in the hours immediately following (18) __________________.
The Conservation Trust would like to make a (19) ___________________ of places where damselflies can still be found. Part 3: Questions 20-25
You will hear a radio interview with Diana Boardman, the manager of an orchestra. For questions 20 to
25, choose the answer (A, B, C or D) which fits best according to what you hear. You will listen to the recording twice.
_______________________________________________________________________________
20. Diana feels that her orchestra is special because _________.
A. it benefits from a long history
B. her players are skilled in many areas
C. it is known for a particular type of music
D. she has associated with the right people Trang 2 / 14
21. Diana says that her concerts ________ .
A. are better attended than most
B. consists of a mix of music types
C. can be interpreted in two ways
D. have a high risk element to them
22. Diana thinks programming an entire night of modern music ________.
A. a slip between better known pieces B. a risk to the event C. a sort of a tendency
D. a new trend for women artists
23. According to Diana, it is important to ________.
A. move towards a change in music traditions
B. distinguish classical music from other art forms
C. understand the past influences on music
D. recognize the role of women in the history of music
24. Diana feels that the number of men in classical music audiences ______.
A. should come as no surprise
B. is generally underestimated
C. reflects how things have changed
D. is difficult to explain
25. Why did Diana decide to make arts administration her career?
A. It was the subject she had studied.
B. It proved to be satisfying.
C. She likes a competitive atmosphere.
D. Influential colleagues recommended it.
II. LEXICO - GRAMMAR (4 points)
Part 1: Choose the best answer (A, B, C or D) to each of the following questions and write your
answers (A, B, C, D) in the corresponding numbered boxes:
1. His driving license has been _________ on the ground of drinking driving. A. repealed B. revoked C. nullified D. recalled
2. Due to the nature of the earthquake, a much larger__________ of the population might be affected. A. segment B. density C. totality D. division
3. The doctor warned him that if he continued to pick the sore he would _________ it. A. demolish B. designate C. exasperate D. aggravate
4. The lawyer’s aggressive questioning seemed to_________ the witness on the stand. A. rattle B. battle C. stable D. ladle
5. Could you possibly __________ me at the next committee meeting? A. stand in for B. make up for C. go back on D. keep in with
6. Most teenagers go through a rebellious _________ for a few years but the soon grow out of it. A. stint B. span C. duration D. phase
7. The rents in this area are __________ the highest in the city. A. far from away B. away by far C. far and away D. far to away
8. We finally managed to _________ our way through the crowd and reach the exit. A. create B. insist C. move D. force
9. Suddenly, I overheard Melissa and Alex talking about me in the _________ room. A. attached B. beside C. near D. adjacent Trang 3 / 14
10. _________ in front of a camera lens changes the color of the light that reaches the film. A. Placed a filter B. A filter is placed C. A filter placed D. When a filter placed
11. ________ relations with friends and acquaintances, play a major role in the social development of adolescents.
A. What are called peer group relations are C. Peer group relations, the
B. Peer group relations are
D. By peer group relations, we mean
12. _______ towards shore, its shape is changed by its collision with the shallow sea bottom. A. During a wave rolls B. As a wave rolls C. A wave rolls D. A wave’s rolling
13. ________ so incredible is that these insects successfully migrate to places that they have never even seen.
A. That makes the monarch buttertlies’ migration
B. The migration of the monarch butterflies is
C. What makes the monarch butterflies’ migration
D. The migration of the monarch butterflies, which is
14. Reinforced concrete is concrete that is strengthened by metal bars _____.
A. in it that are embedded
C. are that it embedded in
B. embedded that are in it
D. that are embedded in it Your answers 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14.
Part 2: For questions 15-20, write the correct form of each bracketed word in the corresponding
numbered boxes. There is an example at the beginning. THE DESIRE TO KNOW
Curiosity goes back to the dawn of human (0)______ (EXIST). This irrepressible desire to know is not
a characteristic of inanimate objects. Nor does it seem to be (15) ______ (ATTRIBUTE) to some form
of living organisms which, for that very reason, we can scarcely bring ourselves to consider alive. A
tree, for example, does not display recognizable curiosity, not does a sponge, or even an oyster. If
chance events bring them poison, predators or parasites, they die as (16)_______ (CEREMONY) as they lived.
Early in the scheme of life, independent motion was developed by some organisms. It meant an (17)
______ (ORDINARY) advance in their control of the environment. A moving organism no longer
waited in stolid (18) _______ (RIGID) for food to come its way, but went out after it. The individual
that hesitated in the (19) _______(ZEAL) search for food, or that was overly conservative in its investigation, starved.
As organisms grew more complex, more messages or greater variety were received from and about the
surrounding environment. At the same time, the nervous system, the living instrument that interprets
and stores the data collected by the sense organs, became (20) _______(INCREASE) complex.
Your answers : 0. existence 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20.
III. READING (4 points)
Part 1: For questions 1- 10, read the text below and decide which answer best fits each gap. Trang 4 / 14
Many separate fires (1) _______ in the humus of the forest floor. Smoke sometimes (2) _______ the
sun, which was often visible only at midday. On September 30, flames came within three miles of the
town of Green Bay, (3) ________ 1,200 cords of wood stored at a charcoal kiln.
The settlements in the area were becoming increasingly (4) ________ from both the outside world and
one another as railroad and telegraph lines burned. The fires seemed to wax and wane, (5) ________ on
the wind and chance. On September 30 the Marinette and Peshtigo Eagle reported hopefully that “the
fires have nearly (6) _________ now in this vicinity.”
But the paper was wrong, and the fires were growing. By October 4, the smoke was so thick on Green
Bay that ships had to use their foghorns and (7)______ by compass. On October 7, the paper, reduced
to looking for any scrap of good news, noted that at least the smoke had greatly reduced the mosquito
population and that “a certain establishment down on the bay shore that has been (8) _________ to the
respectable citizens” had burned.
The paper’s editor, (9) _________ by the burning of the telegraph line, could not know it, but a large,
deep low-pressure area was moving in from the west. The winds circling it would turn the smoldering
forest of northeastern Wisconsin into (10) ________ on earth.
1. A. extinguished B. engulfed C. spread D. smoldered 2. A. obscured B. burnt C. illuminated D. exposed 3. A. damaging B. consuming C. avoiding D. licking
4. A. frightened B. lonely C. isolated D. inundated 5. A. depending B. independent C. waiting D. from 6. A. increased B. died out C. flared D. diminished 7. A. steer B. drive C. guess D. navigate 8. A. frequented B. obnoxious C. open D. ignorant 9. A. cut-off B. burnt C. dismissed D. chased 10. A. peace B. heaven C. hell D. paradise Your answers here 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Part 2 : For questions 11-22. Read the following passage and , for each question, choose one best
answers (A, B, C or D) based on what stated in the passage or on what can be inferred from the
passage. Write your answers (A, B, C, D) in the corresponding numbered boxes.
METHODS OF STUDYING INFANT PERCEPTION
In the study of perceptual abilities of infants, a number of techniques are used to determine infants’
responses to various stimuli. Because they cannot verbalize or fill out questionnaires, indirect
techniques of naturalistic observation are used as the primary means of determining what infants can
see, hear, feel, and so forth. Each of these methods compares an infant’s state prior to the introduction
of a stimulus with its state during or immediately following the stimulus. The difference between the
two measures provides the researcher with an indication of the level and duration of the response to the
stimulus. For example, if a uniformly moving pattern of some sort is passed across the visual field of a
neonate (newborn), repetitive following movements of the eye occur. The occurrence of these eye
movements provides evidence that the moving pattern is perceived at some level by the newborn.
Similarly, changes in the infant’s general level of motor activity - turning the head, blinking the eyes,
crying, and so forth - have been used by researchers as visual indicators of the infant’s perceptual abilities.
Such techniques, however, have limitations. First, the observation may be unreliable in that two or
more observers may not agree that the particular response occurred, or to what degree it occurred.
Second, responses are difficult to quantify. Often the rapid and diffuse movements of the infant make it
difficult to get an accurate record of the number of responses. The third, and most potent, limitation is Trang 5 / 14
that it is not possible to be certain that the infant’s response was due to the stimulus presented or to a
change from no stimulus to a stimulus. The infant may be responding to aspects of the stimulus
different than those identified by the investigator. Therefore, when observational assessment is used as
a technique for studying infant perceptual abilities, care must be taken not to overgeneralize from the
data or to rely on one or two studies as conclusive evidence of a particular perceptual ability of the infant.
Observational assessment techniques have become much more sophisticated, reducing the limitations
just presented. Film analysis of the infant’s responses, heart and respiration rate monitors, and
nonnutritive sucking devices are used as effective tools in understanding infant perception. [A] Film
analysis permits researchers to carefully study the infant’s responses over and over and in slow motion.
[B] Precise measurements can be made of the length and frequency of the infant’s attention between
two stimuli. [C] Heart and respiration monitors provide the investigator with the number of heartbeats
or breaths taken when a new stimulus is presented. [D] Numerical increases are used as quantifiable
indicators of heightened interest in the new stimulus. Increases in nonnutritive sucking were first used
as an assessment measure by researchers in 1969. They devised an apparatus that connected a baby’s
pacifier to a counting device. As stimuli were presented, changes in the infant’s sucking behavior were
recorded. Increases in the number of sucks were used as an indicator of the infant’s attention to or
preference for a given visual display.
Two additional techniques of studying infant perception have come into vogue. The first is the
habituation- dishabituation technique, in which a single stimulus is presented repeatedly to the infant
until there is a measurable decline (habituation) in whatever attending behavior is being observed. At
that point a new stimulus is presented, and any recovery (dishabituation) in responsiveness is recorded.
If the infant fails to dishabituate and continues to show habituation with the new stimulus, it is assumed
that the baby is unable to perceive the new stimulus as different. The habituation-dishabituation
paradigm has been used most extensively with studies of auditory and olfactory perception in intants.
The second technique relies on evoked potentials, which are electrical brain responses that may be
related to a particular stimulus because of where they originate. Changes in the electrical pattern of the
brain indicate that the stimulus is getting through to the infant’s central nervous system and eliciting some form of response.
Each of the preceding techniques provides the researcher with evidence that the infant can detect or
discriminate between stimuli. With these sophisticated observational assessment and electro
physiological measures, we know that the neonate of only a few days is far more perceptive than
previously suspected. However, these measures are only “indirect” indicators of the infant’s perceptual abilities.
11. The word “uniformly” in the paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to_______. A. clearly B. quickly C. consistently D. occasionally
12. Paragraph 1 indicates that researchers use indirect methods primarily to observe the _________ .
A. range of motor activity in neonates
B. frequency and duration of various stimuli
C. change in an infant’s state following the introduction of a stimulus
D. range of an infant’s visual field
13. Why does the author mention “repetitive following movements of the eye” in paragraph 1?
A. To identify a response that indicates a neonate’s perception of a stimulus
B. To explain why a neonate is capable of responding to stimuli only through repetitive movements
C. To argue that motor activity in a neonate may be random and unrelated to stimuli
D. To emphasize that responses to stimuli vary in infants according to age
14. Which of the following is NOT mentioned in paragraph 2 as a problem in using the technique of direct observation? Trang 6 / 14
A. It is impossible to be certain of the actual cause of an infant’s response.
B. Infants’ responses, which occur quickly and diffusely, are often difficult to measure.
C. Infants do not respond well to stimuli presented in an unnatural laboratory setting.
D. It may be difficult for observers to agree on the presence or the degree of a response.
15. Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the underlined sentence in
paragraph 2? Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.
A. Researchers using observational assessment techniques on infants must not overgeneralize and
must base their conclusions on data from many studies.
B. On the basis of the data from one or two studies, it seems that some infants develop a particular
perceptual ability not observed in others.
C. To use data from one or two studies on infants' perceptual abilities, it is necessary to use
techniques that will provide conclusive evidence.
D. When researchers fail to make generalizations from their studies, their observed data is often inconclusive.
16. What is the author’s primary purpose in paragraph 3?
A. To explain why researchers must conduct more than one type of study when they are attempting
to understand infant perception
B. To describe new techniques for observing infant perception that overcome problems identified in the previous paragraph
C. To present and evaluate the conclusions of various studies on infant perception
D. To point out the strengths and weaknesses of three new methods for quantifying an infant’s reaction to stimuli
17. The word “quantifiable” in the paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to _______ . A. visual B. permanent C. meaningful D. measurable
18. Paragraph 3 mentions all of the following as indications of an infant's heightened interest in a new stimulus EXCEPT an increase in A. sucking behavior
B. the number of breaths taken C. heart rate D. eye movements
19. According to paragraph 4, which of the following leads to the conclusion that infants are able to
differentiate between stimuli in a habituation-dishabituation study?
A. Dishabituation occurs with the introduction of a new stimulus.
B. Electrical responses in the infant’s brain decline with each new stimulus.
C. Habituation is continued with the introduction of a new stimulus.
D. The infant displays little change in electrical brain responses.
20. In paragraph 4, what does the author suggest about the way an infant’s brain perceives stimuli?
A. An infant’s potential to respond to a stimulus may be related to the size of its brain.
B. Changes in the electrical patterns of an infant’s brain are difficult to detect.
C. Different areas of an infant's brain respond to different types of stimuli.
D. An infant is unable to perceive more than one stimulus at a time.
21. Paragraph 5 indicates that researchers who used the techniques described in the passage discovered that ____________ .
A. infants find it difficult to perceive some types of stimuli
B. neonates of only a few days cannot yet discriminate between stimuli
C. observational assessment is less useful for studying infant perception than
researchers previously believed
D. a neonate is able to perceive stimuli better than researchers once thought
22. Look at the four squares [■] that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the
passage. Where would the sentence best fit?
The repetition allows researchers to observe the infant's behavior until they reach agreement about the
presence and the degree of the infant's response.
Where would the sentence best fit? Trang 7 / 14 A. Choice [A] B. Choice [B] C. Choice [C] D. Choice [D]
Write your answers here 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22
Part 3: Questions 22-33 are based on the reading passage below.
Information theory – the big idea
Information theory lies at the heart of everything - from DVD players and the genetic code of
DNA to the physics of the universe at its most fundamental. It has been central to the
development of the science of communication, which enables data to be sent electronically and
has therefore had a major impact on our lives
A In April 2002 an event took place which demonstrated one of the many applications of
information theory. The space probe, Voyager I, launched in 1977, had sent back spectacular
images of Jupiter and Saturn and then soared out of the Solar System on a one-way mission to
the stars. After 25 years of exposure to the freezing temperatures of deep space, the probe was
beginning to show its age. Sensors and circuits were on the brink of failing and NASA experts
realised that they had to do something or lose contact with their probe forever. The solution was
to get a message to Voyager I to instruct it to use spares to change the failing parts. With the
probe 12 billion kilometres from Earth, this was not an easy task. By means of a radio dish
belonging to NASA’s Deep Space Network, the message was sent out into the depths of space.
Even travelling at the speed of light, it took over 11 hours to reach its target, far beyond the
orbit of Pluto. Yet, incredibly, the little probe managed to hear the faint call from its home
planet, and successfully made the switchover.
B It was the longest-distance repair job in history, and a triumph for the NASA engineers. But it
also highlighted the astonishing power of the techniques developed by American
Communications engineer Claude Shannon, who had died just a year earlier. Born in 1916 in
Petoskey, Michigan, Shannon showed an early talent for maths and for building gadgets, and
made breakthroughs in the foundations of computer technology when still a student. While at
Bell Laboratories, Shannon developed information theory, but shunned the resulting acclaim. In
the 1940s, he single-handedly created an entire science of communication which has since
inveigled its way into a host of applications, from DVDs to satellite communications to bar
codes - any area, in short, where data has to be conveyed rapidly yet accurately.
C This all seems light years away from the down-to-earth uses Shannon originally had for his
work, which began when he was a 22-year-old graduate engineering student at the prestigious
Massaehuaetts Institute of Technology in 1939. He set out with an apparently simple aim: to pin
down the precise meaning of the concept of ‘information’. The most basic form of information,
Shannon argued, is whether something is true or false - which can be captured in the binary
unit, or 'bit', of the form 1 or 0. Having identified this fundamental unit, Shannon set about
defining otherwise vague ideas about information and how to transmit it from place to place. In
the process he discovered something surprising: it is always possible to guarantee information
will get through random interference - 'noise’ - intact.
D Noise usually means unwanted sounds which interfere with genuine information. Information
theory generalises this idea via theorems that capture the effects of noise with mathematical
precision. In particular, Shannon showed that noise sets a limit on the rate at which information Trang 8 / 14
can pass along communication channels while remaining error-free. This rate depends on the
relative strengths of the signal and noise travelling down the communication channel, and on its
capacity (its ‘bandwith’). The resulting limit, given in units of bits per second, is the absolute
maximum rate of error-free communication given signal strength and noise level. The trick,
Shannon showed, is to find ways of packaging up - ‘coding’ - information to cope with the
ravages of noise, while staying within the information-carrying capacity - 'bandwidth' - of the
communication system being used.
E Over the years scientists have devised many such coding methods, and they have proved crucial
in many technological feats. The Voyager spacecraft transmitted data using codes which added
one extra bit for every single bit of information; the result was an error rate of just one bit in
10,000 - and stunningly clear pictures of the planets. Other codes have become part of everyday
life - such as the Universal Product Code, or bar code, which uses a simple error-detecting
system that ensures supermarket check-out lasers can read the price even on, say, a crumpled
bag of crisps. As recently as 1993, engineers made a major breakthrough by discovering so-
called turbo codes - which come very close to Shannon's ultimate limit for the maximum rate
that data can be transmitted reliably, and now play a key role in the mobile videophone revolution.
F Shannon also laid the foundations of more efficient ways of storing information, by stripping
out superfluous (‘redundant') bits from data which contributed little real information. As mobile
phone text messages like ‘I CN CU’ show, it is often possible to leave out a lot of data without
losing much meaning. As with error correction, however, there’s a limit beyond which
messages become too ambiguous. Shannon showed how to calculate this limit, opening the way
to the design of compression methods that cram maximum information into the minimum space. Questions 23-28
Reading Passage 3 has six paragraphs, A-F. Which paragraph contains the following information?
Write your answers (A-F) in the numbered boxes.
Write the correct letter, A-F, in boxes 23-28 on your answer sheet. 23
an explanation of the factors affecting the transmission of information 24
an example of how unnecessary information can be omitted 25
a reference to Shannon’s attitude to fame 26
details of a machine capable of interpreting incomplete information 27
a detailed account of an incident involving information theory 28
a reference to what Shannon initially intended to achieve in his research Write your answers here 23 24 25 26 27 28
Questions 29-33 Complete the notes betow.
Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 33-37 on your answer sheet. The Voyager 1 Space Probe 
The probe transmitted pictures of both (29) _____________ and _______________, then left
the (30) _____________. 
The freezing temperatures were found to have a negative effect on parts of the space probe. 
Scientists feared that both the (31) ___________and ___________ were about to stop working. 
The only hope was to tell the probe to replace them with (32) _____________ - but distance Trang 9 / 14 
made communication with the probe difficult. 
A (33) _______________was used to transmit the message at the speed of light. 
The message was picked up by the probe and the switchover took place.
Part 4: You are going to read a short story. Seven paragraphs have been removed from the story.
Choose from the paragraphs A-H the one which fits each gap (34-40). There is one extra paragraph
which you do not need to use. Write your answers in the given spaces.
___________________________________________________________________________________ RAJASTHAN
One evening, by the light of an electric bulb we
nineteenth- century Bundi murals around the
sat out with the villagers in the main Street of a
courtyard had faded to blues and yellows and
‘model village’ of the command area. The
greens. In the inner rooms, hidden from the sun,
Street was unpaved, and the villagers,
brighter colours survived, and some panels
welcoming us, had quickly spread cotton rugs
were exquisite. But it all awaited ruin.
on the ground that had been softened by the (37) ________________
morning’s rain, half hardened by the
Their mock aggressiveness and mock
afternoon’s heat, and then trampled and
exasperation held little of real despair or
manured by the village cattle returning at dusk.
rebellion. It was a ritual show of deference to
The women had withdrawn, we were led with
authority, a demonstration of their complete
the men and, until the rain came roaring in
dependence on authority. The commissioner again, we talked.
smiled and listened and heard them all; and (34) _______________ their passion faded.
The problems of the irrigation project the (38) ________________
commissioner was directing were not only They were far removed from the
those of salinity or the ravines or land levelling.
commissioner’s anxieties, from his vision of
The problem as he saw it, was the remaking of
what could be done with their land. They were,
men. And this was not simply making men
really, at peace with the world they knew. Like
want something; it meant in the first place,
the woman in whose yard we sat. She was
bringing them back from the self-wounding and
friendly, she had dragged out string beds for us
the special waste that come with an established
from her little brick hut; but her manner was destitution.
slightly supercilious. There was a reason. She (35) ________________
was happy, she considered herself blessed. She
But if in this model village - near Kotah Town,
had had three sons, and she glowed with that
which was fast industrialising - there had been achievement.
some movement, Bundi, the next day, seemed (39) ________________
to take us backward, Bundi and Kotah; to me,
Men had retreated to their last, impregnable
until this trip, they had only been beautiful
defences: their knowledge of who they were,
names, the names of related but distinct schools
their unshakeable place in the scheme of things;
of Rajasthan painting. The artistic glory of
and this knowledge was like their knowledge of
Bundi had come first in the late seventeenth
the seasons. Rituals marked the passage of each century.
day, rituals marked every stage of a man’s life. (36) ________________
Life itself had been turned to ritual; and
Old wars; bravely fought but usually little more
everything beyond this complete and sanctified
had been at stake other than the honour and world was vain and phantasmal.
local glory of one particular prince. The (40) ________________
fortifications were now useless, the palace was
But to those who embraced its philosophy of
empty. One dark, dusty room had old
distress, India also offered an enduring security,
photographs and remnants of Victorian bric-a-
its equilibrium. Only India with its great past,
brac. The small formal garden in the courtyard
its civilisation, its philosophy, and its almost
was in decay; and the mechanical, decorative
holy poverty, offered this truth; India was the Trang 10 / 14
truth. And India, for all its surface terrors, could
cruelty, as perfect. Not only by pauper but by
be proclaimed, without disingenuousness or prince. A
We were, as the commissioner said, among men who until recently, cut only the very tops of
sugar cane and left the rest of the plant, the substance of the crop, to rot. So the present concern,
here in the model village, about fertilisers and yields was an immeasurable advance. B
Kingdoms, empires, projects like the commissioner’s; they had come and gone. The monuments
of ambition and restlessness littered the land, so many of them abandoned or destroyed, so
many unfinished, the work of dynasties suddenly supplanted. India taught the vanity of all
action; and the visitor could be appalled by the waste, and by all that now appeared to threaten
the commissioner’s enterprise. C
So handsome, these men of Rajasthan, so self-possessed; it took time to understand that their
concerns were limited. The fields, water, crops, cattle: that was where concern began and
ended. They were a model village, and so they considered themselves. There was little more
that they needed, and I began to see my own ideas of village improvement as fantasies. Nothing
beyond food - and survival - had, as yet, become an object of ambition. D
All vitality had been sucked up into that palace on the hill; and now vitality had gone out of
Bundi. It showed in the rundown town on the hillside below the palace; it showed in the fields;
it showed in the people, more beaten down than at Kotah Town just sixty miles away, less
amenable to the commissioner’s ideas, and more full of complaints. They complained even
when they had no cause; and it seemed that they complained because they felt it was expected of them. E
All the chivalry of Rajasthan had been reduced here to nothing. The palace was empty; the petty
wars of princess had been absorbed into legend and could no longer be dated. All that remained
was what the visitor could see: small poor fields, ragged men, huts, monsoon mud. But in that
very abjectness lay security. Where the world had shrunk, and ideas of human possibility had
become extinct, the world could be seen as complete. F
The Prince’s state, or what had been his state, was wretched; just the palace and the peasants.
The developments in which he had invested hadn’t yet begun to show. In the morning, in the
rain, I saw young child labourers using their hands alone to shovel gravel onto a waterlogged
path. Groundnuts were the only source of protein here; but the peasants preferred to sell their
crop, and the children were stunted. G
And after the flat waterlogged fields, pallid paddy thinning out at times to marshland, after the
desolation of the road from Kotah, the flooded ditches, the occasional cycle-rickshaw, the damp
groups of bright-turbaned peasants waiting for the bus. Bundi Castle on its hill was startling, its
great walls like the work of giants, the extravagant creation of men who had once had much to defend. H
Later we sat with the ‘village level’ workers in the shade of a small tree in a woman's yard.
These officials were the last in the chain of command; on them much of the success of the
scheme depended. There had been evidence during the morning’s tour that they hadn’t all been
doing their jobs. But they were not abashed; instead, sitting in a line on a string bed, dressed
like officials in trousers and shirts, they spoke of their need for promotion and status. IV. WRITING (5 points)
Part 1: Read the following extract and use your own words to summarize it. Your summary should
be no more than 120 words long. (1.0. p.)
The Various Communicative Methods Practiced by Animals in the Wild Trang 11 / 14
Communication is part of our everyday life. We greet one another, smile or frown, depending on our
moods. Animals too, communicate, much to our surprise. Just like us, interaction among animals can be both verbal or non-verbal.
Singing is one way in which animals can interact with one another. Male blackbirds often use their
melodious songs to catch the attention of the females. These songs are usually rich in notes variation,
encoding various kinds of messages. Songs are also used to warn and keep off other blackbirds from
their territory, usually a place where they dwell and reproduce.
Large mammals in the oceans sing too, according to adventurous sailors. Enormous whales groan and
grunt while smaller dolphins and porpoises produce pings, whistles and clicks. These sounds are
surprisingly received by other mates as far as several hundred kilometers away.
Besides singing, body language also forms a large part of animals' communication tactics. Dominant
hyenas exhibit their power by raising the fur hackles on their necks and shoulders, while the submissive
ones normally "surrender" to the powerful parties by crouching their heads low and curling their lips a
little, revealing their teeth in friendly smiles.
Colors, which are most conspicuously found on animals are also important means of interaction among
animals. Male birds of paradise, which have the most gaudy colored feathers often hang themselves
upside down from branches, among fluffing plumes, displaying proudly their feathers, attracting the opposite sex.
The alternating black and white striped coats of zebras have their roles to play too. Each zebra is born
with a unique set of stripes which enables its mates to recognize them. When grazing safely, their
stripes are all lined up neatly so that none of them loses track of their friends. However, when danger
such as a hungry lion approaches, the zebras would dart out in various directions, making it difficult for the lion to choose his target.
Insects such as the wasps, armed with poisonous bites or stings, normally have brightly painted bodies
to remind other predators of their power. Hoverflies and other harmless insects also make use of this
fact and colored their bodies brightly in attempts to fool their predators into thinking that they are as
dangerous and harmful as the wasps too. Write your summary here:
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Part 2: The table gives information about a restaurant’s average sales in three different branches in
2016. Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons
where relevant. Write your answer to the task in at least 150 words. Vancouver Vancouver Vancouver Average Georgia Street Dunsmuir Street Drake Street Number of Transactions 854 750 390 Transaction Value $10.69 $5.61 $9.02 Number of Eat-in 405 358 200 Transactions Number of Take-Away 449 392 190 Transactions Most popular Item Chicken Burger Chicken Wings Chicken Pasta
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Part 3: Write an essay about 250 words on the following topic. (2.0. p.) Trang 13 / 14
In some countries today, there is an attitude that “anyone can do it” in arts – music, literature,
acting, art, etc. As a result, people with no talent become rich and famous and genuine talent is not valuated or appreciated.
Do you agree or disagree?
Use your own ideas, knowledge and experience and support your arguments with examples and relevant evidence.
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