Kỳ thi học sinh giỏi các trường THPT chuyên khu vực duyên hải và đồng bằng Bắc Bộ đề thi môn Tiếng Anh
Kỳ thi học sinh giỏi các trường THPT chuyên khu vực duyên hải và đồng bằng Bắc Bộ đề thi môn Tiếng Anh giúp các bạn học sinh sắp tham gia các kì thi Tiếng Anh tham khảo, học tập và ôn tập kiến thức, bài tập và đạt kết quả cao trong kỳ thi sắp tới. Mời bạn đọc đón xem!
Môn: Đề thi chọn học sinh giỏi Tiếng Anh lớp 12 THPT & đội tuyển dự thi học sinh giỏi Quốc gia THPT
Trường: Đề thi chọn HSG Tiếng Anh từ lớp 9 đến lớp 12 cấp trường, quận/ huyện, tỉnh/ thành phố
Thông tin:
Tác giả:
Thông tin :
Môn:
Đề thi chọn học sinh giỏi Tiếng Anh lớp 12 THPT & đội tuyển dự thi học sinh giỏi Quốc gia THPT
Trường:
Đề thi chọn HSG Tiếng Anh từ lớp 9 đến lớp 12 cấp trường, quận/ huyện, tỉnh/ thành phố
Tác giả:
Tài liệu liên quan:
Preview text:
THE ENGLISH HUB FOR THE
KỲ THI HỌC SINH GIỎI CÁC TRƯỜNG THPT CHUYÊN SPECIALISED
KHU VỰC DUYÊN HẢI VÀ ĐỒNG BẰNG BẮC BỘ
ĐỀ THI MÔN: TIẾNG ANH
Thời gian: 180 phút (không kể thời gian giao đề)
(Thí sinh làm bài trực tiếp vào đề)
(Đề thi gồm 15 trang) PRACTICE TEST A. LISTENING (50 points)
HƯỚNG DẪN PHẦN NGHE HIỂU •
Bài nghe gồm 4 phần; mỗi phần được nghe 2 lần, mỗi lần cách nhau 05 giây; mở đầu và kết thúc mỗi
phần nghe có tín hiệu. Thí sinh có 20 giây để đọc mỗi phần câu hỏi. •
Mở đầu và kết thúc bài nghe có tín hiệu nhạc. •
Mọi hướng dẫn cho thí sinh (bằng tiếng Anh) đã có trong bài nghe.
Part 1. Listen to part of a discussion between two researchers talking about theories of what makes
a body healthy. For questions 1-5, choose the best answer A, B, C, or D according to what you
hear. Write your answers in the corresponding numbered boxes. (10 points)
1. What point does Charlotte de Witte make about general understanding of the microbiome?
A. The importance of genetics is overstated.
B. The definition of the concept has been oversimplified.
C. It isn’t as detailed as researchers would like.
D. It requires increased investment before it will offer any answers.
2. When discussing the Human Microbiome Project, Luke Slater reveals _______.
A. his displeasure that the media had little interest in its findings
B. his frustration that its successes had only a momentary impact
C. his doubt that anyone will be interested in it long-term
D. his enthusiasm for the scope and breadth of resulting research
3. What view is stated about emergent technology in the field?
A. It is only useful when it has a defined role.
B. It tends to fail on a regular basis.
C. It provides ongoing detailed insights into investigation.
D. It has a theoretical use but little else.
4. When discussing promoting microbiome health, both researchers agree that _______.
A. the public response is often depressing
B. people are well aware of the issues surrounding it
C. there is a need to fight public preconceptions
D. interest is generally higher among those who exercise regularly
5. What final conclusion do the researchers reach about diet?
A. Minimal changes to diet could positively affect the microbiome.
B. Poor diet directly causes autoimmune and allergic diseases.
C. The more fat you have, the more bacteria exist in your gut.
D. The most successful and healthy diets are voluntary. Your answers: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Part 2. Listen to a news report on a form of sport called padel and decide whether the following
statements are True (T), False (F), or Not Given (NG) according to what you hear. Write your
answers in the corresponding numbered boxes provided. (10 points) Page 1 of 15
6. Unlike other sports, padel has enjoyed its success in Sweden during the pandemic.
7. Padel has become known to the Swedish mainly by word of mouth.
8. Compared to last year, there were fewer bookings for the sport in 2018 due to the lack of padel courts.
9. In Sweden, those new to padel find it impossible to receive personal training with leading professionals.
10. It is expected that padel will bounce back globally after the pandemic. Your answers: 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
Part 3. Listen to a report on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in building a more sustainable food
system and answer the following questions with NO MORE THAN FIVE WORDS. Write your
answers in the space provided. (10 points)
11. What does Brightseed look for by using artificial intelligence?
_________________________________________________________________________________
12. How does SomaDetect in Canada generate relevant data for dairy farmers?
_________________________________________________________________________________
13. What field has received more financial support as a result of limited agricultural workforce?
_________________________________________________________________________________
14. What product is the AI-generated flavour created for?
_________________________________________________________________________________
15. In addition to ecosystem diversity, what factor can challenge the application of AI in agriculture?
_________________________________________________________________________________
Part 4. For questions 16-25, listen to a talk about the history of the modern hamburger and complete
the following sentences. Write NO MORE THAN FOUR WORDS taken from the recording for each
blank. (20 points)
The hamburger, often regarded as a (16) ______________________________ and recent innovation,
has its roots centuries earlier.
The earliest known version of hamburgers contained (17) ______________________________, wine and
several seasonings. The making of these burgers signified (18) _________________________________
and earned them recognition in various medieval recipes.
The idea of minced meat burgers officially entered (19) ______________________________ by around
1700 and featured largely in dishes such as roast meats.
By the end of the 19th century, hamburgers eventually appeared in America, and the name for its version
came from (20) ______________________________.
Factory workers in the US enjoyed hamburgers that were served in bread rolls, with accompaniments like
(21) ____________________ and ____________________.
Unlike their street version counterparts, the White Castle’s hamburgers were promoted as (22)
______________________________.
American burgers first made their way into the UK in 1954, shortly after the country experienced (23)
______________________________.
Despite being well received at first, burgers were soon to be seen as (24) ________________________ and an ordinary takeout. Page 2 of 15
As the 2013’s horsemeat scandal shows, (25) ______________________________ were often used for
low-quality burgers in order to save production costs. Your answers: 16. 21. 17. 22. 18. 23. 19. 24. 20. 25.
B. LEXICO AND GRAMMAR (30 points)
Part 1. Choose the answer A, B, C, or D that best completes each of the following sentences. Write
your answers in the corresponding numbered boxes. (10 points)
1. Holiday accommodation owners in Cornwall are being _______ with enquiries from Britons planning a
summer holiday, after new travel restrictions dampened hopes of overseas trips. A. deluged B. streamed C. bombed D. submerged
2. The artistic administrator is the person ultimately responsible for casting; his taste is a major _______
of what, or whom, you hear onstage. A. referee B. forerunner C. arbiter D. precedent
3. Something she said to him must have _______. I’ve never seen him so angry with her. A. hit a nerve
B. tugged at his heartstrings C. struck a chord
D. kept him on his toes
4. Seeing something piled _______ on the shelves, Bennett moved closer and found hundreds of wooden
palettes stacked in complete disarray.
A. punctiliously B. spottily C. fortuitously D. haphazardly
5. Though their house was tiny, they were always _______ in their generosity, often inviting homeless or
other vulnerable people in for a meal. A. undying B. unending C. unyielding D. unstinting
6. My house is by _______, so it can be quite noisy.
A. a children playground
B. a child playground
C. a children’s playground
D. a child’s playground
7. There have been yet more delays in building our new office block, and I’m starting to think that I _______
well have retired by the time it’s completed. A. can B. could C. should D. might as
8. Please note that next week’s concert _______ at 7.00, not 7.30 as advertised in the programme. A. will commence B. is commencing
C. is going to commence D. would commence
9. During the 1990s _______ a tendency for young, well-paid people to buy apartments in the town centre. A. it emerged
B. there emerged
C. did it emerge D. did there emerge
10. It looks like it might snow today, _______ we’l need to wear our big coats. A. in which event B. by which time C. in which case D. at which point Your answers: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
Part 2. The passage below contains 5 mistakes. Identify the mistakes and write the corrections in
the corresponding numbered boxes. (5 points) Page 3 of 15 Line 1
Tooth-like scales on the skin of sharks reduce drag as they manoeuvre through the ocean and 2
are in their most effective when the predators accelerate. Josephine Galipon at Keio University, 3
along with her colleagues, were successful in creating synthetic sharkskin from 3D-printed 4
moulds based on scanning electron microscope images of skin samples from Pacific spiny 5
dogfish - a type of shark. They then covered an aeroplane wing-shaped model with the skin and 6
studied the fluid dynamics – specifically, the vortices, or water swirls, leaving in the model’s wake 7
– as they moved it through water. 8
In some experiments, the researchers moved the model at a constant ‘cruising’ speed, while 9
in others they accelerated it at a rate within the shark’s natural range. They found that the wake 10
was thinnest, meaning that drag was reduced the most, when the object was accelerating. The 11
findings suggest that the skin helps improve a shark’s speed and manoeuvrability, importantly 12
when chasing down prey or evading larger predators. The study might set to rest a decades-old 13
debate about how exactly the scales, known as denticles, reduce drag. Your answers: Number Line Mistake Correction 1 2 3 4 5
Part 3. Complete each of the following sentences with a suitable preposition or particle. Write your
answers in the space provided. (5 points)
1. A building firm's finance boss siphoned _______ nearly £370,000 in company cash to fund his own
lavish lifestyle that included buying pedigree kittens.
2. Individuals who work in the banking industry must be honest and _______ reproach.
3. You can take me _______ your confidence – I won’t tell anyone.
4. Despite not having much, the family always found a way to be liberal _______ their money.
5. Parents need to be observant _______ a child for the first 24-72 hours after receiving the vaccine to
check for any sign of allergies. Your answers: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Part 4. Give the correct form of each bracketed word in the following passage. Write your answers
in the space provided. (10 points)
Robert Burton knows melancholy from the inside; (1. LONG) _______ combat at close quarters has
familiarised him with the adversary. His description of melancholy distinguishes it from madness and
frenzy, but it sometimes comprises mania and even persistent florid (2. PSYCHE) _______ as in
schizophrenia. Burton (3. COUNT) _______ the cases of melancholy persons who thought they were
giants or dwarves, or that they were made entirely of glass and dared not sit down for fear of shattering.
Although for the most part he maintains a(n) (4. PERTURB) _______ medical demeanour in discussing
such fantasticos, he can get carried away with the comedy of it all. His personal favorite among (5.
POSTERIOR) _______ melancholics is the man who held his water because he feared that it would flood
the entire town. When he could hold back no longer, to his amazement the town was spared, and he was cured.
The line of inquiry into physical causes for melancholy leads Burton to identify some likely culprits:
diet, retention, evacuation, air, exercise, sleeping, waking, and worries of the mind. He dispenses advice Page 4 of 15
on how not to eat your way into melancholy, giving various meats the (6. GO) _______ of a moralising
dietitian, as in this description of why ‘fenny fowl’ like ducks and geese are bad for you: ‘Though these be
fair in feathers, pleasant in taste, and have a good outside, like hypocrites, white in plumes, and soft, their
flesh is hard, black, (7. WHOLE) _______, dangerous, melancholy meat.’ You are what you eat or drink,
and what goes for your body goes for your mind. Too little can be as bad as too much: monks’ fasting has
been known to drive them around the bend. When it comes to exercise, (8. TAX) _______ the body and
inclining to lassitude are equally pernicious. And proper sleep is essential to warding off or recovering from
melancholy: ‘Nothing better than moderate sleep, nothing worse than if it be in extremes or (9. SEASON)
_______ used.’ Diet, exercise, and sound sleep are the (10. STAY) _______ of the modern regimen
against depression, and Burton’s prescription for moderation in these combines the physician’s wisdom
about the body with a moralist’s sense of propriety. Your answers: 1. 6. 2. 7. 3. 8. 4. 9. 5. 10. C. READING (60 points)
Part 1. 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 points)
Climate specialists believe that mankind’s (1) _______ is certain should the Amazon rainforest cease
to exist. Its vegetation (2) _______ provides life-giving oxygen and absorbs polluting carbon dioxide, and
as such, the rainforests are often (3) _______ to as the Earth’s ‘lungs’. Common sense tells us that we
shouldn’t deliberately (4) _______ something so vital to our survival, and yet it is a perpetual challenge to
stop Brazilian farmers from doing exactly that. To them, the rainforests stand in the way of profits. With
wooded destruction continuing (5) _______ for decades, it seemed that the fate of the rainforests was (6)
_______, but in the past few years a new hope has arisen.
In Brazil, that hope takes the form of an environmental agency known as IBAMA, which employs a
team that uses a combination of equipment and technology to monitor deforestation and actually arrive at
the scene while the illegal clearing of trees is still in progress. The operation has been (7) _______ in
slowing the pace of slashing and burning down forests by 80% in the past decade. However, the agency
still continues to play (8) _______ with the farmers, as the farmers learn new ways to evade the IBAMA’s
patrols. Familiar with its tracking techniques, they know that the satellite imagery is only sophisticated
enough to identify large (9) _______ of deforested land. A smaller area will go undetected, so the farmers
reduce the size of the areas they are clearing and create smaller farms. The police are aware of the
farmers’ ruses and are (10) _______ themselves to refine their imaging technology in an effort to detect even smaller areas. 1. A. expiry B. lapse C. demise D. fatality 2.
A. coincidentally
B. simultaneously C. cumulatively
D. provisionally 3. A. alluded B. cited C. mentioned D. quoted 4. A. upend B. uphold C. uproot D. uplift 5. A. unsparing B. unabated C. unyielding D. unsustained 6. A. fastened B. chained C. glued D. sealed 7. A. cardinal B. instrumental C. principal D. focal 8.
A. birds and bees
B. leaps and bounds C. hit and run D. cat and mouse 9. A. swathes B. allotments C. tracks D. alleys
10. A. falling over B. taking upon C. setting out D. getting over Page 5 of 15 Your answers: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
Part 2. Read the text below and think of the word which best fits each space. Use only ONE word
in each space. Write your answers in the corresponding numbered boxes provided. (15 points)
SOCIAL ENTERPRISE – A WORTHWHILE WAY TO MAKE MONEY?
Every so often, a new buzzword takes the business world by (1) _______. A paradigm shift in how
things are done, or a whole new lexicon of abstruse terms to (2) _______ the novice’s head in knots. In
recent years, one such concept that has (3) _______ considerable traction is social enterprise. Social
enterprises are business which champion the honourable intention of changing the world for the (4)
_______. By selling goods and services in the open market, social enterprises generate profits which are
then reinvested in the local, or indeed global, community. The aim is to tackle social problems, improve
opportunities and address inequality, among (5) _______.
While examples of social enterprises are inspiring, and offer a vision of corporate caring that is hard not
to warm (6) _______, it’s perfectly reasonable to have reservations about the philosophy as a whole. There
is certainly a growing trend for companies that have never really shown much compassion suddenly (7)
_______ on the impact investment bandwagon. If you have long been perceived as a rapacious
multinational focused on profit above people, then one of the best ways to redress the (8) _______ is to show a big heart.
There are a number of high-profile companies who have joined (9) _______ with NGOs and charitable
organisations to ensure that their hard-earned dollars are invested into a whole plethora of needy causes.
These tend to be extremely well-publicised initiatives, news of which often takes (10) _______ over
concerns about working conditions or corporate accountability. In fact, many business advisors highly
recommend the social enterprise route to change negative public perceptions. Your answers: 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 points)
Duke Ellington's Orchestra is a complex configuration of many spiritual and musical elements. To be
sure, it was Duke Ellington's music that was created here, but it was just as much the music of each
individual member of the band. Many Ellington pieces were genuine collective achievements, but it was
Ellington who headed the collective. Attempts have been made to describe how Ellington recordings have
come into being, but the process is so subtle that verbalisation appears crude. Duke, or his alter ego, the
late arranger and jazz composer, Billy Strayhorn, or one of the members of the band would come to the
studio with a theme. Ellington would play on the piano. The rhythm section would fall in. One or another of
the horn men would pick it up. Baritone saxophonist Harry Carney might improvise a solo on it. The brass
would make up a suitable background for him. And Ellington would sit at the piano and listen, gently
accenting the harmonies - and suddenly he'd know: This is how the piece should sound and no other
way. Later, when it was transcribed, the note paper only happened to retain what was, in the real meaning
of the word, improvised into being.
The dynamic willpower with which Ellington stamped his ideas on his musicians, while giving them the
impression that he was only helping them to unfold and develop their hidden powers, was one of his many
great gifts. Owing to the relationship between Duke and his musicians, which can barely be put into words,
everything he had written seemed to be created for him and his orchestra – to such a degree that hardly anyone can copy it. Page 6 of 15
When Ellington was eighteen, he wanted to become a painter. By becoming a musician he only seemed
to have abandoned painting. He painted not in colors but in sounds. His compositions, with their many
colours of timbre and harmony, are musical paintings. Sometimes this is revealed by the titles: ‘The
Flaming Sword,’ ‘Beautiful Indians,’ ‘Portrait of Bert Williams,’ ‘Sepia Panorama,’ ‘Country Girl,’ ‘Dusk in
the Desert,’ ‘Mood Indigo,’ and so forth. Even as a conductor, Ellington remained the painter: in the grand
manner in which he confronted the orchestra and, with a few sure movements of the hand, placed spots
of colour on a canvas made of sounds.
It may be due to this that he perceived his music as ‘the transformation of memories into sounds.’
Ellington said, 'The memory of things gone is important to a jazz musician. I remember I once wrote a
sixty-four-bar piece about a memory of when I was a little boy in bed and heard a man whistling on the
street outside, his footsteps echoing away.’
Again and again Ellington has expressed his pride in the colour of his skin. Many of his larger works
took their themes from black history: ‘Black, Brown, and Beige,’ the tone painting of the American Negro
who was ‘black’ when he came to the New World, became ‘brown’ in the days of slavery, and today is
‘beige’ – not only in his colour, but in his being as well; ‘Liberian Suite,’ a work in six movements
commissioned by the small republic on the west coast of Africa for its centennial; ‘Harlem,’ the work in
which the atmosphere of New York's black city has been captured; ‘Deep South Suite,’ which reminds us
of the locale of the origins of jazz, or ‘New World A-comin',’ the work about a better world without racial discrimination.
Many critics have said that Ellington often comes too close to European music. They point to his concern
with larger forms. But in this very concern is revealed an insufficiency in the molding of these forms which
is certainly not European: an astonishing, amiable naiveté. This naiveté was also present in those medleys
– long series of his many successful tunes – with which Duke again and again upset many of his more
sophisticated fans at his concerts. Ellington simply failed to see why the idea of the hit medley should be alien to an artistic music.
The jungle style is one of the four styles identified with Duke Ellington. The other three are (in a
somewhat simplistic but synoptically clear grouping) ‘mood style,’ ‘concerto style,’ and ‘standard style,’
which came rather directly from Fletcher Henderson, the most important band leader of the twenties, and
initially did not contribute much that was new. What it did have to offer, though, was clothed in typically
Ellingtonian colours and sounds. In addition, of course, there is every imaginable mixture of these styles.
The history of Duke Ellington is the history of the orchestra in jazz. No significant big band – and this
includes commercial dance bands – has not been directly or indirectly influenced by Duke. The list of
innovations and techniques introduced by Ellington and subsequently picked up by other orchestras or players is unrivalled.
1. Which of the following best describes the working relationship between Ellington and his band members?
A. Ellington's primary concern was to help his band members realise their full potential as composers.
B. Ellington and his band collaborated as equals in the development of new compositions.
C. Ellington used his band's improvisations as inspiration for his compositions.
D. Ellington based his compositions on early recordings by his band members.
2. In the first paragraph, ‘accenting’ (line 10) most nearly means _______. A. fashioning B. emphasising C. enunciating D. reworking
3. The descriptions given in the fifth paragraph provide the reader with _______.
A. an understanding of Ellington's youth
B. a sense of the momentum behind Ellington's earlier work
C. a history of Ellington's social conscience
D. the inspirations for some of Ellington's compositions
4. According to the writer, which of the following is true of ‘Black, Brown, and Beige’? Page 7 of 15
A. It tells the story of several major black historical figures.
B. Its title refers to colour both literally and metaphorically.
C. It is comprised of three distinct sections.
D. It was written on commission for a national celebration.
5. In the sixth paragraph, ‘larger forms’ most nearly means _______.
A. songs played by an entire symphony orchestra
B. upright basses, trombones, and tubas
C. long songs made up of the melodies of many shorter songs
D. the most sophisticated European music fans
6. Which of the following attributes does the writer mention in response to the criticisms leveled at the
beginning of paragraph 6?
A. Ellington's pride in the colour of his skin
B. Ellington's European sensibility
C. Ellington's genuine innocence
D. Ellington's ability to write hit songs
7. According to the passage, some ‘fans’ (paragraph 6) of Ellington were _______.
A. critical of one of Ellington's presentation formats
B. unfamiliar with more classical forms of music
C. lacking in the naiveté required to understand Ellington's medleys
D. dismayed by Ellington's use of European musical forms
8. The writer mentions all of the following as sources of inspiration for Ellington's work EXCEPT _______. A. famous paintings B. ethnic heritage
C. orchestral improvisations D. regional ambiance
9. It can be inferred from the passage that Fletcher Henderson _______.
A. was a stylistic influence on Duke Ellington
B. composed in a style that was inspired by the work of Duke Ellington
C. was a contemporary of Duke Ellington
D. wrote music that had much in common with Ellington's jungle style
10. Which of the following questions could be answered based on information in the passage?
A. At what age did Ellington achieve success as a musician?
B. By what process did Ellington develop his orchestral compositions?
C. What are the characteristics of Ellington's jungle style?
D. What is considered Ellington's best-known composition? Your answers: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
Part 4. Read the following passage and do the tasks that follow. (10 points) WHAT DO BABIES KNOW?
As Daniel Haworth is settled into a high chair and wheeled behind a black screen, a sudden look of
worry furrows his 9-month-old brow. His dark blue eyes dart left and right in search of the familiar
reassurance of his mother’s face. She calls his name and makes soothing noises, but Daniel senses
something unusual is happening. He sucks his fingers for comfort, but, finding no solace, his month
crumples, his body stiffens, and he lets rip an almighty shriek of distress. This is the usual expression
when babies are left alone or abandoned. Mom picks him up, reassures him, and two minutes later, a
chortling and alert Daniel returns to the darkened booth behind the screen and submits himself to baby
lab, a unit set up in 2005 at the University of Manchester in northwest England to investigate how babies think.
Watching infants piece life together, seeing their senses, emotions and motor skills take shape, is a
source of mystery and endless fascination – at least to parents and developmental psychologists. We can
decode their signals of distress or read a million messages into their first smile. But how much do we really Page 8 of 15
know about what’s going on behind those wide, innocent eyes? How much of their understanding of and
response to the world comes preloaded at birth? How much is built from scratch by experience? Such are
the questions being explored at baby lab. Though the facility is just 18 months old and has tested only 100
infants, it’s already challenging current thinking on what babies know and how they come to know it.
Daniel is now engrossed in watching video clips of a red toy train on a circular track. The train
disappears into a tunnel and emerges on the other side. A hidden device above the screen is tracking
Daniel’s eyes as they follow the train and measuring the diametre of his pupils 50 times a second. As the
child gets bored – or ‘habituated’, as psychologists call the process – his attention level steadily drops. But
it picks up a little whenever some novelty is introduced. The train might be green, or it might be blue. And
sometimes an impossible thing happens – the train goes into the tunnel one colour and comes out another.
Variations of experiments like this one, examining infant attention, have been a standard tool of
developmental psychology ever since the Swiss pioneer of the field, Jean Piaget, started experimenting
on his children in the 1920s. Piaget’s work led him to conclude that infants younger than 9 months have
no innate knowledge of how the world works or any sense of ‘object permanence’ (that people and things
stil exist even when they’re not seen). Instead, babies must gradually construct this knowledge from
experience. Piaget’s ‘constructivist’ theories were massively influential on postwar educators and
psychologist, but over the past 20 years or so they have been largely set aside by a new generation of
‘nativist’ psychologists and cognitive scientists whose more sophisticated experiments led them to theorise
that infants arrive already equipped with some knowledge of the physical world and even rudimentary
programming for math and language. Baby lab director Sylvain Sirois has been putting these smart-baby
theories through a rigorous set of tests. His conclusions so far tend to be more Piagetian: ‘Babies,’ he says, ‘know nothing.’
What Sirois and his postgraduate assistant Lain Jackson are challenging is the interpretation of a variety
of classic experiments begun in the mid-1980s in which babies were shown physical events that appeared
to violate such basic concepts as gravity, solidity and contiguity. In one such experiment, by University of
Illinois psychologist Renee Baillargeon, a hinged wooden panel appeared to pass right through a box.
Bail argeon and M.I.T’s Elizabeth Spelke found that babies as young as 3½ months would reliably look
longer at the impossible event than at the normal one. Their conclusion: babies have enough built-in
knowledge to recognise that something is wrong.
Sirois does not take issue with the way these experiments were conducted. ‘The methods are correct
and replicable,’ he says, ‘it’s the interpretation that’s the problem.’ In a critical review to be published in the
forthcoming issue of the European Journal of Developmental Psychology, he and Jackson pour cold water
over recent experiments that claim to have observed innate or precocious social cognition skills in infants.
His own experiments indicate that a baby’s fascination with physically impossible events merely reflects a
response to stimuli that are novel. Data from the eye tracker and the measurement of the pupils (which
widen in response to arousal or interest) show that impossible events involving familiar objects are no
more interesting than possible events involving novel objects. In other words, when Daniel had seen the
red train come out of the tunnel green a few times, he gets as bored as when it stays the same colour. The
mistake of previous research, says Sirois, has been to leap to the conclusion that infants can understand
the concept of impossibility from the mere fact that they are able to perceive some novelty in it. ‘The real
explanation is boring,’ he says.
So how do babies bridge the gap between knowing squat and drawing triangles – a task Daniel’s sister
Lois, 2½, is happily tackling as she waits for her brother? ‘Babies have to learn everything, but as Piaget
was saying, they start with a few primitive reflexes that get things going,’ said Sirois. For example,
hardwired in the brain is an instinct that draws a baby’s eyes to a human face. From brain imaging studies
we also know that the brain has some sort of visual buffer that continues to represent objects after they
have been removed – a lingering perception rather than conceptual understanding. So when babies
encounter novel or unexpected events, Sirois explains, ‘there’s a mismatch between the buffer and the Page 9 of 15
information they’re getting at that moment. And what you do when you’ve got a mismatch is you try to clear
the buffer. And that takes attention.’ So learning, says Sirois, is essentially the laborious business of
resolving mismatches. ‘The thing is, you can do a lot of it with this wet sticky thing called a brain. It’s a
fantastic, statistical-learning machine’. Daniel, exams ended, picks up a plastic tiger and, chewing
thoughtfully upon its heat, smiles as if to agree.
For questions 1-5, decide whether the following statements are True (T), False (F) or Not Given
(NG). Write your answers in the corresponding numbered boxes provided.
1. Despite being in its infancy, baby lab has already proved what is known about babies’ thought process.
2. Daniel’s brain activity is monitored by a specialised piece of equipment at baby lab.
3. Experiments on Daniel at baby lab show that he is only attracted to certain colours of an object.
4. Piaget thinks babies only acquire the knowledge when the previous things appear again in the lives.
5. Baillargeon and Spelke were criticised for their lack of careful study before concluding that babies are
naturally aware of the unusual. Your answers: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
For questions 6-10, read the following summary and fill in each blank with NO MORE THAN THREE
WORDS taken from the passage. Write your answers in the corresponding numbered boxes provided.
How babies think has been of great interest to parents and psychologists alike. Piaget was among the
first to suggest that newborn babies fail to perceive (6) _______ or grasp their external environment.
However, this idea was later dismissed by emerging specialists who argued that babies have already
developed a (7) _______ for numbers since birth. Sylvain Sirois, whose study supports Piaget’s theories,
states that some previous experiments have misinterpreted babies’ normal reactions to novelty as high- level (8) _______.
Babies’ learning experience is a gradual process, stimulated by a series of (9) _______. Visual buffer
provided by the brain helps babies to still recognise objects even when they are no longer present.
Therefore, when faced with something new, they have to use attention to bridge the gap between this
visual buffer and the available information, which proves that the basis of learning involves (10) _______. Your answers: 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
Part 5. Read the text and identify which section A-G each of the following is mentioned. Write ONE
letter A-G in the corresponding numbered space provided. Each letter may be used more than once. (15 points)
HOW TO LOOK AT FACEBOOK
Devon Bombassei considers the irony of our ‘liberation’ in the digital age.
A. In his 1954 essay ‘How to Look at Television’, the German critical theorist Theodor Adorno examined
the layers of oppression at work in television, then a novel artform. Meant to entertain, evoke, and, perhaps
most importantly, to liberate, Adorno argued that television instead hypnotised humanity as the charlatan
herald of a new Golden Age. An inconspicuous medium, television established itself as the newest and
perhaps most intimate form of domination. Watched in our living rooms and bedrooms, the earliest
programming was, on a conscious level, relatable, heartfelt, at times absurd, but enjoyable. Maybe its role
as a simple diversion – after the work day, much easier to engage with than the tiny font of a paperback –
amplified its appeal. On a subconscious level, however, Adorno argued, television had a grimmer effect. Page 10 of 15
Using humour and other devices to make the treatment palatable, television programmed its audience to
tolerate economic conditions and social stereotypes that would have otherwise engendered thoughtful
scrutiny. To Adorno, it was television’s ability to mesmerise – to relieve the individual of critical thought –
that both ensured and endangered its audience.
B. In their book, Dialectic of Enlightenment (1947), Adorno and Max Horkheimer wrote that ‘Men have
always had to choose between their subjection to nature or the subjection of nature to the Self.’ Mankind
was able to conquer nature by divorcing science from mythology using the cold calculus of reason. With
the triumph of man over nature, however, came the ‘self-alienation of [those] who must model their body
and soul according to the technical apparatus.’ As humans came to dominate nature, so technology came
to manipulate the wants and needs – the very lives – of humanity. Disenchanted from myth, mankind
subsequently succumbed to the whims of the machine.
C. The original inspiration of the Enlightenment as a cultural movement was to free reason from
superstition. This has to a remarkable extent been realised, but it seems we are now confronted by a new,
but also elusive, threat to reason: that which dictates from the faceless algorithm.
The shape of our present culture is molded by our digital fingerprints. The telegraph, typewriter, and
transistor radio, increasingly even the television, are nostalgic relics of a bygone era. But in today’s
Information Age we are once again swindled, by a new form of domination, through seductive and omnipresent social networks.
D. In the New York Review of Books for April 9, 2020, the legal scholar Tim Wu remarked that Google,
Facebook and their peers lead a new ‘attention economy’. This new era – a digital Enlightenment of sorts
– thrives on social connection, immediate gratification, and diverse expression. A new meta-language – a
cacophony of tweets, texts, likes/dislikes, memes, etc. – has emerged. For many, the relative ease and
accessibility of a platform such as Facebook makes it a comfortable interface for intergenerational and
international communication. Yet, as Wu notes, this new era is also the age of ‘Bigger Brother’.
E. Similar to television, the dawn of the social media algorithm has introduced a new form of oppression.
Like virtual temptresses, Facebook, YouTube and the rest enchant an individual with an incessant stream
of appeasable content. Yet whereas television manipulated the reactions of its audience through various
preset narratives, Facebook etc. go a step further, programming the actual content viewed – on an
individual’s news feed, for example. A simple ‘like’ may incite a surge of similar content, including tailored
recommendations, for the user to absorb. It’s just as Adorno spoke of television: “everything somehow appears ‘predestined’.”
F. Unlike television, however, the algorithm has the ability to jolt the very foundations of our democracy.
Social media algorithms function to repeatedly affirm the perspective and beliefs of an individual, by spoon-
feeding him or her agreeable content. Here Adorno’s ‘wholesale deception of the masses’ is visible in the
appeal of easy content devoid of critical reflection. But the mindless scroll through tailored content on our
feeds often blinds us to counter-narratives or critical perspectives with which we might have otherwise
engaged. Algorithmic bias thus breeds a reluctance to constructively engage with beliefs different from our
own. Although Facebook’s algorithm was born from otherwise innocuous commercial intentions, it leads
to the repeated exclusion for its clients of voices and ideas. As citizens kowtow to algorithms, technology
may quickly turn into weaponry, and any disagreeable or controversial idea may be targeted as a ‘problem’
to expediently resolve or to crush. In this way, our willingness to tolerate and engage in the democratic
struggle has atrophied. As a collective, we have lost a critical sense of democratic participation through
face-to-face, authentic deliberation with each other – not as adversaries hidden behind our screens or our
virtual identities, but as citizens with diverse aims, interests, needs, and wants. Moreover, we have lost a
sense of agency, as regards determining what content we may view.
G. Adorno and his most notable colleagues in the Frankfurt School, Horkheimer, Herbert Marcuse, and
Jürgen Habermas, never failed to illuminate the irony of the industrialised human condition. Ironically, with Page 11 of 15
the liberating pursuit of technological advance comes a great risk of oppression, they warned. Indeed, it
seems that the warning of Mary Shelley, author of Frankenstein (1818) about the dangers of runaway
unforeseen consequences of new technology, rings especially true in our digital age. Unlike her fictional
Creature, however, the real if artificial intelligences behind our screens pose a threat to our democratic processes.
The irony of the Enlightenment was to be seen in the alienation of the working masses – liberated
from superstition and old social assumptions by the Enlightenment, yet oppressed by a narrow economic
purpose. The Enlightenment, wrote Horkheimer and Adorno, ‘behaves toward things as a dictator toward
men.’ In our modern era, a new irony is visible in the alienation of people crouched behind their screens,
thinking they are free. We are a populace driven by the liberating thrill of technological progress, yet
enslaved to the whims of that same technology.
In which section does the writer mention _______ Your answers
progress made in achieving an objective? 1. _______
a literary reference which remains relevant to our current living situation? 2. _______
a method used by humans to separate facts from fiction? 3. _______
a suggestion that a medium failed to do what it was intended for? 4. ________
how information is generated on the basis of viewers’ online activity? 5. _______
media suppressing our ability to consider a broad range of views? 6. _______
how the media foster relationships between people of different age groups? 7. _______
the growing interest in a medium due to its apparent convenience? 8. _______
the use of media to manipulate sensitive issues? 9. ________
the view that the seeming freedom offered by technology belies our reliance on it? 10. ______ D. WRITING (60 points)
Part 1. Read the following extract and use your own words to summarise it. Your summary should
be between 100 and 120 words. (15 points)
What, then, is the biological state of Homo sapiens when it comes to violence and war? Unfortunately
for those who like their answers simple, reality is ambiguous, or rather, ambidextrous, in that it tends to
point in two conflicting directions. Our species is certainly capable of violence at both the individual level
(e.g., assault, rape, homicide) as well as at the group level (war). But a capacity is a far cry from a necessity
– which would imply a predisposition simmering just below the surface, urgently seeking opportunities to
burst out. Yet there is no evidence whatever that human beings who have lived a consistently nonviolent
life eventually feel a need to commit mayhem at the behest of their frustrated genes. By the same token,
there is abundant evidence that at the level of societies, people are quite capable of renouncing war, since
numerous societies have done just this.
Nonetheless, it is equally evident that natural selection has equipped our species with a predilection
for violence under certain circumstances. These include situations in which resource competition is high:
for food, mates, territory, for example; and under a variety of other social conditions – for example when
issues of social status are sufficiently intense. An identifiable subset of humanity – young adult males – is
especially vulnerable to such pressures. Moreover, it must be emphasised that whereas interpersonal
violence is directly associated with relatively simple neurobiological influences, involving readily identifiable
brain regions such as the limbic system, and particular transmitter hormones, war is a quite different
phenomenon, typically involving elaborate cognitive processes, extensive planning, and (ironically,
perhaps) substantial social cooperation, at least among those on the same side.
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Part 2. Chart description (15 points)
The chart below shows the proportion of countries around the world implementing digital (internet-
based) and broadcast (TV- or radio-based) remote learning policies for different education levels
in 2020. The table shows the number of upper-secondary students in different regions of the world
potentially reached by remote learning policies in the same year.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons
where relevant. You should write about 150 words.
SHARE OF COUNTRIES THAT IMPLEMENTED DIGITAL AND BROADCAST
REMOTE LEARNING POLICIES, BY EDUCATION LEVEL Internet / PC Radio Television 90% S 80% GE 70% TA N 60% CE R 50% PE 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Pre-primary Primary Lower-secondary Upper-secondary Any level of education EDUCATIONAL LEVEL Page 13 of 15
NUMBER OF UPPER-SECONDARY STUDENTS POTENTIALLY REACHED BY REMOTE LEARNING
POLICIES (IN THOUSANDS), BY REGION Eastern East East Latin Middle West Europe Asia and America East and South and and Global and the South and the Northern Asia Central Central Pacific Africa Caribbean Africa Africa Asia Internet / PC 35,769 9,853 1,367 16,301 3,475 9,968 1,685 90,545 Radio 1,890 249 3,428 13,982 592 6,943 4,636 36,114 Television 60,074 10,416 4,094 21,550 14,417 58,719 5,814 200,679
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Part 3. Essay writing (30 points)
Write an essay of 350 words on the following topic:
Some people believe that competition for high grades motivates students to excel in the classroom. Others
believe that such competition seriously limits the quality of real learning.
Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience. Page 14 of 15
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(You may write overleaf if you need more space) --- THE END ---
(Thí sinh không được sử dụng tài liệu. Cán bộ coi thi không giải thích gì thêm) Page 15 of 15 Page 1 of 4