BOÀI DÖÔÕNG 12 NAÂNG CAO – 12-10-2008 I. PHONETICS A. In each group of words, circle the word, the pronunciation of which is different from the rest. 1. A. hasty B. tasty C. nasty D. wastage 2. A. massage B. carriage C. voyage D.dosage 3. A. warm B. wash C. wall D. walk 4. A. seizure B. measure C.confusion D. tension 5. A. weigh B. height C. eight D. vein 6. A. leaf B. deaf C. of D. wife 7. A. too B. food C. room D. good 8. A. replace B. purchase C. surface D. palace 9. A. creature B. creative C. creamy D. crease 10. A. lazy B. lapel C. label D. labourer B. Place an accent mark over the stressed syllable in each of the following words: 1. although 2. scientific 3. botanist 4. apartheid 5. orator 6. communism 7. monetary 8. Democrat 9. illustrate 10. contestant II. PREPOSITIONS. Fill in each blank with a suitalble preposition. 1. . the other sights, the tourists visited a glass factory where they watch .admiration sweating men making wonders molten glass. 2. She tried several coats before she found one entirely her tatste. 3. The factory smoke looked white .the grey winter sky. 4. Don't bother .the tea. I've just had mine. 5. See what the sign reads "Entrance .reguest". III. WORD BUILDING. Use the suitable forms of the words in capitals to fill in the blanks. 1. I believe you because I know you are……………. TRUTH 2. The factory was ………. so the management tried to cut costs by making some workers redundant. COMPETE 3. The Alpine………is very dramatic. LAND 4. You can find out what a book is about by looking at its table of ………. CONTAIN 5. I think it's sheer………to get married in church if you don't believe in God. HYPOCRITE 6. It is really quite…… that we should have been at the same college without having met before. ORDINARY 7. Leisure habits won't change much in the……future. SEE 8. I don't think Tom's getting too much sleep lately. His eyes are terribly… . BLOOD 9. The job of a student….officer involves many visits to land ladies. LODGEMENT 10. The… staff consists of ten experienced journalists. EDIT IV. GRAMMAR A. Put each verb in brackets into a suitable tense. By the end of last year he (1) ……… (read) four Shakespeare plays and by next year he (2) ……… (read) two more. I (3) …………. (not see) him since last Monday, but I (4) ……… (believe) he (5) ………… (write) an easay on Hamlet at present. He (6) ………… (play) the part now if he (7) ………. (not offend) the producer at the last rehearsal. I wonder why I always (8) ………… (have) trouble with the carburettor whenever I (9) ………… (decide) to go home by car. I (10) …… (work) very hard lately. B. Finish each of the following sentences in such a way that it means exactly the same as the sentence given before it. 1. "That's a lovely new dress, Jean," said her mother. Jean's mother complimented ……………………………… 2. "If I were you, I would not come here today," she said to me. She said that………………………………………………. 3. Customs officials are stopping more travellers than usual this week. An increased………………………………………………… . 4. Peter is a better mechanic than Jim. Jim…………………………………………………………… 5. We could not find George anywhere. George was ………………………………………………… 6. He doesn't need more than a pound. A pound ……………………………………………………… 7. The tea was so bad that we couldn't drink it. It……………………………………………………………… 8. There was no precedent for the king's resignation. Never ………………………………………………………… 9. I don't really like her even though I admire her achievements. Much ………………………………………………………… 10. He didn't come until six o'clock. It……………………………………………………………… C. For each of the following sentences, write a new one which is as similar as possible to the sentence, using the word given. Do not change the word given. 1. The houses that were very close to the blast were badly damaged. IMMEDIATE 2. They were married last year. MAN 3. He admits he's not one of the important members of the organisation. COG 4. You've been deceived by them. RIDE 5. It didn't take us long to finish doing the accounts. SHORT 6. He always makes everything look so difficult. WEATHER 7. Soon the whole town had heard the news about the bank robbery. WILDFIRE 8. They have discovered some interesting new information. LIGHT 9. With hindsight, we shoud have been more careful. RETROSPEST 10. We have more important things to do at the moment. FISH V. VOCABULARY. Choose the best answer: 1. I'm not serious investor, but I like to… in the stock market. A. splash B. splatter C. paddle D. dabble 2. In all… , there will never be a Third World War. A. odds B. probability C. certainty D. possibilities 3. He had to retire from the match, suffering from a … ligament. A. torn B. broken C. slipped D. sprained 4. You have to be rich to send a child to a private school because the fees are…… . A. astrological B. aeronautical C. astronomical D. atmospherical 5. Archaeology is one of the most interesting scientific…. . A. divisions B. disciplines C. matters D. compartments 6. It is doubtful whether the momentum of the peace movement can be…. . A. sustained B. supplied C. supported D. subverted 7. Conversations you strike up with travelling acquaitances usually tend to be…. . A. trivial B. perverse C. insufficient D. imperative 8. Charles Babbage's difference engine widely regarded as the ….of the computer. A. ancestor B. precursor C. antecedent D. premonition 9. He was in his late fifties, with staring eyes and a …. hairline. A. straggling B. receding C. bushy D. curly 10. After several hours on the road, they became….to the fact that they would never reach the hotel by nightfall. A. dejected B. resigned C. depressed D. disillusioned VI. GAP-FILL. Fill in each blank with one appropriate word. ART AS A CAREER Many celebrated artists have found it hard to make ends meet early (0) on in their career. (1) ……a few well- known exceptions, however, (poor Van Gogh being perhaps the most famous one) (2) …… went on to find recognition within their (3) … lifetime. Picasso's life story is the kind of (4) …… to-riches tale which gives hope to many (5) …… unknown artist. In 1904, he was sharing a draughty and primitive studio complex (6) …… thirty other artists. But by his death, he was a multi-millionaire and probably the most celebrated modern artist (7) ……. Nevertheless, (8) …… every success story, there must be dozens of artists (perhaps some potential "greats") (9) …… have endured a lifetime (10) …… hardship in obscurity. (11) …… they were never recognized because their work was (12) …… of sympathy with the prevailing fashion, or because they lacked talent, (13) …… impossible to say. Most people see art as a vocation rather than a career. There (14) ……. indeed be some truth in the idea that artists need to be exceptionally dedicated to succeed, and even relatively successful artists sometimes have to supplement their income (15) ……… working in other areas occasionally. VII. READING. Read the following extract about chirlden's fiction. For each Comprehension question, choose the answer (A, B, C or D) which you think fits best according to the text. The population of the world has increased more in modern times than in all other ages of history combined. World population totalled about 500 million in 1650. It doubled the period from 1650-1850. Today the population is more than five billion. Estimates based on research by the United Nations indicate that it will more than double in the twenty-five years between 1975 and the year 2000, reaching seven billion of the century. No one knows the limits of population that the earth can support. Thomas Malthus, an English economist, developed a theory that became widely accepted in the nineteenth centry. He suggested that because world population tended to increase more rapidly than the food supply, a continual strain was exerted upon avaible resource. Malthus cited wars, famines, epidemics, and other disasters as the usual limitations of population growth. With recent advances in science and technology, including improved agricultural methods and great strides in medicine, some of the limiting factors in population growth have been lessened, with obvious results. International organizations have recommended programs to encourage general economic devepoment in target areas along with a decrease in birth rates to effect a lasting solution. 1. The title below that best expresses the ideas in this passage is …. A. Thomas Malthus Theory B. The United Nations' Estimate C. Limiting Factors in Population Growth D. A Brief History of Population and Overpopulation. 2. According to this passage, by the year 2000 the earth's population should exceed the present figure by how much? A. 500 million B. Five billion C. Two billion D. Seven billion 3. Who was Thomas Malthus ? A. A scientist B. A doctor of medicine C. An economist D. A United Nations representative 4. According to the passage, why has overpopulation been caused? A. Improved technology B. Disasters C. Scarcity D. Precaution 5. What do most experts recommend in order to solve problems of overpopulation? A. Famine and epidemic B. Medical advance and improved agricultural methods C. Economic development and a decline in the birth rate D. Conversation of available recources VIII. CLOZE TEST: Fill in each numbered space with one appropriate word: Famine is a prolonged food shortage that causes (1) ……. hunger and death. Throughout history, famine has struck at least one area of the world (2) …… few years. Most of the.developing nations of Africa, Asia and Latin America have (3) ……. enough food for their people. Millions in these countries go hungry. When food production or imports (4) …… for any reason, famine may strike and thousands or millions of people may die. Many famines have more than one cause. For example, the great Bengai famine of 1943 in Eastern India was caused by both. (5) ……and historical events. World War II (6) …….a general food shortage and led to the cut- off of rice imports from Burma, which had been occupied by the Japanese. Then a cyclone (7) …… much farmland. Famine struck, and more than V'2 million people died. Nearly all famines (8) ……. from crop failures. The chief causes of crop failure include (a) drought (prolonged lack of rain), (b) too much I rainfall and flooding, and (c) plant diseases and (9) …. . Many other (10) …… may also help create a famine. IX. WRITING. Make all the changes and additions necessary to produce, from the following sets of words and phrases, sentences which together make a complete letter: 1. I write / tell / how much / I / enjoy / few hours / I spend / you / your family / yesterday evening 2. I be / England / since / beginning / October / and this be / first invitation / dinner / English family. 3. I / find / conversation / most interesting / and / glad / practise / English 4. I also like / congratulate you / excellent cooking 5. I / very grateful / all / helpful / informtion / you give / course / English 6. I / hope / find / suitable school / next few days 7. And / English courses / will not / too hard / we study 8. You give / best wishes / husband / children ? 9. Thank you again / extremely / pleasant evening 10. I look forward / see / you / next month Yours sincerely, Maria ANSWER KEY I. PHONETICS A. Sounds 1. C. nasty 2. A. massage 3. B. wash 4. D. tension 5. B. height 6. C. of7. D. good 8. A. replace 9. B. creative 10.B. lapel B. Stress: 1. although 2. scientific 3. botanist 4. apartheid 5. orator 6. communism 7. monetary 8. democrat 9. illustrate 10. contestant II. PREPOSITIONS 1. along-with-with/in-out-of 2. on-to 3. against 4. about 5. on III. WORD BULDING 1. truthful 2. incompetitive 3. Landcape 4. contents 5. hypocrisy 6. extraordinary 7. foreseeable 8. blood-shot 9. lodgings 10. editorial IV. GRAMMAR A. Verb Tenses 1. had read 2. will have read 3. haven't seen 4. believe 5. is writing 6. would be playing 7. had not offended 8. am always having 9. decide 10. have been working B. Sentenses Transformation 1. Jean's mother complimmented her on her/the (lovely) new dress. 2. She said that if she were me, she would not come there that day. 3. An increased number of travellers is/are being stopped by customs officials this week. 4. Jim is not such a good mechanic/so good a mechanic as Peter. 5. Gegrge was nowhere to be found. 6. A pound is as much as/all he needs. 7. It was such bad tea that we couldn't drink it. 8. Never before had any king resigned. 9. Much as I admire her achievements, I don't really like her. 10. It was six o'clock when he came./lt was not until six o'clock that he came. C. Key Word Transformation 1. The houses in the immediate vicinity of the blast were badly damaged. 2. They became man and wife last years. 3. He admits he is (just) a small cog in a big wheel. 4. You have been taking for a ride. (or) They have taken you for a ride. 5. We made short work of finishing the accounts. 6. He always makes heavy weather of everything. 7. The news about the bank robbery spread through the whole town like wildfire. 8. Some interesting new information has come to light. 9. In retrospect, we should have been more careful. 10. At the moment, we have other fish to fry. V. VOCABULARY 1. D. dabble 2. B. probability 3.A. torn 4.C. astronomical 5. B. disciplines 6.A. sustained 7. A. trivial 8. B. precursor 9. B. receding 10. B. resigned VI. GAP-FILL 1. with 2. most 3. own 4. rags 5. an 6. with 7. ever 8. For 9. who 10. of 11. whether 12. out 13. is 14. may/could 15. by Notes: - in the immediate vicinity = the area around a particular place - a small cog in a big wheel: a person who is a small part of a large organization - made short work of = to defeat, deal with sth/sb quickly - rags-to-riches tales = from being extremely poor to being very rich: chuyện nọ xọ chuyện kia - have other fish to fry: to have more important or more interesting things to do - makes heavy weather of: to seem to find sth more difficult or complicated than it needs to be VII. READING COMPREHENSION 1. D 2. C 3. C 4. A 5. C VIII. CLOZE-TEST. 1. widespread 2. every 3. barely 4. Drop5. natural 6. created 7. destroyed 8. Result 9. pests 10. factors IX. WRITING Dear Clara, 1. I am writing to tell you how much I enjoyed the few hours I spent with you and your family yesterday evening. 2. I have been in England since the begining of October and this was my first invitation to dinner with an English family. 3. I found the conversation most interesting and I was glad to practise my English. 4. I would also like to congratulate you on your excellent cooking. 5. I was very grateful for all helpful information you gave me about the courses in English. 6. I hope to find a suitable school within the next few days. 7. And the English courses will not be too hard for me to study. 8. Would you please give my best wishes to your husband and children. 9. Thank you again for an extremely pleasant evening. 10. I am looking forward to seeing you next month. Yours sincerely, Maria . BOÀI DÖÔÕNG 12 NAÂNG CAO – 12- 10-2008 I. PHONETICS A. In each group of words, circle the word,. hardship in obscurity. (11) …… they were never recognized because their work was (12) …… of sympathy with the prevailing fashion, or because they lacked talent,