STUDENTS’ PAPER

SECTION I. LISTENING (5,0 points)

Hướng dẫn phần thi nghe hiểu:
 Bài thi gồm 4 phần, mỗi phần được nghe 2 lần. Mở đầu và kết thúc bài nghe đều có tín
hiệu và lời dẫn. Thí sinh có 20 giây để đọc phần đề và nội dung bài nghe trước khi
nghe.
 Sau khi nghe hết 4 phần của bài nghe, thí sinh có thời gian để viết đáp án vào các ô
cho sẵn ở cuối các phần.

Part 1. For questions 1-5, listen to a talk about “The Strongest Predictor of How Long
You’ll Live”. Give short answers to the questions. Write NO MORE THAN THREE
WORDS taken from the recording for each answer in the space provided.

THE STRONGEST PREDICTOR OF HOW LONG YOU’LL LIVE

1. How long have Julianne Holt- Lunstad and her colleagues waited to get the answer to the
question “What reduced the chances of dying the most?”
_________________________________________________________

2. Which factor ranks right above doing exercise mentioned in the recording?
____________________________________________________________

3 & 4. What are the names of the two factors getting towards the top predictors?
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

5. In the last predictor, how many kinds of people do you talk to?
____________________________________________________________

Part 2. For questions 6-15, listen to the news reporter and decide whether the following
statements are true (T) or false (F). Write your answers in the corresponding numbered
boxes.

6. The housing budget has increased by 17.98%.

7. 4.5 million people are waiting for affordable housing.
8. 400 ancient works of art are on display.
9. The real Amarna sculpture is over 3,000 years old.
10. Shaun Greenhalgh is now in prison.
11. Shopsmart will reduce all its prices by 13%.
12. Mr Harley was seriously injured in the fire.
13. The fire started while he was sleeping.
14. Firefighters are currently inspecting the building.
15. Most areas will be drier later.

Part 3. For questions 16-20, you will hear part of a discussion on a current affairs
programme between Nick Barnes and Alison Tempra about the performance of the
company Facebook since it floated on the stock exchange, hosted by Emily Dunne. Choose
the answer (A, B, C or D) which fits best according to what you hear and write your
answers in the corresponding numbered boxes.
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16. What does Alison think is cause for optimism?
A. The company kept its costs low . B.The loss generated was less than
expected.
C. There appears to be good revenue potential. D. The company hasn't started to
advertise yet.
17. According to Nick, the increasing popularity of smaller devices ______
A. represents untapped potential for facebook.
B. is a significant challenge to facebook increasing its revenue.
C. puts facebook at a competitive advantage.
D. gives the company an opportunity to advertise more.
18. In what situation does Alison believe facebook users might abandon the company?
A. If they are given the option of watching adverts on certain apps and sites.
B. If a free social network becomes available on the net.
C. If the company pushes advertisements onto users too forcefully.
D. If sites and apps start to appear which put users off using facebook.
19. What do we learn about the company's performance?
A. The share price has now dropped by over one-third.
B. There has been a 6% improvement in the share price overnight.
C. $38 has been wiped off the share price.
D. It has become the biggest flop in history.
20. Nick believes that Google ______
A. will inevitably prevail over facebook in time.
B. was short-sighted to invest everything it had into one project.
C. technology will be made redundant by what facebook offers users.
D. will become profit-making in a matter of time.

Part 4. For questions 21-30, listen to a radio report about Erik Weihenmayer, an
adventurer. Complete the summary, using the word or phrases you hear. Use NO MORE
THAN THREE WORDS for each blank. Write your answers in the corresponding
numbered boxes.
An American named Erik Weihenmayer standing out as an adventurer without the (21)
______ explains how he faces those challenges in today’s “Great Big Story”. He said the
most exciting part for him is in fact the movement, not the (22) ______.
At 4 or 5, he was diagnosed with an (23) ______ disease and he went blind, which he
thought was a (24) ______ as the worst thing had happened, so there’s nothing else to
lose. Then there was a (25) ______ taking blind kids rock climbing, which he thought he
wouldn’t have as a blind person. 
When he got on to a rock face, he learned to do with his hands the things that (26)
______ learn to do with their eyes. When clipping a bolt to a carabineer, he felt it to make
sure it was correctly clipped or that carabineer was going to hold him. Unable to look up the
rock to see the holds and plan a route, he could only see as far as his hands, which he thought
was (27) ______ exciting. He loved the sound of emptiness, which was meditative, very
much like an (28) ______.
Being a blind climber is really hard and you just have to embrace that suffering.
Blindness is just like all (29) ______ which you got to use as a catalyst to push you in new
directions. It’s the idea of (30) ______ into good things, and it’s something he thinks we all
could use.

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SECTION II: LEXICO– GRAMMAR (2,0 points)

Part 1. For questions 31-45, choose the correct answer A, B, C or D to each of the
following questions and write your answers in the corresponding numbered boxes
provided.
31. I was rather at a ______ in the beginning because I was the only person of different
origin.
A. displeasure B. dislike C. disadvantage D. disinterest
32. The health department is planning to ______ free leaflets informing people about heart
diseases to help them attain a basic knowledge of self-protection.
A. invent B. formulate C. announce D. issue
33. I know it’s got his name on the cover, but he used a ______.
A. correspondent B. model C. ghostwriter D. fellow
34. Have you been ______ against tetanus in the last ten years?
A. prescribed B. diagnosed C. injected D. inoculated
35. Given the rapid growth of our population, there is a ______ need to improve our
infrastructure.
A. pressing B. catastrophic C. huge D. booming
36. The discovery of a ______ cancer-causing chemical in foods like crisps, chips and cereals
caused shockwaves around the world when it hit the headlines earlier this year.
A. potentially B. completely C. constantly D. radically
37. It was the ______ warning from the seismologists that helped save the lives of the island
inhabitants before the volcano erupted.
A. preliminary B. hasty C. cursory D. advance
38. It is a society that is ______ to waging war on all forms of environmental pollution.
A. regarded B. preferred C. committed D. referred
39. Would you like to pay ______ to all musicians who made this wonderful concert
possible.
A. praise B. reward C. tribute D. thanks
40. Eric had intended to make his announcement in an article in the Times but the paper
______ by advertising the article a week before publishing.
A. gave the game away B. covered the tracks C. blew the whistle D. led the garden
path
41. I was sitting in a train looking out of the window when my mind suddenly ____back to
that amazing trip we made to India.
A. put B. flashed C. stirred D. associated
42. The matter has been left in _______until the legal ramifications have been explored.
A. recess B. suspension C. abeyance D. criticism
43. What's that horrible noise downstairs?' - 'It's only Sam. He always screams _______
murder when we take him to the dentist.'
A. red B. blue C. yellow D. black
44. This year's whiteout of a winter has prompted ______ global-warming naysayer to crow
about buying Al Gore a snow shovel.
A. some B. a lot of C. many a D. none
45. The police accused the bank employee of ______ after financial irregularities were
uncovered in his department’s accounts.
A. fraud B. hoodwink C. swindle D. cheating

Part 2: For questions 45-50, write the correct form of each bracketed word in each
sentence in the corresponding numbered boxes provided.
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46. The Court of Justice has rejected all the ______ against Mrs Stacey on the grounds of
insufficient evidence.
(ALLEGE)
47. British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher called the hanging an act of ______ which is
deeply repugnant to all civilized people.
(BARBARIC)
48. They used to be _________ enemies, but now they have managed to bury the hatchet for
the sake of mutual benefits.
(RECONCILE)
49. Many people consider taking a gap year to travel before college is an ______ experience.
(EYE)
50. Falling coffee prices have ______ many Third World economies. (POOR)

SECTION III: READING (5,0 points)

Part 1: For questions 51-60, read the text below and decide which answer A, B, C or D best
fits each gap. Write your answers in the corresponding numbered boxes provided.
Disruptive technologies are now dictating our future, as new innovations increasingly
(51) _______ the lines between physical, digital and biological realms. Robots are already in
our operating rooms and fast-food restaurants; we can now use 3D imaging and stem-cell
(52) _______ to grow human bones from a patient's own cells; and 3D printing is creating a
circular economy in which we can use and then reuse raw materials.
This (53) _______ of technological innovation will continue to (54) _______ change
how we live and work, and how our societies operate. In what is now called the Fourth
Industrial Revolution, technologies that are coming of age - including robotics,
nanotechnology, virtual reality, 3D printing, the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence and
advanced biology - will (55) _______. And as these technologies continue to be developed
and widely adopted, they will bring about (56) _______ shifts in all disciplines, industries
and economies, and in the way that we produce, distribute, consume and dispose of goods
and services.
These developments have provoked anxious questions about what role humans will
play in a technology-driven world. A 2013 University of Oxford study estimates that (57)
_______ half of all jobs in the United States could be lost to automation over the next two
decades. On the other hand, economists such as Boston University's James Bessen argue that
automation often goes (58) _______ with the creation of new jobs. So which is it - new jobs
or massive structural unemployment?
At this point, we can be certain that the Fourth Industrial Revolution will have a
disruptive impact on employment, but no one can yet predict the scale of change. So, before
we (59) _______ all the bad news, we should look at history, which suggests that
technological change more often affects the nature of work, (60) _______ the opportunity to
participate in work itself.
51. A. gloss B. blur C. tamper D. distort
52. A. creation of B. addition to C. introduction to D. extraction to
53. A. bore B. thunder C. tsunami D. quake
54. A. similarly B. thoroughly C. appositely D. profoundly
55. A. converge B. suppose C. disperse D. conclude
56. A. high B. radical C. extreme D. severe
57. A. close to B. proximity to C. near D. verge on
58. A. all in all B. side by side C. hand in hand D. little by little
59. A. perpetual B. swallow C. expel D. regurgitate
60. A. besides B. except C. due to D. rather than
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Part 2: Read the following passage and do the tasks that follow.

MYSTERIOUS DARK MATTER MAY NOT ALWAYS HAVE BEEN DARK

Dark matter particles may have interacted extensively with normal matter long ago,
when the universe was very hot, a new study suggests. The nature of dark matter is currently
one of the greatest mysteries in science. The invisible substance — which is detectable via its
gravitational influence on "normal" matter - is thought to make up five-sixths of all matter in
the universe.
Astronomers began suspecting the existence of dark matter when they noticed the
cosmos seemed to possess more mass than stars could account for. For example, stars circle
the center of the Milky Way so fast that they should overcome the gravitational pull of the
galaxy's core and zoom into the intergalactic void. Most scientists think dark matter provides
the gravity that helps hold these stars back. Astronomers know more about what dark matter
is not than what it actually is.
Scientists have mostly ruled out all known ordinary materials as candidates for dark
matter. The consensus so far is that this missing mass is made up of new species of particles
that interact only very weakly with ordinary matter. One potential clue about the nature of
dark matter has to do with the fact that it's five times more abundant than normal matter,
researchers said.
"This may seem a lot, and it is, but if dark and ordinary matter were generated in a
completely independent way, then this number is puzzling," said study co-author Pavlos
Vranas, a particle physicist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore,
California. "Instead of five, it could have been a million or a billion. Why five?" The
researchers suggest a possible solution to this puzzle: Dark matter particles once interacted
often with normal matter, even though they barely do so now. "This may have happened in
the early universe, when the temperature was very high — so high that both ordinary and
dark matter were 'melted' in a plasma state made up of their ingredients".
The protons and neutrons making up atomic nuclei are themselves each made up of a
trio of particles known as quarks. The researchers suggest dark matter is also made of a
composite "stealth" particle, which is composed of a quartet of component particles and is
difficult to detect (like a stealth airplane). The scientists' supercomputer simulations suggest
these composite particles may have masses ranging up to more than 200 billion electron-
volts, which is about 213 times a proton's mass. Quarks each possess fractional electrical
charges of positive or negative one-third or two-thirds. In protons, these add up to a positive
charge, while in neutrons, the result is a neutral charge. Quarks are confined within protons
and neutrons by the so-called "strong interaction."
The researchers suggest that the component particles making up stealth dark matter
particles each have a fractional charge of positive or negative one-half, held together by a
"dark form" of the strong interaction. Stealth dark matter particles themselves would only
have a neutral charge, leading them to interact very weakly at best with ordinary matter, light,
electric fields and magnetic fields. The researchers suggest that at the extremely high
temperatures seen in the newborn universe, the electrically charged components of stealth
dark matter particles could have interacted with ordinary matter. However, once the universe
cooled, a new, powerful and as yet unknown force might have bound these component
particles together tightly to form electrically neutral composites. Stealth dark matter particles
should be stable — not decaying over eons, if at all, much like protons. However, the
researchers suggest the components making up stealth dark matter particles can form
different unstable composites that decay shortly after their creation. "For example, one could
have composite particles made out of just two component particles," Vranas said.
These unstable particles might have masses of about 100 billion electron-volts or more,
and could be created by particle accelerators such as the Large Hadron Collider (LHC)
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beneath the France-Switzerland border. They could also have an electric charge and be
visible to particle detectors, Vranas said. Experiments at the LHC, or sensors designed to spot
rare instances of dark matter colliding with ordinary matter, "may soon find evidence of, or
rule out, this new stealth dark matter theory," Vranas said in a statement. If stealth dark
matter exists, future research can investigate whether there are any effects it might have on
the cosmos.
"Are there any signals in the sky that telescopes may find?" Vranas said. "In order to
answer these questions, our calculations will require larger supercomputing resources.
Fortunately, supercomputing development is progressing fast towards higher computational
speeds." The scientists, the Lattice Strong Dynamics Collaboration, will detail their findings
in an upcoming issue of the journal Physical Review Letters.

Questions 61-68: Complete the sentences below. Write NO MORE THAN TWO
WORDS from the passage for each answer. Write your answers in the corresponding
numbered boxes provided.
 
61. One of the greatest mysteries in science is the nature of the ______.
62. All known material have been mostly ______ as candidates for dark matter. 
63. Dark matter is a lot more ______ than normal matter. 
64. Due to high temperature, both ordinary and dark matters were 'melted' in a ______.
65. It is confirmed that quarks are within protons and neutrons by ______.
66. It is suggested that stealth dark matter particle would only have a ______.
67. Experiments at the LHC may soon find ______ of the new stealth dark matter theory.
68. To answer questions we require ______ resources.

Questions 69-73: Decide whether the following statements are true (T), false (F) or not
given (NG). Write your answers in the corresponding numbered boxes provided.
69 The nature of dark matter is a mystery. 
70. It is likely that dark matter consists of ordinary materials. 
71. Quarks have neither positive nor negative charge.
72. Protons are not stable.
73. Dark matter has a serious impact on the cosmos.

Part 3. For question 74-80, you are going to read an extract from an article about the
pleasure of doing nothing. Seven paragraphs have been removed from the extract. Choose
from paragraphs A-H the one which fits each gap. There is one extra paragraph you do
not need to use. Write your answers in the numbered boxes.
DOING NOTHING
In the summer, when my daughters whine too long, write on the walls or leave a trail of
crumbs on a newly vacuumed floor, I tell them to go outside and play. For me it’s a roots
experience. My mother’s voice echoes in my head. I see her in a heroic Soviet realist pose,
pointing to the yard with a rubber-gloved dripping hand.
74
There was clear conviction in such declarations. It was not simply about just getting out for
some fresh air. I, however, as a modern parent, let mv kids, ages twelve and five, do nothing
for, oh, five minutes before I am totally besieged by doubts. Pangs of conscience just simply
sweep me off into the fray.
75
Why not leave the kids to their own devices? The usual suspects, I suppose: guilt and fear.
My wife and I both have complexes about accommodating the demands of family life within
6
a hectic freelance schedule: plus we imagine that they will simply slope off and vanish
forever if our supervisory vigilance is allowed to lapse.
76
There could have been no remoter possibility than my father bounding from the house and
exclaiming: “Hey, how about a game of ‘hide-and- seek’?” Had he done so, we would have
wondered whether we’d suddenly been sucked into the bizarre world of the comics we used
to read before the advent of mass TV.
77
The notion of doing nothing for your kids was not only tolerated but was also codified for all
on Sundays. Our churches proscribed work on Sunday. There was no question of running out
to buy groceries, because the stores were bolted shut. We ate a meal and simply stretched out
on the grass as time passed.
78
The clouds are still up there in the sky. The kids do not need me on hand to point out what
their various shapes might conceivably suggest. It has also dawned on me of late that we
could all use a little more nothing - time to take stock and reflect on who we are - just to get
priorities straight.
79
What might be lost in terms of intensity of living would surely be made up for by the quality
of perspective gained. And in a world that increasingly compartmentalizes and pulls us in
different directions, just being around - and together - has to be good.
80
Most important, however, is bound to be maintaining the conviction that doing nothing is
sometimes more deeply meaningful than the swirl of activity that defines our day. Keeping
faith with this principle is surely the greatest domestic challenge of these hyperactive, hyper-
parenting times.

Missing paragraphs:
A There were no classes, camps and sports wrapped seamlessly around quality time
spent with Mom and Dad. Instead we had time to dream, and we passed languorous
days with hours just to stare at the sky - idling rather than dithering - doing whatever
suggested itself rather than despairing at the prospect of filling time.

B We may well pull this off, provided that we can push past some barriers. We'll have to
watch the kids mope, and we’ll have to resign ourselves to the fact the house might
never get painted. Well al! have to come to view walking the dog as less of a chore.

C It was my wife, in fact, who called my bluff by G pointing out that even though life
around us might rush forward unabated, we need not. We could chase the kids out with
the simple challenge of playing in the garden. We could stop, breathe, converse ... In
short, we could make room in our lives for nothing to come flooding in.

D It only takes a sullen expression or feet being dragged through the grass and I think
that, well, really we could play hide-and-seek together. Or kick around a football. And
before I know it, I’ve joined them in banishment and imposed fun on them. Surely In
heaven my mother is smacking her forehead with a sudsy palm.

E Our perceptions of parenting have changed so radically since my parents’ time. Today,
when we suddenly find ourselves at a loose end, it’s as if we are somehow letting
ourselves down - letting the whole side down, in fact. And our streetwise kids too, will

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 be quick to point the finger of blame squarely at poor parenting whenever there
appears a gap in their social calendar.

F Recently, after a day spent running from dancing class to swimming lessons, with time
out for pecked-at meals, I cut loose a tirade. My mother, I declared, knew what she was
on about. Life doesn’t end if a half-day looms before children and they have to make of
it what they will.

G My brother and I, exiles suddenly, would stare at the green expanse. Behind US would
come the decree “don’t come home until the church bell rings.” We would gawk at
each other, ponder the sun struck purgatory ahead of US and complain: “There’s
nothing to do” which was invariably countered with: “Find something!”

H But when I think back, contending with nothing was one of summer’s sweetest parts. In
the small town where I grew up there were only three months of the year when you
could do nothing outdoors without the risk of hypothermia. So after we had exhausted
our repertoire of activities - playing catch, exploring a nearby ravine, throwing green
apples at each other - my brother and I would find a patch of shade, settle there and
watch the clouds drift by.

Part 4: For questions 81-90, read the following passage and choose the best answer (A, B,
C or D) according to the text. Write your answers (A, B, C or D) in the corresponding
numbered boxes.

THE SOUND OF MUSIC

Geoff Brown wonders whether film music can ever be regarded as art.

No one can claim such mastery of the fantasy blockbuster sound as British film music
composer John Williams. It's a style of music he did much to define in Star Wars and then for
many other films for the director Steven Spielberg. There are distinctive melodies which give
the feeling of flying, snatches of music to represent different characters, and intricate
illustrative details. In addition, everything follows the symphonic style of a hundred years
ago. It's what the film industry in Hollywood wants, it's what John Williams supplies, and
what audiences everywhere expect.
Can we call it art, or is it simply an interesting artifact, a sort of factory product? For the
cinema-goer sitting with a popcorn bag the question doesn't arise. But since film music now
spreads to a different audience far outside cinemas, on lavishly promoted soundtrack CDs and
serious concert platforms, it may be interesting to answer the question.
Composers themselves have expressed very diverse opinions. Interviewed some years
ago, Williams himself proudly referred to film music as 'the opera of the 20th century'. On the
other hand, Richard Rodney Bennett, the composer of the music for the film Murder on the
Orient Express, declared that 'in writing film music one is really using only a sixth of one's
musical mind'. Everyone agrees on one point though: the rewards are pleasingly high. There
are royalties. And if you hit the right buttons you can spin off into the lucrative sideline of a
concert career, regularly mounting live performances of film compositions.
But if you consider the working conditions that composers put up with, superficially
the odds do seem stacked against film music being classed as art. First of all, film music is
composed in snippets, timed to the second, and written after the film is shot. Then there are
insane deadlines - like having five days to compose 50 minutes of music. Next, the composer
8
has to live with the fact that he/she wields no artistic control. Finally, the ultimate insult is
that what is written struggles to get itself noticed against a background of dialogue, squeals,
and every possible visual delight from cartoon character Shrek's green body to actor Tom
Cruise's chin. It can't be art, can it?
But think of the German composer Bach in the eighteenth century, satisfying his
employers by writing one cantata a week. Few composers can write without a commission.
And for the true artist, rules and restrictions stimulate. Film scoring can sharpen a composer's
technique, encourage experimentation. The composer Vaughan Williams was never quite the
same again after his work on the film Scott of the Antarctic caused him to branch into
percussion instruments as a way of capturing a frozen landscape.
Film music can be art then, and has been, in fits and starts. The frustrating thing is that
many film producers have limited expectations of what film music can be. Once the age of
silent movies was over and talkies arrived, music became an integral part of the projected
film and anything was possible. Music didn't have to be poured over the images like
mayonnaise; it could argue with them, puncture them with irony, or rudely interrupt. In
Europe, various composers such as Shostakovich and Hanns Eisler experimented with timbre
and form, showing Hollywood (at the time still stuck with the sounds of a late nineteenth-
century symphony orchestra beavering away) that innovative techniques were possible.
But even in Hollywood, art raised its head. All film composers look up to Bernard
Herrmann, a giant who colored each score with a different sound and let his music snake
through the images in unconventional ways. The power of the film Vertigo lies not only in
the director's images but in Herrmann's worried woodwind and turbulent strings and the
weird harp solos that dog the characters' footsteps. His scores are usually so interwoven with
their films that it's a futile task trying to carve the music into selections for concert use.
Herrmann proves that it's even possible to write film scores in bulk without hurtling into an
artistic decline.
So, what's my conclusion? Art or factory product? Both in fact, although there's rather
more of the factory product than I would like at times.

81. What point is the writer making about John Williams' music in the first paragraph?
A. It is similar to that produced by other composers.
В. It is too old-fashioned to remain popular for long.
С. It has a better reputation in Hollywood than elsewhere.
D. It has certain characteristics that are easy to identify.
82. In the second paragraph, what does the writer imply about the attitude of cinema-goers to film
music?
A. They are only interested in it if they can purchase the CD.
В. They perceive it as being mass-produced.
С. They are not concerned about whether it has artistic merit.
D. They feel music is an important part of the cinema experience.
83. According to the writer, which view of film music do all composers share?
A. They consider that it is a worthy outlet for their talents.
В. They appreciate the financial gains they make from it.
С. They need it to supplement their main source of income.
D. They can use it as a way into an alternative career.
84. According to the writer, what is the worst aspect of a film composer's working conditions?
A. The music has to be composed after the film is completed.
В. The deadlines set for the composer cannot be achieved.
С. The music has to compete for attention with other elements of the film.
D. The composer has no control over how the music is used.
85. The writer compares modern film composers with Bach to show that
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 A. some composers work better under pressure.
В. composers have unreasonable demands imposed on them.
С. composers must aim to please their employers.
D. all composers need some sort of sponsorship.
86. What point is made about Hollywood film music when the 'talkies' arrived?
A. It used less well-known symphony orchestras than before.
В. It did not constitute a major part of the final production.
С. It didn't generally make use of new ideas.
D. It was not considered to make an artistic contribution to the film.
87. What does the writer say is special about Bernard Herrmann's music?
A. It is of high quality because he composed very little.
В. It has a distinctive style which evokes the animal world.
С. It is totally integrated with the visual element of the film.
D. It has considerable potential for concert performance.
88. The word “intricate” is closest in meaning to ________.
A. elaborate B. perplexing C. myriad D. diverse
89. What does the writer mean when saying “…superficially the odds do seem stacked
against film music being classed as art”?
A. Film music is not at all to everyone’s taste.
B. People who opine that film music is not truly a form of art should have a rethink.
C. Film music is condemned for its superficiality.
D. On the surface, film music does not seem like a form of art.
90. The word “puncture” is closest in meaning to _______.
A. discredit B. disparage C. eliminate D. upgrade

Part 5. For questions 91-100, You are going to read an extract from an article on gender.
Choose from the sections (A-E). The sections may be chosen more than once. Write your
answers (A, B, C or D) in the corresponding numbered boxes.

In which section are the following mentioned?

- the details of a linguist's theory 91.

- Judith Butler's ideas around the distinction often made between gender and sex 92.
- the disagreeing of a philosopher with a linguist's theory 93.
- the possibility of using Judith Butler's work to improve a situation 94.
- sexism towards women by members of the same sex 95.
- the misinterpretation of a term in Judith Butler's work 96.
- the worst problems of gender-assignment 97.
- the difficulty in trying to summarize Judith Butler's ideas 98
- the surrounding of human beings in language 99
- that people today aren't that different from people of a different era 100

NEITHER THIS NOR THAT

A Most of us sit happily within our binary categorized genders. We push the boundaries
a little bit. We like to think we're being a bit alternative with our decisions in clothing, or
even in attitude. It Isn't difficult to find perfectly straight househusbands taking an interest in
the decor of the family home and to find misogynistic women in boardrooms and on factory
floors alike across the globe today. We might be able to do more within our assigned gender,
but we're still very much pinned down by the borders of our gender - we're still only reacting
against our strict Victorian predecessors - we've yet to step into the future of our possible
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selves.

B A difficult pill for us to swallow though is that we can't imagine ourselves without
gender. Who are we without our box labels of "man" and "woman". As we ask ourselves this
question, a beautiful songbird flies past our eyes and it dawns on us that we don't exist
without these categories. Or, rather we cannot imagine - we are unintelligible to ourselves
without these demarcations. This is one of the basic ideas of Judith Butler, a theorist on many
aspects of identity, but who made her name in the public domain with her research upon gen-
der. She works from within a number of perspectives and any cursory attempt at an
introduction to her and her ideas would be to do unto her a great injustice, but for those who
are unfamiliar with her work, she argues that gender is performative. This term has, indeed,
caused some of the many problems and confusions with Butler's theory, but as a base from
which to start, one who would like to understand should soon dispose of the theatrical notion
hanging around in your connotational mind and turn towards the field of linguistics. More
specifically towards a particular linguist and his work; J. L Austin's How To Do Things With
Words.

C J. L. Austin's work couldn't be further away from gender studies if it tried, but Judith
Butler made use of his famous theory upon the performativity of certain types of speech or
utterances. He argued that some utterances had no reference outside of the sentence, so these
utterances are performative. Austin refers to the utterances in naming ceremonies and
marriage ceremonies as instances of the performativity of language. It takes a while to get
one's head around this, but essentially Austin argues that in certain cases utterances do not
describe nor state the "doing" of an action, but rather the utterance itself is the action; the
utterance performs the action. "I name this ship..." would be an example of a performative
utterance. Judith Butler arrives at Austin's work through a critique of it by the French
philosopher Jacque Derrida. Derrida takes issue with Austin's narrow usage of his theory.

D This is where Judith Butler picks up the thread. She argues that from the moment we
are born, we are encased by language. We don't speak back for a year or so, but the people
around US are already dressing us up in the finery of the language we will one day use to
decorate ourselves - to create our identities with. But, further than this and more explicitly as
Butler develops in her later work Bodies That Matter, the moment we are born the sentence is
uttered, "it's a girl" or "it's a boy" - this is the basis of her argument of gender being
performative. I suppose a good way to imagine it is through Spiderman's web that he shoots
from his wrist. The web is language and language that is inescapable. The implications of this
though, are very serious for Butler, she often writes about children who are born with two
sets of genitals or whose genitals are ambiguous. For these people, Butler argues, the "gen-
dering" is most cruel. These human beings aren't left as the beautiful products that they are,
but quite the opposite - they are mutilated as babies and find it very difficult to live sexually
fulfilling lives as adults.

E Although never explicitly stated in Judith Butler's work, what her work might lead on
to is a lessening of the gendering process, she would be incredibly skeptical about such an
idea, she would suggest that this is impossible; that we cannot think outside of the gendered
categories. She believes that the only way to make life more bearable in the gendering
process is through subversion. One way she suggests is to overdo gender, she argues that the
hyperbolically feminine and the hyperbolically masculine draw attention to the edges of the
categories whilst at the same time undermining the categories by the very fact of their
borders. Some would suggest you see, that man and woman, male and female (Butler has a

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very interesting perspective when it comes to the pop-science differentiation between
"gender" and "sex" with the latter often being read as "biological" and the former as
"cultural") are related to the notion of "nature". The househusband who takes an interest in
the decor of the family home would probably complacently suggest that, in nature, women
would usually do this and men would do that, but because we live in a society that allows for
the reverse, we can do otherwise. Butler would have problems with this for a number of
reasons including the unquestioning usage of the term "nature".

SECTION IV. WRITING (6,0 points)

Part 1. Read the following passage and use your own words to summarize it. Your
summary should be between 100 and 120 words long.

I'm sure that we as teenagers have experienced times when people we know well drive
us up the wall and met people from time to time whom, for some reason or other, we just do
not like. Can you remember times when your brother or sister seemed especially bossy, your
teacher was cross with you for no reason at all, or a parent was being unnecessarily critical of
something you had done? Well, we meet these sorts of situations all the time. Life sometimes
seems as if it is just a series of problems and arguments. For most of us, parents are probably
the most frequent reason for such feelings. But every young person has difficulties with
teachers, arguments or rows with their friends.
Teenagers feel they have a lot to be angry or frustrated about life. It is hard when you
want so much to be grown-ups, to be able to make decisions, yet have to ask your parents'
permission. It is difficult having to wait for things, being continually held back by adult
caution when you are sure you are ready and able to handle new experiences. It is frustrating
to be treated like a child when you know you are becoming an adult. It is hard to have
obstacles and restrictions placed in your way when you know you are capable and responsible
and it is hard to have adults vary so much in what they expect of you and in what they will
allow you to do.
One way of dealing with this situation is to get angry. This is justifiable anger and a
small amount of anger can be a good thing. Anger can bring problems out into the open and it
can help to get things done. Anger about unfairness, selfishness, greed or unfair treatment can
help to bring about changes and to put things right. Another way to keep us going is to feel
good about ourselves. The thing that is most likely to make us feel good is a happy
relationship with another person. This is the sort of relationship we have within a family.
Being praised, loved, and valued as a person makes us feel good. We all have our doubts and
uncertainties and it is support and words of encouragement from parents or other adults such
as teachers that keep us going. Talk to your parents and other adults. Make them understand
your needs and your frustrations will dwindle to nothing.

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Part 2. The charts below show what UK graduate and postgraduate students who did not
go into full-time work did after leaving college in 2008.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make
comparisons where relevant.

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Part 3. Write an essay of 350 words on the following topic.
Some people state that smartphones make people from afar be closer while others
argue that smartphones have brought close family members further away.
Discuss this statement and give your opinion.

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(You may write overleaf if you need more space).

- THE END -

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