SECTION A.

LISTENING
Part 1: (20 pts) Questions 1-10. Complete the note below
South City Cycling Club
Name of club secretary: (0) Jim Hunter
Membership
Full membership costs £ 260; this covers cycling and (1) …………………all over Australia
Recreational membership costs £ 108
Cost of membership includes the club fee and (2) …………………………
The club kit made by a company called (3) ……………………….
Training rides
Chance to improve cycling skills and fitness
Level B: speed about (4) …………………... kph
Weekly sessions
- Tuesdays at 5.30 am, meet at the (5) ……………………………..
- Thursdays at 5.30 am, meet at the entrance to the (6) …………………….
Further information
Rides are about an hour and a half
Members often have (7) ……………. together afterwards.
There is not always a (8) ……………. with the group on the these rides.
Check and print the (9) ………………. on the website beforehand
Bikes must have (10 ……………………………..
Part 2. Questions 11-20. (20 pts)
Questions 11-16
Choose the correct letter, A, B, or C
Information on company volunteering projects
11. How much time for volunteering does the company allow per employee?
A. two hours per week
B. one day per month
C. 8 hours per year
12. In feedback almost all employees said that volunteering improved their
A. chances of promotion
B. job satisfaction.
C. relationships with colleagues.
13. Last year some staff helped unemployed people with their
A. interacy skill.
B. job applications.
C. communication skills.
14.This year the company will start a new volunteer project with a local
A. school
B. park
C. charity
15. Where will the Digital Inclusion Day be held?
A. at the company’s training facility
B. at a college
C. in a community center
16. What should staff do if they want to take part in the Digital Inclusion Day?
A. fill in a form
B. attend a training workshop
C. get permission from manager
Question 17 and 18 Choose TWO letter A-E
What TWO things are mentioned about the participants on the last Digital Inclusion Day?
A.They were all over 70
B.They never used their computer
C.Their phones were mostly old-fashioned
D.They only used their phones for making calls.
E.They initially showed little interest.
Question 19 and 20 Choose TWO letter A-E
What TWO t activities on the last Digital Inclusion Day did participants describe as useful?
A.learning to use tables
B.communicating with family
C.shopping online
D.playing online games
E.sending emails
Part 3. Questions 21-25. (10 pts)
You will hear five people talking about shopping for clothes. For questions 21-25, choose from
the list A-F what each speaker says. Use the letters only once. There is one extra letter which you
do not need to use.
A. I often buy clothes I don’t need. Speaker 1: (21) ___________
B. I admit I spend too much on clothes. Speaker 2: (22) ___________
C. I plan in advance the clothes I need to buy. Speaker 3: (23) ___________
D. I tend to become bored with clothes I buy. Speaker 4: (24) ___________
E. I dislike wasting time on shopping. Speaker 5: (25) ___________
F. I am uncertain about what suits me.
SECTION B. LEXICO AND GRAMMAR
Part 1: (15 pts) Choose the word which best completes each of the following sentences.
Write your answers in the space provided.
1. If I had listened to my parents, I __________ in so much trouble now.
A. wouldn’t have been B. won’t be C. wouldn’t be D. would be
2. In my small house there are two rooms, ______is used as the living-room.
A. the larger of which B. the large one C. the largest one D. the largest of which
3. Only in the last few years ________ to use laptops in place of bulky desktops.
A. have begun people B. have people begun C. when people begun D. people have begun
4. It is essential that Alice _______ Tom of the meeting tomorrow.
A. will remind B. reminds C. reminded D. remind
5. ______ that my headache had cleared, my brain was also beginning to work much better.
A. For B. Despite C. Since D. Now
6. You think she is coming to the meeting tonight, ______?
A. don’t you B. won’t you C. isn’t she D. doesn’t she
7. Those books I ordered should __________ by now.
A. be delivering B. have delivered C. have been delivered D. deliver
8. This is the ______timetable for the conference. It may change later.
A. conditional B. indefinite C. provisional D. indeterminate
9. The speech was ______ by the music coming from the next room. We couldn’t hear a word
she said.
A. broken out B. drowned out C. pulled out D. dropped out
10. When his parents are away, his oldest brother ______. He manages everything in the family.
A. draws a blank B. is in the same boat C. calls the shots D. knocks it off
11. Sheila swore that she would _______ after she figured out that I had started the rumor about
her.
A. fight shy of me B. get even with me C. lie heavy on me D. run afoul of me
Choose the correct answer A, B, C, or D to indicate the sentence that best completes each of
the following exchanges.
12. Elizabeth has worked with her colleague on a project for a long time and they feel a little
tired.
Laurie: “Then, let’s call it a day, shall we?” - Elizabeth: “____________”
A. All right. See you later.
B. I think we have. Is there anything else to discuss?
C. I’d love to, and I’ve got a pretty tight schedule today.
D. I’m sorry I can’t. Maybe we can finish it tomorrow.
13. - Esme: "Do you have a minute?" - Kailyn: "_____________."
A. Well, that makes sense B. Yes, but please be brief
C. That's just great. Thanks D. Sorry, I left my watch home
Choose the correct answer A, B, C, or D to indicate the words CLOSEST in meaning to the
underlined words in the following question.
14. The opposition party dismissed the government’s proposal out of hand.
A. without thinking B. with some hesitation
C. with reluctance D. without further consideration
Choose the correct answer A, B, C, or D to indicate the word OPPOSITE in meaning to the
underlined word in the following question.
15. She was said to be hasty on the way home yesterday.
A. firm B. quick C. sluggish D. unhealthy
Part 2. (10 pts) Read the passage below, which contains 10 mistakes. Identify the mistakes
and write the corrections in the corresponding numbered boxes.
RAIN MAKING
When it rains, it doesn’t always pour. During a typical storm, a comparatively small number of
the locking up moisture in each cloud reaches the ground like rain. So the idea that human
intervention- a rain dance, perhaps - might encourage the sky to give out a little additional water
has been around in prehistoric times. More recently, would-be rain-makers have attempted direct
intervention, by lobbying various chemicals out of aeroplanes in the effort to bring more rain
from clouds, a practice knowing as “cloud seeding”.
Yet such techniques, which was first developed in the 1940s, are notoriously difficult to
evaluate. It is hard to ascertain, for example, how much rain would have fallen anyway. So,
though much anecdotal evidence of the advantages of cloud seeding, which has led to its
adoption in more than 40 countries around the world, as far as scientists are concerned, results
are still inconclusive. That could be about to change. For the past three years, researchers have
been carrying on the most extensive and rigorous evaluation of a revolutionary new technique
which will substantial boost the volume of rainfall.
The preliminary findings of their experiments indicate that solid evidence of the technique’s
effective is now within the scientists’ grasp.
Your answers:
Line Mistake Correction Line Mistake Correction
1. 6.
2. 7.
3. 8.
4. 9.
5. 10.
SECTION C. READING COMPREHENSION
Part 1: (15 pts) Read the following passage and choose the best answer. Write your answers
A, B, C or D in the corresponding numbered boxes provided.
When faced with some new and possible bewildering technology change, most people
(1)________ in one of two ways. They either recoil (2)________ anything new, claiming that it
is unnecessary, or too complicated or that it (3)________ makes life less than human. Or they
learn to adapt to the new invention and (4)________ wonder how they could possibly have
existed (5)________ it. Take computers as example. For many of us, they still (6)________ a
threat to our freedom and give us a frightening (7)________ of a future in which all decisions
will be (8)________ by machines. This may be because they seem (9)________, and difficult to
understand. Ask most people what you can use a home computer for, and you usually get vague
answers about how ‘they give you information’. In fact, even those of us who are (10)________
with computer and use them in our daily work, have little idea of how they work. But it does not
take long to learn how to operate a business programme, even if things occasionally go wrong
for no apparent (11)________. Presumably, much the same happened when telephone and
television became widespread. What seems to alarm most people is the (12)________ of
technology change, (13)________ than change itself. And the objections that are made to new
technology may (14)________ have a point to them, since change is not always an improvement.
As we discover during power cuts, there is a lot to be said for the oil lamp, the coal fire, and
forms of entertainment, such as books or board (15)________, which don’t have to be plugged
into work.
1. A. react B. treat C. solve D. perform
2. A. of B. out of C. away from D. from
3. A. somewhere B. someplace C. someway D.somewhat
4. A. eventually B. possibly C. initially D. naturally
5. A. with B. without C. on D. for
6. A. show B. meet C. face D. represent
7. A. possibility B. sense C. idea D. prospect
8. A. invented B. changed C. taken D. done
9. A. unsteady B. unsure C. mysterious D. obvious
10. A. accustomed B. familiar C. used D. commonplace
11. A. reason B. cue C. excuse D. cause
12. A. rate B. swiftness C. speed D. tempo
13. A. more B. less C. rather D. other
14. A. badly B. better C. worse D. well
15. A. sports B. games C. plays D. shows
Part 2: (26 pts) Fill each of the numbered blanks in the following passage with one suitable
word.
PEER PRESSURE
One of the strongest influences on children today is that of their peers. What their classmates
think, how they dress and how they act in class and out of it (1) ____________ the behavior of
nearly (2) _______ child at school. In their efforts not to be different, some children go so far as
to hide their intelligence and ability in case they are made (3)________ of. Generally, children
do not want to stand (4) ____________ from the crowd. They want to fit in, to be accepted. In
psychological (5)__________, the importance of peer pressure cannot (6) ______ over
emphasized. There is a lot of evidence (7)_______ it has great bearing on all aspects of children's
lives, from the clothes they wear, the (8)________ they listen to and their attitude to study to
their ambitions in life, their relationships and their sense. (9) ____________, as children grow up
into adolescents, individuality becomes (10) ________ acceptable, desirable even, and in their
search for their (11) __________ personal style, the teenager and young adult will begin to
experiment and be more willing to run the (12) ____________ of rejection by the group.
Concern about intellectual prowess and achieving good exam results can dominate as the
atmosphere of competition develops and worries (13) __________ the future override any fears
of appearing too brainy.
Part 3: (10 pts) Read the passage and and then choose the correct answer. Write the
answers in the corresponding numbered boxes.
More good than evil?
It is a commonly held belief that today’s teens are in trouble. They spend hours communicating
via social network sites instead of socializing in person and send countless text messages that are
in a virtually unrecognizable language. In a study analyzing today’s youth in the digital world,
renowned scientist, Susan Greenfield, laments: “We are raising a generation of children who are
shallow, thrill-seeking and in danger of detaching themselves from reality.” In spite of such
pessimistic beliefs, recent research seems to indicate that social network sites may not be as
detrimental as some may think.
A crucial point is that we need to maintain a broader perspective. New technologies have always
provoked generational panic, which usually has more to do with adult fears than any real harm
they may do. In the 1930s, parents worried that radio was taking over the lives of their children.
In the 60s, the great danger was the television and then in the 80s, the Sony Walkman was
claimed to be turning teens into mindless zombies.
In fact, social scientists who study young people have found that technology and the digital
world can essentially benefit today's youth. It seems that if teens use a lot of social media, it has
no negative effect on their engaging in face-to-face contact. Actually, the evidence suggests that
the most avid texters are also the kids most likely to spend time with friends in person. One form
of socializing doesn’t replace the other. It augments it. Then, as the young get older and are
given more freedom, they often ease up on social networking. Early on, the web is their own
personal space, but by their late teens, it is replaced as they acquire greater independence.
But isn’t all this short-form writing eroding language skills? Studies of first-year college papers
from 1917 show that this is not the case. The rates of grammar and vocabulary errors by these
freshmen in their compositions were the same as in the ones written by their modern
counterparts. There is one essential difference, however. Student essays have blossomed in size
and complexity. They are now six times longer and offer arguments supported by a wealth of
evidence. Why? Because computers have vastly increased the ability of students to gather
research, consider different points of view and write more analytically.
If truth be told, the online world also offers kids remarkable opportunities to become literate and
creative because young people can now publish ideas not just to their circle of friends, but to the
whole world. And it turns out that when they write for strangers, it makes them work harder,
push themselves further, and create powerful new communicative forms.
1. What is meant by the phrase virtually unrecognizable in the first paragraph?
A. Teenagers use foreign languages when they speak or write.
B. Teenagers are very creative when they communicate with one another.
C. Teenagers enjoy taking on a different identity when they communicate.
D. The language used in text messages has been greatly altered.
2. Why is Susan Greenfield quoted in the first paragraph?
A. She has teenage children who use computers.
B. She strongly contradicts what society believes.
C. Her research supports that teens are negatively affected by today’s technology.
D. She believes more information is needed to draw conclusions.
3. According to Susan Greenfield, what may be a consequence of teens using technology?
A. They may become overly cynical about their lives.
B. They may not be connected to what is happening around them.
C. They may not find pleasure in exciting activities.
D. They may not grow up into mature adults.
4. Why does the author use examples from past decades?
A. to prove that technology has always been harmful
B. to argue that new inventions always seem suspicious
C. to show that teenagers will never obey their parents
 D. to present a trend that is getting more dangerous
5. The author implies that a teen who uses a cell phone frequently is _____
A. less athletic B. a poor student C. highly introverted D. more
sociable
6. The word augments in the third paragraph is closest in meaning to______
A. substitutes for B. adds to C. explains D. decreases
7. What happens when teenagers get older?
A. They don’t need personal space anymore.
B. Their studies become more important to them than their social lives.
C. The digital world becomes increasingly important to them.
D. They do not participate in social networks as much.
8. What does the word counterparts in the fourth paragraph refer to?
A. compositions B. first-year college students
C. grammar and vocabulary errors D. language skills
9. How does a modern college freshman’s paper compare to one from 1917?
A. It has almost no linguistic errors. B. It has the same amount of content.
C. It has a less complicated writing style. D. It is based on more information.
10. What is the author’s view of social networks?
A. Their access must be strictly controlled by parents.
B. They play a positive role in young people’s lives.
C. They are detrimental to young people’s relationships.
D. They have evolved faster than most people realize.
Part 4. (14 pts) You are going to read a magazine article about letter writing. Eight
sentences have been removed from the article. Choose from the sentences A-l the one which
fits each gap (1-7). There is one extra sentence which you do not need to use. There is an
example at the beginning
DROP ME A LINE!
In our fast world of phones, fax machines and computers, the old-fashioned art of letter writing is
at risk of disappearing altogether. (0) ___I_____There is the excitement of its arrival, the
pleasure of seeing who it is from and, finally, the enjoyment of the contents. Letter writing has
been part of my life for as long as I can remember. It probably began with the little notes I would
write to my mother. My mother, also, always insisted I write my own thank-you letters for
Christmas and birthday presents. (1) _______
When I left home at 18 to train as a doctor in London, I would write once a week, and so would
my mother. Occasionally my father would write and it was always a joy to receive his long,
amusing letters. (2) ________ Of course, we also made phone calls but it is the letters I
remember most. There were also letters from my boyfriends. In my youth I seemed to attract
people who had to work or study away at some time and I was only able to stay in touch by
correspondence. (3) _________ I found that I could often express myself more easily in writing
than by talking. I love the letters that come with birthday or Christmas cards. (4) _______ And
it's better still when it's an airmail envelope with beautiful stamps. My overseas letters arrive
from Mangala in Sri Lanka, from someone I trained with over 20 years ago, and I have a
penfriend in Australia and another in Vancouver. Then there's the lady who writes to me from
France. If we hadn't started talking in a restaurant on the way home from holiday, if my husband
hadn't taken her photo and if I hadn't asked her for her address, I would never have been able to
write to her. (5) ________As it is we now have a regular correspondence. I can improve my
French (she speaks no English); we have stayed at her home twice and she has stayed with us.
My biggest letter-writing success, however, came this summer, when my family and I stayed
with my American penfriend in Texas. (6) _______ Everyone was amazed that a correspondence
could last so long. The local press even considered the correspondence worth reporting on the
front page. I am pleased that my children are carrying on the tradition. Like my mother before
me, I insist they write their own thank-you letters. My daughter writes me little letters, just as I
did to my mother. (7) _________ I strongly urge readers not to allow letter writing to become
another 'lost art'.
A. Most of the letters from home contained just everyday events concerning my parents and their
friends.
B. We had been corresponding for 29 years but had never met.
C. It didn't matter how short or untidy they were as long as they were letters.
D. Notes are appreciated, but how much better to have a year's supply of news!
E. Poor handwriting can spoil your enjoyment of a letter.
F. But instead of harming the relationships, letter writing seemed to improve them.
G. She and my son have penfriends of their own in Texas, organized by my penfriend.
H. More important, if she hadn’t replied, we would be the poorer for it.
I. Yet, to me, there is something about receiving a letter that cannot be matched by any other
form of communication.
SECTION D. WRITING
Part 1. (10 pts) Finish each of the following sentences in such a way that it means exactly
the same as the sentence printed before it.
1. The only reason the party was a success was that a famous film star attended.
=> Had a famous film star __________________________________________________
2. People believe that the Chinese invented paper in 105 A.D.
=> Paper_______________________________________________________________
3. Anna tries hard, but she doesn't get anywhere.
=> However _______________________________________________________
4. His arrogance irritates me.
=> His arrogance gets ______________________________________________________
5. I certainly won’t change my mind about resigning.
=> My changing my mind about resigning is out _______________________________
Complete the second sentence so that it has the same meaning to the first printed, using the
word given in CAPITAL. Do not change the word given. You must use between TWO and
SIX words. Write your answer in the space provided.
6. If you are not old enough, you cannot watch certain films. (AGE)
If you _________________________________, you cannot watch certain films.
7. I left my last job because I didn’t really agree with my manager’s approach.( EYE)
I left my last job because I_____________________________ with my manager.
8. She will probably be chosen for the beauty contest. (STANDS)
She ______________________________________ chosen for the beauty contest.
9. ‘Me? No, I didn’t take Sue’s calculator,’ said Bob. (DENIED)
Bob _______________________________________________ Sue’s calculator.
10. I must have offended her because she isn’t being friendly towards me. (SHOULDER)
I must have offended her because she is _______________________________________.
Part 2: (20 pts) You, the president of the local charity organization, have received a donation of
50 million dong from a businessman, the director of an estate agency to victims of the flood in
your area. Write a letter (about 100 - 120 words) to express your gratitude to his donation and
tell him what you are going to do with the money.