Đề thi môn Anh Chuyên cho các học sinh thi tuyển vào khối chuyên các trường THPT Chuyên trực thuộc Sở GD Hà Nội năm 2025-2026.
Listen to the audio and fill in the blanks with the correct letters.
You will hear five short extracts in which people are talking about their favourite science blogs.
While you listen, you must complete BOTH tasks. You will hear the audio TWICE.
TASK ONE
Choose from the list A-H what each speaker particularly likes about the science blog.
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A. the balanced approach B. the international coverage C. a desire to do something different D. the historical aspect E. the relevance of topics F. the enjoyable style of writing G. the supporting images H. the references to researchers |
Speaker 1: Speaker 2: Speaker 3: Speaker 4: Speaker 5: |
TASK TWO
Choose from the list A-H one criticism each speaker has about the science blog.
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A. outdated content B. irregular posting C. occasional repetition D. insufficient evidence E. biased attitude F. use of jargon G. confusing visuals H. pessimistic tone |
Speaker 1: Speaker 2: Speaker 3: Speaker 4: Speaker 5: |
You will hear a conservationist called Jane Birch talking about a recent visit she made to Greenland.
Complete the sentences with NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS taken from the recording for each space.
Jane says that the majority of Greenland is , so the effect of global warming is significant there.
Jane says that the name of the island was originally chosen as a way of attracting to go there.
Jane says that the glacier she went to study is regarded as the most in the world.
Jane uses the term ‘a ’ to underline the importance of the glacier to climatologists and others.
Jane explains how the melting of what’s called contributes to the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Jane found travelling by helicopter the most memorable ride during her trip as she could look at the glacier .
By studying what are called on an iceberg, it is possible to predict how likely it is to break up.
Jane learnt that people go close to icebergs in search of .
Jane describes local people as amiable and based on how they react to changes in their lifestyle.
Jane gives the image of objects on a as symbolising the realities of life in polar regions today.
There is a huge number of places to eat in the city, but the quality is a bit _____.
Read the passage, then fill in each of the numbered spaces with the correct form of ONE word given in the box. There are FOUR words that you do not need to use.
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condition | bed | occur | instinct | design | occasion | complicate | revolve | simulate | intend | democracy | refute | in | stand | initiate |
The first one (0) has been done as an example.
THE NEED TO READ
All children (0) occasionally ask why we should bother reading. Now, 500 years after Gutenberg's printing press reading, recent technological advances mean psychologists may be able to find an answer. Using brain scans, they have found we create mental of situations encountered in a book and weave these together with real-life experiences to create a new way of thinking. This is something many of us will understand when we look back and realize that an book that we read in the past had an absolutely effect on how we view the world. This transformation takes place only when we lose ourselves in a book. Studies have found this deep reading makes us more sympathetic, more alert to the lives of others. Here then is the answer to our question, and it means that reading must continue to be in our culture.
The passage below contains FIVE mistakes. Choose the mistakes and corect them.
[content][/content]
Read the passage and fill in each of the following numbered spaces with ONE suitable word.
As globalisation shrinks the world, it becomes extremely easy to see how the lives of people, plants, animals, and ecosystems are intertwined. So, toys made in China can affect the quality of life in Europe, pesticides used in Japan can affect the health of people in Europe, and greenhouse gas emissions in New York can affect a diminishing rainforest in Brazil. The truth is, every single thing we do has an impact on the planet. We have the power to control most of our choices: where we live, what we buy and eat, where and how we spend our holiday, who we vote for, and forth.
Did you know that 25% of Western pharmaceuticals are derived from flora found in the Amazon rainforest? And that less than one percent of these tropical trees and plants have been tested by scientists? These numbers suggest that we all have a large personal stake the health and vitality of places and near. Apart from protecting biodiversity, rainforests are also excellent sinks.
The bottom is: It benefits everyone on the planet to help keep our wild spaces alive and growing. Still, embracing a greener lifestyle isn't just about helping to preserve rainforests; it can also mean improving your health, padding your bank account, and, ultimately, improving your overall quality of life. Why wouldn't anyone want to go ?
Read this passage from an American magazine about the migration habits of the Monarch butterfly and do the task that follows.
It's fall in North America, and millions of Monarch butterflies are migrating to warmer climates for the winter, heading either to the Californian coast or to certain mountains in Mexico. These butterflies recognize the arrival of fall in the same way that we do: they feel the chill in the air. While we adapt by putting on a sweater, the situation is much more serious for the Monarchs. Temperatures below 55°F make it impossible for them to take to the air; temperatures below 40°F paralyze them. The Monarchs originated in the tropics and can't live for long at temperatures below freezing.
At the same time that the air is cooling, the nectar supply in flowers that feeds the butterflies is dwindling. To survive, they begin migrating in late summer, flying with the wind to reach their winter homes.
Up to 100 million Monarch butterflies migrate either to California or to Mexico each year. This isn't the entire population because some never make the migration. There are more than 25 winter roosting sites along the Californian coast and about a dozen known sites in the Sierra Madre Oriental mountains of Mexico. In both regions, butterflies depend upon trees for their survival. They cluster in pine and eucalyptus trees along the California coast and in oyamel trees in Mexico.
Wintering Monarchs stay together. The end result looks like massive clumps of feathery orange-and-black grapes. Each butterfly hangs with its wings over the butterfly beneath it, creating a shingle effect that buffers them from the rain and creates warmth. The weight of the cluster also prevents the butterflies from being blown away.
Butterflies stay in their winter homes until about March, when they begin the return journey to their summer homes, travelling as fast as 30mph at times.
Monarch butterflies are in danger of losing both their summer and winter habitats. Summer habitats are being destroyed as more roads and new housing developments and business complexes encroach upon open space in North America (a phenomenon known as urban sprawl).
As land is developed, the milkweed plant is killed. This is disastrous for the Monarch species, because once the butterfly larvae hatch from their eggs, they feed on this plant alone. Milkweed plants are also vulnerable to herbicides used by farmers, homeowners, landscapers, and gardeners.
The butterflies don't have it easy in Mexico, either. The oyamel trees that they winter in also serve as a lumber source for local communities and big logging companies. Logging not only removes the trees, it opens up the forest canopy as well, and in creating these overhead holes, the butterflies are potentially exposed to the life-threatening elements.
Each wintering site in Mexico contains millions of butterflies, and so damage to even one site could be a catastrophe for the Monarch butterfly population. Recent findings report that 44% of the oyamel forest has already been damaged or destroyed by logging.
Does the following statement agree with the information given in the text?
The Monarch butterfly's ability to fly is affected by cool atmospheric conditions.
Does the following statement agree with the information given in the text?
More Monarch butterflies migrate to California than to Mexico.
Does the following statement agree with the information given in the text?
Monarchs that spend the winter in California favour one type of tree.
Does the following statement agree with the information given in the text?
One reason why Monarchs collect in groups is to protect themselves from the wind.
Does the following statement agree with the information given in the text?
Because of climate change, Monarch butterflies now spend less time at winter locations than they used to.
Does the following statement agree with the information given in the text?
The Monarch can fly at a speed of more than 30 miles per hour.
Does the following statement agree with the information given in the text?
Monarch larvae depend on a single source of food.
In the following article, six paragraphs have been removed. Read and choose from the following paragraphs A-G the one which fits each gap. There is ONE extra paragraph which you do not need to use.
Missing paragraphs
A. The only remnants of this one-time marvel are the dinosaur replicas that still exist around the lakes within the park. Of course, these days they look a little quaint and aren't exactly true to life, but we have to remember that they were built around 150 years ago when relatively little was known of natural history.
B. The cost of maintenance and depressed admission prices meant that in the 1900s maintenance was unattended to and the palace was in financial dire straits. It was restored by the Earl of Plymouth who bought the structure in the 1920s in order to preserve it. This brought back visitors and renewed profit, through events such as 'Thursday evening fireworks' and motor shows.
C. Perhaps this is due to a lack of general awareness of the true scale and greatness of the palace. After all, it was thriving at a time when film was in its infancy, so we cannot even imagine what it might have been like inside, and still photos don't give us the sense of atmosphere that we can get from video and narratives.
D. My grandmother's recollections were a far cry from this though: "All of that was long gone by the time I was little. We'd still go up there as a family, but the building and grounds were getting a bit run down. I think its prime was in the late 1800s, before I was born."
E. Mindful of this, the long chats I had with my grandparents will always remain dear to my heart, specifically my grandmother's recollections of her youth. Despite being in her nineties by the time I was of an age to fully understand and ask about her life, she was still sharp as a pin and could answer in such a way that brought the past to life.
F. Fortunately, the Earl of Plymouth acquired the palace and grounds in order to protect it and the site is now a public park, still used by many throughout the year for numerous sports events as well as much smaller scale music and cultural festivals. Within the grounds there is even a small museum telling the history of the great palace.
G. My entire family hails from a suburb that, by its very name, still brings to mind past glories and that fateful evening. These days, Crystal Palace is just like any other busy commuter area, swallowed up by the greater London sprawl, but it used to be home to one of the largest glass structures in the world, the Crystal Palace.
MORE TO HISTORY THAN BOOKS
Most young people are far more interested in their social circles and the latest fashion and technology crazes than they are about hearing about the past, but for me, local heritage has always been something I've found fascinating. It also, in my mind, holds great importance simply because if we don't make efforts to unearth experiences of the past from others, they will end up being lost in the mists of time.
"I remember it as if it were yesterday. There we all were, standing outside in our slippers and dressing gowns, watching the flames dance in the night sky over the rooftops. The whole area was lit up like a Christmas tree, and we could feel the heat from over a mile away. That night I watched the great building whose shadow I'd lived under all my life disappear before my very eyes. By morning, there was nothing."
Originally situated in Hyde Park, it was erected temporarily as a celebration of the Industrial Revolution, but, due to its overwhelming success, the exhibition was later relocated to a park in south London, where it remained until the great fire of 1936 razed it to the ground in just a few hours. Today, there are few signs that this incredible building ever existed.
Londoners in the 1800s had little time for such preoccupations but the Crystal Palace gave people a wonderful opportunity to explore ideas of the past and future, as well as to experience the wonders of modern industry. Standing over 40 metres tall and around half a kilometre wide, the glass megastructure housed many different types of museum exhibits from around the globe as well as a music hall, a park and a theatre.
"That's not to say it wasn't an impressive sight. I think the upkeep was just too much to be honest. It's a shame really. I seem to remember there were plans to auction it off to whoever would pay the most, which kicked up quite a fuss at the time with local residents, as you can imagine."
For me, this is perhaps one of the saddest elements of all. Although added to keep the history of the palace alive, it attracts very few people and is located in a somewhat obscure area of the park. Apart from the odd school visit and a few local history fanatics, this great treasure is frequently overlooked by locals and visitors alike.
In my mind, social first-hand histories are so important for this very reason. While even my grandmother can't recall the glory days of the Crystal Palace, her mother would have been alive to witness them, and if these recollections had been passed on and properly documented, we would be able to paint a more vivid picture of a place that was fundamental in the development of the local area.
Our parents and grandparents should be encouraged to tell their histories and to write them down. Historians are not just academics; they are everyday people like you and me. History books may tell us about dates, names and major events, but we maintain the richness of feeling that comes from personal accounts. After all, we can learn facts and figures from public records and textbooks, but these cannot convey what it was actually like to live through such events. Only with the people who experienced them, who for the first time could travel around the world without ever leaving home and could wonder at marvels of modern industry beyond their wildest dreams.
You are going to read a newspaper article about exam technology. Choose the correct answer for each of the questions.
THE FUTURE OF EXAMS
Like it or not, technology is already an established part of the exam process and the only argument still to be fought at this year's e-assessment conference and exhibition, taking place in London this week, is just how much further in that direction we should go.
At one end, little has changed. Students still, by and large, take exams in much the same way as they always have. They walk into a room full of desks with an invigilator on hand to tell them when to start and stop and to make sure no one is texting anyone else, and everyone is ticking the right boxes, or writing out the answer in longhand if required. It's once the ink has dried that the real change in the system kicks in. Instead of divvying up the scripts between the thousands of markers, they are now scanned into a central computer and the markers then access them online.
The benefits are obvious. It's quicker, cheaper and more efficient. The really dull components, such as multiple choice or simple questions such as "name four things that contribute to global warming", can be marked automatically or by less experienced markers, whereas questions requiring a more nuanced, longer answer can be left to the old hands. Your best markers don't have to be wasted on the straightforward stuff.
Students can also benefit. "Markers can now give much more precise feedback", says Kathleen Tattersall, who chairs the Institute of Educational Assessors. 'We can tell someone almost exactly what he or she needs to do to improve a grade because we can show them what they got right and wrong. This is particularly useful for anyone looking to resit a January exam in the summer, because teachers can tailor individual revision plans for all their students."
For all its advantages, no one reckons that this assessment model is the finished article. "There are difficulties that need to be ironed out", says Martin Walker, a former English teacher and a principal examiner for one of the main boards. "Because markers are now often only given a few questions from each paper, it's hard to get an accurate feel of exactly what a student does and doesn't know. When you had an entire exam script in front of you, you could build up a picture of the candidate's range of knowledge, so when there was room for doubt in an answer you could make a judgement call based on previous responses. It's much harder to do that now."
"There are also limits to what you can easily read on screen", he adds. "In my experience, most examiners end up printing out the long essays and working from a hard copy, which is both time-consuming and slightly self-defeating." The danger, as Tattersall concedes, is that schools end up teaching only what technology is capable of assessing. "Rather, we have to look at how IT is used in the classroom to improve teaching and learning and base our exams on that model", she says.
It is certain that we are only halfway through the electronic revolution. In the coming years, more and more exams will be completed - as well as marked - online, and the government and the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority will have to think hard about ways of maintaining standards.
By far the easiest form of online testing to implement is multiple choice. A student can take the test online and it can be automatically marked instantaneously; this system is almost foolproof. The downside is that most people associate multiple choice with dumbing down, on the grounds that anything that can be reduced to a yes or no, right or wrong answer is bound to be over-simplified. "Not true", says Stevie Pattison-Dick, head of communications for Edexcel. "Some multiple-choice exams may be quite straightforward, but if they are, they only reflect the level of knowledge a student is expected to attain. There's nothing inherently simple about multiple choice. We've become very sophisticated in our question setting and are able to cross-reference the answers, so an examiner can now tell whether someone just got lucky by ticking the right box or actually understood the process on which he or she was being assessed." One of the final exams a medical student has to pass before qualifying as a doctor is multiple choice, so this method of assessment has to be extremely rigorous.
The writer believes that _____.
According to Stevie Patterson-Dick, multiple-choice exams _____.
Complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the first one, using the word in brackets. You must use BETWEEN THREE AND EIGHT WORDS, including the word given. Do NOT change the word given.
It is quite obvious that we shall have to work faster in order to finish the project on time. (ESCAPING)
=> There is that we shall have to work faster in order to finish the project on time.
Complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the first one, using the word in brackets. You must use BETWEEN THREE AND EIGHT WORDS, including the word given. Do NOT change the word given.
They went to their boss, looking contrite. They wanted him to forgive them. (CAP)
=> They went to their boss . They wanted him to forgive them.
Complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the first one, using the word in brackets. You must use BETWEEN THREE AND EIGHT WORDS, including the word given. Do NOT change the word given.
The thing I'd like most would be to see Igor again. (MORE)
=> There's to see Igor again.
Complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the first one, using the word in brackets. You must use BETWEEN THREE AND EIGHT WORDS, including the word given. Do NOT change the word given.
Without access to the statistics, I won't be able to complete the report. (HOLD)
=> Unless I the statistics, I won't be able to complete the report.
Complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the first one, using the word in brackets. You must use BETWEEN THREE AND EIGHT WORDS, including the word given. Do NOT change the word given.
We decided to be cautious and stick to the original plan. (ERR)
=> Deciding to , we stuck to the original plan.
Complete the second sentence so that it has the same meaning to the first.
Seeing the damage to his car, Jerry became furious.
=> Jerry was beside when he saw the damage to his car.
Complete the second sentence so that it has the same meaning to the first.
Tom is far better than me in terms of resolving interpersonal conflicts.
=> When it comes match for Tom.
Complete the second sentence so that it has the same meaning to the first.
They could only get to the island if they hired a single-engine aircraft.
=> Only by ...............
Complete the second sentence so that it has the same meaning to the first.
I don't agree with your planting those flowers over there.
=> I'd sooner ...............
Read the following notes written by a student who went to see the end-of-term show at her college. Use the information in it to complete the numbered gaps in the review she wrote for the college magazine with only ONE WORD for each gap. The words you need do not occur in the informal note. The exercise begins with an example (0).
NOTES – COLLEGE SUMMER SHOW
Absolutely great! Really high standard – nothing amateur about this!
NB: Stage done so it could be speedily moved around for different bits of the show.
All in all, this was an evening no one will forget.
COLLEGE MAGAZINE REVIEW-THE SUMMER SHOW
I was very (0) impressed by the high standard of this year's summer show – it was good enough to have been a performance. The stage had been adapted to allow for good continuity between the different parts of the show.
To begin, a jazz band entertained the audience with a really lively half-hour performance, including a lovely of popular songs. Everyone was in total that Janette Maclaine was the star of the show.
Next, the drama society performed a short play written by David Owen, a student in his final year at the college. The play addressed some of the most major issues in society. I found it quite depressing, but the performance was superb and it was .
The series of plays that followed didn't last long and they were such a contrast – everyone in the audience found them very amusing. The evening ended with a song and dance routine that brought the audience to their feet.
An occasion that will be remembered for a long time!
Write an academic essay of about 250 words on the following topic.
Regular physical exercise is often said to play a vital role in the academic performance and overall well-being of students.
Discuss the significance of regular exercise for students, considering both physical and mental health benefits it may bring to the general success.
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your knowledge or experience.