Choose the word(s) CLOSEST in meaning to the underlined word(s).
He had never experienced such discourtesy towards the president as it occurred at the annual meeting in May.
Choose the word(s) CLOSEST in meaning to the underlined word(s).
The arrival of a great wave of southern and eastern European immigrants at the turn of the century coincided with and contributed to an enormous expansion of formal schooling.
Choose the word(s) CLOSEST in meaning to the underlined word(s).
The Minister has tried to cushion the blow somewhat with a cut in taxs to help the citizen during the pandemic.
Choose the word(s) CLOSEST in meaning to the underlined word(s).
While her mother sat at the window, striving to read, the child, who was in one of her moods of obstreperous gaiety, began playing a grand game.
Choose the OPPOSITE word in meaning to the underlined word in the following questions.
None of her novels lends itself to being made into a film; they just simply lack a coherent storyline.
Choose the word(s) OPPOSITE in meaning to the underlined word(s).
Biologists long regarded it as an example of adaptation by natural selection, but for physicists, it bordered on the miracle.
Choose the word(s) OPPOSITE in meaning to the underlined word(s).
His lawyer thought Jack had a good chance of being acquitted at the trial if no further evidence was found.
Choose the word(s) OPPOSITE in meaning to the underlined word(s).
The company invested in state-of-the-art technology to stay ahead of its competitors.
She had got so accustomed _____ the new system that she could finish her work ahead of time.
It is _____ unlikely that the island will become habitable for overnight tourists in the near future.
The highway accident led to a terrible _____ of over 50 vehicles and 100 casualties including deaths.
The team's _____ performance in the playoffs ended their tournament run prematurely.
The company decided to _____ a new marketing strategy to boost sales and attract more customers.
_____ stress is _____ natural reaction to specific demands and events, but _____ ongoing stress can affect people's health and wellbeing.
Read the text and choose the best answer to fill in the blanks.
THE BEGINNINGS OF FLIGHT
The story of man's mastery of the air is almost as old as man himself, a puzzle in which the essential clues were not found until a very late stage. However, to understand this we must first to the time when primitive man hunted for his food, and only birds and insects flew. We cannot know with any certainty when man first deliberately shaped weapons for throwing, but that of conscious design marked the first step on a road that leads from the spear and the arrow to the aero-plane and the giant rocket of the present day. It would seem, in fact, that this to throw things is one of the most primitive and deep-seated of our instincts, appearing in childhood and persist into old age. The more mature ambition to throw things swiftly and accurately, which is the origin of most outdoor games, probably has its in the ages when the possession of a suitable weapon and the ability to throw it with force and accuracy the difference between eating and starving.
It is significant that such weapons were and brought to their final form at an early stage in history. If we were restricted to the same materials, it is doubtful we could produce better bows and arrows than those that destroyed the armies of the past. The arrow was the first true weapon capable of maintaining direction over considerable distances. It was centuries before the man himself could fly.
Read the following passage then choose the best answer to each question below.
GRAPHIC NOVELS: A FRESH ANGLE ON LITERATURE
Has the graphic novel - a fictional story presented in a comic-strip format - finally become intellectually respectable?
Graphic novels have just landed with an almighty kersplat. Ten days ago, two such works were shortlisted for the Shakespeare Book Awards for the first time in the history of the prize, in two different categories. This was no publicity stunt: neither panel knew what the other had done. This is, surely, the moment when the graphic book finally made its entrance into the respectable club room of high literature. Hang on, though: can you compare a graphic novel with the literary kind? Wouldn't that be like comparing u painting with a music video? Or is it time we staffed seeing them as comparable mediums for storytelling? If so, what next?
Robert Macfarlane, the chairman of another major literary award, says he has no objection in principle to a graphic novel being submitted for the prize. In fact, he has taught one, Art Spiegelman's Maus, alongside the works of Russian writer Tolstoy and Don Quixote (by the Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes) at the University of Cambridge, where he works in the English Faculty. 'The idea of outlawing the graphic novel doesn't make any sense to me,' he says. 'I don't segregate it from the novel. The novel is always eating up other languages, media, and forms.' Graphic fiction, he says, is another version of the novel's long flirtation with the visual'. This is, he declares. 'a golden age for the graphic novel.'
And he's right. We are seeing a boom in graphic novels. Since Maus was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in 1992, they have gone on to devour every literary genre going. But so far, graphic novels have politely stood aside and let conventional books win the big prizes. Now they want the vote. Fighting for the graphic novelists' cause, astonishingly, are some hefty prize-winning writers. The English novelist and poet A. S. Byatt is passionately in favor of graphic novels competing with regular ones. Byatt, who is a huge fan Of Spiegelman's Maus thinks that French-Iranian artist Marjane Satrapi's graphic novel Persepolis stands 'head and shoulders above most novels being produced. It's more interesting and more moving. It's able to be serious because it can carry itself along on this unserious form. It allowed her to be witty about things that are terrible. And that's why it's a major work of art'.
The genius of the graphic novel, as the English writer Philip Pullman explains, is that it can bring into play so many levels of narrative by layering them on top of each other. Take American Alison Bechdel's brilliant Are You My Mother? - in a single page, she can depict a memory of being with her mother in her childhood, dialogue between herself and her mother as they chat on the phone in the present, plus an image of herself toiling at her desk, trying to write her memoir. And what Bechdel and her mum are saying on the phone links to the diaries of the early 20th-century writer Virginia Woolf, which Bechdel also brings to visual life. Try doing that with words - it would take a chapter. Bechdel does it in a few panels. That, in the end, is precisely what keeps graphic literature so distinct from prose narrative.
Graphic novels and traditional novels demand, to be sure, the same amounts of time, intellect, and artistry from the authors. But that doesn't mean they're the same thing. A few years on, will you be clicking the buy button on a graphic novel as happily as you'd pick up a work by a traditional novelist? Even Bechdel confesses that her reading habits are still struggling out of the past. 'Honestly, I would be slightly more inclined to pick up a non-graphic work,' she says. 'At this point, there's not a huge number of graphic novels that are about topics that interest me. But that, too, is changing. We're becoming more visually literate. There's some reason. for these graphic novels creeping into the canon. We're reading differently from how we used to 200 years ago.'
John is broke, and he is going to borrow some money from Laura.
John: Have you got any money left?
Laura: Unfortunately, _____.
Little Deon: This herb smells horrible!
Mommy: _____, it will do you a power of good.
Waiter: Hello, I’ll be your waiter today. ______
John: Yes. I’ll have orange juice, please.
A: The company needs a _____ leader if we want to go further in the future.
B: I totally agree with you.
Joe and Matt met at a friend’s farewell party.
Joe: I thought you were too tired.
Matt: _____ I’ve decided to go. I feel I owe it to him.
Jack is having trouble getting some change for the automatic vending machine, so he asks a passerby.
Jack: Excuse me, could I trouble you for some change?
The passerby: ______. Will pennies do?
Choose the sentence CLOSEST in meaning to the sentence given.
Far more devastating for the author than the loss of his house to fire was the destruction of the sole copy of his latest novel.
Even more difficult for the author than writing his only book was seeing it destroyed when his house was burnt down.
Choose the sentence CLOSEST in meaning to the sentence given.
They were being very secretive about what had happened at yesterday's meeting.
Choose the sentence CLOSEST in meaning to the sentence given.
It is no exaggeration to say that there was not a single person in the audience who was not moved by the sentimental play.
Choose the sentence CLOSEST in meaning to the sentence given.
The manager is quite sure that the volume of business we'll have dealt with by the end of our first year will exceed the initial estimates.
Choose the sentence CLOSEST in meaning to the sentence given.
Some of the football fans began to riot when the referee awarded their rival team a dubious penalty.
Although their team had been awarded a dubious penalty decision, some of the football fans still tried to start a riot.
Choose the sentence that best combines this pair of sentences.
We were promised the facilities at the hotel by the travel agent when we made our reservations. When we arrived, it barely had any of them.
Choose the sentence that best combines this pair of sentences.
In summer in India, the heat is the most intensive in the plains. However, it lessens as you move up into the mountains.
Choose the sentence that best combines this pair of sentences.
Ethiopia was isolated from the rest of the world for centuries by both enemies and geography. Therefore, it has retained unique traditions.
Choose the sentence that best combines this pair of sentences.
In the past, Orange County used to be full of orange groves. Now, there are mainly housing tracts due to urban sprawl.
Choose the sentence that best combines this pair of sentences.
CFCs were used in aerosols, refrigerators and solvents. It also made a dangerous hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica.
Read the passage and choose the correct answer.
(1) _____. Victims of bullying reported poor mental and physical health, more symptoms of anxiety, depression; feeling sad, being lonely; vomiting; sleep disturbance; nightmares; body ache; a headache; abdominal pain, and frequent illnesses. (2) _____, depression, violent behavior, and substance abuse are among the most mediated factors between bullying and suicide. (3) _____, peer victimization and low academic performance are often correlated because children who are chronically victimized experience negative emotional and psychological outcomes. (4) _____. A recent study among primary school children revealed that (5) _____ poor academic performance on writing skills. Physical bullying is likely to degrade students’ performance on numeracy, and writing for both males and females. (6) _____, temporary victimization can seriously impaired students’ academic performance and achievement.
Choose the correct answer for (1).
Choose the correct answer for (2).
Choose the correct answer for (3).
Choose the correct answer for (4).
Choose the correct answer for (5).
Choose the correct answer for (6).
When the power went out suddenly, a group of neighbors gathered in the hallway, lighting candles, sharing snacks, and telling stories to pass the time. Their laughter echoed through the darkened building.
What phrase best describes this situation?
During the quiz, Maria didn't know the answer to the last question. She closed her eyes and just picked option C, hoping it was right but having no real idea.
What expression best describes Maria's choice?
Remembering his own early struggles, Mr. Henderson felt for the young entrepreneur and wanted to offer support. He gave him a small loan to launch his business, asking for nothing back, just hoping the young man would succeed.
What expression best describes this situation?
Sarah invited John to a study abroad orientation session for middle school students. However, he arrived late and Sarah criticized him heavily, even though she herself had a habit of arriving late as well.
What expression best describes this situation?
Write at least 250 words about the following topic:
Films and computer games which contain violence are very popular. Some people believe they have a negative effect on society and so should be banned. Other people, however, say they are just harmless and help people to relax. Discuss both these points of view and give your own opinion.
Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.