Đề thi vào lớp 10 môn Anh Chuyên - Sở GD&ĐT Phú Thọ năm 2026

Long before modern 25.1 (SCIENCE) possessed the technology to explore the furthest reaches of space, ancient astronomers devoted themselves to observing the night sky with extraordinary patience and dedication. Although their equipment was extremely primitive by today's standards, their careful observations 25.2 (ABLE) them to make surprisingly accurate predictions about the movement of the planets and stars. In many civilizations, the heavens were regarded with a mixture of fear and 25.3 (ADMIRE) as people believed that celestial events carried profound religious or political significance.
The invention of more 25.4 (POWER) telescopes brought about a dramatic transformation in humanity's understanding of the universe. Objects that had once appeared small and 25.5 (CHANGE) were revealed to be dynamic systems governed by complex physical laws. Astronomers gradually realized that the universe was far larger and more 25.6 (COMPLICATE) than previously imagined. These discoveries challenged many traditional 25.7 (BELIEVE) and occasionally provoked strong resistance from those unwilling to abandon long-established ideas.
Despite 25.8 (NUMBER) difficulties, scientific progress continued at an astonishing pace. Improved instruments allowed researchers to gather 25.9 (INCREASE) reliable information about distant galaxies and mysterious cosmic phenomena. Today, space exploration remains one of humanity's greatest scientific achievements, inspiring both scientists and ordinary people with a sense of wonder and curiosity about the 25.10 (KNOW) .

Getting to the root of Bonsai crime

Bonsai trees have always been a source of great fascination to people. They are perfect miniatures, grown in pots small enough 27.1to sittingto sitsitsitting on a windowsill. You have to keep reminding yourself that these trees are actually real and identical to their larger cousins in all respects except their size. Rather like other small and perfectly-formed artifacts, bonsai trees 27.2expectcommandobtaincharge quite a high price in the marketplace and so it doesn't come as a great surprise to find that they also attract the 27.3intentionlocationattentionpetition of thieves. It seems that quite a flourishing business has evolved, in which they are stolen from the homes of growers and collectors, then repotted and trimmed by unscrupulous dealers, to be sold on, 27.4ofonatin good prices, to unsuspecting buyers.

One of Britain's top collectors of bonsai trees, Paul Waddington, believes that he has found a solution, however. 27.5Being lostHaving lostTo have lostLost his life's work, valued at £250,000, when burglars broke into his home one night, Paul decided to 27.6look intoset aboutgo aftertry out the possibilities of electronically tagging the trees he bought as a replacement. This involves injecting a microchip the size of a 27.7beangraincrumbspeck of rice into the trunk of each tree. Each chip is laser-etched with information 27.8whenwherewhichwho is stored in a central register held by the police. Paul is quite aware that this kind of data-tagging doesn't 27.9combinepreventavoiddecide thieves from stealing the trees in the first place, although it may increase the chances of getting them back. 27.10LikewiseHoweverMoreoverTherefore he's also installing a security alarm system, complete with infra-red detectors, in his home.

With automation and technological disruption accelerating globally, East Africa now finds itself at a critical crossroads. Having 28.1 of the world's youngest populations, the region has an incredible opportunity to harness the potential of its youth to 28.2 shifting labor market demands. Traditional and institutional training models frequently suffer 28.3 content mismatches and weak employer linkages, leaving graduates ill-prepared.

To address this, field pilots across Uganda, Tanzania, and Rwanda demonstrate that youth-designed, peer-led training networks effectively bridge such critical soft-skill 28.4. By deploying near-peer mentors to run small-group labs, these innovative programs make abstract competencies like communication, collaboration, 28.5 adaptability entirely possible through practical, real-world simulations. 28.6, this operational model actively uses performance as verifiable portfolios and credits that local hiring managers genuinely trust.

On a regional 28.7, civic hubs, donors, and employers must combine resources to embed these modular projects into university career centers and startup incubators. Believing that traditional educational institutions can solve this employment mismatch without modernizing is a textbook case of putting the cart before the 28.8. Expanding these low-cost, flexible frameworks through public incentives and employer co-investment is the key to widespread economic integration in the 28.9 run. By empowering youth to lead both curriculum design and instruction, East African nations can successfully convert promising local experiments into durable pipelines 28.10 securely link modern learning to sustainable livelihoods.

NOW EVERYONE IS CONNECTED, IS THIS THE DEATH OF CONVERSATION?

I first noticed it in a restaurant. The place was oddly quiet, and at one table a group sat with their heads bowed, their eyes hooded and their hands in their laps. I then realised that everyone, whatever their age group, was gazing at a handheld phone or tablet. People strolled in the street outside likewise, with arms at right angles, necks bent and heads in awkward postures. Mothers with babies were doing it. Students in groups were doing it. The scene resembled something from an old science fiction film. There was no conversation.

Every visit to California convinces me that the digital revolution is over, by which I mean it is won. Everyone is connected. The New York Times last week declared the death of conversation. While mobile phones may at last be falling victim to considerate behaviour, this is largely because even talk is considered too intimate a contact. No such bar applies to emailing, texting, messaging, posting and tweeting. It is ubiquitous, the ultimate connectivity, the brain wired full-time to infinity.

The MIT professor and psychologist Sherry Turkle claims that her students are close to mastering the art of maintaining eye contact with a person while texting someone else. It is like an organist playing different tunes with hands and feet. To Turkle, these people are "alone together... a tribe of one". Anyone with 3,000 Facebook friends has none.

The audience in many theatres now sit, row on row, with lit machines in their laps, looking to the stage occasionally but mostly scrolling and tapping away. The same happens at meetings and lectures, in coffee bars and on jogging tracks. Psychologists have identified this as "fear of conversation", and have come up with the term "conversational avoidance devices" for headphones.

In consequence, there is now a growing demand for online "conversation" with robots and artificial voices. Mobiles come loaded with customized "boyfriends" or "girlfriends". People sign up with computerised dating advisors, even claim to fall in love with their on-board GPS guides. A robot seal can be picked up in online stores to sit and listen to elderly individuals talk, tilting its head and blinking in sympathy.

In his Conversation: A History of a Declining Art, Stephen Miller notes that public discourse is now dominated by ill-tempered disagreement, by "intersecting monologues". Anger and lack of restraint are treated as assets in public debate, in place of a willingness to listen and adjust one's point of view. Politics thus becomes a platform of rival angers. American politicians are ever more polarised, reduced to conveying a genuine hatred for each other.

All that said, the death of conversation has been announced as often as that of the book. As far back as the 18th century, the literary figure Samuel Johnson worried that the decline of political conversation would lead to violent civil disorder. Writing 70 years ago, George Orwell concluded that "the trend of the age was away from creative communal amusements and toward solitary mechanical ones".

The "post-digital" phenomenon, the craving for live experience, is showing a remarkable vigour. The US is a place of ever greater congregation and migration, to parks, beaches and restaurants, to concerts, rock festivals, ball games. Common interest groups, springing up across the country, desperately seek escape from the digital dictatorship, using Facebook and Twitter not as destinations but as route maps to meet up with real people.

Somewhere in this cultural mix, I am convinced the desire for friendship will preserve the qualities essential for a civilised life, qualities of politeness, listening and courtesy. Those obsessed with fashionable connectivity and personal avoidance are not escaping reality. They may be unaware of it but deep down they, too, still want someone to talk to.