After hearing further evidence, the judge _____ his sentence.
His _____ remarks could devastate the success of a meticulously and costly mounted play.
The most important component of this method is a(n) _____ speedometer that is certified by the factory.
It is a disease that makes her stop breathing both in her sleep and while _____ without any warning.
The failure of the recent project is attributed to Peter's irresponsibility. If he fails to pull _____ in the upcoming project, his dismissal is inevitable.
Even though Kieran tried his best to _____ me into going fishing with him at the weekend, I refused.
It _____ to reason that Jason passed the exam with flying colours on account of his working hard during the term.
The general was accused of _____ because he had revealed the army's location to the opposition.
Adam, my cousin, is _____. He has a strong personality and says what he thinks.
It is proposed that physical education, which is often considered as an optional subject, _____ compulsory in the school curriculum.
The endless parade of _____ on TV has made today's young girls obsessed with their bodies.
Competitive _____ is an essential requirement for success in the entertainment industry.
An 18-year-old girl, of no fixed _____, was charged with robbery in connection with the incident.
_____, the outdoor wedding ceremony was quickly moved indoors.
According to commentators, she is _____ because she is much faster than her rivals.
The detective's focus was _____ on the security footage, hoping to identify the suspect's face.
I'm sorry that I have to leave so early, but _____ because I have to pick up my son from school.
_____ saying was so important that I asked everyone to stop talking and listen.
Fill in each blank with ONE best word.
Second Life
Until now, the word ‘travel’ has always conjured up visions of packed bags, the open road, and generally the idea of escape. , an exciting new concept is changing all that. Not only may you now travel to another country, but to another ‘world’, even leaving home.
‘Second Life’ is an interactive simulated world on the Internet which offers visitors the ultimate form of escapism: the ability to reinvent and live their dream life. , you create your persona, called an avatar, and give it a name. Then you start exploring the virtual environment, and choose to interact, or not, with the other avatars you meet. For many, the beauty of the avatars is that they can fly. You can travel great distances, gaining a bird’s eye of various ‘environments’, the effect is rather surreal. The world changes while you watch, as other ‘experienced ‘gamers’ buy and sell property, using for currency the Linden dollar, which has an exchange rate against the US dollar. Never before has a game offered players so many options! You can shop, work, travel and form relationships, go to parties, or hold your own parties if you want .
‘Second Life’ is expanding rapidly, as more and more people are becoming attracted to it, so don’t miss out! Simply allow your PC to transport you there and let your imagination do the rest!
Fill in each blank with ONE best word.
Time
Time is the fundamental basis of human experience, and it is also the most mysterious. One of the reasons why we have such difficulty to grips with time is that it is totally intangible. It is like physical size or distance, or like heat or cold, all of we can apprehend directly through our senses. In the of time we have to depend on changes in the outside world, or on clocks and watches, to inform us about duration. But even with the assistance of such artificial devices, it is obvious that our experience of time is not always constant because there are occasions when time appears to speed up, and when it appears to slow down or even to stop. These sensations of the passage of time have a lot to with the activities we perform, and boring or enjoyable we find them. They are also intimately with the kind of society we live in, and the subtle ways that it prepares us to think about time and how to use it.
Read the following passage and choose the correct word or phrase that best fits each of the blanks.
A solution to desires and expectations perhaps lies in the recognition that wealth does not involve having many things. lt involves having what we long . Wealth is not an absolute. lt is relative to desire. Every time we seek something we cannot afford, we grow poorer, whatever our resources. And every time we feel satisfied with what we have, we can be as rich, however little we may actually own. There are two ways to make people richer: to give them more money or to restrain their desires. Modern societies have succeeded spectacularly at the first option but, by continuously inflaming appetites, they have at the same time helped to negate a of their most impressive achievements.
The most effective way to feel wealthy may not be to try to make more money. lt can be to distance ourselves - practically and emotionally - from anyone we both consider to be our equal and who has become richer than us. Rather than trying to become bigger , we should concentrate our energies on gathering around us smaller companions next to whom our own size will not troube us. Insofar as advanced societies provide us with historically elevated incomes, they appear to make us richer. But, in truth, the net effect of these societies may be to us because, by fostering unlimited expectations, they keep open a permanent gap between what we want and what we can afford, who we are and who we might be. The price we have paid for expecting to be so much more than our ancestors is the permanent feeling that we are far from being all we might be. We should be careful what we read in the papers and what programmes we watch. , we must remain realistic in our goals and expectations and not allow ourselves to be into a life of materialism.
Read and choose the correct answer.
Vietnam is developing extremely fast and so is its technological development. As a result, digital advertising has become pivotal Vietnam's business practices. With the help of digital ads, Vietnamese goods and services have been globalized and can now reach foreign customers with relative . According to a survey by Kepios, there are three key players in Vietnam's digital ads market at the moment, that is the three most used social networking platforms of the country.
Firstly, Facebook the digital media market in Vietnam. Data from Kepios shows that only 5 percent of companies surveyed do not use or have not used Facebook as a digital communications channel. Many firms spend more than 50 percent of their digital spending on Facebook alone, alternative channels might be more effective. The second frequently-used platform is Youtube. According to data from Kepios, each Vietnamese person spends an average of more than 1-hour watching videos on Youtube every day. Therefore, businesses can use key influencers and other forms of digital advertising available on Youtube to promote their products. Finally, there is Zalo which was first introduced in 2012 and quickly became a very popular communication tool in Vietnam. It now 91.3 percent of social network users. Zalo offers basic chat features, entertainment, news, and other services - such as paying electricity bills and booking appointments. The network has over 62 million monthly active users between the ages of 18 and 34. By allowing brands to set up official accounts, Zalo has created that favors e-commerce, local community building, and timelier customer service. Several multinational companies have set up their own official Zalo accounts to access the Vietnamese market and connect with local customers.
As can be seen, digital advertising is surely a(n) trend in Vietnam. However, there are challenges when it comes to operating in the digital advertising space in Vietnam. Many large companies have faced regulatory problems here. In this light, it is advisable that investors aware of the Advertising Law and its requirements as well as supplementary legislation to ensure their digital and cross-border advertising activities can run as smoothly as possible.
Use the word given in brackets to form a word that fits in the space.
Humans are (PROPORTION) right-handed. Scientists have not been able to agree over the exact percentages of right versus left-handers because there is no accepted standard for identifying which hand is (DOMINATE) . For example, some people who write or throw with their right hands may perform other tasks with their left hands or may kick a ball with their left foot. Absent an objective measure, therefore, the range of estimates is wide. Right-handers are said to make up 85% to 95% of all people and left-handers 5% to 15%, while the (REMAIN) tiny percentage are (DEXTERITY) , so they can use both hands with equal ability. Perhaps the most unusual fact about right-hand dominance is how little we know about its causes. Several theories have been proposed. Some evidence exists the phenomenon is genetic, but (GENE) cannot agree on the process by which handedness may be passed only by (INHERIT) . Social and cultural forces can also cause a (PREFER) for one hand, as when teachers or parents force a naturally left-handed child to use the right hand. And it has been observed by (ANTHROPOLOGY) that left-handedness tends to be less common in (RESTRICT) societies and more common in (PERMIT) ones. But no consensus has been reached on how that could occur.
Read the passage then answer the questions.
NOW FOR THE BAD NEWS: A TEENAGE TIME BOMB
They are just four, five, and six years old right now, but already they are making criminologists nervous. They are growing up, too frequently, in abusive or broken homes, with little adult supervision and few positive role models. Left to themselves, they spend much of their time hanging out on the streets or soaking up violent TV shows. By the year 2005, they will be teenagers - a group that tends to be, in the view of Northeastern University criminologist James Alan Fox, "temporary sociopaths - impulsive and immature." If they also have easy access to guns and drugs, they can be extremely dangerous.
For all the heartening news offered by recent crime statistics, there is an ominous flip side. While the crime rate is dropping for adults, it is soaring for teens. Between 1990 and 1994, the rate at which adults age 25 and older committed homicides declined 22%; yet the rate jumped 16% for youths between 14 and 17, the age group that in the early '90s supplanted 18- to 24-year-olds as the most crime-prone. And that is precisely the age group that will be booming in the next decade. There are currently 39 million children under 10 in the U.S., more than at any time since the 1950s. "This is the calm before the crime storm," says FOX. "So long as we fool ourselves in thinking that we're winning the war against crime, we may be blindsided by this bloodbath of teenage violence that is lurking in the future."
Demographics don't have to be destiny, but other social trends do little to contradict the dire predictions. Nearly all the factors that contribute to youth crime-single-parent households, child abuse, deteriorating inner-city schools - are getting worse. At the same time, the government is becoming less, not more, interested in spending money to help break the cycle of poverty and crime. All of which has led John J. Dilulio Jr., a professor of politics and public affairs at Princeton, to warn about a new generation of "super predators," youngsters who are coming of age in actual and "moral poverty," Without "the benefit of parents, teachers, coaches, and clergy to teach them right or wrong and show them unconditional love."
Predicting a generation's future crime patterns is, of course, risky; especially when outside factors (Will crack use be up or down? Will gun laws be tightened?) remain unpredictable. Michael Tonry, a professor of law and public policy at the University of Minnesota, argues that the demographic doomsayers are unduly alarmist. "There will be a slightly larger number of people relative to the overall population who are at high risk for doing bad things, so that's going to have some effect," he concedes. "But it's not going to be an apocalyptic effect." Norval Morris, professor of law and criminology at the University of Chicago, finds Dilulio's notion of super predators too simplistic: "The human-animal in young males is quite a violent animal all over the world. The people who put forth the Theory of moral poverty lack a sense of history and comparative criminology."
Yet other students of the inner city are more pessimistic. "All the basic elements that spawn teenage crime are still in place, and in many cases, the indicators are worse," says Jonathan Kozol, author of Amazing Grace, an examination of poverty in the South Bronx. "There's a dramatic increase of children in foster care, and that's a very high-risk group of kids. We're not creating new jobs, and we're not improving education to suit poor people for the jobs that exist."
Can anything defuse the demographic time bomb? Fox urges "reinvesting in children": improving schools, creating after-school programs and providing other alternatives to gangs and drugs: Dilulio, a law-and-order conservative, advocates tougher prosecution and wants to strengthen religious institutions to instill better values. Yet he opposes the Gingrich-led effort to make deep cuts in social programs. "A failure to maintain existing welfare and health commitment for kids," he says, "is to guarantee that the next wave of juvenile predators will be even worse than we're dealing with today." Dilulio urges fellow conservatives to think of Medicaid not as a health-care program but as "an anticrime policy."
(Source: Time Magazine)
The age group which commits the highest rate of crime is _____.
Read the following passage and complete the tasks.
PREPARING FOR THE THREAT
It is an unfortunate fact that over the past 20 years, around 260 million people a year have been affected by natural disasters around the world. Regrettably, a vast majority of the victims of this staggering number are from developing countries. Whether it be earthquakes, tornadoes, floods, volcanoes or tsunamis, over the past twenty years, natural disasters have been happening more frequently and affecting more people than ever before. It follows that the international community should address the issue of ‘disaster preparedness’ and establish a process by which natural disasters are dealt with.
On December 26, 2004, a massive earthquake centered off the coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra caused a series of deadly tsunamis in the Indian Ocean. The damage from this extraordinary disaster was estimated to be in the vicinity of US $13 billion – the equivalent to the combined GDP1 of the world’s developing countries for an entire year. In a matter of seconds, the tsunami waves wiped out the long years of struggle for development, and the world was once again reminded of the fearsome and destructive power of natural disasters.
1: Gross Domestic Product is the total value of goods and services produced by a country in a year.
The United Nations designated the 1990s as the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction, and has been active in promoting and developing international cooperation on disaster preparedness. The UN’s Yokohama Strategy for a Safer World: Guidelines for Natural Disaster Prevention, Preparedness and Mitigation was adopted in 1994. Among the guidelines, developing countries are encouraged to organise and implement their domestic resources for disaster reduction activities and donor developed countries are encouraged to give greater priority to disaster prevention, mitigation and preparedness in their assistance programs and budgets, including through increasing financial contributions.
In January, 2005 the UN World Conference on Disaster Reduction (WCDR) met in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture to discuss and debate how the international community should address issues of disaster preparedness and mitigation. The meeting itself attended by over 4,000 delegates representing some 168 countries occurred almost 10 years to the day after the Great Hanshin earthquake in Kobe. The January meeting of the WCDR in Kobe provided experts and scientists from over 150 countries, government officials, Non-Government Organisation (NGOs) and United Nations representatives an opportunity to review the Yokohama Strategy. It recorded on the 2005-15 Yokohama Strategy Action Plan that participant countries and agencies should work over the next 10 years to reduce vulnerability to natural disasters. The Action Plan encourages as a first step, the integration of disaster prevention programs in all development and policy-making plaits for all countries. Jim Edgeland, UN representative stated, “Disaster risk reduction is not an additional expense – it is an essential investment in our common future, but the benefits of this investment will be calculated not only in dollars or euros or yen saved, but most importantly, in saved lives in every corner of the globe.”
Perhaps the most significant work done at the WCDR meetings was the drafting and adoption of the Hyogo Declaration. This document expresses the united determination of the international community to rely not only on advanced technology or facilities for disaster preparedness, but on a people-centered early warning system. The people-centered system requires effective communication and education in the building of disaster-resilient countries and communities.
As the intergovernmental panels of the WCDR were meeting, the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake Forum was also underway. The earthquake measuring a magnitude of 7.3, led to the Joss of over 6,400 lives and widespread destruction affecting some 460,000 households. This public forum offered a variety of sessions, during which the lessons learned from the disastrous earthquake were discussed. Earthquake expert Professor Tomohiro Kawata said, “Because this disaster happened over a decade ago, the memory of the devastation can be forgotten. Part of our gathering here today is to make sure that we do not forget what happened back in 1995.’’ Also included were some personal stories from the earthquake victims themselves. Earthquake victim Kumiko Nagota told attendees that her house collapsed in the Kobe earthquake and she was trapped under it. She tried to call for help but after a while she lost her voice and just had to wait there until help came. Attendees were told of how the town mobilised to facilitate recovery and reconstruction. An exhibition hall showed pictures of mounds of rubble produced by the earthquake as well as a display of objects donated by earthquake victims including a broken clock and a child’s toy that molted in the fires caused by the earthquake. Said Kawata, “As well as being a memorial, our facility and, indeed this forum, is a place to learn from earthquake experiences and incorporate the things we learned into our preparations for future disasters”. During the forum, it was agreed that in May 2005, a new hub for the coordination of international disaster recovery support activities would be established in Kobe.
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the passage?
| TRUE | if the statement agrees with the information |
| FALSE | if the statement contradicts the information |
| NOT GIVEN | if there is no information on this |
Mostly people from poorer countries are affected by natural disasters.
Present-day natural disasters are more dangerous than disasters of the past.
It will take the countries affected by the tsunami many years to rebuild.
Being prepared and knowing what to do in a disaster should be a global issue.
Match each statement with the correct disaster control initiative, A-D.
|
Disaster Control Initiatives A. Hyogo Declaration B. Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake Forum C. World Conference on Disaster Reduction D. Yokohama Strategy for a Safer World |
people should be the early broadcasters of disaster information
led to a new central area for support in disaster recovery
a reminder of the impact of disasters
in times of disaster, developed countries should do more to help less-developed countries
national development and disaster prevention should be considered at the same time
Read a magazine article about an actress. 6 paragraphs have been removed from the article. Choose the most suitable paragraph from the list A-G for each part (56-60) of the article. There is one extra paragraph which you do not need to use. There is an example at the beginning (0).
A. "I didn't like school and I spent most of my time in my head." One of the teachers noticed that. She'd say, "I'm not going to repeat that for Nyree Porter because she's not listening anyway. No doubt she'll let me have the sketch she's doing under the desk."
B. Her mother also did well at school. She became a gifted painter and was, as her father always said, "The prettiest girl in New Zealand."
C. Against hundreds of other actors, Nyree was given the part. She had no hesitation in giving up everything to act and within two years had been brought to England by a famous film producer.
D. By the time she left school, Nyree had passed all the required exams for teaching ballet. She had her own dance studio and enjoyed her work. Bt somethig told her that at some stage she would have to leave New Zealand to find full satisfaction.
E. Nyree was born on the north island of New Zealand. Her father was a butcher who later became a developer and a businessman. She was given the Maori name of Ngaire which was later changed to its present English form as nobody could pronounce it.
F. Sadly, that didn't happen. "My parents were like oil and water," explains Nyree. "They simply couldn't live together. My father's work kept him away from home but I think it was partly because he found it difficult to live with my mother."
G. "It stopped me dead and instead of joining the other performances I walked down to the front of the stage to find out what that noise was."
NYREE'S STORY
After an upbringing in New Zealand and a spell acting in her own country, Nyree Dawn Porter made London her home. Interview by Alan O'Kelly.
Nyree Dawn Porter made her first stage appearance at the age of three. Playing the part of a ladybird in an amateur production of Noah's Ark, she walked onto the stage and into the lights to delighted applause and laughter (0) G.
"That noise" has charmed her ever since and in a long, successful career, both on the theatre stage and on television, she has received plenty of it.
Nyree speaks lovingly of her father Ken, who was warm and affectionate and loved music passionately. For a long time, she was an only child, but when her sister, Merle Isabel, came along, the happy family should have been complete.
As a result, Nyree remembers her childhood as being sad but productive. She had a nervous stammer and was so shy and quiet that her teachers became extremely worried about her. She found her release through books, painting, and ballet.
A teacher name Jim Goodall came to her rescue by encouraging her to do well and by making her president of the drama club. A second influential person was another teacher, who had spent a lot of time in England and France. The teacher enthusiasm helped Nyree to use her natural gift for French and she also encourages Nyree to act.
"I was acting in a local amateur production when a woman came to my dressing room and asked me if I had ever considered acting as a career. She was the wife of the leading actor at the New Zealand National Theatre. Her car had broken down outside and that was the only reason she had come in. She arranged for me to try for a role in an American comedy called The Solid Gold Cadillac."
"I love London and my lucky break came when I was given a letter of introduction to Hazel Vincent Wallace at the Leatherhead Theatre. I got a job in a Christmas show, both acting, and dancing." Nyree Dawn Porter has adopted England, and England has adopted her, too. She has lived in England ever since, although she does visit her old home and regularly works in Australia.
Complete the second sentence using the word given so that it has the same meaning to the first.
I hate it that I always have to attract the boss's criticism when things go wrong. (FIRE)
=> I object to ..........
Complete the second sentence using the word given so that it has the same meaning to the first.
It was bad that the adults pretended to be unaware of the kids' problems. (SAND)
=> The adults shouldn't ..........
Complete the second sentence using the word given so that it has the same meaning to the first.
Linda was very nervous, which made her look like a bashful girl. (CAME)
=> Such .....
Complete the second sentence using the word given so that it has the same meaning to the first.
We didn't learn that he still managed to live with very little money as a waiter until later. (EKED)
=> Not until ...........
Complete the second sentence using the word given so that it has the same meaning to the first.
It was a shame I couldn't come to his father's funeral. (RESPECT)
=> I'd like ...........
Complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the first sentence, using the word given. You must use between THREE and EIGHT words, including the word given.
I’ve never been at all suspicious of his outstanding talent for storytelling. (SLIGHTEST)
=> I’ve never his outstanding talent for storytelling.
Complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the first sentence, using the word given. You must use between THREE and EIGHT words, including the word given.
That man over there lost his temper in the public meeting. (HANDLE)
=> That's in the public meeting.
Complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the first sentence, using the word given. You must use between THREE and EIGHT words, including the word given.
We need business to improve soon, or we won't survive the year. (PICK)
=> If , we won't survive the year.
Complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the first sentence, using the word given. You must use between THREE and EIGHT words, including the word given.
It's highly likely that Anna will be late if the situation doesn't change. (EVERY)
=> There's the situation changes.
Complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the first sentence, using the word given. You must use between THREE and EIGHT words, including the word given.
Ursula was disappointed not to win the competition. (CAME)
=> Not winning the competition to Ursula.