Mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the word(s) CLOSEST in meaning to the underlined word(s) in each of the following questions.

If minor disputes are left unsettled, tough ones will accumulate sooner or later.

“Did you have ______ nice holiday?” – “Yes, it was ______ best holiday I have ever had.” 

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct word or phrase that bests fits each of the numbered blanks from 4 to 8.

Isolated from the mainland, the Con Dao islands are one of Vietnam’s star (4) ______. Long preserve of political prisoners and undesirables, they now turn heads thanks to their striking natural beauty. Con Son, the (5) ______ of this chain of 15 islands and islets, is ringed with lovely beaches, coral reefs and scenic bays, and remains partially covered (6) ______ tropical forests. In addition to hiking, diving and exploring deserted coastal roads, there are excellent wildlife–watching opportunities, such as the black giant squirrel and endemic bow–fingered gecko.

(7) ______ it seems an island paradise, Con Son was once hell on earth for the thousands of prisoners who languished in a dozen jails during French rule and the American–backed regime. Many Vietnamese visitors are former soldiers (8) ______ were imprisoned on the island. Until recently, few foreigners visited Con Dao, but with the commencement of low–cost boat connections this looks sure to change.

Điền vào ô 6 

Mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the option that best completes each of the following exchanges.

Two friends Jane and Thomas are talking about their final term test.

Jane: “I’ve been half ready for the final term test.” – Thomas: “_________”

Mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the underlined part that needs correction in each of the following questions.

Leonardo is often thought of primarily as an artist, and with masterclasses such as The Last Supper and the Mona Lisa to his credit, his place in art history is assured.

Mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the word(s) OPPOSITE in meaning to the underlined word(s) in each of the following questions.

He’s such a phony. He’s always complaining about his friends behind their back, but whenever he sees them, he says really nice things about them.

_____only in the Andes, the plant is used by local people to treat skin diseases.

Mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the word whose underlined part differs from the other three in pronunciation in each of the following questions.

Mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the option that best completes each of the following exchanges.

James and Kate are in a café.

James: “_______” – Kate: “Thank you. Could I have a cup of coffee?”

You really dropped _____ the other day when you told Brian you’d seen his wife at the cinema. He thought she was at her mother’s.

My mother _____ strawberries for years but she has never had such a good crop before

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions from 25 to 29.

HISTORY OF POTATO CHIPS

Peru’s Inca Indians first grew potatoes in the Andes Mountains in about 200 BC. Spanish conquistadors brought potatoes to Europe, and colonists brought them to America. Potatoes are fourth on the list of the world’s food staples – after wheat, corn, and rice. Today, Americans consume about 140 pounds of potatoes per person every year, while Europeans eat twice as many.

One of our favorite ways to eat potatoes is in the form of potato chips. While Benjamin Franklin was the American ambassador to France, he went to a banquet where potatoes were prepared in 20 different ways. Thomas Jefferson, who succeeded Franklin as our French ambassador, brought the recipe for thick–cut, French fried potatoes to America. He served French fries to guests at the White House in 1802 and at his home, Monticello.

A native American chef named George Crum created the first potato chips on August 24, 1853, at Moon Lake Lodge in Saratoga, New York. He became angry when a diner complained that his French fries were too thick, so he sliced the potatoes as thinly as possible, making them too thin and crisp to eat with a fork. The diner loved them, and potato chips were born. In 1860, Chef Crum opened his own restaurant and offered a basket of potato chips on every table.

Joe “Spud” Murphy and Seamus Burke produced the world’s first seasoned crisps, cheese & onion and salt & vinegar chips, in the 1950s in Ireland. In the United Kingdom and Ireland, crisps are what we, in the United States, call potato chips, while their chips refer to our French fries. Ketchup–flavored chips are

popular in the Middle East and Canada. Seaweed–flavored chips are popular in Asia, and chicken–flavored chips are popular in Mexico. Other flavors from around the world include: paprika, pickled onions, béarnaise, meat pie, chili crab, salmon teriyaki, borscht, Caesar salad, roasted sausage, firecracker lobster, roast ox, haggis and black pepper, olive, and spaghetti.

What question is answered in the second paragraph?

If the world’s tropical forests continue to disappear at their present rate, many animal species _____ extinct.

Mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the word(s) CLOSEST in meaning to the underlined word(s) in each of the following questions. 

He went through much hardship before he became a successful businessman.

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions from 15 to 22.

It weighed about 10,000 tons, entered the atmosphere at a speed of 64,000 km/h and exploded over a city with a blast of 500 kilotons. But on 15 February 2013, we were lucky. The meteorite that showered pieces of rock over Chelyabinsk, Russia, was relatively small, at only about 17 meters wide. Although many people were injured by falling glass, the damage was nothing compared to what had happened in Siberia nearly one hundred years ago. Another relatively small object (approximately 50 meters in diameter) exploded in mid–air over a forest region, flattening about 80 million trees. If it had exploded over a city such as Moscow or London, millions of people would have been killed.

By a strange coincidence, the same day that the meteorite terrified the people of Chelyabinsk, another 50m–wide asteroid passed relatively close to Earth. Scientists were expecting that visit and know that the asteroid will return to fly close by us in 2046, but the Russian meteorite earlier in the day had been too small for anyone to spot.

Most scientists agree that comets and asteroids pose the biggest natural threat to human existence. It was probably a large asteroid or comet colliding with Earth which wiped out the dinosaurs about 65 million years ago. An enormous object, 10 to 16 km in diameter, struck the Yucatan region of Mexico with the force of 100 megatons. That is the equivalent of one Hiroshima bomb for every person alive on Earth today.

Many scientists, including the late Stephen Hawking, say that any comet or asteroid greater than 20 km in diameter that hits Earth will result in the complete destruction of complex life, including all animals and most plants. As we have seen, even a much smaller asteroid can cause great damage.

The Earth has been kept fairly safe for the last 65 million years by good fortune and the massive gravitational field of the planet Jupiter. Our cosmic guardian, with its stable circular orbit far from the sun, sweeps up and scatters away most of the dangerous comets and asteroids which might cross Earth’s orbit. After the Chelyabinsk meteorite, scientists are now monitoring potential hazards even more carefully but, as far as they know, there is no danger in the foreseeable future.

(Adapted from British Council Learning English Teens)

The word “it” in paragraph 1 refers to _____.

Mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the underlined part that needs correction in each of the following questions.

My uncle has gone to Nha Trang on vacation, but I wish he is here so that he could help me repair my bicycle.