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 best fits each of the numbered blanks.

Asia is very rich in cultures, races and languages. Indians and most people in (23) ____ South Asian countries commonly speak more than one language daily, as a matter of routine. Their highly diverse expat, diaspora and migrant communities provide them not only with global access, but also with global sources of income.

India and other South Asian countries are (24) ____ the largest recipients of monthly transfers from their diaspora workers. Due to their religious, ethnic and social diversity, more than 30 million Indians access and transfer (25) ____ from countries as various as Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Malaysia, Singapore, the US, Canada, the UK and Australia.

Regional languages and minority religions have (26) ____ themselves as global community networks. This is as much true for the Tamils in Malaysia as for the Sikhs in Canada. Such connections provide them with (27) ____ to education and jobs, partly through professional visa arrangements, and despite the limitations and constraints of our current times. These communities have created their own formats, many of which have become international actors, such the Global Tamil Forum and the World Sikh Organization.

The boy was punished for playing __________ from his physics lessons.

People who spend too much time on the Internet run the risk of getting addiction to it.

Mark the letter A, B, C or D to indicate the correct answer to each of the following questions.

On their way to the station they were caught _____ the rain and before long were wet ______________.

She didn’t get a high mark because she had made the classical mistake of forgetting to put the “s” on the verb in the third person singular.

I still keep wondering if I was doing the right thing when I asked my father for ______ permission to leave school.

The word “hazards” in paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to ____________.

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

It is necessary that the use of public transport is encouraged to reduce traffic jams and air pollution.

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.

Called the ‘Red Planet,’ Mars is roughly half the size of Earth, and one of our closest neighboring planets. Though Mars is the most Earth-like of any other planet, the two are still worlds apart. Living on Mars has been the stuff of science fiction for decades. However, can humans really live on Mars? Will it ever be possible or safe? NASA (the National Aeronautics and Space Administration) hopes to find out. NASA researchers on Earth are conducting several experiments together with the International Space Station (ISS) to study the health and safety issues that may tell us if life on Mars is possible.

Food and oxygen would be the main necessities for travelers living extended periods on Mars. The need to grow plants, which provide both food and oxygen, would be a key. But the decreased gravity and low atmospheric pressure environment of the planet will stress the plants and make them hard to grow. However, space station crews are growing plants in controlled environments in two of the station’s greenhouses. They take care of the plants, photograph them, and collect samples to be sent back to Earth. Researchers then use the data to develop new techniques that will make it possible to grow plants successfully in space.

Another concern for space travelers is the health hazards posed by the effect of space radiation on humans. A spacecraft traveling to Mars would be exposed to large amounts of radiation. Since human exposure to such intense radiation would mean certain death, the spacecraft used for such travel would have to protect the humans on the inside of the craft from exposure. Researchers are using special machines inside the crew areas of the International Space Station to carefully watch radiation levels. NASA scientists, who have maintained radiation data since the beginning of human space flight, continue to learn about the dangers it poses. Researchers use the station to test materials that could be used in making a spacecraft that could successfully travel to Mars.

Will it ever be safe for humans to live on Mars? It is still too early to say. But thanks to the dedicated researchers of NASA and the results of ISS experiments, we are getting closer to knowing every day.

(Adapted from “Select Readings –Intermediate Tests” by Linda Lee and Erik Gundersen)

Câu 31. What does the passage mainly discuss?