Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions from 35 to 42
Whether it's the melodic sound of an Eric Clapton solo or the growl of a heavy metal band, the electric guitar has influenced popular music and culture more than any other instrument. Rock's greatest musicians have always been closely identified with their guitars. But the instruments being designed for tomorrow's pop stars may look and sound rather different from today's familiar electric and acoustic guitars.
It is only sixty years since the electric guitar was invented. Since then there have been incredible changes to the technical design of the instrument. From what was once a rounded wooden box with a hole in the front, the guitar has evolved into the smooth solid body of the rock guitarist's "axe”. The most modern guitars are really computer-controlled synthesizers.
Adolph Rickenbacker's Electro String Company produced the first world's first electric guitar. It was made of wood and played on the user's lap. The first real breakthrough in design came in 1950 when Leo Fender, a California radio repairman, made the first solid-bodied electric guitar, the Fender Telecaster. Soon after the inventor Les Paul made the famous Gibson Les Paul, Fender launched his stylish Stratocaster two years later. These guitars became standard instruments against which newer guitar designs are measured.
All sorts of different materials have been used to make guitars. Acoustic guitars are made from wood, which gives a soft tone. Wood is also a popular material in electric guitar manufacture, but more modern materials such as glass and carbon fiber are also used. There have also been guitars with metal bodies and necks though these were never popular with players, who claim metal feels cold in the hand.
Plastics, on the other hand, have been more used in guitar bodies. A company that makes parts for the aerospace industry has begun to use a kind of fiberglass that was originally used in helicopter blades to make the bodies for its electric-acoustic instruments. Other makers have begun to experiment with graphite, which is ten times stiffer than wood but much lighter. It doesn't expand or contract as the temperature or humidity changes either. This makes it particularly suitable for guitar necks and for tennis rackets, for which it is also used.
As long as scientists and musicians work together harmoniously, the electric guitar will continue to benefit from technological innovations. But for all the efforts of the guitar companies' design engineers, managers and quality controllers, it's the musicians who finally make the instruments sing - and not necessarily in the way the guitar maker intended.
What is likely to change in the future?
Giải thích:
Cái gì có khả năng thay đổi trong tương lai?
A. Tầm ảnh hưởng của ghi-ta đến văn hóa đại chúng.
B. Phong cách của nhạc chơi bằng ghi-ta.
C. Chính những chiếc đàn ghi-ta.
D. Cách những nhạc công cảm nhận về chiếc ghi-ta của mình.
*Thông tin nằm ở đoạn 1: "...But the instruments being designed for tomorrow’s pop stars may look and sound rather different from today’s familiar electric and acoustic guitars" (Nhưng những nhạc cụ được thiết kế cho những ngôi sao nhạc pop trong tương lai có thể có hình dáng và âm thanh khác với những chiếc ghi-ta điện và ghi-ta thường.)
Chọn C
Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D to choose the word or phrase that best fits each of the numbered blanks from 25 to 29
KEEPING THE WORLD IN OUR POCKETS
Faster processors and advances in memory technology have made today's smartphones much more powerful than a lot of computers from just a decade ago. With wireless technology, people can surf the internet, play online games, send e-mail, and do (25) ___________all the things they once could only do on a computer. (26) ___________they have the power to do things constantly at their fingertips.
Many people (27) ___________that while smartphones are powerful tools, they are making people reliant on them. Why would a person need to learn to read a map when he can get directions to anywhere by simply asking his phone a question? Who needs to learn Math when you have immense calculating power in your pocket at all times? What (28) ___________is there to memorize facts about history, art, or geography when that information is readily available from a portable Internet interface?
There are just some of the questions being asked and answered as smartphone usage continues to spread. Like any technology, smartphones have their advantages, but they do have disadvantages as well that we must (29) ___________an eye on.
Mark the letter A, B, C, or D to indicate the word(s) CLOSEST in meaning to the underlined bold word(s) in each of the following questions.
I am gripped with a fever whenever a new year is coming.
Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C or Don your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions from 30 to 34
The term "virus" is derived from the Latin word for poison or slime. It was originally applied to the noxious stench emanating from swamps that was thought to cause a variety of diseases in the centuries before microbes were discovered and specifically linked to illness. But it was not until almost the end of the nineteenth century that a true virus was proven to be the cause of a disease.
The nature of viruses made them impossible to detect for many years even after bacteria had been discovered and studied. Not only are viruses too small to be seen with a light microscope, they also cannot be detected through their biological activity, except as it occurs in conjunction with other organisms. In fact, viruses show no traces of biological activity by themselves. Unlike bacteria, they are not living agents in the strictest sense Viruses are very simple pieces of organic material composed only of nucleic acid, either DNA or RNA, enclosed in a coat of protein made up of simple structural units (some viruses also contain carbohydrates and lipids.) They are parasites, requiring human, animal, or plant cells to live. The virus replicates by attaching to a cell and injecting its nucleic acid. Once inside the cell, the DNA or RNA that contains the virus' genetic information takes over the cell's biological machinery, and the cell begins to manufacture viral proteins rather than its own.
Which of the following is the best title for the passage?
- Peter: "What ___________ your flight?”
- Mary: “There was a big snowstorm in Birmingham that delayed a lot of flights."
Mark the letter A, B, C, or D to indicate the word that differs from the other three in the position of the primary stress in each of the following questions.
Before microbes were discovered, it was believed that some diseases were caused by
Mark the letter A, B, C, or D to indicate the correct answer to each of the following questions.
I assume that you are acquainted ___________ this subject since you are responsible ___________ writing the accompanying materials.
Mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the word whose underlined part differs from the other three tin the pronunciation in each of the following questions.
Mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the word whose underlined part differs from the other three tin the pronunciation in each of the following questions.
I would rather Jane ___________ my brother so much money when he asked for. I know for sure that I will have to pay his debt.
The author implies that bacteria were investigated earlier than viruses because___________