Read the following passage and choose the correct answer to each of the following questions.

 In an unexpected sign of hope amid the expanding pandemic, scientists at the University of Oxford said on Tuesday that an inexpensive and commonly available drug reduced deaths in patients critically ill with COVID-19.

 If the finding is officially confirmed, the drug, a steroid called dexamethasone would be the first treatment shown to reduce mortality in severely ill patients. Had doctors been using the drug to treat the sickest Covid-19 patients in Britain from the beginning of the pandemic, up to 5,000 deaths could have been prevented, the researchers estimated. In the study, it reduced deaths of patients on ventilators by one-third, and deaths of patients on oxygen by one-fifth.

 Until now, hospitals worldwide have had nothing to offer these desperate, dying patients, and the prospect of a lifesaving treatment close at hand - in almost every pharmacy - was met with something like elation by doctors.

 Dexamethasone is the first drug to be shown to improve survival in Covid-19, one of the trial's chief investigators, Peter Horby, a professor of emerging infectious diseases at the University of Oxford, said in a statement. The survival benefit is clear and large in those patients who are sick enough to require oxygen treatment.

 However, there is still, obviously, a significant amount of scepticism. While hospitals in the United Kingdom were allowed to begin treating severely ill COVID-19 patients with dexamethasone, many experts in the United States demanded to see the data and the study itself, which have not yet been peer reviewed or published.

(Adapted from nytimes.com)

 According to paragraph 2, it is estimated by researchers that _____

Read the following passage and choose the correct word or phrase that best fits each of the numbered blanks.

 COVID-19 has forced us into social distancing, isolation and quarantine. These conditions are likely fostering (1) _____ anxiety and loneliness in our cities. However, COVID-19 is an opportunity to build a new kind of contact on (2) _____ we know and learn from this situation. It's possible to promote social and emotional well-being. Integrating public and online spaces is one of the approaches for building better communities. Our new online communication skills can help us develop a better physical-digital interface for bringing people together. Video conferencing is flexible and can enable long-distance connection and “work from home” hubs. (3) _____, social media platforms, such as Facebook, Meetup, WhatsApp or art-based apps like Somebody, are (4) ______ for organising physical meetings too. These can help with community volunteering, socialising, or simply sharing guerrilla-garden herbs for local cooking. A better physical-digital interface could help new jobs flourish in "interactive" creative industries that virtually connect (5) ______ isolated individuals. New art spaces could be established, putting connective digital infrastructure, such as audio-visual platforms, within physical spaces to help face-to-face and virtual audiences interact.

(Adapted from https://theconversation.com/reconnecting-after-coronavirus)

Choose the word that differs from the rest in the position of the main stress in each of the following questions.

Choose the word that differs from the rest in the position of the main stress in each of the following questions.

Choose the most suitable response to complete each of the following exchanges.

 Mike's inviting Sue to go dancing.

- Mike: "Shall we go dancing tonight?"

Mike and Susan are talking about changes in the modern society.

- Mike: "Our living standards have been improved greatly."

Choose the underlined part that needs correction in each of the following questions.