Read the passage, and choose the correct answer A, B, C or D for each question.

In the old days, Vietnamese roads were seen with bicycles and a few trucks. Now they are full of a variety of vehicles. The Vietnamese carry a huge load of a variety of goods up to over one hundred kilograms, especially during the war.

Time has gone by and fewer bikes are visible in the street. In big cities, many people think that bicycles belong to the inferior classes and seem unfashionable. That is why people often find it hard - psychologically and physically - to park their bikes when going to a modern cafe or shopping malls.

Motorbikes are the main mode of transport in Viet Nam, with 24 million of them in a country of 87 million people in 2009, one of the highest ratios in the world. More motorbikes of all brands have dominated the road. The mobility which motorbikes provide is so crucial to workers in big cities. Some youths try to show off with expensive motorbikes of famous brands. Almost anything can be transported on a motorcycle. The loads include baskets of fruits, tree trunks, live pigs, flocks of live ducks and stacked crates of raw eggs. Two thirds of Viet Nam's population of 85 million arc under 30, and the motorcycle has become the center of youth culture.

Nowadays, bicycles ………….

A. become more visible in the streets

B. are looked down on by some people

C. are used in the war

D. can’t be parked outside a modern café

London is a big city, but many of the people who live there ____(1) it as a number of small towns put together. Each district has its own indentity and atmosphere and some parts are even described by their inhabitants as "villages". Much of the center of the city consists (2)_____ shops and businesses and the majority of people live in the suburbs. A great (3) of them travel work in the city every day by train, bus, tube or car' this is called commuting. Commuters might spend as much as two hours every morning getting to work and another two hours getting home again. The cost of living in london is (4)____than in most other parts of Britain, and many people are paid extra money on tip of their salaries because of this Milluons of visitors come to London every year from all over the world to see the famous sights, such as Buckingham Palace, where the Queen lives, and many other historic buildings. London is also very famous for its theatres, red buses and black taxis. SOme poeple find it a noisy, dirty place (5) ____it has many large, pleasant parks where everyone can enjoy some peace and quiet. London has many attractions, both for people from overseas and for people from other parts of Britain.

1. A regard B. feel C. think D. see

2. A. in B. on C of D at

3. A . a lot B lot C much D many

4. A taller B higher C bigger D much

5. A but B although C because D since

Life in the past and Life in the present

Over the last century, there have been many significant changes in the way we live. Obviously, it is hard to compare the life of the ancient people and the life of the people of the twenty first century because so many changes have occured. However, even the changes that have taken place over the last ten years are amazing.

To start with, people were not able to travel such long distances in such short period of time. The planes were not that popular then because they used to be a very expensive means of transport. Nowadays, we have become very mobile. We have fast and comfortable cars and more and more people also travels by plane. Moreover, in the past people had to work much harder as they did not have tools which made their work easier. Today, most of the difficult and dangerous work is done by computers and other machines. In the past the conditions of living were not as comfortable as they are now. There were not bathrooms and running water in many houses, besides many people could not afford household appliances like fridge, TV set or vacuum cleaner because they used to be luxurious goods. Another difference between living now and in the past is the fact that nowadays the access to education is much easier. In the past, there were fewer schools and the quality of the education they provided was much poorer. Besides, nowadays it is much easier to find the educational materials that you need thanks to the Internet. Another difference is that in the past there were not that many sources of entertainment. Therefore people used to spend more time with their friends.

All things considering, it is an obvious conclusion that life has changed significantly in the last couple of years. It is definitely much easier now however, it is not easy to decide whether it is also better. The scientific achievements and technological progress are amazing. We still create new inventions which simplify our lives. On the other hand, however, life now is much faster and more busy than it used to be in the past. Moreover, it has also become more dangerous. The standard of living has definitely improved but it can be discussed whether the quality of our lives is also better.

* T/F:

1. Life nowadays is the same as life of our ancestors.

2. Technology has made our lives easier.

3. In the past, household appliances were very expensive.

4. Public schools allowed females and males to be educated in the same schools.

5. We can use the internet to communicate with people around the world.

* Answer Question:

1. Is life today faster or slower than life in the past?

2. What has happend to the standard of living?

3. What makes it easy to access information?

4. Who or what does some difficult jobs for us?

5. What makes our lives easier at home?

@Hoàng Minh Nguyệt, ...

The Game of Squares

Either boys or girls, usually aged from seven to ten, play the two-person game of"Mandarin's Box". They draw a rectangle on the ground and (1)……….. it into ten smallsquares called "rice fields" or "fish ponds”.

They also draw two additional semi-circular boxesat the two (2)………. of the rectangle, which are called"mandarin's boxes" - the game's name. Each person has 25 small pebbles and a bigger stone.

Each player places the stone in one of the mandarin's boxes and five small pebbles in each of the other squares. Then the game begins. The first player takes up the contents of one square on his or her side ofthe board, but not a mandarin's box and distributes the pebbles one by one, (3)……….. with the next square in (4)………. direction. Since each square contains five pebbles at the beginning, the first move will distribute five pebbles to the left or right.

After the last pebble is distributed, the player takes the contents of the following squareand repeats the distribution (5)………... But if the following square is one of the mandarin's boxes, the turn ends and passes to the other player.

If the last pebble falls into a square that precedes one empty square, the player wins all the contents of the square following the empty square and (6)……….these pebbles from the board. However, if there are two or more empty squares in a row, the player (7)…….. his or her turn.

Once a player has taken pebbles from the board, the turn is (8)……….to the other player. If all five squares on one player's side of the board are emptied at any time, that player must place one pebble he or she has aside back in each of the five squares so that the game can resume.

The game (9)………until the two mandarins' boxes have both been (10)……….. At the end of the game, the player with more pebbles wins, with each of the large stones counting as ten points.

Question 1

A.share

B.divide

C.separate

D.leave

Choose the word or phrase among A, B, C or D that best fits the blank space in the following passage.

During the war, children wore straw hats to (1) …….. themselves from debris. Houses and schools were bombed and destroyed. Many children were made (2)….. and their schools had to be moved around or lessons sometimes had to (3)……. after dark to avoid being targeted by heavy bombing. Many schools had its roof (4)…….. with several layers of straw to withstand the (5)……… of the bombs. Life for children was very hard in both the North and South of Viet Namduring the war.

Young people were (6)…….. of their duty to serve their country. Even young girls took part in the war efforts by digging bomb shelters. Children took first-aid courses after school so that they could (7)………. injured people.

Childhood years of children born in the 1960s are (8)…….. As innocent children, they went to school (9)……… straw hats in the sounds of American jet fighters in the sky and the shots from Vietnamese anti-aircraft guns.

Nowadays, they are proud that they came through those hardships. They had their heads held (10)……… walking out of the war.

Question 1

A.save

B.keep

C.protect

D.help

Read the following passage and choose the best answer for each question.

Where will you go on your next vacation? Disneyland? Sea World? Outer space?

That’s right; tourists are now paying big bucks to travel into space with astronauts! The first space tourist was Dennis Tito, an American businessman. In 2001, he paid about $20 million to ride on a Russian rocket to the International Space Station. The Space Station circles 220 miles above Earth. Tito stayed on the station for a week, hanging out with astronauts and eating space food. The latest space tourist was Anousheh Ansari, an Iranian-born woman from the United States who went to the Space Station in mid-September 2006.

How safe is space travel? Apart from the risk of crashing, space tourists have some special things to worry about. Earth’s atmosphere protects us from dangerous radiation from the sun. Space travelers are exposed to more of the sun’s rays. But for tourists spending only a few days or weeks in space, the radiation probably isn’t harmful.

A bigger problem might be space sickness. Without Earth’s gravity to hold them down, visitors to the Space Station float around inside the craft. It may look like fun on TV, but it can make first-time space travelers dizzy and sick. Luckily, the sickness usually wears off quickly. Then space tourists can enjoy their trip and the amazing view of Earth.

 While in outer space it is likely that people will _____.

A. Experience space sickness

B. Not need space suits

C. Will get a sunburn

D. Make side trips to Mars

Choose the word or phrase among A, B, C or D that best fits the blank space in the following passage.

Seventy percent of people in Viet Nam live in rural areas. Most of these people (1)……. their living by caring for farm animals like pigs. Other common jobs are crop fanning and fishing. For many of these farmers and fishermen, animal and plant waste is still a problem.

Many women and children cook meals using traditional cooking fuels. They also spend many hours (2)………wood and other materials to burn. This process takes time and also uses a lot of natural resources. Moreover, they suffer the same health (3)……... Cooking was a difficult and dangerous job. The kitchen was smoky, and the black ash would make people cough, and (4)………. pain in the eyes.

But a biogas system can (5)………all of these problems! It can turn animal or plant waste (6)…….valuable resources - such as cooking fuel, electricity and plant fertilizer. First, an expert must build a system of pipes and tanks. This biogas system contains and manages the decaying process of animal or plant waste. To use the biogas system, a fanner must move animal waste into a pipe with water. These pipes bring the waste to a tank (7)……..in the ground. This tank is called a bio-digester. Air cannot enter this tank. In this contained environment, natural bacteria decays the waste material. (8)……..the waste decays in the bio-digester, it (9)…….two things - biogas and slurry. The biogas rises to the top of the tank. The pressure from the gas pushes the liquid slurry into (10)……. Now people can use both the biogas and the slurry.

Question 1

A.earn

B.look for

C.do

D.take

Fill each blank with a suitable word to complete the following passage.

Space exploration is the investigation of the universe beyond the Earth’s atmosphere, by (1) ________ of manned or unmanned spacecraft. Despite the technological advancements achieved in the past, space exploration was only (2) _______ until the 20th century. The first successful orbital launch was made by the Soviet Union in 1957 which was called “Sputnik”. When the topic “SPACE EXPLORATION” is put (3)_______ the table, a question has often been asked: “Why should we spend money on NASA while there are so (4) _______ problems here on Earth?” However, this might be partially wrong since exploring the unknown may help us progress.

The advantages of space exploration include the materials (5) ________ can be obtained from outer space. For instance, asteroids have iron and nickel which could be utilized to satisfy the (6) ________ for metal. Therefore, numerous commercial companies have invested in developing technology for asteroid mining. Several comets and asteroids (7) ________ solid water in them. This water can be used for astronauts and scientists in space stations. The water can also be broken down to hydrogen which can be used as (8) ______ for the rockets. Scientists also believe that dinosaurs disappeared because they couldn’t go to (9) ________ planet. Sooner or later a killer comet will again cross Earth’s path, threatening all life. Fortunately, (10) _________we have knowledge about comets and space science, we will be able to survive.

Question 3:

Fill each blank with a suitable word to complete the following passage.

Space exploration is the investigation of the universe beyond the Earth’s atmosphere, by (1) ________ of manned or unmanned spacecraft. Despite the technological advancements achieved in the past, space exploration was only (2) _______ until the 20th century. The first successful orbital launch was made by the Soviet Union in 1957 which was called “Sputnik”. When the topic “SPACE EXPLORATION” is put (3)_______ the table, a question has often been asked: “Why should we spend money on NASA while there are so (4) _______ problems here on Earth?” However, this might be partially wrong since exploring the unknown may help us progress.

The advantages of space exploration include the materials (5) ________ can be obtained from outer space. For instance, asteroids have iron and nickel which could be utilized to satisfy the (6) ________ for metal. Therefore, numerous commercial companies have invested in developing technology for asteroid mining. Several comets and asteroids (7) ________ solid water in them. This water can be used for astronauts and scientists in space stations. The water can also be broken down to hydrogen which can be used as (8) ______ for the rockets. Scientists also believe that dinosaurs disappeared because they couldn’t go to (9) ________ planet. Sooner or later a killer comet will again cross Earth’s path, threatening all life. Fortunately, (10) _________we have knowledge about comets and space science, we will be able to survive.

Question 1: