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

If parents bring up a child with the sole aim of turning the child into a genius, they will cause a disaster. According to several scientists, this is one of the biggest mistakes which ambitious parents make. Generally, the child will be only too aware of what his parents expect, and will fail. Unrealistic parental expectations can cause great damage to children.

However, if parents are not too unrealistic about what they expect their children to do, but are ambitious in a sensible way, the child may succeed in doing very well - especially if the parents are very supportive of their child.

Michael is very lucky. He is crazy about music, and his parents help him a lot by taking him to concerts and arranging private piano and violin lessons for him. They even drive him 50 kilometers twice a week for violin lessons. Michael's mother knows very little about music, but his father plays the trumpet in a large orchestra. However, he never makes Michael enter music competitions if he is unwilling.

Winston, Michael's friend, however, is not so lucky. Both his parents are successful musicians, and they set too high a standard for Winston. They want their son to be as successful as they are and so they enter him for every piano competition held. They are very unhappy when he does not win. Winston is always afraid that he will disappoint his parents and now he always seems quiet and unhappy.

One of the serious mistakes parents can make is to …………

A. push their child into trying too much   

B. help their child to become a genius

C. make their child become a musician

D. neglect their child's education

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

Recently, we made a trip to visit Dong Ho village with a desire to meet the old artisan – Nguyen Huu Sam. Just when we arrived villagers at the dyke in the village and talked with the villagers about the artisan, they immediately told us about him.

The old house owned by the artisan is situated in a long alley of the village. On the walls of the house there are many folk paintings in different genres, from daily life paintings to landscape paintings shown in a set of “four seasons”.

Mr. Sam told us about his past. When he was three years old, he was instructed in the craft of making Dong Ho paintings by his father. At five, he could help his father apply the Dong Ho paintings, and learn how to print the paper with proper colours. At seven, he was able to draw with a pen and make the most difficult samples. Years went by and the soul of Dong Ho folk paintings has kept seashell powder paint to the poonah-paper.

In the 1940s, this craft flourished. At that time, he was assigned by his parents to take the paintings to the market for sale. Mr. Sam said that 17 families in the village have been engaged in making Dong Ho paintings.

Artisan Sam has always been devoted to the making of Dong Ho paintings and has waited for opportunities to restore this traditional craft. In 1967, when the local authorities assigned him to restore the traditional genre of Dong Ho folk paintings, he gathered 50 villagers with professional skills and collected hundreds of woodblocks to establish the Dong Ho Painting Cooperative. Thanks to his efforts, such famous painting as "Rat's wedding", “Rooster”, “Scene of jealousy” and “Writing verses about precious flowers" have been revived. Dong Ho paintings have been available in many parts of the world such as Japan, France, Germany, Singapore and the United States.

The themes of Dong Ho paintings are about ………..

A. landscapes

B. weddings

C. various aspects of life

D. animals and flowers

HỌ TỪ:
10. Burning coal is a(an) …………… way. Burning gas is cheaper. (economy)

11. Don’t worry. I’ll be waiting for you at the...............................to the pagoda. (enter)

Part 4: Complete each space with one of the words given below. Make changes if necessary.

Today, computer companies sell many different programs for computers. First, there are programs for (1) _____________ math problems. Second, there are programs for (2) __________ studies. Third, some programs like fancy typewriters. They are often used by (3) ___________ and business people. Other programs are made for courses in schools and universities. And (4) ____________, there are programs for fun. They include word games and puzzles for children and adults.

Part 5: Complete the second sentence so that it has the same meaning as the first one. Use NO MORE THAN FOUR WORDS.

1. He felt very miserable, so he looked for someone to share his life with.

→ He looked for someone to share his life with ______________________ miserable.

2. He feels sorry that he can’t come to his brother’s wedding.

à He wishes ______________________ his brother’s wedding.

3. It's a pity he doesn't take the doctor's advice.

--> I wish ____________________________ ‘s advice.

4. The government gave her a scholarship to the University.

® A scholarship to the University _______________________ by the government.

6. The teacher asked me, “Are you having a wonderful time here?”

®The teacher asked me ______________________________ a wonderful time there.

7. I can’t understand him because he speaks so quickly.

® If he __________________________, I could understand him.

8. “Why don’t you complain to the company, Jane?”, said Mr. John.

à Mr. John suggested ___________________________ the company.

9. He took a taxi. He still arrived late for work.

à He still arrived late ________________________ a taxi.

10. Although the weather was bad, they had a wonderful holiday.

à In spite _________________________, they had a wonderful holiday

Part 6: Each sentence has ONE mistake. Find the mistakes and correct them: (1,0m)

1. He hard tried to find a job but he had no luck.

2. Mrs. Thanh said that she was flying to Paris now. …………à ……………

3. I think it’s difficult solve this problem. .…………à ………………

4. Some designers have taken inspiration in Vietnam’s ethnic minorities.

5. What would you do if you invited into a flying saucer?

6. A daily newspaper was published in Germany in 1550, wasn’t they?

7. Mrs Yen forgot to turn on the faucet when she left for work.

8. We went to Hanoi to watch the parade on National Day last year because we live in Nam Dinh.

Part 7: Read the following passage and decide if the statements that follow are True or False.

Canada is the world’s second largest country. Lt’s population is not very large, however. About 25 million people live in Canada – less than half the population of Britain or France and only one thirtieth of the population of India. Canada is in North America and its capital is Ottawa. It is a rich country with a lot of natural resources. In southern Canada the land is very good for farming and Canada exports a lot of wheat. In the north there are magnificent forests. In the west there are some very high mountains called the Rockies. Canada also has many minerals such as petroleum, gas copper and zinc. Canada was first settled by French pioneers. In the eighteenth century there were wars between Britain and French, and Canada came under British rule. Since 1931 Canada has been an independent member of the British Commonwealth. English and French are both official language in Canada.

1. Canada is a densely populated country.

2. The French were the first settlers in Canada.

3. Both French and English are spoken in Canada.

4. Canada is one of the British colonies.

Tim loi sai va sua lai

She has been to Da Nang for one month and now she used to the hot weather here

He can't speak English whithoy to make mistakes

Some designers has printed lines of poetry on the Ao Dai

Liverpool is an industry city in the north of England

Look at the two dictionarys and you will see they are the same in some ways

The city is modernized for the last two decades , so you will see it is much different from what you saw last time

The American left Sai Gon for New York in a beautiful morning

On seeing us preparing for the trip ,papa said he was willing to help us with the trip tomorrow

We are not allowed of making personal phone calls in the office

Louse is the more capable of the three girls who have tired out for the part in the play

We had better to review this charter carefully because we will have some questions on it on our test tomorrow

The little boy's mother bought him a five- speeds racing bicycle for his birthday

My mother doesn't care how much does the car cost because he is going to buy it anyway

Neither of the south leader's know how to trap with animals or how to prepare them for mounting

1. Your daughter is too young to wach this kind of horror film.

Your daughter is not

2. Of the 5 students Mary is the smartest.

Among

3. The teacher made her students study hard at school and at home.

Her students

4.What about going to New Age Movie Theater tonight/

Why

5. All the students had to stay at home because it rained heavily.

It rained heavily enough

6. I have forgotten that actor's name, but he is very well-known.

That actor

7. There is a lot of furniture in this room so we don't have enough space for the meeting.

There is so

8. Why don't you take the medicine?

If I

9/ The match was so boring that they left at half time.

They left

10. What is your date of birth?

When were

11. He hid the letter in a drawer because he didn't want anyone to read it. (so that)

12. He is so sutpid that he can't understand the lesson.

He is such

13. People believe that Mario's family brought up that little girl in Italy.

That little

14. The first World War began in 1918. (broke)

15. During his law studies he met a future wife.

While

16. It took me a fairly long time to answer all my e-mails.

I spent

BÀI TẬP MẠO TỪ - ARTICLE EXERCISES

I/ ARTICLES: A, AN, THE OR Ø(nothing).

Exercise 1. Put "an", "a", "the" or Ø (nothing):

1. My birthday is _____ Sunday afternoon.

2. It doesn't often snow here at _____ Christmas. We haven't had _____ White Christmas for many years.

3. We came here in _____ summer of _____ 1969.

4. _____ Thanks giving is in _____ November. The Church of England dates from _____ year 1534. I like driving at ____ night. The roads are quite. Oh, I don't like driving in ____ park. I'd rather travel during___ day.

5. Are you doing anything at _____ weekend? + I don't think so. Well, come over on _____ Sunday.

6. __ meals we had weren't very good. We had___ breakfast in the hotel and that wasn't too bad. We usually went out for _____ lunch because _____ lunch they served in the hotel was always the same _____ dinner we had in our first evening was pretty a few, so we tried a few restaurants. On our last evening we had _____ marvelous dinner in a Chinese restaurant, but that was an exception.

7. Rita plays _____ violin and her sister plays _____ guitar.

8. On our trip to _____ Spain, we crossed _____ Atlantic Ocean.

9. David attended _____ Princeton University.

10. _____ Florida State University is smaller than _____ University of Florida

11. _____ chair that you are sitting in is broken.

12. _____ Civil War was fought in _____ United States between 1861 and 1865.

13. _____ big books on _____ table are for my history class.

Exercise 2. Write a or an in the space:

Exercise 3. Put in a, an or some or leave a space:

1. Have you got _____ camera? 2. Would you like to be _____ actor.

3. Bill's got _____ big feet. 4. Do you collect _____ stamps?

5. Tom always gives Ann _____ flowers on her birthday.

6. Those are _____ really nice trousers. Where did you get them?

7. What _____ beautiful garden! 8. What _____ lovely children!

9. _____ birds, for example the penguin, cannot fly.

10. Jack has got _____ very long legs, so he's _____ fast runner.

11. You need _____ visa to visit _____ foreign countries, but not all of them .

12. I'm going shopping. I'm going to get _____ new clothes.

13. Jane is _____ teacher. Her parents were _____ teachers too.

14. When we reached the city centre, _____ shops were still open but most of them were already closed.

15. Do you enjoy going to _____ concerts? 16. When I was _____ child, I used to be very shy.

Exercise 4. Put suitable articles into blanks:

1. John is _____ teacher. He's teaching in _____ school in London.

Every morning, he gets up at 7 o'clock, has _____ breakfast and _____ cup of _____ coffee. Then he goes to work by bus. He has _____ lunch at _____ restaurant (near _____ school). In the afternoon he works until 5 or 5.30 and then goes _____ home. He doesn't work on _____ Saturday or Sunday. He goes to _____ cinema or theatre. John has _____ sister in Oxford and _____ brother in _____ London.

2. There are millions of stars in _____ space. 3. I'm going away at _____ end of this month.

4. The sun is _____ star. 5. What did you have for _____ breakfast?

6. Have you got _____ car? 7. How much are those potatoes? 1.20 _____ kilo.

8. Can you think _____ rich should pay more taxes to help _____ poor?

Exercise 5. Put suitable articles into blanks:

1. He is _____ honest person. 2. My father went out to _____ sea when he was 14.

3. When do you hope to go to _____ university? 4. There's a strike at _____ hospital.

5. He is_____ one-eyed man. 6. There's _____ onion left in the fridge.

7. This is_____ useful method of learning English. 8. I've got _____ uncle.

9. Your shoes are under_____ bed. 10. There's a splendid view of_____ Lake Geneva from his hotel.

Exercise 7. Put suitable articles into blanks if necessary:

1. After _____ lunch, we went for _____ wall by _____ sea. 2. Don't sit on _______ ground. It's wet.

3. On _______ Sunday my father stay in _______ bed till ten o'clock reading _______ Sunday paper.

4. He's got _____ job in ______ South and spent ______ next two years doing ______ work he really enjoyed.

5. My mother goes to _____ church in _____ morning and in ______ afternoon goes to visit _______ friends.

6. ____ post man's little boy says that he'd rather be _____ dentist than _____ doctor because _____ dentists don't get called out at ______ night.

7. This morning I bought _____ newspaper and _____ magazine _____ newspaper is in my bag, but I don't know where ______ magazine is.

8. My parents have ____ cat and____ dog.____ dog never bites ____ cat, but____ cat often scratched____ dog.

9. We live in ___ old house in ___ middle of town. There is ___ garden behind ___ house.___ roof of ___ house is in bad condition.

Exercise 8. Which is correct or more likely, a/an or one? If both a/an and one arepossible, write them both:

1. It weights over _______ hundred kilos.

2. I only asked for _______ pizza - I didn't want three of them.

3. I wouldn't allow _______ child of mine to be treated in that way.

4. It only took us _______ week to drive to Greece.

5. I've always wanted to own _______ silver - coloured car.

6. _______ sandwich isn't enough. I usually eat four or five

7. Policies differ from _______ state to another.

8. Less than three quarters of _______ hour later, she was home.

9. All of the competitors completed the race, with just _______ exception.

10. She left home late ______ morning and hasn't been seen since.

11. The best way to learn______ musical instrument is to find ______ enthusiastic teacher.

12. Somewhere in the distance, ______ bell rang.

1. The act of _________________ should be prohibited under any circumstances. Everyone all has equal rights to vote. (FRANCHISE)

2. The boss ordered his staff to be ______________ with each other in dealing with the company's end-of-year burden. (LABOR)

3. It is such a ________________ story that the mom lost her child when her family immigrated from Africa into Europe. (LUCK)

4. The mayor was determined that he would do everything in his power to ________________ the murder case. (MYSTERY)

5. The government stressed it was not abandoning its tough _______________ policies. (INFLATE)

6. The woman detected her __________ conditions soon after she felt ill in her body. (CANCER)

7. I cast my eyes _________________ and saw the geese flying in V-line. (HEAVEN)

8. _______________ programs are offered to those who want to do professional training while being paid to work. (SERVICE)

9. It is inhumane to sell _____________ limbs of the animals, such as rhinoceros or elephants, in the market place. (MEMBER)

10. He was regarded as a ___________ winner as he beat his opponents in three straight sets. (RUN)

11. Although some hold out hope for a sea wall and land reclamation programme, it is admittedly nothing more than a mere ____________________. (STOP)

12. A(n) _________________ is implanted in the body to prop up the heart. (MAKE)

13. She is ________________ gorgeous in that gown. (DIE)

14. His behavior at the party was ___________, which went beyond everyone's expectations. (ERR)

15. The advent of computers was one of the _______________ milestones in the mankind's history. (NOTE)

16. His condition was so serious _____________ as he had to stay in hospital for a month. (MUCH)

17. Pending the _____________ of KFC, the manager had to catch up on a huge number of backlogs. (TAKE)

18. It is _________________ to be waken up by the noisy music from the neighbor's house. (IRK)

19. Like many other _______________ of my age, I dread to use hi-tech gears. (TECHNICAL)

20. Bacteria derived from _________________ disease can be contagious among people having reciprocal contact. (MENINGES)

21. The woman is getting older. She is now in the ___________________ year of her age. (LIGHT)

22. Chemicals are easily ________________ if they are laid open in the atmosphere for a long time. (ACTION)

23. The spectators booed as the referee did not disallow the ___________________ goal. (SIDE)

24. The government must work at full tilt to promote the economy and reduce the ________________. (EFFICIENT)

25. The Earth is experiencing a major ________ in the climate. (HEAVE)

26. My ________ is the unique thing that distinguishes me from others. (MARK)

27. Children who grow up in peace tend to be more _________________ than those who grow up in war. (ADAPT)

28. My mother ______________ me a great deal of encouragement after I got bad grades in my exam. (VOUCH)

29. He is a(n) _______________ man. He does not gain any ground in his family. (WILL)

30. You can look at the _______________ of this Chinese book to see the elucidation of these new words. (ADD)

31. The reaction that occurs within the cell is called ________________ reaction. (CELL)

32. He was ______________ from the hustle and bustle of life since he moved to this rural area. (TANGLE)

33. I ________________ over whether to go abroad or not. (SHALL)

34. Many people nowadays want to indulge themselves in _____________ industries such as finance and the like. (KNOW)

35. Please accept this _____________ as a reminder of your stay here. (REMEMBER)

36. A(n) _______________ is the one who turns into wolf during full moon. (WOLF)

37. Nitrogen oxide is a(n) __________________ compound of oxygen and nitrogen. (ATOM)

38. The story broadens the horizon of the children about their _______________. (BEAR)

39. I met my old friend at the supermarket this morning, which was quite __________. (FORTUNE)

40. The mall has intrigued a great number of visitors since it was _________ last month. (GRAND)

41. She cast her eyes _______________ and saw a mysterious man looking at her. (STREET)

42. The girl excelled herself at the exam and came _______________ to the two boys. (THREE)

43. Scientists from Russia, America and Japan have recently filled the periodic table's seventh row with four ______________ chemical elements. (HEAVE)

44. It is a misconception that _________________ human blood is blue. (OXYGEN)

45. The house is painted in such a(n) __________________ style. (SAVOUR)

46. In this modern day, you have to keep yourself _________ so as not to lag behind others.(DATE)

47. This book is ______________. You can find information about the varieties of plants around the world here. (EMBRACE)

48. The little rainfall ______________ a poor crop for farmers in this village. (BODE)

49. That word is such a(n)____________ ________. It is not easy to pronouce at all. (JAW)

50. _________ and disinfectants are widely used in hospital to kill the bacteria. (SEPTIC)

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, ...

Read the passage and answer the questions.

    John Brown is a lecturer. He went to university in 1982, and was one of the best students at that time. In 1990, he became a professor. He has been a senior lecturer since then. He is a very well known in his teaching career. He has written five books about education, including a book “How to teach deaf children” in 1995. He is married to his assistant, Linda. They have two children.

Is he a very well-known in his teaching career?

………………………………………………………………………………………