Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer to indicate the correct word or phrase that best fits each of the numbered blanks.

Keeping your distance

Personal space is a term that refers (24) the distance we like to keep between ourselves and other people. When (25) we do not know well gets too close we usually begin to feel uncomfortable. If a business colleague comes closer than 1.2 meters, the most common response is to move (26) . Some interesting (27) have been done in libraries. If strangers come too close, many people get up and leave the building; others use different methods such as turning their back on the intruder. Living in cities has made people develop new skills for dealing with situations where they are very close to strangers. Most people on crowded trains try not to look at strangers; they avoid skin contact, and apologize if hands touch by mistake. People use newspapers (28) a barrier between themselves and other people, and if they do not have one, they stare into the distance, making sure they are not looking into anyone’s eyes.

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 below.

FAMILY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES

Family life in the United States is changing. Fifty or sixty years ago, the wife was called a 

“housewife”. She cleaned, cooked, and cared for the children. The husband earned the money for the family. He was usually out working all day. He came home tired in the evening, so he did not do much housework. And he did not see the children very much, except on weekends.

These days, however, more and more women work outside the home. They cannot stay with the children all day. They, too, come home tired in the evening. They do not want to spend the evening cooking dinner and cleaning up. They do not have time to clean the house and do the laundry. So who is going to do the housework now? Who is going to take care of the children?

Many families solve the problem of housework by sharing it. In these families, the husband and wife agree to do different jobs around the house, or they take turns doing each job. For example, the husband always cooks dinner and the wife always does the laundry. Or the wife cooks dinner on some nights and the husband cooks dinner on other nights.

Then there is the question of the children. In the past, many families got help with child care from grandparents. Now families usually do not live near their relatives. The grandparents are often too far away to help in a regular way. More often, parents have to pay for child care help. The help may be a babysitter or a day-care center. The problem with this kind of help is the high cost. It is possible only for couples with jobs that pay well.

Parents may get another kind of help form the companies they work for. Many companies now let people with children work part-time. That way, parents can spend more time with their children. Some husbands may even stop working for a while to stay with the children. For these men there is a new word: they are called “househusbands”. In the USA more and more men are becoming househusbands every year.

These changes in the home mean changes in the family. Fathers can learn to understand their children better, and the children can get to know their fathers better. Husbands and wives may also find changes in their marriage. They, too, may have a better understanding of each other.

Câu 36: Sixty years ago, most women __________

A. went out to work

B. had no children

C. did not do much housework

D. were housewives

Your answer:

Câu 37: Nowadays, there are __________.

A. more women going out to work than before

B. more and more women staying with the children all day

C. more work outside the home than before

D. more housewives than before

Your answer:

Câu 38: The word “laundry” in paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to __________

A. tidying up

B. cooking and washing up

C. washing and ironing

D. shopping

Your answer:

Câu 39: It can be inferred from paragraph 4 that __________.

A. couples with low-paid jobs can’t afford the cost of a babysitter or a day-care center

B. grandparents can help care the children in a regular way

C. all couples with jobs can pay for help from a babysitter or a day-care center

D. in the past, grandparents did not help the couples with child care

Your answer:

Câu 40: The word “they” in paragraph 5 refers to __________

A. husbands who stop working to stay with the children

B. fathers who spend more time with their children

C. parents who work part-time

D. children who spend more time with fathers than mothers

Your answer:

Câu 41: The changes in the American home mentioned in this passage may __________

A. help families

B. not happen

C. cause problems for a marriage

D. not change the children at all

Your answer:

Câu 42: This article is about __________

A. American men as househusbands

B. housewives in America

C. how more American women are working

D. how family life in America is changing

Your answer:

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 below.

Because writing has become so important in our culture, we sometimes think of it as more real than speech. A little thought, however, will show why speech is primary and writing secondary to language. Human beings have been writing (as far as we can tell from surviving evidence) for at least 5000 years; but they have been talking for much longer, doubtless ever since there have been human beings.

When writing did develop, it was derived from and represented speech, although imperfectly. Even today there are spoken languages that have no written form. Furthermore, we all learn to talk well before we learn to write; any human child who is not severely handicapped physically or mentally will learn to talk: a normal human being cannot be prevented from doing so. On the other hand, it takes a special effort to learn to write. In the past many intelligent and useful members of society did not acquire the skill, and even today many who speak languages with writing systems never learn to read or write, while some who learn the rudiments of those skills do so only imperfectly.

To affirm the primacy of speech over writing is not, however, to disparage the latter. One advantage writing has over speech is that it is more permanent and makes possible the records that any civilization must have. Thus, if speaking makes us human, writing makes us civilized.

Câu 43: We sometimes think of writing as more real than speech because __________.

  A. writing is secondary to language

  B. human beings have been writing for at least 5000 years

  C. it has become very important in our culture

  D. people have been writing since there have been human beings

Your answer:

Câu 44: The author of the passage argues that __________.

A. speech is more basic to language than writing

B. writing has become too important in today’s society

C. everyone who learns to speak must learn to write

D. all languages should have a written form

Your answer:

Câu 45: According to the passage, writing __________.

A. is represented perfectly by speech

B. represents speech, but not perfectly

C. developed from imperfect speech

D. is imperfect, but less so than speech

Your answer:

Câu 46: Normal human beings __________.

A. learn to talk after learning to write

B. learn t o write before learning to talk

C. learn to write and to talk at the same time

D. learn to talk before learning to write

Your answer:

Câu 47: Learning to write is __________.

A. easy

B. too difficult

C. not easy

D. very easy

Your answer:

Câu 48: In order to show that learning to write requires effort, the author gives the example of __________.

A. people who learn the rudiments of speech

B. severely handicapped children

C. intelligent people who couldn’t write

D. people who speak many languages

Your answer:

Câu 49: In the author’s judgment, __________.

A. writing has more advantages than speech

B. writing is more real than speech

C. speech conveys ideas less accurately than writing does

D. speech is essential but writing has important benefits

Your answer:

Câu 50: The word “advantage” in the last paragraph most closely means __________.

A. “rudiments”

B. “skill”

C. “domination”

D. “benefit”

Your answer: