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 following questions

The custom of paying a bride price before marriage is still a well-established part of many African cultures. In paying a bride price, the family of the groom must provide payment to the family of the bride before the marriage is allowed. The bride price can vary greatly from culture to culture in Africa. In the Zulu and Swazi tribes of southern Africa, the bride price often takes the form of cattle. In Western African, kola nuts, shells, and other goods are often used for the payment of the bride price. The actual payment of money sometimes takes place, but the payment of goods is more frequent. The amount of paid in a bride price can also vary. In modern times, the bride price is occasionally quite small and its value is mainly symbolic. However, the bride price can still be quite high, especially among prominent or highly traditional families.

There are a number of justifications used to explain the payment of bride price. The first is that the bride price represents an acknowledgement of the expense the bride’s family has gone in order to raise her and bring her up as a suitable bride for the groom. It also represents payment for the loss of a family member, since the bride will officially become a member of her husband’s family and will leave her own. On a deeper level the bride price represents payment for the fact that the bride will bring children into the family of the groom, thereby increasing the wealth of the family. This concept is reinforced by the fact that the bride price must often be returned if the bride fails to bear children.

The payment of the bride price has quite a number of effects on African society. First, the payment of bride price acts to increase the stability of African family structures. Sons are dependent on their fathers and older relatives to help them pay the bride price of their wives, and this generally leads to greater levels of obedience and respect. The negotiations between the two families concerning the bride price allow the parents and other family members to meet and get to know one another before the marriage. Finally, since the bride price must often be repaid in case of divorce, the bride’s family often works to make sure that any marital problems are solved quickly. Bride prices also work as a system of wealth distribution in African cultures. Wealthier families can afford to support the marriage of their son, and thus their wealth is transferred to other families.

According to paragraph 1,  all of  the following are true of the bride price  EXCEPT            .

A. its amount and form can vary

B. it is a relatively new practice in Africa

C. its practice is occasionally only symbolic

D. it is generally higher among traditional families

Mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the word that is OPPOSITE in meaning to the underlined part in the following questions

In Western culture, it is polite to maintain eye contact during conversation.

A. irresponsible

B. discourteous

C. insecure

D. informal 

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 from 43 to 50

Pollution emitted in industrial areas represents a threat to human health and the surrounding natural resources. We have a tendency to believe that the production processes are the only source of environmental damage, and often forget about the possible long-term effects of harmful production practices. We may think that the closure of these huge industrial areas would improve the quality of the environment. Unfortunately, this ignores the threat of the remaining waste, which is abandoned and poorly stored. It represents an even bigger danger because it stands neglected as it degrades and leaks into the earth without any control at all.

Changes in the water chemistry due to surface water contamination can affect all levels of an ecosystem. It can affect the health of lower food chain organisms and, consequently, the availability of food up through the food chain. It can damage the health of wetlands and damage their ability to support healthy ecosystems, control flooding, and filter pollutants from storm water runoff. The health of animals and humans are affected when they drink or bathe in contaminated water. In addition water-based organisms, like fish and shellfish, can pile up and concentrate contaminants in their bodies. When other animals or humans eat these organisms, they receive a much higher dose of contaminant than they would have if they had been directly exposed to the original contamination.

Contaminated groundwater can badly affect animals, plants and humans if it is removed from the ground by manmade or natural processes. Depending on the study of rocks of the area, groundwater may rise to the surface through springs or seeps, flow sideways into nearby rivers, streams, or ponds, or sink deeper into the earth. In many parts of fhe world, groundwater is pumped out of the ground to be used for drinking, bathing, other household uses, agriculture, and industry.

Contaminants in the soil can harm plants when they take up the contamination through their roots. Eating, breathing in, or touching contaminated soil, as well as eating plants or animals that have piled up soil contaminants can badly affect the health of humans and animals.

Air pollution can cause breathing-related problems and other bad health effects as contaminants are absorbed from the lungs into other parts of the body. Certain air contaminants can also harm animals and humans when they contact the skin. Plants rely on breathing for their growth and can also be affected by exposure to contaminants moved in the air.

Question:What is the topic of the passage?

A. Sources of environmental damage

B. The pollution from the city

C. Bad effects of industrial waste

D. The quality of the environment

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D to indicate the best option for each of the blanks.

Why do people like to chew gum? Some people say they like the taste. (46) ________say they can think better if they chew gum. Some people chew it when they have some boring work to do. Others chew gum when they are nervous.

Gum is a mixture of things. For many years gum companies made gum from chicle. Chicle is a natural gum from a tree in Mexico and Central America. Now companies use plastic and rubber made from petroleum (47) ________of chicle.

Gum must be soft so that you can chew it. A softener keeps it soft. The gum company makes the softener from vegetable oil. A sweetener makes the gum sweet. The sweetener is usually sugar. Then the company (48) ________the flavor.

Thomas Adams made the first gum from chicle in 1836. However, chewing gum was not new. The Greeks chewed gum from a tree (49) ________2,000 years ago. Mayan Indians in Mexico chewed chicle. Indians in the Northeastern United States taught Europeans to chew gum from a tree there.

People first made bubble gum in 1928. Children like to (50) ________bubble with bubble gum. Some university students do too.

Điền vào câu 47

A. aside

B. apart

C. inside

D. instead

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

The role of translation enabling literature to pass beyond its natural frontiers is receiving growing recognition. In view of the general increase in this (30)_____, it is not surprising that many   people with literary interests and a knowledge of languages should think of adopting translating as a full-or part-time (31)_____. Some advice may usefully be given to such would-be translators.

The first difficulty the beginner will (32)_____is the unwillingness of publishers to entrust a translator to anyone who has not already (33)____a reputation for sound work. The least publishers  will (34)____ before commissioning a translator is a fairly lengthy specimen of the applicant’s work, even if unpublished. Perhaps the best way the would-be translator can begin is to select some books of the type (35)_____ he or she feels competent and eager to translate, translate a (36)_____section of   the book and then submit the book and the translation to a suitable publisher. If he or she is extremely lucky, this may result in a commission to translate the book. More probably, however, publishers   will

(37)             the book as such but if they are    favorably (38)             by the translation, they  may very possibly commission some other books of a (39)                           nature which they already have in mind.

Điền vào ô 39

A. joint                 

B. same                

C. common           

D. similar

Mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the sentence that best combines each pair of sentences in the following questions.

The weather was very hot. They continued playing football.

A. Although the hot weather, they continued playing football

B. In spite of the hot weather, they continued playing football

C. In spite of the weather was hot, they continued playing football

D. Despite the weather was hot, they continued playing football