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.

Based on the information in paragraph 1, the term bride price can best be explained   as              .

A. the costs associated with a traditional wedding

B. the payment of money to a newly married couple

C. money paid to a woman’s family for permission to marry

D. a purely symbolic wedding practice

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:The word “it” in the first paragraph refers to______.

A. the remaining waste

B. a danger

C. the environment

D. the threat of the remaining waste

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 36 to 42.

Successful students often do the followings while studying. First, they have an overview before reading. Next, they look for important information and pay greater attention to it (which often needs jumping forward or backward to process information). They also relate important points to one another. Also, they activate and use their prior knowledge. When they realize that their understanding is not good, they do not wait to change strategies. Last, they can monitor understanding and take action to correct or “fix up” mistakes in comprehension.

Conversely, students with low academic achievement often demonstrate ineffective study skills. They tend to assume a passive role, in learning and rely on others (e.g., teachers, parents) to monitor their studying, for example, low-achieving students often do not monitor their understanding of content; they may not be aware of the purpose of studying; and they show little evidence of looking back, or employing “fix-up” strategies to fix understanding problems. Students who struggle with learning new information seem to be unaware that they must extent effort beyond simply reading the content to understand and remember it. Children with learning disabilities do not plan and judge the quality of their studying. Their studying may be disorganized. Students with learning problems face challenges with personal organization as well. They often have difficulty keeping track of materials and assignments, following directions, and completing work on time. Unlike good studiers who employ a variety of study skills in a flexible yet purposeful manner, low-achieving students use a restricted range of study skills. They cannot explain why good study strategies are important for learning; and they tend to use the same, often ineffective study approach for all learning tasks, ignoring task content, structure or difficulty.

Question:According to the passage, to learn new information, low-achieving students do NOT______.

A. just understand it

B. relate it to what they have known

C. simply remember it

D. read it

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.

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 leading educational psychologists, 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 Collins 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 Smith, 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.

The two examples given in the passage illustrate the principle that______.

A. successful parents always have intelligent children 

B. successful parents often have unsuccessful children 

C. parents should let the child develop in the way he wants 

D. parents should spend more money on the child’s education

Mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the word(s) CLOSEST in meaning to the underlined word(s) in each of the following questions.

Try to eliminate fatty foods from your diet.

A. limit

B. move

C. add

D. get rid of

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 33

A. reveal               

B. encounter                  

C. involve             

D. introduce