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.

Alexis de Tocqueville, the French political scientist, historian, philosopher and politician, is most famous for a four-volume book he wrote called “Democracy in America”. He came to America in 1831 to study the American form of democracy and what it might mean to the rest of the world. After a visit of only nine months, he wrote a remarkable book which is regarded as a classic. De Tocqueville had unusual powers of observation. He described not only the democratic system of government and how it operated, but also its effect on how Americans think, feel, and act. Many scholars believe he had a deeper understanding of traditional American beliefs and values than anyone else who has written about the United States. What is so remarkable is that many of these traits which he observed nearly 200 years ago, are still visible and meaningful today. His observations are also important because the timing of his visit, the 1830s, was before America was industrialized. This was the era of the small farmer, the small businessman, and the settling of the western frontier. It was the period of history when the traditional values of the new country were newly established. In just a generation, some 40 years since the adoption of the U.S. Constitution, the new form of government had already produced a society of people with unique values. He was, however, a neutral observer and saw both the good and bad sides of these qualities.

The first part of “Democracy in America” was written in 1831-32 and published in 1835. A highly positive and optimistic account of American government and society, the book was very well received. He attempted to get a glimpse of the essence of American society, all the while promoting his own philosophy: the equaling of the classes and the inevitable depth of aristocratic privilege. The rest of the book he labored on for four years, and in 1840 the second part was published. This was substantially more pessimistic than the first, warning of the dangers despotism and governmental centralization, and applying his ideas and criticisms more directly to France. As a result, it was not received as well as the first part, except in England where it was acclaimed highly.

Question:According to the passage, when did de Tocqueville visit America?

A. 1831

B.1830s

C.1831-32

D. 1835

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

      At 7 pm on a dark, cold November evening, thousands of people are making their way across a vast car park. They're not here to see a film, or the ballet, or even the circus. They are all here for what is, bizarrely, a global phenomenon: they are here to see Holiday on Ice. Given that most people don’t seem to be acquainted with anyone who's ever been, the show's statistics are extraordinary: nearly 300 million people have seen Holiday on Ice since it began in 1943; it is the most popular live entertainment in the world.

      But what does the production involve? And why are so many people prepared to spend their lives travelling round Europe in caravans in order to appear in it? It can't be glamorous, and it's undoubtedly hard work. The backstage atmosphere is an odd mix of gym class and workplace. A curtained-off section at the back of the arena is laughably referred to as the girls' dressing room, but is more accurately described as a corridor, with beige, cracked walls and cheap temporary tables set up along the length of it. Each girl has a small area littered with pots of orange make-up, tubes of mascara and long false eyelashes.

      As a place to work, it must rank pretty low down the scale: the area round the ice-rink is grey and mucky with rows of dirty blue and brown plastic seating and red carpet tiles. It's an unimpressive picture, but the show itself is an unquestionably vast, polished global enterprise: the lights come from a firm in Texas, the people who make the audio system are in California, but Montreal supplies the smoke effects; former British Olympic skater Robin Cousins is now creative director for the company and conducts a vast master class to make sure they're ready for the show's next performance.

      The next day, as the music blares out from the sound system, the case start to go through their routines under Cousins' direction. Cousins says, 'The aim is to make sure they're all still getting to exactly the right place on the ice at the right time - largely because the banks of lights in the ceiling are set to those places, and if the skaters are all half a metre out they'll be illuminating empty ice. Our challenge, ' he continues, 'is to produce something they can sell in a number of countries at the same time. My theory is that you take those things that people want to see and you give it to them, but not in the way they expect to see it. You try to twist it. And you have to find music that is challenging to the skaters, because they have to do it every night.'

      It may be a job which he took to pay the rent, but you can’t doubt his enthusiasm. 'They only place you'll see certain skating moves is an ice show,' he says, 'because you're not allowed to do them in competition. It's not in the rules. So the ice show word has things to offer which the competitive world just doesn't. Cousins knows what he's talking about because he skated for the show himself when he stopped competing - he was financially unable to retire. He learnt the hard way that you can't put on an Olympic performance every night. I'd be thinking, these people have paid their money, now do your stuff, and I suddenly thought, "I really can't cope. I'm not enjoying it".' The solution, he realized, was to give 75 per cent every night, rather than striving for the sort of twice-a-year excellence which won him medals.

          To be honest, for those of us whose only experience of ice-skating is watching top-class Olympic skaters, some of the movements can look a bit amateurish, but then, who are we to judge? Equally, it's impossible not to be swept up in the whole thing; well, you'd have to try pretty hard not to enjoy it.

What is meant by 'the hard way'?

A. through making a lot of errors

B. through difficult personal experience

C. by over-estimating the ability of others

D. by misunderstanding the expectations of others

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.

Loneliness is a curious thing. Most of us can remember feeling most lonely when we were not in fact alone at all, but when we were surrounded by people. Everyone has experienced, at some time, that utter sense of isolation that comes over you when you are at a party, in a room full of happy laughing people, or in an audience at a theatre or a lecture. It suddenly seems to you as if everybody knows everybody else, everybody is sure of himself, everybody knows what is going on; everybody, that is, except you.

This feeling of loneliness which can overcome you when are in a crowd is very difficult to get rid of. People living alone - divorced, widowed or single people - are advised to tackle their loneliness by joining a club or society, by going out and meeting people. Does this really help? And what do you do if you are already surrounded by people?

There are no easy solutions. Your first day at work, or at a new school or university, is a typical situation in which you are likely to feel lonely. You feel lonely because you feel left out of things. You feel that everybody else is full of confidence and knows what to do, but you are adrift and helpless. The fact of the matter is that, in order to survive, we all put on a show of self-confidence to hide our uncertainties and doubts. So it is wrong to assume that you are alone.

In a big city it is particularly easy to get the feeling that everybody except you is leading a full, rich, busy life. Everybody is going somewhere, and you tend to assume that they are going somewhere nice and interesting, where they can find life and fulfilment. You are also going somewhere, and there is no reason at all to believe that your destination is any less, or, for that matter, any more exciting than the next man's.

The trouble is that you may not be able to hide the fact that you are lonely, and the miserable look on your face might well put people off. After all, if you are at a party you are not likely to try to strike up a conversation with a person who has a gloomy expression on his face and his lips turned down at the comers. So trying to look reasonably cheerful is a good starting point in combating loneliness, even if you are choking inside.

The next thing to avoid is finding yourself in a group where in fact you are a stranger, that is, in the sort of group where all the other people already know each other. There is a natural tendency for people to stick together, to form 'cliques'. You will do yourself no good by trying to establish yourself in a group which has so far managed to do very well without you. Groups generally resent intrusion, not because they dislike you personally, but because they have already had to work quite hard to turn the group into the functioning unit. To include you means having to go over a lot of ground again, so that you can learn their language, as it was, and get involved in their conversation at their level. Of course if you can offer something the group needs, such as expert information, you can get in quickly.

In fact the surest way of getting to know others is to have an interest in common with them. There is no guarantee that you will then like each other, but at least part of your life will be taken up with sharing experiences with others. It is much better than always feeling alone. If all this seems to be a rather pessimistic view of life, you have to accept the fact that we are_all alone when it comes down to it. When the most loving couple in the world kiss and say goodnight, as soon as the husband falls asleep, the wife realizes that she is alone, that her partner is as far away as if he were on another planet. But it is no cause for despair: there is always tomorrow.

Question:The reason that people who have formed a group resent intrusion is that they

A. have already got enough people

B.do not like miserable-looking people

C. would have to make an effort to include you

D. think that you have nothing interesting to say.

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C or B on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions from 30 to 37.

  These days, most people in Britain and the US do not wear veiy formal clothes. But sometimes it is important to wear the right thing.

  Many British people don't think about clothes very much. They just like to be comfortable. When they go out to enjoy themselves, they can wear almost anything. At theatres, cinemas and concerts you can put on what you like from elegant suits and dresses to jeans and sweaters. Anything goes, as long as you look clean and tidy.

  But in Britain, as well as in the US, men in offices usually wear suits and ties, and women wear dresses or skirts (not trousers). Doctors, lawyers and business people wear quite formal clothes. And in some hotels and restaurants men have to wear ties and women wear smart dresses.

  In many years, Americans are more relaxed than British people, but they are more careful with their clothes. At home, or on holiday, most Americans wear informal or sporty clothes. But when they go out in the evening, they like to look elegant. In good hotels and restaurants, men have to wear jackets and ties, and women wear pretty clothes and smart hairstyles.

  It is difficult to say exactly what people wear informal or formal in Britain and the US, because everyone is different. If you are not sure what to wear, watch what other people do and then do the same. You'll feel more relaxed if you don't look too different from everyone else.

Many British people wear freely when they _________.

A. attend lectures

B. attend meetings

C. spend their spare time

D. work in offices

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.

Alexis de Tocqueville, the French political scientist, historian, philosopher and politician, is most famous for a four-volume book he wrote called “Democracy in America”. He came to America in 1831 to study the American form of democracy and what it might mean to the rest of the world. After a visit of only nine months, he wrote a remarkable book which is regarded as a classic. De Tocqueville had unusual powers of observation. He described not only the democratic system of government and how it operated, but also its effect on how Americans think, feel, and act. Many scholars believe he had a deeper understanding of traditional American beliefs and values than anyone else who has written about the United States. What is so remarkable is that many of these traits which he observed nearly 200 years ago, are still visible and meaningful today. His observations are also important because the timing of his visit, the 1830s, was before America was industrialized. This was the era of the small farmer, the small businessman, and the settling of the western frontier. It was the period of history when the traditional values of the new country were newly established. In just a generation, some 40 years since the adoption of the U.S. Constitution, the new form of government had already produced a society of people with unique values. He was, however, a neutral observer and saw both the good and bad sides of these qualities.

The first part of “Democracy in America” was written in 1831-32 and published in 1835. A highly positive and optimistic account of American government and society, the book was very well received. He attempted to get a glimpse of the essence of American society, all the while promoting his own philosophy: the equaling of the classes and the inevitable depth of aristocratic privilege. The rest of the book he labored on for four years, and in 1840 the second part was published. This was substantially more pessimistic than the first, warning of the dangers despotism and governmental centralization, and applying his ideas and criticisms more directly to France. As a result, it was not received as well as the first part, except in England where it was acclaimed highly.

Question:The word “neutral” in the passage is closest in meaning to

A. impartial

B. important

C. thorough

D. careful

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.

Loneliness is a curious thing. Most of us can remember feeling most lonely when we were not in fact alone at all, but when we were surrounded by people. Everyone has experienced, at some time, that utter sense of isolation that comes over you when you are at a party, in a room full of happy laughing people, or in an audience at a theatre or a lecture. It suddenly seems to you as if everybody knows everybody else, everybody is sure of himself, everybody knows what is going on; everybody, that is, except you.

This feeling of loneliness which can overcome you when are in a crowd is very difficult to get rid of. People living alone - divorced, widowed or single people - are advised to tackle their loneliness by joining a club or society, by going out and meeting people. Does this really help? And what do you do if you are already surrounded by people?

There are no easy solutions. Your first day at work, or at a new school or university, is a typical situation in which you are likely to feel lonely. You feel lonely because you feel left out of things. You feel that everybody else is full of confidence and knows what to do, but you are adrift and helpless. The fact of the matter is that, in order to survive, we all put on a show of self-confidence to hide our uncertainties and doubts. So it is wrong to assume that you are alone.

In a big city it is particularly easy to get the feeling that everybody except you is leading a full, rich, busy life. Everybody is going somewhere, and you tend to assume that they are going somewhere nice and interesting, where they can find life and fulfilment. You are also going somewhere, and there is no reason at all to believe that your destination is any less, or, for that matter, any more exciting than the next man's.

The trouble is that you may not be able to hide the fact that you are lonely, and the miserable look on your face might well put people off. After all, if you are at a party you are not likely to try to strike up a conversation with a person who has a gloomy expression on his face and his lips turned down at the comers. So trying to look reasonably cheerful is a good starting point in combating loneliness, even if you are choking inside.

The next thing to avoid is finding yourself in a group where in fact you are a stranger, that is, in the sort of group where all the other people already know each other. There is a natural tendency for people to stick together, to form 'cliques'. You will do yourself no good by trying to establish yourself in a group which has so far managed to do very well without you. Groups generally resent intrusion, not because they dislike you personally, but because they have already had to work quite hard to turn the group into the functioning unit. To include you means having to go over a lot of ground again, so that you can learn their language, as it was, and get involved in their conversation at their level. Of course if you can offer something the group needs, such as expert information, you can get in quickly.

In fact the surest way of getting to know others is to have an interest in common with them. There is no guarantee that you will then like each other, but at least part of your life will be taken up with sharing experiences with others. It is much better than always feeling alone. If all this seems to be a rather pessimistic view of life, you have to accept the fact that we are_all alone when it comes down to it. When the most loving couple in the world kiss and say goodnight, as soon as the husband falls asleep, the wife realizes that she is alone, that her partner is as far away as if he were on another planet. But it is no cause for despair: there is always tomorrow.

Question:In a city it is easy to believe that other people

A. have a better job than you do

B. have more money than you do

C. lead a more interesting life than you do

D. are too busy to talk to you

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

The importance of introductions is not merely the provision of a name. No one (61)_________what your name actually is, unless it really is something devastatingly unusual, in which case it may serve as a conversation starter. Most, as (62)_________as it may be, will forget it almost instantly. In its barest form, an introduction is the accepted method (63)_________which the introducer, who knows the two people to be introduced, vouches for the character of the introducees by having a (64)_________acquaintance. The level of (65)_________with which the introducer takes on the task is indicative of the relationship between the introducer and the newcomer, so if you are the one saddled with the task, take it on with gusto. The newcomer will be delighted you think so (66)_________of them and anyone to which you make the introduction will immediately believe the person to whom they are being introduced is worthy of (67)_________time and conversational skills.

Occasionally, the go- between will forget to (68)_________. At this point, if you are a friend of the go- between, the kindest thing to do is to loudly and jokingly force him or her into an introduction of

the (69)_________.The go- between should, at this point, apologize emphatically for their (70)_________and make a greater effort to incorporate them into conversation.

Question 66:

A. highly

B.lowly

C.low

D.high

Mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the sentence that is closest in meaning to each of the following questions.
I don’t agree with prohibiting smoking in bars.

A.  I’m not in favor of prohibiting smoking in bars.

B.  I'm not in favor to prohibiting smoking in bars.

C.  I'm not favor with prohibiting smoking in bars.

D.  I'm not doing a favor to prohibiting smoking in bars.

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

Please stop making that noise! It really gets on my nerves.

A. Cheers me up  

B. wakes me up     

C. annoys me         

D. amuses me

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct word or phrase that best fits each of the numbered blanks from 25 to 29. Fill in the appropriate word in question 25

SPORTS IN SOCIETY

  The position of sport in today's society has changed out of all recognition. People no longer seem to think of sports as ‘just a game’ - to be watched or played for the (25) _________ of enjoyment.

Instead, it has become big business worldwide. It has become accepted practice for leading companies to provide sponsorship. TV companies pay large sums of money to screen important matches or competitions. The result has been huge rewards for athletes, some of (26) _________ are now very wealthy, particularly top footballers, golfers and tennis players.

  (27) _________, it is not unusual for some athletes to receive large fees on top of their salary, for advertising products or making personal appearances.

  A trend towards shorter working hours means that people generally tend to have more free time, both to watch and to take in sporting activity; sport has become a significant part of the recreation industry that we now rely (28) _________ to fill our leisure hours. Professional sport is a vital part of that industry, providing for millions of (29) _________ people all over the world.

A. benefit

B. good

C. advantage

D. sake