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

  Some people return to college as mature students and take full- or part-time training courses in a skill will help them to get a job. The development of open learning, (25)______ it possible to study when it is convenient for the students, has increased the opportunities available (26)______ many people. This type of study was formerly restricted to book-based learning and (27)______ course but now includes courses on TV, CD-ROM or the Internet, and self-access courses at language or computer centers. Americans believe that education is important at all stages of life and should not stop (28) ______ people get their first job. About 40% of adults take part in some kind of education. About half of them are trying to get qualifications and skills to help them with their jobs while the (29)______ are taking recreational subjects for personal satisfaction. Schools and community colleges arrange evening classes, and a catalog of courses is published by local boards of education.

A. left

B. rest

C. remains

D. excess

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 30 to 34.

  Most of the early houses built in America were suited to farm life, as it was not until cities became manufacturing centers that colonists could survive without farming as their major occupation. Among the earliest farmhouses in America were those built in Plymouth Colony. Generally they consisted of one large rectangular room on the ground floor, called a hall or great room and having a fireplace built into one of the walls, and a loft overhead. Sometimes a lean-to was attached alongside the house to store objects such as spinning wheels, firewood, barrels, and tubs. The furnishings in the great room were sparse and crudely built. Tabletops and chest boards were split or roughly sawed and often smoothed only on one side. Benches took the place of chairs, and the table usually had a trestle base so it could be dismantled when extra space was required. One or two beds and a six-board chest were located in one corner of the room. The fireplace was used for heat and light, and a bench often placed nearby for children and elders, in the area called the inglenook.

    The original houses in Plymouth Colony were erected within a tall fence for fortification. However, by 1630 Plymouth Colony had 250 inhabitants, most living outside the enclosure. By 1640, settlements had been built some distance from the original site. Villages began to emerge throughout Massachusetts and farmhouses were less crudely built. Windows brought light into homes and the furnishings and décor were more sophisticated.

    As more diversified groups of immigrants settled the country, a greater variety of farmhouses appeared, from Swedish long-style houses in the Delaware Valley to saltbox houses in Connecticut, Dutch-Flemish stone farmhouses in New York, and clapboard farmhouses in Pennsylvania. From Georgian characteristics to Greek revival elements, farmhouses of varied architectural styles and building functions populated the landscape of the new frontier.

The main idea of the passage is

A. The history of the American farmhouse

B. Where immigrants settled in America

C. How to build an American farmhouse

D. life in Plymouth Colony

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 35 to 42.

  GOAL: ENDING CHILD LABOR

    Carefully guiding a needle that's longer than his tiny fingers, a young boy in Pakistan stitches together the leather pieces of a soccer ball. He sits crouched in the corner of a hot, airless shed for 12 hours. For his long day's work, he will earn 60 cents.

    The boy is one of more than 200 million children who work at hard, sometimes dangerous jobs all over the world. Child labor exists in two-thirds of the world's nations. From Indonesia to Guatemala, poor children as young as six are sent off to work. Often they are mistreated and punished for not working hard enough. Children mix the gunpowder for firecrackers in China and knot the threads for carpets in India, all for pennies a day. Sometimes they are sold as slaves.

    In a speech to the Child Labor Coalition when he was U.S. Secretary of Labor, Robert Reich expressed gratitude for the organization's work to end abuse of child labor, "You turned up the heat, and you got results." He also congratulated Craig Kielburger, then 13, of Canada, who traveled the world for a year fighting for kids' rights. Craig believes kids can make a difference. He offers this advice, "Write letters to companies and government officials. Put pressure on leaders to make changes and to stop the misuse of children."

    One solution to the child-labor problem in poor countries is education. "The future of these countries," Secretary Reich declared, "depends on a work force that is educated. We are prepared to help build schools."

    Education has helped to make the world a brighter place for one youth, Aghan of India. When he was nine, Aghan was kidnapped from his home and sold to a carpet maker. Aghan's boss was very cruel. "I was always crying for my mother," he recalls. Aghan's dream was to learn to write so that he could send letters to his parents. Fortunately, a group that opposes child labor rescued Aghan from the factory. He was sent to a shelter in New Delhi where he worked hard to learn to write.

According to the article, children who work under poor conditions, _________.

A. start to Work only after age 13. 

B. start to work only after age 12. 

C. make only 60 cents an hour. 

D. may make only 60 cents a day.

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.

       When we moved to our new house near the sea, I was eight years old. Even before that I had spent every summer messing about on boats. My dad had taught me to sail before I learnt to ride a bike so I knew how I wanted to spend my time at the new house- I was going to get my own boat and sail it everyday. The house was only a few meters from the water's edge, and in rough weather the waves would come crashing into the front garden. I used to sit with my nose pressed to the glass, fascinated by the power of the ocean. I grew up watching the skies to see if it was going to rain; would I be going sailing that afternoon or not?

        Of course I sometimes wished I could live in the town like my friends. I used to get angry with my parents, who had taken early retirement because they seemed incapable of getting anywhere on time. Dad drove me the eight miles to school everyday, but I was often late because he had been walking on the cliffs earlier in the morning and had lost track of time. When I was taking my university entrance exams, I used to stay over at a friend's in town, just in case. All in all, I was lucky to grow up by the sea and I still love to sail.

When taking the university entrance exams, ___________.

A. the weather was terrible

B. the writer's family moved to a new house by the sea

C. the writer had to live in a friend's house 

D. the writer's father drove him/ her to university.

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 30 to 34.

  Most of the early houses built in America were suited to farm life, as it was not until cities became manufacturing centers that colonists could survive without farming as their major occupation. Among the earliest farmhouses in America were those built in Plymouth Colony. Generally they consisted of one large rectangular room on the ground floor, called a hall or great room and having a fireplace built into one of the walls, and a loft overhead. Sometimes a lean-to was attached alongside the house to store objects such as spinning wheels, firewood, barrels, and tubs. The furnishings in the great room were sparse and crudely built. Tabletops and chest boards were split or roughly sawed and often smoothed only on one side. Benches took the place of chairs, and the table usually had a trestle base so it could be dismantled when extra space was required. One or two beds and a six-board chest were located in one corner of the room. The fireplace was used for heat and light, and a bench often placed nearby for children and elders, in the area called the inglenook.

    The original houses in Plymouth Colony were erected within a tall fence for fortification. However, by 1630 Plymouth Colony had 250 inhabitants, most living outside the enclosure. By 1640, settlements had been built some distance from the original site. Villages began to emerge throughout Massachusetts and farmhouses were less crudely built. Windows brought light into homes and the furnishings and décor were more sophisticated.

    As more diversified groups of immigrants settled the country, a greater variety of farmhouses appeared, from Swedish long-style houses in the Delaware Valley to saltbox houses in Connecticut, Dutch-Flemish stone farmhouses in New York, and clapboard farmhouses in Pennsylvania. From Georgian characteristics to Greek revival elements, farmhouses of varied architectural styles and building functions populated the landscape of the new frontier.

The word “emerge” in paragraph 2 could best be replaced with

A. proceed

B. settle

C. come out

D. appear

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.

         When we moved to our new house near the sea, I was eight years old. Even before that I had spent every summer messing about on boats. My dad had taught me to sail before I learnt to ride a bike so I knew how I wanted to spend my time at the new house- I was going to get my own boat and sail it everyday. The house was only a few meters from the water's edge, and in rough weather the waves would come crashing into the front garden. I used to sit with my nose pressed to the glass, fascinated by the power of the ocean. I grew up watching the skies to see if it was going to rain; would I be going sailing that afternoon or not?

         Of course I sometimes wished I could live in the town like my friends. I used to get angry with my parents, who had taken early retirement because they seemed incapable of getting anywhere on time. Dad drove me the eight miles to school everyday, but I was often late because he had been walking on the cliffs earlier in the morning and had lost track of time. When I was taking my university entrance exams, I used to stay over at a friend's in town, just in case. All in all, I was lucky to grow up by the sea and I still love to sail.

The word "rough"in the passage  is closest in meaning to ___________.

A. forceful 

B. beautiful           

C. careful    

D. easy

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 28

  Some people return to college as mature students and take full- or part-time training courses in a skill will help them to get a job. The development of open learning, (25)______ it possible to study when it is convenient for the students, has increased the opportunities available (26)______ many people. This type of study was formerly restricted to book-based learning and (27)______ course but now includes courses on TV, CD-ROM or the Internet, and self-access courses at language or computer centers. Americans believe that education is important at all stages of life and should not stop (28) ______ people get their first job. About 40% of adults take part in some kind of education. About half of them are trying to get qualifications and skills to help them with their jobs while the (29)______ are taking recreational subjects for personal satisfaction. Schools and community colleges arrange evening classes, and a catalog of courses is published by local boards of education.

A. that

B. when

C. whereas

D. otherwise