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 questions

Humans have struggled against weeds since the beginnings of agriculture. Marring our gardens is one of the milder effects of weeds – any plants that thrive where they are unwanted. They clog waterways, destroy wildlife habitats, and impede farming. Their spread eliminates grazing areas and accounts for one-third of all crop loss. They compete for sunlight, nutrients, and water with useful plants. 

The global need for weed control had been answered mainly by the chemical industry. Its herbicides are effective and sometimes necessary, but some pose serious problems, particularly if misused. Toxic compounds threaten animal and public health when they accumulate in food plants, groundwater, and drinking water. They also harm workers who apply them.

In recent years, the chemical industry has introduced several herbicides that are more ecologically sound. Yet new chemicals alone cannot solve the world’s weed problems. Hence, scientists are exploring the innate weed-killing powers of living organisms, primarily insects and microorganisms. 

The biological agents now in use are environmentally benign and are harmless to humans. They can be chosen for their ability to attack selected targets and leave crops and other plants untouched. In contrast, some of the most effective chemicals kill virtually all the plants they come in contact with, sparing only those that are naturally resistant or have been genetically modified for resistance. Furthermore, a number of biological agents can be administered only once, after which no added applications are needed. Chemicals typically must be used several times per growing season.

Which of the following best describes the organization of the passage?

A. Two possible causes of a phenomenon are compared

B. A problem is described and possible solutions are discussed

C. A general idea is introduced and several specific examples are given

D. A recommendation is analysed and rejected

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 46 to 55

Tsunami is a Japanese word which means harbour wave and is used as the scientific term for seismic sea wave generated by an undersea earthquake or possibly an undersea landslide or volcanic eruption. When the ocean floor is tilted or offset during an earthquake, a set of waves is created similar to the concentric waves generated by an object dropped into the water. Most tsunami originate along Ring of Fire, a zone of volcanoes and seismic activities, 32,500 km long that encircles the Pacific Ocean. Since 1819, about 40 tsunamis have struck the Hawaiian Islands.

A tsunami can have wave lengths, or widths, of 100 to 200 km, and may travel hundreds of kilometers across the deep ocean, reaching speech of about 725 to 800 kilometres an hour. Upon entering shallow coastal waters, the wave, which may have been only about half a metre high out at sea, suddenly grow s rapidly. When the wave reaches the shore, it may be 15m high or more. Tsunamis have tremendous energy because of the great volume of wave effected. They are capable of obliterating coastal settlements.

Tsunamis should not be confused with storm surges, which are domes of water that rise underneath hurricanes or cyclone and accompanying storm surge killed an estimated 500,000 people in Bangladesh in 1970. The tsunami which struck south and southeast Asia in late 2004 killed over 200 thousand people.

What is the zone of volcanoes and seismic activity in the world called ?

A. The concentric wave

B. The tsunami

C. The Pacific Ocean

D. The Ring of Fire

Mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the word whose underlined part is pronounced differently from that of the rest in each of the following questions.

A. walked

B. involved

C. missed

D. jumped 

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

Desert plants require less care and are more attractive than house plants.

A. non-interference

B. misapprehension 

C. disqualification

D. inattention

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 46 to 55

Tsunami is a Japanese word which means harbour wave and is used as the scientific term for seismic sea wave generated by an undersea earthquake or possibly an undersea landslide or volcanic eruption. When the ocean floor is tilted or offset during an earthquake, a set of waves is created similar to the concentric waves generated by an object dropped into the water. Most tsunami originate along Ring of Fire, a zone of volcanoes and seismic activities, 32,500 km long that encircles the Pacific Ocean. Since 1819, about 40 tsunamis have struck the Hawaiian Islands.

A tsunami can have wave lengths, or widths, of 100 to 200 km, and may travel hundreds of kilometers across the deep ocean, reaching speech of about 725 to 800 kilometres an hour. Upon entering shallow coastal waters, the wave, which may have been only about half a metre high out at sea, suddenly grow s rapidly. When the wave reaches the shore, it may be 15m high or more. Tsunamis have tremendous energy because of the great volume of wave effected. They are capable of obliterating coastal settlements.

Tsunamis should not be confused with storm surges, which are domes of water that rise underneath hurricanes or cyclone and accompanying storm surge killed an estimated 500,000 people in Bangladesh in 1970. The tsunami which struck south and southeast Asia in late 2004 killed over 200 thousand people.

That is the greatest speed of tsunamis traveling across the deep ocean ?

A. 200 kilometres an hour

B. 700 kilometres an hour

C. 800 kilometres an hour

D. 150,000 kilometres an hour

Mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the following question.
______ her inexperience, her failure to secure the contract was not surprising.

A. By virtue of

B.  With regard to

C.  In view of

D.  In recognition of

Mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the following question.
______, I decided to stop trading with them.

A. Despite of the fact that they were the biggest dealer

B.  Though being the biggest dealer

C.  Being the biggest dealer

D.  Even though they were the biggest dealer

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.

American humor and American popular heroes were born together. The first popular heroes of the new nation were comic heroes, and the first popular humor of the new nation was the antics of its hero-clowns.

The heroic and the comic were combined in novel American proportions in popular literature. The heroic themes are obvious enough and not much different from those in the legends of other times and places: Achilles, Beowulf, Siegfried, Roland, and King Arthur. The American Davy Crockett legends repeat the familiar pattern of the old world heroic story: the pre-eminence of a mighty hero whose fame in myth has a tenuous basis in fact; the remarkable birth and precocious strength of the hero; single combats in which he distinguished himself against antagonists, both man and beast; vows and boasts; pride of the hero in his weapons, his dog, and his woman.

Davy Crockett conquered man and beast with a swaggering nonchalance. He overcame animals by force of body and will. He killed four wolves at the age of six. He hugged a bear to death; he killed a rattlesnake with his teeth. He mastered the forces of nature. Crockett’s most famous natural exploit was saving the earth on the coldest day in history. First, he climbed a mountain to determine the trouble. Then he rescued all creation by squeezing bear-grease on the earth’s frozen axis and over the sun’s icy face. He whistled, “Push along, keep moving!” The earth gave a grunt and began moving.

Neither the fearlessness nor the bold huntsman’s prowess was peculiarly American. Far more distinctive was the comic quality, all heroes are heroic; few are also clowns. What made the American popular hero heroic also made him comic. “May be”, said Crockett, “you’ll laugh at me and not at my book”. The ambiguity of American life and the vagueness which laid the continent open to adventure, which made the land a rich storehouse of the unexpected, which kept vocabulary ungoverned and the language fluid----this same ambiguity suffused both the Crockett legends were never quite certain whether to laugh or to applaud, or whether what they saw and heard was wonderful, awful or ridiculous.

The word “prowess” in paragraph 4 is closest meaning to_________.

A. goal                        

B. weapon                   

C. bravery                   

D. caution

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

What do you like doing in your spare time?

A. enjoyable

B. free

C. quiet

D. busy