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.

        The handling and delivery of mail has always been a serious business, underpinned by the trust of the public in requiring timeliness, safety, and confidentiality. After early beginnings using horseback and stagecoach, and although cars and trucks later replaced stagecoaches and wagons, the Railway Mail Service still stands as one of America’s most resourceful and exciting postal innovations. This service began in 1832, but grew slowly until the Civil War. Then from 1862, by sorting the mail on board moving trains, the Post Office Department was able to decentralize its operations as railroads began to crisscross the nation on a regular basis, and speed up mail delivery. This service lasted until 1974. During peak decades of service, railway mail clerks handled 93% of all non-local mail and by 1905 the service had over 12,000 employees.

Railway Post Office trains used a system of mail cranes to exchange mail at stations without stopping. As a train approached the crane, a clerk prepared the catcher arm which would then snatch the incoming mailbag in the blink of an eye. The clerk then booted out the outgoing mailbag. Experienced clerks were considered the elite of the Postal Service’s employees, and spoke with pride of making the switch at night with nothing but the curves and feel of the track to warn them of an upcoming catch. They also worked under the greatest pressure and their jobs were considered to be exhausting and dangerous. In addition to regular demands of their jobs they could find themselves the victims of train wrecks and robberies.

       As successful as it was, “mail-on-the-fly” still had its share of glitches. If they hoisted the train’s catcher arm too soon, they risked hitting switch targets, telegraph poles or semaphores, which would rip the catcher arm off the train. Too late, and they would miss an exchange.

According to the passage, the Railway Mail Service commenced in _________.

A. 1874                

B. 1842                

C. 1832                

D. 1905

VIII/ Read the following passage on commuting, and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions from 61 to 70.

After two decades of growing student enrollments and economic prosperity , business schools in the United States have started to face harder times. Only Harvard’s MBA School has shown a substantial increase in enrollments in recent years. Both Princeton and Stanford have seen decreases in their enrollments. Since 1990, the number of people receiving Masters in Business Administration (MBA) degrees, has dropped about 3 percent to 75,000, and the trend of lower enrollment rates is expected to continue.

There are two factors causing this decrease in students seeking an MBA degree. The first one is that many graduates of four-year colleges are finding that an MBA degree does not guarantee a plush job on Wall Street or in other financial districts of major American cities . Many of the entry-level management jobs are for students graduating with Master of Arts degrees in English and the humanities as well as those holding MBA degrees. Students have asked the question, “ Is an MBA degree really what I need to be best prepared for getting a good job?” The second major factor has been the cutting of American payrolls and the lower number of entry-level jobs being offered. Business needs are changing , and MBA schools are struggling to meet the new demands.

Which of the following descriptions most likely applies to Wall Street?

A. A neighborhood in New York

B. A major financial centre 

C. A shopping district

D. A centre for international affairs

We always take pleasure __________their company because of the good working condition and high salary.

A. with                   

B. in                      

C. on                               

D. about

VIII/ Read the following passage on commuting, and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions from 61 to 70.

After two decades of growing student enrollments and economic prosperity , business schools in the United States have started to face harder times. Only Harvard’s MBA School has shown a substantial increase in enrollments in recent years. Both Princeton and Stanford have seen decreases in their enrollments. Since 1990, the number of people receiving Masters in Business Administration (MBA) degrees, has dropped about 3 percent to 75,000, and the trend of lower enrollment rates is expected to continue.

There are two factors causing this decrease in students seeking an MBA degree. The first one is that many graduates of four-year colleges are finding that an MBA degree does not guarantee a plush job on Wall Street or in other financial districts of major American cities . Many of the entry-level management jobs are for students graduating with Master of Arts degrees in English and the humanities as well as those holding MBA degrees. Students have asked the question, “ Is an MBA degree really what I need to be best prepared for getting a good job?” The second major factor has been the cutting of American payrolls and the lower number of entry-level jobs being offered. Business needs are changing , and MBA schools are struggling to meet the new demands.

The word “prosperity” in the first paragraph could best be replaced by_________. 

A. success

B.Education

C.Nurturing

D. surplus

Could you stand _________ for me and teach my English class tomorrow morning, John?

A. up                    

B. down               

C. out 

D. in

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

Due to the fact that the demand for tea was very high in the 19th century, its price increased much

A. It was not until the 19th century that the demand for tea started to increase

B. In the 19th century the price for tea didn’t increase despite the demand

C. The demand for tea was so high in the 19th century that its price increased much

D. It was its price that decreased the demand for tea in the 19th century

If she had accepted his proposal, she __________now.

A. would have been married                          

B. is married

C. has been married                                       

D. would be married

Read the following passage and mark the letter A,B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the best answer

Meditation

Meditation has been in use for thousands of years: people have always searched for inner quiet and physical relaxation, which may be for spiritual, self-realization or health reasons. It is nothing unusual and you do not have to be a great athlete to be able to achieve and enjoy the benefits of meditation at both physical and mental levels.

What, then, is meditation? As one expert put it recently, it is just sitting and relaxing. (A) Many people find that their lives are so full of the demands of work, family, friends and organized leisure pursuits that they have no time to “stand and state”. Many are so busy planning and working towards the future that they take little pleasure from the here and now. In their hurry to “get on” they miss out on the simple pleasures of life; the change of the seasons, the singing of a bird or the innocent wonder of a child. But beauty and joy are there to be seen and experienced, even in the most industrial of landscapes. (B) Meditation can be a good way of just taking time out and allowing yourself to relate to and appreciate the moment. It may be by walking along the seashore, or sitting by a stream, or just by noticing silence in a still room and enjoying it. (C)

Rather than forcing yourself to take up a difficult physical position, just relax; sit in a chair or take a walk in a favorite landscape at a steady pace. It is not a good idea to slump or lie down, as this tend to leads to sleep. It is the relaxed focus that is necessary. If you sit down, do so with your feet flat on the floor, hands resting in your lap or on the arms of the chair, and your head comfortably balanced. If you are walking, do so slowly and carefully, aware of the movement of each foot, and the contact with the ground below. (D) Notice the reaction of the ground to your feet. This is an extremely simple but effective exercise in becoming truly aware of the present.

Meditation, above all, is about staying with the moment, being in touch with one’s surroundings and one’s inner world, much of which is more easily achieved when you are in a meditative state. 

How does the author recommend we walk when meditating?

A. steadily and quickly

B. unhurriedly and with care

C. with great effort

D. lightly with the feeling of dancing