Mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the following questions from 46 to 64.

“Is there a lot of traffic where you live?” “______________”

A. I could try 

B. Almost everyday

C. Yes, it’s pretty heavy 

D. Sure, no problem

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 question below.

The countryside of Britain is well known for its beauty and many contrasts: its bare mountains and moorland, its lakes, rivers and woods, and its long, often wild coastline. Many of the most beautiful areas are national parks and are protected from development. When British people think of the countryside they think of farmland, as well as open spaces. They imagine cows or sheep in green fields enclosed by hedges or stone walls, and fields of wheat and barley. Most farmland is privately owned but is crossed by a network of public footpaths.

Many people associate the countryside with peace and relaxation. They spend their free time walking or cycling there, or go to the country for a picnic or a pub lunch. In summer people go to fruit farms and pick strawberries and other fruit. Only a few people who live in the country work on farms. Many commute to work in towns. Many others dream of living in the country, where they believe they would have a better and healthier lifestyle.

The countryside faces many threats. Some are associated with modern farming practices, and the use of chemicals harmful to plants and wildlife. Land is also needed for new houses. The green belt, an area of land around many cities, is under increasing pressure. Plans to build new roads are strongly opposed by organizations trying to protect the countryside. Protesters set up camps to prevent, or at least delay, the building work.

America has many areas of wild and beautiful scenery, and there are many areas, especially in the West in states like Montana and Wyoming, where few people live. In the New England states, such as Vermont and New Hampshire, it is common to see small farms surrounded by hills and green areas. In Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and other Midwestern states, fields of corn or wheat reach to the horizon and there are many miles between towns.

Only about 20% of Americans live outside cities and towns. Life may be difficult for people who live in the country. Services like hospitals and schools may be further away and going shopping can mean driving long distances. Some people even have to drive from their homes to the main road where their mail is left in a box. In spite of the disadvantages, many people who live in the country say that they like the safe, clean, attractive environment. But their children often move to a town or city as soon as they can.

As in Britain, Americans like to go out to the country at weekends. Some people go on camping or fishing trips, others go hiking in national parks. 

We can see from the passage that in the countryside of Britain _______.

A. it is difficult to travel from one farm to another

B. only a few farms are publicly owned

C. none of the areas faces the sea

D. most beautiful areas are not well preserved

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 question 33 to 42.

Artificial flowers are used for scientific as well as for decorative purposes. They are made from a variety of materials, such as wax and glass, so skillfully that they can scarcely be distinguished from natural flowers. In making such models, painstaking skill and artistry are called for, as well as thorough knowledge of plant structure. The collection of glass flowers in the Botanical Museum of Harvard University is the most famous in the North America and is widely known throughout the scientific world. In all, there are several thousand models in colored glass, the work of two artist-naturalist, Leopold Blaschka and his son Rudolph.

The intention was to have the collection represent at least one member of each flower family native to the United States. Although it was never completed, it contains more than seven hundred species representing 164 families of flowering plants, a group of fruits showing the effect of fungus diseases, and thousands of flowers parts and magnified details. Every detail of these is accurately reproduced in color and structure. The models are kept in locked cases as they are too valuable and fragile for classroom use.

All of the following are characteristics of the collection of glass flowers in the Botanical Museum of Harvard University EXCEPT ________?

A. incompleted 

B. unknown         

C. fragile 

D. valuable

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 44.

Bird migration is one of the most interesting yet least understood natural phenomena. Every fall birds from northern latitudes fly in groups to the warmer southern latitudes and then return north in the spring. Scientists agree on the main reasons for migration: to follow the food supply and to avoid harsh climate conditions. For example, insects disappear during the cold months, prompting insect-dependent birds to fly south to warm areas where insects breed. No similar consensus has emerged, however, about how birds are able to navigate. Despite many recent experiments, bird experts still do not know how birds arrive at the same destinations every year and then find their way back home in the spring.

Some have suggested that birds find their way by following landmarks, such as rivers and mountain ranges. Experiments have confirmed that some species do follow such topographic features. But that method cannot explain how some birds travel at night. Other studies show that some nocturnal birds navigate by the stars. But that explanation cannot explain daytime migration or travel when the skies are cloudy.

The most popular explanation currently is that birds are guided by Earth’s magnetic poles. The mechanism by which that works has not yet been proved. One theory points to the fact that some birds’ contain magnetite, a naturally occurring magnetic compound consisting of iron oxide. Magnetite has been found in many animals, including birds. With magnets embedded in their brains, birds would be able to sense the magnetic fields of the North and South Poles.

A recent experiment with homing pigeons provided some evidence that magnetite does play a crucial role in migration. Homing pigeons are known to have the ability to return to their homes after being taken hundreds of miles away. Researchers found that they could train homing pigeons to recognize changes in a magnetic field. When a surrounding magnetic field was normal, the birds would gather at one end of a cage. But when the field’s polarity was altered, they hopped to the other end, suggesting that they were directing and responding to changes in the magnetic field.

Another theory has been offered to explain this sensitivity to magnetic poles, a theory that draws upon quantum mechanics, which is the study of how particles move inside an atom. It relies on the fact that electrons come in pairs that orbits the nucleus of an atom. The two electrons spin in opposite directions, creating two magnets that neutralize each other. But when molecules split and react with other molecules to form compounds, the electrons pairs may no longer spin in opposite directions. Instead,  they may repel each other, as when two north ends of magnets are pressed together. The electrons struggle to change direction in order to achieve a stable state in which the two electrons again neutralize each other, giving off no magnetic field. 

The word “embedded” in the passage is closest in meaning to

A. implanted                  

B. attached           

C. attracted          

D. activated

_______ is a situation in which large numbers of people have little or no food, and many of them die.

A. Disaster                     

B. Famine                      

C. Poverty            

D. Flood.

Mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the word that differs from the rest in the pronunciation of the underlined part in each of the following questions from 43 to 45.

A. school 

B. chemistry 

C. headache 

D. orchard