CỤM YÊN THÀNH
KỲ THI KSCL ĐỘI TUYỂN HSG TỈNH LỚP 12
NĂM HỌC 2024 - 2025
ĐỀ CHÍNH THỨC
(Đề gồm 15 trang)
ĐIỂM
Bằng số:
…………………………………..
Bằng chữ:
………………..………………....
Môn thi: TIẾNG ANH - BẢNG A
Thời gian: 150 phút (không kể thời gian giao đề)
HỌ TÊN, CHỮ KÍ GIÁM KHẢO
SỐ PHÁCH
Giám khảo 1:
………………………………………
Giám khảo 2:
………………………………………
SECTION A. LISTENING (50 points)
Part 1. You are going to hear a talk. As you listen, fill in the missing information. For questions
1-15, write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/ OR NUMBERS in the spaces provided.
Write your answers in the corresponding numbered boxes provided.
THE EVOLUTION OF THE BOOK
What makes a book a book? Is it just anything that stores and communicates information? Or does it have
to do with paper, (1)______, font, ink, its weight in your hands, the smell of the pages? Is this a book?
Probably not. But is this? To answer these questions, we need to go back to the start of the book as we
know it and understand how these elements came together to make something more than the sum of their
parts. The earliest object that we think of as a book is the codex: a (2)______ bound along one edge. But
the real turning point in book history was Johannes Gutenberg's printing press in the mid-15th century.
The concept of moveable type had been invented much earlier in Eastern culture, but the introduction of
Gutenberg's press had a profound effect. Suddenly, (3)______ of monks and the ruling class no longer
controlled the production of texts. Messages could spread more easily, and copies could constantly be
produced, so printing houses (4)______ all over Europe. The product of this bibliographic boom is
familiar to us in some respects, but markedly different in others. The skeleton of the book is paper, type,
and cover. More than 2,000 years ago, China invented paper as a writing surface, which was itself
(5)______ by Egyptian papyrus. However, until the 16th century, Europeans mainly wrote on thin sheets
of wood and durable parchment made of (6)______. Eventually, the popularity of paper spread
throughout Europe, replacing parchment for most printings because it was less expensive in (7)______.
Inks had been made by combining organic plant and animal dyes with water or wine, but since water
doesn't stick to metal type, use of the printing press required a change to (8)______. Printers used black
ink made of a mixture of lamp soot, turpentine, and walnut oil. And what about font size and type? The
earliest movable type pieces consisted of reversed letters cast in relief on the ends of (9)______ stocks.
They were handmade and expensive, and the designs were as different as the people who carved their
molds. (10)______ was not really possible until mass manufacturing and the creation of an accessible
word processing system. As for style, we can thank Nicolas Jenson for developing two types of Roman
font that led to thousands of others, including the familiar Times Roman. Something had to hold all this
together, and until the late 15th century, covers consisted of either wood, or sheets of paper pasted
together. These would eventually be replaced by (11)______, originally intended for high quality
bindings in the late 17th century, but later as a less expensive option. And while today's (12)______ cover
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illustrations are marketing tools, the cover designs of early books were made to order. Even spines have a
history. Initially, they were not considered (13)______, and the earliest ones were flat, rather than
rounded. The flat form made the books easier to read by allowing the book to rest easily on a table. But
those spines were damaged easily (14)______ of normal use. A rounded form solved that issue, although
new problems arose, like having the book close in on itself. But flexibility was more important, especially
for the on-the-go reader. As the book evolves and we replace (15)______ with flat screens and electronic
ink, are these objects and files really books? Does the feel of the cover or the smell of the paper add
something crucial to the experience? Or does the magic live only within the words, no matter what their
presentation?
Your answers:
1.
4.
7.
10.
13.
2.
5.
8.
11.
14.
3.
6.
9.
12.
15.
Part 2. You will hear a discussion in which two marine biologists, Gina Kelso and Thomas Ludman,
talk about an award-winning television film they made about wildlife in Antarctica. You are
supposed to do BOTH TASKS AT THE SAME TIME while listening. You will listen twice. Write
your answers in the corresponding numbered boxes provided.
For questions 16-20, decide whether the following statements are true (T) or false (F).
16. Gina Kelso felt a strong connection to marine life from a young age, which influenced her career
choice.
17. Gina initially pursued a traditional career path by joining a TV company as a researcher before
entering wildlife filmmaking.
18. The presenter of the series spent the entire filming duration in Antarctica alongside Gina and Thomas.
19. Despite the challenges of their work, according to Thomas, they found moments of tranquility while
in Antarctica.
20. During their trip, Thomas highlighted that the whales made a loud sound when they surfaced, which
could be heard from a distance.
For questions 21-25, choose the answer (A, B, C or D) which fits best according to what you hear.
21. Gina’s interest in marine biology dates from ______.
A. her earliest recollections of life in Africa
B. one memorable experience in childhood
C. the years she spent studying in England
D. a postgraduate research project she led
22. The first wildlife TV series they both worked on ______.
A. made use of a previously untried format
B. was not filmed in a natural environment
C. was not intended to be taken too seriously
D. required them to do background research
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23. How did Thomas feel when he was asked to produce the programs about Antarctica?
A. disappointed not to be presenting the series
B. surprised that people thought he was suitable
C. uncertain how well he would get on with the team
D. worried about having to spend the winter there
24. When they were in Antarctica, they would have appreciated ______.
A. a less demanding work schedule
B. more time to study certain animals
C. a close friend to share their feelings with
D. a chance to share their work with colleagues
25. What was most impressive about the whales they filmed?
A. The unusual sounds the whales made.
B. The number of whales feeding in a small bay.
C. How long the whales stayed feeding in one area.
D. how well the whales co-operated with each other.
Your answers:
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
SECTION B. LEXICO – GRAMMAR (20 points)
Part 1. For questions 1-12, choose the best answer to complete each of the following sentences.
Write A, B, C or D in the corresponding numbered boxes.
1. The couple ______ under the umbrella to keep dry.
A. enclosed
B. muffled
C. huddled
D. augmented
2. Remember not to cough or sneeze at the table. ______, excuse yourself.
A. For necessary
B. As necessary
C. With all need
D. If need be
3. Since they aren’t answering their telephone, they ______.
A. must have left
B. need have left
C. can have left
D. should have left
4. All the others were experts and I was out of my ______.
A. level
B. depth
C. limit
D. range
5. It was a good idea but I’m afraid it didn’t quite ______.
A. break up
B. follow up
C. drop off
D. come off
6. The local authority expressed regret as US drone strike has ______killed innocent hostages.
A. incongruously
B. inadvertently
C. vehemently
D. graciously
7. Four miles off the southern coast of Massachusetts, ______ a popular summer resort.
A. lies the island of Martha’s Vineyard
B. the island of Martha’s Vineyard lies there
C. does the island of Martha’s Vineyard lie
D. where the island of Martha’s Vineyard lies
8. Fiona didn’t lie but she did give rather a ______ picture of the situation.
A. defaced
B. disfigured
C. distorted
D. disguised
9. That Peter was born and brought up in a rich family is as clear as the ______.
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A. nose on his face
B. tip of his tongue
C. back of his hand
D. hair on his head
Choose the correct answer A, B, C, or D to indicate the word(s) CLOSEST in meaning to the
underlined word(s) in the following question.
10. I invested all my money in that failed company and now I find my whole investment has gone down
the drain.
A. has been overtaken
B. has been confirmed
C. has been wasted
D. has been confused
Choose the correct answer A, B, C, or D to indicate the word(s) OPPOSITE in meaning to the
underlined word(s) in the following question.
11. The minister came under fire for his rash decision to close the factory.
A. was dismissed
B. was acclaimed
C. was criticized
D. was penalized
Choose the correct answer A, B, C, or D to indicate the sentence that best completes the following
exchange.
12. Jane: “It is raining outside”
Tom: “______”
A. So it is.
B. Is it so?
C. So it does
D. So is it
Your answers:
1.
7.
2.
8.
3.
9.
4.
10.
5.
11.
6.
12.
Part 2. Read the passage below, which contains 8 mistakes. For questions 13-20, identify the
mistakes and write the corrections in the corresponding numbered boxes.
Line
1 The word processor and calculator are without doubt here to stay, and in many respects of our
2 lives are much richer for them. But teachers and other academics are claiming that we are now
3 starting to feel the first significant wave of their effects on a generation for users. It seems
4 nobody under the age of 20 can spell nor add up any more. Even several professors in leading
5 universities have commented about the detrimental effect the digital revolution has had on the
6 most intelligent young minds in the country. The problem, evidently, lies in the automatically
7 spell-check now widely available on word processing software. Professor John Silver of the
8 Sydney University, Australia, said, "Why should we bother to learn how to spell correctly or to
9 learn even if the most basic of mathematical sums, when at the press of a button we have our
10 problem answered for us? The implications are enormous. Will adults of the future look on the
11 computer to make decisions for them, to tell them who to marry or what house to buy? Are we
12 heading for a future individually incapable of independent human thought?"
Your answers:
Line
13.
14.
15.
16.
Mistake
Correction
Line
Mistake
Correction
17.
18.
19.
20.
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SECTION C. READING (70 points)
Part 1. For questions 1-10, read the passage and choose the best answer. Write your answers A, B,
C or D in the corresponding numbered boxes.
Consulates (1)______to help citizens abroad to help themselves. Every year millions of people go abroad
for (2) ______ or profit. There are consular officers ready to do what they can to help if people get into
difficulties, but for all sorts of reasons there are (3)______ to what they can do. Most of the time, things
go well for travelers abroad but occasionally things go wrong.
So, whether you are an experienced traveler or a first (4) ______, going by yourself, with the family or a
group there are things you should do before you go. Think about money and tickets well in advance. Take
enough money, including enough to pay your return (5)______ and hold on to it. Better still, buy return
tickets in the first place. In an emergency, a consul will (6)______relatives or friends and ask them to
help you with money or tickets. But there's no (7)______ that says a consul has to lend you money and if
he (8)______ does (and it will have to be repaid) he will want to be (9)______first that you really do have
no money and there is no one else you know who can help.
It is also important to take out proper insurance for everything from car breakdowns to (10)______ of life.
A consul cannot pay your medical or any other bills nor can he do the work of local travel representatives
or motoring organizations.
1. A. maintain
2. A. joy
3. A. hints
4. A. person
5. A. price
6. A. contact
7. A. law
8. A. initially
9. A. insured
10. A. loss
Your answers:
1.
6.
B. live
B. pleasure
B. limits
B. mover
B. transport
B. talk
B. regulation
B. after that
B. confirmed
B. death
2.
7.
3.
8.
C. exist
C. play
C. problems
C. doer
C. account
C. face
C. authority
C. eventually
C. satisfied
C. ending
4.
9.
D. support
D. attraction
D. weaknesses
D. timer
D. fare
D. communicate
D. power
D. consequently
D. certified
D. lack
5.
10.
Part 2. For questions 11-20, fill in the gap with ONE suitable word. Write the answers in the
corresponding numbered boxes.
TRUFFLES
The rarest and most expensive types of mushrooms in the world are called truffles and are considered a
great delicacy. (11)______the mushrooms we eat most of the time, (12) ______ grow above the ground,
truffles grow underground in natural woodland. They have a lumpy irregular shape and vary (13)______
the size of a walnut to the size of a man's fist. To date, no one has been able to cultivate truffles. They
grow wild and have to be hunted for. However, due to the commercial (14)______ of truffles, in most
countries it is not possible to hunt for them (15)______ you have a license to do so.
Ripe truffles produce a characteristic odour. If harvested before this odour develops, the truffle will not be
mature (16)______ to eat. Only when it is fragrant is it truly flavourful. It is therefore (17)______
surprise that it is the smell of the truffle that leads the hunter to the right place. Dogs, with their keen
noses, have been entrusted with the responsibility of truffle hunting. After all a dog's (18)______ of
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smell is up to 10,000 times better than that of a human. Almost (19)______ dog can be trained to seek out
the valuable fungus by first learning to retrieve balls, then cheese, before being introduced to the truffle.
Pigs are also used to hunt truffles, but they are (20)______ from ideal. Though they can successfully seek
out and locate the truffle, they often eat it too.
Your answers:
11.
16.
12.
17.
13.
18.
14.
19.
15.
20.
Part 3. You are going to read an article about the city life. For questions 21-27, choose the answer
(A, B, C or D) which you think fits best according to the text. Write your answers in the
corresponding numbered boxes provided.
IMAGE AND THE CITY
In the city, we are barraged with images of the people we might become. Identity is presented as plastic, a
matter of possessions and appearances; and a very large proportion of the urban landscape is taken up by
slogans, advertisements, flatly photographed images of folk heroes – the man who turned into a
sophisticated dandy overnight by drinking a particular brand of drink, the girl who transformed herself
into a femme fatale with a squirt of cheap scent. The tone of the wording of these advertisements is
usually pert and facetious, comically drowning in its own hyperbole. But the pictures are brutally exact:
they reproduce every detail of a style of life, down to the brand of cigarette-lighter, the stone in the ring,
and the economic row of books on the shelf.
Even in the business of the mass-production of images of identity, this shift from the general to the
diverse and particular is quite recent. Consider another line of stills: the back-lit, soft-focus portraits of
the first and second generations of great movie stars. There is a degree of romantic unparticularity in the
face of each one, as if they were communal dream-projections of society at large. Only in the specialised
genres of westerns, farces and gangster movies were stars allowed to have odd, knobbly cadaverous faces.
The hero as loner belonged to history or the underworld: he spoke from the perimeter of society,
reminding us of its dangerous edges.
The stars of the last decade have looked quite different. Soft-focus photography has gone, to be replaced
by a style which searches out warts and bumps, emphasises the uniqueness not the generality of the face.
Voices, too, are strenuously idiosyncratic; whines, stammers and low rumbles are exploited as features of
‘star quality’. Instead of romantic heroes and heroines, we have a brutalist, hard-edged style in which
isolation and egotism are assumed as natural social conditions.
In the movies, as in the city, the sense of stable hierarchy has become increasingly exhausted; we no
longer live in a world where we can all share the same values, the same heroes. (It is doubtful whether
this world, so beloved of nostalgia moralists, ever existed; but lip-service was paid to it, the pretence, at
least, was kept up.) The isolate and the eccentric push towards the centre of the stage; their fashions and
mannerisms are presented as having as good a claim to the limelight and the future as those of anyone
else. In the crowd on the underground platform, one may observe a honeycomb of fully-worked-out
worlds, each private, exclusive, bearing little comparison with its nearest neighbour. What is prized in one
is despised in another. There are no clear rules about how one is supposed to manage one’s body, dress,
talk, or think. Though there are elaborate protocols and etiquettes among particular cults and groups
within the city, they subscribe to no common standard.
For the new arrival, this disordered abundance is the city’s most evident and alarming quality. He feels as
if he has parachuted into a funfair of contradictory imperatives. There are so many people he might
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become, and a suit of clothes, a make of car, a brand of cigarettes, will go some way towards turning him
into a personage even before he has discovered who that personage is. Personal identity has always been
deeply rooted in property, but hitherto the relationship has been a simple one – a question of buying what
you could afford, and leaving your wealth to announce your status. In the modern city, there are so many
things to buy, such a quantity of different kinds of status, that the choice and its attendant anxieties have
created a new pornography of taste.
The leisure pages of the Sunday newspapers, fashion magazines, TV plays, popular novels, cookbooks,
window displays all nag at the nerve of our uncertainty and snobbery. Should we like American cars,
hard-rock hamburger joints, Bauhaus chairs …? Literature and art are promoted as personal accessories:
the paintings of Mondrian or the novels of Samuel Beckett ‘go’ with certain styles like matching
handbags. There is in the city a creeping imperialism of taste, in which more and more commodities are
made over to being mere expressions of personal identity. The piece of furniture, the pair of shoes, the
book, the film, are important not so much in themselves but for what they communicate about their
owners; and ownership is stretched to include what one likes or believes in as well as what one can buy.
21. What does the writer say about advertisements in the first paragraph?
A. They often depict people that most other people would not care to be like.
B. The pictures in them accurately reflect the way that some people really live.
C. Certain kinds are considered more effective in cities than others.
D. The way in which some of them are worded is cleverer than it might appear.
22. What does a "dandy" in paragraph 1 refer to?
A. A man who becomes famous overnight.
B. A gorgeous man who realizes most women's dream.
C. A rich man who spends his time enjoying himself.
D. A man who cares a lot about his clothes and appearance.
23. What does the writer imply about portraits of old movie stars?
A. They reflected an era in which people felt basically safe.
B. They made people feel that their own faces were rather unattractive.
C. They tried to disguise the less attractive features of their subjects.
D. Most people did not think they were accurate representations of the stars in them.
24. What does the writer suggest about the stars of the last decade?
A. Most people accept that they are not typical of society as a whole.
B. They make an effort to speak in a way that may not be pleasant on the ear.
C. Some of them may be uncomfortable about the way they come across.
D. They make people wonder whether they should become more selfish.
25. The writer uses the crowd on an underground platform to exemplify his belief that______
A. no one in a city has strict attitudes towards the behavior of others
B. no single attitude to life is more common than another in a city
C. people in cities would like to have more in common with each other
D. views of what society was like in the past are often accurate
26. The novels of Samuel Beckett is an example of______
B. literature works of high artistic value
A. classic literature works that make their owners feel superior to other people
B. literature works of high artistic value
C. possessions that show owners' identity
D. what is wanted by the majority in the society
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27. What point does the writer make about city dwellers in the final paragraph?
A. They are unsure as to why certain things are popular with others.
B. They are keen to be the first to appreciate new styles.
C. They want to acquire more and more possessions.
D. They are aware that judgments are made about them according to what they buy
Your answers:
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
Part 4: You are going to read four people’s thought about running your own record label. For
questions 28 to 37 choose from the scientists (A – D). The scientists may be chosen more than once.
Write your answers in the corresponding numbered boxes.
BEING INSPIRED TO TAKE UP SCIENCE
A. Dominique Laver
As a child, what most appealed to me was finding things out for myself through experimentation and
observation. One of the most striking things about science at school, however, was having to suspend my
disbelief; science lessons transported me and my friends from the everyday world to that of atoms,
molecules, proteins and cells - a world in many ways more fantastical than works of fiction, yet one that
could help explain why things are as they are. There's a mental leap to make there, and one I hope schools
still inspire pupils to attempt. I was qualified and worked as a vet, but, after a few years, I felt compelled
to investigate the differences between animal brains and behavior and those of humans. So, not without
certain reservations, I left a thriving practice to pursue these questions. Part of the appeal of what I
currently do is the ready access to scientific libraries. The idea that the books surrounding me contain the
work of generations of scientists, collectively laboring to produce an ever better understanding of how the
world works, fills me with awe and optimism.
B. Graham Sterne
At primary school, one teacher mentioned the word science occasionally, but then at secondary school I
studied the standard physics, chemistry and biology and immediately found them fascinating. I was
particularly filled with amazement at the incredible complexity of biological systems. Where I came
from, you left school at the first opportunity to earn a living, and when it became clear that, encouraged
by a teacher who saw something in me, I was set on going to university and wouldn't be contributing to
the family budget anytime soon, I faced considerable suspicion and resentment. In those days, science
was largely taught as facts, and although I forged a successful career working in the pharmaceutical
industry, it was years before something fundamental really sank in - that science is about a method as
much as facts. This realisation came to me after an intensive period reading books by such contemporary
scientific thinkers as Carl Sagan, Richard Feynman and Charles Medawar.
C. Omar Said
I grew up in a time when the promise of science and technology was difficult to avoid. It offered at sense
of certainty that the world can not only understood, but also enhanced. Unfortunately, this general sense
of optimism seems to have dissipated somewhat. At school, and then a university, I had tutors who treated
me as though I could make sense of everything they knew about science - its past, present and future.
There was never any sense of being talked down to, for which I am very grateful. The one thing regret
was that practical experimentation seldom featured, certainly at school. It may have been a simple
question of resources, but, in my own work in physics, I have always tried to explain things from first
principles, in the belief that I am giving people a chance to work physics out for themselves, and the one
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lesson I really try to get across is that scientific theory is nothing unless backed up by experimental
evidence.
D. Stefan Helder
I took sciences at school, not because I was excelled at them, but because I was hopeless at the arts and
humanities. Yet despite this rather dim view of my early years and the trigger for what have ended up
doing, I can now see that I was always a systemiser. I loved stripping down my motorbike to see how it
worked and I also loved making things. But I did badly at school, to the disappointment of my parents didn't go to university and I never really thought about science for years. Yet I always felt I could do
more with my life than the unconventional series of jobs I found myself doing. Then via a series of
fortuitous events, I landed a research job at a hospital. From there I eventually fought my way onto a
PhDir radiology, and this was when I really began to grasp what science could be. Looking back, I feel
that the spur for me going into science, rather than some inspirational educator - if only it had been my
route would have been less circuitous - or TV role model, was probably my own innate traits.
Which scientist mentions ____________________________
Your answers:
28. appreciates the respect shown them by teachers?
29. claims to have studied science for the wrong reasons?
30. took a long time to understand an important aspect of their subject?
31. takes inspiration from the history of science?
32. regrets not having had a good science teacher as a young person?
33. was attracted by the idea that science can be used to do good?
34. suggests that learning science can require a lot of imagination?
35. sees the need to give students something missing in their own early education?
36. gave up a good job for the sake of scientific interests?
37. had to overcome disapproval to build a career in science?
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
Your answers:
28.
33.
29.
34.
30.
35.
31.
36.
32.
37.
Part 5. Read the following passage and do the tasks that follow.
A.
The need to survive and procreate is at the root of adaptive behaviours for all life forms. However,
humans may be distinct in their ability to respond consciously to a pleasurable stimulus, to recall
this afterwards, and thus to anticipate another period of happiness and actively plan actions that
may bring this about. This facility of abstract consciousness confers
an evolutionary advantage on humankind, but at the price of an appreciation of our own potential
unhappiness and inevitable mortality. Nonetheless, most humans are engaged constant struggle to
achieve, and the urge to maximise and prolong happiness is one of our primary motivations for
doing so.
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B.
To search for the specific areas of the brain responsible for happiness, more than a hundred
students from the University of Wisconsin were recruited for an experiment. Each was sent 25 text
messages a day, asking them to rank their positive and negative emotions throughout the day, both
during ordinary activities and when playing a game which offered $15 rewards. In another part of
the experiment, the research team used Magnetic Resonance Imaging scans to search for those
parts of the brain that lit up in response to feelings of happiness. The team are wondering whether
the information they collected will allow us to train our brains to extend and even multiply our
happy moments.
The experiment found that one small area of the brain appears to be the source of the prolongation
of positive feelings. Repeated neuron firings in this area are associated with an extended duration
of happy feelings. A team psychologist, Aaron Heller, believes that it is important to recognise
that the duration of enjoyable emotions is as valuable as their strength. He is keen to learn more
about the difference between someone who can richly enjoy a sunset and another who responds
little to this event, and for whom happy emotions quickly diminish.
C.
Following on from these initial findings, it appears that there are many parts of the brain that
offer reward systems that respond to pleasurable stimuli, or that give us pleasure: three can be
found deep within the brain and four others in the cerebral cortex (the outer layer of brain tissue).
However, there are very few mechanisms that cause pleasure reactions in the form of a response
we usually label as 'liking' - that is, a promotion and continuation of the pleasurable feeling. Of
these, there are two or three tiny hotspots in the sub-cortex and some in the brainstem region. In
experiments, these hotspots can be stimulated with tiny injections of drugs to produce a doubling
or tripling of the sensation of liking.
A further discovery is the motivational process we might describe as 'wanting', which responds to
an attractive stimulus and desires the reward of repeated exposure to it. Drawing from these
conclusions, we can perceive different areas of brain activity which correspond to 'pleasure', as a
short-lived impact on the individual, to 'liking', as a more long- term response to that pleasure that
can lead to improved mood, and to 'wanting', that operates as a motivational force to repeat
pleasurable experiences.
D.
The fact that these responses are different and occur in different parts of the brain may help to
explain why addicts of all kinds may crave a reward without necessarily liking that reward. In
extreme circumstances, an addict may want something that is fully recognised consciously as
being undesirable - the dissociation occurs because of the lack of integration of the mental
faculties and may be expected to lead to unhappiness.
Similarly, the situation is bleak for someone whose pleasure regions of the brain do not function
normally. The lack of a sensation of pleasure is an important symptom of mental illnesses,
including depression. Damage to one area has proved to be a direct cause of 'anhedonia', or lack of
pleasure. In animals with such damage, even the delight in sugary tastes can be lost so that they
react as if the substance is bitter or otherwise foul-tasting.
In humans, anecdotal evidence tells us that Parkinson's Disease patients who have been treated
with tiny electrical probes to destroy a small group of cells in the brain may show a reduction in
emotional expression, while stimulation of this area appears to help with depression. Changes in
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the structure of the brain here, caused by injury or disease, have been found to produce a complete
absence of pleasurable sensations.
This is not the full story about depression; however, in some cases there may be a kind of
automatic appreciation of fundamental pleasures, but the more developed thought processes that
normally arise, such as reflection on the enjoyment or anticipation of renewed pleasure, may no
longer be available to some people.
E.
This identification of brain regions related to enjoyment brings some confidence in understanding
the mind's reception of sensory pleasures, but there are still significant gaps in our appreciation of
the processes behind more sophisticated levels of enjoyment which might come from the arts, or
from joyful play. Further, there are the broader pleasures that come from social interactions which
are essential to humans: they run from the heightened sensory responses to touch from loved ones
to the more abstract appreciation of reciprocity, social rewards and valued relationships.
Questions 38-42: The passage has five sections A-E. Choose the correct heading for each
section from the list of headings below. Write your answers in the corresponding numbered
boxes provided.
List of Headings
i
ii
iii
iv
v
vi
vii
viii
deepening our understanding through research
more complex challenges in understanding happiness
happiness as part of the human survival mechanism
the effects of addiction on the happiness response
deficiencies in neural mechanisms for happiness
the pros and cons of our awareness of happiness
relationships between cell phone usage and happiness
differentiating pleasure responses in the brain
38. Section A
39. Section B
40. Section C
41. Section D
42. Section E
Questions 43-44: Choose the correct letter A, B, C or D. Write your answers in the
corresponding numbered boxes provided.
43 According to Section A, what is one reason why people set goals?
A They need to prosper, to eat and to reproduce.
B They have a highly developed consciousness.
C They are trying to avoid depression and misery.
D They are seeking pleasurable sensations.
44 What do we learn about happiness in Section B?
A Most people's state of happiness varies throughout the day.
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B Computer game playing is an addictive form of happiness.
C At least one part of the brain makes us feel happy for longer.
D A strong response to pleasurable events is very important.
Questions 45-50: Do the following statements agree with the information given in the
Reading Passage? In boxes 35-40, write
TRUE
FALSE
NOT GIVEN
if the statement agrees with the information
if the statement contradicts the information
if there is no information on this
45 There are fewer 'pleasure' sites in the brain than 'liking' ones.
46 'Liking' is usually a weaker response than 'pleasure'.
47 Some people suffer from a disconnect between the different brain responses to pleasurable stimuli.
48 People with depression can suffer from disturbances to their sense of taste.
49 Depression may be correlated with an inability to remember, or look forward to pleasure.
50 We now understand the brain chemistry that controls complex forms of pleasure.
Your answers:
38.
43.
48.
39.
44.
49.
40.
45.
50.
41.
46.
42.
47.
SECTION D. WRITING (60 points)
Part 1. Finish each of the following sentences in such a way that it is as similar as possible in
meaning to the sentence printed before it.
1. I'd prefer us not to talk about this right now, if you don't mind.
I'd sooner___________________________________________________________________________.
2. People say that the pyramids are worth visiting.
The pyramids are supposed _____________________________________________________________.
Complete the second sentence so that it has the same meaning as the first one. Use the word given in
capital letters and the word mustn’t be altered in any way.
3. If her father hadn’t retired, she wouldn’t have taken over his work.
STEPPED
But for ____________________________________________________________________.
4. David was responsible for the family business as soon as his father retired.
CHARGE
Scarcely____________________________________________________________________.
5. Are you saying Dan gets angry easily, Fiona?
SHORT
Are you saying Dan___________________________________________________________?
Part 2. Write a letter of about 120-150 words.
You are a final year student at high school. Reply your pen pal’s letter in which you are asked whether
you will go to university or go out to work.
Note: -Use your name as Minh An, 27 Le Hong Phong, Vinh City, Nghe An.
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Part 3: Write an essay of about 350 words on the following topic.
In Vietnam, the movement of doing charity work is increasingly expanding and it is supposed that this
issue should be strictly controlled by the government.
To what extent do you agree or disagree?
Give reasons and relevant examples to support your answer.
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_____ THE END ______
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