1. I had an amusing experience last year. After I had left a small village in the
south of France, I drove on to the next town. On the way, a young man waved to
me. I stopped and he asked me for a lift. As soon as he had got into the car, I
said good morning to him in French and he replied in the same language. Apart
from a few words, I do not know any French at all. Neither of us spoke during the
journey. I had nearly reached the town, when the young man suddenly said, very
slowly, "Do you speak English?". As I soon learnt, he was English himself!
SUGGESTED QUESTIONS:
1. Whom did the writer give a lift to in the south of France last year?
2. Did they greet each other in English or in French?
3. Does the writer speak any French or not?
4. Did they sit in silence, or did they talk to each other?
5. Was he English himself, or was he French?
2. Erna Hart is going to swim across the English Channel tomorrow. She is going
to set out from the French coast at five o'clock in the morning. Erna is only
fourteen years old and she hopes to set up a new world record. She is a strong
swimmer and many people feel that she is sure to succeed. Erna's father will set
out with her in a small boat. Mr. Hart has trained his daughter for years.
Tomorrow he will be watching her anxiously as she swims the long distance to
England. Erna intends to take short rests every two hours. She will have
something to drink but she will not eat any solid food. Most of Erna's school
friends will be waiting for her on the English coast. Among them will be Erna's
mother, who swam the Channel herself when she was a girl.
SUGGESTED QUESTIONS:
1. Who is going to swim across the English Channel tomorrow?
2. How old is she? Is she a strong swimmer or not ?
3. Whom has Erna been trained by?
4. Will he follow her in a small boat or not?
5. Where will Erna's mother be waiting?
3. In the tropics there are only two seasons, the rainy and the dry. In the rainy
season, it often rains every day. It seldom rains in the dry season. The sun is
very hot.
Plants and trees grow fast in the tropics. Tropical rain forests cover much of the
land. These forests are always green. When old leaves fall, new leaves appear.
The trees are never bare.
The tropical rain forests are near the equator. In the middle of the day, the sun
shines down almost directly. Days and nights are the same length. And the
temperature does not change very much.
In these tropical forests there are many insects. Some of these insects can cause
disease. Mosquitoes can cause malaria, and a certain kind of fly can cause
sleeping sickness. But now doctors and scientists are fighting these diseases
and making great progress.
SUGGESTED QUESTIONS:
1. How many seasons are there in the tropics? What are they?
2. What happens when the old leaves fall from the trees?
3. In a tropical rain forest, is there much change in temperature?
4. Do trees and plants grow fast in the rain forests? Give an example.
5. What diseases can mosquitoes cause? What diseases can certain flies
cause?
4. A Letter To Mr. Farias
My dear husband, Francisco,
I miss you, my dear, but we are happy and healthy, and the children send their
love. Paulo is busy every minute. He is just like you, so sensible, maybe too
sensible. He thinks about business all the time. He doesn't have any real friends
here.
Joana is growing up before my eyes. Every day she grows more mature, less
shy, and more confident. She's getting serious about art again, so she's going to
take some courses at one of the schools here. She's talented, but not very
patient. She has a lot to learn.
I am enjoying the Fair, but most of all, I am enjoying the children. I am very proud
of them. At first, Joana was very nervous about her English, but now she is
almost fluent. As a matter of fact, she is teaching me !
So, my dear, how are you? How are things at home? I miss you. I read and
reread all your letters.
Your devoted wife,Alicia
SUGGESTED QUESTIONS:
1. Does Mrs Farias miss her husband?
2. Is Paulo very sensible? What does Paulo think about most of the time?
3. Where is Joana going to take a course?
4. What is Mrs Farias enjoying most, her children or the Fair? Are Mrs Farias’s
children making her happy or sad?
5. Does Mrs Farias think Paulo works too much?
5. Myf usually gets up at 7 a.m., with a cup of tea to wake her up properly. She
leaves home at 7.45 to reach the University at 8 a.m. for her daily swim in the
pool there.
She usually gets back home by 9 a.m. Then she starts her housework. She does
a lot of other things as well, like writing letters and gardening, and she often has
to go out to see people at some point during the day.
She has a quick 'brunch' mid morning, and she likes to have an evening meal
with the family between 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. Everyone helps clear away after
dinner. By then it's about 7.15 or 7.30 p.m.
Myf likes to relax in the evenings, but sometimes she has a meeting she has to
go to.
She aims to be in bed early two or three times a week; at other times she goes to
bed after midnight but usually before 12.30.
SUGGESTED QUESTIONS:
1. How long does it take Myf to travel from home to the University?
2. Why does she go to the University every day?
3. What does ‘brunch’ means?
4. What time is her dinner?
5. What does she often do in the evening?
6. You are what you eat. If you eat badly your body will find ways of letting you
know sooner or later. Extra weight, spotty skin, poor teeth and heart disease can
all point to the fact that you are not eating properly. Your life style also plays an
important part in your general health and your body needs time to relax after a
meal.
The following do's and don' ts should help you keep fit:
1 Do get plenty of fresh air? that way you'll sleep better.
2 Do make sure you eat plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables.
3 Don't overcook vegetables ? either steam them or use a small amount of water
so that they keep their goodness.
4 Don't eat too much fat, sugar and salt.
5 Do try to take some exercise at least three times a week? especially if you sit at
a desk all day.
REMMEMBER: EAT TO LIVE - DON'T LIVE TO EAT!
SUGGESTED QUESTIONS:
1. How can you know if you are eating properly or not?
2. What else may affect your general health besides the food you eat?
3. Why should you try to get plenty of fresh air?
4. Why shouldn’t you overcook vegetables?
5. What can you do to improve your general health – if you have to sit at a desk
all day?
7. You know my brother, Ali, but you don't know me. I am Hussein M. Nikzad. I'm
nine and a half. I am very strong for my age, and I'm very smart in school. All my
teachers say so. I do my homework, and I pay attention to my teachers. I like
books. I read all the time. I can add, subtract, multiply and divide. I can read and
write English and Farsi, and I know all about the heroes of my country. I am
going to be famous, too. I am going to build cities and roads and bridges and
everything.
SUGGESTED QUESTIONS:
1. Is Hussein a good student?
2. What does his teacher say about him?
3. Can he read English and Japanese?
4. Does Hussein want to be an engineer or a painter?
5. What is Hussein going to do when he grows up?
8. Dolphins are not fish, but warm blooded mammals. They live in groups, and
speak to each other in their own language. In this they are like other animals,
such as bees and birds. But dolphins are very different from almost all land
animals. Their brain is nearly the same size as our own, and they live a long
time. At least twenty or thirty years.
Strangely, dolphins seem to like man, and for thousands of years there have
been stories about the dolphin and its friendship with people.
Some dolphins seem to look for people. They leave the others and come into our
harbours and swim up and down near the beaches. There are stories of dolphins
mixing with swimmers, and of children riding on their backs.
Today, some people continue to kill dolphins, but many countries of the world
now protect them and in these places it is against the law to kill them.
SUGGESTED QUESTIONS:
1. What are dolphins? Why do many people think that they are fish?
2. In what ways are dolphins different from most land animals?
3. Can dolphin communicate with each other? What other animals can speak to
each other in their own languages?
4. How do we know that dolphins seem to like men?
5. Where do you often see dolphins?
9. In 1929, three years after his flight over the North Pole, the American explorer,
R. E. Byrd, successfully flew over the South Pole for the first time. Though, at
first, Byrd and his men were able to take a great many photographs of the
mountains that lay below, they soon ran into serious trouble. At one point, it
seemed certain that their plane would crash. It could only get over the mountains
if it rose to 10,000 feet. Byrd at once ordered his men to throw out two heavy
food sacks. The plane was then able to rise and it cleared the mountains by 400
feet. Byrd now knew that he would be able to reach the South Pole which was
300 miles away, for there were no more mountains in sight. The aircraft was able
to fly over the endless white plains without difficulty.
SUGGESTED QUESTIONS:
1. When did the American explorer, R. E. Byrd become the first man to fly over
the South Pole?
2. Did he take a lot of photographs during the flight or not ? Did he run into
difficulties or not? (but then)
3. Could his plane get over the mountains or not ? What did he order his men to
do?
4. Did the plane then fly over the mountains or did it crash?
5. Did the plane continue without further trouble or not?
10. There are many things to consider when you are looking for a house, whether
you intend to buy or only rent. After all, it is going to be your home, perhaps for
quite a long time, and you want to be happy with it. You have to decide exactly
what kind of house you want, how much you can afford to pay, and the type of
neighborhood you wish to live in.
Last week my wife and I arranged to see a house that was for sale.
The agent said it might need a few repairs, but he thought we should look at it
anyway. He told us it was a bargain. Some bargain! The roof leaked and the
plumbing didn't work. The front steps were broken and the back door had no lock
on it. It needed to be painted both inside and outside. It was in terrible condition.
"What do you think?" the agent asked.
"It isn't exactly what we want," we told him.
"You're very difficult to please," he said. “Perhaps you'd better have your house
custom built."
SUGGESTED QUESTIONS:
1. What should you consider before buying a house?
2. What did the agent tell the writer and his wife about the house that was for
sale?
3. What was wrong with the house?
4. Do you think this house was a good "bargain"?
5. What did the agent say when they told him they didn't want this house?
11. Joana's Diary
I think I'm falling in love with Michael. Oh, what am I going to do? Could I be his
wife? How long could I live in a little apartment on a poor street? He's an artist.
He doesn't think about money, but I do. I like life's little luxuries. I like to buy
pretty things news dresses and jewelry. I could live without them, I guess, but …
do I want to?
I guess I could always find a job. I could work in an office or I could teach
Portuguese. Or could I?
Maybe Mama is right. Maybe I couldn't live on 88th Street. It's a long way from
home in Brazil. Paulo wants to stay here, but Mama is going to go home soon.
She misses Papa and her life there. And what about me? We could live six
months here and six months there. No. That's ridiculous. What am I going to do?
I love his eyes. Who knows? We all grow and change. Anything could happen.
SUGGESTED QUESTIONS:
Do Joana and Michael feel about the same way about money?
2. What does Joana like to buy?
3. What jobs could Joana have?
4. Is Joana sure or not sure she wants to find a job?
5. Is Joana thinking about marriage?
12. Many people think the English do not like to speak other languages. In fact,
English is a mixture of words from many different languages. Because of this, the
vocabulary of the English language is very large. It is much larger than almost
every other language in the world.
Many English words come from Latin, the old language of Rome, and also from
old Greek. From Latin we get words like 'wine', 'use' and 'day'. From Greek we
have words such as 'photograph', 'bible' and 'ink'. Because these two languages
are dead the words have most often come through other languages such as
French, or the old German languages. There are also many words from both
Greek and Latin together – 'television', for example. Here 'tele' is Greek for 'far'
and 'vision' comes from Latin and means 'seeing'.
SUGGESTED QUESTIONS:
1. What language did the Romans speak?
2. Some languages are not spoken any more. What do we call these languages?
3. Why is it thought that the English vocabulary is very large?
4. Besides Latin and Greek, from what other languages have many English
words come from?
5. From what languages does the English word ‘television’ come from?
13. A consumer walks into a store. He stands in front of hundreds of boxes of
laundry detergent. He chooses one brand, pays for it, and leaves. Why does he
pick that specific kind of soap? Is it truly better than the others? Probably not.
These days, many products are nearly identical to one another in quality and
price. If products are almost the same, what makes consumers buy one brand
instead of another? Although we might not like to admit it, commercials on
television and advertisements in magazines probably influence us much more
than we think they do.
Advertisers use many methods to get us to buy their products. One of their most
successful methods is to make us feel dissatisfied with ourselves and our
imperfect lives. Advertisements show us who we aren't and what we don't have.
Our teeth aren't white enough. Our hair isn't shiny enough. Our clothes aren't
clean enough. Advertisements make us afraid that people won't like us if we don't
use the advertised products. "Why don't I have any dates?" an attractive young
woman sadly asks in a commercial. "Here," replies her roommate, "try Zoom
toothpaste!" Of course she tries it, and immediately the whole football team falls
in love with her. "That's a stupid commercial," we might say. But we still buy
Zoom toothpaste out of fear of being unpopular and having no friends.
SUGGESTED QUESTIONS:
1. According to the passage, are most products on the market different in quality
and price?
2. What makes consumers buy a specific brand out of many brands of the same
product?
3. What is one of the most successful methods that advertisers use to get us buy
their products?
4. In the example of Zoom toothpaste, what do the advertisers try to persuade
us?
5. Why is it very likely that we will buy Zoom toothpaste although we don’t like the
advertisement for it?
14. Angela Duffy is a schoolgirl from Brighton. She wants to be a doctor. 'I'm
going to medical school next year. It's a long course - about six years - but I'm
going to work very hard. It's a difficult job, but I like working with people, and like
the idea of working in a caring profession.' She says that later she would like to
specialize and perhaps be a pediatrician. 'I love children, and looking after them
would be wonderful.'
Pippa Wilson is studying marketing at university. She enjoys travelling, and
would probably like to work for a tour company. 'I'm not sure yet exactly what I
want to do. After university, I'm going to have a year off, and I'm going round the
world with another girl. We hope to find a work on the way.'
Steve Barnes wants to be a chef. His favourite room in the house is the kitchen,
where he spends most of the day. 'I love cooking, especially for lots of people. I
have over a hundred cook books. He's going to work in a restaurant in Paris,
where he hopes to learn how to prepare sauces. 'English people really don't
know how to cook imaginatively,' he says, 'but we have the best ingredients in
the world. One day I'd like to have my own restaurant.'
SUGGESTED QUESTIONS:
1. Why does Angela like to become a doctor?
2. How soon will she leave high school?
3. What job is Pippa interested in?
4. What is Pippa going to do when she graduates from university?
5. What is Steve's ambition?
15. Jogging is cheap you can do it almost everywhere. You don’t have to have a
special place or any special equipment. Of course, you have to have good
running shoes and proper clothing, especially if you go jogging in the winter. But
there aren’t any rackets or balls or other special things to worry about. Also you
can do it alone and at any time. Sometimes it’s difficult to find a partner for tennis
or a group to play volley ball.You shouldn’t go jogging every day. Three times a
week or every other day is good. You need to do warm-up exercises and start off
slowly, only five to ten minutes at first. Then, if you only jog to keep in shape, a
half hour is usually enough. Don’t eat anything before or immediately after you go
jogging. And don’t drink anything really cold when you finish. It’s a simple sport.
A lot people say it’s boring. Sure, it can be…but that’s why people jog with a
Walkman. Then you can listen to music and keep in shape.
SUGGESTED QUESTIONS:
1. Why is it cheap for you to practice jogging?
2. What are some of the advantages of jogging over some other sports like tennis
or volleyball?
3. How often should you go jogging?
4. How should you begin a jogging session?
5. Why shouldn’t you eat anything before or immediately after you go jogging?
16. A hobby can be almost anything a person likes to do in his spare time.
Hobbyists raise pets, build model ships, weave baskets, or carve soap figures.
They watch birds, hunt animals, climb mountains, fish, ski, skate, and swim.
Hobbyists also paint pictures, attend concerts and play and perform on musical
instruments. They collect everything from books to butterflies and from shells to
stamps.Hobbies can help a person’s mental and physical health. Doctors have
found that hobbies are valuable in helping patients recover from physical or
mental illness. Hobbies give bedridden or wheel-chair patients something to do
and provide interest that keeps them from thinking about themselves.
SUGGESTED QUESTIONS:
1. What is a hobby?
2. Give some examples of what some people do as their hobbies.
3. In what ways are hobbies good for us?
4. What do doctors say about the benefit of hobbies to patients?
5. How do hobbies help bedridden and wheel-chair patients?
17. Water is hydrogen and oxygen. It boils at one hundred degrees Celsius
(100°C) and it freezes at zero degrees Celsius (0°C).
Without water there could be no life on Earth. On no other planet is there as
much of it as on our own. Seventy one per cent of the surface of the planet is
water and more than seventy per cent of our bodies is water.
The oceans and the rivers of the world contain most of the water. The five
oceans and the many seas together have 97.2 per cent. The Pacific Ocean alone
is larger than all the land in the world. And on the land there are lakes. Many of
them are larger than countries the size of Belgium. There are also huge rivers,
thirty of them more than two thousand kilometres long.
The great areas of ice in the world, such as Antarctica, contain another 2.15 per
cent of the world's water; the rest is in rocks and underground.
SUGGESTED QUESTIONS:
1. What is the boiling point of water?
2. What is the freezing point of water?
3. How much of our bodies is water?
4. How many oceans are there? Do you know which one is the largest?
5. How much of the world’s water is contained in the great areas of ice on Earth?
18. Miriam Poon comes from Hong Kong, but now lives in Melbourne, Australia.
She tells us about some of the differences between living in Hong Kong and
living in Australia.
'I think for me language is the main difference. English is, of course, much more
difficult for me than my native language Cantonese. Apart from the language, I
think there is a very big difference in shopping. The hours for shopping are much
longer in Hong Kong than in Australia. There are more products in Hong Kong,
but the quality of products in Australia is very good. The large department stores
in Hong Kong are more crowded than those in Australia. It is easier to go
shopping in Australia than in Hong Kong. ...
... Australians are more relaxed than people in Hong Kong. Hong Kong people
work very, very hard to have a good life. In Hong Kong, employers are more
demanding and the working hours are also longer than in Australia. In Hong
Kong people work six days a week, but in Australia most people only work five
days a week. Holidays for people in Hong Kong are also shorter than for people
in Australia. …
SUGGESTED QUESTIONS:
1. Where is Miriam from? Does she live in Hong Kong? What does she talk
about?
2. What does she think is the main difference between living in Hong Kong and
living in Australia?
3. What does she tell us about shopping hours and department stores in Hong
Kong and Australia?
4. What is the attitude to work in Hong Kong? in Australia?
5. What does Miriam tell us about the working hours and holidays in the two
places?
19. Does the earth have enough natural resources to support all the people living
on it? Different scientists give different answers to this question.
Some say that there are enough resources to support more than 6 billion people.
However, the richest countries, with a small percentage of the world's population,
use most of the resources. If these resources could be distributed more equally
around the world, there would be enough for everyone.
Other scientists say that we must limit population growth because our resources
are limited. Only 10 percent of the earth's land can be used for farming and
another 20 percent for raising animals. It is possible to increase the amount of
farmland, but only a little. Some land in developing countries can be more
productive if people start using modern farming methods, but this will not
increase worldwide production very much.
It is difficult to say how many people the earth can support, but it will help
everyone if we can limit population growth before serious shortages develop. The
problem is how to do it. Each individual must decide to help limit population.
SUGGESTED QUESTIONS:
1. Name some of the important natural resources that you know.
2. Which countries use the most resources of the earth?
3. What should be done so that everyone can make use of the resources of the
earth?
4. Why should we limit population growth?
5. What can you do to help limit population?
20. JOE
I get up at 6 every morning and help my dad. He has a flower shop so he has to
be at the flower market by four. Then when he comes back we unload all the
flowers into the shop. I usually take the telephone orders for him so he knows
what he has to deliver that day.
Then I make a cup of tea for my mum while she’s still in bed, get my breakfast
and go to school. At the weekend I work in the shop on Saturdays and help my
mother arrange the flowers in the church for Sunday. Then on Sunday I go to
church in the morning and spend the evening with my parents.
SUGGESTED QUESTIONS:
1. Who is Joe? What does he do?
2. What does Joe usually do to help his parents?
3. Do Joe’s parents grow the flowers they sell in their garden? How do you
know?
4. When does Joe work in his father’s flower shop?
5. What do you think about Joe?
Dùng dạng thích hợp của động từ cho trong ngoặc để hoàn thành đoạn
văn sau (trong bài làm chỉ cần viết chữ số và dạng của động từ):
Linda is from England, but she 1 (live) in the United States. She 2 (work) for a
women's magazine. She 3 (start) writing articles many years ago. She 4 (write) many
articles. As a journalist, she has visited nearly every city in the world. Recently, she 5
(be) to a number of countries in Africa. Now she 6 (be) on holiday in Italy. She 7 (go)
there three days ago. She says she 8 (return) to the United States next week.
Errors
1. She left her house in a hurry without to say goodbye to us.
2. She isn’t old enough to done this job.
3. I used to getting up late when I was small.
4. This in the place which I was born and grew up.
5. If I had money, I will buy a car.
FRIENDS
To many people, their friends are the most important in their life. Really good friends
always (30)______ joys and sorrows with you and never turn their backs on you. Your
best friend may be someone you have known all your life or someome you have grown
(31)______ with.
There are all sorts of things that can (32)________about this special relationship. It may
be the result of enjoying the same activities and sharing experiences.Most of us have met
someone that we have immediately felt relaxed with as if we had known them for ages.
However, it really takes you years to get to know someone well (33)_______to consider
your best friend.
To the majority of us, this is someone we trust completely and (34)________understands
us better than anyone else. It’s the person you can tell him or her your most intimate
secrets .
Câu 30: A. share B. give C. spend D. have
Câu 31: A. up B. through C. in D. on
Câu 32: A. provide B. bring C. result D. cause
Câu 33: A. enough B. too C. such D. so
Câu 34: A. who B. which C. whom D. whose
I. Look at this story and give the correct forms of the verbs.
When I (1. be) a child, things (2. be) very different. I (3. live) very happily with my
parents like all the other children I (4. know). We (5. have) a small but comfortable house
and I (6. go) to school, which I (7. not like) very much.
Then when I (8. be) fourteen, my parents (9. get) divorced. I will never forget how they
(10. tell) me. I (11. study) geography in my bedroom when my mother (12. come) in and
(13. tell) me the news.
When I (14. be) sixteen, (at that time I (15. live) with my father), he (16. tell) me some
more news. The news (17. be) that he (18. want) to get married again, and his new wife
(19. have) two small children, so I would have to leave school and start working because
there would not be enough money.
I (20. cannot) believe it, but I (21. see) that he really (22. want) to get married, and so I
(23. agree). Well, three years ago I (24. find) a job as a secretary and translator in an
office near my home.
I (25. work) there since then. I (26. save) some money during the last years. Life at home
is not perfect because I (27. not like) children very much, but it (28. not be) really
difficult - just boring!
And so next year I (29. move) into my own flat and I (30. study) at night school. Or
perhaps a handsome prince on a beautiful horse will save me!
II. There are twelve mistakes in the following passage, underline and correct them.
Dear Mr and Mrs Wilcox,
I'm very happy that you can come to visit us in August, but I would like to tell you
something in my town.
The weather here in August is usually very good, and bring a warm jumper or jacket with
you because it is sometimes cool in the evenings.
I know if you like going to the theatre and to the opera, then I have booked tickets for the
performance of 'Aida' in August 4th. An opera will start at 9.00 in the evening. Because
there are lots of people when the seats do not have numbers we must arrive very early.
I know that you will like the monuments in Verona, especially the Arena and the Roman
theatre.
There is a lot of good restaurants and cafés in Verona and we can try some of the local
dishes. I'm sure you like our food, especially the pasta and the fruit ice-cream.
Please write to me early and tell me early what time you are arriving in Verona.
With best wishes,
III. Arrange these sentences to make a complete passage.
a. As they built bigger and bigger ships, they were able to sail further and further away.
b. They don't really mean that the world is getting smaller, of course.
c. They found that as they sailed further away from their home countries, the world
became bigger.
d. Then men began to use ships to explore the world.
e. Today, there are no undiscovered countries left to put on the map.
f. But 2,300 years ago the Egyptians and the Greeks thought that the world was very
small and flat and that around it was the ocean.
g. We often hear people saying that the world is getting smaller.
h. So they had to make new maps to show the countries that they found.
i. And they discovered new countries that they didn't know about.
j. What they mean is that with modern means of transport, we can now reach every part
of the world very quickly.
IV. Use the suggested words to make a complete letter.
Dear Jane,
1. It/ be/ month/ since/ I/ write/ you.
2. And we/ not meet/ or see/ each other/ three months.
3. Now/ here/ be/ suggestion/ I/ be/ very happy/ make.
4. You/ come/ stay here/ me/ weekend/ after next?
5. I/ love/ have you/ Friday evening/ Monday morning.
6. I/ have/ lot of/ news/ give you/ many questions/ ask.
Please write back to me as soon as possible.
Yours ever.
Chọn phương án (A hoặc B, C, D) ứng với từ / cụm từ có gạch dưới cần phải sửa để
các câu sau trở thành chính xác.
Câu 1: He has made a lot of mistakes in his writing because his carelessness.
Câu 2: Peter earned a large number of money last year.
Câu 3: He never goes home before he will finish his work.
Câu 4: You have to study hard to keep pace in your classmates.
Câu 5: Mr. Smith is going to buy a new Japanese car, doesn't he?