official , movement, staircase, modified, comfort, interior

The White House, the ........... home of the United States president, was not built in time for George Washington to live in it. It was begun in 1792 and was ready for its first inhabitants. President and Mrs.John Adams, who moved in on November 1, 1800. When the Adamses moved in, the White House was not yet complete, and the Adamses suffered many inconveniences; for example, the main ............... was incomplete, which hindered .......... from floor to floor, and the future laundry yard was merely a pool of mud, so wet laundry was hung in the unfinished East Room to dry. Thomas Jefferson, the third president, improved the ............... of the White House in many respects and added new architectural features such as the terraces on the east and west ends.

When the British forces burned the White House on August 24, 1814, President Madison was forced to leave.All the remained after the fire was the exterior walls, the ........... was completely destroyed. It was not until December of 1817 that the following president, James Monroe, was able to move into a rebuilt residence. Since then, the White House has continued to be ........... but has been continuously occupied by each succeeding U.S president.

I: Read the pasage and answer the questions:

Nylon was invented in the early 1930s by an American chemist, Julian Hill. Other scientists worked with his invention and finally on 27 October 1938, nylon was introduced to the world. It was cheap and strong and immediately became successful, especially in the making of ladies’ stockings.
During the Second World War, the best present for many women was a pair of nylon stockings, but more importantly, it was used to make parachutes and tyres. Today, nylon is found in many things: carpets, ropes, seat belts, furniture, computers, and even spare parts of human body. It has played an important part in our lives for over 50 years. Next year, about 36 million tons of it will be manufactured.

1. Who iss Julian Hill ?

2. When ứa nylon first introduced to the world ?

3. What do they use nylon for ?

4. What is 'it' in the last sentence replaced for?

The large movement of earth under the water causes a very large and powerful tsunami. The tsunami was called the Asian Tsunami in most of the world. It was called the Boxing Day Tsunami in England, Australia, South Africa and Canada because it happened on the holiday they call Boxing Day. The tsunami caused a lot of damage to countries such as Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia and Sri Lanka.

Waves as high as 30m killed many people and damaged or destroyed a lot of buildings and other properties. Over 225,000 people died or were not found after the Tsunami, The wave traveled as far away as South Africa (8000km) where as many as 8 people died because of high water caused by the wave. Because of how much damage was caused and the number of people the earthquake affected, over 7 billion was donated to help the survivors and rebuild the areas damaged.

1. Why was the tsunami called the Boxing Day Tsunami in England?

A. Because it happened when people were boxing.

B. Because it happened when people were collecting boxes

C. Because it happened on Boxing Day

D. Because it destroyed a lot of boxes

2. How high were the waves?

A. Thirteen meters B. Eighteen meters

C. Thirty meters D. Two hundred and twenty-five meters

3. What were some people in South Africa killed by?

A. Earthquake B. High water C. High wind D. Property

4. What does the word "survivors' in line 11 mean?

A. houses that aren't destroyed

B. offices that are being built.

C. people that are dead

D. people that are left alive

5. Which of the following is NOT true?

A.Only in Asia the tsunami was called Asian Tsunami.

B. The tsunami caused a lot of damage to Indonesia.

C. Many people died because of the high waves

D. A lot of money was raised to help people

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct word or phrase that best fits each numbered blank.

           The railway system in Viet Nam was first built in 1899, when Viet Nam was still a French colony. The total __( 28 )__ of the railroad is over 3,000 km, with the main route being the North-South __( 29 )__, which is 1,726 km long. This track was considered the backbone of Indochina at the time. Now, the rail system covers 35 out of the 63 cities and provinces of Viet Nam.

  However, the system was __( 30 )__ damaged by bombings during the war. In 1975, after the reunification of the north and the south, the Vietnamese government decided to restore the system. In the space of a year, hundreds of bridges, tunnels, and stations were restored, along with 660 km of tracks. The new and improved system was __( 31 )__ the Thong Nhat Express. Thanks to the rail system, travelling from north to south has become much more convenient for tens of thousands of people. In the past, in order to be able to buy train tickets people had to wait in long lines. Now, __( 32 )__ can buy tickets online, or at the central station, without having to wait that long.

Question28: A.  wide B.  long C.  will D.  length

Question29: A.  Way B.  Route C.  Road D.  Railway

Question30: A.  seriously B.  very C.  importantly D.  serious

Question31: A.  recalled     B.  considered C.  renamed D.  known

Question32: A.  visitors B.  buyers C.  passengers          D.  attendants

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.

I was born in Newcastle, a city in the Northeast of England. Newcastle is on the bank of the River Tyne. It is quite big, with a population of about 200,000 people. There is a cathedral and a university. There are five bridges over the River Tyne, which link Newcastle to the next town Gates Head, where there is one of the biggest shopping centers in the world, the Metro Center.

A few years ago, the main industries were ship building and coal mining, but now the chemical and soap industries are more important.

I moved from Newcastle ten years ago, but I often return. I miss the people who are so warm and friendly, and I miss the wild, beautiful countryside near the city, where there are many hills and streams.

People are born near the River Tyne have a special name. They are called “Geordies”. I am very pleased to be a “Geordie”.

Question 26. The more important and main industries of Newcastle now are _______.

A.  ship building and coal mining

B.   coal mining and soap

C.  ship building and chemical

D.  chemical and soap

Question 27. The word “it” in paragraph 1 is in closest meaning to _______.

A.  the River Tyne         B. England             C. the river bank      D. Newcastle

Question 28. From paragraph 3, we can infer that the writer moved from Newcastle ten years ago and _____

A.  usually returned                             B. rarely returned

C.didn’t want to return                      D. never returned

Question 29. All of the following are true about Newcastle -EXCEPT ______.

A.  there is a cathedral and a university there

B.   there aren’t any bridges over the River Tyne

C.  there is one of the biggest shopping centers in the world, the Metro Center.      

D. the population is about 200,000 people

Question 30. People who are born near the River Tyne are called _______.

A.  “Geordi”         B. “Geordian”                 C. “Geordies”                  D.“Geordie”

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct word or phrase that best fits each of the numbered blanks.

The development of writing (1) ______ a huge difference to the world and might see it as the beginning of the (2) ______. Pieces of pottery with marks on that are probably numbers have been discovered in China that date from around 4000 BC. Hieroglyphics and other forms of "picture writing" developed in the (3) _______ around Mesopotamia (mordern-day Iraq), where the ancent Sumerian civilization was based, from around 3300 BC onwards. However, the first (4)________ alphabet was used by the Phoenicians around 1050BC. Their alphabet had 22 letters and it is estimated that it lasted for 1000 years. The first two signs were called "aleph" and "beth", which in Greek became "alpha" and "beta", which gave us the (5) ________ word "alphabet".

Question 1

True or False

Today,when English is one of the major languages in the world, it requires an effort of the imagination to realize that this is relatively recent thing-that in Shakespeare's time,for example,only a few million people spoke,and the language was not thought to be very important by the other nations of Europe,and was unknown to the rest of the world.

English has become a world language because of its establishment as a mother tongue outside England,in all the continents of the world. This exporting of English began in the seventeenth century,with the first settlements in the United States,assisted by massive immigration in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries,that has given the English language its present standing in the world.

1. English was spoken by a few million people in Shakespeare's time.......

2. It is considered as a mother language outside England.......

3. English was spoken in North America in the seventeenth century.........

4. Most of the immigration in the USA do not speak English.............

Giup voi a

Read the text on the tight about the invention of semaphore. Five sentences have been removed. Choose from sentences A-F the one which fits each gap (l-4).There is one extra sentence which you do not need. There is an example at the beginning (0).

A Using ropes, these could be moved to form 49 different shapes that could be recognized easily.

B The main problem was that it could not be used during the night or on foggy days.

C These messages could be sent very quickly.

D The new republic faced enemies on all sides in the form of the forces of Britain, Austria, Holland, Prussia and Spain.

E In August 1794, it carried its first message, the news of Napoleon's victory at Le Quenoy.

F A system was built between London and the south coast, and other countries followed.

War has been called 'the mother of invention', and this was certainly true in the French Revolutionary wars in 1792. 1 | D | What the Revolutionary Government urgently needed was a reliable system of communication.

Claude Chappe, who was a priest and an engineer, had developed a telegraph system, but had not been able to test it fully. However, his brother Ignace was a member of the government, and arranged for Claude's system to be tested. It turned out to be a great success and started a new form of high-speed communication.

The two brothers had a series of towers built 5 to 10 km apart. At the top of each tower was a tall wooden mast, and they attached one horizontal and two vertical wooden beams to this mast. Claude called this system 'semaphore', which comes from the Greek meaning 'bearing a sign'. 2 ( )

Operators in each tower watched neighbouring towers through a telescope and then passed the message on to the next one in the line. The first line stretched from Paris to Lille, a distance of 2.40 km. 3 ( ). At an average speed of three signals a minute, it was carried in 20 minutes, more than 90 times faster than messengers on horseback.

Once the value of Chappe's system was understood, it soon became the standard method of communication in Europe. 4 ( ). By the time the electric telegraph was developed, France had more than 550 semaphore towers stretching 4,800km.

Unfortunately, Chappe's system had some disadvantages. 5 ( ) The towers were also expensive to maintain and the cost of staff was high. In the end, Chappe was depressed by these criticisms of his inventions and by claims from other engineers that they had invented semaphore, and he committed suicide in 1805.