1. Read the text and complete each blank of the fact file about Earth Hour with ONE word.

(Đọc văn bản và hoàn thành từng ô trống của tệp thông tin thực tế về Giờ Trái đất bằng MỘT từ.)

EARTH HOUR

Earth Hour is a global event organised by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). Held every year, it encourages people and businesses to turn off their lights and other unnecessary electrical devices for one hour from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. on the last Saturday of March. Earth Hour was started as a lights-out event in Sydney, Australia, in 2007. Since then, it has grown to become an international movement for the environment, happening in more than 7,000 cities and towns across 187 countries and territories.

Earth Hour has created a positive environmental impact. It shows the public support for protecting the environment and saving the planet. It also draws attention to climate change and global energy issues, and promotes green activities worldwide.

Viet Nam joined the event in 2009 and has been an active and keen supporter since then. Besides switching off lights, people can take part in a number of activities to raise awareness of environmental problems and call for action for climate, people and nature.

2. Read the text about WWF and complete the table.

(Đọc văn bản về WWF và hoàn thành bảng.)

The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), originally called the World Wildlife Fund, is a non-governmental organisation. It was set up in 1961, and today it is the world's largest environmental organisation. It aims to stop the process of destroying the planet's natural environment and to build a future in which humans respect nature. Much of the work of WWF focuses on the survival of endangered animals and the protection of their natural habitats. These animals include the Indian elephant, the gorilla, the giant tortoise, and the giant panda. Currently, WWF has 5 million supporters worldwide. It works in more than 100 countries and supports around 1,300 environmental projects.

3. Read the text again. Match the questions below with paragraphs A-E of the text. 

(Đọc bài khóa một lần nữa. Nối các câu hỏi bên dưới với các đoạn văn (A – E).)

In which paragraph does the writer tell us …

1. when doctors realised Ashlyn had a medical problem?

2. what causes her condition?

3. what happened when she burned her hands?

4. why some people die from this condition?

5. how school life for Ashlyn was unusual?

A life without pain

A. All children hurt themselves from time to time. But when thirteen-year-old Ashlyn Blocker gets injured, she doesn't realise it. Once, when she burned herself, she only knew about it when she looked at her skin. 

B. There was always something different about Ashlyn. As a baby, she didn't cry. When she was eight months old, her parents noticed there was some blood in her eye, so they took her to see a doctor. The doctor found a serious cut in her eye and was shocked. Why didn't the baby cry? Tests showed that Ashlyn had a very unusual medical condition: she couldn't feel any pain. 

C. This condition is very rare: many people who have it die of it. Pain is a natural warning that you're ill or injured. People who can't feel pain lust don't realise they're in danger. 

D. The first few years of Ashlyn's life were very difficult. She often tripped and injured herself. Once, she broke her ankle but she didn't stop running. During school breaks, one teacher watched Ashlyn all the time in the playground and they had to search for cuts. bruises or other injuries.

E. When she was five, Ashlyn's story appeared in newspapers and on TV. Scientists studied her condition and found she has a genetic disorder that means pain signals do not reach her brain. Unfortunately, at the moment, there is no hope of a cure. And, as Ashlyn knows, a life without pain is both difficult and dangerous.

2. Read the text and circle the correct meanings of the highlighted words.

(Đọc văn bản và khoanh tròn nghĩa đúng của các từ được đánh dấu.)

Since UNICEF set up an office in 1975 in Viet Nam, it has run projects in various fields to provide the highest possible support for children in our country. The organisation particularly aims to create opportunities for all children in Viet Nam to attend school, learn and succeed. The following programmes help achieve the UNICEF's education aims for Viet Nam.

Education for Disadvantaged Young People

UNICEF helps disadvantaged teenagers continue their education by offering them job training and career advice. They are also taught essential skills for the job market.

Providing Education Opportunities for Children with Disabilities

This programme gives children with disabilities a chance to get access to and benefit from a quality education. It also helps promote equal participation in society and a culture in which people respect each other.

Improving Learning Achievements

This is another practical programme supported by UNICEF. The aim is to better prepare children for the challenges in the future. UNICEF helps Viet Nam in joining regional educational programmes to improve children's learning achievements. When they leave school, they should have the necessary skills and knowledge to work in a fast-changing world.

1. create

a. make something happen 

b. increase something

c. refuse something

2. essential

a. usual

b. necessary

c. successful

3. respect

a. have a good opinion of somebody

b. look down on somebody

c. get on well with somebody

4. practical

a. connected with organisations

b. connected with ideas

c. connected with real situations

2. Read the text. Who replied to Zoe's message? When did they reply, and from where?

(Đọc bài khóa. Ai đã phản hồi tin nhắn của Zoe’s? Họ đã phản hồi khi nào, và ở đâu?)

Message in a bottle

In 1990, Zoe Lemon was on a ferry, sailing from Hull in England to Germany. She was going on holiday with her family. The journey was long and tiring and ten-year-old Zoe soon got bored. To pass the time, she decided to write a message in a bottle and drop it into the sea. 'It will be interesting if someone finds it,' she thought. Then she forgot about the bottle completely.

Twenty-three years later, she was amazed to get a reply from someone in the Netherlands. A man was walking on the beach and was surprised to find Zoe's bottle in the sand. He wrote to the address on the message, where Zoe's parents still live. Zoe was delighted, but it was also very moving for her to see her message again after twenty·three years, and she cried when she read it. 'It's astonishing that the bottle didn't break,' said Zoe. Her five-year-old son thinks it is all very exciting and wants to put a message in a bottle himself!

2. Rewrite the sentences using comparative and superlative adjectives or the passive voice without changing their meanings.

(Viết lại các câu bằng cách sử dụng tính từ so sánh hơn và so sánh nhất hoặc câu bị động mà không thay đổi nghĩa của chúng.)

1. The United Nations is the largest international organisation.

=> No international organisation _______________________ the United Nations.

2. We can’t accept your application today.

=> Your application __________________________________ today.

3. Viet Nam wasn’t as active as it is now in the region.

=> Now Viet Nam __________________ in the region than it was in the past.

4. I have never taken such an interesting online course.

=> This is __________________________ I have ever taken.

5. They should provide more job opportunities for women in mountainous areas.

=> More jobs opportunities _____________ in mountainous areas.

2. Read the text and choose the best tittle for it.

(Đọc văn bản và chọn tiêu đề hay nhất.)

a. Environmental problems: What are they?

b. Environmental protection: How important is it?

c. Environmental solutions: How practical are they?

The environment we live in is facing many serious problems. We need to be aware of these problems so that we can find ways to protect nature.

A. Global warming is the rise in the average temperature of the earth's atmosphere. It is one of the biggest issues facing humans today. It can have serious consequences such as rising sea levels, polar ice melting, and extreme weather events like floods or heatwaves.

B. Another environmental problem is the cutting and clearing of natural forests. The loss of forests can have a negative impact on the environment. It can damage the natural habitats of many animals and put wildlife in danger. It can also destroy the natural soil and lead to climate change.

C. Air pollution is also a serious problem. It is mainly caused by waste gases that come out of vehicles, machines, or factories. When these harmful gases combine with the water in the air, they come down as rain or snow, which can damage all forms of life. In addition, this problem leads to global warming and climate change. It is also a major cause of respiratory diseases or even lung cancer.

D. Around the world, the number of endangered animals is rising. Many of them disappear because of pollution and climate change. In addition, humans illegally hunt and kill animals, and catch too many fish at once. This is upsetting the natural balance of ecosystems, which can be harmful to all living and non-living things.

2. Read the text and circle the correct meanings of the highlighted words and phrases.

(Đọc văn bản và khoanh tròn nghĩa đúng của các từ và cụm từ được đánh dấu.)

Gender equality has been greatly promoted around the world. However, there are still many challenges that women face.

First of all, there are still girls who are forced to get married before the age of 18. In many places, parents may see child marriage as a way to protect daughters from violence. However, many of these young girls become victims of domestic violence. Child marriage also carries serious health risks as young girls are not physically developed to give birth.

Secondly, more than half of the world's uneducated people are women. This means fewer girls than boys go to school or stay long at school. Girls who receive an education are less likely to marry young. They can also have better job skills and can earn higher salaries. Education gives girls the opportunity to have a better life and give back to their communities.

Thirdly, women are often paid less than men. In other words, women have to work longer than men to earn the same amount of money. Differences in career choices might be one reason. Women tend to become nurses, secretaries, or shop assistants, which are low-paying jobs, while men choose high-paying careers as surgeons, airline pilots, or engineers.

Women are still not equal to men in today's society, and governments, organisations and individuals must work together to achieve gender equality.

1. be forced

a. be made to do something unwanted

b. be made to do something necessary

2. domestic violence

a. action taken to please someone

b. behaviour intended to hurt someone you live with

3. uneducated

a. having little or no formal education at school

b. not having many jobs opportunities

4. low-paying

a. giving money to a person

b. providing very little money

2. Read the text. Are these sentences about the people who took part in the survey true or false? Write T or F.

(Đọc văn bản. Những câu này về những người đã tham gia khảo sát là đúng hay sai? Viết T (đúng) hoặc F (sai).)

a. Most have a positive view of the British overall. _____

b. More than half have a better opinion of the British now that they live in the country. _____

How foreigners see the British

What is a typical British person like? People who come to Britain from other countries probably have a few expectations: British people are polite, rather reserved, and enjoy drinking tea and standing in queues! But how accurate is this stereotype? In an online survey of 1402 foreign nationals living in the UK, just over half said that the British matched their expectations.

The survey also asked which aspects of the British character the foreign nationals liked and disliked. British people's good manners were popular with 49% and 40% liked the ability to queue. Many agreed that the British are reserved and for 32% this was a good quality but for 19% it was negative. Other negative aspects were the British sense of humour (31%) and British culture in general (28%). However, 77% said they liked British people in general and 61% said that their opinion of the British got better as a result of living in the UK. 

A spokesman for the researchers said: People probably come to Britain with a stereotype of what to expect. It’s good to see that, for the majority, the reality is better than the stereotype.'