Exercise 1

Exercise 1
Read the passages and choose the best answer to each question.
Questions 1-2
Before television and computers, our most powerful communication tool was
language. However, the supremacy(quyền tối cao, tối thượng) of language has
been challenged by the introduction of images - powerful, realistic, moving images
- into our everyday communication. The advent of television and computing in the
twentieth century marked a new period in communication technology, the
Information Age. The marriage of words and images offered by television, together
with the interactive power of the computer, have profoundly affected the nature of
our society.
In its short life of half a century, the computer has revolutionized the way we
communicate. In the workplace, businesses rely on computers for communication
and for performing routine tasks such as record keeping, accounting, and
inventory. Computing has spawned new forms of media, such as the worldwide
network of millions of computers called the Internet. By the mid-1990s, the
general public was using the Internet for education, entertainment, and business,
making it the fastest-growing medium today.
1. According to the passage, how has the technology of the Information Age
changed our daily communication?
A. It helps us learn language more easily.
B. It combines language with visual images.
C. It improves our ability to think logically.
D. It makes routine tasks more interesting.
2. What new communication medium did the computer generate?
A. Language B. Television
C. Record keeping D. The Internet 4
Questions 3-4
It was not until enterprising sea captains imported exotic animals to sell to
traveling showmen that words such as lion or polar bear had much meaning to
Americans. In 1789 the first large collection of exotic wild animals was put on
permanent exhibit in New York. By the 1830s, most circuses had a collection of
animals that generally included elephants, camels, lions, tigers, kangaroos, and
apes. These animal shows served as traveling zoos where many Americans saw
their first exotic animal. The creatures made such an impression that American
English began to acquire new phrases.
To monkey around and monkey business are expressions of the early 1800s, and to
make a monkey out of someone is from 1899, all being terms based on the
increasing number of monkeys seen in circuses and zoos. A large or uncouth man
was called a big ape by 1831, and gorilla was used to mean a hairy, tough man by
the 1860s and a thug by 1926.
3. According to the passage, what was one effect of traveling animal shows?
A. New laws regulated the importation of exotic animals.
B. There was an increase in popular forms of entertainment.
C. People worked to improve the living conditions of animals.
D. American English acquired many new words and phrases.
4. What point does the author make in paragraph 2?
A. Monkeys were the most popular animals in circuses and zoos.
B. Several expressions reflect an interest in monkeys and apes.
C. There are many similarities between monkeys and humans.
D. Many words to describe large men are considered vulgar.
Questions 5-7
The cells of a plant are organized into three tissue systems: dermal, vascular, and
ground tissue. Each tissue system is continuous throughout the plant's body. The
specific characteristics of each tissue, however, are different in the different organs
of the plant.
The dermal tissue system is the "skin" of the plant. The dermal system, or
epidermis, is a single layer of cells covering the entire body of the plant. The main
function of the epidermis is to protect the plant. The epidermis also has specialized
characteristics for the particular organs it covers. For example, the epidermis of
leaves and stems has a waxy coating that helps the plant conserve water, and the
epidermal cells near the tips of the plant's roots help the plant absorb water and
nutrients from the soil.
The second tissue system - the vascular system - is the transportation system for
water and nutrients. Vascular tissue also helps to support the plant's structure. The
third system - the ground tissue - makes up the bulk of a plant, filling all of the
spaces between the dermal and vascular tissue systems. Ground tissue functions in
photosynthesis, storage, and support.
5. How are the three tissue systems of a plant similar to each other?
A. They all continue throughout the plant's body.
B. They all have a protective waxy coating.
C. They all consist of a single layer of cells.
D They all perform the same bodily functions.
6. Which of the following statements best describes the plant's epidermis?
A. It helps the plant to stand upright.
B. It transports water and nutrients.
C. It covers the plant's entire body.
D. It is found only in young plants.
7. Which type of tissue does a plant's body mainly consist of? 5
A. Dermal B. Vascular
C. Epidermis D. Ground
Questions 8-10
By the decades just before the Civil War of the 1860s, The Southern states had
developed an economic culture distinct from that of the North. The economy of the
South depended largely on two things: cotton and slave labor. Because of the rising
demand for cotton from the mills of England, and the invention of the cotton gin in
1793, the cotton production of the South increased tremendously. In 1790, cotton
output had been 9,000 bales a year, but by the 1850s, output had soared to five
million bales. In the South, cotton was "king." The most readily available source of
labor was the institution of slavery. Thus, cotton and slavery became
interdependent, and the South grew more reliant on both.
This was in sharp contrast to the North, where farming was becoming more
mechanized and diversified. Northern farmers would boast of improvements in the
form of new roads, railways, and machinery, and of the production of a variety of
crops. In the South, however, farmers bought laborers instead of equipment, and a
man's social status depended on the number of slaves he owned. The economic
differences between the two regions would ultimately lead to armed conflict and
the social restructuring of the South.
8. Why did the Southern output of cotton greatly increase between 1790 and 1850?
A. Southern farmers invested in transportation.
B. Mills in England demanded more cotton.
C. The South was trying to dominate the North.
D. Southern cotton was superior to Northern cotton.
9. What was associated more with the North in the period discussed?
A. Farm machinery B. Slave labor
C. Military service D. Reliance on one crop
10. The author argues that the Civil War between the North and the South
A. was a conflict over control of the cotton trade
B. began in 1790 and lasted almost seventy years
C. was largely the result of economic differences
D. forced the South to produce different crops

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