Mark the letter A, B, C, or D to indicate the word(s) CLOSEST in meaning to the underlined word(s) in each of the following questions.

I was listening to an amusing program on the radio, which made me laugh out loud.

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions from 36 to 42.

For many hundreds of thousands of people worldwide, online networking has become enmeshed in our daily lives. However, it is a decades-old insight from a study of traditional social networks that best illuminates one of the most important aspects of today’s online networking. In 1973, sociologist Mark Granovetter showed how the loose acquaintances, or “weak ties”, in our social network exert a disproportionate influence over our behaviour and choices. Granovetter's research showed that a significant percentage of people get their jobs as a result of recommendations or advice provided by a weak tie. Today our number of weak-tie contacts has exploded via online social networking. “You couldn't maintain all of those weak ties on your own”, says Jennifer Golbeck of the University of Maryland. “Online sites, such as Facebook, give you a way of cataloguing them”. The result? It's now significantly easier for the schoolfriend you haven’t seen in years to pass you a tip that alters your behaviour, from recommendation of a low-cholesterol breakfast cereal to a party invite where you meet your future wife or husband.

The explosion of weak ties could have profound consequences for our social structures too, according to Judith Donath of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University. “We're already seeing changes”, she says. For example, many people now turn to their online social networks ahead of sources such as newspapers and television for trusted and relevant news or information. What they hear could well be inaccurate, but the change is happening nonetheless. If these huge “supernets” - some of them numbering up to 5,000 people - continue to thrive and grow, they could fundamentally change the way we share information and transform our notions of relationships.

But are these vast networks really that relevant to us on a personal level? Robin Dunbar, an evolutionary anthropologist at the University of Oxford, believes that our primate brains place a cap on the number of genuine social relationships we can actually cope with: roughly 150. According to Dunbar, online social networking appears to be very good for “servicing” relationships, but not for establishing them. He argues that our evolutionary roots mean we still depend heavily on physical and face-to-face contact to be able to create ties.

Online social networking may also have tangible effects on our well-being. Nicole Ellison of Michigan State University found that the frequency of networking site use correlates with greater self-esteem. Support and affirmation from the weak ties could be the explanation, say Ellison. “Asking your close friends for help or advice is nothing new, but we are seeing a lower of barriers among acquaintances”, she says. People are readily sharing personal feelings and experiences to a wider circle than they might once have done. Sandy Pentland at Massachusetts Institute of Technology agrees. “The ability to broadcast to our social group means we need never feel alone”.

(Adapted from The Official Cambridge Guide to IELTS)

Mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the option that best completes each of the following exchanges.

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions from 31 to 35.

It appears that WHO played a critically important, though imperfect, role in responding to the initial outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China. Under the IHR, member countries are required to report potential PHEICs occurring in their territories within 24 hours following initial detection.

Historically, however, countries have been reluctant to comply with the IHR’s reporting requirement, partly because it might expose them to unwanted economic sanctions. Chinese authorities faced this dilemma as they mulled over the question of spotlighting the potentially grave public health situation in Wuhan. Against this backdrop, WHO’s detection of the local health commission’s notice on December 31, 2019, along with its immediate request to gain further information, augmented the strategic situation facing Chinese authorities to encourage disclosure.

Since late January 2020, WHO’s response to the COVID-19 crisis has suffered a number of institutional missteps. The agency came under fire for issuing contradictory statements on precautionary health topics, such as “human- to-human transmissibility” and “asymptomatic spread.” It has also been criticized for being slow to adapt its official position on face masks in light of emerging scientific evidence. WHO also arguably erred in choosing to delay formal declaration of a global public health emergency by at least one week.

For all of its institutional successes and shortfalls, WHO nonetheless continues to contribute powerfully and positively to the pandemic response effort. To date, the organization has raised over $200 million through its Solidarity Response Fund to combat the COVID-19 crisis, and has otherwise shipped millions of items of personal protective equipment (PPE) to healthcare personnel in over 100 countries. WHO has also exercised its norm-creating power to provide member countries with comprehensive guidance documentation on the pandemic. It has additionally played a significant role in coordinating the global search for vaccines and other medical treatments.

(Adapted from https://www.gcseglobal.org/)

The cabinet minister left office under a cloud after a fraud scandal.

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D to indicate the correct word or phrase that best fits each of the numbered blanks from 26 to 30.

As Americans live longer and longer, around 70 percent of people 65 or older will need some kind of long-term care. While some folks will only need part-time help at home to prepare meals and clean bathrooms, (26) _______ will spend months or years in assisted living or a nursing facility. The problem is that none of us knows which fate awaits us, so we're left to plan for an old age that could either be perfectly (27) _______ or cripplingly expensive.

If you don't already know, the cost of long-term care in the U.S. is sky-high, and it's going up faster than inflation. The average cost of a private room in a nursing home in 2019 was $102,200 a year, (28) _______ is 57 percent more than it cost in 2004, according to Genworth Financial. In 2019, a year in an assisted living facility (29) _______ $48,612 on average nationwide, but in Washington, D.C., (30) _______, just a year of assisted living ran $135,456. Staying at home isn't necessarily cheaper, either. Hiring an hourly home health aide (based on 44 hours per week) averaged $52,624 a year in 2019, Genworth reported.

(Adapt from: https://www.howstuffworks.com/)

Mark the letter A, B, C, or D to indicate the sentence that is closest in meaning to each of the following questions.