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.

The concept of urban agriculture may conjure up images of rooftop, backyard or community gardens scattered among downtown city streets and surrounding neighborhoods. But in the Seattle area, and within and beyond the Puget Sound region, it means a great deal more. “Urban agriculture doesn’t necessarily equate to production that occurs only in a metropolitan urban area", says Jason Niebler, who directs the Sustainable Agriculture Education (SAgE) Initiative at Seattle Central Community College. “It means we are providing for growing population food needs from surrounding rural landscapes, as well as from the core urban landscape.”

Picture a series of concentric circles, with an urban core that produces some food at varying capacities, surrounded by a series of outlying rings of small farms that become increasingly more rural with distance. The hope is that such land use planning, from the inner core to the outer rings, will encourage local ecologically sound sustainable food production. This, in turn, will create local jobs and decrease reliance on distant food products that originate from petroleum-intensive large scale farms.

That’s the idea behind SAgE, believed to be the nation’s first metropolitan-based community college sustainable agriculture program that emphasizes farming practices across diverse landscape types from urban centers to surrounding rural environs. “It’s small scale agriculture with an urban focus,” Niebler says. “Any urban population, large or small, can practice sustainable agriculture, improve food security and protect the environment, which ultimately results in resilient food systems and communities.”

SAgE is a part of National Science Foundation’s Advanced Technological Education (ATE) Program, which is providing the project with $157,375 over two years. ATE’s goal is to support projects that strengthen the skills of technicians who work in industries regarded as vital to the national’s prosperity and security. The support largely goes to community colleges that work in partnership with universities, secondary schools, businesses and industries, as well as government agencies, which design and implement model workforce initiatives.

The SAgE project focuses on the environmental, socioeconomic, political and cultural issues related to sustainable food systems, within Puget Sound watersheds through student and community education and research, and technological innovation. The curriculum offers courses that cover such issues as agricultural ecology, urban food systems, food politics and ethics, soil science, sustainable food production and technology, the integration of food and forests, and career opportunities.

“We’ve created a curriculum that is fundamental in nature, addressing the principles of sustainable agriculture and what a food system is – how it functions both locally and globally,” Niebler says. “These courses are challenging, robust and inspirational. One of the really wonderful things about them is that we offer service learning opportunities, where students volunteer a portion of their time to working with local partner organizations. They can do a research project, or a service learning option. The ideal would be to prompt students into careers that involve sustainable practices in an urban agriculture setting.”

(Adapted from “Promoting Sustainable Agriculture” by Mariene Cimons)

In Niebler’s opinion, the courses offered by the SAgE project are ________.

Mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the following questions.

I am writing in _________ to your advertisement on vietnamework.com for the post of a personal assistant.

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

Employers usually look for candidates who have qualifications and relevant experience.

Mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the underlined part that needs correction in each of the following questions.

My friend (A) offered (B) finding more information (C) about the company that I was applying (D) to.

Mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the word(s) OPPOSITE in meaning to the underlined word(s) in each of the following questions.

To become a librarian, you need to be really well-organized.

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

Thanks to her high grades at university, Linh is offered the position.

Mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the following questions.

If you had listened to my advice, you ____________ into trouble now.

Mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the following questions.

I’m not sure I’m doing it right, but I’ll try to _____________ ahead with it anyway.

Mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the following questions.

The company’s announced it’s __________ off over 1,000 workers.

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 from 26 to 30.

Online dating is a good way for (26) ____________ shy people to make contact. Once you get comfortable with a stranger on a virtual basis, you may be encouraged to meet them in person. If you are on the right dating site, you are more likely to find people looking for the same things as you and it increases your chances of stumbling (27) ____________ the right partner. Internet dating is an effective way of helping you meet new people and have a chance to decide (28) _________ you want to have a date in person.

(29) __________ internet dating is very convenient, it can also be misleading. When you are not personally meeting a person, the risk of being (30) __________ is higher as people often augment their profile just to attract your attention. If you are not careful, you may end up wasting many hours of your time with no real results.

Điền vào ô số 26

Mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the following questions.

We complained _________ the manager _________ the poor service we received at the restaurant.

Mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the following questions.

You should keep the milk in the refrigerator _____________ it wouldn’t go bad.

Mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the underlined part that needs correction in each of the following questions.

Many animal (A) species are becoming (B) endangered or even (C) extinction due to (D) habitat destruction.

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

Hoa: “Do you know how this machine works?” - Nam: “____________” 

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

“How beautiful the dress you have just bought is!” Peter said to Mary.

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

Peter: “Sarah doesn’t seem very happy at the moment. Does she find the course difficult?” - Mary: “____________ ”