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 from 36 to 42.

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is located where the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers unite to form the Ohio River. Its fascinating history began in 1758 when General John Forbes and his British and colonial army captured Fort Duquesne from the French and renamed it Fort Pitt, for the British statesman William Pitt the Elder. After an agreement between the Native American tribes and William Penn's family, settlers henan arrivinn Pittsburah was laid out (1764) by John Campbell in the area around the fort.

Following the American Revolution, the town became an outfitting point for settlers traveling westward down the Ohio River. Pittsburgh's strategic location and wealth of natural resources spurred its commercial and industrial growth in the nineteenth century. A blast furnace, erected by George Anschutz about 1792, was the forerunner of the iron and steel industry that for more than a century was the city's economic power. By 1850, it was known as the "Iron City". The Pennsylvania Canal and the Portage Railroad, both completed in 1834, opened vital markets for trade and shipping.

After the American Civil War, great numbers of European immigrants swelled Pittsburgh's population, and industrial magnates such as Andrew Carnegie, Henry Clay Frick, and Thomas Mellon built their steel empires there. The city became the focus of historic frictionbetween labor and management, and the American Federation of Labor was organized there in 1881. By 1900, the city's population had reached 321,616. Growth continued nearly unabated through World War II, and during the war years, Pittsburgh was a boom town.

During this period of economic and population growth, Pittsburgh became a grimy, polluted industrial city. After the war, however, the city undertook an extensive redevelopment program, with emphasis on smoke-pollution control, flood prevention, and sewage disposal.

In 1957, it became the first American city to generate electricity by nuclear power. By the late 1970s and early 80s, the steel industry had virtually disappeared, but Pittsburgh successfully diversified its economy through more emphasis on light industries and on such high-technology industries as computer software, industrial automation (robotic), and biomedical and environmental technologies.

In the mid-eighteenth century, what two countries wanted to control the area now known as Pittsburgh?

The president, (A) with his wife and children, (B) are at home watching the (C) news(D) on television.

According to the passage, what can be inferred about Pittsburgh's population during the World War II?

- Did you remember to give Linda the money you owed her?

- Yes, I gave it to her_____________I saw her.

- Mai: I'm terribly sorry. I forgot to call you last night.

- Nam: _____________.

Mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the word whose underlined part differs from the other three in pronunciation in each of the following questions.

"If I were you, I'd buy that house," Ms. Hoa said to Ms. Lan.

_____________we have!

I should leave here. I don't want to_____________my welcome.

Between the Civil War and World War II, all of the following happened in Pittsburgh EXCEPT_____________.

_____________no taxi, they had to walk home.

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.

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.

The Giant Panda

The giant panda is a beloved animal in China. It is regarded as a national (26) _____________. It is found mostly in southwestern China in Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu provinces. The giant panda is part of the bear family. It has a white coat with black trimmings around its eyes and on its ears, arms, and legs. Adult pandas can be 5 feet (1.5 meters) long and weigh (27) _____________to 330 pounds (150 kilograms). The giant panda leads a (28) _____________life, except during the mating season.

It lives in bamboo forests in the mountains. It can climb trees but lives mainly on the ground. (29) _____________most bears, the panda does not hibernate. It moves to low-lying areas during the winter in search of warmer temperatures. The giant panda has a mainly (30) _____________diet, eating mostly bamboo shoots and leaves. It also eats insects and small rodents. Giant panda breeding groups are small and isolated from one another.

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.

I knew she was only flattering me because she wanted to borrow some money.

My brother attended the meeting. His friend attended the meeting, too.

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

Nowadays, many serious childhood diseases_____________by early immunization.