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.

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)

It is stated in the passage that Jason Niebler ________.

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

Sally disagreed with the board of directors’ decision so she _________ and went to work for another company.

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.

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.

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

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

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

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 31 to 35.

ALTERNATIVE ENERGY SOURCES

A lot of different energy sources are used every day. Burning of fossil fuel is a main energy source. Sources other than this fossil fuel are known as alternative energy sources and there are several of them being used every day.

First of all, it is water. Water energy can be harnessed to perform work by using waterwheels.

In a hydroelectric plant the running or falling water spins a generator to create electricity.

Not only does water spin a wheel, but wind can do so as well. Windmills work in the same manner as a waterwheel. Windmills are used as wind turbines that can generate electricity.

The internal heat of the earth is another energy source. It is called geothermal energy. Geothermal energy can be used to heat homes and produce electricity.

Solar energy is often thought to be sunlight. Sunlight is full of energy. People are finding new ways to harness the power of sunlight. One major way is to trap or concentrate sunlight with the use of solar panels. This trapped sunlight can be used to heat homes and water. Also, solar cells are devices that convert sunlight into electricity.

Sources of energy other than fossil fuel are called which of the following?

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

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

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

Online courses offer a great degree of ___________ in terms of learning time, place, pace and style.

When students (A) do not know (B) what they want to do after (C) leave school, they could (D) consider some other options.

Lisa ___________ at 8 o’clock next week. She’ll be on holiday!

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