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 main difference between urban growth in Europe and in the American colonies was the slow evolution of cities in the former and their rapid growth in the latter. In Europe they grew over a period of centuries from town economies to their present urban structure. In North America, they started as wilderness communities and developed to mature urbanism’s in little more than a century.

In the early colonial day in North America, small cities sprang up along the Atlantic Coastline, mostly in what are now New America, small cities sprang up along the Atlantic United States and in the lower Saint Lawrence valley in Canada. This was natural because these areas were nearest England and France, particularly England, from which most capital goods (assets such as equipment) and many consumer goods were imported Merchandising establishments were, accordingly, advantageously located in port cities from which goods could be readily distributed to interior settlements. Here, too, were the favored locations for processing raw materials prior to export. Boston, Philadelphia, New York, Montreal, and other cities flourished, and, as the colonies grew, these cities increased in importance.

This was less true in the colonial South, where life centered around large farms, known as plantations, rather than around towns, as was the case in the areas further north along the Atlantic coastline. The local isolation and the economic self-sufficiency of the plantations were antagonistic to the development of the towns. The plantations maintained their independence because they were located on navigable streams and each had a wharf accessible to the small shipping of that day. In fact, one of the strongest factors in the selection of plantation land was the desire to have it front on a water highway.

When the United States became an independent nation in 1776, it did not have a single city as large as 50,000 inhabitants, but by 1820 it had a city of more than 10,000 people, and by 1880 it had recorded a city of over one million. It was not until after 1823, after the mechanization of the spinning and weaving industries, that cities started drawing young people away from farms. Such migration was particularly rapid following the Civil War (1861- 1865).

What does the passage mainly discuss?

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.

In spring 2008, the polar bear was placed on the endangered species list. According to the USA’s Endangered Species Act, an endangered species is an animal, plant or any other kind of wildlife that is likely to face extinction in its natural (26) _____________. Polar bears had already been categorized (27) _____________ a “threatened” species which the ESA defines as one that is likely to become “endangered” in the foreseeable future.

The polar bear’s habitat is more (28) _____________ to global warming than many other species. Polar bears live mainly on the sea ice in the Arctic. This is where they hunt for fish and build up fat reserves. When the ice melts many polar bears move to land and live off their stored fat. In the Arctic, global warming is causing the ice to melt slightly earlier and form slightly later. This (29) _____________ a shorter feeding season for the polar bear. Some risk their lives to find ice. If they have to swim too far they will drown from exhaustion and hunger. The World Wildlife Fund (30) _____________ that over 25% of Arctic sea ice has disappeared in the past 30 years.

According to the passage, all of the following aspects of the plantation system influenced the growth of southern cities EXCEPT the _____________.

Although the first printed books had appeared long before in China, the term ‘mass media’ we use today was coined with the creation of print media, which started in Europe in the Middle Ages.

Many young people travel all over the world and do all kinds of jobs before they ________.

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.

This (29) _____________ a shorter feeding season for the polar bear.

Waiter: “How do you like your beef done?”

Customer: “________”

Using renewable resources is the best option for preventing the _________ of fossil-based resources.

Millions of teenagers around the world are addicted to computer and video game.

He has the ________ face and skin of an old traveller.

The movement of people to and from the city can explain ____________.

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: “I apologize to you for being late for class.”

Ms. Huong. “ __________”

If you don’t ___________ this opportunity, you might not get another one.

The polar bear’s habitat is more (28) _____________ to global warming than many other species.

Mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the word that differs from the other three in the position of primary stress in each of the following questions.