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 following questions.

It’s often said that we team things at the wrong time. University students frequently do the minimum of work because they’re crazy about a good social life instead. Children often scream before their piano practice 5 because it’s so boring. They have to be given gold stars and medals to be persuaded to swim, or have to be bribed to take exams. But the story is different when you’re older.

Over the years, I’ve done my share of adult learning. At 30, I went to a college and did courses in History and English. It was an amazing experience. For starters, I was paying, so there was no reason to be late - I was the one frowning and drumming my fingers if the tutor was late, not the other way round. Indeed, if I could persuade him to linger for an extra five minutes, it was a bonus, not a nuisance. I wasn’t frightened to ask questions, and homework was a pleasure not a pain. When I passed an exam, I had a big meal, not for my parents or my teachers. The satisfaction I got was entirely personal.

Some people fear going back to school because they worry that their brains have got rusty. But the joy is that, although some parts have rusted up, your brain has learnt all kinds of other things since you were young. It has learnt to think independently and flexibly and is much better at relating one thing to another. What you lose in the rust department, you gain in the maturity department.

In some ways, age is a positive plus. For instance, when you’re older, you get less frustrated. Experience has told you that, if you’re calm and simply do something carefully again and again, eventually you’ll get the hang of it. The confidence you have in other areas - from being able to drive a car, perhaps - means that if you can’t, say, build a chair instantly, you don’t, like a child, want to destroy your first pathetic attempts. Maturity tells you that you will, with application, eventually get there.

I hated piano lessons at school, but I was good at music. And coming back to it, with a teacher who could explain why certain exercises were useful and with musical concepts that, at the age of ten. I could never grasp, was magical. Initially, I did feel a bit strange, thumping out a piece that I’d played for my school exams, with just as little comprehension of what the composer intended as I’d had all those years before. But soon, complex emotions that I never knew poured out from my fingers, and suddenly I could understand why practice makes perfect.

The phrase “For starters” in paragraph 2 could best be replaced by ______

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I don’t remember ____ of the decision to change the company policy on vacations. When was it decided?

Mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the sentence that best combines each pair of sentences in the following questions.

Alice and Charles did not decide to move to a bigger house until after the birth of their second child.

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_______ extremely bad weather in the mountains, we are no longer considering our skiing trip.

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

“Would you like me to send this package for you?” – “___________”

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She came in quietly_________not to wake the baby.

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Many scientists _____ all their lives to working out answers to problems.

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Don’t let time go ________ without doing anything about the situation.

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

Albert Einstein was such brilliant (A) a scientist that many of his colleagues (B) had to study (C) for several years (D) in order to form opinions about his theories.

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A lot of people _______ out of work if the factory closed down.

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In order to become a member of the country club, applicants have to meet the strict ____ set by the club president.

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.

Don’t tell Jane anything about the surprise party for Jack. She has got a big mouth.

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__________ in UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites in 2003, Phong Nha Ke Bang is noted for its cave and grotto systems.

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I would prefer you to deliver the sofa on Saturday.

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You should not send money to us by post under any circumstances.

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.

“I am in a bit of hurry, but I’ll ring you tomorrow”, he said.