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.

Newspapers and television news programs always seem to report about the bad things happening in society. However, there is a place where readers can find some good news. That place is the website called HappyNews. The man behind HappyNews is Byron Reese. Reese set up HappyNews because he thought other news sources were giving people an unbalanced view of the world. Reese said about HappyNews, “The news media gives you a distorted view of the world by exaggerating bad news, misery, and despair. We’re trying to balance out the scale.”

Not everyone agrees with Reese’s view, though. Many people think that news sources have a responsibility to provide news that is helpful to people. People need to know about issues or problems in today’s society. Then they are better able to make informed decisions about things that affect their daily lives. Reese said that HappyNews is not trying to stop people from learning about issues or problems. HappyNews is just trying to provide a balanced picture of today’s world.

By the end of its first month online, HappyNews had more than 70,000 unique readers. About 60 percent of those readers were women. Something else unique makes HappyNews different from any of the other news or information websites that are on the Internet. Unlike many other websites, HappyNews gets fan mail from its readers on a daily basis.

What does “exaggerating” mean in this reading?

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.

Amy Tan was born on February 19, 1952 in Oakland, California. Tan grew up in Northern California, (25) _______ when her father and older brother both died from brain tumors in 1966, she moved with her mother and younger brother to Europe, where she attended high school in Montreux, Switzerland. She returned to the United States for college. After college, Tan worked as a language development consultant and as a corporate freelance writer. In 1985, she wrote the story "Rules of the Game" for a writing workshop, which laid the early (26) _______ for her first novel The Joy Luck Club. Published in 1989, the book explored the (27) _______ between Chinese women and their Chinese–American daughters, and became the longest–running New York Times bestseller for that year. The Joy Luck Club received numerous awards, including the Los Angeles Times Book Award. It has been translated into 25 languages, including Chinese, and was made into a major motion picture for (28) _______ Tan co–wrote the screenplay. Tan's other works have also been (29) ______ into several different forms of media.

Điền vào ô 26

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.

It was a mistake for Tony to buy that house. 

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.

A supermarket is more convenient than a shopping centre.

Mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the most suitable response to complete each of the following exchanges.

Two students are talking in a new class.

Student 1: “Excuse me, is anybody sitting here?” – Student 2: “____________”

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.

Amy Tan was born on February 19, 1952 in Oakland, California. Tan grew up in Northern California, (25) _______ when her father and older brother both died from brain tumors in 1966, she moved with her mother and younger brother to Europe, where she attended high school in Montreux, Switzerland. She returned to the United States for college. After college, Tan worked as a language development consultant and as a corporate freelance writer. In 1985, she wrote the story "Rules of the Game" for a writing workshop, which laid the early (26) _______ for her first novel The Joy Luck Club. Published in 1989, the book explored the (27) _______ between Chinese women and their Chinese–American daughters, and became the longest–running New York Times bestseller for that year. The Joy Luck Club received numerous awards, including the Los Angeles Times Book Award. It has been translated into 25 languages, including Chinese, and was made into a major motion picture for (28) _______ Tan co–wrote the screenplay. Tan's other works have also been (29) ______ into several different forms of media.

Điền vào ô 29

Linda rarely goes to school by bike, but today she ______ a bike.

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 agree that I am narrow–minded,” said the manager.

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.

Newspapers and television news programs always seem to report about the bad things happening in society. However, there is a place where readers can find some good news. That place is the website called HappyNews. The man behind HappyNews is Byron Reese. Reese set up HappyNews because he thought other news sources were giving people an unbalanced view of the world. Reese said about HappyNews, “The news media gives you a distorted view of the world by exaggerating bad news, misery, and despair. We’re trying to balance out the scale.”

Not everyone agrees with Reese’s view, though. Many people think that news sources have a responsibility to provide news that is helpful to people. People need to know about issues or problems in today’s society. Then they are better able to make informed decisions about things that affect their daily lives. Reese said that HappyNews is not trying to stop people from learning about issues or problems. HappyNews is just trying to provide a balanced picture of today’s world.

By the end of its first month online, HappyNews had more than 70,000 unique readers. About 60 percent of those readers were women. Something else unique makes HappyNews different from any of the other news or information websites that are on the Internet. Unlike many other websites, HappyNews gets fan mail from its readers on a daily basis.

Why might some people NOT like HappyNews? 

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.

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.

Amy Tan was born on February 19, 1952 in Oakland, California. Tan grew up in Northern California, (25) _______ when her father and older brother both died from brain tumors in 1966, she moved with her mother and younger brother to Europe, where she attended high school in Montreux, Switzerland. She returned to the United States for college. After college, Tan worked as a language development consultant and as a corporate freelance writer. In 1985, she wrote the story "Rules of the Game" for a writing workshop, which laid the early (26) _______ for her first novel The Joy Luck Club. Published in 1989, the book explored the (27) _______ between Chinese women and their Chinese–American daughters, and became the longest–running New York Times bestseller for that year. The Joy Luck Club received numerous awards, including the Los Angeles Times Book Award. It has been translated into 25 languages, including Chinese, and was made into a major motion picture for (28) _______ Tan co–wrote the screenplay. Tan's other works have also been (29) ______ into several different forms of media.

Điền vào ô 27

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.

Newspapers and television news programs always seem to report about the bad things happening in society. However, there is a place where readers can find some good news. That place is the website called HappyNews. The man behind HappyNews is Byron Reese. Reese set up HappyNews because he thought other news sources were giving people an unbalanced view of the world. Reese said about HappyNews, “The news media gives you a distorted view of the world by exaggerating bad news, misery, and despair. We’re trying to balance out the scale.”

Not everyone agrees with Reese’s view, though. Many people think that news sources have a responsibility to provide news that is helpful to people. People need to know about issues or problems in today’s society. Then they are better able to make informed decisions about things that affect their daily lives. Reese said that HappyNews is not trying to stop people from learning about issues or problems. HappyNews is just trying to provide a balanced picture of today’s world.

By the end of its first month online, HappyNews had more than 70,000 unique readers. About 60 percent of those readers were women. Something else unique makes HappyNews different from any of the other news or information websites that are on the Internet. Unlike many other websites, HappyNews gets fan mail from its readers on a daily basis.

The word “they” in paragraph 2 refers to _______.

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.

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.

Mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the most suitable response to complete each of the following exchanges.

Bill is talking to his colleague.

Bill: “_________, Jack?” – Jack: “Fine! I have just got a promotion.” 

The sight of his pale face brought ________ to me how ill he really was.