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 30 to 34. Fill in the appropriate word in question 31

The General Certificate of Secondary Education or the GCSE examinations for (30) _____ are the standard school-leaver qualifications taken by virtually all UK students in the May and June following their 16th birthday. If you come to a UK independent school before (31) _____ the age of 16, you will study towards GCSE examinations in up to 12 subjects. Some subjects are compulsory, including English arid mathematics, and you can select (32) _____, such as music, drama, geography and history from a series of options. GCSEs provide a good all-round education that you can build on at college and eventually at university.

AS- and A-levels are taken after GCSEs. They are the UK qualifications most(33) _____  accepted for entry to university and are available in subjects from the humanities, arts, sciences and social sciences as well as in vocational subjects such (34) _____  engineering, and leisure and tourism. You can study up to four subjects at the same time for two years.