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.

Mickey Mantle was one of the greatest baseball players of all time. He played for the New York Yankees in their years of glory. From the time Mantle began to play professionally in 1951 to his last year in 1968, baseball was the most popular game in the United States. For many people, Mantle symbolized the hope, prosperity, and confidence of America at that time.

Mantle was a fast and powerful player, a “switch-hitter” who could bat both right-handed and lefthanded. He won game after game, one World Series championship after another, for his team. He was a wonderful athlete, but this alone cannot explain America’s fascination with him.

Perhaps it was because he was a handsome, red-haired country boy, the son of a poor miner from Oklahoma. His career, from the lead mines of the West to the heights of success and fame, was a fairy-tale version of the American dream. Or perhaps it was because America always loves a “natural”: a person who wins without seeming to try, whose talent appears to come from an inner grace. That was Mickey Mantle.

But like many celebrities, Mickey Mantle had a private life that was full of problems. He played without complaint despite constant pain from injuries. He lived to fulfill his father’s dreams and drank to forget his father’s early death.

It was a terrible addiction that finally destroyed his body. It gave him cirrhosis of the liver and accelerated the advance of liver cancer. Even when Mickey Mantle had turned away from his old life and warned young people not to follow his example, the destructive process could not be stopped. Despite a liver transplant operation that had all those who loved and admired him hoping for a recovery, Mickey Mantle died of cancer at the age of 63.

What is the main idea of the passage?

Read the passage, and choose the correct answer A, B, C or D for each question.

Son Doong Cave

Located in the limestone mountains of Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park. Son Doong Cave was first found in 1991 by Ho Khanh, a local man. In 2009, the cave was explored and published by a group of scientists from British Cave Research Association.

Son Doong Cave was formed from 2 to 5 million years ago, when the river flowed through the limestone mountain area and was buried. The water eroded limestone and created an underground tunnel. In soft limestone areas, the collapse of tunnel ceiling formed large holes which became giant domes afterward. The cave is about 200m high, 200m wide and at least 8 5km long. Especially, Son Doong consists of two entrances, which is unique among explored caves in Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park. Exploring the cave, visitors were surprised with spectacular scenery of numerous stalactites of which some giant stalagmites are more than 70 metres high. Deep inside the cave exists a grandiose tropical jungle called “Garden of Eden" by the explorers. The jungle is home to a diversifiedsystem of fauna and flora. Besides, the cave possesses a 2.5-kilometre underground river. Not far from the “Garden of Eden” lies an enormous “pearl collection” consisting of tens of thousands of small stone pieces in dry ponds, contributing to magnificent beauty of the cave.

The most important feature of “Garden of Eden” is ………

Decide T (true)/ F (false) for each statement.

Last year I visited the Somerset Levels, a coastal plain and wetland area in Somerset, South West England. This area is home to one of Somerset’s oldest traditional crafts - willow basket making. Basket making began in the area a long time ago. At the beginning of the 19th century, more than three thousand acres of willow trees were planted commercially there because the area provided an excellent natural habitat for their cultivation. I’d seen willow baskets before I visited the Levels, but I was still amazed at the numerous products created by the basket makers there. They make lobster pots, bread trays, and even passenger baskets for hot air balloons. Although the arrival of plastics in the 1950s caused the basket making industry to decline, willow growing and basket making have continued to play a significant role in Somerset’s rural economy. Willow growers and basket makers have dealt with this challenge by finding new markets and innovative ways of using willow. They make willow charcoal for artists and bower seats for gardens. Some even weave willow coffins. Therefore, people here can still live on the craft that their great-grandparents passed down to them.

Willow basket making is the oldest traditional craft in Somerset.

Read the passage, and choose the correct answer A, B, C or D for each question.

Son Doong Cave

Located in the limestone mountains of Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park. Son Doong Cave was first found in 1991 by Ho Khanh, a local man. In 2009, the cave was explored and published by a group of scientists from British Cave Research Association.

Son Doong Cave was formed from 2 to 5 million years ago, when the river flowed through the limestone mountain area and was buried. The water eroded limestone and created an underground tunnel. In soft limestone areas, the collapse of tunnel ceiling formed large holes which became giant domes afterward. The cave is about 200m high, 200m wide and at least 8 5km long. Especially, Son Doong consists of two entrances, which is unique among explored caves in Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park. Exploring the cave, visitors were surprised with spectacular scenery of numerous stalactites of which some giant stalagmites are more than 70 metres high. Deep inside the cave exists a grandiose tropical jungle called “Garden of Eden" by the explorers. The jungle is home to a diversifiedsystem of fauna and flora. Besides, the cave possesses a 2.5-kilometre underground river. Not far from the “Garden of Eden” lies an enormous “pearl collection” consisting of tens of thousands of small stone pieces in dry ponds, contributing to magnificent beauty of the cave.

The thing that makes it different from other caves in Phong Nha – Ke Bang National Park is ……….

Decide T (true)/ F (false) for each statement.

Last year I visited the Somerset Levels, a coastal plain and wetland area in Somerset, South West England. This area is home to one of Somerset’s oldest traditional crafts - willow basket making. Basket making began in the area a long time ago. At the beginning of the 19th century, more than three thousand acres of willow trees were planted commercially there because the area provided an excellent natural habitat for their cultivation. I’d seen willow baskets before I visited the Levels, but I was still amazed at the numerous products created by the basket makers there. They make lobster pots, bread trays, and even passenger baskets for hot air balloons. Although the arrival of plastics in the 1950s caused the basket making industry to decline, willow growing and basket making have continued to play a significant role in Somerset’s rural economy. Willow growers and basket makers have dealt with this challenge by finding new markets and innovative ways of using willow. They make willow charcoal for artists and bower seats for gardens. Some even weave willow coffins. Therefore, people here can still live on the craft that their great-grandparents passed down to them.

Willows can grow well in the area because of its favourable natural conditions.

Decide T (true)/ F (false) for each statement.

Last year I visited the Somerset Levels, a coastal plain and wetland area in Somerset, South West England. This area is home to one of Somerset’s oldest traditional crafts - willow basket making. Basket making began in the area a long time ago. At the beginning of the 19th century, more than three thousand acres of willow trees were planted commercially there because the area provided an excellent natural habitat for their cultivation. I’d seen willow baskets before I visited the Levels, but I was still amazed at the numerous products created by the basket makers there. They make lobster pots, bread trays, and even passenger baskets for hot air balloons. Although the arrival of plastics in the 1950s caused the basket making industry to decline, willow growing and basket making have continued to play a significant role in Somerset’s rural economy. Willow growers and basket makers have dealt with this challenge by finding new markets and innovative ways of using willow. They make willow charcoal for artists and bower seats for gardens. Some even weave willow coffins. Therefore, people here can still live on the craft that their great-grandparents passed down to them.

Willow growers and basket makers have found new ways to promote their industry.

Read the passage, and choose the correct answer A, B, C or D for each question.

Son Doong Cave

Located in the limestone mountains of Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park. Son Doong Cave was first found in 1991 by Ho Khanh, a local man. In 2009, the cave was explored and published by a group of scientists from British Cave Research Association.

Son Doong Cave was formed from 2 to 5 million years ago, when the river flowed through the limestone mountain area and was buried. The water eroded limestone and created an underground tunnel. In soft limestone areas, the collapse of tunnel ceiling formed large holes which became giant domes afterward. The cave is about 200m high, 200m wide and at least 8 5km long. Especially, Son Doong consists of two entrances, which is unique among explored caves in Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park. Exploring the cave, visitors were surprised with spectacular scenery of numerous stalactites of which some giant stalagmites are more than 70 metres high. Deep inside the cave exists a grandiose tropical jungle called “Garden of Eden" by the explorers. The jungle is home to a diversifiedsystem of fauna and flora. Besides, the cave possesses a 2.5-kilometre underground river. Not far from the “Garden of Eden” lies an enormous “pearl collection” consisting of tens of thousands of small stone pieces in dry ponds, contributing to magnificent beauty of the cave.

The reason why Son Doong Cave was formed is that ………..

Decide T (true)/ F (false) for each statement.

Last year I visited the Somerset Levels, a coastal plain and wetland area in Somerset, South West England. This area is home to one of Somerset’s oldest traditional crafts - willow basket making. Basket making began in the area a long time ago. At the beginning of the 19th century, more than three thousand acres of willow trees were planted commercially there because the area provided an excellent natural habitat for their cultivation. I’d seen willow baskets before I visited the Levels, but I was still amazed at the numerous products created by the basket makers there. They make lobster pots, bread trays, and even passenger baskets for hot air balloons. Although the arrival of plastics in the 1950s caused the basket making industry to decline, willow growing and basket making have continued to play a significant role in Somerset’s rural economy. Willow growers and basket makers have dealt with this challenge by finding new markets and innovative ways of using willow. They make willow charcoal for artists and bower seats for gardens. Some even weave willow coffins. Therefore, people here can still live on the craft that their great-grandparents passed down to them.

Basket making does not play an important role in the area now