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 44 to 50. 

     Scientists have identified two ways in which species disappear. The first is through ordinary or "background" extinctions, where species that fail to adapt are slowly replaced by more adaptable life forms.  The second is when large numbers of species go to the wall in relatively short periods of biological time. There have been five such extinctions, each provoked by cataclysmic evolutionary events caused by some geological eruption, climate shift, or space junk slamming into the Earth. Scientists now believe that another mass extinction of species is currently under way - and this time human fingerprints are on the trigger. 

     How are we are doing it? Simply by demanding more and more space for ourselves. In our assault on the ecosystems around us we have used a number of tools, from spear and gun to bulldozer and chainsaw.  Certain especially rich ecosystems have proved the most vulnerable. In Hawaii more than half of the native birds are now gone some 50 species. Such carnage has taken place all across the island communities of the Pacific and Indian oceans. While many species were hunted to extinction, others simply succumbed to the “introduced predators” that humans brought with them: the cat, the dog, the pig, and the rat.

     Today the tempo of extinction is picking up speed. Hunting is no longer the major culprit, although rare birds and animals continue to be butchered for their skin, feathers, tusks, and internal organs, or taken as savage pets. Today the main threat comes from the destruction of the habitat of wild plants, animals, and insects need to survive. The draining and damming of wetland and river courses threatens the aquatic food chain and our own seafood industry. Overfishing and the destruction of fragile coral reefs destroy ocean biodiversity. Deforestation is taking a staggering toll, particularly in the tropics where the most global biodiversity is at risk. The shrinking rainforest cover of the Congo and Amazon River basins and such place as Borneo and Madagascar have a wealth of species per hectare existing nowhere else. As those precious hectares are drowned or turned into arid pasture and cropland, such species disappear forever.

Source: Final Countdown Practice Tests by D.F Piniaris, Heinle Cengage Learning,

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 34 to 38.

          Mother Teresa was one of the most influential personalities of the twentieth century. However, her life was neither easy nor glamorous. She was born in Skopje, Macedonia in 1910. When she was 8 years old, her father died unexpectedly, and the family became devastated after a(an) (34) ______ of intense grief. At the age of 18, she left her home in Skopje and joined the Sisters of Loreto, an Irish community of nuns with missions in India. She went to India as a (35) ______. She became a teacher of English in a secondary school. The school was in a nice area but there were slums nearby. Conditions there were absolutely terrible. She was horrified by (36) ______ she saw. She insisted on leaving her comfortable convent and going to live among the poor. At first her superiors tried to discourage her from leaving the convent, but in the end they agreed to (37) ______ her go. Soon other people heard about her work and came to help her. (38) ______ she had no money herself, she succeeded in building shelters for the dying and schools for the poor. By the 1990s, she had become famous and she was eventually given the Nobel Prize for her service to the poor. Mother Teresa died on September 5th, 1997

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

Two friends are talking about the coming Christmas holiday. 

- Tony: "Are you going to your family reunion this Christmas holiday?" 

- Mark: “__________________” 

Mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the following questions

Tourists should avoid purchasing unusual relics ______ protected heritage sites.

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 34 to 38.

          Mother Teresa was one of the most influential personalities of the twentieth century. However, her life was neither easy nor glamorous. She was born in Skopje, Macedonia in 1910. When she was 8 years old, her father died unexpectedly, and the family became devastated after a(an) (34) ______ of intense grief. At the age of 18, she left her home in Skopje and joined the Sisters of Loreto, an Irish community of nuns with missions in India. She went to India as a (35) ______. She became a teacher of English in a secondary school. The school was in a nice area but there were slums nearby. Conditions there were absolutely terrible. She was horrified by (36) ______ she saw. She insisted on leaving her comfortable convent and going to live among the poor. At first her superiors tried to discourage her from leaving the convent, but in the end they agreed to (37) ______ her go. Soon other people heard about her work and came to help her. (38) ______ she had no money herself, she succeeded in building shelters for the dying and schools for the poor. By the 1990s, she had become famous and she was eventually given the Nobel Prize for her service to the poor. Mother Teresa died on September 5th, 1997

Mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the following questions

Jimmy's low examination scores kept him from ______ to the university.

Mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the following questions

Visiting Ha Long Bay, tourists can save money thanks ______ the availability of low-cost hotels and cruise tours

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.