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.

Bitcoins are a form of virtual currency. In other words, they are a type of money that does not exist in the actual world. However, they can be used to purchase actual products and services from real companies.

The bitcoin system was created in 2009 by an enigmatic person named Satoshi Nakamoto. In fact, no one is sure if Satoshi Nakamoto is an actual person or a group of people. Bitcoins are designed to serve as an alternative to national currencies, such as dollars and euros. They can be used to pay for things instead of cash or credit cards, when bitcoins are transferred from a buyer to a seller, the transaction is recorded in a public database.

Governments are concerned that bitcoins can easily be stolen by hackers. It has dawned on them that they might be used for illegal purposes. For example, stolen goods could be purchased without the government’s knowledge. Although more and more companies are beginning to accept bitcoins, the percentage of purchases made using bitcoins is minuscule compared to other online payment methods, such as credit cards. Instead, many bitcoin owners simply keep them as an investment since more valuable in the future. This may or may not be a wise approach. Currently, the value of bitcoins is fluctuating wildly, especially when compared to highly stable national currencies, Bitcoin Investors are gambling on the hope that as this high-tech money becomes more widely accepted, its value will soar.

why are bitcoins of great concern to governments?

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. (33) ___________in technology have made a lot of changes to our everyday lifestyles, but one of the biggest has got to be how we read books. Since the invention of the e-book, there has been a significant change to our reading habits. Given the choice between taking a couple of heavy paperbacks on holiday or an e-book device like a Kindle, most of us, including our parents and grandparents, would unsurprisingly opt (34) ___________the Kindle. But what would our lives be like with no books at all? It’s a (35) ___________question. Some educational specialists are making predictions that in the future we wont even see books in classrooms - everything will be done online! (36) ___________of the idea of getting rid of books say that there will always be a need for paper-based versions of materials. However, to be realistic, we have to accept that there is a (37) ___________chance that in a decade’s time schools and classrooms will be book-free! what do you think of that?

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.

(33) ___________in technology have made a lot of changes to our everyday lifestyles, but one of the

biggest has got to be how we read books. Since the invention of the e-book, there has been a significant change to our reading habits. Given the choice between taking a couple of heavy paperbacks on holiday or an e-book device like a Kindle, most of us, including our parents and grandparents, would unsurprisingly opt (34) ___________the Kindle.

But what would our lives be like with no books at all? It’s a (35) ___________question. Some educational specialists are making predictions that in the future we wont even see books in classrooms - everything will be done online! (36) ___________of the idea of getting rid of books say that there will always be a need for paper-based versions of materials. However, to be realistic, we have to accept that there is a (37) ___________chance that in a decade’s time schools and classrooms will be book-free! what do you think of that?

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.

WHY DON’T YOU GET A PROPER JOB?

She wants to be a singer; you think she should go for a long-term career with job security and eventually retire with a good pension. But a new report suggests that in fact she’s the practical one. Why do parents make terrible careers advisers?

Today’s 14 and 15-year-olds are ambitious. They are optimistic about their prospects, but their career ideas are rather vague. Although 80% of them have no intention of following in their parents’ footsteps, 69% still turn to their parents for advice. They look at their working future in a different way to their parents.

A job for life is not in their vocabulary; neither is a dead-end but secure job that is boring but pays the bills. Almost half the boys surveyed expected that their hobbies would lead them into the right sort of job, while most girls seemed determined to avoid traditionally female careers such as nursing.

In the past, this might have counted as bad news. Certainly when I was 15, my guidance counsellors were horrified at my plans to become a writer. I’m glad I didn’t change my plans to suit them. Even so, their faith in rigid career paths was well-founded. In those days, that was the way to get ahead.

But the world has changed. The global economy is not kind to yesterday’s diligent and dependable worker. The future belongs to quick-thinking people who are resourceful, ambitious and can take the initiative. This means that a 14-year-old who sees her working future as a kind of adventure, to be made up as she goes along is not necessarily being unrealistic.

However, she has to have the training and guidance to help her develop the right skills for today’s market; not the rigid preparation for a workplace that disappeared twenty years ago.

Many young people are very aware of the pitfalls of the flexible workplace; they understand that redundancy, downsizing and freelancing are all part of modern working life, but no one is telling them how they might be able to turn the new rules of the employment game to their advantage. This is what they need to know if they are to make a life for themselves.

So what is to be done? A good first step would be to change the way in which schools prepare young people for adult life. The education system is becoming less flexible and more obsessed with traditional skills at just the time that the employment market is going in the opposite direction.

Accurate, up-to-date information on new jobs and qualifications can help guidance counsellors to help their students. Young people need solid information on the sort of training they need to pursue the career of their dreams. Also, a little bit of encouragement can go a long way. If nothing else, a bit of optimism from an adult can serve as an antidote to the constant criticism of teenagers in the press.

What, then, can we as parents do to help them? The best thing is to forget all the advice that your parents gave you, and step into your teenagers shoes. Once you’ve done that, it’s easier to see how important it is that they learn how to be independent, resourceful and resilient. Give them the courage to follow their dreams -however odd they might sound right now. In a world that offers economic security to almost no one, imagination is a terrible thing to waste

What does the writer feel will happen if the education system does not change?

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.

WHY DON’T YOU GET A PROPER JOB?

She wants to be a singer; you think she should go for a long-term career with job security and eventually retire with a good pension. But a new report suggests that in fact she’s the practical one. Why do parents make terrible careers advisers?

Today’s 14 and 15-year-olds are ambitious. They are optimistic about their prospects, but their career ideas are rather vague. Although 80% of them have no intention of following in their parents’ footsteps, 69% still turn to their parents for advice. They look at their working future in a different way to their parents.

A job for life is not in their vocabulary; neither is a dead-end but secure job that is boring but pays the bills. Almost half the boys surveyed expected that their hobbies would lead them into the right sort of job, while most girls seemed determined to avoid traditionally female careers such as nursing.

In the past, this might have counted as bad news. Certainly when I was 15, my guidance counsellors were horrified at my plans to become a writer. I’m glad I didn’t change my plans to suit them. Even so, their faith in rigid career paths was well-founded. In those days, that was the way to get ahead.

But the world has changed. The global economy is not kind to yesterday’s diligent and dependable worker. The future belongs to quick-thinking people who are resourceful, ambitious and can take the initiative. This means that a 14-year-old who sees her working future as a kind of adventure, to be made up as she goes along is not necessarily being unrealistic.

However, she has to have the training and guidance to help her develop the right skills for today’s market; not the rigid preparation for a workplace that disappeared twenty years ago.

Many young people are very aware of the pitfalls of the flexible workplace; they understand that redundancy, downsizing and freelancing are all part of modern working life, but no one is telling them how they might be able to turn the new rules of the employment game to their advantage. This is what they need to know if they are to make a life for themselves.

So what is to be done? A good first step would be to change the way in which schools prepare young people for adult life. The education system is becoming less flexible and more obsessed with traditional skills at just the time that the employment market is going in the opposite direction.

Accurate, up-to-date information on new jobs and qualifications can help guidance counsellors to help their students. Young people need solid information on the sort of training they need to pursue the career of their dreams. Also, a little bit of encouragement can go a long way. If nothing else, a bit of optimism from an adult can serve as an antidote to the constant criticism of teenagers in the press.

What, then, can we as parents do to help them? The best thing is to forget all the advice that your parents gave you, and step into your teenagers shoes. Once you’ve done that, it’s easier to see how important it is that they learn how to be independent, resourceful and resilient. Give them the courage to follow their dreams -however odd they might sound right now. In a world that offers economic security to almost no one, imagination is a terrible thing to waste.

The writer feels that most parents___________

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.

(33) ___________in technology have made a lot of changes to our everyday lifestyles, but one of the

biggest has got to be how we read books. Since the invention of the e-book, there has been a significant change to our reading habits. Given the choice between taking a couple of heavy paperbacks on holiday or an e-book device like a Kindle, most of us, including our parents and grandparents, would unsurprisingly opt (34) ___________the Kindle.

But what would our lives be like with no books at all? It’s a (35) ___________question. Some educational specialists are making predictions that in the future we wont even see books in classrooms - everything will be done online! (36) ___________of the idea of getting rid of books say that there will always be a need for paper-based versions of materials. However, to be realistic, we have to accept that there is a (37) ___________chance that in a decade’s time schools and classrooms will be book-free! what do you think of that?

Mark the letter A, B, C or D on you answer sheet to indicate the word whose underlined part differs from the other three in pronunciation in each of the following questions