The United States, China and India are now competing for political influence in ASEAN, and France, a leading European country, does not want to be ___________.

He stressed that idea of the event is to grab the public's attention with their favorite acts, rather than to give them a diverse arts festival.

Winning the cup in 1998 was just a ___________ in the pan – they haven’t won the match since then.

The existence of such a centre is expected to help ASEAN members facilitate assistance to any country ____ by a disaster.

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.

BRITPOP

       In the early to mid-1990s Britpop artists, influenced by British guitar sounds of the 1960s and 70s, wrote about topics that were considered purely British and relevant to their generation. The music style with its (23) ____ songs was considered as a reaction against the grunge music that was arriving from the States and, in fact, it did not have a huge commercial success in the USA.

       Britpop bands included Suede, Pulp, Blur and Oasis but it was the (24) ____ two that really dominated the market. In 1994 Blur released their album Parklife (25) ____ had a strong retro feel from the 70s and Oasis released Definitely Maybe, again with a retro feel reminiscent of John Lennon.

       The two bands were often seen (26) ____ rivals and this was exaggerated by the media who emphasized their differences in origins and class: Oasis from the north of England, Blur from the south. This culminated in both bands releasing singles on the same day in 1985, with Blur's single Country House reaching number one in the charts and Oasis's Roll With It number two. Oasis, however, went on to have greater commercial success, particularly with the album (What's the story) Morning Glory? (1985) which sold 412 million (27) ____ in the UK.

Mark the letter A, B, C, or D to indicate the sentence that is closest in meaning to each of the following questions.

Tome denied breaking the teacher's laptop.

Mark the letter A, B, C or D to indicate the word(s) CLOSEST in meaning to the underlined word(s) in each of the following questions.

Understanding the need for change is essential for the ability to successfully cope with these challenges.