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 26 to 30. Amparo Lasén, the Spanish sociologist who conducted the study found that Londoners use their cell phones the least in public. If they are with others, they prefer to let calls be answered by voice mail (a recorded message) and then they check for messages later. If the English do answer a call on the street, they seem to dislike talking with others around. They tend to move away from a crowded sidewalk and seek out a place (26) ________ they cannot be heard, such as the far side of a subway entrance or even the edge of a street. They seem to feel that the danger of the traffic is (27) ___________ to the risk of having their conversation be overheard. This has led to a behavior that Laser has called “clustering.” At a busy time of day on the streets of London, you may find small crowds of cell phone users grouped together, each one talking into a cell phone. Even when it is raining—as it is often in London—people still prefer not to hold their conversations where others could hear. They talk (28) _____________ their umbrellas or in a doorway. In Paris, however, there are stricter rules about how and when to use cell phones. It is not considered polite to use a phone in a restaurant, (29) ______________, though it might be acceptable in the more informal setting of a café. One special custom that has developed in cafés seems unique to Paris. Young women often place their cell phones on the table beside them to signal that they are expecting someone. When the friend arrives, the phone is (30) _____________. In fact, the French are generally very disapproving of phone use in public and are quick to express that disapproval, even to strangers. (Adapted from “Advanced Reading Power” by Beatrice S. Mikulecky and Linda Jeffries)

Câu 33:

They tend to move away from a crowded sidewalk and seek out a place (26) ________ they cannot be heard, such as the far side of a subway entrance or even the edge of a street.

A. which

B. when

C. where

D. what

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Câu 34:

They seem to feel that the danger of the traffic is (27) ___________ to the risk of having their conversation be overheard.

A. preferable

B. prefer

C. preference

D. preferential

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Câu 35:

They talk (28) _____________ their umbrellas or in a doorway.

A. on

B. under

C. in

D. after

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Câu 36:

It is not considered polite to use a phone in a restaurant, (29) ______________, though it might be acceptable in the more informal setting of a café.

A. for examples

B. moreover

C. nevertheless

D. for instance

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Câu 37:

When the friend arrives, the phone is (30) _____________. In fact, the French are generally very disapproving of phone use in public and are quick to express that disapproval, even to strangers.

A. put away

B. put back

C. put down

D. put aside

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Đoạn văn 1

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 31 to 35.

There was a man who had four sons. He wanted his sons to learn not to judge things too quickly. So he sent them each on a quest, in turn, to go and look at a pear tree that was a great distance away. The first son went in the winter, the second in the spring, the third in summer, and the youngest son in the fall. When they had all gone and come back, he called them together to describe what they had seen. The first son said that the tree was ugly, bent, and twisted. The second son said no – it was covered with green buds and full of promise. The third son disagreed, he said it was laden with blossoms that smelled so sweet and looked so beautiful, it was the most graceful thing he had ever seen. The last son disagreed with all of them; he said it was ripe and drooping with fruit, full of life and fulfilment. The man then explained to his sons that they were all right, because they had each seen but one season in the tree’s life. He told them that you cannot judge a tree, or a person, by only one season, and that the essence of who they are – and the pleasure, joy, and love that come from that life – can only be measured at the end, when all the seasons are up. If you give up when it’s winter, you will miss the promise of your spring, the beauty of your summer, fulfilment of your fall. Don’t judge a life by one difficult season. Don’t let the pain of one season destroy the joy of all the rest. (Source: https://www.beliefnet.com)

Câu 38:

Which best serves as the title for the passage?

A. The Seasons of Life

B. The Observation of a Tree

C. Father and Four Sons

D. Love all the Seasons in a Year

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Câu 39:

According to the paragraph 2, what did the second son see in his turn?

A. The tree was gloomy, withered and crooked.

B. The tree was in buds and teeming with vigor.

C. The tree was blossoming and gave off a sweet scent.

D. The tree was bountifully fruitful, brimming with life force.

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Câu 40:

The word “laden” in paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to __________.

A. loaded

B. decorated

C. enhanced

D. given

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Câu 41:

The word “they” in paragraph 3 refers to __________.

A. the four sons

B. green buds

C. trees, people

D. the pleasure, joy and love

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Câu 42:

According to the paragraph 4, what is the lesson the father wanted to impart to his children?

A. Moral lessons can come from the most unexpected and ordinary things.

B. No matter what season it is outside, you always have to cherish it.

C. The old age of humans is similar to the winter of nature.

D. Persevere through the difficulties and better times are sure to come sometime sooner or later.

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Đoạn văn 2

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 36 to 42.

More than 200 reindeer have died of starvation on the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard, with scientists blaming their deaths on climate change. The wild deer carcasses were found on the Arctic islands this summer by researchers from the Norwegian Polar Institute (NPI), which said it had never loggedso many deaths at once in 40 years of monitoring the animals’ population level. “It’s scary to find so many dead animals,” project leader Ashild Onvik Pedersen told state broadcaster NRK. “This is an example of how climate change affects nature. It is just sad.” Svalbard’s capital Longyearbyen, the northernmost town on earth, is thought to be warming quicker than any other settlement on the planet, climate scientists warned earlier this year. The milder temperatures in the region led to unusually heavy rainfall in December, leaving a thick layer of ice when the precipitation froze. This meant the reindeer could not dig through the hardened tundra to reach the vegetation they graze on in their usual pastures, the NPI said. Svalbard’s reindeer have been observed eating seaweed and kelp when food is scarce, but these are less nutritious and cause them stomach problems. A relatively high number of calves born last year increased the death toll, as the youngest and weakest are often the first to die in harsh conditions. “Some of the mortality is natural because there were so many calves last year. But the large number we see now is due to heavy rain, which is due to global warming,” said Ms Onvik Pedersen. A team of three scientists spent 10 weeks investigating population of the Svalbard reindeer earlier this year. Researchers warned the decline of reindeer would cause unwanted plant species, currently kept in check by the animals’ grazing, to spread across Arctic ecosystems in Europe, Asia and North America. Arctic reindeer and caribou populations have declined 56 per cent in the last two decades, a report by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said last year. The report said food security was partly to blame for falling herd numbers, while warmer summers could also put the animals at greater risk of diseases spread by flies and parasites. The average temperature in Longyearbyen has risen by 3.7oC since 1900, more than three times the global average increase of about 1oC. In 2016, the entrance to the town’s “Doomsday” seed vault – which stores specimens of almost all the world’s seeds – was flooded following heavy rainfall. (Adapted from https://www.independent.co.uk/)

Câu 43: