Đề kiểm tra học kì 1 Tiếng anh 12 năm 2023 có đáp án (Đề 42)

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 35 to 42.

Newspapers and television news programs always seem to report about the bad things happening in society. However, there is a place where readers can find some good news. That place is the website called HappyNews. The man behind HappyNews is Byron Reese. Reese set up HappyNews because he thought other news sources were giving people an unbalanced view of the world. Reese said about   HappyNews, “The news media gives you a distorted view of the world by exaggerating bad news, misery, and despair. We’re trying to balance out the scale.”

Not everyone agrees with Reese’s view, though. Many people think that news sources have a responsibility to provide news that is helpful to people. People need to know about issues or problems in today’s society. Then they are better able to make informed decisions about things that affect their daily lives. Reese said that HappyNews is not trying to stop people from learning about issues or problems. HappyNews is just trying to provide a balanced picture of today’s world.

By the end of its first month online, HappyNews had more than 70,000 unique readers. About 60 percent of those readers were women. Something else unique makes HappyNews different from any of the other news or information websites that are on the Internet. Unlike many other websites, HappyNews gets fan mail from its readers on a daily basis.

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 30 to 34.

Pollution emitted in industrial areas represents a threat to human health and the surrounding  natural resources. We have a tendency to believe that the production processes are the only source of environmental damage, and often forget about the possible long-term effects of harmful production     practices. We may think that the closure of these huge industrial areas would improve the quality of the environment. Unfortunately, this ignores the threat of the remaining waste, which is abandoned and poorly stored. It represents an even bigger danger because it stands neglected as it degrades and leaks into the earth without any control at all.

Changes in the water chemistry due to surface water contamination can affect all levels of an ecosystem. It can affect the health of lower food chain organisms and, consequently, the availability of  food up through the food chain. It can damage the health of wetlands and damage their ability to support healthy ecosystems, control flooding, and filter pollutants from storm water runoff. The health of animals and humans are affected when they drink or bathe in contaminated water. In addition, water-based organisms, like fish and shellfish, can pile up and concentrate contaminants in their bodies. When other animals or humans eat these organisms, they receive a much higher dose of contaminant than they would have if they had been directly exposed to the original contamination.

Contaminated groundwater can badly affect animals, plants and humans if it is removed from the ground by manmade or natural processes. Depending on the study of rocks of the area, groundwater may rise to the surface through springs or seeps, flow sideways into nearby rivers, streams, or ponds, or sink deeper into the earth. In many parts of the world, groundwater is pumped out of the ground to be used  for drinking, bathing, other household uses, agriculture, and industry.

Contaminants in the soil can harm plants when they take up the contamination through their roots. Eating, breathing in, or touching contaminated soil, as well as eating plants or animals that have piled up soil contaminants can badly affect the health of humans and animals.

Air pollution can cause breathing-related problems and other bad health effects as contaminants are absorbed from the lungs into other parts of the body. Certain air contaminants can also harm animals and humans when they contact the skin. Plants rely on breathing for their growth and can also be affected by exposure to contaminants moved in the air.

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 46 to 50.

Left-handers are the odd ones out. Sure, lefties (46)          up about 10 percent of the population - but, frankly, it seems like society has forgotten about them. Just consider all of the right-handed gadgets, awkwardly designed desks, and cooking tools that fit comfortably only in your right hand. What (47)        someone to become  a  lefthander?  Scientists aren’t exactly sure, but research points to a  complex (48)           between genes and environment. While no exact set of “leftie genes” have been discovered, people who dominantly use their left hands do have more left-handed family members. And researchers have  found different brain wirings in righties vs. lefties. But no matter (49)           it is that drives someone to use their antipodal paw, science has also uncovered a particular set of personality traits that left-handed people tend to have. So for all of you lefties, leftie-loving righties, and ambidextrous folks out there - it’s time to brush up on your left-handed knowledge and help (50)           an end to leftie discrimination once and for all.