Ôn thi Tốt nghiệp THPT môn Tiếng Anh (Đề 19)

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 underway – and this time human fingerprints are on the trigger. 

How are we 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 places 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, 2010

There are many African tribes but, for many people, the Masai are the most well-known. They are famous for their bright red clothing and their ceremonies with lots of music and dancing. Probably, one of the most colorful ceremonies is the festival of "Eunoto," when the teenage boys of the Masai become men.

Eunoto lasts for many days and Masai people travel across the region to get to a special place near the border between Kenya and Tanzania. The teenage boys who travel with them are called "warriors." This is a traditional name from the past when young men fought with other tribes.

At the beginning of the ceremony, the teenagers paint their bodies while their mothers start to build a place called the "Osingira," a sacred room in the middle of the celebrations. Later, the senior elders from different tribes will sit inside this place and, at different times, the boys go inside to meet them. Later in the day, the boys run around the Osingira, going faster and faster each time. 

The teenagers also have to alter their appearance at Eunoto. Masai boys' hair is very long before the ritual but they have to cut it off. In Masai culture, hair is an important symbol. For example, when  a  baby  grows  into  an infant, the mother cuts the child's hair

and gives the child a name. At a Masai wedding, the hair of the bride is also cut off as she

becomes a woman. And so, at Eunoto, the teenage boy's mother cuts his hair off at sunrise. 

On the final day, the teenagers meet the senior elders one more time. They get this advice: "Now you are men, use your heads and knowledge." Then, people start to travel back to their homes and lands. The teenagers are no longer warriors. They are adult men and now they will get married and have children.

Later in life, they will be the leaders of their communities. 

(Adapted from "Life" by John Hughes, Helen Stephenson and Paul Dummett) 

In such a costly and competitive society and world, no one of us can live without money. We need money to fulfill our basic needs of the life such as buying food, and (42) _______ many basic necessities of life which are almost impossible to buy without money. People in the society (43) _______ are rich and have property are looked as honourable and respectful person of the society however a poor person is seen as hatred without any good impression. 

Money increases the position of the person in the society and (44) _______ a good impression to him. All of us want to be rich by earning more money through a good job or business in order to fulfill all the increasing demands of the modern age. (45) _______. Only few people get this chance of completing their dreams of being a millionaire. 

So, money is the thing of great importance all through the life. Money is required by everyone whether he/she is rich or poor and living in urban areas or rural areas. People in the urban areas are earning more money than the people living in backward or rural areas as the people of the urban areas have more (46) _______ to the technologies and get more opportunity because of the easy sources.