Trắc nghiệm tổng hợp Tiếng anh có đáp án 2023 (Phần 48)

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.

The invention of the airplane, like many great inventions, was initially met with ridicule and disbelief.

Although many people who heard about the first powered flight on December 17, 1903, were excited and impressed, others reacted with peals of laughter. The idea of flying an aircraft was repulsive to some people. Although Orville and Wilbur Wright, the inventors of the first flying machine, were called impulsive fools, the Wrights continued their experiments in aviation.

Orville and Wilbur Wright had always had a compelling interest in aeronautics and mechanics. As young boys they earned money by making and selling kites and mechanical toys. Later, they designed a newspaper-folding machine, built a printing press, and operated a bicycle-repair shop. In 1896, when they read about the death of Otto Lilienthal, the brother's interest in flight grew into a compulsion.

Lilienthal, a pioneer in hang-gliding, had controlled his gliders by shifting his body in the desired direction. This idea was repellent to the Wright brothers, however, and they searched for more efficient methods to control the balance of airborne vehicles. In 1900 and 1901, the Wrights tested numerous gliders and developed control techniques. The brothers' inability to obtain enough lift power for the gliders almost led them to abandon their efforts.

After studying and experimenting with model wings in a wind tunnel, the Wright brothers designed their first airplane in 1903 for less than one thousand dollars. They even designed and built their own lightweight gasoline engine. On December 17, they successfully flew the plane for twelve seconds and 120 feet, despite a turbulent start.

By 1905 the Wrights had perfected the first airplane that could turn, circle, and remain airborne for half an hour at a time. Others had flown in balloons or in hang gliders, but the Wright brothers were the first to build a full-size machine that could fly under its own power. As the contributors of one of the most outstanding engineering achievements in history, the Wright brothers are accurately called the fathers of aviation.

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.

One of the biggest trends in television in recent years has been the rise of “Reality TV”. These shows, in which ordinary people are placed in unusual situations and then filmed without a script, have become some of the highest rating shows on television. Early programs of this genre, including Big Brother (from the Netherlands) and Survivor (from the United States), have led to dozens of copycat programs in many different countries. A common element to many of these programs is that a number of contestants are placed in a closed environment in which they are filmed 24 hours a day, and every week contestants are thrown off the show. What is it about these shows that makes them so popular? Perhaps it is because viewers enjoy watching ordinary people with real emotions being placed in extraordinary, situations. Or perhaps it is that people are really voyeurs - they enjoy being a spy, looking secretly into other people’s lives.

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THE STORY OF COCA-COLA

Coca-Cola was invented in 1886 by John Pemberton, a druggist living in Atlanta. The original drink was a type of syrup, using coca leaves, sugar and cola nuts, plus a few other secret ingredients! Pemberton sold it as a medicine; and with its coca (the source of cocaine), it must have made people feel good!

Nevertheless, Pemberton’s medicine was not very successful, so he sold his secret formula to another druggist, Asa Candler. Candler was interested, because he had another idea that Pemberton’s “medicine” would be much better if it was mixed with soda. Candler was thus the man who really invented the drink Coca-Cola. Candler also advertised his new drink, and soon people were going to drugstores just to get a drink of Coca-Cola.

Before long, other people became interested in the product, including a couple of businessmen who wanted to sell it in bottles. Candler sold them a licence to bottle the drink, and very quickly the men became millionaires. The famous bottle, with its very distinctive shape, was designed in 1916. And the famous Coca-Cola logo is the most famous logo in the world. Unlike any other famous commercial logos, it has not changed in 100 years!

During the First World War, American soldiers in Europe began asking for Coca-Cola, so the Coca-Cola company began to export to Europe. It was so popular with soldiers that they then had to start bottling the drink in Europe.

Today, Coca-Cola is made in countries all over the world, including Russia and China; it is the world’s most popular drink.

As for the famous formula, it is probably the world’s most valuable secret! The exact ingredients for making Coca-Cola are only known to a handful of people. And as for the “coca” that was in the original drink, that was eliminated in 1903. It was a drug, and too dangerous. Today’s Coca-Cola contains caffeine, but not cocaine!