đề thi chứng chỉ quốc gia trình độ c anh văn - bài 3

that in the same year I would be harvesting beans, cabbages, carrots and several types of flowers for their seed.. For instance, when you have grown Sweet Williams flowers in a field and

21 Even at that early stage, the school felt that she _ a good chance of passing her exams

26 He looked like an ENglish man, but his foreign accent gave him

31 As soon as the consumer protection law was passed, some

manufacturers began to _ to have it changed

38 The student failed to meet the necessary for

admission to the course

44 The committee took just thirty minutes to _ the

conclusion that action was necessary

falling

for to fall

having fallen

47 The job applicant told her interviewer that she would jump

_ the chance to work for such a prestigious firm

throw

57 His emotional problems _ from the attitudes he

encountered as a child, I think

61 Reading for questions 61 - 65:

In the 1940s I took up the growing of many types of seed on my farm on

a contract basis: a great deal of grass seed, quite a lot of vegetable seed and some flower seed Everyone of these crops demandss a different sort

of technique in growing and harvesting and none of them had been grown in our area before, so it was a very demanding business, but also very satisfying and interesting I would never previously have imagined

that in the same year I would be harvesting beans, cabbages, carrots and several types of flowers for their seed They are all of different sizes, have

a different character and require different methods for harvesting and drying Some are extremely easy, once you know how For instance, when you have grown Sweet Williams flowers in a field and they are ready for harvesting, you have to gather the plants in armfuls, tie them together in bundles, and leave them in the field in piles with the heads upwards to dry You then have to wait for a nice sunny day, when you go along with a large container, hold the bundles upside-down over the top

of it and, if the air is hot and dry enough, all the seeds come out of their own accord

Carrot seed, when you harvest it, is not like the seed you buy in a packet

in a shop When grown for seed, carrot crops take up the land for much longer than most other crops It has to be sown one July, left over the winter and harvested the following August or September Like Sweet Williams flowers grown for seed, carrot plants have to be cut with an old-fashioned machine, allowed to dry in bundles, and then beaten using traditional tools But it is, so to speak, only half beaten out The result is

a very light, wooly seed, which has to be sent away in large bags to a seedsman who will reduce it to relatively small seeds with special

machinery which rubs off the feathery bits I remember we sent away two railway trucks full of enormous bags of carrot seed but the whole lot weighed only a ton or two

61 In the 1940s the farmer grew and harvested

vegetable seeds one year and flower seeds the next

one particular type of seed crop each year

several kinds of seeds each year

seeds he had been told were easy to grow

62 What did the farmer find out about growing and harvesting seeds?

It was much easier than he had imagined

It had never been done on local farms

A sunny summer was essential

It was a very profitable business

63 The seeds from Sweet Williams flowers are harvested by

tying the plants into bundles to dry and then shaking them

cutting off the heads and collecting them in large containers

heaping the plants together and beating out the seeds

storing the plants upside-down until the seeds drop out

64 Why might farmers be reluctant to produce carrot seed?

The plants do not yied much seed

The seeds take a long time to dry

Growing and harvesting takes more than a year

The seedsmen do not pay much for the seeds

65 Carrot seed in a packet looks different from carrot seed when the farmer harvests because it is

much darker in color

much lighter in color

less smooth

less feathery

66 Reading for questions 66-70:

Design is the act of making something better Everything, no matter how ordinary, has been designed

That some objects give us no special pleasure or are not fashionable does not alter the fact that somebody decided what they would look like, what they would do and how they would be used

Every time you buy a new kettle or toaster, the quality of the design is influential, encouraging you to choose one kettle or toaster over the others Good design works well Excellent design works well and gives pleasure Look at it the other way round Some objects look very good but do not work well Take the Alessi kettle, with its curved handle and two-tone whistle It looks very exciting but the handle can get too hot to touch Compare this with the familiar Russel Hobbs automatic electric kettle It has been in production since the late 1950s, works perfectly and looks good

Poor designs are easy to find If you cannot see what is at the back of the kitchen cupboard without getting down on your hands and knees, that is bad design If you catch your sleeve on a door handle, that is bad design

If you cannot understand how to use the controls on your cooker without searching for the instruction book - and if, when you find the book, you still cannot work the timing switch, that is unpardonably bad design The question is: how, when these kinds of faults are so obvious, have some designs ever reached our homes?

The answer is that in most cases, bad designs emerge because not enough energy and time is given to thinking through all the different questions that should be asked about the product

Kitchen cupboard makers will say that they are making cupboards as economically as possible This kind of "cheapness" is one of the main

reasons for the absence of good design in our homes To make a

cupboard where the shelves swing out to display the contents when the door is opened is expensive

66 What does the passage say that good designers think about?

how things will be used

what people are used to

what is fashionable

what will influence people

67 Things which are excellently designed

work perfectly

last a long time

always get chosen by shoppers

both work well and look good

68 What was wrong with the Alessi kettle?

It was too round

It was unreliable

The design was impractical

The design was old-fashioned

69 In what way are some cookers badly designed?

The handles stick out too far

It is difficult to find the controls

Using the timing switch is a confusing process

The instruction books have no diagrams

70 Why do badly-designed things get made and sold?

They are quicker and cost less to make

Manufacturers pay low wages to designers

Designers do not know enough about manufacturing processes There are too few good designers

71 Questions 71-76:

Sir Anthony Van Dyck, one of the world's greatest masters of

portraiture, was born in Antwerp and was the seventh of twelve

children His affluent father apprenticed him to a painter when he was just a little over ten Having become a member of the Antwerp Guild of painters before he was nineteen, he worked in the studio of Peter Paul Rubens for several years In Italy, Van Dyck studied the great Venetian masters and painted flattering portraits of gorgeous ladies and haughty nobles in gilded velvet robes with lace and pearls While he was sought after by the aristocracy for his acclaimed loose brushwork, his

engravings and etchings also evinced his outstanding talent Upon his return to Antwerp in 1628, he was influenced by Rubens's interpretation

of the artistic form and produced numerous religious paintings while holding an appointment as the court painter During his tenure, he proved that his use of color, his sensitive elegance, and his remarkable insight were unexcelled

His fame preceded him to England, where he was invited by King

Charles I After years of faithful service, he was knighted in recognition

of achievements in painting countless portraits of the king, the queen, the royal children, and the titled nobility of England However, Van Dyck's greatest piece is one of his religious works, a true masterpiece displayed

in the Antwerp gallery This group scene exhibits his artful polish in painting the folds of fabric, the delicacy of human skin, landscape, and other externals, and puts him above other accomplished contemporary masters Although Charles paid Van Dyck a salary and granted him a pension, the painter's extravagant life-style and penchant for luxuries led him into debt, and he died without means

71 What did Van Dyck do in his early youth?

He was hired as a painter

He was a brush cleaner

He studied painting

He sold paintings

72 It can be inferred from the passage that after Van Dyck left Rubens

he accrued considerable wealth

he became a militant aristocrat

he refined his artistic tastes and skills

he incorporated southern styles in his art

73 The author of the passage implies that Van Dyck's fame had largely

to do with his

artful portraits

wealthy family

elegance in clothing

religious beliefs

74 How did Charles I honor Van Dyck?

Van Dyck painted members of the royal court

Van Dyck received a noble tittle

Van Dyck was allowed to travel widely

Van Dyck displayed his work in the royal palace

75 What does Van Dyck's masterpiece attest to?

His remarkable religious fervor

His refined sense for texture

His keen eye for polished surfaces

His exorbitant tastes and habits

76 What are the reasons given for Van Dyck's financial decline?

His employer's lack of generosity

His ill health and lack of revenue

His lavish spending

His miserly attitudes

77 Questions 77-81:

Linen is yarn, thread, or fabric made from the stem fibers of flax, one of the oldest cultivated plants Because the plant is grown in temperate climates, its production is limited Archaeological evidence shows that flax was used for making ropes and fishing nets in Switzerland over 10,000 years ago Ancient Egyptians used flax more than any other fiber for making linen, which was employed in the manufacture of a diverse array of other materials When the use of linen spread from the

Mediterranean to Europe, linen became second only to wool as the most prevalent material for fabric, primarily because the spindle was no longer teh sole device used for winding thread It was during that time that the spinning wheel replaced the spindle and distaff for twisting and winding the flax fibers By the end of the seventeenth century, a spinning wheel for linen was a fixture in almost every European and North

American household

Linen is relatively scarce now because the process of weaving flax fabric

is comparatively work - and time - consuming Upon harvesting, flax must be hackled to separate the linen fibers from the tow Then the fibers are soaked and dried Bundling the gleaned fiber precedes raking and thinning The latter are essential steps since unravelling the fibrous mass of stems can facilitate winding After the threads have been spun, they are laid on a loom and woven into the finished product, known as linen As is the case with some other natural fibers, such as slik and wool, the price of linen fabric is rather high, and it is not as easy to care for as fabrics made of synthetic rayon, acetate, and viscose

77 According to the passage, what precludes world-wide cultivation of linen?

Archaeologists do not put much stock in flax longevity

Linen production has been restricted to increase prices

Flax can be farmed only in certain geographical areas

Flax plants are no longer grown where they used to be

78 What promoted the proliferation of linen?

A shortage of materials in Europe

The replacement of wool by linen in textiles

Technological advancements in fiber processing

The dissipation of need for various materials

79 According to the passage, which of the following is the crucial phase

in fiber preparation?

Harvesting and tying it

Towing and pulling it

Combing it to make it fine

Spinning it rapidly

80 It can be inferred from the passage that the high cost of linen can be attributed to

its relative popularity

its laborious fabrication

the labor-intensive care

looming and weaving

81 The author of the passage implies that currently, linen is NOT as prevalent as

The first of these, the mental difficulties, must be somewhat discounted The impression that the ancient numeral systems are not amenable to even the simplest calculations is largely based on lack of familiarity with these systems It is clear that addition and subtraction in a simple

grouping system require only ability to count the number symbols of each kind and then to convert to higher units No memorization of number combinations is needed In a ciphered numeral system, if

sufficient addition and multiplication tables have been memorized, the work can proceed much as we do it today

The physical difficulties encountered, however, were quite real Without

a plentiful and convenient supply of some suitable writing medium, any very extended development of the arithmetic process was bound to be hampered It must be remembered taht our common machne-made pulp paper is little more than a hundred years old The old rag paper was made by hand and was consequently expensive and scarce

82 What is the main purpose of the passage?

To emphasize the importance of the mental process in performing calculations

To explain why some elementary computing systems were not

developed until the fifteenth century

To decribe how ancient counting systems differ from those of the twentieth century

To compare the mental and physical processes used in arithmetic

83 The word "tardy" in line 4 is closest in meaning to

historical

basic

memorizing numerical combinations

using an adding machine

producing large quantities of a writing medium

converting number symbols to higher units

87 The word "encountered" in line 17 is closest in meaning to

89 The author describes old rag paper as all of the following EXCEPT handmade

costly

scarce

delicate

90 The passage supports which of the following conclusions?

Physical difficulties hindered the development of computing patterns Memorizing addition and multiplication tables is necessary for most elementary arithmetic processes

Most people experience mental difficulties in learning long divisions and multiplications

Numeral systems invented before the fifteenth century could not have been used to perform elementary calculations

so great against the gases that, despite the high temperature, there may

be a small solid core However, no one really knows, since the center of the Sun can never be directly observed

Solar astronomers do know that the Sun is divided into five layers or zones Starting at the outside and going down into the Sun, the zones are the corona, chromosphere, photosphere, convection zone, and finally the core The first three zones are regarded as the Sun's atmosphere But since the Sun has no solid surface, it is hard to tell where the atmosphere ends and the main body of the Sun begins

The Sun's outermost layer begins about 10,000 miles above the visible surface and goes outward for millions of miles This is the only part of the Sun that can be seen during an eclipse such as the one in February

1979 At any other time, the corona can be seen only when special

instruments are used on cameras and telescopes to shut out the glare of the Sun's rays

The corona is a brilliant, pearly white, filmy light, about as bright as the full Moon Its beautiful rays are a sensational sight during an eclipse The corona's rays flash out in a brilliant fan that has wispy spikelike rays near the Sun's north and south poles The corona is thickest at the Sun's equator

The corona rays are made up of gases streaming outward at tremendous speeds and reaching a temperature of more than 2 million degrees

Fahrenheit The rays of gas thin out as they reach the space around the planets By the time the Sun's corona rays reach the Earth, they are