Câu hỏi:

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 following questions.

SHAYNE’S DREAMS COME TRUE - BUT WILL THEY BE SHATTERED?

It is a week before The X Factor live tour when I meet the winner of the series, Shayne Ward. “It has been mental,” he says, referring to the past six months of his life. “I've just been talking to Louis Walsh on the phone. Louis Walsh!” Walsh, a top record producer and The X Factor judge, now manages Shayne’s career. “I was talking to Simon Cowell (a celebrity record producer) yesterday!” He shakes his head in amazement. And these people are telling me they're excited about working with me. “I can't get my head round it.”

Shayne is about as natural as any pop star arriving in the public arena can be. “I just can’t accept where I am now” he says sincerely. “It doesn't feel real. To me, this is just a job.” “What do you think being famous feels like?” I ask him. “I'm not sure, to be honest. Different from this?” he laughs, with only a hint of nerves. Since winning The X Factor, Shayne's success has been phenomenal. His debut single took just three days to reach the number one spot. On tour, he's going to play to audiences of 10,000 on average. He has already brought the house down at a gig in his home city. “I walked out after that performance and just thought, “I’m dreaming!”” Shayne is one of a family of seven children. Times were hard, but he has never wished or a different childhood. Although he thought about going to college, he ended up leaving school at sixteen, just to help his mother pay the rent. He set out on his reality show journey shortly afterwards. When he told he friends he had an audition for The X Factor, none of them really believed him. “I thought I’d go fot it because my family wanted me to, but I never really believed that I would win.”

Naturally, Ward is a fan of reality TV talent shows. “They're brilliant, because people who want recording contracts try for years and get nowhere. Then these competitions come along the people at home decide whether they like the singers or not. So its not just a few people at a record company deciding who gets a chance.” But the previous winner of The X Factor only had one hit. He hasn't been heard of since then. Is Shayne Ward going to be another talent show flop?

A lot of people feel cynical about reality TV show winners and their chances of continuing success. Audiences usually lose interest in them as soon as the show has finished. In fact, contestants on shows like Big Brother are given severe warnings from the show’s producers beforehand, basically telling them “you will not be liked”. Talent shows like The X Factor have to offer contestants a kind of stardom though, and something they can think of as a career, months afterwards at least.

After performing in his home city, Shayne felt

Mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer that best fits the blank space in the following passage.

21^st  CENTURY TEACHERS: INEVITABLE CHANGES

21^st  century teachers need to serve as a guide or mentor for their students, not as the all- knowing sage providing them with everything they need. Nowadays, with so much access (21)______ resources of all kinds, children invariably know more than teachers on different topics, step ahead of the technology. Teachers need to be empowered as facilitators for learning, so that they can empower their students in (22)______. This shift is great news for teachers. Instead of struggling to give kids all the information in areas (23)______ they know little about, teachers can support students as they make their own steps into different fields. It’s about preparing them to go beyond their seniors, ensuring they have the skills to do it, and assisting them along the way. 

(24)______, teachers need to be forward-thinking, curious and flexible. They must be learners: learning new teaching methods, and learning alongside their students. Simply asking questions like “What will my students need dozens of years from now?” or “How can I help give them those skills?” can change teachers' (25)______, make them a leader, and bring about changes in the classroom, school and community.

Question 21

Mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the sentence that is closest in meaning to each of the following questions.

There is no doubt that Martin is the best candidate for the job.

Mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the word whose bold and underlined part differs from the other three in pronunciation in each of the following questions.

Mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the sentence that is closest in meaning to each of the following questions.

People rumour that the Prince secretly got married to an ordinary girl.

Mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the underlined part that needs correction in each of the following questions.

This might not matter with you, but some people are going to be negatively affected by this decision.

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 following questions.

SHAYNE’S DREAMS COME TRUE - BUT WILL THEY BE SHATTERED?

It is a week before The X Factor live tour when I meet the winner of the series, Shayne Ward. “It has been mental,” he says, referring to the past six months of his life. “I've just been talking to Louis Walsh on the phone. Louis Walsh!” Walsh, a top record producer and The X Factor judge, now manages Shayne’s career. “I was talking to Simon Cowell (a celebrity record producer) yesterday!” He shakes his head in amazement. And these people are telling me they're excited about working with me. “I can't get my head round it.”

Shayne is about as natural as any pop star arriving in the public arena can be. “I just can’t accept where I am now” he says sincerely. “It doesn't feel real. To me, this is just a job.” “What do you think being famous feels like?” I ask him. “I'm not sure, to be honest. Different from this?” he laughs, with only a hint of nerves. Since winning The X Factor, Shayne's success has been phenomenal. His debut single took just three days to reach the number one spot. On tour, he's going to play to audiences of 10,000 on average. He has already brought the house down at a gig in his home city. “I walked out after that performance and just thought, “I’m dreaming!”” Shayne is one of a family of seven children. Times were hard, but he has never wished or a different childhood. Although he thought about going to college, he ended up leaving school at sixteen, just to help his mother pay the rent. He set out on his reality show journey shortly afterwards. When he told he friends he had an audition for The X Factor, none of them really believed him. “I thought I’d go fot it because my family wanted me to, but I never really believed that I would win.”

Naturally, Ward is a fan of reality TV talent shows. “They're brilliant, because people who want recording contracts try for years and get nowhere. Then these competitions come along the people at home decide whether they like the singers or not. So its not just a few people at a record company deciding who gets a chance.” But the previous winner of The X Factor only had one hit. He hasn't been heard of since then. Is Shayne Ward going to be another talent show flop?

A lot of people feel cynical about reality TV show winners and their chances of continuing success. Audiences usually lose interest in them as soon as the show has finished. In fact, contestants on shows like Big Brother are given severe warnings from the show’s producers beforehand, basically telling them “you will not be liked”. Talent shows like The X Factor have to offer contestants a kind of stardom though, and something they can think of as a career, months afterwards at least.

The word “mental” in the first paragraph is closest in meaning to