T NG T NG T: A Cascading Blackout
T NG T NG T: A Cascading Blackout
T NG T NG T: A Cascading Blackout
Part 1. For questions 1-6, listen to a talk about drugs and decide whether these
statements are True (T), False (F) or Not Given (NG). Write your answers in the
corresponding numbered boxes provided.
1. A report of the UN Office reveals that new drugs are replacing the traditional ones.
2. Cannabinoids produce stronger response than marijuana. T
3. Between 2010 and 2012 seizures of older synthetic amphetamine increased
dramatically. NG
4. Heroin addiction in Europe is diminishing thanks to a series of crackdowns
implemented by European governments. T
5. Cocaine has been sold with higher quality. NG
6. Ketamine is mainly used in surgical procedures for animals. T
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
Part 2. For questions 7-12, listen to a talk about the smart grid and answer the
questions. Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS taken from the recording for
each answer in the corresponding numbered boxes provided.
7. What happened throughout the northeastern United States and parts of Canada in
2003?
A cascading blackout
8. Which TWO adjectives does the speaker use to describe the current power grid
infrastructure?
Automat, dumb
9. What does the local power plant has to do to power light?
Wrap up productions
10. What are the parties involved in the two-way communication that smart grid allows
for?
Computer, solar power
11. What does the speaker call the electric power industry?
Power plants
12. What does the speaker liken the convenience brought about by smart grid to?
Part 3. For questions 13-17, listen to a discussion in which two people, Derek Grant
and Lucy Wadham, talk about the current state of mass tourism and choose the answer
(A, B, C or D) which fits best according to what you hear. Write your answers in the
corresponding numbered boxes provided.
14. What does Derek say about governments whose countries are tourist destinations?
A They are constantly trying to increase their profit margins.
B They ignore the negative impacts of mass tourism.
C They have very limited bargaining power.
D They are unfamiliar with aspects of modern business methods.
15. Derek's example of excessive water consumption caused by mass tourism shows how
A ineffective the laws are in developing countries.
B local food production can be adversely affected by it.
C difficult it is to find sources of pure water.
D valuable a resource water has become in recent years.
Kirsten Lyke, who runs a coronavirus vaccine trial at the University of Maryland, believes that
there are certain issues that need to be 19 unwound
As the press release only gives the brief results, she is waiting for more in-depth information from
the 20. peer-review paper . Also, it needs seven years to ascertain the
patients get positive results as hasty release and unreliable intervention might 21. erode public
trust
Doctors got into trouble with 23. New interventions such as hydroxychloroquine and
azithromycin, but Lyke believes this is not the case for dexamethasone, which doctors are
familiar with.
Passage 2: Read the following passage and choose the best option to complete the blank or answer the
question. (5 pts)
Animation traditionally is done by hand-drawing or painting successive frames of an object, each
slightly different than the preceding frame. In computer animation, although the computer may be the one
to draw the different frames, in most cases the artist will draw the beginning and ending frames and the
computer will produce the drawings between the first and the last drawing. This is generally referred to as
computer-assisted animation, because the computer is more of a helper than an originator.
In full computer animation, complex mathematical formulas are used to produce the final sequence of
pictures. These formulas operate on extensive databases of numbers that define the objects in the pictures
as they exist in mathematical space. The database consists of endpoints, and color and intensity
information. Highly trained professionals are needed to produce such effects because animation that
obtains high degrees of realism involves computer techniques for three-dimensional transformation,
shading, and curvatures.
High-tech computer animation for film involves very expensive computer systems along with special
color terminals or frame buffers. The frame buffer is nothing more than a giant image memory for
viewing a single frame. It temporarily holds the image for display on the screen.
A camera can be used to film directly from the computer's display screen, but for the highest quality
images possible, expensive film recorders are used. The computer computes the positions and colors for
the figures in the picture, and sends this information to the recorder, which captures it on film.
Sometimes, however, the images are stored on a large magnetic disk before being sent to the recorder.
Once this process is completed, it is repeated for the next frame. When the entire sequence has been
recorded on the film, the film must be developed before the animation can be viewed. If the entire
sequence does not seem right, the motions must be corrected, recomputed, redisplayed, and rerecorded.
This approach can be very expensive and time consuming. Often, computer-animation companies first do
motion tests with simple computer-generated line drawings before selling their computers to the task of
calculating the high-resolution, realistic-looking images.
1. What aspect of computer animation does the passage mainly discuss?
A. The production process B. The equipment needed
C. The high cost D. The role of the artist
2. According to the passage, in computer-assisted animation the role of the computer is to draw the____.
A. first frame B. middle frames
C. last frame D. entire sequence of frames
3. The word "they" in the second paragraph refers to____.
A. formulas B. databases C. numbers D. objects
4. According to the passage, the frame buffers mentioned in the third paragraph are used to____.
A. add color to the images B. expose several frames at the same time
C. store individual images D. create new frames
5. According to the passage, the positions and colours of the figures in high-tech animation are
determined by____.
A. drawing several versions B. enlarging one frame at a lime
C. analyzing the sequence from different angles D. using computer calculations
6. The word "captures" in the fourth paragraph is closest in meaning to____.
A. separates B. registers C. describes D. numbers
7. The word "Once" in the fourth paragraph is closest in meaning to____.
A. before B. since C. after D. while
8. According to the passage, how do computer-animation companies often test motion?
A. They experiment with computer-generated line drawings.
B. They hand-draw successive frames.
C. They calculate high-resolution images.
D. They develop extensive mathematical formulas.
9. The word "task" in the 4th paragraph is closest in meaning to____.
A. possibility B. position C. time D. job
10. Which of the following statements is supported by the passage?
A. Computers have reduced the costs of animation.
B. In the future, traditional artists will no longer be needed.
C. Artists are unable to produce drawings as high in quality as computer drawings.
D. Animation involves a wide range of technical and artistic skills.
Part 2: Read the following text, then the missing paragraphs. Choose from paragraphs A-H the one
which fits each gap (56-62). There is one extra paragraph which you do not need to use.
Lang Lang, the virtuoso Chinese pianist
I. When Lang Lang was nine, his father told him to kill himself. Four years before, his father had decided
that his only son should become the No 1 classical pianist in China. He gave up his job as a policeman
and took his son to live in Beijing, leaving Lang Lang’s mother behind, planning to get the child into the
prestigious Central Conservatory of Music.
(1) D
II. Unbelievably, when Lang Lang's father heard the news, he demanded that the boy take his own life.
'It's really hard to talk about. My father went totally nuts,' says Lang Lang quietly. 'He said: "You
shouldn’t live any more - everything is destroyed."' The father handed his son a bottle saying, 'Take these
pills!' When Lang Lang ran out on to the balcony to get away from him, his father screamed: 'Then jump
off and die.'
(2) G
III. Now twenty-eight, Lang Lang has surpassed his father's ambition. The musician's recitals and
concerts sell out in every major city in the world and he is the first Chinese pianist to be engaged by the
Vienna and Berlin philharmonic orchestras. The pianist is now based in New York and lives a rock-star
lifestyle, but he began his career in a Beijing slum under a super-strict regime of practice overseen by his
unforgiving father, Lang Cuoren.
(3) E
IV. Lang Lang's parents are from Shenyang, an industrial city northeast of Beijing. They married at the
end of the Cultural Revolution. Lang Lang says: 'People were starting to connect with the West, and the
piano was becoming an important instrument. My mother had always wanted to be a musician and my
father played in the air force orchestra before the budget was cut and he had to become a policeman. My
parents bought our piano before I was born - it cost half their annual salary.'
(4) F
V. Lang Lang explains: 'My father quit his job as a policeman and off we went. My mother didn't come -
she needed to earn money for us.' In Beijing, Lang Lang's father had to be both mother and father. Lang
Lang says: 'He didn't like to cook or do the laundry, because my mum had always done it. We couldn't do
much, because we only had Mum's salary and had to pay for expensive piano lessons once a week, and if
there was a competition, twice a week. It was really hard.' Lang Lang's father does not understand
English, but in the past, he has spoken about the way he pushed his son. He said: 'The way I see it is
pressure always turns into motivation. Lang Lang is well aware that if he fails to be outstanding at playing
the piano, he has nothing.’
(5) H
VI. Indeed, the musician has always had as much faith in himself as his father has. But it was after
Professor Angry had told Lang Lang some home truths, that the boy’s relationship with his father hit an
all-time low. But they did not return to Shenyang afterwards. 'For three months, I didn't touch the piano,'
says Lang Lang. 'We stayed in Beijing, I don't know why. Probably because having to go home would
have resulted in shame for us.'
(6) A
VII. So began nineteen months of intensive practice as father and son redoubled their attempts to get
Lang Lang into the conservatory. Finally, when Lang Lang was ten, he was admitted on a full
scholarship. He and his father remained in their slum until he was fifteen, when they left for America to
continue his studies in Philadelphia.
(7) C
VIII. Does Lang Lang think he would have succeeded without his father? 'Yes, absolutely,' he says
emphatically. 'Over the years I have seen so many different cultures and different ways of bringing up
kids. I believe that no matter how you train your kid, you need to give them love. Sometimes my father
pushed me too much, but he loved me.’
From The Guardian
Missing paragraphs
A. Then one day at school, his fellow students hectored Lang Lang into playing some Mozart. He laughs:
‘They asked me to play, and I said no, I don’t play anymore. Then they just applauded and applauded.
They gave me a score and forced me to play. I started and realized that I actually loved to play the piano.
So I went home and told my father, “Find me another teacher, I’d like to play again.’”
B. The ‘Lang Lang effect’ is credited with inspiring China’s forty million classical piano students and, in
2009, he was listed in Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World. His name, Lang Lang,
has even become a trademark.
C. Lang Lang says: ‘When we came to America, my father could see that the American system was much
more relaxed. At that time he said he still believed in the Chinese way. But as we met different musicians
from different countries, his opinion changed. He is fifty-eight now and his personality has totally
changed, he doesn’t push me anymore. When I turned twenty-two, he let go.’
D. However, his teacher in Beijing, nicknamed Professor Angry by Lang Lang, had other ideas.
‘Professor Angry didn’t like me and she always gave me a hard time,’ he remembers. ‘One afternoon she
said that I had no talent, that I shouldn’t play the piano and I should go home. She basically fired me
before I could even get into the conservatory!’
E. Lang Lang explains: ‘I started lessons when I was three and a half. In the beginning I just played a
little but, when I was five, I played my first recital, and from that point my parents had high hopes for me,
especially my father.’
F. Born during China’s one-child policy, the young musician became his parents’ sole focus. When Lang
Lang was nine, his father and his piano teacher decided that he must leave Shenyang for Beijing, home of
the Central Conservatory of Music. If his father had been strict before, he soon became a lot harder.
G. ‘I got totally crazy, too,’ says Lang Lang. ‘I was beating the wall, trying to prevent myself from being
a pianist by destroying my hands. I hated everything: my father, the piano, myself. And then somehow,
we just stopped.
My father went out or I ran out -I can’t remember, but somehow we stopped. After that I didn’t want to
play piano any more. I said, “OK, fine. Let’s go home.’”
H. Lang Lang disagrees. ‘I think that attitude is wrong because there are a lot of things you can do in the
world,’ he says. ‘When I was nine, I didn’t like my father. I knew he had dedicated his life to me, but I
thought it was too much. I found the pressure unnecessary because I was a workaholic from the very
beginning. I could understand if I was lazy and didn’t care, but I didn’t.
Read through the text (I-VIII) and missing paragraphs (A-H) to answer the following questions
Passage 1: Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to
indicate the correct word for each of the blanks. (5pts)
Why did you decide to read this, and will you keep reading to the end? Do you expect to understand
every single part of it and will you remember anything about it in a fortnight’s (1) _________? Common
sense (2) _________ that the answers to these questions depend on “readability”- whether the (3)
________ matter is interesting, the argument clear and the (4)___________ attractive. But psychologists
are trying to (5)__________why people read - and often don’t read certain things, for example technical
information. They also have examined so much the writing as the readers.
Even the most technically confident people often (6)__________ instructions for video or home
computer in favor of hands - on experience. And people frequently take little notice of consumer
information, whether on nutritional labels or in the small print of contracts. Psychologists researching
reading (7)__________to assume that both beginners and competent readers read everything put in front
of them from start to finish. There are (8)__________among them about the roles of eyes, memory and
brain during the process. Some people believe that fluent readers take in very letter or word they see;
others (9)___________ that readers rely on memory or context to carry them from one phrase to another.
But they have always assumed that the reading process is the same: reading starts, comprehension
(10)___________ then reading stops.
1. A. term B. gap C. period D. time
2. A. informs B. transmits C. suggests D. advises
3. A. text B. content C. subject D. topic
4. A. layout B. assembly C. pattern D. formation
5. A. value B. determine C. rate D. ensure
6. A. pass B. miss C. ignore D. omit
7. A. tend B. lead C. undertake D. consent
8. A. contests B. arguments C. objections D. separations
9. A. direct B. insist C. press D. urge
10. A. issues B. sets C. establishes D. occurs
Passage 2: Read the following passage and mark the latter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to
indicate the word or phrase that best fits each of the numbered blanks. (5pts)
Why is it that many teenagers have the energy to play computer games until late at night but can’t
find the energy to get out of bed (1) ________ for school? According to a new report, today’s generation
of children are in danger of getting so (2)_______ sleep that they are putting their mental and physical
health at (3)_______. Adults can easily survive on seven to eight hours’ sleep a night,
(4)_______teenagers require nine or ten hours. According to
medical experts, one in five youngsters (5)________ anything between two and five hours’ sleep a night
less than their parents did at their age.
This (6) _____ serious questions about whether lack of sleep is affecting children’s ability to
concentrate at school. The connection between sleep deprivation and lapses in memory, impaired reaction
time and poor concentration is well (7) _______. Research has shown that losing as little as half an hour’s
sleep a night can have profound effects (8) ______how children perform the next day. A good night’s
sleep is also crucial for teenagers because it is while they are asleep (9)______ they release a hormone
that is essential for their ‘growth spurt’ (the period during teenage years when the body grows at a rapid
rate). It’s true that they can, to some (10) ______, catch up on sleep at weekends, but that won’t help
them when they are dropping off to sleep in class on a Friday afternoon.
By Tim Falla and Paul A.Davies, Solutions Advanced. OUP
1. A. behind time B. about time C.in time D. at time
2. A. few B. less C. much D. little
3. A. jeopardy B. threat C. risk D. danger
4. A. or B. because C. whereas D. so
5. A. puts B. gets C. brings D. makes
6. A. raises B. rises C. results D. comes
7. A. organized B. arranged C. established D. acquired
8. A. in B. on C. to D. at
9. A. at which B. which C. where D. that
10. A. rate B. extent C. level D. point
B. WRITTEN TEST
QUESTION 1: OPEN CLOZE TEST: (20pts)
Close test 1: Fill each blank with ONE word. (10 pts)
CELL PHONES
Cell phones have been popular in Japan since the early 1990s, but it was not (1) until 1999 that their
use really took off. The age of cell phones has emerged, but with it come problems.
Cell phones are used on buses and trains, in restaurants, and in all (2) aspects of life. They cause
problems when they (3) ring during meetings, concerts, wedding, or even funerals. What’s more, people
speak loudly in public, and students read and text messages during lessons. More seriously, when a cell
phone is used near a person using a (4) device to regulate his heartbeat, its radio waves may (5) interfere
with the functioning of the pacemaker.
Now, something is being done to (6) solve these problems. In many places, new technology is being
used to block cell phone calls. Airline (7) passengers are requested to stop using cell phones while on
board. Concert halls ask their audience to switch their phones to the (8) silent mode. However, phone
users fear that if they do not answer their phones, they will (9) lose valuable business opportunities.
That’s why many do not (10) turn off their phones even when they are asked to.
Close test 2: Fill each blank with ONE word. (10 pts)
The Importance of Being Sporty
It is a multi-million dollar industry and that attracts some of the most talented individuals alive, it
generates further millions (1) in advertising revenue and has spawned a whole celebrity culture of its (2)
own. But what role does sport play in our ordinary lives?
Few people are untouched (3) by sport. We all have (4) our favorite football team or tennis player
or, at least, support our national side in major sporting events like the Olympics. How can it be, then, that
so (5) few people actually play sports and that obesity is becoming a major threat in the developed world?
Well, in part, the answer is (6) in the question. Obesity is not a problem in the developing world (7)
where participation in sport is still high. True, there may be few organized leagues but children the
world still go out to play games like football with other children and this comes the supremacy of
countries like Brazil in the world of football.
So, what is stopping the British or the Americans? After (8) all , they still have organized sports in
schools and a myriad of clubs and teams to join in their spare time. What they lack is a public space for
children to play unsupervised outdoors. As a result, they are kept indoors and encouraged to play
online (9) instead of getting our in the fresh air. They may of course still develop a love of sport as
spectators but this is unlikely to do much to lower levels of obesity (10) among the young.
Part 1: Complete the sentence with the correct form of the given word. (10 pts)
1. I gather that in the meat trade the illicit profits to be gained from selling _____ unfit meat as
manufacturing beef are large. SCRIPT
2.You look rather preoccupied Are you worried about something? OCCUPY
3. There are very few unexplored places on earth today. Man has been nearly everywhere.
EXPLORE
4.The doctor gave him an injection to deaden the pain. DIE
5. Nowadays people may no longer suffer from lifetime physical abnormalities NORMAL
6. Home-made ice-cream is one of our specialities SPECIAL
7. The meeting has been provisionally arranged for 3 p.m next Friday. PROVIDE
8. The government’s uncompromising approach has brought criticism. COMPROMISE
9. The artist has created a work that is unnaturally beautiful. NATURE
10. These ties had resulted from a relatively small number of anti-racism unions, most of them
formed during the latter half of the nineteenth century. RACE
WRITING
Part 1. Read the following extract about space for an increased population and use your own words
to summarize it. Your summary should be between 140 and 160 words long.
The growth of cities and suburbs is often seen as a threat to the environment. However, in fact the
increasing amount of land consumed by agriculture is a far greater danger than urban sprawl. Stopping the
growth of farms is the best way to preserve many of the world’s remaining wild areas. But is a dramatic
downsizing of farmland possible? Thanks to the growth of agricultural productivity, reforestation and “re-
wilding” has been under way in the industrial countries for generations. Since 1950 more land in the US
has been set aside in parks than has been occupied by urban and suburban growth. And much of what was
farmland in the nineteenth century is now forest again. Taking the best Iowa maize growers as the norm
for world food productivity, it has been calculated that less than a tenth of present cropland could support
a population of 10 billion.
In The Environmental Game, a vision of a utopia that would be at once high-tech and environmentalist,
Nigel Calder suggested that “nourishing but unpalatable primary food produced by industrial techniques-
like yeast from petroleum may be fed to animals, so that we can continue to eat our customary meat, eggs,
milk, butter, and cheese – and so that people in underdeveloped countries can have adequate supplies of
animal protein for the first time.”
In the long run, tissue-cloning techniques could be used to grow desired portions of meat by themselves.
Once their DNA has been extracted to create cowless steaks and chickenless drumsticks, domesticated
species of livestock, bred for millennia to be stupid or to have grotesquely enhanced traits, should be
allowed to become extinct, except for a few specimens in zoos. However, game such as wild deer, rabbits
and wild ducks will be ever more abundant as farms revert to wilderness, so this could supplement the
laboratory-grown meat in the diets of tomorrow’s affluent.
The abstract highlights the environmental hazard posed by agriculture. The quantity of land used for
parks and forests has already increased. Generally, if land productivity could be enhanced globally, far
less land would be required to feed the world's population. It has also been suggested that industrial
animal food production might provide better access to animal protein for the whole world's population.
Thanks to this innovation, a game is promoted with an aim that encourage the consumption usual food
supplies, thus people in developing nations will have appropriate amounts of animal protein.
Additionally, DNA from domesticated animals might be utilized to aid in the production of meat via
tissue cloning, leading to their extinction. However, when wildlife become more numerous, it will
supplement laboratory-grown meat in the meals of tomorrow's rich.
Part 2. The graphs provide information about worldwide energy consumption, the countries with
oil reserves and the world oil prices from 2000 to 2025.
Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features and make comparisons
where relevant.
The provided pie charts tracks the change in global energy consumption as well as the reserve possession
among distinctive nations. Meanwhile, the line graph compares the world wide cost oil over the course of
five years, commencing in 2000.
Overall, it is obvious from the pie chart that oil received its dominance in power consumption, with data
recorded 37% in 2005. Standing at the second position, coal made up for 28% of the total usage,
surpassing natural gas counterparts by a margin of 5%. Additionally, hydro-electric and nuclear power
share an identical volume of a tiny 6%.
When it comes to world oil, the largest oil reserves belonged to Saudi Arabia, with one-fifth of the
worldwide reserves. Meanwhile, Canada and Iran showed a quite similar pattern in its proportion, with
14% and 10% respectively. By contrast, the U.S possesses the lowest volume of oil when it registered a
merely 2% of total data.
Meanwhile, oil prices witnessed an exponential rise to reach a peak of $59 per barrel by 2005. For the rest
of the span, this figure showed a steady performance, prior to leveling off, followed by a marginal
increase to roughly $5 per barrels at the end of the period in question.
Part 3. Over the past 50 years, young people gain status and power but old people have lost. What
is the cause and is it a good development or bad development?
Write an essay of about 350 words to express your opinion. Give reasons and specific examples to
support your answer.
It is undeniable that young people currently dominate nearly all sectors, including politics, technology,
and financial positions, which is a natural trend and a positive development due to increased knowledge
and wisdom. This essay will discuss the explanation for my agreement.
Indeed, one of the many causes for the transfer of power from the old to the young is higher education.
The youth are energizing and vibrant, the majority of which have completed a formal university education
to obtain a fixed certificate, promoting information, abilities, and experience that will reap a myriads of
benefits in their future occupations. For example, persons at the greatest states in nearly all disciplines,
such as Bill Gates, Barack Obama or Mark Zuckerberg, are highly educated from repeated institutes.
Furthermore, they are aware of the current situation and know how to deal with a threat. They are more
open-minded than old people who have a tendency of conservation, which encourage them to adapt
themselves to the changeable world more easily.
To expand on the remarks, older people's knowledge is out-of-date when compared to the younger
generation, which does not correspond to the present society's progress. Older individuals respond more
slowly than younger ones, who can always make rapid decisions and make quick judgments. Besides, the
younger counterparts have an amazing enthusiasm and a strong risk-taking mentality, both of which are
required for businesses to develop. In the industrial industry, for example, the usage of modern machinery
is fairly easy, but understanding how to run the equipment may be a difficult issue for older people.
Hence, psychological problems may be triggered among the senior citizens when facing with such
problems.
However, young people continue to lack the necessary expertise and abilities to cope with complex
national challenges and international relations. As a result, many young leaders throughout the world are
frequently chastised by older people for their lack of strategy. Confronting with adversities, some young
individuals become quite radical. Hence, they still have a lot of ground to cover.
In general, older individuals should provide chances for young men to hone their skills and capabilities.
Meanwhile, young people should learn humbly from the elderly in order to become more adaptable.