Đề thi chọn học sinh giỏi lớp 12 THPT cấp thành phố (TP Hồ Chí Minh) năm học 2014-2015 môn Tiếng Anh

Perhaps the most striking quality of satiric literature is its freshness and its originality of perspective. Satire itself, however, rarely offers  original ideas. Instead, it presents the familiar in a new form. Satirists do not offer the world new philosophies. What they do is look at  familiar conditions from a perspective that makes these conditions seem foolish, harmful, or affected. Satire jars us out of complacence  into a pleasantly shocked realization that many of the values we unquestioningly accept are false. 

Don Quixote makes chivalry seem absurd; Brave New World ridicules the pretensions of science; A Modest Proposal dramatizes  starvation by advocating cannibalism. None of these ideas is original. Chivalry was suspect before Cervantes, humanists objected to  the claims of pure science before Aldous Huxley, and people were aware of famine before Swift. 

It was not the originality of the idea that made these satires popular. It was the manner of expression, the satiric method, that made  them interesting and entertaining. Satires are read because they are aesthetically satisfying works of art, not because they are morally  wholesome or ethically instructive. They are stimulating and refreshing because with commonsense briskness they brush away  illusions and secondhand opinions. With spontaneous irreverence, satire rearranges perspectives, scrambles familiar objects into  incongruous juxtaposition, and speaks in a personal idiom instead of abstract platitude. 

Satire exists because there is need for it. It has lived because readers appreciate a refreshing stimulus, an irreverent reminder that  they live in a world of platitudinous thinking, cheap moralizing, and foolish philosophy. Satire serves to prod people into an awareness  of truth, though rarely to any action on behalf of truth. Satire tends to remind people that much of what they see, hear, and read in  popular media is sanctimonious, sentimental, and only partially true. Life resembles in only a slight degree the popular image of it.  Soldiers rarely hold the ideals that movies attribute to them, nor do ordinary citizens devote their lives to unselfish service of humanity.  Intelligent people know these things but tend to forget them when they do not hear them expressed. 

1. What does the passage mainly discuss? 

(A) Difficulties of writing satiric literature. (B) Popular topics of satire 

(C) New philosophies emerging from satiric literature (D) Reasons for the popularity of satire. 2. The word "realization" is closest in meaning to _______. 

(A) certainly (B) awareness (C) surprise (D) confusion 3. Why does the author mention Don Quixote, Brave New World and A Modest Proposal? 

(A) They are famous examples of satiric literature (B) They present commonsense solutions to problems. (C) They are appropriate for readers of all ages. (D) They are books with similar stories. 4. The word "aesthetically" is closest in meaning to _______. 

(A) artistically (B) exceptionally (C) realistically (D) dependably 5. Which of the following can be found in satire literature? 

(A) Newly emerging philosophies (B) Odd combinations of objects and ideas (C) Abstract discussion of moral and ethnics (D) Wholesome characters who are unselfish. 6. According to the passage, there is a need for satire because people need to be _______. 

(A) informed about new scientific developments (B) exposed to original philosophies when they are formulated (C) reminded that popular ideas are often inaccurate (D) told how they can be of service to their communities. 7. The word "they" refers to 

(A) people (B) media (C) ideals (D) movies 8. As a result of reading satiric literature, readers will be most likely to _______. 

(A) teach themselves to write fiction (B) accept conventional points of view (C) become better informed about current affairs (D) reexamine their opinions and values 9. The various purposes of satire include all of the following EXCEPT _______. 

(A) introducing readers to unfamiliar situations (B) brushing away illusions 

(C) reminding readers of the truth (D) exposing false values. 

10. Why does the author mention "service of humanity"? 

(A) People need to be reminded to take action (B) Readers appreciate knowing about it (C) It is an ideal that is rarely achieved. (D) Popular media often distort such stories. PASSAGE B (10 pts) 

According to sociologists, there are several different ways in which a person may become recognized as the leader of a social  group in the United States. In the family, traditional cultural patterns confer leadership on one or both of the parents. In other cases,  such as friendship groups, one or more persons may gradually emerge as leaders, although there is no formal process of selection. In  larger groups, leaders are usually chosen formally through election or recruitment. 

Although leaders are often thought to be people with unusual personal ability, decades of research have failed to produce  consistent evidence that there is any category of “natural leaders.” It seems that there is no set of personal qualities that all leaders  have in common; rather, virtually any person may be recognized as a leader if the person has qualities that meet the needs of that  particular group.

3 

Furthermore, although it is commonly supposed that social groups have a single leader, research suggests that there are typically  two different leadership roles that are held by different individuals. Instrumental leadership is leadership that emphasizes the  completion of tasks by a social group. Group members look to instrumental leaders to “get things” done.” Expressive leadership, on the  other hand, is leadership that emphasizes the collective well-being of a social group’s member. Expressive leader are less concerned  with the overall goals of the group than with providing emotional support to group members and attempting to minimize tension and  conflict among them. Group members expect expressive leaders to maintain stable relationships within the group and provide support  to individual members. 

Instrumental leaders are likely to have a rather secondary relationship to other group members. They give orders and may  discipline group members who inhibit attainment of the group’s goals. Expressive leaders cultivate a more personal or primary relationship to others in the group. They offer sympathy when someone experiences difficulties or is subjected to discipline, are quick to  lighten a serious moment with humor, and try to resolve issues that threaten to divide the group. As the differences in these two roles  suggest, expressive leaders generally receive more personal affection from group members; instrumental leaders, if they are  successful in promoting group goals, may enjoy a more distant respect. 

11. What does the passage mainly discuss? 

(A) The problems faced by leaders (B) How leadership differs in small and large groups (C) How social groups determine who will lead them (D) The role of leaders in social groups 12. The passage mentions all of the following ways by which people can become leaders EXCEPT _______. (A) recruitment (B) formal election process (C) specific leadership training (D) traditional cultural patterns 13. In mentioning “natural leaders”, the author is making the point that _______. 

(A) few people qualify as “natural leaders” 

(B) there is no proof that “natural leaders” exist 

(C) “natural leaders’ are easily accepted by the members of a social group 

(D) “natural leaders” share a similar set of characteristics 

14. Which of the following statements about leadership can be inferred from paragraph 2? 

(A) A person who is an effective leader of a particular group may not be an effective leader in another group. (B) Few people succeed in sharing a leadership role with another person. 

(C) A person can best learn how to be an effective leader by studying research on leadership. 

(D) Most people desire to be leaders but can produce little evidence of their qualifications. 

15. The passage indicates that instrumental leaders generally focus on _______. 

(A) ensuring harmonious relationships (B) sharing responsibility with group members (C) identifying new leaders (D) achieving a goal 

16. The word “collective” is closest in meaning to _______. 

(A) necessary (B) typical (C) group (D) particular 17. The word “them” refers to _______. 

(A) expressive leaders (B) goals of the group 

(C) group members (D) tension and conflict