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Tổng quan Đề thi Duyên Hải Tiếng Anh 11
- Đề thi chính thức môn Tiếng Anh lớp 11 năm 2024 gồm 14 trang và được chia thành 4 phần chính: Section A: Listening (50 điểm) Section B: Lexico-Grammar (30 điểm) Section C: Reading (60 điểm) Section D: Writing (60 điểm).
- Thời gian làm bài: 180 phút.
- Ngày thi: 16/7/2024.
- Điểm bài thi được quy về thang điểm 20.
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HỘI CÁC TRƯỜNG THPT CHUYÊN VÙNG DH&ĐB BẮC BỘ
ĐỀ CHÍNH THỨC
(Đề thi gồm 14 trang) KỲ THI CHỌN HỌC SINH GIỎI LẦN THỨ XV, NĂM 2024
ĐỀ THI MÔN: TIẾNG ANH – LỚP 11
Thời gian làm bài: 180 phút (không kể thời gian giao đề)
Ngày thi: 16 tháng 7 năm 2024
SECTION A: LISTENING (50 points)
HƯỚNG DẪN PHẦN THI NGHE HIỂU
• Bài nghe gồm 4 phần; mỗi phần được nghe 2 lần, mỗi lần cách nhau 05 giây; mở đầu và kết thúc mỗi phần nghe có tín hiệu. Thí sinh có 20 giây để đọc câu hỏi ở mỗi phần và 30 giây để kiểm tra phần bài làm của mình sau mỗi phần nghe.
• Hết 4 phần nghe, thí sinh có 02 phút để xem và hoàn chỉnh bài trước khi có tín hiệu kết thúc bài nghe.
• Mọi hướng dẫn cho thí sinh (bằng tiếng Anh) đã có trong bài nghe.
Part 1. You will hear a talk about multitasking. For questions 1-5, decide whether the following statements are true (T) or false (F). Write your answers in the corresponding numbered boxes on our answer sheet. (10 points)
1. According to psychologists, our visual attention is analogous to a spotlight because it can be shone in different directions at any one time.
2. Our senses provide us with a lot of information, but we can only be consciously aware of a fraction of it.
3. Inattention blindness results from our ability to remove irrelevant details.
4. In the experiment ‘Invisible Gorilla’, people were asked not to divert their attention from the gorilla walking across the screen.
5. Multitasking is possible if each task entails a different set of cognitive resources.
Part 2: For questions 6-10, listen to part of a lecture about the ugly fruit movement as an effort to prevent food wastage and answer the questions. Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER taken from the recording. Write your answers in the corresponding numbered boxes on our answer sheet. (10 points)
6. How many people experience hunger as a result of food wastage worldwide?
7. What is the predominant component of solid waste produced by cities?
8. At what level does wastage happen in developed countries?
9. What causes retailers to get rid of large quantities of food?
10. What is FAO’s last recommendation to reduce food wastage?
Part 3. You will hear part of a radio phone-in programme about consumer competitions that appear in magazines or are run by shops, in which advice is given to people who regularly enter them. For questions 11-15, choose the answer (A, B, C or D) which fits best according to what you hear. Write your answers in the corresponding numbered boxes on your answer sheet. (10 points)
11. Diana has phoned because she .
A. is hesitant to consult a lawyer yet
B. feels that she is the victim of an injustice
C. wants to avoid having an argument with her best friend
D. is afraid she failed to understand an agreement she made
12. Kathy tells Diana that .
A. it is unfortunate that she didn’t have any support from her friend
B. her problem is a rather strange one
C. she would regret taking legal action
D. she should have been more careful when dealing with her friend
13. What does Kathy tell Ron about using different names when entering competitions?
A. There are rarely occasions when it might be justified.
B. People who do so usually have their entry disregarded.
C. It may have an effect on the quality of a competitor’s entries.
D. It is unusual for competitors to decide to do so.
14. Why has Stan decided to phone in?
A. Because he has a feeling of confusion about the rules of a competition.
B. Because he has got an inadequate response to a complaint he has made.
C. Because he wants to know more about the results of competitions.
D. Because he believes that he has been given an inaccurate answer.
15. What does Kathy tell Stan about the competition he entered?
A. The organizer has deliberately attempted to mislead competitors.
B. The rules allow of results that may appear unfair.
C. It is the type of competition that people shouldn’t enter.
D. Some of the competition instructions are not clear enough.
Part 4: You will hear a news programme about a climate change report. For question 16-25, listen and complete the summary below by writing NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer. Write your answers in the corresponding numbered boxes on your answer sheet. (20 points)
– According to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, the new climate change report is a (16)
for humanity.
– The world is expected to warm above the 1.5°C goal by (17) .
– The plan calls for an all-ends-on-deck (18) to achieve global net-zero emissions by 2050.
– According to Justin Rowlatt, it has taken scientists eight years to do research and finally come up with this (19) , which evidences what is happening to the global climate.
– The report provides the factual foundation for political leaders to determine the (20)
needed to address the problem.
– The critical boundary of temperature rises will likely be missed (21) .
– However, through extensive emission reductions and (22) removal technologies, temperatures could potentially be brought back down to the desired goal.
– The scientists would not characterize the likely missing of the 1.5°C target as (23)
as their role is to objectively present the evidence. However, it is hoped that this report will facilitate (24) in the future.
– The UN Secretary General’s message is that to address the climate crisis, we need an (25) “
all at once” approach.
SECTION B: LEXICO- GRAMMAR (30 points)
Part 1. For questions 26-45, choose the correct answer A, B, C, or D to complete each of the following questions. Write your answers in the corresponding numbered boxes on your answer sheet. (20 points)
26. I wasn’t keen on attending the party, but John and I agreed to go.
A. twisted my arm B. knew the ropes C. used his loaf D. went balls out
27. My uncle when he found his car all scratched in the car park.
A. took the bloom off it B. saved his bacon
C. got bent out of shape D. was keen as mustard
28. Although his invention is world-famous, the inventor is a discreet man who .
A. hangs in there B. sells down the river
C. takes the floor D. keeps a low profile
29. No one in the group went hiking alone, knowing there was .
A. a saving grace B. safety in numbers C. a screw loose D. a safe bet
30. In the morning I’m often in a rush, so I my breakfast and then head off for work.
A. lie around B. scrape through C. wolf down D. deck out
31. Little Tom to sleep alone when his mum turned off the lights.
A. horsed around B. chickened out C. rabbited on D. pigged out
32. The headmaster of the school decided to the use of smartphones in class.
A. get down to B. clamp down on C. come up with D. let go off
33. habitats are a threat to biodiversity, in terms of both plants and animals, and endangered species need legal protection if they are to survive.
A. Glooming B. Shrinking C. Reducing D. Dropping
34. Goodwill is one of the most significant assets found on this company’s balance sheet.
A. conclusive B. unavoidable C. intangible D. amiable
35. Her films are always set in beautiful locations and accompanied by music.
A. canvassing B. uninspiring C. polyphonic D. evocative
36. The non-specialist may find the book’s technical terms and subtle discourse .
A. heavy-handed B. heavy-footed C. heavy duty D. heavy going
37. There was a(n) of support in the community when the village hospital was threatened with closure.
A. outpouring B. surge C. flash D. whirlwind
38. She didn’t show even a of emotion when he talked about the diamond ring she would get.
A. gleam B. wink C. flicker D. flash
39. It was a(n) move to buy your house just before property prices started to rise.
A. astute B. crafty C. shrewd D. wily
40. Riley is between a and a hard place when he accidentally set up his doctor’s appointment on the same day as his son’s first soccer game at school.
A. rock B. stone C. ball D. dirt
41. I decided to go to the cinema because my friends about this film all week and eventually
me down.
A. have been constantly going; wears B. was constantly going; wears
C. had constantly gone; wore D. had been constantly going; wore
42. She to Europe with her family, but she got a summer job instead.
A. must have traveled B. can’t have traveled
C. could have traveled D. may not have traveled
43. Not since the 1960s _ attended an anti-war demonstration in London.
A. so many people have B. have so many people
C. did so many people have D. had so many people had
44. I was surprised to receive a puppy for my birthday.
A. cute little eight-week-old golden retriever B. little, cute, eight-week-old golden retriever
C. eight-week-old cute little golden retriever D. golden cute eight-week-old little retriever
45. The third episode of the show set the tone for uncomfortable holiday to come.
A. many an B. many C. many few D. many a
Part 2. For questions 46-55, fill each gap with the correct form of the word in brackets. Write your answers in the corresponding numbered boxes on your answer sheet. (10 points)
46. without providing soldiers with training, as well as help in finding alternative means of livelihood, leads to instability and internal crises. (ARM)
47. The department did not have enough of its own officers and – or a backup plan in place – to keep the rioters out of the building. (FORTIFY)
48. I find it ______ that Peter has compromised his journalistic integrity through such false
claims. (LAMENT)
49. Indeed, road schemes, bridges and tunnels are all specifically mentioned in the ______
complicated, explanatory notes relating to the private finance initiative. (NIGHTMARE)
50. I understand that the company has offered ______ services to its redundant employees; that is welcome, but it is only a first step. (PLACE)
51. Shoppers unable to afford goods have decided to pay what they can. (PRICE)
52. The argument of this paper suggests that such science fictional ideas are not just implausible, but incoherent. (REDEEM)
53. Public interest in magic had increased with a number of performers gaining in fairs as well
as theatres. (NOTORIOUS)
54. In his polite way, he ignored his opponent’s taunts. (PERTURB)
55. Across the ages, people have traveled to the farthest reaches of the world in search of solace and _. (LIGHT)
SECTION C: READING (60 points)
Part 1. For questions 56 – 65, read the passage and fill each of the following numbered blanks with ONE suitable word. Write your answers in the corresponding numbered boxes on your answer sheet. (15 points)
The allure of moving naturally, with the potential for fewer injuries and stronger feet, has captivated runners and walkers for (56) ______. This fascination gained momentum when Born to
Run, a book about long-distance barefoot runners in Mexico, sparked a global (57) barefoot and minimalist lifestyle.
______ in a
While the research about the (58) ______ movement is promising, don’t throw out all of your shoes just yet. Switching too quickly can be a recipe for injury, says John Mercer, professor of kinesiology and biomechanics researcher at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
Our feet have (59) to cushioned shoes, losing some of their innate strength. Plus, many of
us are now hypersensitive to (60) but smooth, soft ground (think about walking on gravel), so
walking barefoot everywhere could be a painful endeavor.
Basically, you can’t just shed your shoes and break out into a jog: “That’s like having your arm in a sling or in a cast for years (61) ______ end,” says Clark. “Then take your cast (62) , and the
first thing you do is go out and play a game of tennis. Of course, you’re going to hurt your arm if you
do that.” Transitioning too quickly can overload (63) ______ muscles and tendons, causing stress
fractures, plantar fasciitis, and Achilles tendonitis. Mercer recommends starting slow.
First, try walking around the house and outside on a soft surface. Then, go for a short walk around the block. (64) the mileage slowly, adding a bit more each week. “Your feet will tell you when
you’ve had (65) ,” says Harris, and “if you experience any sharp pain, stop,” says Mercer.
Part 2: For questions 66-75, read the following passage and write A, B, C, or D in the corresponding numbered boxes provided to indicate the correct answer to each of the following questions. (10 points)
Most people have never heard of it, and they certainly have not eaten it in its original form, but the Atlantic Ocean menhaden is the most important fish in the ocean. However, it is disappearing at an alarming rate. The east coast of the United States once teemed with immense schools, some as many as a mile across, but the devastation of the menhaden stocks over the last sixty years has led to severe dislocations in the oceans’ ecosystems. The decline of the menhaden has had particularly disastrous effects on fish species that feed on it, on bird species that use it as a food source, and on how clean the oceans are.
Menhaden are a small fish belonging to the haddock family, and they are not very palatable to humans, having a foul, oily taste and consisting of many small bones. Commercial fishing of menhaden since the end of World War II has primarily been for the production of feed for livestock, with ground-up fish used to make meal for chickens, pigs, and cows. Companies use spotter planes to find large schools and direct fishing boats to the location. Catches have declined almost forty percent since the 1960s and show no sign of leveling off or increasing. Unlike other species that are protected by government quotas, menhaden are not, most likely because they are not a species consumed directly by humans. This is unfortunate since the loss of the menhaden spells an eco-disaster of epic proportions.
Of principal importance are the many species of fish and other animals that feed on menhaden. They are the main diet for bluefish and striped bass, and both species have shown a serious decline in numbers. The striped bass was once the prized catch of the Chesapeake Bay area, but the specimens brought in by rod and reel now are weak sisters compared to the past. Not only do they lack the bulk of their ancestors, but they are also dying at alarming rates. Fish are not the only predators of menhaden, as birds also depend on them as a source of nourishment. Large colonies of osprey all along the eastern seaboard have disappeared in recent years, with the numbers of nests and birds reduced by fifty percent in some areas over the last ten years. There are similar statistics for loons in Chesapeake Bay.
The greatest threat from the loss of the menhaden is that the oceans have lost one of their great natural filterers. Menhaden swim in massive schools with their mouths open, allowing water to flow through their gills, which serve to absorb oxygen and grab plankton and other detritus from the water. They act like gigantic vacuum cleaners for the ocean. The cleaner water allows sunlight to penetrate to greater depths, which stimulates plant life that harbors other fish and shellfish and produces oxygen for the water. With the decline of the menhaden, this process is in serious jeopardy. Chemical run-off from farms, lawns, and houses ends up in the oceans, increasing the nitrogen and phosphorus levels in the water. Algae grow in great numbers in these conditions, block the sunlight, and deplete oxygen of the water. In addition, the algae sink to the ocean floor and prevent shellfish and oxygen-producing plants from growing. Entire coastal areas are lifeless, with the algae’s killing the fish. Menhaden reduce the levels of these chemicals, but now that there are fewer menhaden, the algae have taken over.
The large companies that process menhaden disagree with the findings of environmental scientists. Since there is no accurate way to count the amount of menhaden in the oceans, they claim that the fewer menhaden are a result of a cyclical event and that the stocks will grow again in time. Yet, much of the menhaden catch consists of smaller fish, often less than one year old. These fish have not had a chance to mature long enough to become reproductive, and thus the commercial fishing companies are destroying future menhaden stocks in order to make a profit at the moment. The largest companies have had to lay off many employees, and many of their vessels sit idle at the wharf. In the long run, the menhaden will probably rebound once their numbers have reached the point where catching them is no longer profitable. Hopefully, laws will soon be in place to protect them from their greatest predator, mankind.
66. According to paragraph 1, what is TRUE about menhaden?
A. They are consumed only by other fish and not at all by humans.
B. They are not in any immediate danger of disappearing from the ocean.
C. They are eaten by birds and other fish as a part of their diets.
D. They are a main source of income for American fishmen along the east coast.
67. The word “palatable” in paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to .
A. digestive B. stinking C. revolting D. eatable
68. According to paragraph 2, all of the following are reasons for the decline of the menhaden stocks EXCEPT .
A. There is a lot of competition between fishing companies.
B. Improved fishing technology has helped catch more fish.
C. Farmers have a strong dependence on fish-fed livestock.
D. There is a lack of laws providing government protection.
69. It can be inferred from paragraph 2 that humans consume menhaden _ .
A. for the healthy benefits from eating its oily flesh
B. directly from the oceans in their original form
C. only in the eastern coastal areas of the United States
D. as a result of eating livestock raised on menhaden meal
70. Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the bold and underlined sentence in the passage?
A. In the past the Chesapeake Bay striped bass fishery was more valuable than it is nowadays.
B. The Chesapeake Bay area is prized for the striped bass that can be caught by fishermen there.
C. There are prizes given for the best striped bass caught by sport fishermen in Chesapeake Bay.
D. The striped bass caught by sport fishermen in Chesapeake Bay are not as large as those caught in the past.
71. The word “detritus” in paragraph 4 is closest in meaning to .
A. prey B. waste C. algae D. organisms
72. According to paragraph 4, the main influence on the oceans as a result of declining menhaden numbers is .
A. an overabundance of plankton near the coast
B. increased human dumping of chemicals in the ocean
C. the decline of fish stocks that feed on menhaden
D. the demise of marine life in extents of sea water
73. The word “their” in paragraph 5 refers to .
A. menhaden stocks B. many employees
C. the largest companies D. commercial fishing companies
74. Large commercial fishing companies argue that the shrinking menhaden stocks are the result of
.
A. a lack of oxygen in the ocean as a result of too much algae
B. environmental factors that are totally beyond their control
C. fishing technology that has developed in recent years
D. a normal cycle that will end some time in the near future
75. In paragraph 5, why does the author mention that commercial fishing companies are catching smaller and younger fish?
A. To prove that the declining menhaden stocks are not an illusion.
B. To explain why they have had to lay off employees and leave boats idle.
C. To counter their disagreements with the environmental scientists.
D. To show that menhaden stocks are not safe for the future.
Part 3. For questions 76 – 88, read the following passage and do the tasks that follow. (13 points)
REALISM IN LITERATURE
Perhaps the most profound development in art around the world was the development of realism. Realism in art forms can be traced back to Classical Greece. Here were the first true representations of the human form in paintings, sculpture and on pottery, where people are depicted not as simply static forms but in movement and taking part in ordinary everyday activities. Although this was the beginning of mimesis, or imitation in art, it is strangely absent from the literature of that era, which
was concerned with the exploration of lofty ideals in both Tragedy and Comedy, and did not look into the everyday ordinary lives of the people of that time and therefore does not conform to the accepted definition of realism in literature. Erich Auerbach, the great German literary critic and scholar of comparative literature, identified the New Testament as the first great work of literature to offer insight into the ordinary everyday lives of common people. It was the first widely read book that considered the issues that affected poor people, working people, and even criminal elements, rather than dealing only with those of people from a noble background. It was these ideas that heralded the development of the great European novel from its roots in Cervantes and Defoe through to the rise of psychological depth of characterization, as seen in Jane Austen, and the apotheosis of mimesis in the French Realism of the 19th century, in the works of Stendhal, Balzac, Flaubert and Zola. Of course, the problem of depictions of reality in literature are manifold, but the first one is, as the French critic Roland Barthes pointed out, how to create a world that reflects our world using only black characters on a white page. The written word, language, is both a great and imperfect tool for recreating the world we live in. Firstly, it relies on the readers’ ability to picture the world depicted by the writer. Interpretation is the first stumbling block to how a book is received by the reader and, which may radically differ from the intentions of the author. Barthes explained it as the death of the author; because once a book has gone into print it no longer belongs to the author but to the reader who interprets it.
Another layer to add to this understanding of depictions of reality relates to the era in which texts were written. How different are readers of Shakespeare today to the readership of Shakespeare’s own era? Do you or I see the world of Madame Bovary in the same light as Gustave Flaubert, when the role of women in society has changed so dramatically in the intervening years? To understand Emma Bovary’s tragedy we have to understand not only the world Flaubert created in the novel but the one he lived in and its societal constraints. It’s not possible to understand Flaubert’s creation without knowledge of petit bourgeois French society in the 19th century.
So how are readers to understand a book as real, or true to life, given the problems that beset both depiction in language from the writers’ end and interpretation of representation from the readers’ end, which also encompass reading across the bridge of differing eras? The answer is that there is no answer to that question and there quite possibly never will be. Perhaps it is not even a valid question to ask of language, which is inherently slippery. But all is not lost in a sea of total meaninglessness because there is consensus and that is what gives us meaning, a way to understand and interpret what we read. There are accepted conventions in literature that have come down to us through the various ages of literary development.
In Miguel de Cervantes’ Don Quixote, the reader comes to understand the difference between reality and fantasy through the character of Don Quixote himself. As readers, we can only laugh as Don Quixote tilts at windmills because we have a consensus as to how we understand the world around us and see it for what it is in a way that poor Don Quixote cannot. We know what windmills are and they are not giants. Without this consensus on reality Cervantes would not have been able to show how Quixote was excluded from reality.
Jane Austen’s most famous opening line also plays with the consensus on what is reality. Her opening to Pride and Prejudice “It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife” is the highest wit precisely because it is neither a truth nor universally agreed. It is, however, what a great many mothers of 19th century daughters would have wanted all single men of fortune to believe. In that one line, Austen establishes the reality of the world
she seeks to create – one where a mother’s sole purpose is to marry off her daughters. Austen ensures that her reader has entered her world and made them aware of one of its central themes with the very first line.
How reality is depicted in literature is an endlessly fascinating subject from a scholarly point of view but is it of any relevance to the general readership? Not really is the simple answer. Readers don’t want to have to consciously think about the conventions used to represent reality in literature. They want to be entertained by the narrative and the more seamlessly the reader can travel from this world into the world of the novel the better. A reader is concerned with the tale and how it grips and not with the mechanics of the story’s creation, which is pretty much how it should be.
Questions 76-79: Choose the correct letter A, B, C or D.
76. What is the writer’s main point in the first paragraph?
A. Classical Greece did not have realism in art.
B. Greek art was only concerned with showing ideals.
C. Realism in art forms has its roots in Classical Greece.
D. Greek literature showed everyday life in Ancient Greece.
77. According to the writer what was the first major influence on the development of the modern novel?
A. How the lives of the nobility were shown in Classical literature.
B. Making ordinary life a part of literary depiction in the New Testament.
C. The development of psychological characterization in the novel.
D. Mimesis in the novels of 19th Century French writers.
78. What does the writer refer to by “the first stumbling block”?
A. How meaning can be impeded. B. Why readers are always confused.
C. What writers try to avoid. D. What happens to language in books.
79. What do readers generally want out of a reading experience?
A. To be certain of authorial intention.
B. To understand the narrative tricks writers use.
C. To ignore academic theories on literature.
D. To become effortlessly submerged in the narrative.
Questions 80-83: Complete the summary using the list of words, A-G, below.
UNDERSTANDING MEANING
It is difficult for readers to interpret (80) of reality in literature because it’s hard to understand the writer’s intention especially when they are from another point in history. However, even if meaning in language is always (81) to grasp, there is (82) _ in general on what words and ideas mean. This allows us to make sense of what we read. Literature has (83) that readers are used to.
A. registers B. agreement C. tricky
D. traditions E. light F. representations G. knotty
Questions 84-88: Look at the following statements and the list of people, A-E below. Match each statement with the correct person.
84. The switch from literature showing only nobility to showing common people lead to the modern novel.
85. This writer juxtaposed fantasy and reality to establish what reality is.
86. This writer demonstrates the ability to indicate a major literary theme with one sentence.
87. The reader needs historical knowledge to appreciate this writer’s book.
88. A writer cannot control how a book is interpreted.
Part 4. In the passage below, seven paragraphs have been removed. For questions 89-95, read the passage and choose from paragraphs A-H the one which fits each gap. There is ONE extra paragraph which you do not need to use. Write your answers in the corresponding numbered boxes provided. (7 points)
AT THE CUTTING EDGE
Some years ago, scientists at Cornell University released photographs of a guitar no larger than a human blood cell, its strings just one hundred atoms thick. This Lilliputian instrument was sculpted from crystalline silicon, using an etching technique involving a beam of electrons. The implications of being able to develop machines that are too small to be seen with the naked eye are breath-taking, but we should not lose sight of the fact that nature got there first. The world is already full of nanomachines: they are called living cells. Each cell is packed with tiny structures that might have come straight out of an engineer’s manual. Minuscule tweezers, scissors, pumps, motors, levers, valves, pipes, chains and even vehicles abound.
Individually, atoms can only jostle their neighbors and bond to them if the circumstances are
right. Yet collectively, they accomplish ingenious marvels of construction and control, unmatched by any human engineering. Somehow nature discovered how to build the intricate machine we call the living cell, using only the raw materials to hand, all jumbled up. Even more remarkable is that nature built the first cell from scratch.
Like any urban environment, there is much commuting going on. Molecules have to travel across
the cell to meet others at the right place and the right time in order to carry out their jobs properly. No overseer supervises their activities – they simply do what they have to do. While at the level of individual atoms life is anarchy, at this higher level, the dance of life is performed with exquisite precision.
Even nowadays, some people flatly deny that science alone can give a convincing explanation
for the origin of life, believing that living cell is just too elaborate, too contrived, to be the product of blind physical forces alone. Science may give a good account of this or that individual feature, they say, but it will never explain how the original cell was assembled in the first place.
It would be wrong, however, to suppose this is all there is to life. To use the cliché, the whole is more than the sum of its parts. The very word “organism” implies cooperation at a global level that cannot be captured in the study of the components alone. Without understanding its collective activity, the job of explaining life is only partly done.
With the discovery of DNA, however, this mystery was finally solved. Its structure is the famous
double helix, discovered by Crick and Watson in the early 1950s. The two helical strands are attached by cross-links and we can imagine the whole shape unwound and laid out to make a ladder, where the handrails are the two unwound helices and the rungs the cross-links.
Each rung is actually a pair of bases joined end to end and it is here that geometry comes in. A is
tailor-made to butt neatly with T, while C and G similarly slot together snugly, though the forces that bind these base pairs in the lock-and-key fit are in fact rather weak. Imagine the two handrails being pulled apart, breaking all the base pairs, as if the ladder had been sawn up the middle. Each would be left with a row of complementary projecting arms.
So long as the base-pairing rules work correctly, this is guaranteed to be identical to the original.
However, no copy process is perfect, and it is inevitable that errors will creep in from time to time, altering the sequence of bases – scrambling up the letters. If the message gets a bit gargled during replication, the resulting organism may suffer a mutation. Viewed like this, life is just a string of four- letter words, for we are defined as individuals by these minuscule variations in DNA.
Missing paragraphs:
A. Can such a magnificently self-orchestrating process be explained or might the mystery of life be, in the end, impenetrable? In 1933, the physicist Niels Bohr, one of the founders of quantum mechanics, concluded that life hides its secrets from us in the same way as an atom does.
B. It is this templating that is the basis for the replication process and ultimately, the recipe for life. If a DNA molecule is pulled apart and if there is a supply of free base molecules – As, Gs, Cs and Ts – floating around, they will tend to slot in and stick to these exposed stumps and thereby automatically reconstruct a new strand.
C. Near the top of my list of its defining properties is reproduction. Without it, and in the absence of immortality, all life would sooner or later cease. For a long time, scientists had very little idea how organisms reproduce themselves. Vague notions of invisible genes conveying biological messages from one generation to the next revealed little.
D. Of course, there’s more to it than just a bag of gadgets. The various components fit together to form a smoothly functioning whole, like an elaborate factory production line. The miracle of life is not that it is made of nanotools, but that these tiny diverse parts are integrated in a highly organized way.
E. Boiled down to its essentials, this secret can in fact be explained by molecular replication. The idea of a molecule making a copy of itself may seem rather magical, but it actually turns out to be quite straightforward. The underlying principle is in fact an exercise in elementary geometry.
F. I beg to differ. Over the past few decades, molecular biology has made gigantic strides in determining which molecules do what to which. Always it is found that nature’s nanomachines operate according to perfectly ordinary physical forces and laws. No weird goings-on have been discovered.
G. The former perform a purely scaffolding role, holding the molecule together. The business part of DNA lies with the latter, which are constructed from four different varieties of molecules or bases, with the chemical names adenine, guanine, cytosine and thiamine – let’s use their initials for simplicity’s sake.
H. As a simple-minded physicist, when I think about life at the molecular level, the question I keep asking is: How do all these mindless atoms know what to do? The complexity of the living cell is immense, resembling a city in the degree of its elaborate activity. Each molecule has a specified function and a designated place in the overall scheme so that the correct objects get manufactured.
Part 5. You are going to read an article which has been divided into six sections. For questions 96- 105, choose from the sections (A-F). The sections may be chosen more than once. Write your answers in the corresponding boxes on your answer sheet. (15 points)
In which section of the article are the following mentioned?
96. A business-model approach to education
97. The reason why a great number of people applying for the teaching job
98. The teachers’ freedom to do anything good for their students
99. The times when the government decided to reform education in Finland
100. Ways in which equality is maintained in the Finnish education system
101. An approach that helped a young learner to finally learn
102. Statistical proof of education success
103. Support for families working and living in Finland
104. The year when teachers realized the success of educational reforms
105. The type of funding schools in Finland receive
Why Are Finland’s Schools Successful?
The country’s achievements in education have other nations doing their homework
A. At Kirkkojarvi Comprehensive School in Espoo, a suburb west of Helsinki, Kari Louhivuori, the school’s principal, decided to try something extreme by Finnish standards. One of his sixth-grade students, a recent immigrant, was falling behind, resisting his teacher’s best efforts. So he decided to hold the boy back a year. Standards in the country have vastly improved in reading, math and science literacy over the past decade, in large part because its teachers are trusted to do whatever it takes to turn young lives around. “I took Besart on that year as my private student,” explains Louhivuori. When he was not studying science, geography and math, Besart was seated next to Louhivuori’s desk, taking books from a tall stack, slowly reading one, then another, then devouring them by the dozens. By the end of the year, he had conquered his adopted country’s vowel-rich language and arrived at the realization that he could, in fact, learn.
B. This tale of a single rescued child hints at some of the reasons for Finland’s amazing record of education success. The transformation of its education system began some 40 years ago but teachers had little idea it had been so successful until 2000. In this year, the first results from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), a standardized test given to 15-year-olds in more than 40
global venues, revealed Finnish youth to be the best at reading in the world. Three years later, they led in math. By 2006, Finland was first out of the 57 nations that participate in science. In the latest PISA scores, the nation came second in science, third in reading and sixth in math among nearly half a million students worldwide.
C. In the United States, government officials have attempted to improve standards by introducing marketplace competition into public schools. In recent years, a group of Wall Street financiers and philanthropists such as Bill Gates have put money behind private sector ideas, such as charter schools, which have doubled in number in the past decade. President Obama, too, apparently thought competition was the answer. One policy invited states to compete for federal dollars using tests and other methods to measure teachers, a philosophy that would not be welcome in Finland. “I think, in fact, teachers would tear off their shirts,” said Timo Heikkinen, a Helsinki principal with 24 years of teaching experience. “If you only measure the statistics, you miss the human aspect.”
D. There are no compulsory standardized tests in Finland, apart from one exam at the end of students’ senior year in high school. There is no competition between students, schools or regions. Finland’s schools are publicly funded. The people in the government agencies running them, from national officials to local authorities, are educators rather than business people or politicians. Every school has the same national goals and draws from the same pool of university trained educators. The result is that a Finnish child has a good chance of getting the same quality education no matter whether he or she lives in a rural village or a university town.
E. It’s almost unheard of for a child to show up hungry to school. Finland provides three years of maternity leave and subsidized day care to parents, and preschool for all five-year-olds, where the emphasis is on socializing. In addition, the state subsidizes parents, paying them around 150 euros per month for every child until he or she turns 17. Schools provide food, counseling and taxi service if needed. Health care is even free for students taking degree courses.
F. Finland’s schools were not always a wonder. For the first half of the twentieth century, only the privileged got a quality education. But in 1963, the Finnish Parliament made the bold decision to choose public education as the best means of driving the economy forward and out of recession. Public schools were organized into one system of comprehensive schools for ages 7 through 16. Teachers from all over the nation contributed to a national curriculum that provided guidelines, not prescriptions, for them to refer to. Besides Finnish and Swedish (the country’s second official language), children started learning a third language (English is a favorite) usually beginning at age nine. The equal distribution of equipment was next, meaning that all teachers had their fair share of teaching resources to aid learning. As the comprehensive schools improved, so did the upper secondary schools (grades 10 through 12). The second critical decision came in 1979, when it was required that every teacher gain a fifth-year Master’s degree in theory and practice, paid for by the state. From then on, teachers were effectively granted equal status with doctors and lawyers. Applicants began flooding teaching programs, not because the salaries were so high but because autonomous decision-making and respect made the job desirable. And as Louhivuori explains, “We have our own motivation to succeed because we love the work.”
SECTION D. WRITING (60 points)
Part 1. Read the following extract and use your own words to summarize it. Your summary should be between 100 and 120 words. Write your answer on your answer sheet. (15 points)
Although the subject of history has gained in popularity over the past few years, many people think that history is a waste of time and have an aversion to reading or thinking about it, believing that it is better to concentrate on the present rather than the past. However, there are those who consider that exposure to the exciting world of the past should start at a very early age. Unfortunately, maybe we are somewhat misguided if we hold on to the premise that by studying history, we may be able to avoid the mistakes of the past in our own age. It is obvious that man has learned very little about living together from his past. Furthermore, in some cases, deliberate misinterpretations of past actions are used to justify modern warfare. In addition, scientific discoveries which have accumulated over the past millennia no doubt lead to a more comfortable lifestyle for many people today, but there are still frontier disputes and confrontations.
It is important to remember that much of history has been written by those that have conquered others and history is a record of their achievements. This allows other views of history to be dismissed as irrelevant or insignificant. Nevertheless, this should not deter people from studying the past because for every negative and unfavorable event there may have been, there are also many more positive ones which show how amazing the human race can be. For me, it would be unimaginable not to teach history in schools.
Part 2. The table below shows information about age, average income per person and population below poverty line in three states in a country in 2015. (15 points)
Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features and make comparisons where relevant. Write at least 150 words. Write your answer on your answer sheet.
Calendar Utopia Flower
Aged under 18 18% 29% 17%
Aged over 60 14% 9% 24%
Average income per person ($) 24,000 18,000 23,000
Population below poverty line 17% 10% 13%
Part 3. Essay writing (30 points)
Plagiarism has become an urgent problem at academic institutions in many countries today.
In your opinion, how does this problem affect students? What can be done to solve it?
Write an essay of about 350 words to present your opinion. Give reasons and include any relevant examples and explanations to support your answer. Write your answer on your answer sheet.
————– HẾT ————–
Họ và tên thí sinh: ……………………………………………… Số báo danh: ………………………
Lưu ý: – Thí sinh không được sử dụng tài liệu.
– Cán bộ coi thi không giải thích gì thêm.
