Đề thi HSG Tiếng Anh 12 tỉnh Ninh Bình năm 2024-2025 format mới có đáp án

SỞ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO TỈNH NINH BÌNH

(Đề thi gồm 08 trang)

KỲ THI CHỌN HSG 12 THPT

Năm học: 2024-2025 Bài thi: TIẾNG ANH

Thời gian làm bài: 60 phút (không kể thời gian phát đề)

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

Question 1: A. canal    B. casino   C. canary   D. canon

Question 2: A. slaughter    B. throughout   C. drought  D. laughter

Mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the word that differs from the other three in the position of stress in each of the following questions.

Question 3: A. hotel    B. preview  C. annex    D. annul

Question 4: A. recommend    B. reunite  C. overtime D. referee

Mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the following questions.

Question 5: This disagreement is likely to  relations between the two countries.

A. disaffect    B. alienate C. sour D. estrange

Question 6: Jack discovered that his home had been  by burglars.

A. ransacked    B. eliminated   C. exterminated D. annihilated

Question 7: It is mandatory that smoking in public  .

A. prohibited   B. prohibit C. be prohibited    D. is prohibited

Question 8: She recalled    _ the suspect outside the shop on the night of the robbery.

A. to witness       B. witness  C. witnessing   D. witnessed Question 9: The Press thought that the football manager would be depressed by his dismissal but he just    .

A. ran it down  B. called it off    C. turned it down   D. laughed it off

Read the following announcement and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct option that best fits each of the numbered blanks from 10 to 15.

Question 10: A. limiting    B. limited  C. limitedly    D. limitation

Question 11: A. valid   B. full C. solid    D. occupied

Question 12: A. have been held  B. will be held

C. are being held   D. were being held

Read the following advertisement and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct option that best fits each of the numbered blanks from 13 to 15.

Question 13: A. the most trusted    B. the most famous

C. the most interesting D. the most impressive

Question 14: A. a   B. an   C. the  D. Ø (no article)

Question 15: A. combining   B. combined C. to combine   D. combine

Mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct arrangement of the sentences to make a meaningful paragraph/letter in each of the following questions.

Question 16:

a.  On the business front, international contact has undeniably catalyzed economic growth.

b.  Such business interactions have not only spurred economic development but have also facilitated the transfer of knowledge and technology.

c.  Vietnam, a nation with a rich cultural tapestry, has experienced a significant influx of tourists, which has fostered a mutual exchange of cultural values and practices.

d.  In the 20th century, the world has witnessed a remarkable evolution in global connectivity, primarily driven by advancements in air travel and telecommunications.

e.  The first point to consider is the cultural enrichment brought about by international tourism.

f.  For instance, the introduction of international culinary styles has enriched the Vietnamese food scene, while Vietnamese traditions like Tet, the Lunar New Year, have gained broader recognition.

g.  The Vietnamese economy, for example, has seen a surge due to foreign investments and collaborations.

h.  If Vietnam had remained isolated, it is unlikely that it would have achieved its current level of technological advancement and economic prosperity.

i.  Ultimately, the benefits of increased global contact are significant, but they must be managed wisely to ensure sustainable and respectful international relationships.

A. d-a-b-g-h-e-c-f-i    B. d-e-c-f-a-g-b-h-i

C. e-c-a-d-b-f-g-h-i    D. e-a-c-b-g-h-f-d-i

Question 17:

Dear Sir,

a.  It was a quite dreadful holiday so I require a full explanation and our money back as soon as possible.

b.  When we finally got on the plane the flight was terribly uncomfortable. There was only cold food served by a very rude air-hostess.

c.  Things did not improve the next morning as the breakfast was quite inadequate. We were only offered coffee and stale bread.

d.  We had to wake up the hotel manager who was extremely grumpy and who hadn’t even got the room ready for us. To cap it all there was no hot water.

e.  We landed at midnight but there was no bus to meet us and so we had to hire a taxi which was quite expensive. When we did reach the hotel it was closed for the night.

f.  However, the plane was delayed for four hours and yet we were given no information and the staff at the airport were most unhelpful.

g.  I recently took a holiday with Kephalonia Travel Ltd. For two weeks in July, flying from Gatwick Airport.

h.  We were not happy with the hotel which was much too far from a rather dirty beach. There was only one restaurant near enough for us to have lunch.

i.  The final straw was the very hot weather which was unbearable as the hotel rooms lacked air-conditioning and we were plagued by mosquitoes.

Your faithfully,

A. g-a-b-f-e-c-i-h-d    B. a-b-f-e-c-d-h-i-g

C. g-f-b-e-d-c-h-i-a    D. a-g-f-b-h-e-c-d-i

Mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct option that best fits each of the numbered blanks from 18 to 23.

Many of the world’s amphibians, particularly frogs and toads, are becoming extinct faster than scientists can determine the causes. At the Third World Congress of Herpetology, held in Prague in August, it became clear that the phenomenon is a global one. Serious declines and several probable extinctions have been reported from the Pacific North West of America, from Central America and from Western Australia. While most amphibian declines around the world are attributable to habitat destruction (18)    _, some species (but not all) have declined rapidly in nature reserves, national parks and other areas (19) _   _.

Karen Lips, of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama, has found large numbers of dead and dying frogs along streams. The disease which has killed them seems to be moving southwards through the mountains of Central America. One symptom is a thickening of the skin, (20)    . This appears to be caused by a protozoan parasite. A similar organism may also be responsible for the deaths of thousands of frogs in the mountains of Queensland, Australia. Urgent research is under way (21)   .

Typically, herpetologists have had to respond to these declines (22) _  . Now, recent work by Ross Alford, of James Cook University, Australia, has suggested one way to detect a decline early on; measure a frog’s limbs. His study has shown that fluctuating asymmetry (random variation in the size of paired structures on the left and right side of the body) increases in the limbs of frogs (23)  .

(Adapted from exam essentials practice test – CAE 2)

Question 18: A. all in these three areas    B. all in three these areas

C. in all three these areas D. in all these three areas

Question 19: A. to set aside for the protection of biodiversity

B.  set aside for the protection of biodiversity

C.  setting aside for the protection of biodiversity

D.  are set aside for the protection of biodiversity

Question 20: A. to smother the frog effectively

B.  this effectively smothers the frog

C.  which effectively smothers the frog

D.  effectively smothered the frog

Question 21: A. to determine if this is indeed the case

B.  as to determining if this indeed is the case.

C.  and determine if it is indeed the case

D.  to determine if it indeed is the case

Question 22: A. when it occurred    B. just as they occur

C. after they have occurred D. as soon as this occurred

Question 23: A. so their population size declines

B.  as well as the declination in their size

C.  in spite of the declination in their size

D.  as their population size declines

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct option that best fits each of the numbered blanks from 24 to 28.

Word-of-mouth success – what publishers dream of

“Word of mouth”, a phrase (24)  _ first appeared in Shakespeare’s play Twelfth Night, is the kind of publicity all publishers want for their books. Positive reviews are useful, but it’s only when lots of people start talking about a book that it really makes it sales-wise.

Word of mouth is what lay behind the initial success of JK Rowling’s Harry Potter books, for example.

Some publishers will go to (25) lengths to stimulate the phenomenon. Years ago, one company paid its own staff to read books published by the company whenever they travelled on public transport. The thinking was that the bright yellow covers would stand out and become the subject of casual conversations among passengers, which would in turn boost sales.

With the (26)   of social networking, creating word of mouth has almost become

a science. (27) , despite Twitter, Facebook and the rest, publishers still find it as

difficult as ever to generate that (28) _ thing, a viral conversation about a new book that persuades lots of people to buy it. It still seems to be unclear what the key to achieving word of mouth is.

(Adapted from exam essentials practice test – CAE 2)

Question 24: A. that    B. when C. where    D. why

Question 25: A. few B. any  C. several  D. much

Question 26: A. opening B. outset   C. entrance D. advent

Question 27: A. Therefore   B. Moreover C. However  D. Additionally

Question 28: A. elusive B. remote   C. hidden   D. isolated

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 questions from 29 to 33.

Since water is the basis of life, composing the greater part of the tissues of all living things, the crucial problem of desert animals is to survive in a world where sources of flowing water are rare. And since man’s inexorable necessity is to absorb large quantities of water at frequent intervals, he can scarcely comprehend that many creatures of the desert pass their entire lives without a single drop. Uncompromising as it is, the desert has not eliminated life but only those forms unable to withstand its desiccating effects. No moist-skinned, water- loving animals can exist there. Few large animals are found: the giants of the North American desert are the deer, the coyote, and the bobcat. Since desert country is open, it holds more swift-footed, running, and leaping creatures than the tangled forest. Its population are largely nocturnal, silent, filled with reticence,, and ruled by stealth. Yet they are not emaciated. Having adapted to their austere environment, they are as healthy as animals anywhere in the world.

The secret of their adjustment lies in a combination of behavior and physiology. None could survive if, like mad dogs and Englishmen, they went out in the midday sun; many would die in a matter of minutes. So most of them pass the burning hours asleep in cool, humid burrows underneath the ground, emerging to hunt only by night. The surface of the sun-baked desert averages around 150 degrees, but 18 inches down the temperature is only 60 degrees.

An example of a desert animal that has adapted to subterranean living and lack of water

is the kangaroo rat. Like many desert animals, kangaroo rats stay underground during the day. At night, they go outside to look for food. As evening temperatures drop, moisture from the air forms on plants and seeds. They absorb some of this moisture and kangaroo rats take in the life-giving water as they eat.

(Adapted from Vstep Collection,20 mock tests)

Question 29: What is the main topic of this passage?

A. Plant life in a desert environment   B. Life underground

C. Animal life in a desert environment  D. Man's life in the desert

Question 30: The author mentions all of the following as examples of the behavior of desert animals EXCEPT  .

A. animals sleep during the day B. animals dig homes underground

C. animals are noisy and aggressive D. animals are watchful and quiet

Question 31: The word emaciated in the passage is closest in meaning to .

A. wild     B. cunning  C. unmanageable D. unhealthy Question 32: The author states that one characteristic of animals who live in the desert is that they  .

A.  are smaller and fleeter than forest animals

B.  are less healthy than animals who live in different places

C.  can hunt in temperatures of 150 degrees

D.  live in an accommodating environment

Question 33: The word subterranean in the passage is closest in meaning to _    .

A. underground  B. safe C. precarious   D. harsh

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 questions from 34 to 40.

Animals and higher-order plants depend on nitrogen that is present in soil as they cannot utilize free nitrogen from the atmosphere. To enter living systems, nitrogen must be combined with oxygen or hydrogen to form compounds such as ammonia or nitrates that plants are able to use. Nitrogen gas is converted to ammonia fertilizer by a chemical process involving high pressure and high temperature. This process is called nitrogen fixation. Martinus Willem Beijerinck discovered nitrogen fixation.

The nitrogen molecule is quite inert and breaking it apart requires a considerable amount of energy. There are three processes that are responsible for most of the nitrogen fixation in the biosphere. They are atmospheric fixation, biological fixation, and industrial fixation. Atmospheric fixation occurs through lightning, forest fires, or even hot lava flows where energy breaks down nitrogen molecules and enables then atoms to combine with oxygen in the air, thus forming nitrogen oxides. These liquefy in rain, forming nitrates, that are then carried to earth.

In biological nitrogen fixation, the nitrogen is available to some species of microorganisms. Atmospheric nitrogen is converted to ammonia by bacterial enzymes called

nitrogenase. More than 90% of all nitrogen fixation is affected by them. There are two kinds of nitrogen-fixing microorganisms: free-living (non-symbiotic) bacteria and symbiotic bacteria. Microorganisms that fix nitrogen are called diazotrophs. These need a chemical energy source if they are non-photosynthetic. However, if they are photosynthetic, they can utilize light energy. The free-living diazotrophs supply little fixed nitrogen to agricultural crops, whereas the symbiotic, nitrogen-fixing bacterias live close to plant roots and can obtain energy materials from the plants.

The symbiotic, nitrogen-fixing bacteria invade the root hairs of plants. Here they multiply the formation of root nodules, and enlargements of plant cells and bacteria in close proximity. Within the nodules, die bacteria convert the free nitrogen to nitrates, which the plant makes use of for its development.

To make certain of sufficient nodule formation and the best possible growth of legumes (beans, clover, peas, soybeans), seeds are usually inoculated, particularly in poor soils where bacteria is lacking. This system is the most important for agriculture as manv legumes are then able to grow vigorously under nitrogen deficient conditions, contributing nitrogen to the farming system or as green manure included in the soil. Legumes are also a significant source of protein primarily for the developing world.

Industrial fixation takes place at a temperature of 600 degrees Celsius. In this method, atmospheric nitrogen and hydrogen can be combined to form ammonia, which in turn can be used directly as a fertilizer. It was during the early 19th century that the importance of fixed nitrogen to growing plants was understood. Where people practiced intensive agriculture, demand arose for nitrogen compounds to augment the natural supply present in the soil.

Around the same time, Chilean saltpeter was increasingly used to make gunpowder. This led to a global search for natural deposits of this nitrogen compound. Toward the end of the 19th century, it was realized that Chilean imports would not meet future demands, and, in the event of a major war, without the Chilean supply, manufacturing sufficient weapons would not be possible.

Several processes were then developed: directly combining oxygen with nitrogen, the reaction of nitrogen with calcium carbide, and the direct combination of nitrogen with hydrogen. Combining oxygen and nitrogen was inefficient in its use of energy. Both were costly and the process was abandoned. However, the Haber-Bosch process which created ammonia from nitrogen and hydrogen is the most cost-effective nitrogen fixation process known. It is named after Fritz Haber and Carl Bosch, who determined that nitrogen from the air could be combined with nitrogen under enormously high pressures and fairly high temperatures in the presence of an active mechanism to produce an extremely high quantity of ammonia.

Germany heavily relied on this process during World War I, which led to a rapid expansion of the construction of nitrogen plants in many other countries. This method is now one of the leading processes of the chemical industry throughout the world.

(Adapted from Vstep Collection, 20 mock tests)

Question 34: According to paragraph 1, how must nitrogen molecules enter living organisms?

A.  They must be converted to ammonia or nitrates.

B.  They must be combined with oxygen in the form of nitrate.

C.  They must be absorbed by the plant to furnish its nitrogen.

D.  They must be mixed with oxygen or hydrogen.

Question 35: The phrase breaks down in the passage is closest in meaning to _   .

A. destroys B. discontinues C. ceases   D. decomposes

Question 36: Which of the following can be inferred from paragraph 2 about nitrogen fixation?

A.  Nature cannot make it occur by itself.

B.  It is a process that does not necessarily require the influence of man.

C.  The process needs perfect circumstances to happen.

D.  Nitrogen is essential to all life on Earth.

Question 37: According to paragraph 3, one factor needed for photosynthetic biological fixation is  .

A. a light source   B. the presence of ammonia

C. 90% rainfall for a week  D. a chemical energy source

Question 38: Why does the author mention diazotrophs in the passage?

A.  To explain the industrial process of nitrogen fixation

B.  To show how a plants roots are important for this process

C.  To give an example of a living organism capable of fixing nitrogen

D.  To explain the impact of nitrogen on a microorganism

Question 39: The word invade in the passage is closest in meaning to    .

A. attack   B. defend   C. occupy   D. dominate Question 40: Which of the following best expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence? Incorrect answer choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.

A.  The ability to grow legumes with little nitrogen is highly valuable.

B.  Legumes do not need much nitrogen to develop and grow strong.

C.  The farming system makes huge demands on the nitrogen level in the ground.

D.  Agriculture creates a great need for legumes and their produce.

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