KỲ THI CHỌN HỌC SINH GIỎI LỚP 12 THPT CẤP TỈNH TIỀN GIANG

UBND TỈNH TIỀN GIANG CỘNG HÒA XÃ HỘI CHỦ NGHĨA VIỆT NAM
SỞ GIÁO DỤC & ĐÀO TẠO Độc lập - Tự do - Hạnh phúc
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KỲ THI CHỌN HỌC SINH GIỎI LỚP 12 THPT CẤP TỈNH
Khóa ngày 25 tháng 10 năm 2011
Môn : TIẾNG ANH
Thời gian làm bài: 180 phút ( không kể thời gian giao đề )
( Đề thi có 10 trang , gồm 11 câu ) --------------------------------------------------------------------

PART I : LISTENING COMPREHENSION : ( 2 pts. )

Question 1 : Listen to Professor Mc Kenzie talking about English as a global language two times and complete the table below with notes taken from what you have heard.

According to Professor McKenzie:

Headlines Information
English as the language of:

1. ………………………………………………………………………..
Who says “By the year 2010, around two billion people will speak English as their second language”?

2. …………………………………………………………………………
The number of countries asking to sing in English, at the Song Contest:

3. …………………………………………………………………………
The 2 most important Englishes:
4. …………………………………………………………………………


Question 2 : Listen to a Special English Health Report two times, then fill in the numbered blanks with the missing information from the report.

Dengue fever feels like a severe case of the flu, including pain in the muscles and joints. The World Health Organization says there may be fifty million dengue infections every year. Deaths are rare, fewer than ……(1)....…. a year. But dengue has spread sharply since the nineteen seventies.
The disease is found mostly in cities. The WHO says forty percent of the world’s population is now at risk in more than one hundred countries. Southeast Asia and the ……(2)...…. are the most affected. Dengue is also found in Africa, the Americas and the eastern Mediterranean.
There is no vaccine against dengue and no special treatment.

Scott Ritchie of James Cook University in Queensland, Australia, says control efforts target the mosquitoes that spread dengue.
SCOTT RITCHIE: “And the only way to control it is through the use of pesticides and perhaps ……(3)...…., and some of the mosquitoes are getting resistant to those pesticides, so we need something novel and different.”
Something different is what he and other scientists from Australia and the United States are working on. They blocked the growth of dengue virus in mosquitoes by infecting them with a kind of bacteria called Wolbachia pipientis. Wolbachia is commonly found in fruit flies and is safe for people.
The researchers released mosquitoes ……(4)..…. Wolbachia into an indoor test area filled with uninfected mosquitoes. The infected ones mated with the uninfected ones and successfully spread the bacteria.
The researchers then tried their experiment outdoors. Over a two-month period they released more than three hundred thousand infected mosquitoes in two Australian towns far from large cities.

PART II : VOCABULARY AND GRAMMAR ( 8 pts.)
Question 3: Pick out ONE best option ( A, B, C or D ) to complete each blank :

1/. INVITATION CARD: We would like to request the pleasure of your …………… .
A/. acquaintance B/. arrival C/. company D/. participation
2/. His …………… for dealing with children got him the job.
A/. altitude B/. appraisal C/. aptitude D/. attitude
3/. ANNOUNCEMENT: Passengers for Rome should …………… to Gate 32 for boarding.
A/. approach B/. contact C/. proceed D/. reach
4/. Bob spent fifteen months alone on his yacht. Ann, …………… , took care of the children on her own.
A/. meanwhile B/. nevertheless C/. otherwise D/. furthermore
5/. Medic says blood donations are …………… needed.
A/. absolutely B/. completely C/. desperately D/. thoroughly
6/. He would have played …………… a knee injury.
A/. but for B/. in addition to C/. next to D/. on the basis of
7/. …………… any further information, please dial 01234008088.
A/. Should you need B/. Do you need C/. Would you need D/. Will you need
8/. The beauty of the scenery there ………… my breath away.
A/. brought B/. pulled C/. took D/. wrapped

Question 4 : Pick out ONE option ( A, B, C or D ) which needs to be changed to make a correct sentence:

1/. Even in countries which have low proportions of women paid workers, such as Arab
A B
countries, the number of women who have jobs is raising.
C D
2/. IMF policies have been repeatedly criticizing for making it difficult for indebted countries
A B C
to avoid ecosystem-damaging projects that generate cash flow.
D
3/. Throughout much of the history of human civilization, deep-seated cultural beliefs allowed
A B C
women limited only roles in society.
D
4/. Little vegetation grows on The Spratly islands, where are subject to intense monsoons.
A B C D

5/. At times of war, the Red Cross is dedicated to reducing the sufferings of wounded soldiers,
A B C D
civilians, and prisoners of war.

6/. Scuba divers, on the other face, carry a big tank of air that allows them to breathe while
A B C D
deep underwater.

7/. By swimming we mean the sport in which players conduct the act of moving through the
A B C
water by using the arms, legs, and body in motion.
D
8/. In terms of the aftermath, few buildings survived after the war intact.
A B C D

Question 5 : Complete these sentences, using the suitable form of the words in brackets :

1/. His behavior was ……… . He set good example for other people. ( EXAMPLE )
2/. She is our sales ………. . in France. ( REPRESENT )
3/. The situation is more ……….. than we first thought. ( PROBLEM )
4/. He is widely ……….. as the best player in the world. (KNOWLEDGE )
5/. I love Rome, ……….. in the Spring. ( SPECIALIZE )
6/. The design lacks ………. . ( UNITE )
7/. The mixture will .………. into toffee. ( SOLID )
8/. Now let’s look at the .………. edge of the skin. ( OUT )

Question 6 : Complete these sentences with proper prepositions or adverbs:

1/. She doesn’t want to make a big commitment ……….. Steve at the moment.
2/. The government is attributed .……….. not taking the problem seriously.
3/. What’s .……….. television tonight, Sam?
4/. Don’t pull so hard, or the handle will run .………... .
5/. The car is travelling .………... full speed.
6/. .……….. a certain extent, I agree with you.
7/. I am confused .……….. time and dates.
8/. I have no sympathy .……….. Jan, it’s her own fault.
PART III : READING COMPREHENSION ( 6pts. )

Question 7: Match each of these short articles ( 1- 6 ) with its best headlines ( A – H ):
Remember that there are 2 headlines left out. ( 1.5 pts )

THE 6 SHORT ARTICLES:

1/. Someone with this learning style has a preference for seen or observed things, including pictures, diagrams, demonstrations, displays, handouts, films, flip-chart, etc. These people will use phrases such as “show me”, “let’s have a look at that” and will be best able to perform a new task after reading the instructions or watching someone else do it first. These are the people who will work from lists and written directions and instructions.

2/. Someone with this learning style has a preference for the transfer of information through listening: to the spoken word, of self or others, of sounds and noises. These people will use phrases such as “tell me”, “let’s talk it over” and will be best able to perform a new task after listening to instructions from an expert. These are the people who are happy being spoken instructions over the telephone, and can remember all the words to songs that they hear!

3/. Someone with this learning style has a preference for physical experience – touching, feeling, holding, doing, practical hands-on experiences. These people will use phrases such as “let me try”, “how do you feel?” and will be best able to perform a new task by going ahead and trying it out, learning as they go. These are the people who like to experiment, hands-on, and never look at the instructions first!

4/. People commonly have a main preferred learning style, but this will be part of a blend of all three. Some people have a very strong preference; other people have a more even mixture of two or less commonly, three styles. When you know your preferred learning style(s) you understand the type of learning that best suits you. This enables you to choose the types of learning that work best for you. There is no right or wrong learning style. The point is that there are types of learning that are right for your own preferred learning style.
5/. This method is used to focus students' attention, to elicit student responses, and to encourage them to correct their own errors. Even though teachers are often in the state as the name of this method describes, they are still active; they will commonly use techniques such as mouthing words and using hand gestures to help the students with their pronunciation. Teachers will also encourage students to help their peers.
Teachers of this method use some specialized teaching materials. One of the hallmarks of the method is the use of Cuisenaire rods, which can be used for anything from introducing simple commands to representing abstract objects such as clocks and floor plans. The method also makes use of color association to help teach pronunciation; there is a sound-color chart which is used to teach the language sounds, colored word charts which are used to teach sentences, and colored Fidel charts which are used to teach spelling.
6/. It can be used to practice and teach various things. It is well suited to teaching classroom language and other vocabulary connected with actions. It can be used to teach imperatives and various tenses and aspects. It is also useful for story-telling.
Because of its participatory approach, it may also be a useful alternative teaching strategy for students with dyslexia or related learning disabilities, who typically experience difficulty learning foreign languages with traditional classroom instruction.
According to its proponents, it has a number of advantages: Students will enjoy getting up out of their chairs and moving around. Simple activities of this kind do not require a great deal of preparation on the part of the teacher. It is aptitude-free, working well with a mixed ability class, and with students having various disabilities. It is good for kinesthetic learners who need to be active in the class. Class size need not be a problem, and it works effectively for children and adults.
BEST HEADLINES :

A. Total Physical Response (TPR)
B. The Silent Way
C. Visual Learning Style
D. Kinaesthetic Learning Style
E. Auditory Learning Style
F. The Communicative Approach
G. The Student-centered Learning
H. Which style for whom?

Question 8 : Fill in each of the numbered blank with ONE suitable word to complete the
meaning of the passage : ( 2 pts )

2007–2011: iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad
Delivering his keynote speech at the Macworld Expo on January 9, 2007, Jobs announced that Apple Computer, Inc. would from that point on be known as Apple Inc., because computers were no longer the main focus of the company, which had (1-) ……… its emphasis to mobile electronic devices. The event also saw the announcement of the iPhone and the Apple TV. The following day, Apple shares (2-) ……… $97.80, an all-time high at that point. In May, Apple's share price passed the $100 mark.
In an article posted on Apple's website on February 6, 2007, Steve Jobs wrote that Apple would be willing to sell music on the iTunes Store without DRM (which would allow tracks to be played on third-party players) if record labels would agree to drop the (3-) ………. On April 2, 2007, Apple and EMI jointly announced the removal of DRM technology from EMI's catalog in the iTunes Store, (4-) ……… in May. Other record labels followed later that year.
In July of the following year, Apple launched the App Store to sell third-party applications for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Within a month, the (5-) ……… sold 60 million applications and brought in $1 million daily on average, with Jobs speculating that the App Store could become a billion-dollar business for Apple. Three months later, it was announced that Apple had become the third-largest mobile handset (6-) ……… in the world due to the popularity of the iPhone.
On December 16, 2008, Apple announced that after over 20 years of attending Macworld, 2009 would be the last year Apple would be attending the Macworld Expo, and that Phil Schiller would deliver the 2009 keynote in lieu of the (7-) ……… Jobs. Almost exactly one month later, on January 14, 2009, an internal Apple memo from Jobs announced that he would be taking a six-month leave of absence, (8-) ……… the end of June 2009, to allow him to better focus on his health and to allow the company to better focus on its products without having the rampant media (9-) ……… about his health. Despite Jobs' absence, Apple recorded its best non-holiday quarter (Q1 FY 2009) during the recession with a revenue of $8.16 billion and a profit of $1.21 billion.
After years of speculation and multiple rumored "leaks" Apple announced a large screen, tablet-like media device known as the iPad on January 27, 2010. The iPad runs the same touch based operating system that the iPhone uses and many of the same iPhone apps are compatible with the iPad. This gave the iPad a large app catalog on launch even with very little development time before the (10-) ………. Later that year on April 3, 2010, the iPad was launched in the US and sold more than 300,000 units on that day and reaching 500,000 by the end of the first week. In May of the same year, Apple's market cap (11-) ……… that of competitor Microsoft for the first time since 1989.
Apple released the fourth generation iPhone, which introduced video calling, multitasking, and a new uninsulated stainless steel design, which acts as the phone's antenna. Because of this antenna implementation, some iPhone 4 users reported a reduction in signal strength when the phone is held in specific (12-) ………. After a large amount of media coverage including mainstream news organizations, Apple held a press conference where they offered buyers a free rubber 'bumper' case, which had been proven to eliminate the signal reduction (13-) ………. Later that year Apple again refreshed its iPod line of MP3 players which introduced a multi-touch iPod Nano, iPod Touch with FaceTime, and iPod Shuffle with buttons which brought back the buttons of earlier generations.
In October 2010, Apple shares (14-) ……… an all-time high, eclipsing $300. Additionally, on October 20, Apple updated their MacBook Air laptop, iLife suite of applications, and unveiled Mac OS X Lion, the latest installment in their Mac OS X operating system. On January 6, 2011, the (15-) ……… opened their Mac App Store, a digital software distribution platform, similar to the existing iOS App Store. Apple was featured in the documentary Something Ventured which premiered in 2011.
2011–present: Post–Steve Jobs era
On January 17, 2011, Jobs announced in an internal Apple memo that he would take another medical leave of absence, for an indefinite (16-) ………, to allow him to focus on his health. Chief operating officer Tim Cook took up Jobs' day-to-day operations at Apple, although Jobs would still remain "(17-) ……… in major strategic decisions for the company." Apple Inc. surpassed Microsoft in market capitalization in 2010 with an 84 percent increase to $153.3 billion, and also (18-) ……… the most valuable consumer-facing brand in the world. In June 2011, Apple unveiled the iCloud online storage and syncing service for music, photos, files and software. It has been argued that Apple has achieved such efficiency in its supply chain that the company operates as a monopsony(one buyer, many sellers), in that it can dictate terms to its suppliers. Briefly in July 2011, due to the debt-ceiling crisis, Apple's financial reserves were greater than those of the US Government. On August 24, 2011, Jobs resigned his position as CEO of Apple. He was (19-) ……… by Tim Cook and Jobs became Apple's chairman. Prior to this, Apple did not have a chairman and instead had two co-lead directors, Andrea Jung and Arthur D. Levinson, who continued with those titles.
On October 4, 2011, Apple announced the iPhone 4S, which includes an improved camera with 1080p video recording, a dual core A5 chip capable of 7 times faster graphics than the A4, a voice recognition system named Siri, and cloud-sourced data with iCloud. It is to be released on October 14, 2011. On the (20-) ……… after, Apple announced that Jobs had died, marking the end of an era for Apple Inc.

Question 9 : Read the passage carefully, then choose the best answer to each question ( 1-10) :
( 2.5 pts )
New Seven Wonders of the World was a project that attempted to update the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World concept with a modern list of wonders. A popularity poll was led by Canadian-Swiss Bernard Weber and organized by the New7Wonders Foundation based in Zurich, Switzerland, with winners announced on July 7, 2007 in Lisbon. The New 7 Wonders Foundation is regulated by the Swiss Federal Foundation Authority as all nationwide-active foundations in Switzerland are.
The New 7 Wonders Foundation claimed that more than 100 million votes were cast through the Internet or by telephone. Nothing prevented multiple votes, so the poll was considered "decidedly unscientific". According to John Zogby, founder and current President/CEO of the Utica, New York-based polling organization Zogby International, New 7 Wonders Foundation drove "the largest poll on record".
The program drew a wide range of official reaction. Some countries touted their finalist and tried to get more votes cast for it, while others downplayed or criticized the contest. After supporting the New7Wonders Foundation at the beginning of the campaign, by providing advice on nominee selection, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) distanced itself from the undertaking in 2007.
The New7Wonders Foundation, established in 2001, relied on private donations and the sale of broadcast rights and received no public funding or taxpayers' money. After the final announcement, New7Wonders said it didn't earn anything from the exercise and barely recovered its investment.
In 2007 the foundation launched a similar contest, called New7 Wonders of Nature, which will be the subject of voting until Nov. 11, 2011.
United Nations
In 2007 the New7Wonders Foundation contracted a partnership with the United Nations in recognition of the efforts to promote the UN's Millennium Development Goals". The UN stated:
“ The New7Wonders campaigns aim to contribute to the process of uplifting the well being and mutual respect of citizens around the world, through encouraging interaction, expression of opinion and direct participation by voting and polling on popular themes and global issues which are understandable to everyone. ”
However, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), in a press release on June 20, 2007, reaffirmed that it has no link with the "private initiative". The press release concluded:
“ There is no comparison between Mr. Weber's mediatised campaign and the scientific and educational work resulting from the inscription of sites on UNESCO's World Heritage List. The list of the 7 New Wonders of the World will be the result of a private undertaking, reflecting only the opinions of those with access to the Internet and not the entire world. This initiative cannot, in any significant and sustainable manner, contribute to the preservation of sites elected by this public.
Egypt
Egyptian commentators viewed it as competition to the status of the Great Pyramid of Giza, the only surviving monument of the original Ancient Wonders. "This is probably a conspiracy against Egypt, its civilization and monuments", wrote editorialist Al-Sayed al-Naggar in a leading state-owned daily. Egyptian Culture Minister Farouq Hosni said the project was "absurd" and described its creator, Weber, as a man "concerned primarily with self-promotion". Nagib Amin, an Egyptian expert on World Heritage Sites, has pointed out that "in addition to the commercial aspect, the vote has no scientific basis."
After the complaints from Egypt, the New7Wonders Foundation designated the Pyramids of Giza — the only remaining of the 7 Ancient Wonders of the World — as an Honorary New7Wonders Candidate, and removed them from the voting. However the Great Pyramid of Giza is not featured in their official results web site.
Brazil
In Brazil there was a campaign Vote no Cristo (Vote for the Christ) which had the support of private companies, namely telecommunications operators that stopped charging voters to make telephone calls and SMS messages to vote. Additionally, leading corporate sponsors including Banco Bradesco and Rede Globo spent millions of reais in the effort to have the statue voted into the top seven. Newsweek reports the campaign was so pervasive that:
“ One morning in June, Rio de Janeiro residents awoke to a beeping text message on their cell phones: "Press 4916 and vote for Christ. It's free!" The same pitch had been popping up all over the city since late January—flashing across an electronic screen every time city-dwellers swiped their transit cards on city buses and echoing on TV infomercials that featured a reality-show celebrity posing next to the city's trademark Christ the Redeemer statue. ”
According to an article in Newsweek, around 10 million Brazilians had voted in the contest by early July. This number is estimated as the New7Wonders Foundation never released such details about the campaign.
1/. New Seven Wonders of the World are selected by ……….. .
A/. upgrading the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World
B/. asking people to give their opinion of liking them or not
C/. announcing winners in Canada, Switzerland, and Lisbon of Portugal
D/. considering unscientific documents sent from international and nation-wide foundations
2/. Which of the following statements is FALSE?
A/. No event could have gotten as many votes as New 7 Wonders.
B/. Responses to the project was different from country to country.
C/. UNESCO had pursued its undertaking since the beginning of the campaign.
D/. Votes were cast through the Internet or by telephone.
3/. From the passage, it can be inferred that ………….. .
A/. Private persons gave fund to the Foundation.
B/. The governments funded the Foundation.
C/. Taxpayers donated to its staff.
D/. The United Nations paid for its staff’s earnings.
4/. Guess what a similar contest the Foundation launched in 2007 is about?
A/. Landscapes B/. Architectural Buildings C/. Artifacts D/. Man-made heritages
5/. It can be inferred from the paragraph about the United Nations that ……….. .
A/. the New7Wonders Foundation really could convince the UNESCO.
B/. the United Nations declined to recognize what the New7Wonders Foundation achieved.
C/. the initiative was not important, but contributed to the preservation of the sites.
D/. the results of votes the New7Wonders Foundation got do not represent the whole world.
6/. The paragraph about Egypt indicates that ……….. .
A/. this initiative undoubtedly is a conspiracy against Egypt.
B/. the Egyptian Culture Minister praised this project initiated by Weber.
C/. according to Nagib Amin, the vote was not scientific, but just concerned with Weber’s self-promotion.
D/. after all, the New7Wonders Foundation left out the Great Pyramid of Giza in their official voting results
8/. “pervasive” in “the campaign was so pervasive” is closest in meaning to ……….. .
A/. exaggerating B/. informative C/. persuasive D/. spreading
7/. The paragraph about Brazil reveals that ……….. .
A/. Brazilians telephoned and SMSed to vote for Christ the Redeemer statue free of charge .
B/. Leading corporate sponsors spent much money buying the statue.
C/. Efforts to attract votes for the statue were made via all forms such as newspapers, magazines, radio, TV, internet, fashion shows, and even pamphlets.
D/. The number of 10 million votes was released by the New7Wonders Foundation.
9/. “celebrity” in “celebrity posing next to the city’s trademark” is closest in meaning to … .
A/. Christian B/. celebration C/. famous star D/. ordinary person
10/. What is the best title for the passage?
A/. New Seven Wonders of the World and Issues with Votes for them.
B/. New Seven Wonders of the World replace the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
C/. Complete Success of the New7Wonders Foundation with a modern list of wonders.
D/. Great Harmony of actions between the New7Wonders Foundation and the United Nations

PART IV : WRITING ( 4 pts. )
Question 10 : Rewrite these sentences, beginning with the words or phrases given in such a way that they remain the same meaning as the original ones : ( 2 pts )

1/. He is supposed to be here by 6 o’clock.
He should ………………………………. .
2/. “ If I were you, I would not go and see her,” said the man to his friend.
The man said that ………………..... ………………………………….. .
3/. He started dancing at 6 P.M. and he is still dancing now.
He has ………………………………… .
4/. One of my friends gave me this book.
A friend ………....………………………. .
5/. The tennis racquet was more expensive than I had expected. .
I hadn’t …...………………………………………… .
6/. Beth suggested joining a dance class.
Beth said, “ ………………………………… ?”
7/. No smoking.
Smoking ……………………………… .
8/. He is not flexible in his work; that is why he doesn't have many friends.
Such ………………………………………..……………………………. .s

Question 11 : ( 2 pts )

The teaching and learning of English should be done in all four language skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. What do you think ? ( in about 200-250 words )
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