PASSAGE 11
Not so long ago almost any student who successfully completed a university degree or diploma course could find a good career quite easily. Companies toured the academic institutions, competing with each other to recruit graduates. However, those days are gone, even in Hong Kong, and nowadays graduates often face strong competition in the search for
Most careers organizations highlight three stages for graduates to follow in the process of securing a suitable career: recognizing abilities, matching these to available vacancies and presenting them well to prospective
Job seekers have to make a careful assessment of their own abilities. One area of assessment should be of their academic qualifications, which would include special skills within their subject area. Graduates should also consider their own personal values and attitudes, or the relative importance to themselves of such matters as money, security, leadership and caring for others. An honest assessment of personal interests and abilities such as creative or scientific skills, or skills acquired from work experience, should also be given careful
The second stage is to study the opportunities available for employment and to think about how the general employment situation is likely to develop in the future. To do this, graduates can study job vacancies and information in newspapers or they can visit a careers office, write to possible employers for information or contact friends or relatives who may already be involved in a particular profession. After studying all the various options, they should be in a position to make informed comparisons between various careers.
Good personal presentation is essential in the search for a good career. Job application forms and letters should, of course, be filled in carefully and correctly, without grammar or spelling errors. Where additional information is asked for, job seekers should describe their abilities and work experience in more depth, with examples if possible. They should try to balance their own abilities with the employer’s needs, explain why they are interested in a career with the particular company and try to show that they already know something about the company and its
When graduates are asked to attend for interview, they should prepare properly by finding out all they can about the prospective employer. Dressing suitably and arriving for the interview on time are also obviously important. Interviewees should try to give positive and helpful answers and should not be afraid to ask questions about anything they are unsure about. This is much better than pretending to understand a Câu and giving an unsuitable
There will always be good career opportunities for people with ability, skills and determination; the secret to securing a good job is to be one of
Câu 1. In paragraph 1, ‘those days are gone, even in Hong Kong’, suggests that .
A. in the past, finding a good career was easier in Hong Kong than
B. it used to be harder to find a good job in Hong Kong than in other
C. nowadays, everyone in Hong Kong has an equal chance of finding a good
D. even in Hong Kong companies tour the universities trying to recruit
Câu 2. In the paragraph 2, “them” refers to .
A. abilities.
B. three stages.
C. careers organizations.
D. available vacancies.
Câu 3. According to paragraph 4, graduates should .
A. ask friends or relatives to secure them a good
B. find out as much as possible and inform employers of the comparisons they
C. get information about a number of careers before making
D. find a good position and then compare it with other ca¬reers.
Câu 4. In paragraph 5, ‘in more depth’ could best be replaced by .
A. more honestly
B. more carefully
C. using more word
D. in greater detail
Câu 5. The word “prospective” in paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to .
A. future
B. generous
C. reasonable
D. ambitious
Câu 6. In paragraph 6, the writer seems to suggest that .
A. it is better for interviewees to be honest than to pretend to
B. interviewees should ask a Câu if they can’t think of an
C. it is not a good idea for interviewees to be completely honest in their
D. pretending to understand a Câu is better than giving an unsuitable
Câu 7. Which of the following sentences is closest in meaning to the paragraph 7?
A. Determined, skilled and able people can easily find a good
B. The secret of a successful interview is that interviewers have to possess skills, determination or ability.
C. Graduates should develop at least one of these areas to find a suitable
D. People with the right qualities should always be able to find a good
Câu 8. According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true?
A. Businesses used to visit the universities in Hong Kong to recruit
B. Until recently it was quite easy for graduates to get good jobs in Hong
C. Job seekers should consider as many as possible of the factors
D. Graduates sometimes have to take part in competitions to secure a good
PASSAGE 12
After two decades of growing student enrollments and economic prosperity, business schools in the United States have started to face harder times. Only Harvard’s MBA School has shown a substantial increase in enrollment in recent years. Both Princeton and Stanford have seen decreases in their enrollments. Since 1990, the number of people receiving Masters in Business Administration (MBA) degrees, has dropped about 3 percent to 75,000, and the trend of lower enrollment rates is expected to continue.
There are two factors causing this decrease in students seeking an MBA degree. The first one is that many graduates of four-year colleges are finding that an MBA degree does not guarantee a plush job on Wall Street, or in other financial districts of major American cities. Many of the entry-level management jobs are going to students graduating with Master of Arts degrees in English and the humanities as well as those holding MBA degrees. Students have asked the question, “Is an MBA degree really what I need to be best prepared for getting a good job?” The second major factor has been the cutting of American payrolls and the lower number of entry-level jobs being offered. Business needs are changing, and MBA schools are struggling to meet the new demands.
Câu 1. What is the main focus of this passage?
A. jobs on Wall Street
B. types of graduate degrees
C. changes in enrollment for MBA schools
D. how schools are changing to reflect the economy
Câu 2. The word “prosperity” in line 1 could be best replaced by which of the following?
A. success
B. surplus
C. nurturing
D. education
Câu 3. Which of the following business schools has NOT shown a decrease in enrollment?
A. Princeton
B. Harvard
C. Stanford
D. Yale
Câu 4. Which of the following descriptions most likely applies to Wall Street?
A. a center for international affairs
B. a major financial center
C. a shopping district
D. a neighborhood in New York
Câu 5. According to the passage, what are two causes of declining business school enrollments?
A. lack of necessity for an MBA and an economic recession
B. low salary and foreign competition
C. fewer MBA schools and fewer entry-level jobs
D. declining population and economic prosperity
Câu 6. The word “struggling” is closest in meaning to
A. evolving
B. plunging
C. starting
D. striving
Câu 7. As used in line 7, the word “seeking” could best be replaced by which of the following?
A. examining
B. avoiding
C. seizing
D. pursuing
Câu 8. Which of the following might be the topic of the paragraph?
A. MBA schools’ efforts to change
B. future economic predictions
C. a history of the recent economic changes
D. descriptions of non-MBA graduate programs
PASSAGE 13
No educational medium better serves as a means of spatial communication than the atlas. Atlases deal with such invaluable information as population distribution and density. One of the best, Pennycooke’s World Atlas, has been widely accepted as a standard owing to the quality of its maps and photographs, which not only show various settlements but also portray them in a variety of scales. In fact, the very first map in the atlas is a cleverly designed population cartogram that projects the size of each country if geographical size were proportional to population. Following the proportional layout, a sequence of smaller maps shows the world’s population density, each country’s birth and death rates, population increase and decrease, industrialization, urbanization, gross national product in terms of per capita income, the quality of medical care, literacy, and language. To give readers a perspective on how their own country fits in with the global view, additional projections despite the world’s patterns in nutrition, calorie and protein consumption, health care, number of physicians per unit of population, and life expectancy by region. Population density maps on a subcontinental scale, as well as political maps, convey the diverse demographic phenomena of the world in a broad array of scales.
Câu 1. What is the main topic of this passage ?
A. The educational benefits of atlases.
B. Physical maps in an atlas.
C. The ideal in the making of atlases.
D. Partial maps and their uses.
Câu 2. According to the passage, the first map in Pennycooke’s World Atlas shows
A. the population policy in each country.
B. the hypothetical sizes of countries.
C. geographical proportions of each country.
D. national boundaries relative to population.
Câu 3. In the passage, the word “invaluable” is closest in meaning to .
A. invalid
B. priceless
C. shapeless
D. incremental
Câu 4. Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage?
A. calorie consumption.
B. population decline.
C. a level of education.
D. currency exchange rate.
Câu 5. The word “layout” in the passage refers to .
A. the cartogram
B. the geographical size
C. population
D. each country
Câu 6. It can be inferred from the passage that maps can be used to .
A. identify a shortage of qualified
B. pinpoint ethnic strife in each
C. show readers photographs in a new
D. give readers a new perspective on their own
Câu 7. The author of the passage implies that .
A. atlases provide a bird’s eye view of
B. atlases can be versatile
C. maps use a variety of scales in each
D. maps of countries differ in
PASSAGE 14
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.
For many American university students, the weeklong spring break holiday means an endless party on a sunny beach in Florida or Mexico. In Panama City Beach, Florida, a city with a permanent population of around 36,000, more than half a million university students arrive during the month of March to play and party, making it the number one spring break destination in the United States.
A weeklong drinking binge is not for anyone, however, and a growing number of American university students have found a way to make spring break matter. For them, joining or leading a group of volunteers to travel locally or internationally and work to alleviate problems such as poverty, homelessness, or environmental damage makes spring break a unique learning experience that university students can feel good about.
During one spring break week, students at James Madison University in Virginia participated in 15 “alternative spring break” trips to nearby states, three others to more distant parts of the United States, and five international trips. One group of JMU students traveled to Bogalusa, Louisiana, to help rebuild homes damaged by Hurricane Katrina. Another group traveled to Mississippi to organize creative activities for children living in a homless shelter. One group of students did go to Florida, but not to lie on the sand. They performed exhausting physical labor such as maintaining hiking trails and destroying invasive plant species that threaten the native Florida ecosystem.
Students who participate in alternative spring break projects find them very rewarding. While most university students have to get their degrees before they can start helping people, student volunteers are able to help people now. On the other hand, the accommodations are far from glamorous. Students often sleep on the floor of a school or spend the week camping in tents. But students only pay around $250 for meals and transportation, which is much less than some of their peers spend to travel to more traditional spring break hotspots.
Alternative spring break trips appear to be growing in popularity at universities across the United States. Students cite a number of reason for participating. Some appreciate the opportunity to socialize and meet new friends. Others want to exercise their beliefs about people’s obligation to serve humanity and make the world a better place whatever their reason, these students have discovered something that gives them rich rewards along with a break from school work.
(“Active Skills for Reading: Book 2” by Neil J.Anderson – Thompson, 2007)
Câu 1. How many university students travel to Panama Beach City every March for spring break?
A. Around 500,000
B. Around 10,000
C. Around 36,000
D. Around 50,000
Câu 2. The article is mainly about .
A. sleeping on the floor or camping in tents.
B. alternative spring break trips.
C. drinking problems among university students.
D. spring break in Florida and Mexico.
Câu 3. The word “binge” in the second paragraph probably means .
A. having very little alcohol.
B. refusing to do something.
C. studying for too long.
D. doing too much of something.
Câu 4. Which of the following is NOT mentioned as a problem that alternative spring break trips try to help solve?
A. Alcoholism.
B. Environmental damage.
C. Poverty.
D. Homelessness.
Câu 5. Which of the following gives the main idea of the third paragraph?
A. One group of JMU students worked on homes damaged by a
B. Some students work to help the environment on alternative spring break
C. Children living in homeless shelters enjoy creative
D. University students do many different types of work on alternative spring break
Câu 6. The article implies that university students .
A. many take fewer alternative spring break trips in
B. would prefer to wait until they have their degrees to start helping
C. complain about accommodations on alternative spring break
D. spend more than $250 for traditional spring break
Câu 7. The word “them” in paragraph 4 refers to .
A. degrees
B. projects
C. people
D. students
Câu 8. Which of the following is mentioned as a reason for participating in alternative spring break trips?
A. The hope of earning
B. A personal opinion that people must help other
C. A desire to travel to glamorous
D. A wish to get away from family and
PASSAGE 15
Improving girls’ educational levels has been demonstrated to have clear impacts on the health and economic future of young women, which in turn improves the prospects of their entire community. The infant mortality rate of babies whose mothers have received primary education is half that of children whose mothers are illiterate. In the poorest countries of the world, 50% of girls do not attend secondary school. Yet, research shows that every extra year of school for girls increases their lifetime income by 15%. Improving female education, and thus the earning potential of women, improves the standard of living for their own children, as women invest more of their income in their families than men do. Yet, many barriers to education for girls remain. In some African countries, such as Burkina Faso, girls are unlikely to attend school for such basic reasons as a lack of private latrine facilities for girls.
Higher attendance rates of high schools and university education among women, particularly in developing countries, have helped them make inroads to professional careers with better-paying salaries and wages. Education increases a woman’s (and her partner and the family’s) level of health and health awareness. Furthering women’s levels of education and advanced training also tends to lead to later ages of initiation of sexual activity and first intercourse, later age at first marriage, and later age at first childbirth, as well as an increased likelihood to remain single, have no children, or have no formal marriage and alternatively, have increasing levels of long-term partnerships. It can lead to higher rates of barrier and chemical contraceptive use (and a lower level of sexually transmitted infections among women and their partners and children), and can increase the level of resources available to women who divorce or are in a situation of domestic violence. It has been shown, in addition, to increase women’s communication with their partners and their employers, and to improve rates of civic participation such as voting or the holding of office.
Câu 1. It is stated in the first paragraph that .
A. women’s education levels have influence on the prospect of their community
B. women who have little schooling often have no idea of raising their children
C. it is the children’s schooling that helps their mothers increase their lifetime income
D. earning their own living, women take the responsibility of running the household
Câu 2. Which of the following statements is true according to the first paragraph?
A. Many children in Asia have died because of their mother’s ignorance
B. Children whose mother are illiterate are unable to grow healthily
C. The higher their education level is, the more money women earn
D. It is their husbands who make women improve their education level
Câu 3. It is implied in the first paragraph that .
A. the husband in a family takes little responsibility in rearing the children
B. the mother in a family makes every effort to raise the children effectively
C. the children’s standard of living largely depends on their mother’s income
D. there are numerous reasons for women not to come to class worldwide
Câu 4. The word “barriers” in the passage is closest in meaning to .
A. challenges
B. problems
C. difficulties
D. limits
Câu 5. The phrase “make inroads into” in the passage can be best replaced with .
A. make progress in
B. celebrate achievement in
C. succeed in taking
D. take the chance in
Câu 6. According to the passage, furthering women’s levels of education and advanced training does not result in .
A. an increased level of health awareness for the husbands
B. an increased likelihood to remain single among women
C. higher rates of barrier and chemical contraceptive use
D. improved rates of civic participation among women
Câu 7. The word “It” in the passage refers to .
A. furthering women’s levels of education and advanced training
B. higher attendance rates of high schools and university education
C. increasing levels of long-term partnership
D. a woman’s level of health and health awareness
Câu 8. What can be the best title of the reading passage?
A. Education and Women’s Empowerment
B. Female Education and Social Benefits
B. Woman’s Rights to Lifelong Education
D. Education and Violence Against Women
PASSAGE 16
Let children learn to judge their own work. A child learning to talk does not learn by being corrected all the time. If corrected too much, he will stop talking. He notices a thousand times a day the difference between the language he uses and the language those around him use. Bit by bit, he makes the necessary changes to make his language like other people’s. In the same way, children learn all the other things they learn to do without being taught – to talk, run, climb, whistle, ride a bicycle – compare their own performances with those of more skilled people, and slowly make the needed changes. But in school we never give a child a chance to find out his mistakes for himself, let alone correct them. We do it all for him. We act as if we thought that he would never notice a mistake unless it was pointed out to him, or correct it unless he was made to. Soon he becomes dependent on the teacher. Let him do it himself. Let him work out, with the help of other children if he wants it, what this word says, what the answer is to that problem, whether this is a good way of saying or doing this or not
If it is a matter of right answers, as it may be in mathematics or science, give him the answer book. Let him correct his own papers. Why should we teachers waste time on such routine work? Our job should be to help the child when he tells us that he can’t find the way to get the right answer. Let’s end all this nonsense of grades, exams, and marks. Let us throw them all out, and let the children learn what all educated persons must someday learn, how to measure their own understanding, how to know what they know or do not know.
Let them get on with this job in the way that seems most sensible to them, with our help as school teachers if they ask for it. The idea that there is a body of knowledge to be learnt at school and used for the rest of one’s life is nonsense in a world as complicated and rapidly changing as ours. Anxious parents and teachers say, “But suppose they fail to learn something essential, something they will need to get on in the world?” Don’t worry! If it is essential, they will go out into the world and learn it.
Câu 1. What does the author think is the best way for children to learn things?
A. By copying what other people do
B. By making mistakes and having them corrected
C. By asking a great many questions
D. By listening to explanations from skilled people
Câu 2. The passage suggests that learning to speak and learning to ride a bicycle are
A. more important than other skills
B. basically the same as learning other skills
C. not really important skills
D. basically different from learning adult skills
Câu 3. What does the author think teachers do which they should not do?
A. They encourage children to copy from one another
B. They point out children’s mistakes to them
C. They allow children to mark their own work
D. They give children correct answers
Câu 4. The word “those” in the first paragraph refers to .
A. skills
B. things
C. performances
D. changes
Câu 5. According to the first paragraph, what basic skills do children learn to do without being taught?
A. Talking, climbing and whistling
B. Reading, talking and hearing
C. Running, walking and playing
D. Talking, running and skiing
Câu 6. Exams, grades and marks should be abolished because children’s progress should only be estimated by.
A. parents
B. the children themselves
C. teachers
D. educated persons
Câu 7. The word “complicated” in the third paragraph is closest in meaning to.
A. comfortable
B. competitive
C. complex
D. compliment
Câu 8. The author fears that children will grow up into adults who are.
A. unable to think for themselves
B. too independent of others
C. unable to use basic skills
D. too critical of themselves
PASSAGE 17
Choosing a career may be one of the hardest jobs you ever have, and it must be done with care. View a career as an opportunity to do something you love, not simply as a way to earn a living. Investing the time and effort to thoroughly explore your options can mean the difference between finding a stimulating and rewarding career and move from job to unsatisfying job in an attempt to find the right one. Work influences virtually every aspect of your life, from your choice of friends to where you live. Here are just a few of the factors to consider.
Deciding what matters most to you is essential to making the right decision. You may want to begin by assessing your likes, dislikes, strengths, and weaknesses. Think about the classes, hobbies, and surroundings that you find most appealing. Ask yourself questions, such as “Would you like to travel? Do you want to work with children? Are you more suited to solitary or cooperative work?” There are no right or wrong answers; only you know what is important to you.
Determine which job features you require, which ones you would prefer, and which ones you cannot accept. Then rank them in order of importance to you. The setting of the job is one factor to take into account. You may not want to sit at a desk all day. If not, there are diversity occupation – building inspector, supervisor, real estate agent – that involve a great deal of time away from the office. Geographical location may be a concern, and employment in some fields is concentrated in certain regions. Advertising job can generally be found only in large cities. On the other hand, many industries such as hospitality, law education, and retail sales are found in all regions of the country. If a high salary is important to you, do not judge a career by its starting wages. Many jobs, such as insurance sales, offers relatively low starting salaries; however, pay substantially increases along with your experience, additional training, promotions and commission.
Don’t rule out any occupation without learning more about it. Some industries evoke positive or negative associations. The traveling life of a flight attendant appears glamorous, while that of a plumber does not. Remember that many jobs are not what they appear to be at first, and may have merits or demerits that are less obvious. Flight attendants must work long, grueling hours without sleeps, whereas plumbers can be as highly paid as some doctors. Another point to consider is that as you get mature, you will likely to develop new interests and skills that may point the way to new opportunities. The choice you make today need not be your final one.
Câu 1. The author states that “There are no right or wrong answers” in order to .
A. emphasize that each person’s answers will be
B. show that answering the questions is a long and difficult
C. indicate that the answers are not really
D. indicate that each person’s answers may change over
Câu 2. The word “them” in paragraph 3 refers to .
A. questions
B. answers
C. features
D. jobs
Câu 3. According to paragraph 3, which of the following fields is NOT suitable for a person who does not want to live in a big city?
A. plumbing
B. law
C. retail sales
D. advertising
Câu 4. The word “that” in paragraph 4 refers to
A. occupation
B. the traveling life
C. a flight attendant
D. commission
Câu 5. It can be inferred from the paragraph 3 that .
A. jobs in insurance sales are generally not well-paid.
B. a starting salary should be an important consideration in choosing a
C. people should constantly work toward the next
D. insurance sales people can earn high salary later in their
Câu 6. Why does the author mention “long, grueling hours without sleeps” in paragraph 4?
A. To emphasize the difficulty of working as a
B. To contrast the reality of a flight attendant’s job with most people’s
C. To show that people must work hard for the career they have
D. To discourage readers from choosing a career as a flight
Câu 7. According to the passage, which of the following is true?
A. To make a lot of money, you should not take a job with a low starting
B. To make lots of money, you should rule out all factory
C. If you want an easy and glamorous lifestyle, you should consider becoming flight attendant
D. Your initial view of certain careers may not be
PASSAGE 18
It is commonly believed that school is where people go to get an education. Nevertheless, it has been said that today children interrupt their education to go to school. The difference between schooling and education implied by this remark is important.
Education is much more open-ended and all-inclusive than schooling. Education knows no limits. It can take place anywhere, whether in the shower or on the job, whether in the kitchen or on a tractor. It includes both the formal learning that takes place in school and the whole universe of informal learning. The agent (doer) of education can vary from respected grandparents to the people arguing about politics on the radio, from a child to a famous scientist. Whereas schooling has a certain predictability, education quite often produces surprises. A chance conversation with a stranger may lead a person to discover how little is known of other religions. People receive education from infancy on. Education, then, is a very broad, inclusive term; it is a lifelong process, a process that starts long before the start of school, and one that should be a necessary part of one’s entire life.
Schooling, on the other hand, is a specific, formalized process, whose general pattern varies little from one setting to the next. Throughout a country, children arrive at school at about the same time, take the assigned seats, are taught by an adult, use similar textbooks, do homework, take exams, and so on. The pieces of reality that are to be learned, whether they are the alphabet or an understanding of the workings of governments, have been limited by the subjects being taught. For example, high school students know that they are not likely to find out in their classes the truth about political problems in their society or what the newest filmmakers are experimenting with. There are clear and undoubted conditions surrounding the formalized process of schooling.
Câu 1. This passage is mainly aimed at .
A. listing and discussing several educational problems
B. telling the difference in meaning between two related words
C. giving examples of different schools
D. telling a story about excellent teachers
Câu 2. The word “all-inclusive” in the passage mostly means .
A. including everything or everyone
B. going in many directions
C. involving many school subjects
D. allowing no exceptions
Câu 3. According to the passage, the doers of education are .
A. only respected grandparents
B. mainly politicians
C. mostly famous scientists
D. almost all people
Câu 4. What does the writer mean by saying “education quite often produces surprises”?
A. It’s surprising that we know little about other
B. Educators often produce
C. Informal learning often brings about unexpected
D. Success of informal learning is
Câu 5. Which of the following would the writer support?
A. Our education system needs to be changed as soon as
B. Without formal education, people won’t be able to read and
C. Schooling is of no use because students do similar things every
D. Going to school is only part of how people become
Câu 6. The word “they” in the last paragraph refers to .
A. newest film makers
B. high school students
C. working of governments
D. political problems
Câu 7. Because the general pattern of schooling varies little from one setting to the next, school children throughout the country .
A. are taught by the same teachers
B. have the same abilities
C. have similar study conditions
D. do similar things
Câu 8. From the passage, we can infer that a high school teacher .
A. is free to choose anything to teach
B. is bound to teach programmed subjects
C. is not allowed to teach political issues
D. has to teach social issues to all classes
PASSAGE 19
Bringing up children
Where one stage of child development has been left out, or not sufficiently experienced, the child may have to go back and capture the experience of it. A good home makes this possible – for example, by providing the opportunity for the child to play with a clock work car or toy railway train up to any age if he still needs to do so. This principle, in fad, underlies all psychological treatment of children in difficulties with their development, and is the basic of work in child clinics.
The beginnings of discipline are in the nursery. Even the youngest baby is taught by gradual stages to wait for food, to sleep and wake at regular intervals and so on. If the child feels the world around him is a warm and friendly one, he slowly accepts Its rhythm and accustoms himself to conforming to Its demands. Learning to wait for things, particularly for food, is a very important element in upbringing, and is achieved successfully only if too great demands are not made before the child can understand them. Every parent watches eagerly the child’s acquisition of each new skill: the first spoken words, the first independent steps, or the beginning of reading and writing. It is often tempting to hurry the child beyond his natural learning rate, but this can set up dangerous feelings off failure and states of anxiety in the child. This might happen at any stage. A baby might be forced to use a toilet too early, a young child might be encouraged to learn to read before he knows the meaning of the words he reads. On the other hand, though, if a child is left alone too much, or without any learning opportunities, he loses his natural zest for life and his desire to find out new things for himself.
Learning together is a fruitful source of relationship between children and parents. By playing together, parents learn more about their children and children learn more from their parents. Toys and games which both parents and children can share are an important means of achieving this co-operation. Building-block toys, jigsaw puzzles and crosswords are good examples.
Parents vary greatly in their degree of strictness or indulgence towards their children. Some may be especially strict in money matters; others are severe over times of coming home at night, punctuality for meals or personal cleanliness. In general, the controls imposed represent the needs of the parents and the values of the community as much as the child’s own happiness and well-being.
With regard to the development of moral standards in the growing child, consistency is very important in parental teaching. To forbid a thing one day and excuse it the next is no foundation for morality. Also, parents should realize that •example is better than precept”. If they are hypocritical and do not practise what they preach, their children may grow confused and emotionally insecure when they grow old enough to think for themselves, and realize they have been, to some extent, deceived. A sudden awareness of a marked difference between their parents’ ethics and their morals can be a dangerous disillusion.
Câu 1. The principle underlying all treatment of developmental difficulties in children._.
A. is in the provision of clockwork toys and trains
B. is to send them to clinics
C. is to capture them before they are sufficiently experienced
D. offers recapture of earlier experiences
Câu 2. The encouragement of children to achieve new skills.
A. should be focused on only at school
B. can never be taken too far
C. will always assist their development
D. should be balanced and moderate
Câu 3. Parental controls and discipline .
A. serve a dual purpose
B. are designed to promote the child’s happiness
C. reflect only the values or the community
D. should be avoided as far as possible
Câu 4. The practice of the rule “Example is better than precept” .
A. only works when the children grow old enough to think for themselves
B. would help avoid the necessity for ethics and morals
C. will free a child from disillusion when he grows up
D. is too difficult for all parents to exercise
Câu 5. In the 1 paragraph, the author lays some emphasis on the role of the in helping the child in trouble.
A. psychiatrists
B. community
C. family
D. nursery
Câu 6. The phrase ‘conforming to’ in the 2nd paragraph means .
A. adapting
B. accepting
C. agreeing with
D. following
Câu 7. The word ‘imposed’ in the 4th paragraph is closest in meaning to .
A. excepted
B. introduced
C. made
D. constrained
Câu 8. Hypocrisy on the part of the parents may.
A. result in their children’s wrong behaviour
B. disqualify their teachings altogether
C. make their children lose faith in them
D. impair their children’s mind
PASSAGE 20
ARE TRADITIONAL WAYS OF LEARNING THE BEST?
Read about some alternative schools of thought…
One school in Hampshire, UK, offers 24-hour teaching. The children can decide when or if they come to school. The school is open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., for 364 days a year and provides online teaching throughout the night. The idea is that pupils don’t have to come to school and they can decide when they want to study. Cheryl Heron, the head teacher, said “Some students learn better at night. Some students learn better in the morning.” Cheryl believes that if children are bored, they will not come to school.“Why must teaching only be conducted in a classroom? You can teach a child without him ever coming to school.”
Steiner schools encourage creativity and free thinking so children can study. Art, music and gardening as well as Science and history. They don’t have to learn to read and write at an early age. At some Steiner schools the teachers can’t use textbooks. They talk to the children, who learn by listening. Every morning the children have to go to
Special music and movement classes called “eurhythmy”, which help them learn to concentrate. Very young children learn foreign languages through music and song. Another difference from traditional schools is that at Steiner schools you don’t have to do any tests or exams.
A child learning music with the Suzuki method has to start as young as possible. Even two-year-old children can learn to play difficult pieces of classical music, often on the violin. They do this by watching and listening. They learn by copying, just like they learn their mother tongue. The child has to join in, but doesn’t have to get it right. “They soon learn that they mustn’t stop every time they make a mistake. They just carry on,” said one Suzuki trainer. The children have to practice for hours every day and they give performances once a week, so they learn quickly. “The parents must be involved too,” said the trainer, “or it just doesn’t work.”
(Source: Adapted from Speak out)
Câu 1. Which of the following is NOT true about 24-hour teaching?
A. Students can come to school from 7 a.m. to 10 m.
B. Students can study online at
C. Students can choose the time to
D. Some students need to study in the morning and some need to study at
Câu 2. According to Cheryl Heron, teaching .
A. should happen throughout the night
B. is not necessarily carried out in class
C. is for children who will not come to school
D. must be around the year
Câu 3. Steiner schools don’t .
A. encourage children’s creativity and free thinking
B. allow teachers to teach things out of textbooks
C. teach reading and writing to young children
D. teach music to children
Câu 4. Which of the following is TRUE about Steiner schools?
A. They are different from traditional schools.
B. Young children are not taught foreign languages.
C. Students must concentrate on music.
D. Students have to do exams and tests.
Câu 5. Which of the following is the most suitable title for the third paragraph?
A. Traditional ways of teaching
B. 24-hour teaching
C. Learn by listening
D. Starting young
Câu 6. Students learning music with Suzuki method .
A. must learn difficult music
B. like to learn their mother tongue
C. stop when they make mistakes
D. start at an early age
Câu 7. The word “this” in paragraph 3 refers to .
A. starting as young as possible
B. the violin
C. playing difficult pieces of music
D. learning their mother tongue
Câu 8. The word “involved” in paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to .
A. engaged
B. encouraging
C. accepting
D. rejecting