Đề ôn thi HSG tiếng Anh (số 1)

TEST 1
A. LISTENING
Part 1. For questions 1-5, listen to a talk about five 5 Crazy Ways Social Media Is Changing
Your Brain Right Now. What does the speaker say about each of the issues? Choose five answers
from the box and write the correct letter, A-J, in the corresponding numbered boxes provided.
A. Love is intensified by the factor of obscurity in the first meeting.
B. Egocentric people will be most happy when using social media to share their stories.
C. One’s ability to control himself is weakened when he or she is stimulated by rewards.
D. Knowing each other well in real life makes it easier to become close partners.
E. Whenever a phone buzzes, one is hardwired to make a subconscious response and loses
concentration on the present work.
F. This phenomenon is characterized by occasional auditory hallucinations.
G. A small phone buzz cannot interrupt your work if you concentrate enough to neglect it.
H. Levels of a kind of neurotransmitter are expected to increase as a response to a rewarding
stimulus.
I. White matter in some brain regions that guide one’s consciousness can be triggered by instant
gratification.
J. Distractions become very subtle when one divides his focus on different activities.
Five psychological tendencies:
1. Cannot log off
2. Multi-tasking
3. Phantom vibration syndrome
4. Deriving happiness from being the centre of attention.
5. More successful partnerships
Your answers
1.
2.
3.
4.

5.

Part 2. For questions 6-10, listen to a report on a natural disaster and answer the questions.
Write NO MORE THAN FOUR WORDS taken from the recording for each answer in the
corresponding numbered boxes provided.
6. What weather conditions was Orange Beach struggling with?
7. What did a Category 2 hurricane turn into after one night?
8. What was the state of the boat docks after being hit by bloated waters?
9. How did strong winds damage a church in Alabama?
10. What weather conditions could be expected in many regions in the South East?
Your answers
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

Part 3. For questions 11-15, listen to an interview in which two academics, Julia Ford and Stuart
Cameron, discuss human memory, and choose the answer (A, B, C or D) which fits best
according to what you hear. Write your answers in the corresponding numbered boxes provided.


11. Julia and Stuart both think that concerns about the reliability of shared memories are A. overemphasised in some studies.
B. reasonable in some situations.
C. underestimated by some psychologists.
D. unfounded in legal contexts.
12. What surprised Stuart about how older couples remembered information?
A. the marked difference in the success of their approach
B. the few signs of personal disagreement
C. the great variety in the memories recalled
D. the evidence of the use of similar processes.

13. Julia and Stuart agree that the least effective sharing of memories occurred when one person
A. ignored the knowledge of the other person.
B. tried to control the direction of the conversation.
C. knew a lot more about the topic than the other person.
D. contradicted information given by the other person.
14. Julia contrasts humans with animals in order to
A. illustrate human social independence.
B. suggest humans abuse their privileges.
C. emphasise the carelessness of some humans.
D. explain how humans are vulnerable.
15. When talking about the nature of change in human memory, Julia and Stuart reveal
A. their respect for art history.
B. their insistence on scientific evidence.
C. their interest in cultural explanations.
D. their differences regarding philosophical claims.
Your answers
11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

Part 4. For questions 16-25, listen to a talk about a special plant called bladderwort and supply
the blanks with the missing information. Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS taken from
the recording for each answer in the space provided.
BLADDERWORT

16. The unsurpassable speed of bladderworts derives from their exclusive and intricate
______________.
17. Bladderwort is second to _______________ for the title "euphemism of the year."
18. This genus of carnivorous plants can be found in anywhere with shallow water or
______________.
19. The external glamour of bladderworts lies in their ______________.
20. ______________ are inevitable for bladderworts to capture their targets swiftly.


21. The jargon "hair trigger" well explains how this plant can catch its preys with a
______________.
22. The bladder is known to be ______________, and this characteristic facilitates the operation of
the trap.
23. One type of glands produces ______________ to decompose the prey while the other is
responsible for pumping water.
24. Scientists seem to have difficulty in distinguishing ______________ microorganisms from
preys.
25. A certain category of bladderwort, which can be nurtured by humans, is described as
______________ by the speaker.
B. LEXICO
1. The Forbidden Forest, which borders the edges of the Hogwarts School, is a dark and _____
forest thick with mysterious creatures and lurking dangers.
A brooding
B crooked
C dubious
D gloomy
2. Because he started writing his term paper far too late, he is now behind the _____ ball.
A last
B ninth
C eight

D tenth
3. Don’t you think an employee with _____ like Henry will soon be promoted?
A a song in his heart
B a fire in his belly
C kindred spirit
D a soul of discretion
4. My daughter is a very confident girl and likes to express herself in public, unlike her brother, who
is a _____.
A bowl of cherry
B top banana
C ripe plum
D shrinking violet
5. He is just a little child, please keep your _____ on and be patient with him.
A hat
B socks
C belt
D shirt
6. Next time if you happen to arrive somewhere in my _____ of the woods, do come round and have
a meal with us.
A neck
B foot
C head
D leg
7. Although the _____ route I showed you is longer, it will actually take you a shorter time as you
can avoid traffic jams during the rush hour.
A exigent
B deviant
C protracted
D devious
8. Although the famous singer dismissed the allegations as _____ and innuendo, police investigation

has shown the opposite.
A smudge
B smears
C amnesty
D bedazzlement
9. Students, when you arrive at the theatre, remember that you must sit according to the seating
_____ I showed you yesterday and whoever doesn’t follow will be disciplined!
A plan
B scheme
C command
D structure
10. The search for _____ between the two sides has appeared to be in vain as none of the two
companies was willing to compromise.
A moot point
B the third way
C middle ground
D a safe passage
11. Marriage, though not the social imperative it once was, still stands for a major rite of _____ into
adult life.
A threshold
B doorway
C pathway
D passage


12. Though it is still controversial regarding the character of the young actor, most people can’t
deny he is worthy of his _____ success.
A wildfire
B phenomenal
C aspiring

D influential
13. The bullet, luckily, just _____ his shoulder, thanks to which his life
A crouched
B rasped
C browsed
D grazed
14. Those openly _____ their wealth show nothing but a shallow mind and a contemptible dignity of
themselves.
A eliciting
B flaunting
C reviling
D exerting
15. I understand and would totally support you if you want to _____ of this toxic relationship.
A sift out
B bail out
C churn out
D blow out
Word form
1 Her toes are severely _____ from years of pursuing a career in professional ballet. (SHAPE)
2 Teaching in mountainous areas is full of hardship but it is _____ to see the determination of the
students. (HEART)
3 Mulan is a(n) _____ adaptation of the 1998 Walt Disney Animation Studios film of the same
name, starring Liu Yifei in the title role. (LIVE)
4 The haughty employee _____ his hand when asking for a pay rise and was eventually given the
sack. (PLAY)
5 Firefighters are working 12-hour shifts in extreme heat to battle devastating _____ in the northern
forests. (FIRE)
C. READING
Part 1. For questions 1-13, read the following passage and do the tasks that follow.

Cars that can drive themselves
A. The idea of the self-driving car dates back to before the Second World War. Visitors to General
Motors' 'Futurama' at the 1939 World Fair in New York were shown a vision of the future in 1960,
in which radio-controlled automobiles would zip along perfectly safe highways. In the 1950s,
General Motors and the Radio Corporation of America began experimenting with such a system,
digging radio-transmitting cables into roads at a cost of around $100,000 per mile.
B. The system worked. In 1958, a Chevrolet impala made it round a special course 'without the
driver's hands on the steering wheel' but it joined the list of other expensive automated dreams. The
first real breakthroughs for self-driving cars took place in the late 1980s, in the £800m Eureka
Promethesus Project, led by Ernst Dickmanns of the Bundeswehr University Munich, a pioneer of
computer vision. Using just four black and white cameras, Dickmanns's cars managed two road trips
of more than 1,000 kilometres through Europe in 1994 and 1995, driving without human
intervention 95% of the time. Automated cars have made huge leaps and bounds in recent years.
Starting in 2004, Darpa, the high-tech research wing of the US military, ran a series of competitions
for driverless vehicles. The winning team was hired by Google, and for years the technology
company ran a fleet of automated cars around the highways of California. So far the cars have
clocked up 200,000 miles and have been involved in one minor human-caused accident. Google is
not on its own. Other car manufacturers also have some kind of automated car in the works, with
research and testing also going on in the UK and Germany.


C. Most driverless cars share the same 'Velodyne' laser system on their roofs. 64 spinning lasers
provide a constant, 3D view of the environment 40 metres around the car, while radars on the
bumpers and a rear-view camera also feed in information. The data is sorted by algorithms that
distinguish between cars, pedestrians, plastic bags and cats, and tell the car what to do. Automated
cars are programmed to be model drivers: they stop when pedestrians step onto the road; they give
way when they should; they stay out of other cars' blindspots and nudge forward when other cars
should be letting them through.
D. Across the world, 1.2 million people are killed or injured on the roads each year with human
error to blame 90% of the time. 'It's amazing to me that we let humans drive cars,' says Eric

Schmidt, the executive director of Google. Paul Newman, a robotics engineer at Oxford University,
says it is only a matter of time before we hand over the wheel. 'It's crazy to imagine that in ten to
twenty years we'll still have to sit behind a wheel, concentrating hard, not falling asleep and not
running over people' , he says. Computer-controlled cars offer the benefits of safety, fuel efficiency
and speed. Roads full of automated cars, all communicating with one another, will see vehicles
going bumper-to-bumper at 70mph, eliminating traffic jams.
E. In spite of the encouraging pace of development, however, enormous hurdles still remain,
notably how to engineer human common sense. 'Imagine a situation where a box falls onto the road
in front of you,' says John Leonard, a mechanical engineering professor at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology. 'The system needs to make a split-second decision to either go straight
through it or to swerve left or right - which might have worse consequences than just going
forward'. Other challenges include recognising the weaknesses of automated cars: how do their
sensors respond to glare, poor weather, or damage?
F. However, no matter how good, their guidance systems are, self-driven cars will still have
accidents. In which case, who will be responsible - the car manufacturer, the software developer or
the human driver - for failing to override the computer at the critical moment? But will the cars even
have people on board? One of the attractions, surely, will be in ordering them to come and pick us
up: in which case will it be empty car A, or car B with driver, which is to blame for a driving
mistake? In whatever form they emerge, automated cars will require the greatest overhaul of the law
of the roads since the rise of the automobile in the first half of the 20th century.
G. It seems unlikely, at least for the time being, that drivers will hand over their car keys. A lot of
people actually like to drive and hate being passengers. More likely we will see a continuation of the
gradual automation of cars that have been under way for two decades, during which automatic lanekeeping, cruise control and parking aids have been gratefully taken up. A new Volvo, for example,
now maintains safe distances in heavy traffic without human intervention, and Nissan is working on
software that anticipates a driver's next move, adjusting the car ahead of time. Piece by piece,
radars, lasers, car to car communication, and the warning of dangers ahead will be added as well,
slowly easing the wheel out of our hands.
Questions 1-7
The reading passage has seven paragraphs A-G. Choose the correct heading for each
paragraph from the list of headings below. Write the correct numbers i-x in boxes 1-7.

List of headings
i The legal implications of automated driving
ii The limitations of the automated car
iii Towards a partial public acceptance of automated cars
iv The long dream of the automated car


v The downward trend in the demand for automated cars
vi The definition of an automated car
vii The current financial cost of developing automated car technology
viii The rationale behind the concept of the automated car
ix Common technological features of automated cars
x Remarkable success of automated cars on the road
Your answers
1.
2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

Question 8-13
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the Reading Passage?
In boxes 8-13, write

TRUE
if the statement agrees with the information.
FALSE
if the statement contradicts the information.
NOT GIVEN
if there is no information on this.
8. Google’s driverless cars have recorded no technical hitches since their deployment.
9. It is claimed that human drivers inevitably cede their role to automated cars.
10. The technology could allow cars to drive with a greater degree of safety when they are closer
together.
11. Common sense reasoning would be a nice-to-have for self-driving cars but is not truly required.
12. The limited capacity to cope with emergencies is a major setback of autonomous cars.
13. The upgrade of driverless cars would guarantee no car crashes occurring in the future.
Your answers.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.

Part 2. For questions 14-23, read an extract from an article and choose the answer A, B, C or
D that fits best according to the text. Write your answers in the corresponding numbered
boxes provided.

Teenage brains
Journalist Martin Baines talks to neuroscientist Professor Sarah-Jayne Blakemore about the
development of the brain during adolescence.
Until I read Inventing Ourselves by Professor Sarah-Jayne Blakemore, I'd always assumed that what
we think of as teenage behaviour is largely an invention of contemporary western society. I hadn't

imagined, for example, that 15-year-olds in the Kalahari Desert also complain about having to get
up early — but they do. It was for people like me — there are lots of us — that Blakemore wrote
her book explaining the science of everything from why teenagers can't get out of bed in the
morning to why they sometimes appear to be irresponsible narcissists. `We demonise teenagers
more than any other section of society,' she told me. 'And it's not right. They're going through an
essential stage of their development. Most adults don't realise this.'
This is arguably inevitable. Blakemore says that until 20 years ago, it was assumed that teenage
behaviour was largely down to hormonal changes in puberty and that children's brains were more or


less fully developed. The findings of brain scans and psychological experiments have now revealed
that the reality is very different, however. In fact, the brain continues to change all through the
teenage years and well into adulthood, and important neurodevelopmental processes enable it to be
moulded by the environment. So adolescence is a critical period of neurological change, much of
which is responsible for adolescent behaviour.
Blakemore quotes from a teenager's diary dated 20 July 1969: 'I went to arts centre (by myself!) in
yellow cords and blouse. Ian was there but didn't speak to me. Got a rhyme put in my handbag from
someone who's apparently got a crush on me. It's Nicholas, I think. UGH. Man landed on the moon.'
This may look like amazing — even jaw-dropping — self-absorption. But Blakemore says it's
essential neurological development, because the biological function of adolescence, today and in the
past, is the creation of a sense of self. Teens achieve this through creating new allegiances,
independent of their parents — which is why their friendships suddenly become extremely
important. What is known on social media as FOMO — fear of missing out — may look like an
irrational sense of priorities if it means skipping revision to attend a run-of-the-mill get-together,
but at that age, nothing matters more than peer approval.
Blakemore designed an experiment to explore this. Adolescents were asked to play an online ball
game, with what they believed to be two other players of their own age. In fact, the game was with a
computer programmed to ignore the human participants; these found themselves watching the ball
being passed between two players on the screen who chose not to include them. She repeated the
experiment with adults, and found that, while the game lowered the mood and increased the anxiety

levels of all participants, the effect was dramatically greater for the teenagers.
In her book, Blakemore also discusses how the neurologically driven preoccupation with peer
approval underlies adolescent risk-taking and acute self-consciousness, and how it determines
adolescent sleep patterns. It's fascinating, and I'm curious about the implications. What could be
done to accommodate the changes adolescents go through?
Blakemore suggests we might harness the power of peer pressure by getting adolescents to run
educational campaigns — for example, on healthy eating. She also mentions schools which have
altered their start times to fit in with teenage sleep patterns, though she points out there may be
practical issues about implementing this on a wider scale. But generally, she's wary about putting
forward concrete solutions. This seems regrettable, but she insists she's a scientist rather than a
consultant. She doesn't even like to be asked for parenting advice, although she admits her work
does inform her own parenting. When she recently visited her teenage son's school, he asked her to
pretend not to know him. 'I could've been so offended by that. But I thought: "That's absolutely
normal."'
[■] One thing that makes Blakemore's empathy and affection for teenagers so striking is its rarity.
[■] But why does she think so many other adults feel differently? [■] She often thinks about why we
find it hilarious to 'take the mickey out of teenagers'. [■] She points out that there are whole
comedy shows mocking their behaviour. She wonders if adults do it to cope with their rejection;
small children obey adults and want to be with them, but teenagers, through necessity, look for
independence, and the older generations feel hurt about this. They resent adolescents' desire to
rebel and their sense of embarrassment when they're with parents. 'Our way of dealing with these
changes is to sneer at them.'
14. What is the writer doing in the first paragraph?
A outlining how he feels about the way teenagers are generally perceived
B giving his reasons for writing a profile of Professor Blakemore


C pointing out international variations in teenage behaviour
D acknowledging his relative ignorance about teenagers
15. The writer suggests that the way teenage behaviour is commonly regarded is unsurprising

because
A behavioural development is a complex subject.
B significant progress in relevant areas of study is relatively recent.
C people's outlook on life is partly determined by neurological factors.
D differences between generations will always cause misunderstanding.
16. What does the writer suggest is `jaw-dropping' about the teenager's diary entry?
A the strong desire for independence that comes across
B the similarity with what young people talk about today
C the negative comments about two acquaintances
D the focus on personal rather than wider events
17. The experiment described in the fourth paragraph was designed to provide evidence of
A how competitive teenagers tend to be.
B how easily teenagers can be deceived.
C how sensitive teenagers are to social exclusion.
D how immersed teenagers can become in video games.
18. In the sixth paragraph, the writer expresses
A disappointment at Blakemore's reluctance to advocate specific policies.
B enthusiasm for the idea of giving teenagers more responsibility.
C amusement at Blakemore's difficulties with her own children.
D doubt regarding the feasibility of changing school hours.
19. Which words in the final paragraph echo the phrase ‘take the mickey out of’?
A cope with
B feel hurt about
C resent
D sneer at
20. Look at the four squares [■] that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the
passage.
'Yes, I'm a champion of them,' she agrees.
Where would the sentence best fit?
A. First square

B. Second square
C. Third square
D. Fourth square
21. What does the word “It” in paragraph 1 refer to?
A. teenage behaviour
B. book
C. invention
D. Kalahari Desert
22. The word ‘demonise’ in paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to:
A. vilify
B. eulogize
C. overlook
D. notice
23. The word ‘run-of-the-mill’ in paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to:
A. distinguished
B. ordinary
C. tedious
D. provocative
Your answers


14.

15.

16.

17.

18.

19.

20.

21.

22.

23.

Part 3. You are going to read an extract from an article. Seven paragraphs have been
removed from the extract. Choose from paragraphs A—H the one which fits each gap (24-30).
There is one extra paragraph which you do not need to use.

My digital detox
Spending a weekend without access to communications technology was an eye-opener.
We were brushing through wet grass in the early morning when we saw it - a flash of white drifting
behind a small patch of trees, backlit by the sun. Crouching down next to Artley, our twenty-onemonth-old son, my partner Will and I watched the unmistakable shape of a barn owl until it
disappeared into the wood. The look on Artley’s face was part of a brief moment of magic, the kind
of memory that we live for. Ordinarily, my next thought would have been to pull out my phone, take
a photo or video and send a message. Connecting is something I do unconsciously now, and sharing
such moments has become second nature.
24.
That weekend, however, the three of us were, by our own choice, offline. We were camping at a
rural site calied Swallowtail Hill in southern England, which offers visitors the option of leaving all
their electronic devices in the safe keeping of the owner for the duration of their stay - a kind of
digital detox, you might say. We had been inspired by William Powers' book Hamlet’s BlackBerry,
an imaginative and thoughtful work that explores reactions to new technologies throughout history
and the lessons we should have learnt from them. Blessed with two days of good weather and some

delicious local food, I barely noticed I wasn’t online.
25.
Take equal responsibility for our digital obsession - magnetically drawn, as I am, to any screen that
can feed my addiction. Nonetheless, any objections of mine to this specific vice are usually swiftly
defended by an explanation of the importance of dealing with whatever it is now, though it never
seems anything that couldn’t wait half an hour. Suddenly, however, we had his full attention - well
almost. There was a moment when he was distracted by a buzzing sensation and automatically
reached for his phone, before realising it was a bee.
26.
By breaking away from my connected life, however, I came to appreciate just how much it had
permeated my way of being. So-called ‘early adopters', the heavy technology users who throw
themselves at every new device and service, will admit to an uncontrollable impulse to check their
email accounts or social networking sites. Researchers have called this 'variable interval
reinforcement schedule'. Such people have in effect been drawn into digital message addiction
because the most exciting rewards are unpredictable.
27.
A study by the University of California concluded that such constant multi-tasking gradually erodes
short-term memory. It also discovered that interruptions to any task requiring concentration are a
massive problem, as it takes us much longer to get back into them than it does to deal with the
interruption itself.


28.
In other words, what was once exterior and faraway is now easily accessible and this carries a sense
of obligation or duty. He sees the feeling that we should be reaching out, or be available to be
reached out to as tied to the self-affirmation that the internet, and all that goes with it, provides us
with.
29.
One practical suggestion, for example, is to use paper as a more efficient way of organising our
thoughts. The theory of ‘embodied interaction' asserts that physical objects free our minds to think

because our hands and fingers can do much of the work, unlike screens where our brains are
constantly in demand.
30.
As we left Swallowtail Hill, we seemed to have achieved that. The real work was just starting,
however, trying to put this and other ideas into regular practice in an attempt to balance work and
home life. Powers also talks about ‘vanishing family trick’, where a seemingly sociable family
gradually dissolves away to screens in different corners of the house. It's clearly a situation to be
avoided. Our digital detox had been something of a wake-up call. And guess what? When the owner
handed back our phones, we didn't have a missed call or message between us.
The misssing paragraphs
A. At home, those concerns about my digital addiction are most acute when I catch my son looking
at me while I'm checking a screen. It's reinforcing how much more important the screen is than him,
as if I'm teaching him that obeying these machines is what he needs to do.
B. In truth, he wasn't at one in such lapses. Without our hand-held devices, neither of us had much
idea what the time was. Then, I reached for mine when I wondered about local shopping facilities
and whether it is normal to see a barn owl during the day. And the magical moment when Artley
was being read his bedtime story in front of an open fire, I've had to try and commit to my own
fallible memory.
C. For those of us compelled to check email every few minutes, that finding accounts for those days
which seem to pass so quickly with so little getting done. And this is part of a wider trend. 'The
more we connect, the more our thoughts lean outward,’ Powers writes. ‘There's a preoccupation
with what’s going on “out there" in the bustling otherworld, rather than “in here" with yourself and
those right around you.’
D. Like me, he is a true believer in the value and potential of digital technologies. He concludes,
however, that we need to find the discipline to restore control by reintroducing a little
disconnectedness.
E. More radical still is the idea of banning the internet at weekends on the grounds that being away
from it on a regular basis allows us to grasp its utility and value more fully, Hopefully, it also brings
about a shift to a slower, less restless way of thinking, where you can just be in one place, doing one
particular thing, and enjoy it.

F. The meaningful and the mundane have thus merged into one, all dutifully and habitually recorded
- my enjoyment split between that technological impulse and the more delicate human need to be in
the moment. This is how we live these days.
G. What did strike me though was the change in Will’s behaviour. If my worst habit is incessant
messaging, his is allowing his phone to take precedence over everything else. Country walks,
dinner, bathing our son - no moment is safe from the seemingly irresistible ringing, vibrating,
nagging phone, that demands - and wins - his attention when he should be enjoying the moment
with us.


H. What’s more, the hustle they develop as they struggle to keep up with the pace of all that
incoming information has produced a restless, anxious way of engaging with the world. Desperate
for efficiency, this seeps into people's physical lives. Perhaps that's why I feel compelled to tidy
while on the phone, to fold the washing while brushing my teeth, and no single job has my
undivided attention.
Your answers
24.
25.

26.

27.

28.

29.

30.

Part 4. The passage below consists of four sections marked A-D. For questions 31-40, read the

passage and do the task that follows. Write your answers (A-D) in the corresponding
numbered boxes provided.

Is charity as important as we are told it is?
A Mark
No matter how convinced we may be that we are members of a caring, responsible society that has a
well-established safety net, the fact remains that there are still plenty of people who fall through the
cracks. Too many of us sit back, supposedly safe in the knowledge that the authorities are living up
to the duty of care they have for the most vulnerable members of society. In fact, even a not
particularly rigorous examination of the trials and tribulations faced by some people will reveal
plenty of situations in which they are enduring difficulties that are not even officially
acknowledged, never mind addressed. The nub of the matter is that, in too many cases, people only
become aware of some of the extreme difficulties faced by fellow citizens when they themselves
become victims of the same circumstances - and in the process discover that there is actually no
official they can turn to for help.
B Alice
Charities are organisations set up in an attempt to offer a lifeline to those who, often through no
fault of their own, find themselves in extremely difficult circumstances for which the state can't or
won't give them any meaningful or effective assistance. In the same way, we must consider
situations where we, personally, could step in to give a hand. For the fortunate amongst us, when we
consider our own lives, we will likely become aware of the extent to which our family members and
other people close to us help us to overcome our problems. Sadly, a lot of people are not blessed
with caring relatives or friends, and this is where we ought to consider how we can be good
neighbours. Of course, we can't do much in this regard if we have little contact with our neighbours
and even less awareness of anything going on in their lives. However, there are plenty of charities
that do try to help people and could do a better job if they had more assistance or support from us. I
believe at we can provide some useful help to people in our communities if we make the effort to
contact a charity that interests us and offer our support in whatever way we can.
C Julian
In an ideal world, far fewer people would be reliant on charities. The sad reality reflects poorly on

society, particularly as regards the extent to which the authorities are able to relieve the burdens
which some people end up facing alone. I know of regrettable instances where children are given
detention at school for 'offences' that arise simply because they have to take time out to look after
seriously ill or disabled parents. As a result of these detentions, they then have even less time to
support their parents. Obviously, this creates a vicious circle that will lead the child to missing out
on a significant part of their education and could quite possibly have even worse consequences. As a
result of finding out about someone in such circumstances, I am now shouldering some of that
child's burden, but I have not yet found a charity that I can turn to for more help.
D Beth


On the whole, I think we're fairly spoilt compared with people who live in certain other parts of the
world. We live in a democracy which has operated a welfare state for several generations. I
appreciate that the budget doesn't always allow enough funding to ensure that everyone gets
adequate support, but we also have a long history of philanthropy. Personally, I am lucky to have a
great network of friends and relatives whom I can turn to for assistance, but I know that lots of
people must get by without this advantage. To tell the truth, there are quite a few charities that I
don't consider to be particularly important or useful, but that is none of my concern, since I'm not
forced to give them donations. However, there are others that I thoroughly approve of, and I actually
volunteer for one of them in my free time.
Which person gives each of these opinions about charities?
Which person mentions
Answers
31. It's difficult to help the people around us if we don't know what
problems they are facing.
32. I value the work of some charitable organisations more highly than that
of others.
33. Often, people only come to understand others' problems through
personal experience.
34. It would be preferable if the work of charities was not so necessary.

35. It is understandable why the public sector can't take on more
responsibility.
36. Quite often an assumption people make results in them being less likely
to take the initiative to help people.
37. It is likely that problems not receiving adequate attention will be
exacerbated.
38. We can all help charities to work more effectively.
39. Someone's personal circumstances should be considered before they are
punished for something that they felt they had to do.
40. It isn't hard to pinpoint examples of people with hardships who are
receiving no help from the authorities.