Bài tập ĐIỀN TỪ và ĐỌC HIỂU (P1)

Bài tập ĐỌC HIỂU và ĐIỀN TỪ
EXERCISE 1: Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to
indicate the correct word or phrase that best fits each of the numbered blanks from 1 to 5.
Ever since it was first possible to make a real robot, people have been hoping for the invention of a
machine that would do all the necessary jobs around the house. If boring and repetitive factory work
could be (1) _____ by robots, why not boring and repetitive household chores too? For a long time the
only people who really gave the problem their attention were amateur inventors. And they came up
against a major difficulty. That is housework is (2) _____ very complex. It has never been one job, it has
always been many. A factory robot carries (3) _____ one task endlessly until it is reprogrammed to do
something else. It doesn't run the whole factory. A housework robot, on the other hand, has to do
several different types of cleaning and carrying jobs and also has to cope with all the different shapes
and positions of rooms, furniture, ornaments, cats and dogs. (4) _____, there have been some
developments recently. Sensors are available to help the robot locate objects and avoid obstacles. We
have the technology to produce the hardware. All that is missing is the software - the programs (5)
_____ will operate the machine.
Question 1: A: managed

B: made

C: succeeded

D: given

Question 2: A: actually

B: likely

C: seriously

D: hardly

Question 3: A: away

B: out

C: over

D: off

Question 4: A: Moreover

B: However

C: Although

D: Besides

Question 5: A: who

B: what

C: that

D: where

EXERCISE 2: Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to
indicate the correct answer to each of the questions from 1 to 7.
When we moved to our new house near the sea, I was eight years old. Even before that I had spent every
summer messing about on boats. My dad had taught me to sail before I learnt to ride a bike so I knew
how I wanted to spend my time at the new house- I was going to get my own boat and sail it everyday.
The house was only a few metres from the water’s edge, and in rough weather the waves would come

crashing into the front garden. I used to sit with my nose pressed to the glass, fascinated by the power of
the ocean. I grew up watching the skies to see if it was going to rain; would I be going sailing that
afternoon or not?
Of course I sometimes wished I could live in the town like my friends. I used to get irritated with my
parents, who had taken early retirement because they seemed incapable of getting anywhere on time.
Dad drove me the eight miles to school everyday, but I was often late because he had been walking on
the cliffs earlier in the morning and had lost track of time. When I was taking my university entrance


exams, I used to stay over at a friend’s in town, just in case. All in all, I was lucky to grow up by the sea
and I still love to sail.
Question 1: At the age of eight, the writer’s house was ______.
A. in the town

B. by the sea

C. on boat

D. under the mountain

Question 2: The word “rough” is closest in meaning to_____ .
A. careful

B. forceful

C. easy

D. mild

Question 3: The writer’s father retired early because .

A. he walked on the cliffs every morning
B. he lost rack of time
C. he had to drive his kid to school everyday
D. he was unable to get anywhere on time
Question 4: The following are true EXCEPT _____.
A. the waves came crashing into the writer’s front garden in bad weather
B. the writer moved to a new house when he was 8
C. the writer didn’t know how to sail
D. the distance from the writer’s house to school was 8 miles
Question 5: Growing up by the sea, the writer felt .
A. unlucky B. irritated C. excited D. lucky
Question 6: The writer learnt to sail_________ .
A. before learning to ride a bike B. when his family moved to a new house
C. before going to school D. When he/ she was eight
Question 7: When taking the university entrance exams_____, .
A. the writer’s family moved to a new house by the sea
B. the writer had to live in a friend’s house
C. the weather was terrible
D. the writer’s father drove him/ her to university


EXERCISE 3: Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to
indicate the correct answer to each of the questions from 1 to 8
Not very long ago, when people needed to find a job, there were several possible steps. They might
begin with a look through the classified ads in the newspaper. They could go to the personne office at
various companies and fill out an application, or they could go to an employment agency. They could
even find out about a job opening through word-of-mouth - from another person who had heard about
it.
These days, job hunting is more complicated. The first step is to determine what kind of job you want
(which sounds easier than it is) and make sure that you have the right education for it. Rapid changes in

technology and science are creating many professions that never existed until recently. It is important to
learn about them because one might be the perfect profession for you. The fastestgrowing areas for new
jobs are in computer technology and health services. Jobs in these fields usually require specific skills,
but you need to find out exactly which skills and which degrees are necessary. For example, it may be
surprising to learn that in the sciences, an M.S is more marketable than a Ph.D! In other words, there are
more jobs available for people with a Master of Science degree than for people with a doctorate.
(However, people who want to do research still need a Ph.D.)
How do people learn about “hot” new professions? How do they discover their “dream job”? Many
people these days go to a career counselor. In some countries, job hopping has become so common that
career counseling is now “big business”. People sometimes send large amounts of money for this advice.
In Canada, and the United Nations, high school and college students often have access to free vocational
counseling service on campus. There is even a career organization, the Five O’Clock Club, which helps
members to set goals. Members focus on this question: what sort of person do you want to be years
from now? The members then plan their careers around that goal. All career counselors – private or
public – agree on one basic point: it is important for people to find a career that they love. Everyone
should be able to think, “I’m having such a good time. I can’t believe they’re paying me to do this.”
(Adapted from “Interactions 2 Reading”, Pamela Hartmann & Elaine Kirn, Mc Graw Hill)
Question 1: The phrase “through word-of-mouth” in the first paragraph probably means _______.
A. via phone

B. visually

C. in person

D. orally

Question 2: According to the second paragraph, why is it important for us to learn about various
professions?
A. since more jobs are available for people with a Master of Science degree
B. as technological advances have created new professions

C. because jobs in computer technology and health services are popular


D. so as not to miss the profession that is perfect for us
Question 3: Why does the author mention the steps of job hunting in the past in the first paragraph?
A. To define the process of job hunting
B. To indicate that the process of job hunting stays the same over time
C. To emphasize that job hunting is becoming more complex at present
D. To explain the importance of a job opening
Question 4: According to the last paragraph, career counseling is now a “big business” due to ______.
A. the increasing popularity of job hunting
B. the large amount of money of job advice
C. the appearance of “hot” new professions
D. the discovery of “dream jobs”
Question 5: The word “marketable” as used in the second paragraph could be best replaced by ____.
A. wanted

B. well-paid

C. beneficial

D. profitable

Question 6: The word “them” in the second paragraph refers to ________.
A. degrees

B. skills

C. areas

D. professions

Question 7: According to the second paragraph, all of the following steps are mentioned in job
hunting today EXCEPT _________.
A. getting information about necessary skills or degrees
B. doing a Ph.D degree
C. deciding on a profession
D. learning about different professions
Question 8: It can be inferred from the passage that what determines one’s success in job hunting is
_______.
A. his or her degrees or skills
B. his or her choices of employment agencies


C. discovery of his or her own dream job
D. his or her career counselors
EXERCISE 4: Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to
indicate the correct word or phrase that best fits each of the numbered blanks from 1 to 5.

The Town of Aylesbury
Aylesbury is a bustling market town whose modern shopping facilities include the recently opened Friars
Square shopping centre. The market has been an (1) ____ part of Aylesbury life since they early 13th
century. Nowadays, regular markets are held on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.
The town has a (2) ____ and varied history, many clues to which can be seen in the conversation are to
the north of the market square. In this area (3) ____ the 15Ih century King's Head Public House which
over the years has played host to many famous names. These have included King Henry Will, who
regularly visited the Inn whilst courting Anne Boleyn and Oliver Cromwell, on his visit to Aylesbury in
1651.
Now a National Trust property, the King's Head is at present undergoing extensive refurbishments to (4)
____ the building to its former glory and is expected to re-open in the autumn. Other (5) ____ buildings

in the conversation area include the Saxon Church of St Mary and the Buckingharnshire County Museum.
Question 1. A. expensive

B. essential

C. expected

D. impossible

Question 2. A. poor

B. nearby

C. Perfect

D. rich

Question 3. A. lives

B. happens

C. stands

D. shows

Question 4. A. restore

B. refresh

C. Recall

D. remind

Question 5. A. reliable

B. annual

C. Excitable

D. notable

EXERCISE 5: Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to
indicate the correct answer to each of the questions from 1 to 8.
Birds that feet in flocks commonly retire together into roosts. The reasons for roosting communally are
not always obvious, but there are some likely benefits. In winter especially, it is important for birds to
keep warm at night and conserve precious food reserves. One way to do this is to find a sheltered, roost.
Solitary roosters shelter indense vegetation or enter a cavity - horned larks dig holes in the ground and
ptarmigan burrow into snow banks - but the effect of sheltering is magnified by several birds huddling
together in the roosts, as wrens, swifts, brown creepers, bluebirds, and anis do. Body contact reduces
the surface area exposed to the cold air, so the birds keep each other warm. Two kinglets huddling


together were found to reduce their heat losses by a quarter, and three together saved a third of their
heat.
The second possible benefit of communal roosts is that they act as "information centers”. During the day,
parties of birds will have spread out to feed over a very large area. When they return in the evening
some will have fed well, but others may have found little to eat. Some investigators have observed that
when the birds set out again next morning, those birds that did not feed well on the previous day appear
to follow those that did. The behavior of common and lesser kestrels may illustrate different feeding
behaviors of similar birds with different roosting habits. The common kestrel hunts vertebrate animals in

a small, familiar hunting ground, whereas the very similar lesser kestrel feeds on insects over a large
area. The common kestrel roosts and hunts alone, but the lesser kestrel roosts and hunts in flocks,
possibly so one bird can learn from others where to find insect swarms.
Finally, there is safety in numbers at communal roosts since there will always be a few birds awake at any
given moment to give the alarm. But this increased protection is partially counteracted by the fact that
mass roosts attract predators and are especially vulnerable if they are on the ground. Even those in trees
can be attacked by birds of prey. The birds on the edge are at greatest risk since predators find it easier
to catch small birds perching at the margins of the roost.

Question 1. What does the passage mainly discuss?
A. How birds find and store food
B. How birds maintain body heat in the winter
C. Why birds need to establish territory
D. Why some species of birds nest together
Question 2. The word "conserve" is closest in meaning to ____.
A. retain

B. watch

C. Locate

D. share

Question 3. Ptarmigan keep warm in the winter by
A. building nests in trees
B. huddling together on the ground with other birds
C. digging tunnels into the .snow
D. burrowing into dense patches of vegetatiotnir
Question 4. The word "magnified" in line 6 is closest in meaning to ____.
A. combined

B. caused

C. modified

D. intensified


Question 5. The author mentions kinglets in line 9 as an example of birds that ____.
A. nest together for warmth
B. usually feed and nest in pairs
C. protect themselves by nesting in holes
D. nest with other species of birds
Question 6. Which of the following statements about lesser and common kestrels is true?
A. The common kestrel nests in larger flocks than does the lesser kestrel.
B. The lesser kestrel and the common kestrel have similar diets.
C. The lesser kestrel feeds sociably but the common kestrel does not.
D. The common kestrel nests in trees; the lesser kestrel nests on the ground.
Question 7. Which of the following is a disadvantage of communal roosts that is mentioned in the
passage?
A. Diseases easily spread among the birds.
B. Food supplies are quickly depleted.
C. Some birds in the group will attack the others
D. Groups are more attractive to predators than individual birds are.
Question 8. The word "they" in the third paragraph refers to ____.
A. a few birds

B. mass roosts'

C. predators

D. trees

EXERCISE 6: Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to
indicate the correct answer to each of the questions from 1 to 7.
In the American colonies there was little money. England did not supply the colonies with coins and it did
not allow the colonies to make their own coins, except for the Massachusetts Bay Colony, which received
permission for a short period in 1652 to make several kinds of silver coins. England wanted to keep
money out of America as a means of controlling trade: America was forced to trade only with England if
it did not have the money to buy products from other countries. The result during this pre-revolutionary
period was that the colonists used various goods in place of money: beaver pelts, Indian wampum, and
tobacco leaves were all commonly used substitutes for money. The colonists also made use of any


foreign coins they could obtain. Dutch, Spanish, French, and English coins were all in use in the American
colonies.
During the Revolutionary War, funds were needed to finance the world, so each of the individual states
and the Continental Congress issued paper money. So much of this paper money was printed that by the
end of the war, almost no one would accept it. As a result, trade in goods and the use of foreign coins
still flourished during this period.
By the time the Revolutionary War had been won by the American colonists, the monetary system was in
a state of total disarray. To remedy this situation, the new Constitution of the United States, approved in
1789, allowed Congress to issue money. The individual states could no longer have their own money
supply. A few years later, the Coinage Act of 1792 made the dollar the official currency of the United
States and put the country on a bimetallic standard. In this bimetallic system, both gold and silver were
legal money, and the rate of exchange of silver to gold was fixed by the government at sixteen to one.
Question 1. The passage mainly discusses ____.
A. the effect of the Revolution on American money.
B. American money from past to present
C. the American money system of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

D. the English monetary policies in colonial America.
Question 2. The passage indicates that during the colonial period, money was ____.
A. used extensively for trade

B. scarce

C. supplied by England

D. coined by colonists

Question 3. The word "it" in paragraph 2 refers to which of the following?
A. The Continental Congress

B. Trade in goods

C. The War

D. Paper money

Question 4. The word "remedy" in paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to ____.
A. resolve B. medicate C. renew D. understand
Question 5. How was the monetary system arranged in the Constitution?
A. The US officially went on a bimetallic monetary system.
B. The dollar was made official currency of the US.
C. Only the US Congress could issue money.


D. Various state governments, including Massachusetts, could issue money.
Question 6. According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true about the bimetallic monetary
system?

A. Either gold or silver could be used as official money.
B. It was established in 1792.
C. Gold could be exchanged for silver at the rate of sixteen to one.
D. The monetary system was based on two matters.
Question 7. The word "fixed" in the third paragraph is closest in meaning to _____.
A. discovered

B. repaired

C. valued

D. Set

EXERCISE 7: Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to
indicate the correct word or phrase that best fits each of the numbered blanks from 1 to 5.
Television has changed the lifestyle of people in every industrialized country in the world. In the United
States, where sociologists have studied the effects, some interesting observations have been made. TV,
although not essential, has become a(n) (1) ______ part of most people’s lives. It has become a
babysitter, an initiator of conversations, a major transmitter of culture, and a keeper of traditions. Yet
when what can be seen on TV in one day is critically analyzed, it becomes evident that TV is not a
teacher but a sustainer. The poor quality of programs does not elevate people into greater (2) ______,
but rather maintains and encourages the status quo.
The (3) ______ reason for the lack of quality in American TV is related to both the history of TV
development and the economics of TV. TV in American began with the radio. Radio companies and their
sponsors first experimented with TV. Therefore, the close relationship, which the advertisers had with
radio programs, but many actually produced the programs. Thus, (4) ______ from the capitalistic, profitoriented sector of American society, TV is primarily concerned with reflecting and attracting society (5)
______ than innovating and experimenting with new ideas. Advertisers want to attract the largest
viewing audience possible; TV in America today remains, to a large extent, with the same organization
and standards as it had thirty years ago. The hope for some evolution and true achievement toward
improving society will require a change in the entire system.

Question 1: A. integral
Question 2: A. preconception

B. mixed

C. fractional

D. superior

B. knowledge

C. Understanding

D. feeling

Question 3: A. adequate

B. unknown

C. inexplicable

D. primary

Question 4: A. going

B. leaving

C. coming

D. getting

Question 5: A. more

B. rather

C. less

D. Better


EXERCISE 8: Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to
indicate the correct answer to each of the questions from 1 to 8.
In the very distant geological past, all animals were aquatic. The very first vertebrates or animals with
backbones, of which we have any fossil record, lived in water. These vertebrates, the fish, were adapted
to underwater living. Their streamlined bodies were covered with scales to reduce surface friction: they
had muscular tails so that they could swim swiftly in such a dense medium as water; and they were
endowed with gills for breathing underwater.
Descendants of fish-type ancestors crossed the seashore barrier and accommodated themselves to life
on land. As amphibians, they possessed limbs instead of fins and lungs instead of gills. But they never
became completely free of the bonds that tied them to the water; even today many amphibians return
to the water to lay their eggs.
Millions of years after the first clumsy amphibians crawled over the land, newer types of land dwellers
appeared, these animals give rise to the present-day reptiles and mammals. They were completely
converted for land dwelling, with bodies and biological activities far different from those of fish. With
these special adaptations, mammals have been able to colonize the woods and meadows, the deserts
and high mountains, often far removed from the sea.
Question 1: Of the animals with backbones, the first to appear were......
A. fish

B. amphibians

C. birds

D. mammals

Question 2: Fish are suited to underwater life because of their........
A. Gills

B. All of the answers

C. Streamlines shapes

D. Scales

Question 3: The passage suggests that the first amphibians used their limbs to.....
A. jump

B. run

C. swim

D. crawl

Question 4: The word “descendants” is closest in meaning to
A. Grandchildren

B. Ancestors

C. Descenders

D. Off spring

Question 5: An example of an amphibian’s incomplete adaptation to land life is.....
A. need to keep its skin wet

B. return to water to lay eggs

C. inability to breathe air.

D. Scales-covered skin

Question 6: Animals found desert living possible only.....
A. when they were fully adapted to land.

B. after they could walk on two feet.

C. when they became amphibious

D. if they migrated to sea periodically


Question 7: The seashore was a barrier for descendants of fish-type because......
A. crossing it required bodily changes.
B. every attempt to cross it ended in death.
C. the land once rose much higher above the sea.
D. once they crossed, there was no return.
Question 8: The adaptation process described in the article was completed......
A. By the receding of the sea
B. Through biological changes
C. Over millions of years and through biological changes

D. Over millions of years
EXERCISE 9: Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to
indicate the correct answer to each of the questions from 1 to 7.
Some animal behaviorists argue that certain animals can remember past events, anticipate future ones,
make plans and choices, and coordinate activities within a group. These scientists, however, are cautious
about the extent to which animals can be credited with conscious processing.
Explanations of animal behavior that leave out any sort of consciousness at all and ascribe actions
entirely to instinct leave many questions unanswered. One example of such unexplained behavior:
Honeybees communicate the sources of nectar to one another by doing a dance in a figure-eight
pattern. The orientation of the dance conveys the position of the food relative to the sun's position in
the sky, and the speed of the dance tells how far the food source is from the hive. Most researchers
assume that the ability to perform and encode the dance is innate and shows no special intelligence. But
in one study, when experimenters kept changing the site of the food source, each time moving the food
25 percent farther from the previous site, foraging honeybees began to anticipate where the food source
would appear next. When the researchers arrived at the new location, they would find the bees circling
the spot, waiting for their food. No one has yet explained how bees, whose brains weigh four tenthousandths of an ounce, could have inferred the location of the new site.
Other behaviors that may indicate some cognition include tool use. Many animals, like the otter who
uses a stone to crack mussel shells, are capable of using objects in the natural environment as
rudimentary tools. One researcher has found that mother chimpanzees occasionally show their young
how to use tools to open hard nuts. In one study, chimpanzees compared two pairs of food wells
containing chocolate chips. One pair might contain, say, five chips and three chips, the other our chips
and three chips. Allowed to choose which pair they wanted, the chimpanzees almost always chose the


one with the higher total, showing some sort of summing ability. Other chimpanzees have learned to use
numerals to label quantities of items and do simple sums.
Question 1: What does the passage mainly discuss?
A. Observations that suggest consciousness in animal behavior.
B. The use of food in studies of animal behavior.
C. The role of instinct in animal behavior.

D. Differences between the behavior of animals in their natural environments and in laboratory
experiments.
Question 2: Which of the following is NOT discussed as an ability animals are thought to have?
A. Communicating emotions

B. Remembering past experiences

C. Selecting among choices

D. Anticipating events to come

Question 3: What did researchers discover in the study of honeybees discussed in paragraph 2?
A. Bees are able to travel at greater speeds than scientists thought.
B. The bees were able to determine in advance where scientists would place their food.
C. Changing the location of food caused bees to decrease their dance activity.
D. The bees could travel 25% farther than scientists expected.
Question 4: It can be inferred from the passage that brain size is assumed to ___________.
A. be an indicator of cognitive ability
B. be related to food consumption
C. correspond to levels of activity
D. vary among individuals within a species
Question 5: Why are otters and mussel shells included in the discussion in paragraph 3?
A. To provide that certain species demonstrate greater ability in tool use than other species.
B. To provide an example of tool use among animals.
C. To show that animals are very good at using objects in their habitat.
D. To provide an example of the use of weapons among animals.


Question 6: The word “rudimentary” is closest in meaning to ___________.
A. technical B. basic C. superior D. original

Question 7: Scientists concluded from the experiment with chimpanzees and chocolate chips that
chimpanzees __________.
A. prefer to work in pairs or groups
B. have difficulty selecting when given choices
C. lack abilities that other primates have
D. exhibit behavior that indicates certain mathematical abilities