on tap bai nang cao U15

<span class='text_page_counter'>(1)</span>I. Language function. Thanking 1. Helen: - Congratulations! - Jane:…………… A. I’m grateful to you. B. You’re welcome. C. Many thanks to you. D. Not at all. 2. A: - It was very kind of you to give me a lift home. B: -……………… A. I’m not pleased B. Oh, don’t mention it. I was coming past your house anyway. C. As a matter of fact, you’re pretty nice. D. Oh, don’t do that. I was coming past your house anyway. 3. Linda: - I’ve done the dishes and tidied the living room for you. Peter: - Oh, thank you for doing all that. You really didn’t have to. Linda: - ………….. A. Yes, I do. B. Sorry, I don’t know. C. Never mind! D. Yeah, it’s very tidy. 4. Mary: Thank you very much for the lovely flowers. Sue……………… A. You like flowers, don’t you? B. Yeah, the flowers are nice. C. It was an excellent choice. D. No problem. 5. A: Thanks so much for looking after the children. B: ……………….. A. That’s alright. Anytime. B. I’m fine, thanks. C. Of course, not. D. That sounds nice. 6. Lee: I am very grateful for your help. Nick:…………….. A. Don’t mention it. B. It’s very kind of you. C. It’s not my duty. D. Don’t say that again 7. Mai: It was extremely good of you to spend all day with us. Thanh: ……………… A. That’s fine. B. It’s my pleasure. C. Sure. I was free. D. Thanks a lot. II. Vocabulary. Underline the answer that best fits the space. 1. Successful (applicants/ applies/ appliances/ application) will be notified by telephone. 2. They are the best (detections/ detectives/ detects/ detectors) on the police force. 3. The interests of (products/ productions/ producers/ productivities) and consumers may be in conflict. 4. The countries have kept their own distinct political and cultural (identifications/ identifying/ identities/ identifiers) 5. The factory is the largest single (employer/ employee/ employment/ unemployment)in the area. 6. Farmers can enrich the soil by using (fertile/ fertility/ fertilizations/ fertilizers). 7. My father has been a brain (surgery/ surgeon/ surgeons/ surgical) for ten years. 8. She accepted his (proposing/ propose/ proposer/ proposal/ proposition) at once. 9. The comprehensive (investigation/ investigator/ investigative/ investigating) of the bank revealed no illegal activity. 10. It was a show with a lot of audience (participant/ participation/ participate/ participating) 2. Give the correct form of the words in brackets. 1. The events must be put in order of……………………………..(important) 2. There has always been an extreme…………………………between the two countries (tenses) 3. He visited the Great Wall of China two years ago, but he still dreams of……………………………..this wonder. (visit) 4. The film was called “What about me” at first, but then it was………………………… “Remember me” by the director.(name) 6. He thinks that being in such……………………..condition must be very uncomfortable. (weigh) 7. In order to maintain their life in space, the astronauts have to wear…………………………(space) 8. He finished the work, which gave him a strong sense of ………………………………(achieve) 9. She really wanted t express that for her, job…………………….was more important than the money she earned. (satisfy) 10. Although the task was quite difficult, we made all our efforts and finally……………………….in solving it. (successful) 11. Is there any……………………………..at all about the way she died? (certain) 12. Tran Quoc Pagoda, among many other………………….spots in Hanoi, has long been a tourist attraction. (history) III. Pronunciation: 1. Choose the word whose main stress 2. Choose the word whose underlined placed differently from that of the part pronounced differently from that others. of the others. 1. accident, certainly, weightlessness, 1. conquest, congress, congratulate, congratulate consumption 2. attracted, cosmonaut, temperature, 2. aboard, cosmonaut, enormous, routine president 3. failure, venture, pressure, temperature 3. appointed, committee, disaster, satellite 4. surface, place, space, able 4. pilot, react, extreme, occur 5. precise, psychological, speed, point 5. artificial, independent, unfortunate, 6. mission, tension, Russian, possible psychological 7. deal, feat, death, leap 6. successful, Vietnamese, unfortunate, 8. hero, venture, zero, career American 7. support, orbit, surface, suitcase 8. engineers, technical, telegram, scientist IV. Grammar: 1. Put in could or was/ were able to. Use a negative if necessary. 1. Suddenly all the lights went out. We……………….see a thing. 2. The computer went wrong, but luckily James ……………….put it right again. 3. There was a big party last night. You ……………….hear the music half a mile away. 4. People heard warnings about the flood, and they ……………….move out in time. 5. The Carters ……………….put out the fire before the house burnt down. 6. We ……………….finish the football match before it started snowing too heavy. 7. ……………….understand Professor Larsen's lecture? I found it really difficult. 8. I knew John had been smoking. I ………………. smell the cigarettes when I came into the room..

<span class='text_page_counter'>(2)</span> 9. She looked all over the house, but ………………. find her keys anywhere. 10. She swam strongly and ……………….cross the river easily, even though it was swollen by the heavy rain. 2. Which of the underlined part is incorrect? 1. After the stock market crash of 1929, less people were able to find employment 2. The average temperature on Mars, the fourth planet from the sun, is about eighty degrees than colder on Earth. 3. Halley's comet was named of the astronomer Edmund Halley, who was the first to realize that some comets appear in regular cycles. 4. A number of people still wants to apply for the position of accountant in that company. 5. If I were a little taller I could be astronaut, but I don't meet the height requirement. 6. The price of oil used to be great deal lower than now, wasn’t it? 7. Vietnam is well-known in the world for it’s hospitality and beautiful scenery. 8. If you had sat the plant in a cooler location, the leaves wouldn’t have burned. 9. He hardly never says anything at the local meeting. 10. All the students in the class are enough good to pass the final exam. 11. Neither Sam nor James wanted their name associated with the project. 12. Not only could the younger people completed all the work quickly and accurately, but the retired workers could also. 13. Our nervous system has over ten billions nerve cells in a network covering every inch of our skin and organs. 14. According to geological discoveries, 4.6-billion-years life span of our planet is divided into four time intervals called eras. 15. The players prepared good for the tournament but performed poorly. 16. During first ten years of the Space Age, which began in 1957, more than 500 artificial satellites were rocketed into orbit around the Earth. 16. Air pollution, together with littering, are causing many problems in our large, industrial cities today. 17. Stars in our universe vary in temperature, color, bright, size and mass. 18. No one in this room went to the last night concert, didn’t he? 19. The spacecraft is already on orbit around the Earth. 20. When the King entered the room, everybody stood up in silence as a mark of honorable to him. 3. Complete the following tag questions: 1. It never works very well, ……………………….? 2. Neither of them offered to help you, …………………? 3. That isn't Bill driving, ……………………………? 4. There used to be big trees here, ………………………………? 5. They think he's funny, ………………………….? 6. Some of the bikes belong to the students,…………………………..? 7. I think you remember the event,……………………………? 8. That is definitely wrong,……………………..? 9. When she was small, she seldom had breakfast,………………………………? 10. Talk about the main points,…………………………? 4. Choose the phrase that best completes the sentence. 1. ______ by meteorites whose impact formed craters of all size. a. The surface of the moon was shaped b. The moon whose surface shaped c. The surface of the shaped moon d. The surface was forming the shape of the moon 2. Many craters on the earth's surface were probably formed by very large meteorites ______. a. when smashed into the ground was an explosion b. which smashed into the ground and an explosion c. smashing into the ground and exploding d. they smashed into the ground and exploded 3. Throughout history, the moon has inspired not only song and dance ______. a. but poetry and prose as well b. but poetry also prose c. together with poetry and prose d. and also poetry and prose 4. Claudius Ptolemy, ______ of the first century A.D., left a good description of the geocentric theory. a. he was an astronomer and a philosopher b. being an astronomer and a philosopher c. an astronomer and who was a philosopher d. who was an astronomer and a philosopher 5. ______ the fifth largest among the nine planets that make up our solar system. a. The Earth being b. The Earth is c. That the Earth is d. Being the Earth 6. If my aunt had not fallen down yesterday, ______. a. her legs would not be hurting now b. she can walk normally now c. she does not have to go on crutches now d. she would not have been painful now 7. Glass that has been tempered may be up to ______. a. as hard as ordinary glass five times b. five times as hard as ordinary glass c. hard as ordinary glass five times d. ordinary glass as hard as five times V. Reading: 1. Fill in each blank space with one appropriate from the box. manned seriously affected space radiation groundless weightlessness harmless journey flown appeared effects Before man had (1)…………….in space it was thought that his physical and mental capabilities might be (2……………… by long periods of (3) …………………, and that he might be endangered by high levels of (4) ……………….. Yuri Gagariri's first (5……………….flight in April 1961 showed that man could live in space and, although this (6) ……………….only lasted for 108 minutes, it gave encouragement to those interested in the future of (7) ……………….space flight. In fact most of the early fears about man's health in space have proved (8) ………………., and although several odd medical (9………………. have been observed, none has (10) ……………….affected man's ability for useful work. 2. Read the text below and fill in each blank with ONE suitable word. Of all the (1)…………….in the solar system, Mars is the most similar (2)……………the Earth. Since the 1960s, many robot spacecrafts have (3)………………The Viking mission in 1975 was the first probe to safely (4)……………..Mars. A camera.

<span class='text_page_counter'>(3)</span> sent pictures of the (5)……………..of Mars to the Earth. A robot arm scooped up soil. The Mars Pathfinder spacecraft landed on Mars in 1977. It has a robot wagon called the Sojourner rover. The rover moved around (6)……………Mars, taking pictures and studying rocks. Other probes went on to study Mars. Some people (7)…………….of astronauts someday landing on Mars. Other people say it would be best to (8)………….more robots to Mars. If astronaut do go to other planets, Mars would be the first one they visit. 3. Read the following text and do the tasks that follow. ******************************************** Faster effective reading. The comprehension texts on this course are designed to help you increase your reading speed. A higher reading rate, with 1 no loss of comprehension, will help you in other subjects as well as English, and the general principles apply to any language. Naturally, you will not read every book at the same speed. You would be expected to read a newspaper, for example, much more rapidly than a physics or economics textbook, but you can raise your average reading speed over the whole range of materials you wish to cover so that the percentage gain will be the same whatever kind of reading you are concerned with. The reading texts which follow are all of an average level of difficulty for your stage of instruction. They are all approximately 5 500 words long. They are about topics of general interest which don’t require a great deal of specialized knowledge. Thus, they fall between the kinds of reading you might find in your textbooks and the much less demanding kind you will find in a newspaper or light novel. If you read this kind of English with understand, at 400 words per minute, you might skim through a newspaper at perhaps 650-700, while with a difficult textbook, you might drop to 200 to 250. 10 Perhaps, you would like to know what reading speeds are common among native English-speaking university students and how those speeds can be improved. Tests in Minnesota, the U.S.A, for example, have shown that students without special training can read English of average difficulty, for instance, Tolstoy’s War and Peace in translation, at the speeds of between 240 and 250 w.p.m. with about 70% comprehension. Minnesota claims that after 12 half-hour lessons, one a week, the reading speed can be increased, with no loss of comprehension, to around 500 w.p.m. It is further claimed that with intensive training over seventeen weeks, speeds of over 1000 w.p.m. can be reached, but this could be quite exceptional. 15 If you get to the point where you can read books of average difficulty at between 400 and 500 w.p.m., with 70% or more comprehension, you will be doing quite well; of course, any further improvement of speed-with-comprehension will be a good thing. In this and the following three texts, we shall be looking at some of the obstacles to faster reading and what we can do to overcome them. 20 When you practise reading texts shorter than book length, like the text in this course, do not try to take in each word separately, one after the other. It is much more difficult to grasp the broad theme of the passage this way, and you will also get stuck on individual words which may not be absolutely essential to a general understanding of the text. It is a good idea to skim through the text very quickly first (about 500 w.p.m.) to get the general idea of each paragraph. Titles, paragraph headings and emphasized words (underlined or in italics) can be a great help in getting this skeleton outline of the text. It is surprising how many people do not read titles, introductions or paragraph headings. Can you, without looking back, 25 remember the title of this text and the heading of this paragraph? * Select the answer which is most accurate according to the information given in the text. 1. A higher reading rate will help in other subjects as well as English… a. provided there is no loss of understanding. b. only if we memorize well. c. but not in any other language. d. though not as a general principle. 2. You would be expected to read a difficult economic textbook…. a. as fast as you read a newspaper. b. more slowly than you read a newspaper. c. more quickly than you read these texts. d. only very rarely. 3. You are expected to read the text on this course…………. a. more quickly than you read your textbooks. b. more quickly than you read a newspaper. c. more slowly than you read your textbooks. d. faster than any other kind of material. 4. The average untrained native speaker at the University of Minnesota…. a. reads at 600 w.p.m. b. reads at about 300 w.p.m. c. cannot read difficult works in translation. d. reads at about 245 w.p.m. 5. The University of Minnesota claims that in 12 half-hour lessons………. a. it can triple a student’s reading speed. b. it can double a student’s reading speed. c. it can increase a student’s reading speed four times. d. no real increase in reading speed can be achieved. 6. Intensive training over seventeen weeks can………….. a. triple an untrained student’s reading speed. b. increase an untrained student’s reading speed four times. c. double an untrained student’s reading speed. d. triple the student’s comprehension scores. 7. You will be doing quite well if you can read books of average difficulty….. a. at about 450 w.p.m. with 70% comprehension b. at about 600 w.p.m. with 60% comprehension c. at about 300 w.p.m. with 70% comprehension d. at about 250 w.p.m. with 50% comprehension. 8. Reading words one at a time is bad because………… a. it hurts your eyes. b. all words are equally important c. it is more difficult to get the general idea of the text. d. some words are longer than others. 9. It is a good idea t skim through a text quickly first…………… a. at about 350 w.p.m. b. to get the general idea of each paragraph c. so that you can take in each word separately. d. to make sure you get to the end at least once. 10. Titles and paragraph headings……… a. are more important than anything else. b. are surprisingly to many people. c. can easily be remembered without looking back. d. can help us get the outline of a passage. * Vocabulary: Find the following words in the passage and select the meaning you think is most likely to correspond among the choice given. 1. rate (line 1) a. speed b. tax c. score d. awareness 2. naturally (line 4) a. easily b. unfortunately c. without training d. of course.

<span class='text_page_counter'>(4)</span> 3. range (line3) a. distance b. variety c. territory d. farm 4. demanding (line 8) a. difficult b. questioning c. insisting d. asking 5. skim through(line 9) a. strain through b. make smooth with c. concentrate on d. read quickly through 6. native (line 11) a. unsophisticated b. primitive c. taught from childhood d. uneducated 7. obstacles (line 19) a. prohibitions b. hindrances c. objections d. disadvantages 8. take in (line 21 ) a. understanding b. adjust c. memorize d. say 9. grasp (line 22) a. grip tightly b. understand c. hold loosely d. avoid 10. italics (line 25) a. brackets b. margins c. sloping letters d. smaller print * Spot the topic: Which of the following choices most adequately sums up the ideas of the whole paragraph? 1. Paragraph 1: a. How to increase your reading speed. b. The advantages of a generally higher reading speed. c. The advantages to your English of a higher reading speed. 2. Paragraph 2: a. The interest of the reading texts in this course. b. Newspapers can be read more quickly than textbooks. c. The speed at which you might expect to read different types of English. 3. Paragraph 3: a. How native English speakers read faster than others. b. How speed reading courses affected students’ reading speed. c. How native English University students increased their reading speed to 1000 w.p.m. on average. 4. Paragraph 4: a. A guide to the reading speed you could aim for. b. The point of reading books of average difficulty. c. Why further improvement is a good thing. 5. Paragraph 5: a. Advice on how to get the general idea of a piece of reading quickly. b. The use of the title. c. The disadvantages of too careful initial reading.. I. Language function. Thanking 1. Helen: - Congratulations! - Jane:…………… A. I’m grateful to you. B. You’re welcome. C. Many thanks to you. D. Not at all. 2. A: - It was very kind of you to give me a lift home. B: -……………… A. I’m not pleased B. Oh, don’t mention it. I was coming past your house anyway. C. As a matter of fact, you’re pretty nice. D. Oh, don’t do that. I was coming past your house anyway. 3. Linda: - I’ve done the dishes and tidied the living room for you. Peter: - Oh, thank you for doing all that. You really didn’t have to. Linda: - ………….. A. Yes, I do. B. Sorry, I don’t know. C. Never mind! D. Yeah, it’s very tidy. 4. Mary: Thank you very much for the lovely flowers. A. You like flowers, don’t you? B. Yeah, the flowers are nice. C. It was an excellent choice. D. No problem. 5. A: Thanks so much for looking after the children. B: ……………….. A. That’s alright. Anytime. B. I’m fine, thanks. C. Of course, not. D. That sounds nice. 6. Lee: I am very grateful for your help. Nick:…………….. A. Don’t mention it. B. It’s very kind of you. C. It’s not my duty. D. Don’t say that again 7. Mai: It was extremely good of you to spend all day with us. Thanh: ……………… A. That’s fine. B. It’s my pleasure. C. Sure. I was free. D. Thanks a lot. II. Vocabulary. Underline the answer that best fits the space. 1. Successful (applicants/ applies/ appliances/ application) will be notified by telephone. 2. They are the best (detections/ detectives/ detects/ detectors) on the police force. 3. The interests of (products/ productions/ producers/ productivities) and consumers may be in conflict. 4. The countries have kept their own distinct political and cultural (identifications/ identifying/ identities/ identifiers) 5. The factory is the largest single (employer/ employee/ employment/ unemployment)in the area. 6. Farmers can enrich the soil by using (fertile/ fertility/ fertilizations/ fertilizers). 7. My father has been a brain (surgery/ surgeon/ surgeons/ surgical) for ten years. 8. She accepted his (proposing/ propose/ proposer/ proposal/ proposition) at once. 9. The comprehensive (investigation/ investigator/ investigative/ investigating) of the bank revealed no illegal activity. 10. It was a show with a lot of audience (participant/ participation/ participate/ participating) 2. Give the correct form of the words in brackets. 1. The events must be put in order of……………………………..(important) 2. There has always been an extreme…………………………between the two countries (tenses) 3. He visited the Great Wall of China two years ago, but he still dreams of……………………………..this wonder. (visit) 4. The film was called “What about me” at first, but then it was………………………… “Remember me” by the director.(name) 6. He thinks that being in such……………………..condition must be very uncomfortable. (weigh) 7. In order to maintain their life in space, the astronauts have to wear…………………………(space) 8. He finished the work, which gave him a strong sense of ………………………………(achieve) 9. She really wanted t express that for her, job…………………….was more important than the money she earned. (satisfy) 10. Although the task was quite difficult, we made all our efforts and finally……………………….in solving it. (successful) 11. Is there any……………………………..at all about the way she died? (certain) 12. Tran Quoc Pagoda, among many other………………….spots in Hanoi, has long been a tourist attraction. (history) III. Pronunciation:.

<span class='text_page_counter'>(5)</span> 1. Choose the word whose main stress 2. Choose the word whose underlined placed differently from that of the part pronounced differently from that others. of the others. 1. accident, certainly, weightlessness, 1. conquest, congress, congratulate, congratulate consumption 2. attracted, cosmonaut, temperature, 2. aboard, cosmonaut, enormous, routine president 3. failure, venture, pressure, temperature 3. appointed, committee, disaster, satellite 4. surface, place, space, able 4. pilot, react, extreme, occur 5. precise, psychological, speed, point 5. artificial, independent, unfortunate, 6. mission, tension, Russian, possible psychological 7. deal, feat, death, leap 6. successful, Vietnamese, unfortunate, 8. hero, venture, zero, career American 7. support, orbit, surface, suitcase 8. engineers, technical, telegram, scientist IV. Grammar: 1. Put in could or was/ were able to. Use a negative if necessary. 1. Suddenly all the lights went out. We couldn't see a thing. 2. The computer went wrong, but luckily James was able to put it right again. 3. There was a big party last night. You could hear the music half a mile away. 4. People heard warnings about the flood, and they were able to move out in time. 5. The Carters were able to put out the fire before the house burnt down. 6. We were able to finish the football match before it started snowing too heavy. 7. Could you understand Professor Larsen's lecture? I found it really difficult. 8. I knew John had been smoking. I could smell the cigarettes when I came into the room. 9. She looked all over the house, but couldn't find her keys anywhere. 10. She swam strongly and was able to cross the river easily, even though it was swollen by the heavy rain. 2. Which of the underlined part is incorrect? 1. After the stock market crash of 1929, less people were able to find employment 2. The average temperature on Mars, the fourth planet from the sun, is about eighty degrees than colder on Earth. 3. Halley's comet was named of the astronomer Edmund Halley, who was the first to realize that some comets appear in regular cycles. 4. A number of people still wants to apply for the position of accountant in that company. 5. If I were a little taller I could be astronaut, but I don't meet the height requirement. 6. The price of oil used to be great deal lower than now, wasn’t it? 7. Vietnam is well-known in the world for it’s hospitality and beautiful scenery. 8. If you had sat the plant in a cooler location, the leaves wouldn’t have burned. 9. He hardly never says anything at the local meeting. 10. All the students in the class are enough good to pass the final exam. 11. Neither Sam nor James wanted their name associated with the project. 12. Not only could the younger people completed all the work quickly and accurately, but the retired workers could also. 13. Our nervous system has over ten billions nerve cells in a network covering every inch of our skin and organs. 14. According to geological discoveries, 4.6-billion-years life span of our planet is divided into four time intervals called eras. 15. The players prepared good for the tournament but performed poorly. 16. During first ten years of the Space Age, which began in 1957, more than 500 artificial satellites were rocketed into orbit around the Earth. 16. Air pollution, together with littering, are causing many problems in our large, industrial cities today. 17. Stars in our universe vary in temperature, color, bright, size and mass. 18. No one in this room went to the last night concert, didn’t he? 19. The spacecraft is already on orbit around the Earth. 20. When the King entered the room, everybody stood up in silence as a mark of honorable to him. 3. Complete the following tag questions: 1. It never works very well, ……………………….? 2. Neither of them offered to help you, …………………? 3. That isn't Bill driving, ……………………………? 4. There used to be big trees here, ………………………………? 5. They think he's funny, ………………………….? 6. Some of the bikes belong to the students,…………………………..? 7. I think you remember the event,……………………………? 8. That is definitely wrong,……………………..? 9. When she was small, she seldom had breakfast,………………………………? 10. Talk about the main points,…………………………? 4. Choose the phrase that best completes the sentence. 1. ______ by meteorites whose impact formed craters of all size. a. The surface of the moon was shaped b. The moon whose surface shaped c. The surface of the shaped moon d. The surface was forming the shape of the moon.

<span class='text_page_counter'>(6)</span> 2. Many craters on the earth's surface were probably formed by very large meteorites ______. a. when smashed into the ground was an explosion b. which smashed into the ground and an explosion c. smashing into the ground and exploding d. they smashed into the ground and exploded 3. Throughout history, the moon has inspired not only song and dance ______. a. but poetry and prose as well b. but poetry also prose c. together with poetry and prose d. and also poetry and prose 4. Claudius Ptolemy, ______ of the first century A.D., left a good description of the geocentric theory. a. he was an astronomer and a philosopher b. being an astronomer and a philosopher c. an astronomer and who was a philosopher d. who was an astronomer and a philosopher 5. ______ the fifth largest among the nine planets that make up our solar system. a. The Earth being b. The Earth is c. That the Earth is d. Being the Earth 6. If my aunt had not fallen down yesterday, ______. a. her legs would not be hurting now b. she can walk normally now c. she does not have to go on crutches now d. she would not have been painful now 7. Glass that has been tempered may be up to ______. a. as hard as ordinary glass five times b. five times as hard as ordinary glass c. hard as ordinary glass five times d. ordinary glass as hard as five times V. Reading: 1. Fill in each blank space with one appropriate from the box. manned seriously affected space radiation groundless weightlessness harmless journey flown appeared effects Before man had (1) flown in space it was thought that his physical and mental capabilities might be (2) affected by long periods of (3) weightlessness, and that he might be endangered by high levels of (4) radiation. Yuri Gagariri's first (5) space flight in April 1961 showed that man could live in space and, although this (6) journey only lasted for 108 minutes, it gave encouragement to those interested in the future of (7) manned space flight. In fact most of the early fears about man's health in space have proved (8) groundless, and although several odd medical (9) effects have been observed, none has (10) seriously affected man's ability for useful work. 2. Read the text below and fill in each blank with ONE suitable word. Of all the (1)…………….in the solar system, Mars is the most similar (2)……………the Earth. Since the 1960s, many robot spacecrafts have (3)………………The Viking mission in 1975 was the first probe to safely (4)……………..Mars. A camera sent pictures of the (5)……………..of Mars to the Earth. A robot arm scooped up soil. The Mars Pathfinder spacecraft landed on Mars in 1977. It has a robot wagon called the Sojourner rover. The rover moved around (6)……………Mars, taking pictures and studying rocks. Other probes went on to study Mars. Some people (7)…………….of astronauts someday landing on Mars. Other people say it would be best to (8)………….more robots to Mars. If astronaut do go to other planets, Mars would be the first one they visit. 3. Read the following text and do the tasks that follow. ******************************************** Faster effective reading. The comprehension texts on this course are designed to help you increase your reading speed. A higher reading rate, with 1 no loss of comprehension, will help you in other subjects as well as English, and the general principles apply to any language. Naturally, you will not read every book at the same speed. You would be expected to read a newspaper, for example, much more rapidly than a physics or economics textbook, but you can raise your average reading speed over the whole range of materials you wish to cover so that the percentage gain will be the same whatever kind of reading you are concerned with. The reading texts which follow are all of an average level of difficulty for your stage of instruction. They are all approximately 5 500 words long. They are about topics of general interest which don’t require a great deal of specialized knowledge. Thus, they fall between the kinds of reading you might find in your textbooks and the much less demanding kind you will find in a newspaper or light novel. If you read this kind of English with understand, at 400 words per minute, you might skim through a newspaper at perhaps 650-700, while with a difficult textbook, you might drop to 200 to 250. 10 Perhaps, you would like to know what reading speeds are common among native English-speaking university students and how those speeds can be improved. Tests in Minnesota, the U.S.A, for example, have shown that students without special training can read English of average difficulty, for instance, Tolstoy’s War and Peace in translation, at the speeds of between 240 and 250 w.p.m. with about 70% comprehension. Minnesota claims that after 12 half-hour lessons, one a week, the reading speed can be increased, with no loss of comprehension, to around 500 w.p.m. It is further claimed that with intensive training over seventeen weeks, speeds of over 1000 w.p.m. can be reached, but this could be quite exceptional. 15 If you get to the point where you can read books of average difficulty at between 400 and 500 w.p.m., with 70% or more comprehension, you will be doing quite well; of course, any further improvement of speed-with-comprehension will be a good thing. In this and the following three texts, we shall be looking at some of the obstacles to faster reading and what we can do to overcome them. 20 When you practise reading texts shorter than book length, like the text in this course, do not try to take in each word separately, one after the other. It is much more difficult to grasp the broad theme of the passage this way, and you will also get stuck on individual words which may not be absolutely essential to a general understanding of the text. It is a good idea to skim through the text very quickly first (about 500 w.p.m.) to get the general idea of each paragraph. Titles, paragraph headings and emphasized words (underlined or in italics) can be a great help in getting this skeleton outline of the text. It is surprising how many people do not read titles, introductions or paragraph headings. Can you, without looking back, 25 remember the title of this text and the heading of this paragraph? * Select the answer which is most accurate according to the information given in the text. 1. A higher reading rate will help in other subjects as well as English… a. provided there is no loss of understanding. b. only if we memorize well. c. but not in any other language. d. though not as a general principle. 2. You would be expected to read a difficult economic textbook…. a. as fast as you read a newspaper. b. more slowly than you read a newspaper..

<span class='text_page_counter'>(7)</span> c. more quickly than you read these texts. d. only very rarely. 3. You are expected to read the text on this course…………. a. more quickly than you read your textbooks. b. more quickly than you read a newspaper. c. more slowly than you read your textbooks. d. faster than any other kind of material. 4. The average untrained native speaker at the University of Minnesota…. a. reads at 600 w.p.m. b. reads at about 300 w.p.m. c. cannot read difficult works in translation. d. reads at about 245 w.p.m. 5. The University of Minnesota claims that in 12 half-hour lessons………. a. it can triple a student’s reading speed. b. it can double a student’s reading speed. c. it can increase a student’s reading speed four times. d. no real increase in reading speed can be achieved. 6. Intensive training over seventeen weeks can………….. a. triple an untrained student’s reading speed. b. increase an untrained student’s reading speed four times. c. double an untrained student’s reading speed. d. triple the student’s comprehension scores. 7. You will be doing quite well if you can read books of average difficulty….. a. at about 450 w.p.m. with 70% comprehension b. at about 600 w.p.m. with 60% comprehension c. at about 300 w.p.m. with 70% comprehension d. at about 250 w.p.m. with 50% comprehension. 8. Reading words one at a time is bad because………… a. it hurts your eyes. b. all words are equally important c. it is more difficult to get the general idea of the text. d. some words are longer than others. 9. It is a good idea t skim through a text quickly first…………… a. at about 350 w.p.m. b. to get the general idea of each paragraph c. so that you can take in each word separately. d. to make sure you get to the end at least once. 10. Titles and paragraph headings……… a. are more important than anything else. b. are surprisingly to many people. c. can easily be remembered without looking back. d. can help us get the outline of a passage. * Vocabulary: Find the following words in the passage and select the meaning you think is most likely to correspond among the choice given. 1. rate (line 1) a. speed b. tax c. score d. awareness 2. naturally (line 4) a. easily b. unfortunately c. without training d. of course 3. range (line3) a. distance b. variety c. territory d. farm 4. demanding (line 8) a. difficult b. questioning c. insisting d. asking 5. skim through(line 9) a. strain through b. make smooth with c. concentrate on d. read quickly through 6. native (line 11) a. unsophisticated b. primitive c. taught from childhood d. uneducated 7. obstacles (line 19) a. prohibitions b. hindrances c. objections d. disadvantages 8. take in (line 21 ) a. understanding b. adjust c. memorize d. say 9. grasp (line 22) a. grip tightly b. understand c. hold loosely d. avoid 10. italics (line 25) a. brackets b. margins c. sloping letters d. smaller print * Spot the topic: Which of the following choices most adequately sums up the ideas of the whole paragraph? 1. Paragraph 1: a. How to increase your reading speed. b. The advantages of a generally higher reading speed. c. The advantages to your English of a higher reading speed. 2. Paragraph 2: a. The interest of the reading texts in this course. b. Newspapers can be read more quickly than textbooks. c. The speed at which you might expect to read different types of English. 3. Paragraph 3: a. How native English speakers read faster than others. b. How speed reading courses affected students’ reading speed. c. How native English University students increased their reading speed to 1000 w.p.m. on average. 4. Paragraph 4: a. A guide to the reading speed you could aim for. b. The point of reading books of average difficulty. c. Why further improvement is a good thing. 5. Paragraph 5: a. Advice on how to get the general idea of a piece of reading quickly. b. The use of the title. c. The disadvantages of too careful initial reading..

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